THE PASSING SCENE OF 2021

 Another year is finished and another listing of the people we have lost in the past year. Even though each death brings us sadness, let us remember the great memories and talent of these stars that will live forever...

Stephen Sondheim

Composer STEPHEN SONDHEIM, died at the age of 91 on November 26th. Sondheim was praised for having "reinvented the American musical" with shows that tackled "unexpected themes that range far beyond the [genre's] traditional subjects" with "music and lyrics of unprecedented complexity and sophistication". Sondheim started his theatre career by writing the lyrics for West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959) before becoming a composer and lyricist. Sondheim's best-known works include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), and Into the Woods (1987). He wrote five songs for 1990's Dick Tracy, including "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)", sung in the film by Madonna, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Film adaptations of Sondheim's work include West Side Story (1961), Gypsy (1962), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Into the Woods (2014), and West Side Story (2021). Sondheim remained active up to the day he died.

Actor CHARLIE ROBINSON, died on July 11th at the age of 75.He is best known for his role on the NBC sitcom Night Court as Macintosh "Mac" Robinson (Seasons 2–9), the clerk of the court and a Vietnam War veteran. Although his most frequent on-screen billing was Charlie Robinson, Night Court had credited him as Charles Robinson throughout his 1984–1992 stint as Mac. His final role was on the television series Love In The Time Of Corona in 2020.

Actress CICELY TYSON, died on January 28th at the age of  96. Having appeared in minor film and television roles early in her career, Tyson garnered widespread attention and critical acclaim for her performance as Rebecca Morgan in Sounder (1972); she was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her work in the film. Tyson's portrayal of the title role in the 1974 television film The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, based on the book by Ernest J. Gaines, won her further praise; among other accolades, the role won her two Emmy Awards and a nomination for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Actor GALVIN MCLEOD, died on May 29th at the age of 90. MacLeod's career began in films in 1957. He co-starred with Bing Crosby and Tuesday Weld in 1960's High Time. MacLeod's career began in films in 1957. In 1965, he starred in The Sword of Ali Baba. He went on to appear in A Man Called Gannon (1968), in The Thousand Plane Raid (1969), and in Kelly's Heroes (1970). MacLeod also achieved continuing television success co-starring alongside Ernest Borgnine on McHale's Navy (1962–1964) as Joseph "Happy" Haines,  on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) as Murray Slaughter, and most famously as the Captain on The Love Boat (1977-1986). Galvin retired from acting in 2009.

Actor, GEORGE SEGAL, died at the age of 87 on March 23rd during heart surgery. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. Some of his most acclaimed roles are in films such as Ship of Fools (1965), King Rat (1965), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), Where's Poppa? (1970), The Hot Rock (1972), Blume in Love (1973), A Touch of Class (1973), California Split (1974), For the Boys (1991), and Flirting with Disaster (1996). On television, he is best known for his roles as Jack Gallo on Just Shoot Me! (1997–2003) and as Albert "Pops" Solomon on The Goldbergs (2013–2021).

Norm MacDonald

Comedian NORM MACDONALD, died of cancer on September 14th. He was 61. Norm was a Canadian stand-up comedian, writer, and actor known for his deadpan style.Early in his career, he wrote for the sitcom Roseanne and made guest appearances on shows such as The Drew Carey Show and News Radio. Macdonald was then a cast member on Saturday Night Live (SNL) for five years from 1993 to 1998, including anchoring the Weekend Update segment for three seasons. He also he performed impressions of Larry King, Burt Reynolds, David Letterman, Quentin Tarantino, Charles Kuralt, and Bob Dole to name a few. After leaving SNL, he starred in the 1998 film Dirty Work and in his own sitcom, The Norm Show, from 1999 to 2001. In 2013, Macdonald started a video podcast, Norm Macdonald Live, on which he interviewed comedians and other celebrities. In 2018, he released Norm Macdonald Has a Show, a Netflix talk show with a similar premise to his podcast. He last appeared on five episodes of a talk show called Quarantined in 2020.

Singer, JIMMIE RODGERS, died on January 18th at the age of 87. He was an American singer. Rodgers had a run of hits and mainstream popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. His string of crossover singles ranked highly on the Billboard Pop Singles, Hot Country and Western Sides, and Hot Rhythm and Blues Sides charts; in the 1960s, Rodgers had more modest successes with adult contemporary music. Rodgers big hit was "Honeycomb" and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" in 1957. He continued to perform until about early 2020. He performed often in Branson, Missouri, where I got to see him perform in 2000.

Actor HAL HOLBROOK, died at the age of 95 on January 23rd. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show he developed, Mark Twain Tonight! while studying at Denison University, performing as Mark Twain. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1966 for his portrayal of Twain. He would continue to perform his signature role for over 60 years, only retiring the show in 2017 due to his failing health. He later gained international fame for his performance as Deep Throat in the 1976 film All the President's Men. He played Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 miniseries Lincoln and 1985 miniseries North and South. He also appeared in such films as Julia (1977), The Fog (1980), Creepshow (1982), Wall Street (1987), The Firm (1993), Hercules (1997), and Men of Honor (2000).

Former child star JANE WITHERS died at the age of 95. She became one of the most popular child stars in Hollywood in the 1930s and early 1940s, with her films ranking in the top ten list for box-office gross in 1937 and 1938. In 1932, she and her mother moved to Hollywood, where she appeared as an extra in many films until landing her breakthrough role as the spoiled, obnoxious Joy Smythe opposite Shirley Temple's angelic orphan Shirley Blake in the 1934 film Bright Eyes. She made 38 films before retiring at age 21 in 1947. She returned to film and television as a character actor in the 1950s. From 1963 to 1974, she portrayed the character Josephine the Plumber in a series of television commercials for Comet cleanser. In the 1990s and early 2000s, she did voice work for Disney animated films. 

Cloris Leachman

Actress CLORIS LEACHMAN, died at the age of 94 on January 27th. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nominated. In film, she appeared in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971) as the jaded wife of a closeted schoolteacher in the 1950s; she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance, and the film is widely considered to be one of the greatest of all time. Additionally, she was part of Mel Brooks's ensemble cast, appearing in roles such as Frau Blücher in Young Frankenstein (1974) and Madame Defarge in History of the World, Part I (1981). Leachman won additional Emmys for her role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She continued to work until 2021, until she died after suffering a stroke. She has two movies that will be released after her death.

Big band leader ELLIOT LAWRENCE, died on July 2nd at the age of 96. Elliot led an impressive big band in the 1940s and ‘50s, won a Tony Award in 1962 for his conducting of the Broadway show “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” and from 1967 to 2013 was Music Director and Conductor for the Tony Awards telecast itself (as was stated in The New York Times, that’s “an astounding 46-year run in a fickle business”). He was one of the last remaining big band leaders.

Comedian JACKIE MASON, died at the age of 93 on July 24th. His 1986 one-man show The World According to Me! won a Special Tony Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, an Ace Award, an Emmy Award, and earned a Grammy nomination. Later, his 1988 special Jackie Mason on Broadway won another Emmy Award (for outstanding writing) and another Ace Award, and his 1991 voice-over of Rabbi Hyman Krustofski in The Simpsons episode "Like Father, Like Clown" won Mason a third Emmy Award. He wrote and performed six one-man shows on Broadway. Known for his delivery and voice, as well as his use of innuendo and pun, Mason's often culturally grounded humor was described as irreverent and sometimes politically incorrect. 

Actress OLYMPIA DUKAKIS, died on May 1st at the age of 89. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. Not long after her arrival in New York City, she won an Obie Award for Best Actress in 1963 for her off-Broadway performance in Bertolt Brecht's Man Equals Man. She later moved to film acting and won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, among other accolades, for her performance in Moonstruck (1987). She received another Golden Globe nomination for Sinatra (1992) and Emmy Award nominations for Lucky Day (1991), More Tales of the City (1998) and Joan of Arc (1999). She worked until the end of her life.

Singer JILL COREY, died on April 3rd at the age of 85. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she was a popular singer in the 1950s with hits such as Love Me To Pieces in 1957. She dated Frank Sinatra briefly as well as starred in a forgotten movie Senior Prom in 1958. She retired to marry a Pittsburgh Pirates player, but later resumed her career after her husband passed away.

Christopher Plummer

Actor CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, died on February 5th at the age of 91. Born in Toronto, Plummer became a leading actor on Broadway and in Hollywood. Plummer remains widely known for his portrayal of Captain Von Trapp due to the box office success and continued popularity of the Robert Wise directed musical epic The Sound of Music (1965). He won the Oscar for Best Supporting actor in 2012 for Beginners (2011), becoming the old actor nominated in that category. In recent years he was cast in the popular movie Knives Out (2019). n 2021, Plummer was set to play the lead for a film adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, to be filmed in the summer, in Newfoundland, under director Des McAnuff. He died before filming commenced.

Actress MARKIE POST, died of cancer on August 7th at the age of 70.She was known for her roles as bail bondswoman Terri Michaels in The Fall Guy on ABC from 1982 to 1985, as public defender Christine Sullivan on the NBC sitcom Night Court from 1984 to 1992, and as Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire from 1992 to 1995. She made her last appearance on film and television in 2019.

Former child actor TOMMY KIRK, died on September 28th at the age of 79. Kirk was best known for his performances in films made by Walt Disney Studios such as Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Swiss Family Robinson, The Absent-Minded Professor, and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, as well as the beach-party films of the mid-1960s. 

Actor NORMAN LLOYD, died at the age of 106 on May 11th. He worked in every major facet of the industry including theatre, radio, television, and film, with a career that started in 1923. His last film, Trainwreck, was released in 2015, after Lloyd had attained 100 years of age. As an actor, he appeared in over 60 films and television shows, with his roles including Bodalink in Charlie Chaplin's Limelight (1952), Mr. Nolan in Dead Poets Society (1989), and Mr. Letterblair in The Age of Innocence (1993). In the 1980s, Lloyd gained a new generation of fans for playing Dr. Daniel Auschlander, one of the starring roles on the medical drama St. Elsewhere on television from 1982 to 1986.

Actress ARLENE DAHL, died at the age of 96 on November 29th. Dahl was one of the last stars of classic Hollywood. Never a huge film star but known for her beauty, she starred in several MGM movies of  the 1940s and 1950s such as Three Little Words (1950) with Fred Astaire and Red Skelton. She made her last movie in 1991, but remained a socialite and beauty mogul.

Jane Powell

Actress JANE POWELL, died at the age of 92 on September 16th. As a teenager, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she signed a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Powell's vocal, dancing, and acting talents were utilized for lead roles in a variety of musicals for the studio. She made her feature debut as a performer in Song of the Open Road (1944), followed by a lead in Arthur Lubin's Delightfully Dangerous (1945). Powell gained further widespread recognition for her lead roles in the musicals A Date with Judy (1948), Royal Wedding (1951), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and Hit the Deck (1955). In later years Jane appeared on many television shows, often in dramatic roles. In 2009, Jane retired from acting , and after her fifth husband, former child star Dickie Moore, died in 2015, Jane became mostly a recluse.

Singer MARY WILSON, died at the age of 76 on February 8th. She gained worldwide recognition as a founding member of The Supremes, the most successful Motown act of the 1960s and the best-charting female group in U.S. chart history, as well as one of the best-selling girl groups of all-time. The trio reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100 with 12 of their singles, ten of which feature Wilson on backing vocals.

Musician MICHAEL NESMITH, died on December 10th at the age of 78. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series The Monkees (1966–1968). Nesmith's songwriting credits include "Different Drum" (sung by Linda Ronstadt with the Stone Poneys). After the break-up of the Monkees, Nesmith continued his successful songwriting and performing career, first with the seminal country rock group the First National Band, with whom he had a top-40 hit, "Joanne", and then as a solo artist.

Actor ED ASNER, died on August 29th at the age of 91. He is known for playing Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series Lou Grant, making him one of the few television actors to portray the same character in both a comedy and a drama. He is the most honored male performer in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, having won seven times. He played John Wayne's adversary Bart Jason in the 1966 Western El Dorado. Asner played Santa Claus in several films, including in 2003's Elf.  In 2009, he voiced Carl Fredricksen in Pixar's animated film Up. He continued to be active and work until his death.

Actress BETTY WHITE, died at the age of 99 on December 31st. She was 17 days away from celebrating her 100th birthday. Betty was an icon on television for decades, and she got her biggest acclaim on the television shows "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" from 1973 to 1978, "Golden Girls" from 1985 to 1992, and "Hot In Cleveland" from 2010 to 2015. She worked tirelessly for animal rights, and she remained active until right before the covid pandemic.

These stars and icons are gone, but they are truly never forgotten...

RIP: JANE POWELL

LOS ANGELES -- Jane Powell, the bright-eyed, operatic-voiced star of Hollywood's golden age musicals who sang with Howard Keel in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and danced with Fred Astaire in “Royal Wedding,” has died. She was 92.

Powell died Thursday at her Wilton, Connecticut, home, longtime friend Susan Granger said. Granger said Powell died of natural causes.

“Jane was the most wonderful friend," Granger said. ”She was candid, she was honest. You never asked Jane a question you didn’t want an absolutely honest answer to."

Granger was a youngster when she met the then-teenaged Powell, who was making her film debut in 1944's “Song of the Open Road,” directed by Granger's father, S. Sylvan Simon.

She performed virtually her whole life, starting about age 5 as a singing prodigy on radio in Portland, Oregon. On screen, she quickly graduated from teen roles to the lavish musical productions that were a 20th-century Hollywood staple.

Her 1950 casting in “Royal Wedding” came by default. June Allyson was first announced as Astaire’s co-star but withdrew when she became pregnant. Judy Garland was cast, but was withdrawn because of personal problems. Jane Powell was next in line.

“They had to give it to me,” she quipped at the time. “Everybody else is pregnant.” Also among the expectant MGM stars: Lana Turner, Esther Williams, Cyd Charisse and Jean Hagen.

Powell had just turned 21 when she got the role; Astaire was 50. She was nervous because she lacked dancing experience, but she found him “very patient and understanding. We got along fine from the start.”

“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” proved to be a 1954 “sleeper” hit.

“The studio didn’t think it was going to do anything,” she recalled in 2000. “MGM thought that `Brigadoon’ was going to be the big moneymaker that year. It didn’t turn out that way. We were the ones that went to the Radio City Music Hall, which was always such a coup.”

The famed New York venue was a movie theater then.

Audiences were overwhelmed by the lusty singing of Keel and Powell and especially by the gymnastic choreography of Michael Kidd. “Seven Brides” achieved classic status and resulted in a TV series and a Broadway musical.

“Blonde and small and pretty, Jane Powell had the required amount of grit and spunk that was needed to play the woman who could tame seven backwoodsmen,” John Kobal wrote in his book “Gotta Sing Gotta Dance: A Pictorial History of Film Musicals.”

After 13 years at MGM, though, Powell quit the studio, reasoning that she was going to be fired “because they weren’t going to be doing musicals anymore.”

“I thought I’d have a lot of studios to go to,” she said in 2000, “but I didn’t have any, because no one wanted to make musicals. It was very difficult, and quite a shock to me. There’s nothing worse than not being wanted.”

She found one musical at RKO, “The Girl Most Likely,” a 1958 remake of “Tom, Dick and Harry.” Aside from a couple of minor films, her movie career was over.

She was born Suzanne Lorraine Burce in Portland, Oregon, in 1928. She began singing on local radio as a small child, and as she grew, her voice developed into a clear, high-pitched soprano.

When the Burce family planned a trip to Los Angeles, the radio station asked if Suzanne would appear on a network talent show there. The tiny girl with a 2½-octave voice drew thunderous applause with an aria from “Carmen” and was quickly put under contract to MGM.

Her first movie was a loanout to an independent producer for “Song of the Open Road,” a 1944 mishmash with W.C. Fields (at the end of his career) and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.

The character’s name in “Song of the Open Road” was Jane Powell, and MGM decided that that would be her movie name.

She played teens in such films as “Holiday in Mexico,” “Three Daring Daughters” and “A Date With Judy.” But she pleaded with the studio bosses to be given grown-up roles and finally succeeded in “Royal Wedding.”

Frothy romances and musicals continued to dominate her career, including “Young, Rich and Pretty,” “Small Town Girl” and “Three Sailors and a Girl.”

After her movie career ended, musical theater offered plenty of work for a star of her prominence and talent. She sang in supper clubs, toured in such shows as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” and “I Do! I Do!” and replaced Debbie Reynolds in the Broadway run of “Irene.”

She frequently appeared on television, notably in the Judy Garland role in a new version of “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

As she approached her 70s, Powell abandoned her singing career. “I can’t hit the high notes, and I won’t be second-rate,” she explained in 2000. She switched to drama, appearing in New York theater in such plays as “Avow,” portraying mother of an unmarried, pregnant daughter and a son who wanted to marry his male partner.

Powell’s first four marriages ended in divorce: to Geary Steffen (son Geary, daughter Suzanne), Patrick Nerney (daughter Lindsay), James Fitzgerald and David Parlour.

Powell met fifth husband Dick Moore when he interviewed her for his book about child actors. As Dickie Moore, he had been a well-known child actor in the 1930s and ’40s and gave Shirley Temple her first screen kiss in “Miss Annie Rooney” (1942). Moore, head of a New York public relations office, and Powell married in 1988. He died in 2015.

Jane Powell's survivors include her three children...

RIP: VIC DAMONE

Vic Damone, whose mellow baritone once earned praise from Frank Sinatra as "the best pipes in the business," has died in Florida at the age of 89, his daughter said.

Victoria Damone told The Associated Press in a phone interview Monday that her father died Sunday at a Miami Beach hospital from complications of a respiratory illness. Damone retired from performing back in 2002 after a  stroke, but he did perform one more time in 2011 at the Kravis Performing Arts Center in Palm Beach. He reportedly did it to show himself and his grandchildren that he still had it.

Damone's easy-listening romantic ballads brought him million-selling records and sustained a half-century career in recordings, movies and nightclub, concert and television appearances.

Damone's career began climbing in the 1940s after he won a tie on the radio show "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Hunt." His hit singles included "Again," ''You're Breaking My Heart," ''My Heart Cries for You," ''On the Street Where You Live" and, in 1957, the title song of the Cary Grant film An Affair To Remember (1957).

Damone's style as a lounge singer remained constant through the years: straightforward, concentrated on melody and lyrics without resorting to vocal gimmicks. Like many young singers of his era, he idolized Sinatra.

"I tried to mimic him," Damone said in a 1992 interview with Newsday. "I decided that if I could sound like Frank maybe I did have a chance. I was singing his words, breathing his breaths, (doing) his interpretation, with the high notes, the synergy."

Sinatra and Damone, along with Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Dean Martin and others, formed a group of Italian Americans who dominated the postwar pop music field. And far from resenting the mimicry, Sinatra praised Damone's singing ability.

Born Vito Farinola in Brooklyn, New York, on June 12, 1928 to immigrants from Bari, Italy, Damone dropped out of high school after his father, an electrician, was injured on the job.

Damone adopted his mother's maiden name when he began his career, after catching an early break while working as an usher at the Paramount Theater in New York City, according to a family statement.

Damone still drew crowds in nightclubs and concerts into his 70s, before illness prompted his retirement to Palm Beach with his fifth wife, fashion designer Rena Rowan.

Damone appeared in several MGM musicals and he was originally cast in "The Godfather," but the role of a budding singer seeking mob help in a Hollywood career eventually went to Al Martino.

In 1954, Damone married the Italian actress Pier Angeli, after her mother refused to allow her to marry James Dean. The couple had a son and named him Perry before divorcing in 1959.

Marriages to actress Judy Rawlins, with whom he had three daughters, and Houston socialite Becky Ann Jones also ended in divorce. In 1987, Damone and actress-singer Diahann Carroll married after a long romance, and they paired for night club and concert tours. They divorced in 1996.

Rowan died in November 2016.

Damone is survived by two sisters, his three daughters and six grandchildren...

RIP: DICKIE MOORE

Little Dickie Moore, the beloved former child star, has died. He was 89.

The husband of famed actress Jane Powell, Moore began his long career in show business when he was only 11 months old, playing John Barrymore as an infant in the 1927 silent film The Beloved Rogue. He would go on to appear in more than 100 films during the next 30 years and was later the longtime spokesman for AFTRA.

His many memorable screen performances included starring roles in Oliver Twist, Sergeant York, The Life Of Louis Pasteur and Heaven Can Wait. But he probably is best known for his appearances in the Our Gang comedies and as the boyfriend who gave Shirley Temple her first screen kiss in the 1942 film Miss Annie Rooney.

He started working regularly at age 4, appearing in as many as 12 feature films a year. Among his early credits were Cecil B. DeMille’s The Squaw Man, So Big with Barbara Stanwyck and Blonde Venus with Marlene Dietrich and newcomer Cary Grant. In 1932, producer Hal Roach recruited him for Our Gang, where he worked with Spanky, Stymie and the kids for a year before resuming his career in feature films, including Little Men, Man’s Castle with Spencer Tracy, Peter Ibbetson with Gary Cooper, The Life Of Emile Zola with Paul Muni and The Bride Wore Red with Joan Crawford, among others.

After serving in World War II as a correspondent for Stars And Stripes in the Pacific Theater, Moore attended college in Los Angeles, majoring in journalism. He then returned to acting as Dick Moore and appeared in Out Of The Past with Robert Mitchum and in Tuna Clipper with Roddy MacDowell. He also co-produced, co-directed and acted in a short subject film called The Boy And The Eagle that was nominated for an Academy Award in 1949. His last film was The Member Of The Wedding in 1952.

Relocating to New York, he worked in radio, television, summer stock, Broadway and Off-Broadway, both as an actor and director, before his career took a new turn. He became involved with Actors’ Equity, and served on its governing Council before becoming editor of their magazine and public relations counsel. He left Equity in 1964 to become creative director for films, meetings and shows for a leading advertising agency and then was a senior associate with a major public relations firm. He formed his own public relations firm, Dick Moore and Associates, in 1966.

His 1984 book, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, is an autobiographical account of his childhood in the movie business that explores the hardships that many child actors face growing up in front of the cameras. He was also author of Opportunities In Acting Careers and co-author of a study titled “The Relationship Of Amateur To Professional In The American Theatre.”

Besides his wife, he is survived by his sister, publicist Pat Kingsley; his son, Kevin Moore; and numerous grandchildren, stepchildren and step-grandchildren...

PHOTOS OF THE DAY: 2011 TCM FILM FESTIVAL

The weekend of the 2011 TCM Film Festival has come and gone. It is my dream to one day go there and experience all of the fun. Luckily there are a lot of pictures from the event, and it is great to see all of the old stars:


MICKEY ROONEY

HERB JEFFRIES

PETER O'TOOLE

LESLIE CARON

MARGARET O'BRIEN,DICKIE MOORE,JANE POWELL

JANE WITHERS,ANN JEFFREYS,ANN RUTHERFORD

KIRK DOUGLAS

HALEY MILLS

JULIE ANDREWS

THE 2011 TCM FILM FESTIVAL

TCM (Turner Classic Movies), the TV network that has kept classic Hollywood at the forefront of all who adore classic films, took a bold step last year by launching its first TCM Classic Film Festival. The streets near Egyptian, Grauman’s Chinese, and Mann’s Chinese Theatres were packed with stars and fans. The festival was such a hit, TCM is back this year for a second festival with another huge lineup of films, stars and special surprises taking place April 28 through Sunday, May 1, 2011.

Opening night premieres the 60th anniversary restoration of the Oscar-winning musical classic An American in Paris (1951). Star of the film, Leslie Caron, is scheduled for an appearance at the festival. Other world premieres during the festival include the 60th anniversary digital restoration of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951); the West Coast premiere of the newly restored La Dolce Vita (1960), and a screening of Shall We Dance (1937), which is part of the festival’s Gershwin tribute.

TCM – devoted to preserving classic movies – is also dedicated to showcasing the best possible projection, including digital, 35mm and 70mm prints. The festival will present more than 50 screenings including special introductions, guest appearances and panel discussions. Some of the films to be shown include: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Royal Wedding (1951) – presented by Jane Powell; The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) – presented by Debbie Reynolds ; Carousel (1956) – presented by Shirley Jones; and The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) – presented by Roger Corman.

Special focus this year is on silent films such as Erich von Stroheim’s The Merry Widow (1925) and Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman (1928), as well as a spotlight on cinema music. TCM will celebrate the work of George and Ira Gershwin with a collection of films featuring their most memorable songs. Disney’s Musical Legacy addresses the multi-faceted collection of screenings that celebrates Disney’s history of bringing music and film together.

Classic film historian, author, producer and film restorian Kevin Brownlow, a recipient of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Honorary Award in 2010, will be at the festival imparting his vast knowledge and love of classic films as will TCM host extraordinaire Robert Osborne.

Festival participants with the right passes will enjoy the opening night film as well as the lavish Vanity Fair Party. Other ticket passholders can fill in hours between the films and events at Club TCM located in the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to relax, mingle, and enjoy special presentations as well as live music. Ticket passes for the festival range from $1199 - $299. The official site has more information the festival and how to find out which other stars are attending.

SOURCE

For more information on festival go to:2011 TCM FILM FESTIVAL