In Memoriam 2020

He was born in the USA while his Australian parents were in Boston at the time. He has two sisters and a brother and his father is a doctor for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. He was raised on a farm near (Benalla, North East Victoria) He left school early and moved to Queensland, shearing sheep and breaking horses, before heading overseas. He applied to National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) graduating in 1996. His theatre work includes the plays The Caucasian Chalk Circle and the Bell Shakespeare Company production of The Tempest.

He has a son, Ariel, (1989), from a relationship with actress Rachael Maza.

Veronika Fitz was born on 28 March 1936 in Dießen am Ammersee, Germany. She was an actress, known for Die Hausmeisterin (1987), Königlich Bayerisches Amtsgericht (1969) and Im Tal des Schweigens (2004). She was married to Willy Anders. She died on 2 January 2020 in Bad Aibling, Bavaria, Germany.

Élisabeth Rappeneau was born on 19 January 1940 in Auxerre, Yonne, France. She was a director and writer, known for Fréquence meurtre (1988), J'ai peur d'oublier (2011) and Le sauvage (1975). She died on 2 January 2020 in Paris, France.

British light leading man, on stage from 1951 and in films from 1953. Having initially aspired to be a dancer, Beeny joined the Ballet Rambert company in London at the age of eight but later switched to acting and eventually graduated from RADA in 1959. By then he had already achieved a measure of popularity on TV as a 12-year old juvenile in the original British soap opera The Grove Family (1954). He ultimately became best known as the smart-alecky footman and chauffeur Edward in Upstairs, Downstairs (1971). During a seven year hiatus from acting between 1963 and 1970, Beeny worked in the building industry. He resumed his career on the small screen in Softly Softly: Task Force (1969) and The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971). He then replaced Reg Varney as the foreman Tony in the relaunch of The Rag Trade (1975), played a birdbrained undertaker in the funeral sitcom In Loving Memory (1969) and was latterly seen as an inept debt collector in Last of the Summer Wine (1973). His appearances on the big screen have been infrequent. His second wife was the singer Diana Kirkwood.

Károly Gesztesi was born on 16 April 1963 in Budapest, Hungary. He was an actor, known for A titkos hely (2003), Valami Amerika (2002) and Just Sex and Nothing Else (2005). He was married to Claudia Liptai, Zsuzsa Csarnóy and Nikoletta Karel. He died on 4 January 2020 in Budapest, Hungary.

The youngest of five children, Robert Clinton Blanche was born to Mary Edith Blanche (Heavner) and Richard Keith Blanche on March 30, 1962 in Pomona, California, but spent most of his life in Oregon. He joined SAG (Screen Actors Guild) in 1995 and served as Portland SAG Branch President for many years pre-merger and Portland SAG-AFTRA Local President from 2017-19. In addition to his work locally, he served as Vice Chair of the National SAG Indie Committee from 2007-08. Since 1996, he served as member or alternate of the TV/Theatrical, Low Budget and Agency committees.

Silvio Horta was born on 14 August 1974 in Miami, Florida, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for Ugly Betty (2006), Urban Legend (1998) and The Chronicle (2001). He died on 7 January 2020 in Miami, Florida, USA.

Prolific, multi-talented comedy writer, story editor, actor and director. His father was an Air Force general (Paul Steinberg Zuckerman) turned stockbroker and his mother was silent screen star Ruth Taylor, formerly a member of Mack Sennett's bathing beauties. Buck Henry's first fling with comedy was as a contributor to the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern magazine (known as 'Jacko') while he was still at college. His fellow writers there included such luminaries as Dr. Seuss, novelist Budd Schulberg and the playwright Frank D. Gilroy. Henry attended Harvard Military Academy for a short time before developing an interest in acting which led to a few small roles on Broadway. His budding career was interrupted by military service during the Korean War. In 1961, Henry joined a small improvisational off-Broadway theatre troupe called The Premise for a year before moving to Hollywood. He was to find his greatest popularity in the 60s as one of the principal hosts of Saturday Night Live (1975), writer for The Garry Moore Show (1958) and co-creator/writer (with Mel Brooks) of Get Smart (1965), for which he won an Emmy in 1967. Prior to that, he had already achieved a certain amount of notoriety as co-perpetrator (with Alan Abel) of a hoax which had Henry masquerading as G. Clifford Prout, Jr., president of the bogus Society for Indecency to Naked Animals, making public appearances on network television and other media, demanding that all zoos and wildlife parks be closed until all animals were "properly dressed". At one time he tried to put huge boxer shorts on a baby elephant at San Francisco Zoo. The hoax was eventually exposed after Henry was spotted as an actor by a fellow CBS employee during a Walter Cronkite interview.

One of a new wave of satirists (others including Woody Allen and Alan Arkin) Henry brought an edgier, smarter, more anarchic and at times abrasive style to his writing. Some of his quotable one-liners (in particular for Get Smart) are - and will continue to be - idiomatic. While he was original, clever and invariably funny, not all of Henry's endeavours panned out. Two of his TV parodies proved to be conspicuous failures: Captain Nice (1967) (a send-up of Batman) and Quark (1977) (a Star Trek parody about interstellar garbage collectors). On the plus side, Henry was Oscar-nominated twice: the first time for his screenplay of The Graduate (1967), the second for co-directing (with star Warren Beatty ) the re-make of Heaven Can Wait (1978). Following The Graduate, a New York Times reviewer described him as a cross between Jack Lemmon and Wally Cox , "a terrifying practical joker and a compulsive reader of 200 periodicals a month". He was much in demand as a guest on talk shows (including Johnny Carson, David Letterman and Dick Cavett) and appeared as a self-deprecating actor in most of the films he wrote: as a hotel desk clerk in The Graduate, the cynical Colonel Korn in Catch-22 (1970), a lunatic in Candy (1968), a priest and a TV anchorman in First Family (1980), and so on. In Milos Forman's Taking Off (1971) he also had a rare co-starring role as a father looking for his runaway daughter. Buck Henry passed away at the age of 89 in Los Angeles on January 8 2020.

Edd Byrnes was born Edward Byrne Breitenberger on July 30, 1932 in New York City, the son of Mary (Byrne) and Augustus "Gus" Breitenberger. Edd shared an impoverished and unhappy childhood with brother Vincent and sister Jo-Ann. Their mother worked hard at various jobs to keep the family together because her alcoholic husband was often absent from the scene.

When Edd was fifteen, his father was found dead in a basement. Edd then dropped his surname (Breitenberger) in favor of "Byrnes", based on the name of his maternal grandfather, Edward Byrne, a New York City fireman. He found escape from family problems at the movies and at the gym, where he developed an athletic body. At age 17 he was approached by a man who offered to take free "physique" photos of him. According to his 1996 autobiography, "Kookie No More", this led to a few years of "hustling" older, well-to-do men, despite the fact that Edd was heterosexual. One of these men acted as Edd's mentor, introducing him to fashion and culture and encouraging his hopes for an acting career.

After doing some summer-stock work and a few bit parts on TV, Edd drove to California in 1955, arriving in Los Angeles on the day James Dean died in a car crash. He managed to get a few minor parts in films and then won a role in a new TV series, 77 Sunset Strip (1958), which premiered in September 1958. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Roger Smith starred as private eyes but Edd, playing a hip-talking parking-lot attendant named "Kookie", won the most attention. Viewers quoted his dialog, ("Baby, you're the ginchiest!"), and young males imitated the way he wielded his ever-present comb. His fan mail soon reached an astonishing 15,000 letters a week and his single with Connie Stevens, "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb", became a top-5 hit. Edd chafed, however, at the restrictions in his Warner Brothers contract, which forced him to turn down roles in Ocean's Eleven (1960), North to Alaska (1960) and Rio Bravo (1959).

He walked off the "77 Sunset Strip" set and in the ensuing months began to drink heavily and visit a psychiatrist, who administered drugs to him. His contract dispute was eventually settled, though not much to his advantage, and when he returned to "77 Sunset Strip" his role was upgraded from "sidekick" to "partner" and he wore a suit and tie. Audience reaction was not good, ratings dropped, and the show was canceled. The hip-talking, hair-combing image clung to him, however, and Edd felt he lost the lead in PT 109 (1963) because President John F. Kennedy didn't want to be played by "Kookie". A few more movies and TV appearances followed, but his career had passed its peak before he turned 30.

In 1962, he married long-time girlfriend Asa Maynor. Their son, Logan, was born on September 13, 1965. Edd and Asa's marriage ended in divorce in 1971, partially due to his substance abuse. In 1982, he succeeded in going "clean and sober" but never remarried. Byrnes died on January 8, 2020, aged 87, in Santa Monica, California.

Ivan Passer was one of the key authors of the "new wave" of Czech cinema, a group of young people who forged an energetic and transgressive film movement in the 1960s, breaking away from the precepts of hard socialist realism. Passer was not only the author of the scenarios of his own films, but he also worked on the scripts of the first four motion pictures made by his countryman, friend and colleague Milos Forman: "Konkurs" (1963), "Black Petr" ( 1964), "Loves of a Blonde" (1965) and "The Firemen's Ball" (1967).

Passer was born in Prague, the son of Marianna (Mandelíková) and Alois Passer. He was the grandson of a silent movie screenwriter. Ivan's parents were persecuted by the Nazis for their Jewish heritage. Ivan was a rebel boy, sent to a boarding school where he became friends with Milos. Together they went to study cinema at the FAMU film school in Prague, but young Ivan was eventually expelled from the academy. By then he had acquired skills in movie-making, some experience and had key friends, such as cinematographer Miroslav Ondricek. With Forman and other friends, they made their first movies.

In 1965 Passer made a remarkable first feature, the beautiful "Intimate Lighting", a film of impressionist inspiration that immediately established his name as a promising new director. But the social pressures and political unrest in Czechoslovakia, which culminated in 1968 with the Soviet invasion, led him into exile the following year. However, in the United States he did not achieve the notoriety of Forman, who received the best proposals, while he rejected offers that did not convince him: for example, he refused to make "Yentl" for a number of reasons, including his conviction that Barbra Streisand was too old and famous for the role, in opposition to other key performers as Mandy Patinkin and Amy Irving. Likewise, he refused to make films with elements of violence, which he always opposed. During World War II he had been directly exposed to violence, and he believed that it was dangerous to represent it in films: violence, he said, affects "some people who are not able to realize the difference between reality and fantasy."

However, he made some worthy movies, such as his American debut "Born to Win" (1971), a complex portrait of a heroin-addict hairdresser; his satire on civil surveillance, "Law and Disorder" (1974); the comedy about money-laundering bankers "Silver Bears" (1977), and the cult film "Cutter's Way" (1981), in which a war veteran investigates a crime, despite he only has one eye, one arm and one leg. For television he directed the biopic "Stalin" in 1992.

Passer taught film at the University of Southern California, and lectured students in foreign film academies. He died in Reno, Nevada, on January 9, 2020.

Stan Kirsch was an American actor and acting coach from New York City. He appeared in television commercials as a child. His most notable acting role was that of young immortal Richie Ryan in the fantasy television series "Highlander: The Series" (1992-1998). His character was introduced as a student and surrogate son for the protagonist Duncan MacLeod (played by Adrian Paul). Richie remained as one of the series' main characters until his death in the finale of the 5th season. Kirsch also depicted an alternate-reality version of Richie in the two-part finale of the 6th season.

In 1972, he appeared in television commercials for Campbell's soup. He would continue to appear in commercials during his early career. He decided to pursue an acting career. His earliest credited role in television was a guest star role in the short-lived western series "Riders in the Sky" (1991). In 1992, Kirsch made a few appearances in the soap opera "General Hospital" (1992-).

Kirsch had his first recurring role as Richie Ryan "Highlander: The Series" . Richie was initially depicted as an orphaned thief, who became a surrogate son for the centuries-old immortal Duncan MacLeod. He was a wisecracking teenager, who felt bewildered when surrounded by immortals with lifelong obsessions and hidden agendas. By the 2nd season, Richie realized that he was also immortal. He started becoming a more cynical character, with lethal conflicts of his own. He also displayed a ruthless streak. The screenwriters eventually decided to write him out. In his final regular episode, the demon Ahriman manipulates Duncan into killing Richie. The event shatters Duncan's self-confidence. Richie's episode turned out to be one the most controversial episodes in the series, as Richie was a fan-favorite character.

In 1995, Kirsch had a memorable guest-star role in the sitcom "Friends" (1994-2004). He played Ethan, the new boyfriend of regular character Monica Geller (played by Courteney Cox). Monica has been told that Ethan is a college student, and she is initially thrilled to date a younger man. Until Ethan confesses that he is a high school student and still underage. Monica breaks up with him in disgust.

Kirsch played two different roles in the legal drama television series "JAG" (1995-2005). He first appeared as a young ensign in 1996, and then as a lieutenant in 2001. He appeared frequently as a guest in other series of this period, such as "Love Boat: The Next Wave" and "Family Law".

Kirsch had a rare role in a theatrical film, when playing deputy sheriff Stuart Dempsey in the horror film "Shallow Ground" (2004). In the film, local police officers arrest an adolescent boy who is covered in blood. The boy becomes the main suspects in several unsolved disappearances in the area. The boy somehow has access to the memories of the dead, and Stuart and several other characters are revealed to have skeletons in their closet. The film debuted at the "Dead by Dawn Edinburgh Horror Film Festival".

Kirsch's acting roles became fewer in the late 2000s, but he had a change in his career path. In 2008, he founded the acting studio "Stan Kirsch Studios.". He primarily worked as an acting coach for the rest of his life. He reportedly had many students, and he was regarded as very good at his job.

Kirsch committed suicide by hanging on January 11, 2020, at the age of 51. The causes for his suicide were unknown. He was survived by his wife and business partner Kristyn Green. The official "Highlander" Facebook page posted an obituary for him, and the press reported grieving reactions by Kirsch's former students. Despite a rather brief career, Kirsch is fondly remembered for his acting roles.

Rocky Johnson was born on 24 August 1944 in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was an actor, known for WWF Championship Wrestling (1972), Spectrum Wrestling (1977) and Wrestling at the Chase (1959). He was married to Ata Johnson, Una Sparks and Sheila. He died on 15 January 2020 in Lutz, Florida, USA.

Neda Arneric was born on 15 July 1953 in Knjazevac, Serbia, Yugoslavia. She was an actress, known for Stand Up Straight, Delfina (1977), Aloa: Festivity of the Whores (1988) and Shaft in Africa (1973). She was married to Milorad Mesterovic, Dejan Karaklajic and Rade Markovic. She died on 10 January 2020 in Belgrade, Serbia.

Hermosillo was one of the most successful Mexican directors. Born in Aguascalientes, a small city in central Mexico, Hermosillo's films dissected the hypocrisy of Mexican middle class and "torn the curtain" behind which many perversities are hidden. He became an important figure in Mexican contemporary cinema, and was known for treating themes of sexual diversity from a personal approach. One of the few openly gay Mexican directors, Hermosillo found great success with Doña Herlinda y su hijo (1985), a comedy about a mother of a gay doctor who manipulates her son, his male lover and his fiancée to fulfill her desire of becoming a grandmother. Homosexual themes in Hermosillo's films can be found in Matinee, El Cumpleaños del Perro, and Las apariencias engañan (1978). Hermosillo was also an explorer of film language. La Tarea is one of the most complex exercises in film style in recent years (the film consists of one long shot, from the POV of a camcorder). Hermosillo's films presented a fresh look at Mexican society. A strong advocate of digital cinema, he made ten feature films in this format.

Neil Peart was one of the most universally respected rock drummers, and was best known for his nearly superhuman, pyrotechnic drum playing, and for providing intellectual lyrics for his band's songs. Neil served as both drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush since 1974, joining bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson. (Rush's lineup remained unchanged since Neil's arrival in 1974.) Rush is the most successful Canadian music group in history, and is the third most prolific seller of consecutive (American) Gold and Platinum Records and videos, behind only The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

Beginning on August 10, 1997, immediately following Rush's "Test For Echo" tour, Neil endured concurrent, seemingly unendurable tragedies when his daughter (and only child) died in a car accident, and then his wife died from cancer 10 months later. This put Rush on indefinite hiatus for the first time, and prompted Neil to write "Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road", his second book. In September 2000, Neil married Los Angeles photographer Carrie Nuttall. They had a daughter, Oliva, in 2009.

Neil rejoined Rush in the studio for 2002's "Vapor Trails," their 17th studio album, which was met with high praise and considered a stellar "comeback" both for Peart and the band. A highly successful 2002 tour brought about the band's long-awaited return to the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The tour ended with Rush's first-ever shows in Brazil, where they played to 125,000 fans in three nights. The final performance of the 2002 tour was captured on DVD as Rush in Rio (2003), which was certified double-platinum within weeks of its release.

After the Vapor Trails album and tour, Neil's writing became more personal. His subsequent live performances, including his trademark percussion solos which showcased his superlative adroitness as a drummer, were regarded as his best to date. His final tour with Rush was 2015's R40 tour, which marked forty years since Neil joined the band. At the end of the tour, Neil announced he was retiring due to arthritis and tendinitis.

Not long after his retirement, Neil was diagnosed with brain cancer. He fought it privately for three and a half years, keeping it secret until he passed from it on January 7, 2020.

Christopher Tolkien is the third son of the author J. R. R. Tolkien, and the editor of much of his father's posthumously published work. He drew the original maps for his father's The Lord of the Rings, which he signed C. J. R. T.

After his father's death, Christopher Tolkien, whom his father had once called his "chief critic and collaborator", embarked on organizing his father's unpublished writings, some of them written on odd scraps of paper a half-century earlier. He worked on the manuscripts and was able to produce an edition of The Silmarillion for publication in 1977.

The Silmarillion was followed by Unfinished Tales in 1980 and The History of Middle-earth in twelve volumes between 1983 and 1996.

In 2007 he published The Children of Húrin, another history that J.R.R. Tolkien didn't complete during his lifetime.

Matthias Scheuring was born on 27 October 1957 in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. He was an actor, known for Anhedonia (2016), Alles was recht ist (2008) and 5 Flaschen für Angelika (1981). He died on 12 January 2020 in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany.

Manfred Friebe is known for Ich bin ein Star - Holt mich hier raus! (2004), Joko gegen Klaas - Das Duell um die Welt (2012) and Kaya Yanar & Paul Panzer - Stars bei der Arbeit (2011). Manfred died on 15 January 2020.

Ferdinand Schmidt-Modrow was born on 30 April 1985 in Aichach, Bavaria, West Germany. He was an actor, known for The Wave (2008), Storm of Love (2005) and Die Rosenheim-Cops (2002). He died on 15 January 2020 in Bremerhaven, Bremen, Germany.

London-born character actor Derek Fowlds came to the fore on television as 'Mr. Derek', straight man to the children's puppet Basil Brush (succeeding Rodney Bewes in that capacity), then as private secretary and political advisor Bernard Woolley, diligently keeping the reins on obtuse British Cabinet Minister Jim Hacker (Paul Eddington) in Yes Minister (1980), and, finally, as retired police sergeant -- turned pub proprietor -- Oscar Blaketon during the entire 18-year run of Heartbeat (1992). Having done his national service in the RAF, Fowlds based the Blaketon character on a drill instructor, commenting "I just cut my hair shorter, slicked it back and shouted a lot and Oscar was born."

In his youth, Fowlds aspired to becoming a footballer. He first tried acting in school plays as a bit of a lark. "Just for kicks" he later decided to pursue the profession more seriously, trained at RADA and debuted on stage in a 1961 production of "The Miracle Worker" at London's Wyndham Theatre. Thereafter, he popped up in the occasional motion picture but was considerably more prolific on the small screen where he regularly alternated between comedy and drama. Early on, he played the lead in his own short-lived detective series, Take a Pair of Private Eyes (1966). His autobiography "A Part Worth Playing" was released in 2015.

Christoph Quest was born on 8 October 1940 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Es wäre gut, daß ein Mensch würde umbracht für das Volk (1991), Boat Trip (2002) and Die Geschwister Oppermann (1983). He was married to Frauke and Doris . He died on 18 January 2020 in Berlin, Germany.

Joseph Hannesschläger was born on 2 June 1962 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany. He was an actor, known for Die Rosenheim-Cops (2002), Forsthaus Falkenau (1989) and Sinan Toprak ist der Unbestechliche (2001). He was married to Bettina Geyer. He died on 20 January 2020 in Munich, Germany.

Wolfgang Freundorfer was born on 17 June 1947 in Munich, Germany. He was an actor, known for Storm of Love (2005), Tatort (1970) and Kanal fatal (1986). He died on 15 January 2020 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.

Sigurd Tesche was born on 24 April 1940 in Haan, Germany. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Wild Skagerrak (2016), Fertile Floods: Croatia's Wetlands (2018) and In the Feeding Grounds of the Humpback Whales (2015). He was married to Marlene. He died on 12 January 2020 in Leichlingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Sabine Deitmer was born on 21 October 1947 in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. She was a writer, known for Kalte Küsse (1997) and Neonnächte - Der U-Bahn-Schlitzer (2000). She died on 11 January 2020 in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.