In Memoriam

Another series of renown entertainers has left us:

Irvin Kershner (1923 –2010)

While not a very prolific director, IMDb lists only 24 titles to his credit, Kershner directed what is widely considered the best chapter of the Star Wars saga, 1980’s Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back.

Two other famous movies he directed are Sean Connery’s 007 failed comeback Never Say Never Again and RoboCop 2, a lukewarm sequel to a brilliant sci-fi movie.

Jill Clayburgh (1944-2010)

A renown actress who I knew by name but whose work, I was surprised to find out, is completely foreign to me.  Famous primarily for 1978’s An Unmarried Woman, which I’ll have to make a point to watch.

Dino De Laurentiis (1919-2010)

One of the most famous Italian producers of all time, De Laurentiis collaborated with some of the greatest names of Italian cinema, like Federico Fellini (on Best Foreign Picture Oscar winners La Strada and Nights of Cabiria among others), Roberto Rossellini, Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman, and Mario Monicelli.

He also left his mark in Hollywood, producing movies like Barbarella, Serpico, Three Days of the Condor, 1976’s King Kong remake, Conan the Barbarian, The Dead Zone, The Bounty, Dune, Year of the Dragon, Manhunter, Army of Darkness, U-571, Hannibal, Red Dragon, and Hannibal Rising.

Unfortunately for him, he didn’t produce the only movie in the Hannibal Lecter series that stands as its pinnacle and actually won the Best Picture Oscar, The Silence of the Lambs, but his resume is still pretty impressive.

Mario Monicelli (1915-2010)

A great Italian director who I remember mostly for his many collaborations with the comedic actors Totò and Ugo Tognazzi.

Obviously not interested in experiencing the slow decline of his health condition, he took matters into his own hands and jumped off a fifth floor window of the hospital where he was staying.  A rebel to the end.

Leslie Nielsen (1936-2010)

One of the most famous comedic actors in the world, thanks above all to 1980’s Airplane! and the Naked Gun series (The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult) I was left speechless to see that his resume listed an astounding 239 titles between movies and television work.

Blake Edwards (1922-2010)

Another one of the great old-Hollywood directors has left us.  Edwards established his name with Breakfast at Tiffany's and solidified it with The Pink Panther, which turned out to be such a smashing success that it was followed by 7 other chapters in the series (although not all of them were very good).

I remember him most fondly for having directed Victor Victoria, one of my favorite movies of all time!!