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1-28 of 28
- Actor
- Writer
Laconic, dark and handsome were the essential attributes for Hollywood western leading men in the 50s and 60s. James Drury fit the bill, keeping in mind that his most famous screen persona - that of the stalwart Shiloh estate ranch foreman known only as 'the Virginian' - took a while to properly develop. In the original 30-minute pilot way back in 1958, the Virginian appeared rather more like a genteel dandy than a tough cowboy. Four years later, the NBC network approved a revamped version of the series and Drury, now looking the part, was on his way to popular success. Though his career may have fallen short of outright stardom, he endeared himself with TV audiences for almost a decade and went on to enjoy a fair cult status beyond the final episode of The Virginian (1962) in March 1971.
James Child Drury was born not in the American West, but in New York, the son of Beatrice (Crawford) and James Child Drury. His father, from an Irish family, was a professor who lectured in marketing and advertising at New York University. Young James spent some of his formative years on a family ranch in Salem, Oregon, where he learned to become an expert rider. His maternal grandfather, John Hezekiah Crawford, of Kentucky, educated him in the ways of the woodsman and taught him marksmanship. James began to act in school plays, toured with a theatrical company by the age of twelve and then studied drama at his father's university. Curiously, he completed his senior year at UCLA studying not acting but horticulture and animal husbandry. Upon graduation, he was signed to a contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and made his first screen appearance a year later in 1955. Aside from playing junior army officers and assorted teenagers in films for 20th Century Fox and Disney, Drury quickly found a comfortable niche in TV westerns (which, no doubt, had much to do with his expertise in horsemanship). He had guest appearances in just about all the famous ones: The Texan (1958), Bronco (1958), Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Lawman (1958), Cheyenne (1955), Gunsmoke (1955), Rawhide (1959) and Wagon Train (1957). He also made the little seen, yet unsold pilot for The Virginian. A strong performance as one of a quartet of villainous brothers in Sam Peckinpah's seminal western Ride the High Country (1962) led to a seven-year contract with Universal. He (along with Doug McClure) auditioned for their respective roles in The Virginian soon after, finding out that the parts were indeed theirs just two days prior to shooting. In 1966, Drury fronted a band, the Wilshire Buffalo Hunters, touring Vietnam for three weeks as part of the USO.
Despondent after The Virginian ended its run, Drury played a sheriff in the pilot for the comedy western series Alias Smith and Jones (1971) and then starred in Firehouse (1974), a short-lived ABC adventure drama set at a Los Angeles fire station. After the cancellation of Firehouse, Drury seemed to become even more disheartened and made only a few more sporadic TV appearances thereafter. However, he managed to reinvent himself as a successful businessman, first as co-owner of a ranch raising Appaloosa horses (his steed in The Virginian had been a white Appaloosa named Joe D), then as proprietor of a company recycling asphalt, and latterly, having moved to Texas, in the oil and natural gas business. He was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers in 1991.
James Drury died from natural causes on April 6, 2020, in Houston, Texas. He was 85.- Erik Holland was born on 18 May 1933 in Sandnes, Norway. He was an actor, known for Stargate (1994), Titanic (1997) and Ghostbusters II (1989). He was married to Marina Ghane and Victoria James. He died on 6 April 2020 in Studio City, California, USA.
- Armando Francioli was born on 21 October 1919 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was an actor, known for The Pharaohs' Woman (1960), Barber of Seville (1961) and Paolo e Francesca (1950). He died on 6 April 2020 in Rome, Italy.
- Chet Carlin was born on 23 February 1940 in Malverne, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for I.Q. (1994), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Now and Again (1999). He died on 6 April 2020 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA.
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Duncan Wilmore was born on 26 May 1938 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for WarGames (1983), Tank Girl (1995) and The Right Stuff (1983). He died on 6 April 2020 in Prescott, Arizona, USA.- Vic Henley was born on 2 October 1962 in Oxford, Alabama, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Comedy Central Presents (1998), An Evening at the Improv (1981) and Brain Candy (2003). He died on 6 April 2020.
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Roger Beatty was born on 24 January 1933 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a writer and assistant director, known for The Carol Burnett Show (1967), Carol Burnett & Company (1979) and Mama's Family (1983). He died on 6 April 2020 in Palm Desert, California, USA.- Frederick Singer died on 6 April 2020 in Rockville, Maryland, USA.
- Bullet Prakash was an actor, known for Bachchan (2013), Bhajarangi (2013) and Brahma (2014). He died on 6 April 2020 in Bengaluru, India.
- Mac P Dawg was an actor, known for Mac P Dawg feat. Ohgeesy: Let Me Know (2019), Fenix Flexin x Mac P Dawg: Go Getters (2019) and Munk feat. Mac P Dawg: Savages (2019). He died on 6 April 2020 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Josep Maria Benet i Jornet was born on 20 June 1940 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. He was a writer and director, known for Beloved/Friend (1999), Actresses (1997) and Laberint d'ombres (1998). He died on 6 April 2020 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.- Make-Up Department
Colleen Callaghan was born in 1931. She is known for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997). She died on 6 April 2020 in New Jersey, USA.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
- Cinematographer
Roger Simons was born in 1944 in Conway, Caernarvonshire, Wales, UK. He was an assistant director and production manager, known for Saturn 3 (1980), Eye of the Needle (1981) and Cul-de-sac (1966). He died on 6 April 2020.- Georg Martin Lange was born on 28 October 1937 in Danzig, Freie Stadt Danzig. He was a director, known for Beat! Beat! Beat! (1966), Karneval am Rhein (1954) and Das Sonntagskonzert (1969). He died on 6 April 2020.
- A Lebanese actress. The beginning of her acting career was through the school theater, before deciding to professionally act despite the opposition of her family. Her beginnings were through television in the sixties of the twentieth century, where she participated in several series, including Mashar Ramadan in 1967. Then she participated in many Egyptian and Lebanese films. The most prominent of which is, The Three Swindlers and The Loss. While the most prominent of her series are Alia and Essam and Amalia.
- Composer
- Music Department
M.K. Arjunan was born on 25 August 1936 in Chirattapalam, Fort Kochi, British India. He was a composer, known for C.I.D. Nazir (1971), Nyayavidhi (1986) and Ariyappedatha Rahasyam (1981). He died on 6 April 2020 in Kochi, Kerala, India.- Producer
- Director
- Cinematographer
Heinz Scheiderbauer was born on 5 April 1923 in Vienna, Austria. He was a producer and director, known for Hello Austria - Hello Vienna (1990), Mother's Day (1994) and Das Siegel (1998). He died on 6 April 2020 in Vienna, Austria.- Earl G. Graves Sr. was born on 9 January 1935 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Earl G. was married to Barbara Kydd. Earl G. died on 6 April 2020.
- Addie was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 14, 1924. She was married to Theodore John Stein (Ted) and had four daughters Stella Marie, Catherine Marie, Margaret Anne, and Elizabeth Marie. Addie appeared in numerous commercials, industry videos, TV shows, and game shows. Addie commonly portrayed the stereotypical Italian grandma.
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Onaje Allan Gumbs was born on 3 September 1949 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a composer, known for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010), Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (2002) and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001). He was married to Sandra Wright. He died on 6 April 2020 in Yonkers, New York, USA.- Radomir Antic was born on 22 November 1948 in Zitiste, Serbia, Yugoslavia. He died on 6 April 2020 in Madrid, Spain.
- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Heikki Aarva was born on 10 June 1936 in Viipuri, Finland. He was a director and producer, known for Tennistunnilla (1962), Teerenpeliä (1963) and Pyjamahäät (1963). He was married to Pirkko Aarva. He died on 6 April 2020.- Hendrik Jan Korterink was a producer, known for Moordvrouwen (2011) and EénVandaag (1993). He died on 6 April 2020 in Zwolle, Overijssel, Netherlands.
- 15-time All-Star Al Kaline of the Detroit Tigers was one of the premier baseball players of his generation, slugging 399 home-runs and amassing 3,007 hits in those less-statistics crazy times. (In this era, Kaline -- who announced his retirement before his final season of 1974 and stuck to it -- would have come back for another season to hit homer #400, one of the great benchmarks of that time, before steroids and human growth hormone made nonsense to the baseball power-hitting records in the late 1990s.) The winner of 10-gold gloves for fielding excellence, Kaline was greatly respected as an all-around star player with all the tools, like his contemporary Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox, who became the first American League Player to hit 400 dingers and 3,000 hits in 1979.
Kaline, who had the desire to excel at baseball, did not have the desire to upstage Yaz by pointing out that it was something he easily could have done, and was gracious when the Red Sox left fielder set the milestones in 1979. Perhaps Kaline could afford to be generous, for unlike Yaz, who was perpetually a bridesmaid and never a bride when it came to the post-season (Yaz's BoSox even lost the A.L. East pennant to Kaline and Billy Martin's Tigers by Tigers won the 1968 World's Championship. Distinct underdogs to the the same St. Louis Cardinals team, and post-season marvel Bob Gibson, who had beaten Yaz's "Impssible Dream" BoSox the year before and had whipped the last team of the great Yankees Dynasty, the '64 Bronx Bombers of Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard and Whitey Ford, the Tigers made history by staging one of the great upsets in World Series history. The '68 battle royal for the World's Championship was almost as good, and legendary, as the '67 Series, and like the previous match-up of the Cards and the American League contender, it had gone done to the seventh and deciding game. Though the Cardinals were mighty, it was the Tigers behind the pitching of donut-maven Mickey Lolich who prevailed. Al hit .379 with two homers and eight runs batted in during the Series, further establishing his credentials as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Al Kaline had been signed as a "Bonus Baby" by the Tigers in 1953, and under the extant rules of Major League Baseball, had gone straight to the major league team, bypassing the minor leagues. (To justify the bonus, or rather, to limit the payout of large bonuses, MLB required teams signing young players to large bonuses to keep them on the major league roster for part of the year, every year, or lose them.) The 18-year old Kaline came up for a cup of coffee with the Tigers in 1953, and then played a total of 22 seasons for them, a record only surpassed by Yaz for the Red Sox and Brooks Robinson for the Baltimore Orioles, who in those pre-free-agent times, played a total of 23 years for the same team. Kaline blossomed early, winning his first and only batting title in 1955, at the tender age of 20, leading both leagues with a .340 average. Kaline became the youngest player ever to win a batting title, establishing that record by nosing out fellow Tiger Ty Cobb by one day.
Although he never won a Most Valuable Player Award, Kaline ranked in the Top 10 in M.V.P. votes nine times between 1955 and 1967, coming in second in '55 and '63 and third in '56. Never a true power hitter, he was remarkably consistent and steady in his production, hitting a minimum of 25 homers seven times and hitting over .300 nine times, playing primarily in what is becoming known as baseball's second "Dead Ball Era". His superb fielding was a marvel, and he once went 242 consecutive games in the field without committing an error. Kaline was the type of player a general manager dreams of building a franchise around.
Fittingly, Al Kaline was known as "Mr. Tiger" when he retired after the 1974 season. Kaline was the most popular player in the Detroit franchise's history (the dyspeptic Cobb was a greater player and highly respected by Tigers fans, but not particularly beloved). After his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in his first year of eligibility, his number 6 was the first number ever to be retired by the Tigers. - Sound Department
- Music Department
- Composer
Ian MacPherson was born on 18 August 1935 in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland, UK. He was a composer, known for If Only (2004), Imagine Me & You (2005) and Dear Frankie (2004). He died on 6 April 2020 in Ealing, London, England, UK.