Monday, July 28, 2014

James Shigeta

Actor -- via Variety. An exemplary leading man who could sing and dance, he did great work in a significant number of good films and with some great directors: Fuller's "The Crimson Kimono," "Flower Drum Song," Pollack's "The Yakuza," Vice Admiral Nagumo in "Midway," and of course Mr. Takagi in "Die Hard."

Margot Adler

Iconic radio reporter -- via NPR.



Sunday, July 27, 2014

Carlo Bergonzi

Tenor -- via the New York Times. While not often ranked with the Big Three tenors of the mid-20th century -- Corelli, di Stephano, and Del Monaco -- he was a supreme interpreter of Verdi.





Friday, July 25, 2014

Bella 'Bel' Kaufman

Verda Erman

Pianist -- via the Daily Sabah.

Tommy Mundon

Comedian -- via the Express & Star.

Rod Franks

Trumpeter -- via the Telegraph & Argus.

William Schoen

Violist -- via the Chicago Tribune.

FRIDAY BOOK REVIEW: 'The Book of the Dead'

By BRAD WEISMANN


The Book of the Dead: Lives of Justly Famous and the Unreservedly Obscure
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson
2009
Crown Publishers
New York


When I was a kid, the most prevalent form of literature in our house was the Reader’s Digest and its assorted ancillary products, derivatives, and uncategorized spawn. Condensed Books. Spring 1961 through Autumn 1968? Check. Treasury of Great Operettas, Mood Music for Listening and Relaxation, Joyous Music at Christmastime? On my turntable.

One of these was what first spawned by interest in biographies, and eventually obituaries. “Great Lives, Great Deeds” is an out-of-print Readers Digest compendium of more than 80 little inspirational life sketches of heroic figures – sans warts, contradictions, controversy, or depth.
These mini-hagiographies first inspired me, and later confounded me. The chasm of cognitive dissonance between our official narratives and the textured, ambivalent truths of lives lived made me want to crack jokes, or read a corrective.

Subsequent journeys through Vasari, Plutarch, Suetonius, and modern counterparts such as Schonberg’s “Lives of the Great Composers” and the Durants’ “Interpretations of Life” have proven to be tasty samplers for me, gateway drugs that encourage deeper investigations.

How pleasant it was to find this gem in a street rack a few weeks ago. “The Book of the Dead” is a delightfully readable, completely disrespectful – and still thoughtful – mashup of bios from across the historical spectrum.

It helps that the authors are the redoubtable John Lloyd (Britain’s “Blackadder” TV series) and the master researcher John Mitchinson. Between the two of them, they subsume a plethora of fascinating facts about each subject into a charming, provocative, and sometimes silly narrative.

Rather than categorize their subjects by nation, vocation, or other criteria, the duo engages our minds by lumping them together under unlikely banners such as sex, food, questing, particularly rotten childhoods, imposters, and those who kept monkeys. Somehow, it all works. For those who might otherwise fail to consider figures such as Benjamin Franklin and Moll Cutpurse, St. Cuthbert and Bucky Fuller, or Oliver Cromwell and Frida Kahlo as people with something significant in common, well. (And for those intrigued by the outlandish details, there is a helpful list of sources for further reading in the back of the text.)

The unifying element of this brisk, absorbing read is its tone. “The Book of the Dead” is shot through with the sheer pleasure of storytelling, the high spirits that come from shedding light on dusty, musty old exemplars, and a kind of bitter optimism – the faith that mankind’s peculiarities lead as often to good as to evil, and that the unexamined life is not worth laughing at. This cheeky cynicism animates the book and makes it something to purchase, hold onto, share, and read aloud to someone who is easily upset by such things.


Thursday, July 24, 2014

Saado Ali Warsame

Musician -- via the BBC.




Ariano Suassuna

Writer and playwright -- via the Folha de S. Paulo.

Louis Lentin

Film, TV, and theater director -- via independent.ie.

Gene Walker

Saxophonist -- via the Columbus Dispatch.





Robert Van Ezell

Guitarist and singer -- via the Shreveport Times.

Dora Bryan aka Dora May Broadbent

Actress -- via the BBC. Her film career lasted from 1947 to 2006!





Liam Davison

Writer -- via the Association for Study of Australian Literature.


Panna Rittikrai

Martial arts choreographer, stuntman, actor, and film director -- via the Bangkok Post. The stunt coordinator behind the epic four-minute one-take fight sequence in "The Protector."








Madeline Amgott

TV news producer -- via the New York Times.

Vera Mihic-Jolić

Filmmaker -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Jessie Gruman

Randall Stout

Architect -- via the L.A. Times.

Gavin Jones

Aboriginal leader -- via the Guardian.

Steve London aka Walter Gragg

Actor and lawyer -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.

Curt Gentry

Award-winning writer; co-writer of "Helter Skelter" -- via sfgate.com. A native of Lamar, Colorado, he was a graduate of CU.

Jim Russell

Manfred Wekwerth

Theater and film director and writer -- via Berliner Zeitung.

Shuba Jay aka Shubashini Jeyaratnam

Actress -- via MSN.

Manouchehr Darafsheh

Illustrator -- via presstv.ir.

Václav Sloup

Actor -- via Radio Prague.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Rubem Alves

Writer, philosopher, and theologian -- via sbs.com.au. A major proponent of liberation theology.

Alex Angulo

Actor -- via the Hollywood Reporter.

Manfred Sexauer

Radio and television host -- via t-online.de.

Kadhal Dhandapani

Actor -- via International Business News.

Fred Brookfield

Stuntman -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.

Edward Clay "Tap" Canutt

Stuntman and actor; son of Yakima Canutt -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.

John Fasano

Yehuda Nir

Psychiatrist -- via the New York Times.

Tom Tierney

Paper-doll book maker -- via the New York Times.






Hans Funck

Film editor -- via the Hollywood Reporter.

Lionel Ferbos

Trumpeter -- via the New Orleans Times-Picayune.






Leopoldo Verona

Actor -- via El Dia.

Vilma Ferran

Actress -- via Primicias Ya.

Szymon Szurmiej

Actor and director -- via rp.pl.





Abdukadir Osman aka Abdukadir Oromo

Writer -- via Raxanreeb.