TCM Remembers 2017!

Thanks for posting that again this year.

I appreciate the posting. The list seemed especially lengthy this year. Such a great loss.

The Academy should just borrow this segment for its In Memoriam segment in March. It is unfortunately lengthy, but seems to be comprehensive and was nicely put together. I feel like they'll forget some worthy inclusions if they attempt to do their own list.

Jake Lipson said:

The Academy should just borrow this segment for its In Memoriam segment in March. It is unfortunately lengthy, but seems to be comprehensive and was nicely put together. I feel like they'll forget some worthy inclusions if they attempt to do their own list.

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I agree, but the Academy likes to limit its montage to Academy members, so we see lots of non-celebrity front office personnel, like lawyers, agents, publicists, studio execs, etc. in their montage.

Notes on this montage:

There were some in it that I didn’t know had died: Lorna Gray (100!), Elsa Martinelli, Daliah Lavi, Jack H. Harris, Richard Schickel, Lola Albright, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Mireille Darc.

Lots of European actresses died this year: Anne Wiazemsky, Elsa Martinelli, Michele Morgan, Emmanuelle Riva, Danielle Darrieux (100), Jeanne Moreau, Mireille Darc, plus Israeli Daliah Lavi.

Also three German actresses who were not included in the montage: Karin Dor, Anita Pallenberg, Christine Kaufmann.

Also not in the montage: Tomas Milian, Miriam Colon, director Robert Ellis Miller (THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER).

Three Japanese icons died this year: director Seijun Suzuki (TOKYO DRIFTER), frequent kaiju actor Yoshio Tsuchiya (THE HUMAN VAPOR), and the man in the Godzilla suit, Haruo Nakajima.

Losing Bill Paxton, hurts me the most.

Richard V said:

Losing Bill Paxton, hurts me the most.

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Yeah. Me too. Game over, man, game over. We're in some pretty s*** now.

Private Hudson: Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?
Private Vasquez: No. Have you?

RolandL said:

Private Hudson: Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?
Private Vasquez: No. Have you?

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My favorite Hudson line of dialogue that many people have used over the years including yours truly.

I've been rewatching the Toy Story films of late. On the commentary, Lasseter and company say that Don Rickles was their first and only choice for Mr. Potato Head

Having grown up on the Toy Story films, his death earlier this year hit me particularly hard, and watching these again just reminded me of how indelible he is in that role. I hope they have a plan for Toy Story 4 without him, because his presence in it will be extremely missed.

I know that he had a very long and successful career even without Toy Story, but because I was seven years old when Toy Story came out and was obsessed with it, Mr. Potato Head is the role with which I will always first associate him, since it is the first time I encountered his work.

Jake Lipson said:

I've been rewatching the Toy Story films of late. On the commentary, Lasseter and company say that Don Rickles was their first and only choice for Mr. Potato Head

Having grown up on the Toy Story films, his death earlier this year hit me particularly hard, and watching these again just reminded me of how indelible he is in that role. I hope they have a plan for Toy Story 4 without him, because his presence in it will be extremely missed.

I know that he had a very long and successful career even without Toy Story, but because I was seven years old when Toy Story came out and was obsessed with it, Mr. Potato Head is the role with which I will always first associate him, since it is the first time I encountered his work.

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Over 30 years ago, I saw him perform in Las Vegas. They seated us far away from the stage so, I asked if they could do better. He held out his hand and I put $20 in it. He brought me to the front up against the stage. I was so afraid he was going to pick on me or my wife! He did a great show.

Another day, another unfortunate passing.

Thomas Stanford, Oscar winner for editing West Side Story, was 93.

http://deadline.com/2017/12/thomas-stanford-dies-west-side-story-film-editor-1202233680/

Thomas Stanford and I worked together on 3 projects, "The Great Santini" where he was an uncredited film doctor , "Saving Grace" also uncredited and "Legend of Lone Ranger". At the time he had reputation for being quite difficult for assistant editors to work with. For some reason we got along just fine and had many great working lunches and after hours drinks at the Formosa Cafe. After the Lone Ranger I went back to editing TV series and he finished up 2 other projects then he retired to Santa Fe, having fallen in love with the area where the Lone Ranger was shot. I think he was always disappointed that Robert Wise never used him again, but they did stay in touch over the years. He was quite an editor and I learned a lot about dramatic pacing from him.

Thank you for posting this, many good memories help through the loss.

The nice thing about film (and TV) is that even when these people leave us, we can still watch their work as many times as we want.

That's not really true in any other medium. Theater, for example, is ephemeral, and once a theater star is gone, they will not perform again.

However, to use just one example of someone who passed on this year, I can watch Don Rickles voice Mr. Potato Head in the first three Toy Story films as many times as I want. He will always be in them to revisit, forever.

This doesn't lessen the sadness of him being gone, or the fact that he won't be able to record new material for Toy Story 4. But it means one of his indelible creations will remain available for us, and future generations, to enjoy.

The same is true for all the film talent who leave us behind. They also leave us with a terrific repertoire of work that will outlive them, and there's a little comfort to be had in that.