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In Memoriam: Entertainment Industry Celebrity Deaths

Kromm

By Kromm
in Everything Else TV

Mr. Sparkle
Message added by Mr. Sparkle,

Reminder:

This thread is for deaths of celebrities in the entertainment business only. No notices about politicians, please. 

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TigerLynx

TigerLynx

I also love him in as Hendley "The Scrounger" in The Great Escape. His relationship with Donald Pleasance is the heart of that movie IMO.

 

 

The look on Hendley's face when he realizes his friend is dead is so heartbreaking, and says more than any words could.

 

I loved James Garner in everything he was in.

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Bastet
Bastet

Piss up a rope, Val Kilmer.  If your physical illness got so bad that your life utterly sucked and no end to that suffering was in sight, so that suicide was or seemed to be the best of the available

wilsie
wilsie
BetterButter
BetterButter

Olivia Newton-John Has Died At 73

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amaranta

amaranta

I adored James Garner.  I watched both Maverick and The Rockford Files (loved the answering machine opens) in syndication / online, leading me to seek out his movies: The Great Escape, Murphy's Romance, Support Your Local Sheriff, Victor/Victoria - hell, just about everything.  Even the ones with Doris Day.  He also starred in two of my favorite TV movies: Barbarians at the Gate and Promise*. 

 

Plus I thought he was really hot.

 

RIP, Jim.

 

*Promise is wonderful.  He and James Woods were both amazing.  It was made back when the Hallmark Hall of Fame series was still worth something. Perhaps the Hallmark channel will air it as a tribute.

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Snowprince

Snowprince

(edited)

I'll always remember Mr Garner as American  F1 driver Pete Aaron in the 1966 movie Grand Prix. Driving instructor/coach Bob Bondurant said of Garner that he was the only one of the principle cast that had the natural talent to have been competitive on the F1 circuit. He did have a very successful amateur racing career as a sideline to acting. 

He was a class act all the way. The beauty of his performances was that you never caught him "acting", he just WAS the character.

 

Rest peacefully, sir. 

Edited by Snowprince
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Slade347

Slade347

I've actually been watching The Rockford Files here and there in recent weeks. Those still hold up incredibly well, and Garner proves to be an amazingly charismatic lead. He'll always be Rockford first and foremost to me, but he had such a wonderful career, in both movies and TV. A true legend.

 

Oh and it turns out he won 2 Purple Hearts and was married to the same woman for 58 years. 

 

What a loss. RIP.

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ABay

ABay

(edited)

Reading the appreciations on Deadline and other sites reminded me of two things:

How brilliant The Skin Game is. I loved that movie. Garner and Lou Gosset (as he was then called) were fantastic together.

And, although I enjoy Victor/Victoria a lot, I wish they'd had the guts to have King kiss "Victor" without being sure he was a she. The bath scene really undermines that moment, imo.

 

Ooops, make that 3 things: He and Donald Pleasance were the most touching part of The Great Escape and they were the only ones whose fates I really cared about.

 

OK, 4 things (no one expects the Spanish Inquistiion and their 2...3...4 most important weapons...). I recall Tom Selleck talking about hard it was for him to get a break in TV because he's so tall, and so many leading men are short and self-conscious about it. It was Garner who gave him his first big break with the recurring character of Lance (?) on The Rockford Files. I think that and an appearance on Murder, She Wrote led to his getting the role of Magnum.

Edited by ABay
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Kromm

Kromm

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Damn.  Okay first Columbo went.  Then Quincy.  Now Rockford.  And Kojak went YEARS ago.  Who's left?

 

Well Baretta is still around!  Err... whoops.  Not a good example.

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MarkHB

MarkHB

(edited)

Mike Connors (Mannix) is still around (unless someone hacked his WP entry), as is Michael Douglas (cf. The Streets of San Francisco). 

 

Re: John Denver (mentioned on the prior page).  I have a friend who works at the college at which his daughter played volleyball.  Apparently, he would occasionally show up on her road trips, and wind up hanging out with the team in the evening, leading them in a singalong.  Regardless of how people feel about his music, I can't imagine anyone more perfect for a singalong (around a campfire or not) than John Denver.

Edited by MarkHB
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Bastet

Bastet

My parents returned from a short trip this morning - during which I took care of their cats - and when I greeted them with, "Did you hear James Garner died?" they were both bummed.  As am I.  (We can perhaps blame my mother; a few days ago she came across The Rockford Files on TV and thought about how Garner was getting up there in years and would probably die soon.)

 

There was something compelling about him that made even characters/shows/films I'd otherwise dismiss as "boyfic" (even long before I had a name for it) enjoyable.   

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mightycrone

mightycrone

James Garner is one of a handful of actors who is equally popular with men and women.  In fact, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they don't like him.  

 

I didn't like Westerns, detective stories or commercials, yet somehow JG overcame all my objections and invited me in.  He invited all of us in just by being who he was:  funny, smart and bemused without ever over-winking to the audience.  It's a testament to his personality that so many have written about these qualities before they even get around to mentioning his looks.  He will be missed.  

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MarkHB

MarkHB

Skye McCole Bartusiak died Saturday.  It looks like she had sort of a "trickling-along" career after outgrowing child-actressdom.  She's minor-enough celebrity-wise that I probably wouldn't have mentioned it, except... damn, dead (apparently of epilepsy or complications thereof) at the age of 21.

 

Celebrity #JamesGarner tribute tweets.  I love the one where they were looking for him when they cast Don Draper.  No pressure, Jon Hamm!

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shlbycindyk

shlbycindyk

Back in 1966 my dad was sitting in an airport in California waiting to be shipped out to Viet Nam. A tall man came over, sat down next to him, and talked to him for about 2 hours. It was James Garner. He was on his way over to do a USO show. I've always liked him because of this and because I thought he was a good actor. My dad said he was very nice and you would have never guessed he was someone famous. He said he acted like a regular guy and took his mind off where he was going for just a little while. I'm going to miss James Garner.

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BizBuzz

BizBuzz

Indeed, it is. Changed.

 

I am wondering if we should just merge this topic with the Celebrity Deaths one in Everything Else TV...

 

I was actually thinking the same thing ...

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VanillaBear85

VanillaBear85

(edited)

I first saw James Garner in My Fellow Americans and loved him in that movie, but I love pretty much everything about that movie.

Rockford is on Netflix if anyone wants to check it out.

Edited by VanillaBear85
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VCRTracking

VCRTracking

Skye McCole Batrusiak, who played Mel Gibson's daughter in The Patriot died last week of an apparent . She also appeared in The Cider House Rules and Don't Say a World. She had been suffering epileptic seizures recently and died in her sleep. She was only 21.

 

This scene always made me cry:

 

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walnutqueen

walnutqueen

Back in 1966 my dad was sitting in an airport in California waiting to be shipped out to Viet Nam. A tall man came over, sat down next to him, and talked to him for about 2 hours. It was James Garner. He was on his way over to do a USO show. I've always liked him because of this and because I thought he was a good actor. My dad said he was very nice and you would have never guessed he was someone famous. He said he acted like a regular guy and took his mind off where he was going for just a little while. I'm going to miss James Garner.

 

This made me cry, @shlbycindyk.  Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful memory.

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Athena

Athena

Mod note: We merged the In Memoriam topic from Movies with this one.

 

I'm sad about James Garner. My first movie was with him and Doris Day, but I also enjoyed him in the Americanization of Emily. He just seemed to be a class act all around.

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ABay

ABay

(edited)

Someone posted in the TCM topic that TCM will be running his movies all day next Monday. I looked at the line-up and cannot believe The Great Escape is not on it the list, and am disappointed neither of the Support Your Local... is. The Americanization of Emily is on it, though. @mariah23, I've borrowed your link: TCM schedule of James Garner films 7/28.

Edited by ABay
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Snowprince

Snowprince

James Shigeta has died. The story begins with films, but it's his many TV performances that I remember.

Always had great respect for Mr Shigeta. I don't think I've ever seen him give a sub par performance, regardless of the material given. I'll miss him.

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BizBuzz

BizBuzz

Hello Folks!

 

Even though this thread is housed in the Everything Else TV Forum, please understand that any celebrity's death can be noted here.  This includes TV actors/actresses, hosts, writers, directors, contestants, well, you get the picture.

 

One thread to house any famous (or not so famous) passing.

 

Thanks!

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Cobalt Stargazer

Cobalt Stargazer

Very sad news - Robin Williams has passed away at sixty-three years old. Some sources are claiming it was suicide, but his publicist has failed to confirm that. He was apparently battling severe depression, though. Farewell, Mr. Williams, and thank you for all of the laughs. It feels like the end of an era.

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ABay

ABay

ABC News just broke into Jeopardy to announce his death. I agree this is very sad, regardless of the cause of death, but interrupting programming because an actor has died? Come on.

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JayKay

JayKay

My local news just said that Robin Williams committed suicide involving asphyxia. I was really hoping I'd come here and find out it was a hoax. This is surreal. That's so sad.

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Sharpie66

Sharpie66

I'm actually both shocked and simultaneously thinking, "I was surprised he made it to 63." Yesterday, I heard a nice memory that Adam Savage from Mythbuster had about Robin Williams during the filming of Bicentenniel Man--Adam was behind Williams in the craft services line, and they started talking about a news story about the apprehension of a boat that was smuggling a bunch of cocaine off the CA coast. Adam said he had never laughed so hard in his life when Williams went into a 15 minute long riff on all of the people coming to "help" secure the boat, topped off with a high dolphin.

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raven

raven

Wow just saw this online.  What a shame.  I just watched Good Will Hunting the other day and was as impressed with his performance then as the first time I saw it.

 

Saw him in live standup years ago - well worth it.  So sad, he was so talented.  Condolences to the family :((

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GHScorpiosRule

GHScorpiosRule

Just got home and saw this. I'm still in a state of shock. Just like when news of Michael Jackson's death was being announced, and I thought it was a hoax, I thought that maybe this was too. So very, very sad. I remember him from his appearance on Happy Days...which of course, set up his show, Mork and Mindy.

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BoogieBurns

BoogieBurns

@ABay I was watching E! News and they did not interrupt the show at all, they just put it on the banner below the show. I would have preferred a quick interruption. Especially since I was watching news about the entertainment industry. I switched to CNN once I got a text letting me know that it was for real.

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Mya Stone

Mya Stone

I know that people think we idolize celebrity culture, but truly, so many people grew up on his shows and movies. As a child of divorce, Mrs. Doubtfire will forever be in my heart as the movie that explained to me why my parents wouldn't work out, and why it was okay. 

My heart hurts for his family, and those close to him. 

Depression is such a serious disease. If nothing else, I hope this sheds some light onto this crippling disease a little more. 

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FormerMod-a1

FormerMod-a1

It is so sad. I have loved him since Mork & Mindy and have loved so many of his movies.  Depression is so sad (not trying to be ironic there).  I feel for his family and friends that are left behind.  I hope they can find some peace in the wake of this tragedy.

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