He did incredible things. Impossible things. By hand. One frame at a time.
Category Archives: R.I.P.
R.I.P. Writer Cort McMeel
A warrior has fallen. Cort McMeel has left us.
In the face of one of his beautiful onslaughts, he’d make you believe that burning up your life for literature, well, it was the only rational thing you could do.
Enmeshed in a system that does everything in its power to compel conformity and obedience, it’s too easy to find yourself alone in a corner with your own mind being turned against itself. That is the ultimate trap. Don’t don’t don’t fall for it.
His family will need the royalties: Short by Cortright McMeel
R.I.P. Jonathan Winters, Actor And Genius
Jonathan Winters, Funny Man and Comedic Inspiration, Dies at 87
He was not only a comedic genius, he could give haunting serious performances of fine subtlety too.
After the break, see him as a pool champ in The Twilight Zone.
R.I.P. Annette Funicello, Actress/Singer
It’s never a good day when I have two R.I.P. posts.
And yes, young women used to be just like the ones she portrayed in all those movies. Hard to believe now.
Filed under R.I.P.
R.I.P. Margaret Thatcher
Ex-Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher dies
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan was intent on confrontation with the Soviet Union, the “Evil Empire.”
When Gorbachev came into power, Reagan wouldn’t meet with him. Thatcher did. I remember seeing her on a TV profile, saying, “I like Mr. Gorbachev. I can do business with him.”
She swayed Reagan to meet with Gorbachev. That led to the eventual downfall of the Soviet Union, the collapse of Iron Curtain, the reunification of Germany, and the rout of Communist power from several nations.
So, yes, despite her other policies, rest in peace.
R.I.P. Carmine Infantino, Artist
Carmine Infantino Passes Away At Age 87
Carmine Infantino, legendary comic book artist and former DC Comics editorial director, passed away today. He was 87.
DC was known as National Periodical Publications during his reign.
Infantino took on the position of DC Comics editorial director in the 1960s, hiring Dick Giordano and promoting Joe Orlando, Joe Kubert and Mike Sekowsky to editors at the publisher. During Infantino’s tenure as editorial director, Neal Adams and Denny O’Neil joined DC — Infantino even managed to hire then-Marvel mainstay Jack Kirby to the publisher.
Hiring away Kirby gave us the immortal Fourth World series. For that alone, he is bound for Heaven.
Rest in peace.
R.I.P. Writer Roger Ebert
R.I.P. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert – An Appreciation
There will be many words from others. I have three points to make:
1) You wouldn’t have heard of him without PBS, so make a pledge to honor him.
2) I disagreed with him about eBooks.
3) He had the kind of fan everyone wants to have, whose words I will repeat after the break.
Filed under R.I.P.
R.I.P. Richard Griffiths, Actor
‘Harry Potter’ Actor Richard Griffiths Dies at 65
I suppose he was in the Potter films, which I’ve never seen. But he’ll be immortal for his role as Uncle Monty in Withnail & I.
Filed under R.I.P.
Joe Weider And The Bullshit
An unconventional R.I.P. post because I need to focus on one aspect of the story.
Joe Weider, legendary bodybuilding and fitness icon, dies at 93
He created the Mr. Olympia event in 1965. Two years later, Weider discovered Schwarzenegger at a body-building contest in Europe.
He soon invited Schwarzenegger to move to California and funded the young bodybuilder’s first apartment in Santa Monica, giving him enough money to make ends meet. Weider also orchestrated Schwarzenegger’s first acting role in a TV movie.
Asked by the producers of “Hercules Goes Bananas” for “a muscleman who could act a little,” Weider pointed them to Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger told The Times in 1989 that Weider pumped up his resume to get him the job, telling the producers that Schwarzenegger had done Shakespearean plays in Germany.
“It was all bull,” Schwarzenegger admitted. “I didn’t speak much English at all. We went to meet these guys and Joe said, ‘Don’t say anything. I’ll do the talking.’ “
Boldfaced emphasis added by me.
Producers: “How could you have ever done Shakespeare, Arnold?”
Arnold: “It was all in German.”
Balls. Of. Steel.
Related:
R.I.P. Chinua Achebe, Writer
Nigerian author Chinua Achebe dies
All things fall apart …
Filed under R.I.P.
