Poseidon Suffers Another Loss
The great Red Buttons is dead at 87. Another reason to watch the original The Poseidon Adventure.
Who is getting up there who you will be most upset to see go?
May 18, 2024
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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
Lindsay Lohan.
Elizabeth Taylor
Jeffrey Wells.
(Hope he can take a joke…)
The joke is, nobody will be upset.
Ha!
Roger Ebert
LOL!!! Lindsay Lohan…I don’t care who you are; that’s funny!
That’s one of the best first posts I’ve read anywhere in a long time…still LOL!
I’d say To Hell with movie stars but I wouldn’t even wish that on the Devil himself!
actors & director:
I think I’d be most upset about Harry Dean Stanton. I want him to live be as old as the sea, but he won’t. Neither will Jules Dassin or Jeanne Moreau, my favorite actress, or the man himself, sidney Poitier.
I also want Nick Cave to live forever. and the Boards of Canada.
I’m amazed that Dassin is still around. Not as amazed as I am about Keith Richards, but still.
Ray Harryhausen.
Kurt Vonnegut.
Robert Altman.
Clint Eastwood.
I cannot say how much of an influence he has been on me and my career.
A know he is not that old yet also but I noticed today is Harrison Ford’s birthday at 64. Not that old…but when he goes a whole generation will feel it.
Guaranteed.
John Williams.
Palmtree,
You are so right.
The soundtrack to a generation.
Peter O’Toole; Olivia de Havilland (she turned 90 July 1st)
Nicol, are you a cowboy-turned-mayor?
Peter O’Toole for sure.
Another one: Lauren Bacall.
Jeff,
No, but I do like to eat ice cream on the sidewalk:)
Paul Newman, definitely.
You’ve bested me, Nicol, I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Jeff,
When Clint first became mayor or Carmel CA in the eighties there was an ordinance saying that you could not eat ice-cream cones on public sidewalks because of the mess they made.
The first act he did as mayor was to repeal the ordinance.
Clint’s the man!
Michael Caine: In a class by himself.
Also — just naming folks who haven’t yet been named — Sidney Lumet, Albert Finney, Andrew Sarris and Stanley Kauffmann.
Sean Connery.
Thanks, Nicol.
I’ll throw out a more obscure film composer too…Leonard Rosenman. He started with East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause (he taught James Dean piano), won an Oscar for Barry Lyndon, and did Star Trek IV.
Jack Nicholson, man! How could we survive a world with no Jack Nicholson!!
I remember just a decade ago we still had with us Bob Hope, Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra…the last generation of true Hollywood legends from the studio era.
Not many are left. Bacall. Shirley Temple. Liz Taylor. We’ve basically closed the book.
There’s basically a whole lotta people that it will be sad to see them go. Probably, more than anyone, people such as Robert Altman, Clint Eastwood, Milos Forman (I totally stole those names from that article at MCN) because they are still out there making quality movies. Other people such as Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor (who gave probably my favourite duet performance ever in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) are so incredibly talented and provided us with so much, it will be sad when they’re gone. I hope Newman gets to make his last Newman/Redford picture.
Maggie Smith is getting up there
hate to say it but hopefully she lives to see Potter 7
Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese.
Jack’s a given, but how about Pacino and DeNiro? I keep hoping those two do something brilliant again. Even together. But in the opposite direction of Heat (and no comedy!).
Definitely gotta agree with John Williams…the list of films that have probably received more love than they deserved because of his scores is too long to count.
And if he keeps his crazy antics up, I will be sad to see the day when the greatest one man show kicks it off – of course I speak of the inconquerable Thomas Mapother Cruise.
Two years ago I saw Williams conduct the Cleveland Symphony at Blossom (thier outdoor space in the middle of the woods) threw all his best film work, a smile has never been on my face for so long, not to mention he came back for 3 encores and tha applause at the end lasted nearly 15 minutes.
(by the way Devin’s review of the Fountain is up at CHUD, and it looks like we have our next Kubrick)
For me it was the Hollywood Bowl. Feel a little sorry for the guy having to conduct his greatest hits ad nauseum (it’s said that every great composer always hates the piece that made him/her famous for that reason). Got to see him rehearse and snuck onto the stage to shake his hand only to freeze up. He looked straight at me and I was totally starstruck. Then he left.
Hes John Williams not Jimmy Buffett
Much bigger collection of popular work, not all of it film work, not to mention conducting the classics 20 or so years as well in Boston.
He rarely does film retrospectives except for that one tour, and that had very few shows, as he only worked with the best symphonies and any good guest conducter will spend at least a week in warm ups.
Williams conducts his greatest hits every year at the Hollywood Bowl. Someone always brings a lightsaber during the Star Wars theme. This has been going on for at least 15 years. None of those concerts have gone outside of light classical works and film music (not necessarily his own). For one encore, he conducted his Star Wars intro music that he even said was not rehearsed. And even if he plays his more obscure film music (he played The Reivers once as I recall), everyone is waiting for the encores…and he does them dutifully.
Btw, he conducted the Boston Pops, not the Symphony…there’s a difference.
I know he does the Bowl every year, but thats only once a year, outside the LA gig he rarely touches the film stuff. and as any classical nut will tell you each orchetra and each venue change a piece drastically. The last time he conducted the Cleveland Orchestra was 16 years prior to that, and no offense to LA but thier not on the same plane as the CSO.
Yes I know he conducted the Pops, and yes I know what that means, but he incorparated alot of stuff a normal US pops orchestra would not play, hence his legendarty status and a conductor, along with his composing skills.
turned 74 in Feb.
And Steven Spielberg still calls him “Johnny” Williams in public.
Clint Eastwood, for sure. Although he keeps himself in such incredible shape (his mother made it to 96) that he’s possibly the only 76 year old around for whom thoughts of death seem out of place. Nevertheless, there is such widespread affection for Eastwood that when it does finally happen I think the public grief will be unprecedented.
Added to that, Sean Connery, Paul Newman and Michael Caine. All much liked actors whose loss will be strongly felt, not least by me.
Damn, this is a depressing topic …
Gene Hackman.
“no offense to LA but thier not on the same plane as the CSO.”
Maybe back in ’85 but today the LA Phil is one of the top orchestras in the country, rivaling the tired old “big five” in terms of musicianship, cunducting, programs and certainly concert house.
^ That should be “conducting.” Somehow the way I spelled it above seems a bit naughty.
Morgan Freeman – I will admit that I get choked up every time I watch Shawshank. If Morgan was gone, it’d only make it all the worse.
Anthony Hopkins – For a stretch there he was the finest actor working.
Shirley Maclaine – I still have a crush on her from The Apartment. Losing Jack Lemmon hurt; losing her, too would scar.
“outside the LA gig he rarely touches the film stuff.”
You mean that and composing major film scores every year, right? Last year I count Munich, Memoirs of a Geisha, War of the Worlds, and Star Wars III.
“no offense to LA but thier not on the same plane as the CSO”
The LA Phil is catching up if it hasn’t already caught up (you don’t have a record deal with Sony Classical unless you can play). And Walt Disney Concert Hall is one of the best acoustically. Incidentally, Williams composed the little ditty that tells people to go to their seats over the PA system.
Anyways…..Sharpel, I think you took my original comment the wrong way. I was celebrating the man…people only remember the BIG themes he’s done (some are probably even forgetting them) even though his work is so varied. Among my faves: Jaws fugue, Motorcyle music from Crusade, and his long-ass cue at the end of E.T. Azkaban was his best score in years.
Back to our programming….
Army Archerd.
Gotta throw in Richard Widmark. And those of us of a certain age will truly take it badly when Jerry Lewis goes. (Hell, I still can’t believe Carson’s gone.)
I’ll be sad to see Jerry Lewis (80 yrs old) go, if only for his tremendous fundraising work. (Oops, I just noticed Cadavra mentioned him).
We’ve already lost Bones and Scotty; Kirk and Spock are both 75 yrs old.
OH, I just thought of a huge one: Dick Van Dyke (age 80).
Mickey Rooney…Van Dyke’s costar in A Night At the Museum.
Christopher Lee
Paul Newman – when he leaves us it will truly be an end of an era. Never has a guy been so great in so many movies.
Woody Allen – for sure.
John Williams – the man is a living legend. Every time Spielberg and Lucas accept any away they should acknowledge that they owe their careers to Williams. His score is the glue to many of there movies, especially the early ones.
Roger Deakins – he’s not that old, but you never know in this world.
Oh, and Robert Duvall. I’d say him and Newman are the best of older generation of actors.
Lonesome Dove is kind of like The Bible in my family; often quote and often lectured. His performance in that is one of the all time greats.
Sorry, Sorry…one more.
William Goldman. Sure he can be pompous. But the man’s writings mean a lot to me, and I don’t think I’m alone on that.
Ridley Scott — he appears to be in good health, thank God, but he turns 69 this year.
(I think he’d live longer if he stopped working with Russell Crowe.)
I say this one not in jest:
Jackie Chan.
He’s had so many bang ups over the years that are adding up and he recently lost it in a very public way: http://www.kaijushakedown.com/2006/07/jackie_drunk_jo.html
Shame on me for not remembering to mention earlier: James Garner. One of the most likeable, if not beloved, actors of his generation, with much cross-generational appeal thanks to his many movies and TV series. I would really be curious to see how many folks he drew out of their homes and into theaters to see “The Notebook” and “Divine Secrets of Ya-Ya Sisterhood.” With all due respect to the nominal stars of those films, Garner has a fan base that cannot be underestimated.
Also: Robert Vaughn (the last of the “Magnificent Seven”) and Mel Brooks.
And of course there’s Ingmar Bergman, Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Leaud.
Joe, you’re absolutely right. Garner has always been a pleasure to watch, whether in The Great Escape, Maverick, Support Your Local Gunfighter, Rockford or, hell, even those Poloroid commercials with Mariette Hartley. He is definitely a treasure who deserves more recognition. Maybe he would have gotten more props if he had been nicer to the press….
Christopher Walken – very surprised he has not been mentioned yet. I do not even want to imagine a world without Walken.
I’ll also 2nd Mel Brooks, as well as add David Letterman, Michael J Fox, and especially Dick Miller. As a huge Joe Dante fan, it just wouldn’t be the same watching any of his movies again.
Since we seem to be getting into people who are merely in middle age, I’ll say Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd, and Chevy Chase. I grew up with those guys. Also Lily Tomlin.
Wrecktum: He’s always been polite to the press, as far as I can tell, when the press has been polite to him. I was polite to him when I intervied gim two years ago, and this is what I got:
Jeff, those guys are in their 60s. The average lifespan for men is 72. By what definition do they qualify as middle age?
By virtue of the fact that if any of them passed away tomorrow, they would be considered to have died untimely deaths. Which you can’t really say about Altman (81), or Dick Miller (77) or Jules Dassin (94).
PS: Dan Aykroyd is only 54.
Some of the people being mentioned (Michael Caine, Shirley MacLaine, Maggie Smith, etc) may be getting on in years but they don’t look as if they’re coming to their end. They still work plenty and unlike people like Elizabeth Taylor they aren’t reclusive and such.
There are many people that, despite their age, would be quite shocking to lose because it just doesn’t seem like they’re at that time.
You know what would be freaky? if Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Julie Walters all died within a short timespan of one another. Who will play all the cranky old british women?!
Eva Marie Saint, 82.
Jeff: Okay, Aykroyd can live. ;>
I only checked the first two and was so blown away by the fact that Chevy Chase actually was still alive… I mean that guys in their 60s would count as middle-aged that I checked neither Dan nor Lily.
Maybe I’m just too young, but it wouldn’t seem untimely if someone in his 60s, who lived his prime years as recklessly as Chevy Chase supposedly did, passed away. Someone has to die early to keep the average at 72 (actually 69 for unmarried men).
“(actually 69 for unmarried men)”
Really? Crap.
Anyway, I figured that the people holding the average down are the Chris Farleys and John Belushis of the world – Chevy Chase is a retired millionaire, and they tend to get pretty good medical care.
James Earl Jones. Robert Duvall. And Gene Hackman, especially if his last film turns out to be “Welcome to Mooseport.”
Jeff,
Yeah, I wondered whether infant mortality, the high number of young African American male deaths and other odd statistics get added into the number but didn’t really want to research it.
But I think you are right, those rich Hollywood guys do tend to have really great healthcare. Wish I could get into that HMO. ;>
Yeah, everything you mentioned gets added into that number, it’s life expectancy at birth, so it includes the entire population. Life expectancy is so low in developing nations not because people die in their 40s and 50s routinely, but because infant mortality is high.
Mickey Spillane, dead at 88.
Was he in Poseidon?
And another one who was not in Poseidon but could have been: Jack Warden, dead at 85.