Costume Designer Julie Harris R.I.P.

Costume designer Julie Harris, who worked on such films as Swiss Family Robinson (1960), A Hard Day's Night (1964), Help! (1965), and Darling (1965), died on May 30 2015 at the age of 94.

Julie Harris was born on March 26 1921 in London. She attended the Chelsea School of Art. She started her career at Gainsborough Pictures. The first film upon which she worked was Holiday Camp (1947). In the late Forties she worked on such films as Broken Journey (1948), Good-Time Girl (1948), Quartet (1948), The Lost People (1949), and Trio (1950).

The Fifties saw Miss Harris continue to work steadily. In the Fifties she worked on such films as Another Man's Poison (1951), Made in Heaven (1952), South of Algiers (1953), You Know What Sailors Are (1954), Cast a Dark Shadow (1955), It's a Wonderful World (1956), The Story of Esther Costello (1957), Sapphire (1959). and Swiss Family Robinson (1960).

The Sixties marked the height of Julie Harris's career, the period when she worked on what were probably her most famous films. She worked on The Beatles' films A Hard Day's Night and Help!. She won the Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White for Darling, and she won the BAFTA Award for Best British Costume (Colour) for The Wrong Box (1966). She was nominated for BAFTA Awards for Psyche 59 (1964) and Help! (1965). She also worked on such films as The Greengage Summer (1961), All Night Long (1962), The Chalk Garden (1964), Carry on Cleo (1964), Casino Royale (1967), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970).

In the Seventies Miss Harris was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design for The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976) . She also worked on such notable films as Frenzy (1972), Live and Let Die (1973), Rollerball (1975), The Land That Time Forgot (1975), and Dracula (1979).

Julie Harris's last feature film was The Great Muppet Caper (1981). Afterwards she worked in television on such productions as The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983), The Sign of Four (1983). and A Hazard of Hearts (1987), as well as the mini-series The Perfect Hero in 1991.

Julie Harris was simply an incredible costume designer. There can be little doubt that she was largely responsible for the way we view Swinging London today. It is not simply a case that she designed the costumes for both A Hard Day's Night and Help!, but she also designed costumes for such films set in Swinging London as Darling and Casino Royale (1967) as well.

While Julie Harris will forever be linked to Swinging London, however, she did notable work on many other films as well. In fact, her talent as a costume designer seemed to be to create the perfect designs for the mood and milieu of any particular film. She created some great designs for period pieces, as born out by The Wrong Box and The Slipper and the Rose. At the same time she could create convincing costumes for the futuristic Rollerball. Her costumes for Cast a Dark Shadow were perfect for a film that could almost be considered British film noir. She was even created some of the best designs ever for a Bond film, Live and Let Die. Julie Harris was extremely versatile and talented as a costume designer. It is little wonder that she won awards for her work. She really should have won more.

Godspeed Betsy Palmer

Actress and television personality Betsy Palmer died on May 29 2015 at the age of 88. She starred in such films as The Long Grey Line (1955), Mister Roberts (1955), Queen Bee (1955), and The True Story of Lynn Stuart (1958). She appeared on the legendary panel show I've Got a Secret for nearly a decade.

Betsy Palmer was born Patricia Betsy Hrunek in East Chicago, Indiana. She studied theatre at DePaul University in Chicago before moving to New York City to pursue a career in acting. She had only been in New York City for less than a week when she was offered her first job, appearing in the television soap opera Miss Susan, at a party held by fellow actor Frank Sutton (who would later become famous as Sgt. Carter on Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.) in 1951.

Miss Palmer would appear frequently on television in the Fifties. She was one of the hosts of the game show Wheel of Fortune from 1952 to 1953 (here it must be pointed that this game show bears no relation to Merv Griffin's later game show of the same name). She served as an assistant on the game show I'll Buy That. She joined the panel of I've Got a Secret in 1958, replacing original panellist Faye Emerson. Miss Palmer remained with the show until the end of its original run in 1967. She was also a regular on The Today Show from 1958 to 1959. Throughout the Fifties Betsy Palmer guest starred on such television shows as Danger, Inner Sanctum, The Web, Lux Video Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theatre, The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, The Alcoa Hour, Goodyear Playhouse, Studio One, Kraft Theatre, Playhouse 90, and The United States Steel Hour. She appeared on such game shows and talk shows as Masquerade Party, What's It For, What's My Line, and The Tonight Show.

In the Fifties Betsy Palmer also had a thriving film career. She made her film career in Death Tide in 1955. That same year she appeared as Kitty Carter in The Thin Grey Line,  Lt. Ann Girard in Mister Roberts, and Carol Lee Phillips in Queen Bee. In the late Fifties Miss Palmer starred in such films as The Tin Star (1957), The True Story of Lynn Stuart (1958), It Happened to Jane (1959), and The Last Angry Man (1959).  Miss Palmer also had a career on Broadway in the Fifties. She appeared in the productions The Grand Prize and Affair of Honour.

In the Sixties Betsy Palmer continued her stint as a panellist on I've Got a Secret. She also appeared on such game shows, talk shows, variety shows, and reality shows as The Price is Right, Password, Th Ed Sullivan Show, Candid Camera, The Tonight Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Mike Douglas Show, and Girls Talk. She starred in the 1968 Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation "A Punt, a Pass, and a Prayer". She appeared in Broadway in Roar Like a Dove and Cactus Flower.

In the Seventies Betsy Palmer was the co-host of The New Candid Camera. She had a regular role on the soap opera Number 96. She appeared on the game show The $25,000 Pyramid. She guest starred on Love, American Style; Ryan's Hope; and CHiPs. She appeared on Broadway in Same Time, Next Year and The Eccentricities of a Nightingale. She appeared in the movie Friday the 13th (1980).

In the Eighties Betsy Palmer had a regular role on the night-time soap opera Knot's Landing. She guest starred on The Love Boat; Maggie; T. J. Hooker; Charles in Charge; Newhart; Out of This World; and Murder, She Wrote. She appeared in the TV movies Windmills of the Gods and Goddess of Love. She appeared on the game show Family Feud.

In the Nineties Betsy Palmer guest starred on the shows Columbo, Just Shoot Me, and Hang Time. She appeared in the films The Fear: Resurrection (1999). In the Naughts she appeared in the films Penny Dreadful (2005), Waltzing Anna (2006), and Bell Witch: The Movie (2007).

I have to admit that I have always had a bit of a crush on Betsy Palmer. In her many game show appearances she always seemed so beautiful, intelligent, witty, funny, and charming. There is little wonder why she was on I've Got a Secret for most of its run and she was in so much demand for appearances on other panel shows and game shows. In many ways Betsy Palmer was the perfect television personality.

Of course, while Betsy Palmer may be best known for her long stint on I've Got a Secret, it must be kept in mind that she was also an actress, and a fairly good one at that. She played the nurse Lt. Girard, the lead female character in Mister Roberts. That same year she played the ill-fated Carol in the movie Queen Bee. She played the lead role of a housewife turned  undercover narcotics agent in The True Story of Lynn Stuart. While Miss Palmer appeared in many notable films in the Fifties, she also had a thriving career on television in the many anthology shows during the decade. As an actress Betsy Palmer was versatile and played a variety of different roles, particularly on television. Indeed, in the Fifties television dramas she played everything from Marty Piletti' cousin-in-law (in the classic teleplay "Marty") to a prostitute (in the teleplay "The Time of Your Life").   Whether as a witty panellist on game shows or an actress in films and television shows, there is a good deal for which Miss Palmer will be remembered.

Wally Cassell R.I.P.

Character actor Wally Cassell died on April 2 2015 at the age of 103. He appeared in the films White Heat (1949) and City That Never Sleeps (1953), and such TV shows as The Untouchables  and The Beverly Hillbillies.

Wally Cassell was born Oswaldo Castellano on March 3 1912 in Agrigento, Sicily. He was only two years old when his family moved to the United States. His first film role was an uncredited bit part as a photographer in Fingers at the Window in 1942. For the next several years he appeared in small, uncredited roles in such films as  Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant (1942), The Human Comedy (1943), Thousands Cheer (1943), Maisie Goes to Reno (1944), Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944), and National Velvet (1944). With The Thin Man Goes Home in 1945 Mr. Cassell began playing somewhat larger roles. Throughout the rest of the Forties he appeared in such films as Story of G.I. Joe (1945), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), Gallant Bess (1946), The Guilty (1947), Saigon (1948), Streets of San Francisco (1949), White Heat (1949), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), and Quicksand (1950).

In the Fifties Wally Cassell appeared in such films as Little Big Horn (1951), The Wild Blue Yonder (1951), Thunderbirds (1952), City That Never Sleeps (1953), Island in the Sky (1953), Timberjack (1955), Until They Sail (1957), and I Mobster (1958). During the Fifties his career turned increasingly towards television, and he guest starred on such shows as Mr. & Mrs North, The Lone Wolf, Fireside Theatre, The Loretta Young Show, Gunsmoke, Date with the Angels, The Ann Sothern Show, The Untouchables, and Rawhide.

The Sixties saw the end of Wally Cassell's career in film and television. He appeared on the TV shows  Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, The Blue Angels, The Case of the Dangerous Robin, 87th Precinct, and The Beverly Hillbillies. Following his appearance on The Beverly Hillbillies he retired from acting and went into business.

Wally Cassell was a very talented actor. He may be best known for his roles as a gangster in films noirs and television shows. In fact, his best known roles in both film and television may well have been gangsters. In White Heat he played Cotton Valletti, one of  Cody Jarrett's men who just happens to have a conscience. In both the pilot for The Untouchables that aired on Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse and two Untouchables episodes he played Phil D'Andrea, one of Al Capone's men.  While Mr. Cassell played several gangsters over the years, he also played a variety of other roles and did them well. In fact, in the Forties and Fifties he was often cast in the role of soldiers and sailors. He played a private several times in such films as Story of G.I. Joe (1945), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), and Thunderbirds (1952). Over the years he played everything from police officers to Old West gunmen. In his very last role on an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies he played a front office executive for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mr. Cassell's parts were often not very big, but he gave solid performances in nearly all of them.

"Help Me Rhonda" by The Beach Boys

It was fifty years ago today that The Beach Boys hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Help Me Rhonda".

Tanith Lee Passes On

Fantasy, horror, and science fiction writer Tanith Lee died at age 67 after a prolonged illness on May 24 2015.

Tanith Lee was born on September 18 1947 in London. Her parents were Bernard and Hylda Lee (her father was not the actor who played M in the James Bond movies), who were professional dancers. As a child she had some difficulty learning to read due to a mild form of dyslexia. Her father taught her how to read in around a month. By the time she was 9 years old she started writing. Miss Lee was drawn to the fantastic genres while young, reading the works of such authors as Theodore Sturgeon, Saki, and C. S. Lewis, as well as more mainstream authors such as Virginia Woolf.

Tanith Lee made her first professional sale when she was 21, the 90 word vignette "Eustace". It was in 1971 that her first children's book, The Dragon Hoard, was published. Her first novel, The Birthgrave, was published in 1975. It was that year that she gave up her job at a library to pursue writing full time. Tanith Lee would prove extraordinarily prolific. She wrote over 90 novels and more than 300 short stories. She also wrote in a number of different genres, including fantasy, horror, science fiction, and even historical novels. She wrote several different series of books throughout her career, including "The Birthgrave Trilogy", "The Wars of Vis", "Tales From The Flat Earth", "The Secret Books of Paradys", "The S.I.L.V.E.R. Series", and others. She became the first woman to win the British Fantasy Award for Death’s Master, the second  book in the “Tales from the Flat Earth series.

Tanith Lee also wrote two episodes of the British sci-fi TV series Blake's Seven.

Sadly, later in her career Tanith Lee had some problem selling her books. Even publishers who had previously worked with her were even unwilling to look at so much as a proposal from her. Through it all she never stopped writing and continued to publish books through smaller publishers.

Tanith Lee has been one of my favourite fantasy writers since my youth. She was so prolific that one could spend nearly a lifetime reading every single one of her works. In fact, I have to confess I have not read the majority of her books. It is not because I don't want to; it is because there are so many of them. That having been said, I particularly loved her "Tales From The Flat Earth", which numbers among my favourite fantasy series of all time. I also loved "The Birthgrave Trilogy" and "The Wars of Vis" among others.

Of course, the reason I loved Tanith Lee's work so much is that she was utterly unique. She had a lush, descriptive, and poetic style that evoked the romances of the 19th Century more than fantasy and science fiction of the 20th Century. Most of her work was based heavily in folk tales and mythology, although always with some macabre twist. In fact, many of her works seemed less like modern day fantasy novels than they did dark, twisted, and erotic versions of some fairy tales undiscovered by the Brother's Grimm. This set her apart from many of her contemporary fantasy and science fiction writers, who were often much more straight forward (and in many cases dry). It should be little wonder that over the years she won or was nominated for a number of awards. Tanith Lee was a true original.

"That'll Be the Day" by The Crickets

It was today in 1957 that the single "That'll Be the Day" by The Crickets was released. It was not the first single featuring Buddy Holly ever released. He had already released two singles, "Blue Days, Black Nights" and "Modern Day Don Juan" under his own name, Buddy Holly, on Decca. In fact, it was because he was still under contract to Decca that "That'll Be the Day"was released under the name "The Crickets" rather than "Buddy Holly"--"That'll Be the Day" was released on the Brunswick label.  While "That'll Be the Day" was not Buddy Holly's first single, it was very important nonetheless. It was not only the first single by Buddy Holly and The Crickets to chart. It was their first single to reach number one on the Billboard singles chart. Neither of Buddy Holly's first two singles had charted.

As to the song itself, "That'll Be the Day" was written by Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison (the drummer for The Crickets). It took its title from a line used by John Wayne as Ethan Edwards repeatedly in the movie The Searchers, "That'll be the day." Here it must be noted that The Searchers would not only inspire the song "That'll Be the Day" by The Crickets. The film's title would would also serve as the inspiration for the name of British Invasion era Liverpudlian band The Searchers.

Here, then, is "That'll Be the Day" by The Crickets

The Late Great Anne Meara

Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara

Anne Meara, who formed one half of the comedy team of  Stiller and Meara with her husband Jerry Stiller, and appeared as an actress in television, on film, and on stage, died May 23 2025 at the age of 85. She was the mother of writer Amy Stiller and actor Ben Stiller.

Anne Meara was born in Brooklyn on September 20 1929. She grew up in Rockville Centre on Long Island. Her mother committed suicide when Miss Meara was only eleven years old. She studied for a year at the  Dramatic Workshop at The New School in Manhattan before beginning her acting career in summer stock in 1948.

It was in 1953 that Anne Meara met Jerry Stiller. The two married not long after, but it would be some time before they would begin working together as a comedy team. In 1954 Anne Meara made her television debut on the short lived soap opera The Greatest Gift in 1954. That same year she appeared on an episode of The Philco Television Playhouse. Later in the Fifties she guest starred on the show The DuPont Show of the Month and a television production of Ninotchka. Anne Meara also appeared on Broadway in the Fifties. She made her debut on Broadway in a revival of A Month in the Country in 1956. She also appeared in The Good Woman of Setzuan and Miss Lonelyhearts.

While Anne Meara had not considered comedy, her husband Jerry Stiller persuaded her to become one half of a comedy team with him. She consented because work was hard to find at the time. The two of them joined The Compass Players, the legendary comedy troupe which over the years had boasted  Theodore J. Flicker, Nichols and May, and others as members. Eventually they left The Compass Players to strike out on their own as the comedy team of Stiller and Meara. Among their best known comedy routines was an entire series involving the relationship between Hershey Horowitz, a short Jewish man, and Mary Elizabeth Doyle, a tall Catholic woman, who met and fell in love. By 1961 Stiller and Meara were playing nightclubs in New York City. By 1962 they were one of the biggest comedy teams around.

Stiller and Meara appeared on most of the major variety shows and talk shows of the Sixties. Stiller and Meara made their debut as a comedy team on an edition of The Merv Griffin Show in 1962. Throughout the Sixties they appeared on such variety shows and talk shows as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Danny Kaye Show, Today, The Mike Douglas Show, The Skitch Henderson Show, and The Tonight Show. Stiller and Meara provided voices for episodes of the classic Saturday morning cartoon Linus the Lion Hearted. They guest starred on the TV show That's Life and appeared in the film. Anne Meara appeared without Ben Stiller on The Summer Brothers Smothers Show and The Engelbert Humperdinck Show, and the film The Out of Towners (1970).

In the Seventies Stiller and Meara appeared on such variety and talk shows as The Kraft Music Hall, Flip, The Tonight Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Mike Douglas Show, and Tony Orlando and Dawn. They appeared on the game show Hollywood Squares. Stiller & Meara guest starred on the shows Love, American Style; The Courtship of Eddie's Father; The Paul Lynde Show; Time Express; and The Love Boat. They had recurring roles on Rhoda. They appeared in the film Nasty Habits (1977). Without Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara played the lead on the crime drama Kate McShane and was a regular on the TV shows The Corner Bar and Archie Bunker's Place. Without Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara guest starred on the shows Medical Centre and Temperatures Rising. Anne Meara appeared on her own in the films Irish Whiskey Rebellion (1972) The Boys from Brazil (1978), and Fame (1980).

In the Eighties Stiller and Meara appeared in the unsold pilot The Stiller and Meara Show. They guest starred on the shows The Love Boat, Breakaway, Saturday Night Live, and Monsters. Without her husband Anne Meara appeared in a regular role on Alf. She appeared in the films The Longshot (1986), The Perils of P.K. (1986), My Little Girl (1986), That's Adequate (1989),  and Awakenings (1990). She appeared on Broadway in Eastern Standard.

In the Nineties Stiller and Meara appeared in the films Highway to Hell (1991), Reality Bites (1994), Heavy Weights (1995), A Fish in the Bathtub (1999), The Independent (2000), and Chump Change (2000). They appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Anne Meara guest starred several times on her husband Jerry Stiller's TV show King of Queens. Without her husband she guest starred on Murder, She Wrote; In the Heat of the Night; Good Advice; Murphy Brown; Homicide: Life on the Street; and All My Children. She appeared on her own in the films Through an Open Window (1992), The Search for One-eye Jimmy (1994), Kiss of Death (1995), The Daytrippers (1996), Southie (1998), The Thin Pink Line (1998), Judy Berlin (1999), The Diary of the Hurdy-Gurdy Man (1999), and Brooklyn Thrill Killers (1999). She appeared on Broadway in Anna Christie.

In the Naughts Stiller and Meara appeared on the game show Hollywood Squares, on the show Sex and the City, and in the film Zoolander (2001), which starred their son Ben Stiller. From the Naugths through the Teens, without her husband,  Anne Meara appeared in the films Get Well Soon (2001), Like Mike (2002), The Yard Sale (2002), Crooked Lines (2003), Night at the Museum (2006), When the Evening Comes (2009), The Queen of Greenwich Village (2009), and Simpler Times (2014). She guest starred on such shows as Oz; Good Morning, Miami; Charlie Lawrence; Four Kings; Gravity; and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Anne Meara was an incredibly talented actress. Stiller and Meara were considered one of the hottest comedy teams of the early Sixties, and with good reason. They were very, very funny. Their routines centred around the universal theme of male and female relationships, and the differences and similarities between the two sexes. Even without Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara could be very funny, as shown by her roles in various comedy TV shows and films over the years. At the same time, however, Anne Meara was also very talented when it came to playing drama. She was a woman who could guest star on both Murphy Brown  Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and do both well. Both as part of Stiller and Meara and as a actress on her own, then, Anne Meara will be remembered.