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.

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.

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.

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.

Dallas McKennon 1919-2009

Dallas McKennon turns 90 on the 19th of this month. Not only was Dallas a regular on tv's Daniel Boone as Daniel's friend and storekeeper Cincinnatus; but he played in a host of Disney films and tv shows; was the voice of Archie in the various cartoon series; and was the voice of the one and only Gumby! Dallas has been retired from active film work for some 15 years now, but was still doing live theatrical work as recently as just a few years ago. He lives in Oregon. Happy birthday Dallas!!

Unfortunately, Dallas passed away near his home in Raymond, Oregon on July 14, just five days shy of his 90th birthday. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Betty and eight children. Thanks Dallas, for so much great entertainment over the last 60 years!!

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.

Victor Millan: 1920-2009

 The veteran character actor Victor Millan passed away at his home in Santa Monica April 3, 2009 at at the age of 88. Millan, whose real name was Joseph Brown, was also a beloved faculty member at Santa Monica College, where he was Dean of the Theatre Arts department for many years. Active since about 1950, MIllan appeared in small roles in such films as Touch of Evil, Giant, Terror in a Texas Town, Boulevard Nights and the 1983 Scarface. Much more active in television, Millan appeared in episodes of Hopalong Cassidy, Annie Oakley, and Ramar of the Jungle in the early days of the medium, to Marcus Welby, Columbo, Quincy and others in the 1970s and 1980s.

Russ Conway 1913-2009

The veteran actor Russell Conway died January 12 at the age of 95. He had been retired many years and living in Laguna Woods, California. Born in Manitoba, Canada as Russell Clarence Zink April 25, 1913, Mr. Conway's older brother also became an actor and changed his name to Donald Woods (1906-98). Russell began his career on Broadway in the play Land is Bright in 1938; served in WWII; and took up his acting
career in Hollywood in 1947, where he was a member of the Screen Actors Guild for over 60 years. He appeared in hundreds of films and television shows, including such titles as Twelve O'Clock High, War of the Worlds, Love Me Tender, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, and Our Man Flint. His television work includes Wagon Train, The Fugitive, Sea Hunt, The Untouchables, Mission: Impossible, and the role of father Fenton Hardy in the Hardy Boys serials on the 1950s Mickey Mouse Club. Conway could do westerns to detective shows, drama or comedy. Thanks Russ, for many years of enjoyment!

Obit

Another loss in the ranks of "veteran character actors"... Frank Campanella died December 30 at the age of 87. He had worked in films and tv since 1949, almost always playing the imposing tough guy (after all, he was 6 ft, 5 in. tall). He was one of a half dozen or so actors who probably played more cops than any other actors (guys like Ken Lynch and William Boyett). He could occasionally do comedy, but was most often seen in dramatic roles. The New York-born actor continued to work up until a couple years ago. Among his survivors are his younger actor brother, Joseph Campanella.

Obit

Unfortunately, there have been few deaths among the character actor ranks. Rudy Diaz, a former policeman turned actor died on December 5 at 88. He worked most often in television, doing mostly cop show and westerns.

Born in Wales in 1919, character actor Ivor Barry (at right) could be found playing butlers, chauffeurs, or stuffy Britishers. Mr. Barry died December 12 from heart failure. He had been retired a number of years, and was living at the Motion Picture House in Woodland Hills, California.

Also, veteran character actor Adam Williams (left) died on December 4 from lymphoma; he was 84. He appeared in many westerns, as well as classic films such as North by Northwest, The Big Heat, The Flying Leathernecks, and The Day the Earth Stood Still, among others.

Obit

The passage of time has taken one of the most familiar faces of the 1950s-1980s period. It would probably be easier to list the television shows that Milton Selzer didn't appear in than the ones he did. Born in Lowell, Mass. in 1918, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and The New School in New York. After serving in World War II, he began appearing on the stage and in live television, doing such shows as Playhouse 90 and You Are There (where he once played Ghandi !). He and his wife Alice moved to California in 1960, where he became possibly the most prolific character player of the decade. He could do comedy (he was Professor Parker in several episodes of Get Smart); drama (The Defenders, The Untouchables, Hawaii Five-O); even westerns (Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, High Chaparral). He even found time to appear in a handful of films, such as Henry Fonda's A Big Hand for a Little Lady, and Steve McQueen's Cincinnati Kid. He continued to work into the mid-1990s, showing up on MacGyver, Walker Texas Ranger, Cagney & Lacey, and as a regular on the short-lived Famous Teddy Z. Mr. Selzer died October 21 of a stroke at St. John's Hospital after being retired for over a decade and living in Oxnard, California. His wife of 53 years and a son survive him.