R.I.P.

[jdb1]

Several of the listings on IMBd for Mr. Rodriguez are Canadian documentaries with their French titles listed as well. I wonder if he, as a native of Montreal, did bilingual narrations. Cool

[Moraldo Rubini]

She was mainly known for her television work as Esmerelda in Bewitched and Bernice Clifton in Designing Women, but to me she'll always be Aunt Stephanie Crawford in To Kill a Mockingbird. Alice Ghostley had great comic timing and got her start as a singer on the Broadway stage in Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952 and she was in the original television cast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. You can also find her in The Graduate and Grease.

R.I.P Alice Ghostley

[Moraldo Rubini]

Of course, I also remember her as a regular on <b>The Julie Andrews Hour</b>, where she uttered the lines - "Isn't she perfect?" "Don't you just hate her?" and "Doesn't she just make you sick?"

Please pardon the shameless plug for another thread, but I gave notice of a Julie Andrews personal appearance here (along with Kirk Douglas, Tippi Hedren, and many others).

[Lzcutter]

Marco,

I'm with you on Alice Ghostley and her wonderful portrayl as Aunt Stephanie (to little Dill Harris) in To Kill a Mockingbird. I can still see her in my mind's eye in this scene:

"There's a maniac lives there and he's dangerous... I was standing in my yard one day when his Mama come out yelling, 'He's killin' us all.' Turned out that Boo was sitting in the living room cutting up the paper for his scrapbook, and when his daddy come by, he reached over with his scissors, stabbed him in his leg, pulled them out, and went right on cutting the paper. They wanted to send him to an asylum, but his daddy said no Radley was going to any asylum. So they locked him up in the basement of the courthouse till he nearly died of the damp, and his daddy brought him back home. There he is to this day, sittin' over there with his scissors... Lord knows what he's doin' or thinkin'. "

With Aunt Stephanie around is it any wonder they thought Boo was kin to the boogeyman.

[Moraldo Rubini]

Considered the greatest mime of the 20th century, Marcel Marceau (née Marcel Mangel) passed away yesterday at age 84. During World War II he escaped deportation to a Nazi concentration camp, but he lost his father to Auschwitz. Because he spoke English, he was recruited to be a liaison officer with Gen. George S. Patton's army. Marceau also worked with the French Resistance to protect Jewish children and later used these memories to inspire his work. But his greatest influence was "Charlot" -- Charlie Chaplin. He was also a great fan of Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers.

His famous sketch "Public Garden" (where he portrays numerous inhabitants of a city park), was put on film by director Paul Paviot in the mid-1950's. He played Professor Ping in the camp classic Barbarella. Ironically, he was the only person with a spoken line in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie.

France's Prime Minister François Fillon called Marceau "the master with the rare gift of being able to communicate with each and everyone beyond the barriers of language". President Nicolas Sarkozy declared, "France loses one of its most eminent ambassadors."

R.I.P. M. Marceau

[mrsl]

Hi Marco:

"Ironically, he was the only person with a spoken line in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie. "

Not really ironic - beautifully planned, pursued, and delivered. A brilliant move on Mel Brooks' part, which although I'm not a fan, still feel kudos are well deserved on this one.

Silence is Golden and this man spread a lot of gold dust in his day. R.I.P.

Anne

[Bogie]

Considered the greatest mime of the 20th century, Marcel Marceau (née Marcel Mangel) passed away yesterday at age 84. During World War II he escaped deportation to a Nazi concentration camp, but he lost his father to Auschwitz. Because he spoke English, he was recruited to be a liaison officer with Gen. George S. Patton's army. Marceau also worked with the French Resistance to protect Jewish children and later used these memories to inspire his work. But his greatest influence was "Charlot" -- Charlie Chaplin. He was also a great fan of Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers.

His famous sketch "Public Garden" (where he portrays numerous inhabitants of a city park), was put on film by director Paul Paviot in the mid-1950's. He played Professor Ping in the camp classic Barbarella. Ironically, he was the only person with a spoken line in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie.

France's Prime Minister François Fillon called Marceau "the master with the rare gift of being able to communicate with each and everyone beyond the barriers of language". President Nicolas Sarkozy declared, "France loses one of its most eminent ambassadors."

R.I.P. M. Marceau

Oh man, R.I.P.I don't know too much about him but as a kid I remembered seeing something about him on TV once. He was a very interesting and engaging man even tho he didn't utter a single word.

BTW are mimes still common? I don't see or um hear much about them anymore.

[Moraldo Rubini]

I'm with you on Alice Ghostley and her wonderful portrayl as Aunt Stephanie (to little Dill Harris) in To Kill a Mockingbird...

Today I learned that Alice was nominated for a Tony award in 1963 for her performance in the S. J. Perlman fantasy, The Beauty Part. And she won the Tony for Best Supporting Actress in 1965 for her performance in Lorraine Hansberry's drama, The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. Who knew?

As for Oscars... well, she never won one, but she accepted the Oscar for Maggie Smith in 1970, when Mags won for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. The two were old friends ever since the New Faces days...

[benwhowell]

Thank you for "Aunt Stephanie's" warning to Dill to stay away from the Radley house, Lynn. Alice played a perfect neighborhood gossip. (I'm sure we've all had one of those.) I just wish she'd had more scenes.
I'm sure I was introduced to her on "Bewitched." Later, seeing her in "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "The Graduate" was a big thrill and made me a life-long fan.
Here is a great tribute to her-including that memorable scene from "To Kill A Mockingbird-"
[youtube][/youtube]

And the brilliance of Marcel Marceau in "Silent Movie-"
[youtube][/youtube]

[Hollis]

John,

Thanks for the pic of Cass Elliot from 196? One of the strongest voices (and one of my faves) of all time. What she would have sounded like as her voice matured with time. We'll never know...

As always,

Hollis

[jdb1]

Considered the greatest mime of the 20th century, Marcel Marceau (née Marcel Mangel) passed away yesterday at age 84.
His famous sketch "Public Garden" (where he portrays numerous inhabitants of a city park), was put on film by director Paul Paviot in the mid-1950's. He played Professor Ping in the camp classic Barbarella. Ironically, he was the only person with a spoken line in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie.

R.I.P. M. Marceau

OK, now, I swear this is true, because I was there: many years ago, I attended a Marceau performance, maybe at City Center, I can't remember now because it was so long ago. Sitting two rows in front of me, on the aisle, was a couple, the male half of which was blind, and had a Guide Dog, which lay quietly at his feet. All through the performance, the woman whispered to him to describe what was going on. "Now he's walking against the wind. Now he's pretending he's in a box. Now he's sitting at a cafe table pretending to drink wine." It was bizarre. I often wonder what that man (and his dog) made of it all.

[knitwit45]

John, I really love your avatar. Could you give some history on it?

Thanks,
Nancy