R.I.P.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hello Everybody,

William Tuttle, the chief of MGM's makeup department for 35 years, has died on July 27th... He was 95 years old.
Tuttle made up the faces of Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Robert Taylor, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner and nearly everybody in MGM movies from the 30's to the 60's.....

He won an Oscar for creating Tony Randall's makeup in "The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao" in the 60's, the first Oscar for makeup!!
His makeup masks of most clients are now donated to USC in LA.

Mr. Tuttle was my boss at MGM in '61 and '62, when I worked in the makeup dept. (mostly with Del Armstrong though), so this is very sad news for me. He was a very nice and gifted man and I liked him tremendously...
Also, he donated those masks to USC as a personal favour in 1970. My family has sponsored and donated much to USC over the years...
So, I thank him for that.

R.I.P. Mr. Tuttle

[Lzcutter]

Larry,

William Tuttle was a wonderful man. I had the joy of meeting him and listening to his stories when I was a film student at SC back in the mid to late 1970s.

The original MGM Grand Hotel (now Balley's) had a wonderful display of make up masks of which the story goes, William Tuttle had cast a number of them.

I have always wondered what happened to them in the aftermath of the infamous fire in 1981.

They were displayed in a large hallway (as you walked towards the pool) in jewelers cases, encased in red velvet with little gold plaques bearing the stars' names.

It was a great exhibit.

I hope that the Turner Archive Project was able to get him on film talking about is life and career.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hello Everyone,

Just heard on the news that Merv Griffin, who just celebrated his 82nd birthday, has died today.
He suffered from a recurrance of prostate cancer.

Merv was one of the best interviewers on TV and his "Merv Griffin Show" from the 60's to 80's contains interviews with so many classic stars. It should be featured on TCM regularly.

He also is responsible for "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune", which I think are very educational shows, especially for immigrants. Also, 'the ignorant' could benefit from them too!!

I believe Merv was discovered by Doris Day; I know he made a movie with Kathryn Grayson at Warner Bros.

R.I.P. Merv.....

Larry

[Moraldo Rubini]

I believe Merv was discovered by Doris Day; I know he made a movie with Kathryn Grayson at Warner Bros.

Merv Giffin's movie with Kathryn Grayson was So This Is Love, the supposed biography of classic film singer Grace Moore. He played her romantic lead. He was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and lived in nearby Carmel (neighbors of Doris Day, Clint Eastwood, Kathryn Grant, among others).

I believe he had a hit with Freddie Martin, but I can't remember if it was "Yes We Have No Bananas" or "We Have a Lovely Bunch of Cocoanuts" now. Some fruity song, apparently...

I love that he wrote the "thinking" theme song for Jeopardy.

I used to rush home after school to watch his daytime talk show. He giggled with maribou and caftan-clad ZsaZsa and Eva (whom he often escorted about town), and invited many classic movie stars onto his show. I loved his patter with bass player Jack Sheldon (one of the villains from North By Northwest), and his verbal nudgings to Arthur Treacher. RIP Merv Griffin.

[feaito]

What a pity... so many people from the Business have left us... and now Merv Griffin.

I think nobody mentioned it, but in the same week that Antonioni and Bergman died, famous French actor Michel Serrault (who starred, among others, in the original French version of "La Cage aux Folles", later remade in the US as "The Bird Cage" with Robin Williams) also died.

[Mr. Arkadin]

Max Roach one of the greatest drummers of all time passed away today at 83.

[benwhowell]

Leona Helmsley died yesterday (8-20-07) at age 87.
I didn't know she owned (!) the Empire State Building?

[youtube][/youtube]

[mongoII]

Today with Gary Cooper featured Under the Stars, I'm reminded of a dear TCM board member Stellabluegirl, who idolized him.
Some oldtime boardmembers may remember Stella as she was a hoot, albeit a bit naughty at times.
Sadly, I got the news that Stella past away last year and I miss her.
Hey, Stellaaaa! Rest in peace and give Coop our regards.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Joe,

Oh what horrible news..... Our poor Stella; what does one say???
I often wondered what happened to her. As you know, so many, many good friends and amusing, informed and generally nice participants have dropped out of sight now.
I was and am still hoping that several of them will come on board here. There are about half a dozen who correspond with me through E-Mails. I have told them all about our new clan and can only hope they will join.

As for Leona, I say tough luck and good riddance; but I weep for Stella!

R.I.P. Stella....

Larry

[feaito]

Today with Gary Cooper featured Under the Stars, I'm reminded of a dear TCM board member Stellabluegirl, who idolized him.
Some oldtime boardmembers may remember Stella as she was a hoot, albeit a bit naughty at times.
Sadly, I got the news that Stella past away last year and I miss her.
Hey, Stellaaaa! Rest in peace and give Coop our regards.

That's so sad Joe. I know she's resting in peace now and in good company.

[moira finnie]

Oh Joe and Larry,
How do you thank a person you've never met for so much laughter? God must've needed a good laugh to take her from this sorry earth. Her fierce intelligence, delightful depth of knowledge and, of course, merriness, warmed every lovely, lively post she ever wrote on the TCM boards.

I've often thought of her, and wished her well since she stopped posting. Stella and I used to correspond a bit via p/m on the TCM boards, trying to egg each other on to heights of new silliness in our discussions of movies. I knew that she had some serious health issues, and have often wondered and regretted her sudden disappearance from the boards. I believe Stella had a husband, mother, and--not least of all, certainly--about 4 children. My thoughts and prayers are with them today.

If anyone is interested in becoming acquainted with her very amusing posts, please go to the TCM boards and enter stellabluegrl as a search item. She had over 2,000 entries and most were comical and keenly intelligent. Here's a great starting point.

Mongo & Sandykaypax, do you remember the fun we had with the Recipes of the Stars thread? Here's a link to that one: Recipes of the Stars (2004)

[Moraldo Rubini]

William Tuttle, the chief of MGM's makeup department for 35 years, has died on July 27th... He was 95 years old.
Tuttle made up the faces of Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Robert Taylor, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner and nearly everybody in MGM movies from the 30's to the 60's.....

He won an Oscar for creating Tony Randall's makeup in "The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao" in the 60's, the first Oscar for makeup!! His makeup masks of most clients are now donated to USC in LA. ...

TCM is now showing [in the wee hours] a wonderful short subject on William Tuttle. Looks as if it was shot in the mid-1960's on the MGM lot. We see how he built his masks as well as many of the finished products. 'Twas a nice tribute after his recent passing.

[sandykaypax]

Mongo, thank you for the post about stellabluegirl's death. How very sad. I had no idea that she had been ill. I do remember her fondly.

Sandy K

[sandykaypax]

I was shocked to hear the news of Merv Griffin's passing. I remember reading a short interview with him in Vanity Fair magazine last year. There was a wonderful photo of him in a white terrycloth robe out by his pool.

I used to LOVE watching his talk show after school. My friends and I would always imitate the way he said, "Ooooh!" if he was excited about something.

rest in peace, Merv Griffin.

Sandy K