Friday, December 28, 2012

Harry Carey Jr.: 1921-2012

Harry Carey Jr. (1940s)
Harry Carey Jr.  (1970s)










At the risk of this becoming more of an "obituary column", I must report the death of another of the great character actors. Harry Carey Jr. died December 27th at the age of 91. The son of actors Harry Carey and Olive Carey, Carey Jr.'s career spanned more than a half-century of active work on the screen. Though his last acting work was in 1997, he did make many appearances in documentary work and at film festivals where he would discuss his family; director John Ford; John Wayne; and film-making during the golden age. He is reported to be the last member of the so-called John Ford Stock Company of actors. His Ford films include The Searchers, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande, 3 Godfathers, Wagonmaster, The Long Gray Line, Mister Roberts, Two Rode Together and Cheyenne Autumn. He worked with John Wayne numerous times, in addition to those listed he also appeared with Duke in Red River, Big Jake, and Cahill US Marshal. His television work included many of the top western series, including episodes of Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Have Gun-Will Travel, Wagon Train, Laramie, The Rifleman, and Branded. In the mid to late 1950s, Harry was a regular on the "Spin & Marty" segment of Disney's Mickey Mouse Club. He wrote a memoir in 1994 and entitled it "A Company of Heroes: My Life As an Actor in the John Ford Stock Company". In 1944 he married the daughter of fellow character player Paul Fix; he and Marilyn had been married 68 years at his death. He is also survived by 3 children; 3 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. Harry was part of film history; a link to the earliest days because of his parents; a link to the golden days of Hollywood because of his association with Ford and Wayne; a link to the halcyon days of tv westerns with his work from the early 1950s; and finally, as a living historical treasure as he worked with today's directors, doing films like Mask, Gremlins, Back to the Future: Part 3 and Tombstone... those directors were able to listen to his stories as he shared his experience with them. Thanks Harry, for sharing 66 years in show business.


Thursday, December 27, 2012

New DVDs This Week: Dec. 25, 2012

John Abbott
  
Jan Arvan
John Davis Chandler
Willis Bouchey
Bernard Fox
     
Barbara Morrison
There's not much being released by the major labels with the holidays falling on "new release Tuesday". But I did notice several from Universal's Vault Series listed as being released on December 25.

 They are available at Amazon.com  apparently at $17.95 each. I won't go through all of the titles, but here are a few that I would classify as "a character actor lover's dream"... The Brass Bottle (1964) starring Tony Randall and Barbara Eden also has Richard Erdman, Edward Andrews, Parley Baer, Ann Doran, Philip Ober, Howard Smith, Alex Gerry, Herb Vigran, Robert P. Lieb, Nora Marlowe, Jan Arvan, Robert Carricart, Bill Erwin, Johnny Silver, Alan Dexter and Guy Wilkerson in support... 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) is a Tony Curtis vehicle that also has on view Edward Andrews, Tom Reese, Ford Rainey, Gregg Palmer, Hallene Hill, and the extras Bess Flowers and Kenner Kemp among others... Gambit (1966) stars Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine, but also has Roger C. Carmel, Arnold Moss, John Abbott, Maurice Marsac, Richard Angarola, Jan Arvan, Than Wyenn and longtime extra Paul Bradley... Shoot Out (1971) is a little seen Gregory Peck western that also has Jeff Corey, Arthur Hunnicutt, James Gregory, John Davis Chandler, Paul Fix, Lane Bradford, Arthur Space, Elizabeth Harrower, and in one of his last appearances, Willis Bouchey...List of Adrian Messenger was directed by John Huston and stars George C. Scott and Kirk Douglas along with a lot of star cameos. But you can also get a glimpse of Marcel Dalio, Ronald Long, Alan Caillou, Bernard Fox, Barbara Morrison, Richard Peel and Dave Willock among others...photos of some of those mentioned appear above in order to put name to the face...

Cliff Osmond: 1937-2012

Longtime character actor and acting teacher Cliff Osmond passed away on  the 22nd of December after suffering from pancreatic cancer for some time. He was 75 years old. Cliff was a familiar presence in the 1960s and 1970s, especially on television. He worked four times with the great director Billy Wilder (Irma la Douce, Kiss Me Stupid, The Fortune Cookie and his remake of The Front Page). Other film work included How the West Was Won, Oklahoma Crude, Joe Panther, Hangar 18, and two Disney films, North Avenue Irregulars and Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, among others. Osmond could play both evil and sympathetic characters and his large size often belied a certain tenderness in many of his characterizations. His television work consists of many credits from 1962-92, including The Rifleman, Twilight Zone, The Untouchables, Wagon Train, Laredo, Hogan's Heroes, Batman, It Takes a Thief, Ironside, Land of the Giants, The Odd Couple, Here's Lucy, All in the Family, Emergency!, Bob Newhart Show, Kojak, Rhoda, Vega$, Knight Rider, Murder She Wrote, Bodies of Evidence, and maybe some of his best work, six episodes of Gunsmoke (check out the episodes "The Victim" from 1968; "Roots of Fear" from 1969 and "Celia" from 1970). He also did a little scriptwriting (including a Streets of San Francisco) and he wrote and directed the feature film The Penitent in 1988. His Cliff Osmond Acting Studio is what kept his really busy over the last 20 years as he began to appear in front of the camera less and less. The photographs above show Cliff Osmond about thirty years apart.



Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Charles Durning: 1923-2012

With his death on Christmas Eve, obituaries are calling Charles Durning "prolific" and the "king of the character actors", and of course, I wouldn't dispute that. But what I marvel in is that I don't believe Durning ever gave a weak performance. He was simply one of those journeymen actors that was good in everything he did. He did both comedy and drama with what appeared to be relative ease. He most enjoyed the stage, but did scores of films and television shows over the last forty years. He was able to dance despite a size that would keep other men sedentary. And he had a personality that was hard to dislike, no matter what the role. You combine these facts with heroic military service (three Purple Hearts and the Silver Star from WWII as he was in the first wave on Omaha Beach on D-Day), and a tough childhood (he lost his father and five sisters at a young age) and it's hard to deny Charles Durning was not only one hell of an actor, but he was one hell of a man as well. His first big break came in 1962 when he began a long association with Joseph Papp, who eventually cast him in some 35 plays (he did do a few films between 1962 and 1972). His performance in the play That Championship Season led to his being cast as a corrupt policeman in the the film classic The Sting in 1973 and in the forty years since, Durning has never looked back. Lumet's  fantastic 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon showcased Durning as the police hostage negotiator dealing with Al Pacino in one of his greatest roles. But there were more, he romanced Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie; was himself a hostage as the President of the United States in Twilight's Last Gleaming (a particular favorite of mine); he captained The Hindenburg; chased outlaws in the western Breakheart Pass; he was a football coach in North Dallas Forty; and a corrupt power broker in True Confessions (he dances an Irish jig in this one). Speaking of dancing, he made quite a showing in the tv movie Queen of the Stardust Ballroom co-starring Maureen Stapleton and both were nominated for Emmy Awards. He was one of the highlights of the film adaption of the musical Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, his dance number in this film garnered Durning his first of two Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He was also nominated the next year for playing a Nazi Colonel in Mel Brooks' remake of To Be Or Not To Be. But the list goes on and on, and that's what I mean about his career, a smile comes to my face as I think about each of these roles. And there were others... the villain in the original Muppet Movie; the unlikable newspaperman in Wilder's remake of The Front Page; The Fury; The Choirboys; Starting Over; Home for the Holidays; Mass Appeal; Beatty's Dick Tracy; and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. He played Santa Claus at least four times and roles as diverse as the Pope and JFK's father. He was good to television as well, he co-starred on Burt Reynolds' series Evening Shade as the town doctor and received two of his total nine Emmy Award nominations. He was also nominated for the short-lived sitcom The Cop & The Kid; for the min-series Captains & The Kings; Death of a Salesman; Attica; as well as for his role as Denis Leary's ex-firefighter father in Rescue Me and guest apperances in Homicide and NCIS The stage was Durning's first love and he was awarded a Tony for his performance as Big Daddy in the revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway in 1990. He also appeared in such notable plays as The Gin Game; Gore Vidal's The Best Man; Inherit the Wind; Third and others. In 2008 Charles Durning was given the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, which was presented by his old friend Burt Reynolds. It was an emotional presentation. It appears that Durning continued to work almost until the last, with a couple of films still to be released at this writing. Separated from his second wife, he is survived by three children and will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, a fitting tribute to a "hero", both as an actor and a man who served his country.

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Allen Joseph: 1919-2012


       We learned of the death today of veteran character actor  Allen Joseph. Born May 29, 1919 in Minneapolis, Joseph worked on the stage, and in film and television. He died November 30th in Mission Viejo, California at the age of 93. His wife of 60 years, Teresa died in 2003. Mr. Joseph wrote plays for the stage, and appeared in the Broadway production of Anastasia in 1954. He appeared in many film and television roles such as bits in the films Raging Bull (as a jeweler); Chilly Scenes of Winter (as a blind man); the cult film Eraserhead (as Mr. X); and Marathon Man (as Babe's Father). His TV work includes Naked City, Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Wagon Train, Perry Mason, The Fugitive, The Invaders, Get Smart, Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Alias Smith & Jones, Ironside, Baretta, Six Million Dollar Man, Police Story, Kojak, Starsky & Hutch, Man From Atlantis, Quincy, and Airwolf.


Holiday Movies & Character Actors


Of course this time of year the airwaves are full of holiday themed movies and television shows. In many cases, we remember some of the great character actors and actresses of the past specifically from their roles in these well remembered seasonal parts... If we start with the classic Miracle on 34th Street from 1947, we obviously remember the grand old character-star Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle, the star of the piece. We may even remember some of those "second tier" character actors, such as Gene Lockhart as the Judge in the great closing scene; William Frawley (from tv's I Love Lucy) as Halloran, the Judge's associate; Porter Hall as the Mr. Sawyer, a villain in the piece; Jerome Cowan as the District Attorney; and maybe even Phillip Tonge as Mr. Shellhammer, a manager at Macy's Department store. But then you delve even deeper into the, shall we say, third tier of character people and you find an incredible list of performers with a tremendous amount of experience... some had been in the business for years and and some would remain in the business for many years to come... do you remember...? 

Percy Helton (1894-1971)
as the Drunken Santa Claus
Harry Antrim (1884-1967)
as R.H. Macy
Herbert Heyes (1889-1958)
as Mr. Gimbel, rival to Mr. Macy
James Seay (1914-92)
as Kris' friend Dr. Pierce

Mary Field (1909-96)
as the Dutch girl's
Mother

Anne O'Neal (1893-1971)
as Mr. Sawyer's
Secretary





Saturday, December 01, 2012

Screen Extras: Part 3, "I Can't Help It"...

Paul Bradley (1901-99)
*Born as Anthony Poliseno in Ohio
*Came to Hollywood in 1922
*Height: 5',11"
*First film with western star Hoot Gibson
*Roomed with character actor Fletcher Norton in 1930
*Served as an officer of Screen Extras Guild
*Died in Tarzana, California just short of 98 years
 Okay, just one more post for right now on Screen Extras, these folks all identified for your future recognizing pleasure with a little bit of trivia to go along with the photos...
Bobby Gilbert (1898-1973)
*Born as Robert Wolf in Philadelphia
*Wife was Fannie Gartner (1894-1985)
*He was also a musician and dancer

Harold Miller (1894-1972)
*Born as Harold Kammermeyer
in Redondo Beach, Calif.
*Height: 6',1"
*Made first film in 1919
*Portrayed the Judge in the opening
credits of tv's Perry Mason
Leoda Richards (1907-98)
*Born as Leoda Carole Knapp in Columbus, OH
*She appeared in a least 3 Broadway shows between
 1927-1935 including the original  Anything Goes 
*She married Chas. Richards in 1928; daughter, Barbara
*She may have not started film work until after husband's death in 1950
*Eventually retired to an upscale community in Laguna Niguel, CA where she died in 1998, only about five weeks before her 91st birthday.

William H. O'Brien (1891-1981)
*Born in Peak Hill, New South Wales, Australia
*Married to wife Ruby  until 1962 (48 years)
*Younger daughter Betty was an actress in the 1940s
*Served as an officer of Screen Extras Guild

Cosmo Sardo (1909-89)
*Born in Boston of Italian decent
*Was a barber in Los Angeles
for many years in addition to Extra work
*Appeared as the Bartender in over 70
episodes of tv's Bonanza
*Married in 1974 to a woman
 23 years his junior
*Died in West Hollywood




Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Screen Extras: Part Two


Kenner Kemp (1908-85)
*Born as Kennard Grant Kempe
in Concho, Arizona
*Married British-born wife Kathleen
from 1933-80
*Sister Donna Kempe also an Extra
*Performed as Walter Pidgeon's stand-in
*Longtime officer in the Screen Extras
 Guild, including Treasuer & V.P.
*Died in Oceanside, California
Here are several more of the Extras identified...do they look familiar to you?
Arthur Tovey (1904-2000)
*Born as Arthur Roland Tovey
in Douglas, Arizona
*A musician all his life, Tovey was
particularly adept at the piano
*Doubled for Leslie Howard in the 
classic Gone With the Wind
*A lifelong bachelor
*Died in Van Nuys, California just
three weeks short of 96 years
George DeNormand (1903-76)
*Born in New York City
*An experienced stuntman for 30+ years
*Second wife Wanda Tuchock (1898-1985) 
was a longtime screenwriter 
*He died at the Motion Picture Home
from cancer



Tony Regan (1908-88)
*Former Casting Director
*Held offices in the Screen Extras Guild
*Retired to the Las Vegas area

Charles Sherlock (1900-83)

Mathew McCue (1895-1966)





















                                                                                                                                                                                                      Now, here are two more that I've yet to identify... can anyone out there put names to the familiar faces?


Clark Ross
                             Both Ross and Power are pictured from the 1962 film Advise & Consent
Paul Power ?

Monday, November 26, 2012

Screen Extras... Who Were They?

Frank Baker (1892-1980)
*Born in Melbourne, Australia
*Made his first film in 1912 !
*Married wife Helen Bruno in 1920
*Came to U.S. in 1929
*A member of director John Ford's
stock company of actors for 40 years
*Worked as a stuntman as well, 1930s
*Died at the Motion Picture Home


Leon Alton (1907-95)
*Born in New York
*Worked on Broadway from 1927-41
*Served in the military 1942-45
*Often appeared in dance scenes
*Worked 40+ years as an Extra
*Owned a health food store in
Toluca Lake for many years
 One of the most frustrating things for me is not being able to identify the name of a character actor. The age of the internet has certainly made it easier. But due to the nature of their work, screen extras are rarely, if ever, given their due. In this first piece on Extras, I would like to identify several and then post some photos that I am not able to identify by name at this point. Any information any reader has on these "unidentified" individuals would be much appreciated...
Duke Fishman (1906-77)
*Born as Marcus Leo Fishman to American
parents in the Phillipines
*Came to Avalon, CA in 1934 and became
a lifeguard and official greeter of
Catalina Island
*Reportedly, the tv commercial character
of "Mr. Clean" was based on Duke
*Though only 5',6", always played tough guys
*Appeared most frequently as a citizen
of Dodge on tv's Gunsmoke
Major Sam Harris (1877-1969)













                                                
                                                         
                                              
                                           
                                           As time allows, I'll add information about each of them, but we'll start with their vital stats to go along with the photo.


Joe Extra #1
                                    Can you identify "Joe Extra #1"? The photo is from a mid-1960s television western, so he clearly was probably born around 1900 or very shortly after. He worked at least from the early 1950s through 1975.


Joe Extra #2
What about "Joe Extra #2"? The photo is from Don Knotts' film The Incredible Mr. Limpet from 1964. Again, an actor probably born around 1900 or so. He worked from the early 1950s until the early 1970s at least.






The Frenchmen: Part Two

One of the trickier aspects of dealing lesser known character actors is simply the accurate identification of them. In this screen grab from Disney's Million Dollar Duck from 1971, we seen the well known veteran Edward Andrews (1915-85) in the foreground. He is on the telephone with the fourth in our group of Frenchmen we've been looking at. This film is the last credit I can find for the actor Peter Camlin. I have been able to find out almost nothing about him. One source says he was born on Septermber 5, 1902 in Enghein, France under the name Pierre Gansevoort Nazzari. He appears to have died December 17, 1985 in Los Angeles. I can find no theatrical or dramatic radio credits for him. The earliest film credit of his appears to be 1938's Artists and Models Abroad; followed by such well known pictures as Passage to Marseille (as a French Sergeant); The Razor's Edge; Show Boat (1951 version as a Croupier); An American in Paris; Gentlmen Prefer Blondes (as a Gendarme); Hitchcock's Man Who Knew Too Much (Headwaiter); Unskinkable Molly Brown (French Waiter); Boeing, Boeing (French Taxi Driver); and Disney's Monkeys Go Home! (Cabinet Maker). He worked in television as well, appearing in Hitchcock's series; Climax!; One Step Beyond; Boris Karloff's Thriller; Combat!; Bewitched; and Mayberry RFD in 1970 as what else...? a Maitre d'. How can someone whose career is at least 35 years long simply disappear. Can anyone out there answer the question... whatever happened to Peter Camlin ? Certainly the most familiar Frenchman from the 1950s to the 1980s would be the remarkably prolific Maurice Marsac.
He was born in LaCroix, France March 23, 1915 as Maurice Louis Ferrat. He changed his name after coming to America in 1947 to Maurice Marsac and he worked under that name ever after. Before leaving his native France, he had served in the French Army reserves as a captain, and worked as a secretary for the French Embassy in London until the outbreak of World War II. He returned to France and worked for the French Resistance during the war. His film debut appears to be Paris After Dark in 1943; followed by a good number of well known films including To Have and Have Not; The Razor's Edge (as a Maitre d'); Assignment Paris (Gendarme); April In Paris; How to Marry a Millionaire; Lafayette Escadrille; Gig; Can-Can; King of Kings (barely recognizable as Nicodemus); Poseidon Adventure; The Jerk; The Big Red One; and his last known feature, the 1987 Dragnet, as what else... a Maitre d'! There was probably no more familiar Frenchmen in television during the 1950s and 1970s than Monsieur Marsac. His credits read like the history of classic television...He fed snails to Lucy Ricardo on I Love Lucy; taught French at Our Miss Brooks' high school; was a villain on Superman; he worked multiple times with Burns and Allen and Red Skelton on their series in the 1950s; he provided French support on 
westerns when called for, such as Adventures of Jim Bowie; Northwest Passage; and Daniel Boone. He appeared in many police/detective series such as Public Defender; Peter Gunn; Markham; The Rogues; It Takes a Theif; Mission: Impossible; Mannix; Columbo; McCloud; The New Avengers; The Rockford Files; Barnaby Jones; Hart to Hart; The A-Team; and L.A. Law. He was particularly adept at comedy and in addition to those already mentioned, he continued to appear in top sitcoms such as Real McCoys; My Favorite Martian; Beverly Hillbillies; Hazel; Green Acres; Hogan's Heroes; My Three Sons; Bewitched; Soap; Family Ties; Facts of Life; and Night Court, just to name a small sampling. Maurice appears to have retired from acting in 1988, but he hardly decided to sit at home! For years, he and his wife Melanie (they married in 1952) participated in the world of Croquet. They would tour the world playing in tournaments and it became such an obsession that they remained active in this endeavor for the rest of their lives. Maurice was named resident pro at two Croquet clubs in Newport Beach and he was considered a valuable teacher at the famed Beverly Hills Croquet Club. Around 1996 the Marsacs moved from southern California to northern California (the outskirts of Santa Rosa), where they continued their love for croquet. At one point, late in his life, Marsac was considered in the top 5% of croquet players worldwide! Maurice's wife of 55 years Melanie, died at age 90 in April of 2007 at their home in Oakmont. Less than three weeks later, on May 6, Maurice passed away at 92 from cardiac arrest at a hospital in Santa Rosa. The couple was once described as..."Maurice and Melanie were lively, exciting and wonderful, wonderful people who did not know how to have a dull conversation". 

Saturday, November 24, 2012

The Frenchmen

Let's take a look at some of the lesser known character men that were from France. Others may have played Frenchmen, but these fellows were the real thing... not a lot is known about them, so let's see what we can uncover about Jean Del Val, Louis Mercier, Eugene Borden, Peter Camlin, and Maurice Marsac.

Jean Del Val (at left, and sans toupee) was the oldest of this group of five Frenchmen. Born as Jean Jacques Gautier on November 17, 1891 in France, though one source suggest Belgium. He arrived in the United States in 1924 and has his first American film credit that same year in a film starring Rudolph Valentino. Del Val, under his own name Gautier, had done some film work in Europe as early as 1917.  He continued to work steadily amassing score of credits in big and small films alike, including Laurel & Hardy's Block-Heads, Casablanca (as a French police radio announcer), Action in the North Atlantic, Mission to Moscow, Song of Bernadette, Paris After Dark, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Passage to Marseille, Gilda, The Razor's Edge, So Dark the Night, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Funny Face (as a hairdresser), Wreck of the Mary Deare, Can-Can, and The Devil at Four O'Clock, to name just several. In 1966, at the age of 75, he performed a rather unique role in that he had almost no lines and yet was "in the film" from beginning to end. He portrayed Dr. Jan Benes in the sci-fi film Fantastic Voyage.  
                            
      It is his body that the team of scientists is injected into after they are miniaturized. He made a couple of other feature film appearance after this, appearing in brief bits in Wait Until Dark and Darling Lili (1970). Del Val appeared in television from its earliest days, in shows as diverse as Perry Mason and Bonanza, as well as I Spy, Combat!, Mission: Impossible and others. His last know appearance is in a small part in a forgettable tv sitcom called Roll Out! in 1973. Little can be found about Del Val's private life. It is unknown as to whether he was married or had any children. He died in Pacific Palisades, California on May 13, 1975 at the age of 83. He's buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Photo of Del Val below with hair.    
     Only a little bit more is known about the actor Eugene Borden  He was born March 22, 1897 in  Paris as Elysee Eugene Prieur-Bardin. He came to the United States in 1914 and married his first wife Geraldine, a Pennsylvania native in 1918. He divorced and married a second time to a woman named Mae. He married a third time to Elva, who was from Cleveland, Ohio. He legally Americanized his name to Eugene Borden in 1935. The 5', 7" Borden often found himself playing waiters, porters, stewards, and various minor French officials. Some of his many small feature film parts include The Three MusketeersStory of Irene & Vernon Castle, Casablanca (as a Policeman), Mission to Moscow, Song of Bernadette, To Have and Have Not, The Dolly Sisters (as the Chauffeur, see photo), The Jolson Story, The Razor's Edge, The Bishop's Wife, Might Joe Young, All About Eve, An American in Paris, Titanic ('53), The Far Country (as Doc Vallon), To Catch a Thief (as a Waiter), Spirit of St. Louis, and Our Man Flint, just to name several over multiple decades. Television called in the early 1950s, and Borden worked until at least 1966 in the medium, appearing in such programs as The Burns & Allen Show, Have Gun-Will Travel, Perry Mason, Twilight Zone, and his last known appearance, the series Run For Your Life in 1966. Borden died July 21, 1971 at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 74. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica. Borden, below, left.
.  Louis Mercier was born as Louis Gabriel Mercier in Algiers, France on March 7, 1901. Slight of build, the 5', 7" Mercier came to the U.S. in 1922 and married an Indiana girl in 1931. Mercier appeared in over 100 films, from a part in a 1926 John Crawford film, Paris, to such features as Jezebel, Casablanca, Song of Bernadette, Passage to Marseille, To Have and Have Not (as Gerard), So Dark the Night, My Darling Clementine, To Catch a Thief (as the French blacksmith), An Affair to Remember, and Wreak of the Mary Deare. His last known appearance was a bit part in the 1977 film The Other Side of Midnight, playing a French cab driver. As with the other Frenchmen, he worked a lot on American television, appearing in such series as Adventures of SupermanAlfred Hitchcock Presents, Maverick, Bonanza, Perry Mason, Burke's law, Combat!, I Dream of Jeannie and Green Acres. Mercier died in Pasadena, California on March 25, 1993 at the age of 92. Mercier below, in a Hitchcock tv production in the 1950s on the left, and his bit part in Casablanca, on the right.   

In our next post, "whatever happened to" Peter Camlin? And the busiest Frenchman during television's classic years... Maurice Marsac.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Kwan Hi Lim 1922-2008

Kwan Hi Lim was a lawyer by trade. From Korean ancestry, born in Maui, Hawaii, he attended Boston Law College in 1947 and later Duke University. But from about 1970 through 1992, he appeared in many films and television shows filmed on the islands. He was Lt. Tanaka on Magnum, P.I. some 30 times; and he appeared in at least 25 episodes of Hawaii Five-O over a 10+ year period, almost always as a villain. A small, distinguished looking man with white hair, in his later years he was an elected Judge. Lim could play deadly serious, but also had a flair for comedy. The photo at the right shows Mr. Lim in retirement at the age of 82 in 2004. We learned of his death at 86 from a notice in the SAG magazine, Screen Actor. He passed away in Hawaii back on December 22, 2008.