RIP

[Kobi]

Director Jonathan Demme, who won an Academy Award for “The Silence of the Lambs,” has died. He was 73.

In a 46-year career in Hollywood, Demme is best known for directing 1991’s “The Silence of the Lambs” and 1993’s “Philadelphia.” His most recent feature was 2015’s “Ricki and the Flash,” which starred Meryl Streep as an aging rock star.

After starting out directing television commercials, Demme’s film career began in the early 1970’s, writing and directing for B-movie producer Roger Corman. His earliest film credit is as a screenwriter on 1971’s biker movie “Angels Hard as They Come,” and 1974’s “Caged Heat,” written by Demme to satisfy Corman’s desire to fill the “women in prison” niche of exploitation films, was Demme’s directorial debut.

1980’s “Melvin and Howard” was Demme’s first film to win critical acclaim. “Melvin and Howard” is a fictionalized account of a true story, an encounter between reclusive movie mogul Howard Hughes (played by Jason Robards) and a Utah gas station attendant, Melvin Dummar (Paul Le Mat). The film also starred Mary Steenburgen, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance.

“Melvin and Howard,” widely praised by critics including Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael and nominated for a number of Academy Awards and Golden Globes, marked the beginning of a string of successful films for Demme, including 1984’s Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn vehicle “Swing Shift,” 1986’s “Something Wild,” starring Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels, and the 1988 comedy “Married to the Mob,” which featured Michelle Pfeiffer as a mobster’s wife attempting to detach herself from the mafia.

At the same time, Demme was also directing a number of successful documentaries, including the 1984 Talking Heads concert film “Stop Making Sense,” praised by critic Pauline Kael as “close to perfection;” and the Spalding Gray monologue “Swimming to Cambodia” (1987).

But it was 1991’s thriller “The Silence of the Lambs” and 1993’s “Philadelphia” that cemented Demme’s place in the pantheon of great film directors. “The Silence of the Lambs,” based on a novel of the same name by Thomas Harris, starred Jodie Foster as FBI agent Clarice Starling, who must consult with imprisoned serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to track down another killer. The film was a huge critical and popular success, one only three films to win all five major Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.

Demme followed up “The Silence of the Lambs” with the 1993 drama “Philadelphia,” starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. “Philadelphia,” one of the first major movies to deal in depth with the topics of HIV/AIDS and homophobia, is loosely based on a 1987 lawsuit alleging wrongful dismissal because of AIDS discrimination. Roger Ebert called the film “a ground-breaker like ‘Guess Who's Coming to Dinner,’” and Tom Hanks won the Best Actor Academy Award and Golden Globe for his performance.

Demme’s films since “Philadelphia” include 1998’s “Beloved,” a thriller based on a Toni Morrison novel; a 2004 remake of “The Manchurian Candidate,” 2007’s “Man from Plains,” a documentary about former U.S. President Jimmy Carter; and 2008’s “Rachel Getting Married,” widely seen as a return to successful return to the style of Demme’s early 1980s films.

[Kobi]

Character actor Michael Parks, 77, who played memorable roles in films by directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith has died.

Parks’ acting career began with small roles on 1960s television series, and from 1969 to 1970, he starred on NBC’s “Then Came Bronson” as Jim Bronson, a wanderer who motorcycles around the country. Parks also sang the show’s theme song, "Long Lonesome Highway," which became a pop and country hit. The song’s popularity led to a series of MGM albums in the following years.

Though he continued acting through the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, notably playing Canadian drug smuggler Jean Renault in five episodes on David Lynch’s cult classic ABC series “Twin Peaks” in 1990, Parks’ career experienced a resurgence around the turn of the century. Coming to the attention of director Quentin Tarantino, Parks played Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in the Tarantino-written “From Dusk Till Dawn” and the same character again in both of Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” movies as well as in the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino collaboration “Grindhouse.” He also appeared in Tarantino’s acclaimed 2012 drama, “Django Unchained.” The same year, he also played comic book author Jack Kirby in the best picture Oscar-winning “Argo.”

Parks played multiple roles in several movies, including “Kill Bill Vol. I” and Kevin Smith’s “Tusk.” Smith, who called Parks “hands-down, the most incredible thespian I ever had the pleasure to watch perform,” also directed him in the 2011 thriller “Red State.”

[Kobi]

Powers Boothe, a character actor on screens large and small had died. He was 68.

The Emmy Award-winning Boothe excelled in playing evil characters, including his role on the hit TV show "Deadwood." His film credits include "Sin City," "Tombstone," and "The Avengers."

He won his Emmy in 1980 for playing the eponymous crazed cult leader in the television movie "Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones."

Boothe was featured on the HBO series "Deadwood," playing the brothel owner Cy Tolliver. He also had a memorable role as the smarmy Sen. Roark in 2005's "Sin City" and the 2014 sequel "Sin City: A Dame To Kill For."

Fans of "24" remember his turn as acting President Noah Daniels on "24: Redemption."

[Kobi]

Born May 13, 1936, O'Dell was part of a group of young rock 'n' rollers making waves in the Phoenix music scene during the mid-1950s. She was the only woman in that group, which included Duane Eddy, Sanford Clark and producer/songwriter Lee Hazlewood.

“She stood her place with all the guys. She was not looked at as a female player. She was looked at as a player, period,” said Joe Chambers, founder of the Musicians Hall of Fame. “She was just a joy to be around.”

In 1956, she played rhythm guitar on Clark's hit "The Fool," a song written and produced by Hazlewood.

Beginning in 1957, O'Dell played on many Duane Eddy's most memorable recordings, including twangy gems "Rebel Rouser," "Ramrod" and his take on the "Peter Gunn" theme. The pair, who had known each other since they were teenage guitarists in Phoenix, were lifelong friends and sidekicks. Eddy fondly called her "the first side-chick of rock 'n' roll."

In 2014, O'Dell, Barbara Mandrell and Velma Smith were the first three women inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame. Other members of the Class of 2014 included Buddy Guy and Peter Frampton, among others. She called that moment her "Cinderella night," said Chambers. “Corki didn’t miss a beat. She was just tearing it up.”

[NavyButch]

Chris Cornell, the powerful, dynamic singer whose band Soundgarden was one of the architects of grunge music, has died at 52.

Mr. Cornell died Wednesday night in Detroit, said his representative, Brian Bumbery, in a statement that called the death “sudden and unexpected” and that said the singer’s family would be “working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause.”

Mr. Cornell was born in 1964 in Seattle and helped form Soundgarden 20 years later. Sub Pop, then a fledgling record label, released the group’s first single, “Hunted Down,” in 1987, as well as two subsequent EPs. The group’s debut album, “Ultramega OK,” came a year later.

“Badmotorfinger,” released in 1991, benefited from the swell of attention that was beginning to surround the Seattle scene, where Soundgarden, along with Nirvana and Pearl Jam, were playing a high-octane, high-angst brand of rock ’n’ roll. Soundgarden’s musical journeys tended toward the knotty and dark, plunging into off-kilter meters and punctuated by Mr. Cornell’s voice, which could quickly shift from a soulful howl to a gritty growl.

Three of Soundgarden’s studio albums have been certified platinum, including “Superunknown,” from 1994, which featured “Black Hole Sun,” “Fell on Black Days,” “Spoonman” and “My Wave.”

The group — which includes the guitarist Kim Thayil, the bassist Ben Shepherd and the drummer Matt Cameron — disbanded in 1997, but it reunited in 2010 and performed regularly since then. In a review of a 2011 concert at the Prudential Center in Newark, The New York Times chief pop critic Jon Pareles called Soundgarden “one reunited band that can pick up right where it left off.” In 2012, it released “King Animal,” its first album in 16 years, which Mr. Pareles said “sounds like four musicians live in a room, making music that clenches and unclenches like a fist.”

The group played at the Fox Theater in Detroit on Wednesday night, and it had been scheduled to perform in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday at the Rock on the Range festival.

Mr. Cornell appeared to be active on social media in the hours before his death. A post on his Twitter account on Wednesday announced that the group had arrived in Detroit, and a clip of the group’s 2012 release “By Crooked Steps” was posted to his official Facebook page hours before his death.

Mr. Cornell had admitted in interviews to struggling with drug use throughout his life. In a 1994 Rolling Stone article, he described himself as a “daily drug user at 13,” who had quit by the time he turned 14.

After Soundgarden disbanded in 1997, Mr. Cornell returned to heavy drug use, he told The Guardian in a 2009 interview, describing himself as a “pioneer” in the abuse of the opiate OxyContin, and saying that he had gone to rehab.

Mr. Cornell released five solo albums during and after his time with Soundgarden, starting with the 1999 LP “Euphoria Morning.” His 2007 album “Carry On” featured an acoustic cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” that served as the inspiration for a well-received version of the song on “American Idol.” He contributed the song “Seasons” to the soundtrack of “Singles,” Cameron Crowe’s love letter to the Seattle music scene, and performed alongside other members of Soundgarden in the film.
Chris Cornell - "Seasons" Video by Micheleland

In 2001, after Rage Against the Machine’s lead singer, Zack de la Rocha, left the group, Mr. Cornell and members of the band formed Audioslave. The group released three albums before announcing its split in 2007.

Rage Against the Machine posted a message on Twitter honoring Mr. Cornell shortly after news of his death began to spread online.

In November 2016, Mr. Cornell hit the road for the first time with another supergroup of sorts, Temple of the Dog, which features a blend of members of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The group was formed a quarter-century ago as a tribute to Andrew Wood, the lead singer of the Seattle bands Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone, who died in March 1990 of a heroin overdose.

Speaking to The New York Times, Mr. Cornell said the group had decided to finally bring its songs to life to honor Mr. Wood. “I thought, well, this is one thing that I can do to remind myself and maybe other people of who this guy is and was and keep his story and in a way his life with us,” he said.

[Bèsame*]

Originally Posted by NavyButch

Chris Cornell, the powerful, dynamic singer whose band Soundgarden was one of the architects of grunge music, has died at 52.

Mr. Cornell died Wednesday night in Detroit, said his representative, Brian Bumbery, in a statement that called the death “sudden and unexpected” and that said the singer’s family would be “working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause.”

Mr. Cornell was born in 1964 in Seattle and helped form Soundgarden 20 years later. Sub Pop, then a fledgling record label, released the group’s first single, “Hunted Down,” in 1987, as well as two subsequent EPs. The group’s debut album, “Ultramega OK,” came a year later.

“Badmotorfinger,” released in 1991, benefited from the swell of attention that was beginning to surround the Seattle scene, where Soundgarden, along with Nirvana and Pearl Jam, were playing a high-octane, high-angst brand of rock ’n’ roll. Soundgarden’s musical journeys tended toward the knotty and dark, plunging into off-kilter meters and punctuated by Mr. Cornell’s voice, which could quickly shift from a soulful howl to a gritty growl.

Three of Soundgarden’s studio albums have been certified platinum, including “Superunknown,” from 1994, which featured “Black Hole Sun,” “Fell on Black Days,” “Spoonman” and “My Wave.”

The group — which includes the guitarist Kim Thayil, the bassist Ben Shepherd and the drummer Matt Cameron — disbanded in 1997, but it reunited in 2010 and performed regularly since then. In a review of a 2011 concert at the Prudential Center in Newark, The New York Times chief pop critic Jon Pareles called Soundgarden “one reunited band that can pick up right where it left off.” In 2012, it released “King Animal,” its first album in 16 years, which Mr. Pareles said “sounds like four musicians live in a room, making music that clenches and unclenches like a fist.”

The group played at the Fox Theater in Detroit on Wednesday night, and it had been scheduled to perform in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday at the Rock on the Range festival.

Mr. Cornell appeared to be active on social media in the hours before his death. A post on his Twitter account on Wednesday announced that the group had arrived in Detroit, and a clip of the group’s 2012 release “By Crooked Steps” was posted to his official Facebook page hours before his death.

Mr. Cornell had admitted in interviews to struggling with drug use throughout his life. In a 1994 Rolling Stone article, he described himself as a “daily drug user at 13,” who had quit by the time he turned 14.

After Soundgarden disbanded in 1997, Mr. Cornell returned to heavy drug use, he told The Guardian in a 2009 interview, describing himself as a “pioneer” in the abuse of the opiate OxyContin, and saying that he had gone to rehab.

Mr. Cornell released five solo albums during and after his time with Soundgarden, starting with the 1999 LP “Euphoria Morning.” His 2007 album “Carry On” featured an acoustic cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” that served as the inspiration for a well-received version of the song on “American Idol.” He contributed the song “Seasons” to the soundtrack of “Singles,” Cameron Crowe’s love letter to the Seattle music scene, and performed alongside other members of Soundgarden in the film.
Chris Cornell - "Seasons" Video by Micheleland

In 2001, after Rage Against the Machine’s lead singer, Zack de la Rocha, left the group, Mr. Cornell and members of the band formed Audioslave. The group released three albums before announcing its split in 2007.

Rage Against the Machine posted a message on Twitter honoring Mr. Cornell shortly after news of his death began to spread online.

In November 2016, Mr. Cornell hit the road for the first time with another supergroup of sorts, Temple of the Dog, which features a blend of members of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The group was formed a quarter-century ago as a tribute to Andrew Wood, the lead singer of the Seattle bands Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone, who died in March 1990 of a heroin overdose.

Speaking to The New York Times, Mr. Cornell said the group had decided to finally bring its songs to life to honor Mr. Wood. “I thought, well, this is one thing that I can do to remind myself and maybe other people of who this guy is and was and keep his story and in a way his life with us,” he said.

Sad news to learn of his suicide. He had a unique grunge sound and his voice was so unique. His sound will echo thru the 90's.

[Kobi]

Dina Merrill, a beautiful, blonde actress with an aristocratic bearing known as much for her wealthy origins, philanthropy and marriage to actor Cliff Robertson as for her work in film and television, died on Monday. She was 93.

Her parents were Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, and her second husband, Wall Street’s E.F. Hutton.

In 1983, on the occasion of Merrill’s musical comedy debut in a revival of Rodgers and Hart’s 1936 musical ”On Your Toes,” the New York Times gushed, “Long regarded as the essence of chic, the epitome of class and such a persuasive purveyor of charm and charity that she could have a rightful claim to fame as an eloquent spokesman — and fund-raiser — for a slew of worthy causes, Miss Merrill has evoked instant recognition and elegant associations, more so for her persona than for her stage and screen performances.”

As Merrill hit the feature scene in the late 1950s, she was marketed as a replacement for Grace Kelly and certainly shared that actress’s elan. Merrill played nurse Lt. Duran, the love interest of Tony Curtis’ character, in Blake Edwards’ 1959 popular submarine comedy “Operation Petticoat,” and in 1960’s “Butterfield 8,” in which Elizabeth Taylor’s prostitute character has a relationship with a married man played by Laurence Harvey, Merrill played Harvey’s wife. Reviewing the latter film, the New York Times said that in her role Merrill is “lovely and simple.”

Also in 1960, the actress had a supporting role in Fred Zinnemann’s critically hailed “The Sundowners,” starring Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr as a couple trying to make their way in rural Australia.

Merrill had the lead female role opposite Burt Lancaster in John Frankenheimer’s 1961 effort “The Young Savages,” a social-issues film about poverty and crime in which Lancaster plays a assistant district attorney from the streets and Merrill his limousine-liberal wife — who in one (for the time) harrowing scene is threatened by gang members at knifepoint.

In Vincente Minnelli’s 1963 film “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” the actress played an elegant potential mate for Glenn Ford’s widower who is disapproved of by the titular Eddie.

Merrill, who, by the 1960s, was spending more time working in television than on films, also appeared in the 1965 Bob Hope comedy “I’ll Take Sweden”; in starring roles in 1973 Western “Running Wild” opposite Lloyd Bridges and 1974 family film “Throw Out the Anchor!” opposite Richard Egan; and in supporting roles in 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic “The Greatest,” Robert Altman’s 1978 film “A Wedding,” Sidney Lumet’s 1980 film “Just Tell Me What You Want” and John Cusack-James Spader thriller “True Colors.” She was also among the many celebrities with small roles in Altman’s 1992 Hollywood satire “The Player.”

Merrill made her feature debut in the 1957 Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn office comedy “Desk Set” and her last credited bigscreen appearance in the 2003 poker-themed film “Shade,” starring Sylvester Stallone.

The actress’s relatively recent TV credits include A&E’s 2002 remake of “The Magnificent Ambersons” and a guest gig as a judge on A&E’s legal drama “100 Centre Street” the same year. In 1984 she had a series regular on the brief thriller series “Hot Pursuit.” She had a role in “Roots: The Next Generations,” among other TV movies and miniseries, and she guested on a wide variety of series beginning with “Four Star Playhouse” in 1955 and “Playhouse 90,” and on through “Dr. Kildare,” “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Night Gallery,” “The Odd Couple,” “The Love Boat” and, of course, “Murder, She Wrote.”

She and husband Cliff Robertson appeared as guest villains on “Batman,” she as Calamity Jan, he as Shame. They also starred together in the 1968 telepic “The Sunshine Patriot,” directed by Joseph Sargent.

In addition to the 1983 appearance in musical “On Your Toes,” Merrill appeared onstage in 1991 among the rotating cast in the Off Broadway staged reading of the play “Wit and Wisdom.”