Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-17 of 17
- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Harry Morgan was a prolific character actor who starred in over 100 films and was a stage performer. Known to a younger generation of fans as "Col. Sherman T. Potter" on M*A*S*H (1972). Also known for his commanding personality throughout his career, he tackled movies and television in a way no other actor would do it.
Born Harry Bratsberg in Detroit, Michigan to Anna Olsen, a homemaker who immigrated from Sweden, and Henry Bratsberg, a mechanic who immigrated from Norway. After graduating from Muskegon High School in Muskegon, Michigan, he took on a salesman job before becoming a successful actor.
Several of his most memorable film roles were: The Omaha Trail (1942), in the next quarter-century, he would also appear in The Ox-Bow Incident (1942), Wing and a Prayer (1944), State Fair (1945), Dragonwyck (1946), All My Sons (1948), Red Light (1949), Outside the Wall (1950), Dark City (1950) where he met future Dragnet 1967 (1967) co-star Jack Webb, who would be best friends until Webb's death, late in 1982, along with Appointment with Danger (1950). His films credits also include: High Noon (1952), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), Strategic Air Command (1955), among many others. He also co-starred with James Garner in Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) and Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971).
On television, he is fondly remembered as Spring Byington's jokingly henpecked neighbor, "Pete Porter" on December Bride (1954), where he became the show's scene-stealer. It was also based on a popular radio show that transferred into television. The show was an immediate success to viewers, which led him into starring his own short-lived spin-off series, Pete and Gladys (1960), which co-starred Cara Williams, who met Morgan in the movie, The Saxon Charm (1948).
Morgan began his eight-year association with old friend, Jack Webb, and Universal, starting with Dragnet 1967 (1967), which he played Off. Bill Gannon. For the second time, like December Bride (1954) before this, it was an immediate hit, where it tackled a lot of topics. Dragnet was canceled in 1970, after a 4-season run, due to Morgan's best friend and co-star (Jack Webb) leaving the show to continue producing other shows, such as Adam-12 (1968) and Emergency! (1972). Morgan would later work with Webb in both short-lived series, The D.A. (1971), opposite Robert Conrad and Hec Ramsey (1972), opposite Richard Boone. After those roles, Morgan ended his contract with both Universal and Mark VII, to sign with 20th Century Fox.
Morgan's biggest role was that of a tough-talking, commanding, fun-loving, serious Army Officer, "Col. Sherman T. Potter" on M*A*S*H (1972), when he replaced McLean Stevenson, who left the show to unsuccessfully star in his own sitcom. For the third time, the show was still a hit with fans, and at 60, he was nominated for Emmies nine times and won his first and only Emmy in 1980, for Outstanding Supporting Actor. By 1983, M*A*S*H's series was getting very expensive, as well as with the cast, hence, CBS reduced it to 16 episodes. Despite M*A*S*H's finale in 1983, Morgan went on to star in a short-lived spin-off series AfterMASH (1983), co-starring Jamie Farr and William Christopher, from the original M*A*S*H (1972) series, without series' star Alan Alda.
He also co-starred in 2 more short-lived series, as he was over 70, beginning with Blacke's Magic (1986) with Hal Linden and his final role with You Can't Take It with You (1987). That same year, he reprised his role, for a second time as "Off. Bill Gannon" in the film, Dragnet (1987), which starred Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks. Then, he guest-starred in several shows such as: The Twilight Zone (1985), Renegade (1992), The Jeff Foxworthy Show (1995), for the third time, he also reprised his "Off. Bill Gannon" role, supplying his voice on The Simpsons (1989). Towards the end of his acting career, as he reached 80, he had a recurring role as the older college professor on 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996), opposite John Lithgow. Afterwards, he retired from show business and lived with his family. Harry Morgan died on December 7, 2011 at 96. On confirming his death, his son Charles said that he had been recently treated for pneumonia. Morgan was also one of the oldest living Hollywood male actors.- John Carlisle was born on 6 September 1935 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for New Scotland Yard (1972), The Omega Factor (1979) and Kidnapped (1978). He died on 7 December 2011 in London, England, UK.
- Hal Dyer was born in 1935 in Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Namastey London (2007), The Stud (1978) and Big Brother (1970). She was married to Michael Robbins. She died on 7 December 2011 in Redhill, Surrey, England, UK.
- Producer
- Executive
Joseph Farrell was founder and chairman of NRG (National Research Group), the market planning and research firm which serviced all of the film studios and major producers in Hollywood for 25 years until 2003, when he and partner Catherine Paura sold the business to Nielsen Media and started Farrell Paura Productions. Previously, Farrell was the director of the Harris Poll and before that worked with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. He has his J.D. degree from Harvard. He was written novels and scripts and continues to be a picture painter and sculptor.
Farrell is married to Italian actress Jo Champa. They have a son, Sean, now three years old.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Art Department
Jerry Robinson was an American comic book artist from Trenton, New Jersey. He was one of the earliest creative staff of the "Batman" stories by DC Comics. Robinson is primarily remembered for co-creating two popular characters: Robin/Dick Grayson and the Joker. The first was the most prominent sidekick hero in comics, and the second was one of the most prominent super-villains. Robinson was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.
In 1922, Robinson was born in Trenton, New Jersey. Trenton briefly served as the capital of the United States in 1784. Robinson was born to a Jewish family. His father was entrepreneur Benjamin Robinson. Benjamin was from European Russia (the European regions of the Russian Empire). He had emigrated to the United States in 1895, primarily to avoid conscription into the Imperial Russian Army. Mae Robinson (Robinson's mother) was a bookkeeper from Lower Manhattan.
As a teenager, Robinson aspired to become a journalist. He studied journalism at Columbia University, but dropped out before earning a degree. In 1939, Robinson was hired by Bob Kane to serve as an assistant for his small artist studio. Kane had already created the Batman character, and needed help to produce more stories. His new job required Robinson to move to The Bronx, as he had to live in proximity to Kane's own residence.
Robinson started out as both a letterer and a background inker for the "Batman" stories. He was then entrusted with inking secondary figures in the stories. By 1940, Robinson became the Batman series' primary inker, while George Roussos served as the inker for the background art. To supplement their income, Robinson and Roussos also worked as inkers and background artists for the superhero comic series "Target and the Targeteers", published by Novelty Press.
In late 1940 or early 1941, Robinson became a company staffer for National Comics (a predecessor for DC Comics). National was the publisher for Batman, and reportedly wanted the exclusive services of the people who were working in the popular "Batman" series.
In 1940, Bob Kane and Bill Finger contemplated adding a sidekick figure to the Batman series. Robinson suggested code-naming the character "Robin", naming him after Robin Hood. Robinson had reportedly read several books about Robin Hood as a boy. The trio of co-creators worked on Robin's origin story. Robin/Dick Grayson was depicted as an orphaned circus performer who becomes the legal ward of Batman/Bruce Wayne. The boy sidekick soon became a popular character, and served as the main inspiration for the creation of several other sidekick characters during the Golden Age of Comic Books (c. 1938-1956).
Also in 1940, Kane, Finger, and Robinson created a new super-villain, the Joker. The character's appearance was modeled on the visual appearance of actor Conrad Veidt in the film, "The Man Who Laughs" (1928). In the film, Veidt was portraying Gwynplaine, a Victor Hugo character whose mouth has been mutilated into a perpetual grin. Like him, the Joker had a permanent mirthless smile. Robinson reportedly came up with the initial idea for creating the new villain, but Bob Kane claimed in interviews that it was Kane and Finger who had the idea to model the character on Veidt.
Robinson's other contributions to the "Batman" supporting cast was redesigning Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth into a slender figure, and offering ideas for the design of the villain Two-Face/Harvey Dent. He is not credited with creating either of the two characters, but he had a hand in their development.
In 1943, Bob Kane stopped drawing new comic book stories for Batman, as he wanted to focus on the "Batman" newspaper comic strip. Robinson took over the artist duties for the Batman comic book stories, primarily sharing this role with Dick Sprang. They both served as ghost artists, with Kane continuing to be credited as the series' artist.
In 1944, Robinson created his own artist studio. His business partner was fellow comics artist Mort Meskin (1916-1995), who had worked extensively for Fiction House, MLJ Comics (later renamed to Archie Comics), and National Comics. The main customer of their small studio was Spark Publications (1944-1946), a Massachusetts-based company owned by pulp fiction writer Ken Crossen ( 1910 - 1981). Spark went bankrupt in 1946, due to a decline in its sales. Consequently, Robinson and Meskin shut down their own studio.
During the next several years, Robinson worked as a freelance artist, and as an illustrator for textbooks. In the 1950s, Robinson worked as a cover artist for "Playbill" (1884-), a monthly magazine whose main audience is theatergoers. He also started producing political cartoons for newspapers. In the 1960s, he started working primarily as a newspaper cartoonist. He was the only credited creator for the syndicated comic strip "True Classroom Flubs and Fluffs" (1965-1967), which humorously depicted real-life error perpetrated by American students.
In 1967, Robinson was elected as the new president of the National Cartoonists Society (1946-). It is an organization for professional cartoonists in the United States, though it works primarily as a way for cartoonists to socialize with each other, rather than a labor union. His term ended in 1969. From 1973 to 1975, Robinson served as the president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.
In 1974, Robinson published the non-fiction book "The Comics". It was a comprehensive guide the history of newspaper comic strips. In the mid-1970s, Robinson championed creator rights for comic book creators. He was one of the leaders of a campaign that demanded full recognition and compensation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster as the creators of Superman. In 1975, DC Comics agreed to grant lifetime stipends and a credit in all broadcast and published Superman work to Siegel and Shuster.
In 1978, Robinson established "CartoonArts International", a New York City-based cartooning newspaper syndication service which distributes political and humor cartoons, caricatures, and graphics internationally. By the 2010s, the syndication service represented about 550 artists from 75 different countries.
In 1999, Robinson co-created the manga series "Astra", working with artists Shojin Tanaka and Ken-ichi Oishi. Originally published in Japanese, the series was translated and published in English by an imprint of Central Park Media (1990-2009). It was Robinson's first comic-book related work in decades.
In May 2007, Robinson was hired as a creative consultant for DC Comics. The extent of his duties to the company was left undefined in its press release. In December 2011, Robinson died in his sleep in Staten Island. He was 89-years-old. He was survived by his wife Gro Bagn and two of their children. His legacy endures as his comic book creations remain popular.- Editorial Department
- Editor
- Sound Department
Tom Kennedy was an editor, known for Time Walker (1982), Joe (1970) and Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972). He died on 7 December 2011 in West Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Peter Shorey was born on 13 August 1949 in Alcester, Warwickshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Richard II (2003), The Archers (2007) and Minder (1979). He died on 7 December 2011 in Camden, London, England, UK.
- Larry Lambeth was born on 9 April 1938 in Davidson County, North Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for Trucker's Woman (1975), The Electric Chair (1976) and Hot Summer in Barefoot County (1974). He was married to Buena Still. He died on 7 December 2011 in Salisbury, North Carolina, USA.
- Art Department
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Ricky Garduno was born on 4 April 1976 in the USA. Ricky was a writer, known for Cruel Game (2002), Swirl (2003) and Larceny (2004). Ricky died on 7 December 2011 in California, USA.- Dora Ferreiro is one of the most important Argentinean actresses. In radio, she was one of the great voices of the radiofonico theater. She worked in "La Guerra Gaucha", icon of the Argentine cinema. With the birth of TV, she appeared in many of Alberto Migre's soap operas especially in unforgettable novels like "Mujeres en Presidio", "Pobre Diabla", "Dos a quererse", "La cuñada" between many others.
- Writer
- Actor
Bill Morrison was a writer and actor, known for Screenplay (1986), BBC2 Playhouse (1973) and Screen Two (1984). He died on 7 December 2011 in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK.- Director
- Actor
Gilberto Pinto was born on 7 September 1930 in Caracas, Venezuela. He was a director and actor, known for Raquel (1973), La Pasionaria (1970) and La tirana (1967). He was married to Martha Lancaste and Francis Rueda. He died on 7 December 2011 in Caracas, Venezuela.- Writer
- Director
Josip Barkovic was born on 16 January 1918 in Otocac, Croatia. He was a writer and director, known for Sinji galeb (1953) and Marsal Tito u Hrvatskoj (1946). He died on 7 December 2011 in Zagreb, Croatia.- Maurice Byrd was born on 17 September 1951 in Independence, Missouri, USA. He died on 7 December 2011 in Guthrie, Oklahoma, USA.
- Jon Veitch was born on 12 September 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was married to Heather Veitch. He died on 7 December 2011 in Riverside, California, USA.
- Byron B. Buckeridge Jr. was born on 18 March 1914 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. He died on 7 December 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Geraldine McClelland was born in 1950 in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England, UK. Geraldine was a producer, known for Watchdog (1985), Points of View (1961) and Great Railway Journeys of the World (1980). Geraldine died on 7 December 2011 in Zurich, Switzerland.