In Memoriam: Celebrity Deaths

[Irlandesa 28.9k]

Oh no Reege. 😞

[UYI 17.6k]

Hot take: Regis was the greatest Millionaire of host of all time, point blank and the period. The show was never the same after he left.

Jeopardy! is airing reruns for a special "Best of Celebrity Jeopardy!" week starting Monday--the very first episode from 1992 is that day, with Carol Burnett, Donna Mills...and Regis.

I always adored him, and I'm glad he got nearly a decade of retirement after leaving Live! in 2011. It was certainly well deserved. His name is Latin for "king"--and on television, he was most certainly that, a king. RIP. :'( 

[Spartan Girl 39.4k]

First Peter Green, then Regis Philbin...rule of threes, guys.

*braces self*

[Calvada 6.2k]

I never watched the morning show, but I always enjoyed Regis when he was on the David Letterman show. 

[Robert Lynch 6.4k]

It’s like a little part of me died when I heard the news. Regis....he always spoke highly of his wife all the time. His last appearance was on FOTB. I honestly thought he would make it to 100.

[rcc 16.0k]

Joy and the family must be devastated. Regis was well loved.

[Blergh 20.2k]

I feel sorry for the family of Mr. Philbin and those who liked him as a person and performer. 88 years is an impressive age. 

[stonehaven 3.4k]

88 is a good age but not for Reegee......He deserved to live eternally. His appearances on Letterman were comedy gold. His spunk and attitude and love for life were unmatched. I agree there was no better host for Millionaire. 

[VCRTracking 23.8k]

It really is like the end of an era.

[MissAlmond 11.3k]

1 hour ago, BetterButter said:

 

Just coming to post this.  Here's another link, this one from NPR:  https://www.npr.org/2020/07/25/895416024/longtime-tv-host-regis-philbin-dies-at-88

R.I.P. Mr. Philbin.

[Annber03 27.1k]

Man, two big legends gone today. Damn.

Rest in peace, Peter Green and Regis Philbin. Condolences to their loved ones. 

[catlover79 6.0k]

His energy and enthusiasm were unmatched. God rest you, Reege. 💖

[MissAlmond 11.3k]

Tributes to Regis Philbin: https://deadline.com/2020/07/regis-philbin-death-reactions-by-fans-and-celebrities-1202995105/

[UYI 17.6k]

 

Edited July 25, 2020 by UYI

[Hiyo 10.8k]

RIP Peter Green.

[andromeda331 23.8k]

RIP Regis

[UYI 17.6k]

"You look like Buddy Hackett after a bad clam."

 

[lurkerbee 440]

 

[Calvada 6.2k]

43 minutes ago, lurkerbee said:

 

Letterman's first tweet in over a year.  They were so great together.  Regis took over the role Tony Randall had, the guest in NYC they could call whenever they needed someone for a bit, or when a guest canceled.  

[BetterButter 3.9k]

John Saxon, 'Enter the Dragon,' 'Nightmare on Elm Street' Actor, Dies at 83

[Vermicious Knid 4.6k]

Never really had Regis much on my radar until I went away to college, and then I would start my mornings watching Regis and Kathy Lee on my tiny 13" TV before classes (managed to never have an 8am class). And I was familiar with him mostly from Letterman before that, who I discovered late in high school. He really did represent a generation. I don't think I've heard anyone say anything bad, ever, about him.

[Hiyo 10.8k]

RIP John Saxon.

[roamyn 7.3k]

8 hours ago, BetterButter said:

John Saxon, 'Enter the Dragon,' 'Nightmare on Elm Street' Actor, Dies at 83

And there’s your third.  John Saxon was everywhere & in everything.  Esp in the 70s & 80s.  He was that actor you knew, but didn’t.  A journeyman, who usually played baddies. I liked him in everything I saw him in, even if he did tend to overact sometimes.
 

Regis, a person in which every superlative is probably true.  He was a great host who meshed well with both his long-time female co-hosts, because he knew how to counter balance with each.  
 

RIP to both men.

[MissAlmond 11.3k]

3 hours ago, roamyn said:

And there’s your third.  John Saxon was everywhere & in everything.  Esp in the 70s & 80s.  He was that actor you knew, but didn’t.  A journeyman, who usually played baddies. I liked him in everything I saw him in, even if he did tend to overact sometimes.

Yep.  One look at John Saxon's filmography on IMDB shows that.  He even has two projects not released because they're in pre/post production.  R.I.P. Mr. Saxon.  

[VCRTracking 23.8k]

Loved his character Roper in "Enter the Dragon". When I was a kid I saw this old  movie on cable starring Lana Turner and a young John Saxon. "Portrait in Black". Completely forgot what it's about so I think I'll watch it again today.

Edited July 26, 2020 by VCRTracking

[shoregirl 3.5k]

Olivia de Havilland passed away.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jul/26/olivia-de-havilland-star-of-gone-with-the-wind-dies-at-104

[ebk57 8.4k]

This is truly the end of times

[UYI 17.6k]

You can't ask for much more than to live to the age of 104. It IS strange, though, that she and Kirk Douglas were the EXACT same age, and they wound up each dying this exact same year.

In the end, though, it should be noted, in real life, Melanie outlived them all. RIP.

 

[Spartan Girl 39.4k]

Oh God I knew it. I knew that it would happen THIS year.

But you know what? I'm not sad. I mean, I'm a little sad but she made it to 104. She had a long full life, a stellar career and left this horrible year with all the class and dignity she had in life. A legend to the very end.

So rest in peace Olivia de Havilland. You deserve it. Hope you finally made peace with Joan on the other side.

[Blergh 20.2k]

10 minutes ago, UYI said:

You can't ask for much more than to live to the age of 104. It IS strange, though, that she and Kirk Douglas were the EXACT same age, and they wound up each dying this exact same year.

In the end, though, it should be noted, in real life, Melanie outlived them all. RIP.

 

It seems except for the two performers who played Melanie's son Beau as a baby and a preteen.  One can't say Miss De Havilland didn't have a full life but I wish she had won that lawsuit against those TV movie producers which depicted her (not an 'Olivia De Havilland type') saying things that there is no record of her having said including appearing on a talk show to dis Bette Davis and Joan Crawford which she did NOT do!  Regardless, it appears she kept her faculties virtually to the end so that's definitely a blessing! RIP, Miss De Havilland! 

[Macbeth 7.3k]

16 minutes ago, shoregirl said:

Olivia de Havilland passed away.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jul/26/olivia-de-havilland-star-of-gone-with-the-wind-dies-at-104

Olivia de Havilland passing away is the end of an era. 

Thank you for your artistry Ms. de Havilland.

 

[MissAlmond 11.3k]

34 minutes ago, shoregirl said:

Olivia de Havilland passed away.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jul/26/olivia-de-havilland-star-of-gone-with-the-wind-dies-at-104

And there it is.  The Hollywood Big One.  Miss Olivia de Havilland.  Everyone talks about Melanie in Gone With The Wind.  Pffft.  Give me Olivia in The Snake Pit.  My God, Olivia in The Heiress!  That change of voice and you knew she was done with Ralph Richardson.  Walking up the stairs as Montgomery Clift beats fanatically at the door.  Brilliant performances!  TCM won't disappoint and I'll watch both again as tribute.  R.I.P. Miss de Havilland.

Edited July 26, 2020 by MissAlmond

[Hiyo 10.8k]

And thus we can say the Golden Age of Hollywood is truly gone.

RIP Queen de Havilland, a class act and true talent.

Edited July 26, 2020 by Hiyo

[Wiendish Fitch 9.6k]

The last major star of Classic Hollywood is gone. Olivia de Havilland was an honest to God legend, and she left this world like the same quiet strength she conveyed in her films. She will be missed and never, ever, ever forgotten, least of all by me.

10 minutes ago, MissAlmond said:

  My God, Olivia in The Heiress!  That change of voice and you knew she was done with Ralph Richardson.  Walking up the stairs as Montgomery Clift beats fanatically at the door.  Brilliant performances!  TCM won't disappoint and I'll watch both again as tribute.  R.I.P. Miss de Havilland.

Same. I cannot recommend The Heiress enough. As good as de Havilland is in Gone With the Wind, The Heiress is well and truly her movie.

[Hiyo 10.8k]

The fact that she made us care so much about Melanie in GWTW, when we had Scarlett to love (and/or love to hate), is a good enough testament to her talents as an actress.

She took what could have been a schmaltzy one note role and made it her own, giving the character depth and gravitas that honestly wasn’t always there in the script, and held her own against 2 other Golden Age legends in that movie.

Kudos to her for that.

Edited July 26, 2020 by Hiyo

[Writing Wrongs 6.6k]

I remember John Saxon from Falcon Crest and the Bigfoot episode of Six Million Dollar Man. And of course, Nightmare On Elm Street.

[Browncoat 23.9k]

RIP Olivia de Havilland.  Truly a great actress.

[CrazyInAlabama 31.3k]

I always enjoyed John Saxon in everything he was in.

The death of legendary actress Olivia de Havilland is truly the end of Hollywood's Golden Era.     

It was a very hard film to watch, but "The Snake Pit" helped to change treatment of mental illness in this country.    Showing the horrific conditions that mental patients were subjected too started people discussing this. 

She also sued, and won to break the monopoly the studios had on actors' careers, where they could suspend them for refusing to do a particular movie, and then extend their contract endlessly. 

Edited July 26, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[VCRTracking 23.8k]

And wow, her in "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte"!

[ShadowHunter 4.2k]

Damn 2020 that is ENOUGH!  R.I.P. to all those we have lost. 

[RealHousewife 22.6k]

21 minutes ago, ShadowHunter said:

Damn 2020 that is ENOUGH!  R.I.P. to all those we have lost. 

Seriously.

I watched a lot of Regis in my childhood. Really sad he's gone. Also RIP John Saxon, what an incredible career. I'm ready for 2021. 😞

I'm a GWTW fan, and I always thought it was so cool Olivia was still alive. The stories she must have had! There was something comforting about that, like we had this connection to that magical time of Old Hollywood, that it couldn't have been as long ago as it seemed. I don't like the racism that took place back then, but I love just about everything else. The mystique of the actors, the beautiful movies that you could watch as a family, the gorgeous costumes. Movies just aren't the same nowadays. 

Edited July 26, 2020 by RealHousewife

[legaleagle53 12.2k]

1 hour ago, Hiyo said:

The fact that she made us care so much about Melanie in GWTW, when we had Scarlett to love (and/or love to hate), is a good enough testament to her talents as an actress.

She took what could have been a schmaltzy one note role and made it her own, giving the character depth and gravitas that honestly wasn’t always there in the script, and held her own against 2 other Golden Age legends in that movie.

Kudos to her for that.

It's well known that Olivia fought hard for the role of Melanie. She had wanted to play Melanie from the moment she was introduced to the book, but she was under contract to Warner Bros. at the time, and in those days, an actor or actress had to have permission from the studio boss to work for another studio, and Jack Warner repeatedly refused to let Olivia even audition for the part of Melanie (although she had already read for the part behind his back because the producers of Gone with the Wind wanted her for the part), until she went over Jack's head and appealed to his wife for help.

And yes, it's truly the end of an era. But 104 is a DAMN good run, and for her to retain her sharp wit, her keen sense of humor, and her no-nonsense personality right to the end? We should ALL be so lucky.  RIP, Olivia!

[Hiyo 10.8k]

The fact that she had the guts to take on Ryan Murphy, arguably the biggest name on TV these days, even though she lost, over how she was portrayed in Feud? Right to the end indeed.

[VCRTracking 23.8k]

Confession: I can't think her name without first hearing the way Elmer Fudd says it because of that part of "The Wild Hare" the first Bugs Bunny cartoon and Bugs is behind him covering his eyes saying "Guess who?" and Elmer goes "Hedy Wamar? Babwa Stanwyck? Owivia Dehavawind?"

Edited July 26, 2020 by VCRTracking

[Annber03 27.1k]

2 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

And yes, it's truly the end of an era. But 104 is a DAMN good run, and for her to retain her sharp wit, her keen sense of humor, and her no-nonsense personality right to the end? We should ALL be so lucky. 

Right? I'd definitely be cool with going out like that. 

May she rest in peace. 

[Inquisitionist 6.4k]

Ms. De Havilland and I shared a birth date, 40 years apart.   I will have to track down The Heiress and The Snake Pit, as somehow I've managed never to see either.  What struck me in the NY Times obituary was the impact she had on Hollywood as a business:

Quote

 

The studio had misread her determination. She began to refuse roles she considered inferior. Warner retaliated by suspending her several times, for a total of six months, and, after her contract expired, insisting that because of the suspensions she was still the studio’s property for six more months.

Ms. de Havilland sued. The case dragged on for a year and a half but David finally beat Goliath when the California Supreme Court upheld a lower-court ruling in her favor in 1945. What became known as the de Havilland decision established that a studio could not arbitrarily extend the duration of an actor’s contract.

 

 

[GreekGeek 4.1k]

Aw. Less than a month ago, I was commenting on her work in In This Our Life, She had the less flamboyant goody-goody role once again, this time opposite Bette Davis. It's good to remember those two titanesses did a movie together before Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, where de Havilland was again supposed to be the "plain" one, but evil this time.

[Hiyo 10.8k]

A nice article by someone who worked for her as an assistant, circa 2011.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jul/26/olivia-de-havilland-what-its-like-working-for-a-hollywood-legend

[UYI 17.6k]

7 hours ago, ebk57 said:

This is truly the end of times

It is certainly the end of an era in terms of the Golden Age of Hollywood (Eva Marie Saint is still alive, but technically she started her career AFTER what most people think of as the Golden Age), but as a certain character in one of Dame Olivia's movies once said,"Tomorrow is always another day." I am probably WAY too much of an optimist (annoyingly so, as many of you have probably noticed here--I'm sorry!), but while this year, like 2016, has brought a lot of difficulties and a lot of loss (especially among the more famous on this Earth), the older I get, the more I fail to see any year as all good or all bad--and times get dark, I always try to look for the light, and in this case, ODH's long life is definitely a shining light unto itself.

...Like I said, I am NOT snarky or cynical enough for this place. I need to work on that so y'all don't turn on me! *hides*

Edited July 26, 2020 by UYI

[Annber03 27.1k]

1 minute ago, UYI said:

....Like I said, I am NOT snarky or cynical enough for this place. I need to work on that so y'all don't turn on me! *hides*

I'm the same way. We shall sit and be non-snarky and non-cynical together :D.

(I do actually enjoy snarkiness sometimes, I'm just not as good at being snarky as some other people are :p.)