In Memoriam: John Hurt (1940-2017)

Prolific actor Sir John Hurt has passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 77. He had a long career and appeared in a huge number of acclaimed roles that garnered him countless awards and nominations both in Britain and America. Hurt will be remembered by people of all ages as he starred in such a wide variety of films.

Hurt first gained recognition for his role of Richard Rich in A Man For All Seasons in 1966, but it wasn't until his 1978 that he got his breakthrough in Midnight Express, a role which won him a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. A year later, he appeared in Ridley Scott's Alien as the creature's first victim in a very memorable scene. Other film roles include 1984, The Elephant Man, V for Vendetta, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and the Harry Potter films.

Hurt's career and life will be remembered as one of the greats of modern times. RIP.

In Memoriam: Carrie Fisher 1956-2016

In a year that keeps taking our beloved performers, another blow has happened with Carrie Fisher passing away from heart failure. On December 23, Fisher went into cardiac arrest on a flight from London to Los Angeles and was subsequently taken to the UCLA Medical Centre where she passed away in the morning of the 27th of December.

Carrie Fisher had a long and storied life that went far beyond the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars, which shot her to international fame. Fisher was born to Hollywood royalty as her mother Debbie Reynolds was a famed actress known for her role in Singin' in the Rain and her father Eddie Fisher was an actor and singer.

Fisher's first movie role was in 1975, in the comedy Shampoo, which starred Warren Beatty. When Star Wars was released in 1977, only her second film role, Fisher and her co-stars Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford all shot to super stardom. Apart from the Star Wars films, Carrie Fisher appeared in numerous other movies, like Hannah and Her Sisters, When Harry Met Sally, The Burbs, The Blues Brothers, Scream 3 and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Fisher also worked as a script doctor on a huge number of films, including Sister Act, Lethal Weapon 3, The River Wild, Hook and all three prequels of Star Wars. This work went uncredited. She also wrote novels like Postcards from the Edge, which was adapted into a film starring Meryl Streep.

She also had a tumultuous personal life. Fisher had a serious drug problem through most of her life and also suffered from bipolar disorder. She married singer Paul Simon in 1983, but divorced a year later due to their conflicting personalities. She also had an affair with co-star Harrison Ford when they were filming Star Wars in 1976. She had a relationship with talent agent Bryan Lourd with whom she had a daughter Billie Lourd.

In Memorium: Gene Wilder 1933-2016

2016 continues to wage its vicious war against beloved stars with the sad news today that Gene Wilder has passed at age 83. He had been suffering from Alzheimers.

Many might only know him as the fun but enigmatic Willy Wonka, or perhaps from his work with Mel Brooks in The Producers, Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, but the late great comic, actor, writer and director's career spanned over five decades. 

Wilder first appeared as Eugene Grizzard in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde, and the very next year picked up a leading role in the classic comedy The Producers, along with his first Academy Award nomination. In 1971 he took Roald Dahl's most famous character to the silver screen with his memorable, unrepeatable performance in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory which has spawned a cult following and worthy place in meme culture in the decades since. In 1974 he worked again with Brooks on both Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, two extremely different roles that he made his own, and that you couldn't possibly imagine anybody else as. 

Rest in Peace Mr Wilder, there's no earthly way of knowing, which direction you are going - but wherever that is, we salute you.

Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin has died in a car accident

The 27 year old who was best known for his role as Chekov in JJ Abrams Star Trek movies has died in a car accident at his home in California. He was found by his friends tragically pinned between his car and a brick wall.

He may not have been actor that everyone was familiar with, but he certainly was a rising star. Apart from Star Trek, he appeared in many independent films, such as the horror remake Fright Night and Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive, and starred with many big names like Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke and Christian Bale. He will also appear in the upcoming Star Trek Beyond.

Horror Legend Wes Craven Dies at 76

Sad news today as we've learnt that one of Horror's key figures, Wes Craven has passed away. Notable for his work in the slasher sub-genre, many of his films have garnered a cult following, such as his early feature The Hills Have Eyes in 1977. 

Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, Craven earned degrees in English, Psychology and a masters in Philosophy. He worked briefly as a teacher before putting his degrees to an entirely different use when he went on to write, direct and edit pornography. His first feature, The Last House on the Left (1972) was an exploitation-horror piece about two teenage girls who are tortured by a gang of murderous thugs, based loosely on the controversial Bergman film The Virgin Spring (1960)

In 1985, Craven wrote and directed A Nightmare on Elm Street, which brought into being one of Horror's most notorious villains; Freddy Krueger, a razor-fisted serial-killer that stalks and murders his victims in their dreams. In 1988 Wes directed The Serpent and the Rainbow, a voodoo horror story about reanimation, and followed this with sequels to a variety of his other popular films. In 1996, Wes found huge critical and commercial success with Scream, a satirical mystery slasher film with an all star cast including David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Skeet Ulrich, Rose McGowan and Drew Barrymore.

Wes Craven's influence on the horror genre was unparallelled, and many of his most iconic films and characters live on, both in pop-culture and in spin-offs of one type or another. There's no doubt he'll be sorely missed.

Legendary Egyptian actor Omar Sharif dies aged 83

Famed actor Omar Sharif has died at the age of 83 from a heart attack. He was best known for the films Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. Earlier this year, the Egypt-born actor had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Sharif was born Michel Shalhoub in Alexandria in 1932 and got his acting training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. His first film was the 1954 Egyptian film Siraa Fil-Wadi (The Blazing Sun) and he soon became a big star.

Sharif's international fame came when he was cast in David Lean's 1962 classic Lawrence of Arabia, opposite actor Peter O'Toole. The two soon became fast friends. He rejoined director David Lean to play the lead in Doctor Zhivago, a film about a physician who gets caught up in the Russian Revolution. He was also in a series of biopics, where he played historical figures such as Genghis Khan and Che Guevara.

Despite being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Sharif still knew that he was a famous international star. His death was announced by his grandson Omar Sharif Jr in a Facebook post.

Source: BBC

Producer Jerry Weintraub dies at 77

We tend not to report to much on celebrity deaths at the blog to often, unless that person was a huge star. But upon reading the news that producer Jerry Weintraub had died, I thought I better write a little something.

Now that name might not mean anything to you, but Weintraub was behind one of the most beloved movie franchises of all time; The Karate Kid. He produced all five of the movies, yes even the Jaden Smith one. He also produced the Ocean's Eleven series, starring George Clooney, and had a cameo in each one, as well as the classic Robert Altman film Nashville.

Before getting into the movie business, he was a music manager and promoted big stars like Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Dolly Parton and the Beach Boys. 

Weintraub died on Monday of cardiac arrest in Santa Barbara, California. He was 77 and survived by his wife Jane, four children and five grandchildren.

Richard Attenborough dies at 90

Sad to report that we have lost another great Hollywood star today. Richard Attenborough, actor & Director has passed away at 90 years of age. He was the eldest of the three Attenborough brothers, the others being David Attenborough, famous nature broadcaster and John Attenborough (died 2012), an executive at Alpha Romeo. Attenborough was known for his role as the ambitious John Hammond in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park and for directing the epic biopic Gandhi, which one him both the Best Picture and Best Director Academy Awards.

He long career began on the stage, with roles in plays such as the Agatha Christie's classic The Mousetrap. He then went on to star in other classics like Morning Departure and as the 'Big X' in The Great Escape. Among his many other accolades, he was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1967. He will be missed. Rest in peace Richard.

Actor & Comedian Robin Williams Passes Away at 63

Sad news this morning that the legendary actor and comedian Robin Williams has died in a suspected suicide. Williams is known for his struggle with drug addiction over the years and is rumoured to have been battling severe depression in the past few months.

Apart from his stand-up, he was known for comedic roles in films such as Mrs. Doubtfire & Good Morning Vietnam (which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor) as well as more serious films such as Dead Poets Society (also achieved an AA Best Actor nomination), One Hour Photo & Good Will Hunting, which earned him his one and only Academy Award, in the best supporting actor field.

In his honour, we have attached below some of his great scenes which we believe show his versatility as an actor. He will be deeply missed.

This one is actually just the trailer for One Hour Photo but is poignant none the less: