Film Discussion > News and Theory
Who's Next To Croak?
Cecil:
i hope kubrick doesnt die next. i hope he stays alive for a very long time, so he can make a many movies
MacGuffin:
Wild-eyed Western movie villain Jack Elam dies
LOS ANGELES (AP) Jack Elam, a character actor and favorite Western villain who menaced good-guy cowboys with his crazy grin, menacing eyes and remorseless gunslinging in films such as "Rawhide'' and "Wichita,'' has died, a family friend said Tuesday.
Elam, who had been in declining health in recent years, died Monday afternoon at his home in Ashland, Ore. of unspecified illness, according to longtime friend Al Hassan.
"He was cantankerous in a great way, in a funny way,'' Hassan said. "He smoked, drank, all that stuff. He lived one of the best lives I've ever seen.''
Elam, born in Miami, Ariz., didn't always play the mean old hombre he also found himself cast as dirty old men and harmless drunks, sometimes with a humorous bent in comedies like "Support Your Local Sheriff'' and "The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County.''
The actor's own cockeye was the result of a childhood fight in Phoenix. The way he told it, a fellow Boy Scout stabbed him in the left eye with a pencil during a scrape at a troop meeting. He remained blind in that eye, which wandered lazily around its socket.
Elam is survived by his second wife, Jennie; a daughter and two sons. Funeral plans were unspecified late Tuesday.
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MacGuffin's Note: It doesn't mention it, but you guys might know him best from his role in "Once Upon A Time In The West" - he's the cowboy in the opening credits trying to catch the fly and does so with his gun barrel. He also may be known as the phony doctor in "Cannonball Run".
R.I.P. :yabbse-cry:
TheVoiceOfNick:
--- Quote from: MacGuffin ---Wild-eyed Western movie villain Jack Elam dies
--- End quote ---
I was just about to post that he's next to die... what do I win? :-D
MacGuffin:
'Honeymooners' Actor Art Carney Dies
HARTFORD, Conn. - Art Carney, who played Jackie Gleason's sewer worker pal Ed Norton in the TV classic "The Honeymooners" and went on to win the 1974 Oscar for best actor in "Harry and Tonto," has died at 85.
Carney died in Chester, Conn., on Sunday and was buried on Tuesday after a small, private funeral. He had been ill for some time.
The comic actor would be forever identified as Norton, Ralph Kramden's bowling buddy and not-too-bright upstairs neighbor on "The Honeymooners." The sitcom appeared in various forms from 1951 to 1956 and was revived briefly in 1971. The shows can still be seen on cable.
With his turned-up porkpie hat and unbuttoned vest over a white T-shirt, Carney's Ed Norton with his exuberant "Hey, Ralphie boy!" became an ideal foil for Gleason's blustery, bullying Kramden. Carney won three Emmys for his role and his first taste of fame.
"The first time I saw the guy act," Gleason once said, "I knew I would have to work twice as hard for my laughs. He was funny as hell."
His career resumed, and in 1974 he was cast in Paul Mazurksy's "Harry and Tonto" as a 72-year-old widower who travels from New York to Chicago with his pet cat. He stopped drinking during the making of the film.
When it won him his Oscar, Carney wisecracked: "You're looking at an actor whose price has just doubled."
Among his movie credits: "W.W. and the Dixie Dance Kings," "The Late Show," "House Calls," "Movie Movie," "Sunburn," "Going in Style," "Roadie," "Firestarter," "The Muppets Take Manhattan" and "Last Action Hero."
:yabbse-cry:
Xixax:
--- Quote from: oakmanc234 ---Maybe Charlton Heston. The thing is, when he does eventually pass, people wont be as compassionate as before because of his controversial 'little' appearance in Bowling For Columbine, which has severly dented his rep.
--- End quote ---
I think you're giving too much credit here. Most of the general public who knows who Charlton Heston is don't have the slightest clue what "Bowling for Columbine" is. An even more minute minority have seen it.
My vote for next to kick the bucket... Charles Durning.
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