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Paul Engelen, the British makeup designer who earned two Emmys and two Oscar nominations in a fabulous career that included work on Reds, Batman, The Phantom Menace, Gladiator and Game of Thrones, has died. He was 75.

Engelen died Nov. 3 of cancer at his home in West Sussex, England, his son-in-law (and fellow makeup designer) Daniel Lawson Johnston told The Hollywood Reporter.

Engelen also did makeup for three James Bonds — Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig — on the 007 films The Man With the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), Die Another Day (2002), Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008).

He teamed with Blake Edwards on Victor/Victoria (1982), Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) and Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), with Steven Spielberg on Empire of the Sun (1987) and Munich (2005) and with Ridley Scott on Gladiator (2000), Kingdom of Heaven (2005) and Robin Hood (2010).

Engelen shared his first Academy Award nom with Rick Baker...

by Nathaniel R

Victor / Victoria

Last month I had the pleasure of rewatching Blake Edwards 7-time Oscar-nominated musical comedy Victor/Victoria (1982). The occasion was to prep for a conversation with our friend Ben Miller for his podcast "Target Audience" in which Ben invites a guest to discuss a movie that they feel was made for them for all kinds of differing reasons, beauty being in the eye of the beholder...

There really hasn’t been a filmmaker quite like Blake Edwards. He could go from the silly-billy comedy of his “Pink Panther” comedies starring Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau to “Days of Wine and Roses,” a devastating drama dealing with alcoholism to the gender-bender musical comedy “Victor/Victoria” starring his wife Julie Andrews to the underrated Western “The Wild Rovers” with William Holden and Ryan O’Neal. Edwards even turned the diminutive British comedian Dudley Moore into a leading man thanks to his 1979 romantic comedy “10.” And let’s not forget the extraordinary collaboration he had with composer Henry Mancini who earned four Oscars including best song “Moon River” from 1961’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and the title tune from 1962’s “Days of Wine and Roses.”

Still, there was no love lost between Edwards and Hollywood.

In my 2003 Los Angeles Times interview with Edwards, who had personality to spare, said “I have been a...

Blake Edwards could have comfortably rested in the pantheon of famed comedy directors based solely on his acclaimed Pink Panther movie series, which still charms us today with its incomparable slapstick routines and gut-busting laughs. Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Frames, a new entry in the American Masters series, ensures that his other movies get their due, and the episode also rounds out his personal life as a father and husband, and delves into his other pursuits, like sculpture and painting. At the center of Edwards’ life (he died in 2010) was his wife of four decades, Oscar-winning actress and singer Julie Andrews. Andrews was already famous for movies like Mary Poppins (1964) and The Sound of Music (1965) when they married in 1969 and, as the doc shows, was a huge influence on the filmmaker’s continuing career. Edwards directed her — as “a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be...

The 1982 film is still in dialogue with contemporary culture – a complex tale without the language yet to articulate its ideas about gender and sexuality

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In a 2010 interview with Lady Gaga, US journalist Anderson Cooper probed the singer about “that rumour” that she had a “male appendage”. “Maybe I do,” she replied. “Would it be so terrible? Why the hell am I gonna waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have a penis?”

Would it be so terrible? Blake Edwards asks in his 1982 musical comedy Victor/Victoria, based on a 1933 German film of the same name. In Edwards’ musical remake, his wife, British prima donna Dame Julie Andrews, stars as Victoria Grant, a starving soprano forced into a life of cross-dressing to survive in 1930s Paris.

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In a recent episode of the Still Here Hollywood Podcast with Steve Kmetko, John Ritter’s widow, Amy Yasbeck, talked about how she orchestrated a reunion between her husband and Suzanne Somers after a long falling-out period.

The two starred opposite in the hit sitcom Three’s Company. Somers exited the show in season 5 in a salary dispute with producers.

“I didn’t do it in a sneaky way,” Yasbeck, 61, recalled to Kmetko of the reunion. “We were at the premiere of Victor/Victoria on Broadway [in 1995], and at the intermission, I went to the ladies room and all of a sudden, Suzanne is standing there next to me.”

She introduced herself, and Somers told her that she would be singing at the after-party.

At the after-party, Somers performed Can’t Dance, Don’t Ask Me, and Ritter went to her.

“And she like, turned around. And they hugged it out and stuff,...

"Mary Poppins" has been a beloved children's film since its release in 1964. The musical comedy was a veritable hit among British and American audiences alike and launched the career of the incomparable Julie Andrews, who became one of the brightest stars of the late 20th century.

The Disney classic swept the 1965 Oscars, earning Andrews an Academy Award for her performance and snagging additional awards for visual effects, editing, and music. The film was a great triumph for the studio as well as the stars. It was immediately recognized as the masterpiece that it is and has only retained and strengthened its legendary status with age.

Sadly, as the picture ages, so too do the actors that made it such an unforgettable romp. Very few members of the main cast are still alive today and the ones that haven't made it might surprise you. Glynis Johns, who played suffragette and mother...

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It's been nearly 60 years since Julie Andrews first sang about how the hills of Austria were alive with the sound of music, but "The Sound of Music" remains a beloved cinematic treasure. Vividly colorful, unabashedly musical, and anchored by Andrews' performance, the story of Maria the would-be nun, and her small army of new wards — the Von Trapp children — is still rewatched and referenced often across the world.

With more than half a century of retrospect, "The Sound of Music" has also become a bit of a historical document: much of the film's cast and crew has since passed away, with the exception of Andrews herself and five of the seven actors who embodied the Von Trapp kids. Heather Menzies (Louisa) and Charmian Carr (Liesl) have both passed away in recent years, as has Christopher Plummer, who embodied family patriarch...

January 2024 will mark the eighth anniversary of Jennifer Lawrence’s second Best Comedy/Musical Actress Golden Globe victory for “Joy,” which, having followed her previous lead and supporting triumphs for “Silver Linings Playbook” (2013) and “American Hustle” (2014), made the 25-year-old the youngest three-time film acting honoree in the organization’s history. That particular hot streak ended there, but she may be set for a comeback at the upcoming 81st Golden Globe Awards if enough voters favor her work in the raunchy summer flick “No Hard Feelings.” If she does end up adding another trophy to her vast collection, she will set several new precedents and tie her category’s record for most wins.

At this point, the only two women who have clinched three Best Comedy/Musical Actress Golden Globes are Rosalind Russell and Julie Andrews, who respectively reached the milestone in 1963 (“Gypsy”) and 1983 (“Victor/Victoria”). Russell had previously been lauded for...

Clockwise from top left: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (MGM), Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures), The Birdcage (MGM), Moonlight (Lionsgate)Graphic: AVClub

June means Pride Month, and Pride Month means celebrating queer art—which we could all use more of given the current state of things. In the spirit of 2023 Pride,...

This year’s Tonys will be held on June 11, so the American Theatre Wing will likely be announcing its lifetime achievement award recipient in the near future. Who do you think should take home this prestigious trophy, which honors an individual’s body of work? It has gone to veteran stage performers, directors, choreographers, playwrights, songwriters, producers, and designers. In some years we get multiple recipients.

Last year legendary five-time competitive Tony winner Angela Lansbury received this honor about four months before her death on October 11 at the age of 96. The following living performers have also already received this award and thus won’t be chosen again: Tommy Tune, James Earl Jones, Chita Rivera, and Rosemary Harris.

Here are the 10 possibilities featured in our poll below, all performers over the age of 65. Vote to let us know who you’d like to see honored.

SEEBrian d’Arcy James (‘Into the...

A revolutionary, an alien, an actor in drag, a missing journalist and an alcoholic lawyer. It was a mixed bag of Best Picture nominees at the 55th Academy Awards ceremony, but in the end there weren’t a lot of surprises. The epic film with the most nominations won the most awards; however, a fantasy film that garnered a surprising nine nominations won the hearts of millions and cemented a place in film history. The Best Director and three of the four acting winners were first-time nominees, and the fourth acting winner was on a record-setting streak that would last decades, while a couple nominees were on losing streaks. The hosts were also a bit of a mixed bag, with Liza Minnelli, Dudley Moore, Richard Pryor and Walter Matthau joining forces to steer the event. Let’s flashback 40 years to the ceremony on April 11, 1983.

The esteemed British filmmaker Richard Attenborough...

What do the 55th annual Academy Awards which took place April 11, 1983 have in common with the upcoming 95th Oscars?

Steven Spielberg and John Williams.

Back in 1983, Spielberg’s beloved “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” was nominated for nine Academy Awards including film, director and score. This year, the 76-year-old Spielberg and Williams, 91, are both nominated for “The Fabelmans.” The filmmaker’s semi-autobiographical drama is in contention for eight Academy Awards including film, director, screenplay and score.

The 55th Oscars made history with Ben Kingsley becoming the first actor of Indian descent to win the best actor Oscar for his extraordinary portrayal of “Gandhi” while Louis Gossett Jr. become the first black actor to win in the supporting category with his iconic turn as tough-nosed D.I. in “An Officer and a Gentleman.” This year, history could be made again in the best actress category. Malaysian Chinese performer Michelle Yeoh has the chance...

International exhibitors gathered at Berlin’s majestic Kino International on the eve of the Berlin Film Festival on Wednesday to discuss challenges and innovative concepts that are pulling audiences back into theaters.

Opening the Berlinale edition of Cinema Vision 2030 conference, Christian Bräuer, chairman of Germany’s Ag Kino – Gilde e.V. cinema association, which organized the event, said the country’s cinemas were “still suffering from the effects of the pandemic and we still find ourselves in a world in crisis, we feel the consequences of the war, such as the massive increase in energy prices.”

He therefore welcomed the opportunity to hear about new ideas and business models that could bolster the sector.

“You are here today to tell us German exhibitors about your experiences and thoughts about the cinema of tomorrow,” he said, noting that the market was in a state of “rapid change.”

Guest speakers Claire Binns,...

Raquel Welch, the actor who became an icon and sex symbol thanks to films such as ‘One Million Years B.C.’ and ‘Three Musketeers’, died on Wednesday in Los Angeles after a brief illness, her manager confirmed to ‘Variety’. She was 82 and is survived by son Damon and daughter Tahnee.

She came onto the movie scene in 1966 with the sci-fi film ‘Fantastic Voyage’ and the prehistoric adventure ‘One Million Years B.C.’, the latter of which established Welch as a sex symbol.

The actor, notes ‘Variety’, went on to appear in the controversial adaptation of Gore Vidal’s ‘Myra Beckrinridge’, ‘Kansas City Bomber’ and Richard Lester’s delightful romps ‘The Three Musketeers’ (1973), for which she won a Golden Globe, and ‘The Four Musketeers: Milady’s Revenge’ (1974).

She was one of the first women to play the lead role – not the romantic interest – in a Western, 1971 revenge tale ‘Hannie Caulder’ – an inspiration for Quentin Tarantino...

Raquel Welch, the award-winning actress and reluctant sex symbol, has died at the age of 82. Her manager confirmed the news to Variety.

Related Raquel Welch: 10 Sexiest, Funniest, Most Iconic Roles Huey ‘Piano’ Smith, New Orleans R&b Great and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 89 De La Soul’s Trugoy the Dove Dead At 54

In a statement to People Magazine, her manager added that Welch “passed away peacefully early this morning after a brief illness.”

“Her career spanned over 50 years starring in over 30 films and 50 television series and appearances,” the statement continued.

Hollywood star Raquel Welch has died at the age of 82.

The star, who appeared in films including Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years BC, died on Wednesday (15 February) following a “brief illness”.

Welch’s rep confirmed the news to ABC, writing: “The legendary bombshell actress of film, television and stage, passed away peacefully early this morning after a brief illness.

“Her career spanned over 50 years starring in over 30 films and 50 television series and appearances. The Golden Globe winner, in more recent years, was involved in a very successful line of wigs.”

“Raquel leaves behind her two children, son Damon Welch and her daughter, Tahnee Welch.”

Tributes have quickly flooded in for the star whose breakout role came in 1965’s Fantastic Voyage, with One Million Years BC arriving the next year.

While Welch had just three lines of dialogue in the latter, a publicity shot depicting her in a bikini costume...

Raquel Welch, the actor who became an icon and sex symbol thanks to films like “One Million Years B.C.” and “Three Musketeers,” died Wednesday in Los Angeles after a brief illness, her manager confirmed to Variety. She was 82.

She came onto the movie scene in 1966 with the sci-fi film “Fantastic Voyage” and the prehistoric adventure “One Million Years B.C.,” the latter of which established Welch as a sex symbol. The actor went on to appear in the controversial adaptation of Gore Vidal’s “Myra Beckrinridge,” “Kansas City Bomber” and Richard Lester’s delightful romps “The Three Musketeers” (1973), for which she won a Golden Globe, and “The Four Musketeers: Milady’s Revenge” (1974). She was one of the first women to play the lead role — not the romantic interest — in a Western, 1971 revenge tale “Hannie Caulder” — an inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” (2003), according to the director.

(Earlier, Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford...

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In 1982 — when L.A.’s LGBTQ film festival Outfest was born, the same year that Making Love, Personal Best and Victor/Victoria were released — queer content on screen was mostly scarce and what did exist was often hard to access.

Cut to the 40th anniversary this year of Outfest, and gay content is easy to find on television, especially on streamers, while on the film front, Universal this fall will release the first studio film with an all-lgbtq leading cast, Bros.

But even with a highly increased amount of queer content accessible from one’s couch and at the multiplex — “We have lots of choices in entertainment. It’s not just independent film [anymore],” says Outfest executive director Damien S. Navarro — L.A.’s queer film festival continues to hold a vibrant spot in the life of Los Angeles and its LGBTQ community and is finding...

The Criterion Channel’s July lineup is an across-the-board display of strengths, ranging as it does from very specific programming cues to actor retrospectives and hardly ignoring the strength of Criterion Editions. Surely much fun’s to be had with “In the Ring,” a decade-spanning, 16-film curation of boxing pictures—Raging Bull and Fat City, of course, with some you forget are boxing movies (Rocco and His Brothers) and others you’ve likely never seen at all (count me excited for King Vidor’s The Champ). “Noir in Color” brilliantly upends common conception of a drama (and gives you excuse to see Nicholas Ray’s Party Girl); Setsuko Hara films are gathered into a handy collection; and Blake Edwards gets six.

On the Criterion Editions front they’ve gone all out: the Before trilogy, Alex Cox’s Walker, Leave Her to Heaven, Shaft, Destry Rides Again, Raging Bull, Hedwig and the Angry Inch,...

Organisation president and CEO Bob Gazzale anticipates celebration of UK star ” in a manner worthy at a time the world needs it most”.

The American Film Institute (AFI) has rescheduled its 48th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute for Julie Andrews for June 9 2022 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

The gala event was originally set for April 25 2020 before it was moved to November 11 this year and postponed a second time due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Andrews is receiving the honour as an artist “whose work has stood the test of time.” She is a three-time Oscar nominee for roles in Mary Poppins,...

“Oh, god… there’s nothing more inconvenient than an old queen with a head cold.”

Paris in the ’30s is the setting for Blake Edwards’ 1982 screwball sex comedy Victor Victoria. The fun comes to life on the big screen when it plays at The Wildey Theater in Edwardsville, Il at 7:00pm Tuesday July 20th. $3 Tickets available starting at 3pm day of movie at Wildey Theatre ticket office. Cash or check only. Lobby opens at 6pm.

In 1934 Paris, trained coloratura soprano Victoria Grant (Dame Julie Andrews), a native Brit, can’t get a job as a singer and is having trouble making ends meet. She doesn’t even have enough money for the basics of food and shelter. Gay cabaret singer Carole “Toddy” Todd (Robert Preston) may befall the same fate as Victoria, as he was just fired from his singing gig at a second-rate club named “Chez Lui”. To solve their problems,...

TV had the run of the place for awhile there during the pandemic. But now that vaccinations are speeding up and the weather is warming, it’s film’s time to shine. At least that’s the conclusion that can be drawn from HBO Max’s list of new releases for June 2021.

There are no real original TV series of note coming this month, which is highly unusual for HBO and HBO Max. In their place, however, are some really impressive film offerings. Major Warner Bros. titles like The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (June 4) and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights (June 11) both arrive this month. So too do some interesting documentaries like Revolutionary Rent on June 15 and Lfg on June 24. The former deals with the staging of the musical Rent in Cuba and the latter follows the U.S. women’s soccer team’s fight for equal pay.

Pandemic postponed original date of April 25, 2020.

Julie Andrews will be presented with the 48th AFI Life Achievement Award at a gala tribute on November 11 in Los Angeles.

The ceremony will take place at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and had initially been scheduled for April 25, 2020, before it was postponed due to the pandemic.

Andrews is a three-time Oscar nominee and household name for celebrated roles in Mary Poppins, The Sound Of Music, and Victor/Victoria, among others.

“Julie Andrews has lifted the spirits of the world for generations,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “Now, more than ever, AFI looks...

Meryl Streep is predicted to extend her Golden Globes record with a 33rd nomination for her star turn in the Netflix musical “The Prom.” She plays a Broadway diva down on her luck who seizes on the plight of a high school senior (Jo Ellen Pellman) prevented from taking her girlfriend to the prom. Streep shines in the musical numbers and has some lovely quieter moments as well. Not surprisingly, this favorite of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. sits atop our Best Musical/Comedy Actress chart.

Streep has won a record eight Golden Globes from her 32 nominations to date. Seven of those victories have been for films (her single TV win came for her leading role in the 2003 HBO limited series “Angels in America”). Her first time to the podium was way back in 1980 for her supporting role in “Kramer vs. Kramer.” She went on to win her first Oscar for that featured performance.

We are predicting that Meryl Streep will have to make more room on her already crowded mantle as she is tipped to take home her ninth Golden Globe for her star turn in the Netflix musical “The Prom.” Streep sits atop our Best Musical/Comedy Actress chart for her role as a Broadway diva hoping to revitalize her career by promoting the plight of a high school girl (Jo Ellen Pellman) who is prevented from taking her girlfriend to the prom. Streep dazzles in a string of song-and-dance numbers and has some lovely quieter moments too.

Seven of Streep’s record eight Golden Globe victories have been on the film side (her single TV win was for her leading role in the 2003 HBO limited series “Angels in America”). Her first time to the podium at these kudos put on by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was for her supporting role...

Last year we watched as Renee Zellweger followed the yellow brick road all the way to the Wizard of Oscar as Judy Garland in “Judy.” Can lightning (or a tornado) strike two years in a row? That’s surely the hope of Andra Day, looking like a strong Best Actress Oscar contender for her title role in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” Like Garland, Holiday rose to stardom in the late 1930s. She also had multiple marriages, faced financial woes and struggled with drugs and alcohol. The question is: can the role in this Hulu release deliver the Oscar to Day?

Before making a decision, keep in mind that the academy has a long history of recognizing actresses for portraying other actresses or entertainers. And the more drama, trauma and tragedy the better. Even raging and hysterical divas are welcome. Let’s look back at some prime and primadonna examples from Oscar’s history.

In this series by Christopher James we investigate the 'Gay Best Friend' trope in movies.

More movies should end with a gay best friend performing drag, like Robert Preston in Victor/Victoria.Many of the gay best friends in movies we've discussed to date have been supporting characters to give color to the protagonists, act as a sounding board, or fill out the world of the story. Rarely are they actual plot drivers who get to carry their own subplot. In only one film that we've discussed to date, My Best Friend’s Wedding, do they also get to be the ultimate hero of the story.

Blake Edwards 1982 musical comedy Victor/Victoria, like most gender-flipping movies, relies a bit too much on the gender binary. However, it uses its queer characters to help the straights find their own unique shading on the sexuality spectrum. This was my first time watching Victor/Victoria and...

Arthur P. Siccardi, a longtime Broadway production supervisor whose five-decade career included work on such notable original and revival stagings as Sweeney Todd, Whose Life is it Anyway?, Sunday in the Park with George, Gypsy, The Heidi Chronicles and Sunset Boulevard, to name a few, died December 23 of complications from pneumonia. He was 89.

His death was announced by his son Drew Siccardi.

Born in Englewood, NJ, and raised in Fort Lee, Siccardi began his professional life as a minor league baseball pitcher for the Johnson City Cardinals from 1951-53. An employment offer to work as a show carpenter on the original national tour of Gypsy led to what would be his life’s work.

Siccardi established Arthur Siccardi Theatrical Services in 1975 at the suggestion of Michael Bennett, and he’d go on to work with such notable directors as Mike Nichols, Jerome Robbins, Tommy Tune, Gower Champion, Trevor Nunn and Michael Blakemore.

Julie Andrews had a number of things working against her before she became an international superstar in her first movie role in “Mary Poppins.”

Andrews, who turns 85 on Oct. 1, almost had to turn down the role because she was pregnant when it was first offered. But studio chief Walt Disney was wowed by her Broadway performance in “Camelot,” and was willing to wait until after she gave birth to start production. Filming started in mid-1963, when Andrews’ infant daughter Emma was about six months old. Andrews went on to win the Oscar for best actress for her role as the famously eccentric governess.

After starting out in British theater, Andrews had made a splash when she crossed the pond to star in “My Fair Lady” on Broadway when she was just 21. But she wasn’t cast in the film adaptation, since the producers thought her lack of film experience would be an issue.

Julie Andrews is the first person officially cast in one of Shonda Rhimes’ upcoming Netflix shows.

Andrews has joined the untitled series based on Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton family novels. She will voice the character Lady Whistledown. Anonymous to readers, the sharp-tongued gossip writer uses a curious mix of social commentary and scathing insult to send the season of 1813’s ton into an all-out frenzy.

Andrews is a legend of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her roles in films like “The Sound of Music” and “Mary Poppins,” both of which earned her Academy Award nominations. She is also known for roles in films like “Victor/Victoria,” “The Princess Diaries” and its sequel, as well as the “Despicable Me” and “Minion” franchises. Andrews also voiced the character of Queen Lillian in the blockbuster hits “Shrek 2,” “Shrek the Third,” and “Shrek Forever After.”

The Bridgerton series is set in...

Tony Curtis grew up idolizing the suave and funny Cary Grant, emulated his romantic moves as an actor and then performed a brilliant impersonation of Grant for Billy Wilder. The next step had to be co-starring with the great man himself. Blake Edwards’ amiable, relaxed submarine movie allows Grant to play with ladies’ under-things, while Curtis wrestles with a pig.

Operation Petticoat

Blu-ray

Olive Signature Edition

1959 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 120 min. / Street Date July 1, 2014 / available through the Olive Films website / 39.95

Starring: Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Joan O’Brien, Dina Merrill, Gene Evans, Dick Sargent, Virginia Gregg, Gavin MacLeod, Madlyn Rhue, Marion Ross, Arthur O’Connell.

Cinematography: Russell Harlan

Original Music: David Rose

Written by Paul King, Joseph Stone, Stanley Shapiro, Maurice Richlin

Produced by Robert Arthur

Directed by Blake Edwards

The latest in Olive Films’ Signature Selection special editions is Operation Petticoat, a light comedy war movie noted for teaming Cary Grant with Tony Curtis.

'Making Love': Groundbreaking romantic gay drama returns to the big screen As part of its Anniversary Classics series, Laemmle Theaters will be presenting Arthur Hiller's groundbreaking 1982 romantic drama Making Love, the first U.S. movie distributed by a major studio that focused on a romantic gay relationship. Michael Ontkean, Harry Hamlin, and Kate Jackson star. The 35th Anniversary Screening of Making Love will be held on Saturday, June 24 – it's Gay Pride month, after all – at 7:30 p.m. at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre on Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills. The movie will be followed by a Q&A session with Harry Hamlin, screenwriter Barry Sandler, and author A. Scott Berg, who wrote the “story” on which the film is based. 'Making Love' & What lies beneath In this 20th Century Fox release – Sherry Lansing was the studio head at the time – Michael Ontkean plays a...

'The Pink Panther' with Peter Sellers: Blake Edwards' 1963 comedy hit and its many sequels revolve around one of the most iconic film characters of the 20th century: clueless, thick-accented Inspector Clouseau – in some quarters surely deemed politically incorrect, or 'insensitive,' despite the lack of brown face make-up à la Sellers' clueless Indian guest in Edwards' 'The Party.' 'The Pink Panther' movies [1] There were a total of eight big-screen Pink Panther movies co-written and directed by Blake Edwards, most of them starring Peter Sellers – even after his death in 1980. Edwards was also one of the producers of every (direct) Pink Panther sequel, from A Shot in the Dark to Curse of the Pink Panther. Despite its iconic lead character, the last three movies in the Pink Panther franchise were box office bombs. Two of these, The Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther, were co-written by Edwards' son,...

Blake Edwards: Director of the 'Pink Panther' movies – and Julie Andrews' husband for more than four decades – was at his best handling polished comedies and a couple of dead serious dramas. Blake Edwards movies: Best known for slapstick fare, but at his best handling polished comedies and dramas The Pink Panther and its sequels[1] are the movies most closely associated with screenwriter-director-producer Blake Edwards, whose film and television career spanned more than half a century.[2] But unless you're a fan of Keystone Kops-style slapstick, they're the filmmaker's least interesting efforts. In fact, Edwards (born William Blake Crump in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on July 26, 1922) was at his best (co-)writing and/or directing polished comedies (e.g., Operation Petticoat, Victor Victoria) and, less frequently, dramas (Days of Wine and Roses, the romantic comedy-drama Breakfast at Tiffany's). The article below and follow-up posts offer a brief look at some of Blake Edwards' non-Pink Panther comedies,...

On Sunday, movie fans will find out if Eddie Redmayne wins Best Actor for his performance as trans woman Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl. Should Redmayne be victorious, he'd not only score back-to-back Oscars but he would also become the latest in a long line of actors who have courted Oscar attention by playing the opposite sex, playing a trans person or in some other way playing a character whose gender differs than the one of which the actors themselves identify. Not that it comes without some criticism, of course. Also up for an Oscar this year is the...

Robert Walker: Actor in MGM films of the '40s. Robert Walker: Actor who conveyed boy-next-door charms, psychoses At least on screen, I've always found the underrated actor Robert Walker to be everything his fellow – and more famous – MGM contract player James Stewart only pretended to be: shy, amiable, naive. The one thing that made Walker look less like an idealized “Average Joe” than Stewart was that the former did not have a vacuous look. Walker's intelligence shone clearly through his bright (in black and white) grey eyes. As part of its “Summer Under the Stars” programming, Turner Classic Movies is dedicating today, Aug. 9, '15, to Robert Walker, who was featured in 20 films between 1943 and his untimely death at age 32 in 1951. Time Warner (via Ted Turner) owns the pre-1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library (and almost got to buy the studio outright in 2009), so most of Walker's movies have...

The 87th Academy Award nominations for 2015 were recently released on January 15, 2015 representing the excellence in film for the previous year. Naturally there was the standard controversy regarding those films and performances that got unfairly overlooked. Unfortunately, the perceived snubs do happen from year to year so this goes along with the territory. Nevertheless, the lucky selections that do manage to grab Oscar’s attention are understandably grateful and psyched to see if the golden statuette will in fact go home with them on the film industry’s biggest and most elegant evening.

With the obvious crankiness of Oscar omissions aside and the injustices that go with these “reel” deals has anyone ever considered the Academy Award nominees that are surprisingly recognized that could have gone unnoticed for whatever reasoning? After all there are films and exceptional performances that get lost in the shuffle but manage to get the accolades it...

The 72nd Golden Globe Awards are just days away! With over 30 years of coverage under our belt, we're taking a trip down memory lane back to 1983 -- Et's very first time on the carpet with the winners we still love today.

A frontrunner that night was Steven Spielberg's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, but the scene stealer on the carpet was the adorable 7-year-old Drew Barrymore who loved getting decked out for the big show.

"I think they're very fun!" Barrymore said of awards shows. "I like to get dressed up for them."

Watch: All You Need to Know About the Golden Globes

Dustin Hoffman was another winner that evening, taking home the Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for his performance in Tootsie.

"I guess the one thing that’s nice about [awards shows] -- is that the people can get up and thank the people that worked on the various projects that aren't in the...

By Anjelica Oswald

Managing Editor

Into the Woods, Disney’s adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Broadway musical, could land an Oscar nomination for its screenplay, which was adapted by Lapine. It may be a stretch for Into the Woods to land in the top five, though. Adapted — or even original — musical screenplays may be discounted for the music in the Oscar race, which might be why few musicals are nominated for adapted or original screenplay. Twelve musicals have been nominated for adapted screenplay since 1929, but 2002’s Chicago was the last musical to do so.

Adapted from Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb’s 1975 musical of the same name, Chicago won six of its 13 nominations, including best picture. It was the first musical since 1968’s Oliver! to win best picture, but its screenplay lost to The Pianist.

Carol Reed’s Oliver! was nominated for 11 Oscars and won five. It...

James Garner movies on TCM: ‘Grand Prix,’ ‘Victor Victoria’ among highlights (photo: James Garner ca. 1960) James Garner, whose film and television career spanned more than five decades, died of "natural causes" at age 86 on July 19, 2014, in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood. On Monday, July 28, Turner Classic Movies will present an all-day marathon of James Garner movies (see below) as a tribute to the Oscar-nominated star of Murphy’s Romance and Emmy-winning star of the television series The Rockford Files. Among the highlights in TCM’s James Garner film lineup is John Frankenheimer’s Monaco-set Grand Prix (1966), an all-star, race-car drama featuring Garner as a Formula One driver who has an affair with the wife (Jessica Walter) of his former teammate (Brian Bedford). Among the other Grand Prix drivers facing their own personal issues are Yves Montand and Antonio Sabato, while Akira Kurosawa’s (male) muse Toshiro Mifune plays a...

By Christopher Rosa

Screen legend James Garner died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on Saturday. He was 86 years old. Garner’s most recent work was voicing Shazam in the 2010 short animated film Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam; however, his extensive résumé dates back to 1956.

Garner’s most notable film roles include The Great Escape (1963), The Americanization of Emily (1964), Grand Prix (1966), the music-packed Victor Victoria (1982), and Murphy’s Romance (1985), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He is perhaps best known for the television series Maverick and The Rockford Files, the latter of which won him an Emmy for his performance in 1977. Garner also played wise-cracking grandpa Jim Elgan on ABC’s 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter from 2002 to 2005.

New fans of Garner may recognize him for his work in The Notebook (2004), where he played the elder Noah “Duke” Calhoun,...

By Christopher Rosa

Screen legend James Garner died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on Saturday. He was 86 years old. Garner’s most recent work was voicing Shazam in the 2010 short animated film Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam; however, his extensive résumé dates back to 1956.

Garner’s most notable film roles include The Great Escape (1963), The Americanization of Emily (1964), Grand Prix (1966), the music-packed Victor Victoria (1982), and Murphy’s Romance (1985), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He is perhaps best known for the television series Maverick and The Rockford Files, the latter of which won him an Emmy for his performance in 1977. Garner also played wise-cracking grandpa Jim Elgan on ABC’s 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter from 2002 to 2005.

New fans of Garner may recognize him for his work in The Notebook (2004), where he played the elder Noah “Duke” Calhoun,...

My geek overdrive continues to overwhelm me. But I’m not the only one.

Less than a week away from this year’s San Diego ComicCon (which opens its doors this Thursday, July 24th, and closes them on Sunday, July 27th) Entertainment Weekly joins the national geek fest that is summertime with a bang-up double-size issue featuring a cover shot of Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man and Chris Evans as Captain America with Ultron looming behind them. The issue is a stuffed-to-the-gills San Diego Comic Con preview…

And I read every single page. Including the adverts.

Now I know how those fans at the 1976 Sdcc felt when Charles Lippincott (then head of Lucasfilm’s marketing, advertising and publicity department) showed some of the first production slides of Star Wars, and (writer) Roy Thomas and (artist) Howard Chaykin previewed their Marvel Comics adaptation of the film, because the cover story,...

Indeed it is sad news to acknowledge the passing of Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actor James Garner (1928-2014). The Hollywood icon Garner has endured a remarkable show business career during a five-plus decade stretch as he has entertained generations of TV and film audiences throughout the ages. Upon the death of this immensely likable leading man on both the small and big screen many are probably wondering about their mortality at this point. After all, you either grew up with James Garner as a peer or spent your childhood watching him in your living rooms on the boob tube or at the local movie theater.

Although the majority of folks associate Garner with television from his first western series Maverick in the 1950′s to his landmark role as ex-con Pi Jim Rockford in the 1970′s The Rockford Files (some teens and young adults may recall his brief stint as grandfather Jim...

James Garner, an actor best known for his portrayals of charming, wry anti-heroes in "The Rockford Files" and "Maverick", has died. He was 86.

He was born James Scott Bumgarner on April 7, 1928 in Norman, Oklahoma, the third and youngest son of Mildred and Weldon Bumgarner. His young life was very unsettled; at the age of four, his mother passed away, and James and his brothers Charles and Jack were sent away to live with relatives. When their father remarried in 1930 the boys were able to return home, but their stepmother mistreated them and the marriage ended after her cruelty to the boys, James in particular, grew untenable. Weldon, leaving the boys behind, moved to Los Angeles to look for steady work. After a brief stint in the Merchant Marines at the age of 16 (which ended due to his extreme seasickness), James followed his father to California, where he enrolled in Hollywood High School briefly. While there, he was recommended for a Jantzen swimsuit modeling job which turned out to be his first taste of Hollywood.

Grown tired of modeling and repelled by the phoniness of the Hollywood movie system, he returned to Norman and re-enrolled in high school there for a short time, before dropping out for good and enrolling in the National Guard. After a serious knee injury, he was discharged from the National Guard, only to be drafted by the Army in 1949 and sent to fight in Korea, where he was twice wounded and awarded two Purple Hearts.

After his discharge from the Army, he was persuaded by producer Paul Gregory, an old friend from his Hollywood High School days, to accept a role in his Broadway play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial". In taking the role and studying following Henry Fonda's performance every night, James learned what he deemed his most effective tool in acting: listening.

His Broadway experience led him back to Los Angeles, where he won roles in commercials and TV, eventually signing a contract with Warner Brothers, who changed his screen name to Garner without his permission for his appearance in the 1956 film The Girl He Left Behind. In that same year he met Lois Clark at a political rally, and the two married 14 days later. Garner adopted Lois’s daughter Kimberly, and the couple also had a daughter together, Greta. It was after Greta’s birth that he legally changed his surname to Garner, as he was concerned that his children would have too many last names.

In 1957, he won a lead in the new television series “Maverick”, the role in which he originated and refined the ‘charming and hesitantly heroic con-man’ persona that would resonate with audiences through the remainder of his career. His turn as Bret Maverick, first imagined as the focal point of a by-the-numbers Western soon morphed into a new sort of anti-hero, one with a sense of humor who would rather charm than shoot or fight his way out of a bad situation. This portrayal of Bret earned him a Golden Globe in 1958, and an Emmy nomination in 1957. Network concerns led James to leave the show in 1960 and head back to feature films, where he relied on his life’s experiences to flesh out roles in a varied collection of films: the dramatic The Children’s Hour; war movies The Great Escape, 36 Hours and The Americanization of Emily; romantic comedies The Thrill Of It All and Move Over Darling and even racing drama Grand Prix. It was during Grand Prix that Garner discovered one of his life’s passions – auto racing – that would inspire him to support a racing team himself.

In 1970, he joined forces once again with “Maverick” creator Roy Huggins and writer Stephen J. Cannell to bring a new detective show to television, “The Rockford Files”. Much like they had in “Maverick”, they used the show to reinvent the detective genre. Gone were the hard-nosed gumshoe tactics and gunplay used in noir-inspired private investigator series, replaced by Jim Rockford’s easygoing personality and wit as the main tools used to solve robberies, insurance scams and the like. The show would run for six seasons before Garner’s stunt injuries and financial disputes ended the run, but not without Garner earning a Best Actor Emmy in 1977. In between film roles, Garner would revisit the character several times during the next few decades in made-for-TV movies, as the original show’s growing popularity in re-runs fueled demand for more Jim Rockford tales from a new generation of fans.

Garner’s film career continued alongside his major TV successes for the next 3 decades. Cinematic roles in Victor/Victoria, Murphy's Romance (which earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination), Tank, Twilight, Maverick, Space Cowboys, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, The Notebook were interspersed with appearances in TV movies and series such as “Bret Maverick”, “Man of the People” “Chicago Hope” “First Monday” and “8 Rules for Dating Your Teenage Daughter.” Though he had experienced physical injuries in sports, war and during stunt work and had recovered from quintuple heart bypass in 1998, it wasn’t until suffering a stroke in 2008 that his work slowed.

He is survived by his wife Lois and his daughters Greta and Kimberly. He was preceded in death by his brother Charles in 1985.

Los Angeles – He was the guy that could take care of things for you, with a wink of the eye and a slightly cynical air. Handsome star James Garner distinguished himself in both film and television, and passed away on July 19th, 2014, in Los Angeles after a long stretch of health problems. He was 86.

Garner broke in on a national level by starring as professional gambler Bret Maverick in the 1950s TV series, “Maverick,” and went from there to take on leading man and character roles in classic films such as “The Children’s Hour,” “The Great Escape,” “The Americanization of Emily,” “Victor Victoria,” and “Murphy’s Romance.” He even completed a TV-to-movie cycle by appearing in the Mel Gibson film version of “Maverick.” He also made a second character splash on TV in the 1970s, portraying private investigator Jim Rockford in the sly and popular show, “The Rockford Files.

©2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Oscar-nominated actor James Garner has passed away at the age of 86.

From AP:

Garner, whose whimsical style in the 1950s TV Western “Maverick” led to a stellar career in TV and films such as “The Rockford Files” and his Oscar-nominated “Murphy’s Romance,” was found dead of natural causes at his home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles Saturday evening, Los Angeles police officer Alonzo Iniquez said early Sunday.

Police responded to a call around 8 p.m. Pdt and confirmed Garner’s identity from family members, Iniquez told The Associated Press.

There was no immediate word on a more specific cause of death. Garner had suffered a stroke in May 2008, just weeks after his 80th birthday.

Although he was adept at drama and action, Garner was best known for his low-key, wisecracking style, especially with his hit TV series, “Maverick” and “The Rockford Files.

James Garner, the rugged leading man who charmed generations of audiences with his roles in Maverick, The Rockford Files, and The Notebook, died of natural causes on Saturday night in Los Angeles, according to TMZ and the Associated Press. The Emmy winner—and 14-time nominee—had suffered a stroke in 2008 and was 86.

The persona he first projected in Maverick in 1957—handsome, charming, genial, a bit of a rogue, mostly a mensch—established Garner as America’s leading television actor. Born James Scott Baumgarner in Norman, Okla., in 1928, he survived an upbringing that was at best knockaround and often, at the hands of a cruel stepmother,...

James Garner has died at the age of 86.

The actor passed away at his home in Los Angeles, with police dispatched to his property at around 8pm local time yesterday (July 19).

Garner is known for starring as Jim Rockford in crime drama series The Rockford Files between 1974 and 1980.

He also appeared in numerous films including The Great Escape, Grand Prix, Victor Victoria, Space Cowboys and The Notebook.

No cause of death has been confirmed yet.

Hollywood has paid tribute to Garner on social media, with Rush director Ron Howard tweeting: "Rip James Garner. Admired by all who knew him.

"When starring in Grand Prix, the people around F1 said he had the talent to be a pro driver."

Rip James Garner. Admired by all who knew him. When starring in Grand Prix the people around F1 said he had the talent to be a pro driver

— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) July...