Tribute: Farrah Fawcett

Posted on June 25, 2009 at 2:01 pm

We mourn the loss of the beautiful and talented Farrah Fawcett, who died this morning after a long bout with cancer. She came to attention as the athletic Jill on “Charlie’s Angels.” Her dazzling smile and girl-you-wish-was-next door look quickly led to the poster that became a twelve million-selling sensation. Her departure from the show after the first year was rancorous, but she proved herself to be a gifted actress, with outstanding work in “The Burning Bed,” “Extremities,” “See You in the Morning,” and “The Apostle.” She married Ryan O’Neal last week, after an on-and-off relationship that spanned decades. She will be fondly remembered and she will be missed.

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Tribute: David Carradine

Posted on June 5, 2009 at 8:00 am

Fans throughout the world mourn the loss of David Carradine. The son of actor John Carradine (“The Grapes of Wrath”), he first achieved success as the star of the television series “Kung Fu,” where he played a mysterious Western character who had been trained in the then-obscure Chinese method of combat. He is probably best remembered now as the title character in Quentin Taratino’s two “Kill Bill” movies.

My friend Adam Bernstein wrote about Carradine’s legacy in the Washington Post. And my friend Mike Clark reminded me of Carradine’s best performance in the 1976 biography of Woody Guthrie, “Bound for Glory.”

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Tribute: Bea Arthur

Posted on April 26, 2009 at 8:49 pm

A fond farewell to Bea Arthur, best remembered as the strident, ground-breaking “Maude” and as Dorothy on “The Golden Girls.” I loved her duet in “Mame” and I loved her gutsy bravado and brilliant comic timing.

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Tribute: Maurice Jarre

Posted on April 5, 2009 at 8:12 pm

Maurice Jarre wrote soundtracks for movies that became the soundtracks for our lives. The lush romantic score for Dr Zhivago (known as “Somewhere My Love”) is inseparable from the snowy vistas of the story. The sweep of his score for Lawrence of Arabia perfectly matched the endless sweep of the desert and the endless competing ambitions of the title character. Both won Oscars as did a third score Jarre did for director David Lean, A Passage to India. Other memorable scores included “Fatal Attraction,” “The Year of Living Dangerously,” and “Dead Poet’s Society.”

Tribute: Natasha Richardson

Posted on March 20, 2009 at 8:03 am

The loss of the lovely, charming, elegant, and talented Natasha Richardson is terribly sad. Her greatest opportunity to show what she could do as an actress was on stage. She won a Tony award for her performance in “Cabaret” on Broadway. She was the daughter of one of the great acting families, with both parents Oscar-winners. Her mother is Vanessa Redgrave and her father was the late Tony Richardson, director of “Tom Jones.” On film, she is perhaps best known as the mother in the Lindsay Lohan remake of “The Parent Trap.” I loved the way she and co-star Dennis Quaid brought a bittersweet but tender and very dear quality to their scenes together as the estranged couple who were increasingly unable to deny their powerful connection. The poignancy of the Ray Charles song, “Every Time We Say Goodbye” on the soundtrack is even sharper now.

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