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George Lucas based American Graffiti on his teenage years in Modesto in the early 1960s. Universal greenlighted the movie after six other studios had rejected it. Lucas and co-producer Gary Kurtz were given a very small budget. When a third co-producer, Francis Ford Coppola, joined the project, lo and behold, the budget was increased!
Gary Kurtz, producer of Star Wars, American Graffiti, The Empire Strikes Back, dies at 78
https://variety.com/2018/film/news/g...rs-1202954316/
"All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for, breakfast in bed? Another glorious day in the Corps! A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm. Every meal is a banquet. Every paycheck a fortune. Every formation a parade. I love the Corps!"
Al Matthews, who served with the US Marine Corps in Việt Nam and was honored with two Purple Hearts, played Gunnery Sergeant Apone in James Cameron's 1986 film Aliens. In 2013, Matthews reprised the role, voicing Apone in an Aliens video game. He also had small roles in Ragtime, Rough Cut, Superman III, The Omen III and several other movies.
Al Matthews, cigar-chomping Sgt. Apone in Aliens, dies at 75
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...-at-75-1146419
Vasquez appeared (uncredited) as Angel Ganz in two episodes of Sons Of Anarchy in 2011. I think every actor who could ride a motorcycle appeared on that show at one time or another! Vasquez also had roles in episodes of ER, CSI:NY, Simon & Simon, How I Met Your Mother and other series.
Sons Of Anarchy actor Paul John Vasquez dies at 48
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment...ead-at-48.html
Joe Masteroff, Tony-winning book writer of Cabaret and She Loves Me, dies at 98
https://www.broadway.com/buzz/193527...me-dies-at-98/
Masteroff's first Broadway play, The Warm Peninsula, opened in January 1959 and starred Julie Harris, June Havoc, Farley Granger and Larry Hagman. Here is a 1959 review from The Harvard Crimson:
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1...nspiration-of/
Before forming Jefferson Starship, Marty Balin (real name: Martyn Jerel Buchwald) recorded solo and led a folk group called the Town Criers. He released several more solo singles in the 1980s. The biggest was Hearts, which reached #8 in 1981.
Marty Balin, Jefferson Airplane co-founder, dies at 76
Variety, Sep 28 2018 3:42 PM
Marty Balin, a co-founder of Jefferson Airplane and a member of its later incarnation Jefferson Starship, whose high and soulful voice defined many of both groups' songs, died September 27 at age 76. The cause of death was not announced. Although Balin had his greatest impact as one of the architects of the musical counterculture during his 1965-71 tenure in Jefferson Airplane, he had his greatest commercial success when he rejoined the remnants of that group a few years later in Jefferson Starship, as the sole lead singer on both of that band's singles to reach the top ten, Miracles in 1975 and Count On Me in 1978.
https://variety.com/2018/music/news/...ad-1202961978/
Robinson appeared in many Broadway plays including The Iceman Cometh, Amen Corner and Joe Turner's Come & Gone. He appeared on many television shows including ER, NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Ironside and The Jeffersons. He appeared in many movies including Brother To Brother, Meteor, The Lonely Guy and Willie Dynamite. And he is the third Tony award-winner to die this month.
Roger Robinson, Tony-winning actor and a detective on Kojak, dies at 78
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...was-78-1147918
In 1956, Otis Rush reached #6 on the r&b chart with I Can’t Quit You Baby. Led Zeppelin recorded the song for their debut album in 1969. Among his other hits: Homework, Groaning The Blues, Gambler's Blues and Double Trouble.
Otis Rush, seminal Chicago blues guitarist, dead at 84
Key architect of 'West Side Sound' died from complications related to a stroke.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...t-dead-731136/
As a bandleader, González released 18 albums. As a sideman, he played on more than a hundred albums by artists including Tito Puente, McCoy Tyner, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson, Freddie Hubbard, Jaco Pastorius and the Beach Boys.
Latin jazz trumpeter/percussionist Jerry González dies at 69
https://www.afp.com/en/news/206/lati...id-doc-19o4cs1
Aznavour was born in Paris to Armenian parents. He wrote more than 1,000 songs, recorded more than 1,200 songs (in eight languages!), released 167 singles and 183 albums and EPs (not counting compilations) and appeared in more than 80 movies. Whew!
Legendary French singer-songwriter-actor Charles Aznavour dies at 94
https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news...D=ansmsnnews11
In 1957, Peggy Sue Garron was dating Jerry Allison, Buddy Holly's drummer. They later married and were together for 11 years. Holly had written a song called Cindy Lou but changed it to Peggy Sue at Allison's request. The record label showed Holly and Allison as the writers but Allison later admitted Holly wrote the entire song. So did Peggy Sue Garron really "inspire" the song? I vote no.
Peggy Sue Garron, who inspired Buddy Holly's 1957 hit Peggy Sue, dies at 78
https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news...Q0YJ?ocid=AMZN
Van Ohlen played drums in Woody Herman's band and Stan Kenton's orchestra and since 1980 had led the Blue Wisp Big Band, which was named for the now-defunct Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati and has released eight albums.
John Von Ohlen, acclaimed jazz drummer, dies at 77
https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinna...ies-at-77.html
Vinton created the "Claymation" technique of producing animation using clay figures which are filmed a frame at a time and repositioned ever-so-slightly before each successive shot. Claymation has been used in hundreds of commercials, movies and tv shows. The commercials featuring the California Raisins and the Domino's Pizza Noid were claymation. In the 1990s, Vinton started combining claymation with CGI and created the ads with the talking Red & Yellow M&M's. He also worked on the special effects for the Disneyland/Walt Disney World 3D film Captain EO starring Michael Jackson.
Will Vinton, Oscar- and Emmy-winning animator, dies at 70
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/...ner_and_p.html
Bluiett was a member of the Charles Mingus Quintet and a co-founder of the World Saxophone Quartet. As a sideman, he recorded with Gil Evans, Anthony Braxton and others. He recorded 22 albums as a bandleader and 21 albums with the World Saxophone Quartet.
Jazz saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett dies at 78
https://news.allaboutjazz.com/hamiet...-1940-2018.php
Wells, who died of cancer yesterday, wrote Guinevere, George Of The Jungle, Shall We Dance, A Dog's Purpose, Under The Tuscan Sun, The Game Plan, The Kid and The Truth About Cats & Dogs. With Tina Mabry, Wells wrote The Hate U Give, which was adapted from a novel by Angie Thomas.......and which opened in theaters today.
Audrey Wells, screenwriter and director of Under The Tuscan Sun, dies at 58
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/new...0p6G?ocid=AMZN
Bernadette Carroll of the Angels dies at 74
https://edbonsports.com/2018/10/06/a...caroll-singer/
Bernadette Carroll was a member of the Angels from 1961 to 1963. She sang on their hits Til, Cry Baby Cry and My Boyfriend's Back but did not tour with the group. She released a few solo singles in 1964-65 and rejoined the Angels in 1968. They recorded two unsuccessful singles for RCA and Carroll quit the group in 1969. Here is one of those singles, The Boy With The Green Eyes, written by Neil Diamond:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PeCkbcTMGB8
Hawai'i singer Ed Kenney Jr. left legacy of song on Broadway and Waikiki stage
http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/1...egacy-of-song/
Kenney, who died October 5 at age 85, played Wang Ta in the original 1958 Broadway production of Flower Drum Song and released seven albums between 1960 and 1977. Kenney and the Honolulu Boys Choir had a 1959 hit in Hawai'i with Numbah One Day Of Christmas, a Hawaiian Pidgin version of The Twelve Days Of Christmas: "nine pounds of poi, eight ukuleles, seven shrimp a-swimming, six hula lessons, five big fat pigs....." Here is the song on good ol' YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DYbzzhDf0A
Scott Wilson played veterinarian Hershel Greene in seasons 2, 3 and 4 of The Walking Dead. His character died in the final episode of season 4. Today Wilson died for real, just minutes after writer/producer Angela Kang announced that he would return in season 9. Eek! Among Wilson's many movie appearances: Junebug, Judge Dredd, Pearl Harbor, The Great Gatsby, The Last Samurai, Dead Man Walking and In The Heat Of The Night.
The Walking Dead star Scott Wilson dies at 76
https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/10...son-dead-at-76
The Records formed in 1977 in London and released four albums before breaking up. Their only US hit was Starry Eyes in 1979. Wicks, the band's lead singer and guitarist, was also a record (no pun intended) producer. After moving to the US in 1994, he formed a new group of Records and released four more albums of new material.
John Wicks, lead singer of British power-pop band The Records, has died
https://bestclassicbands.com/john-wi...tuary-10-7-18/
Kopelson produced 29 films including Eraser, Twisted, Seven, Outbreak, Mad City and Joe Somebody. He had one win among his 17 Academy Award nominations: Platoon was named Best Picture of 1986 (and Oliver Stone was named Best Director).
Arnold Kopeson, Oscar-winning producer of Platoon and The Fugitive, dies at 83
https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/ar...ve-1202972316/
Burke began his career in 1992 as an animator on Don Bluth's Thumbelina. He worked on Space Jam, The Iron Giant and several other films before joining Pixar in 2003. He worked on The Incredibles and almost every Pixar film since. He also did animation for video games.
Veteran Pixar animator Adam Burke dies of cancer
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/animator...es-165139.html