The 32nd Anniversary of John Lennon's Death

It was on 8 December 1980 that John Lennon died. I have written many times about the impact that Mr. Lennon had on my life, probably more than other artist. Rather reiterating what I have already said many times, I will simply leave you with some of his music.

Dave Brubeck Passes On

Legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck died on 5 December 2012 at the age of 91. It was the day before his birthday (6 December).

Dave Brubeck was born in Concord, California on 6 December 1920. His father was a cattle rancher, while his mother was an English expatriate who had planned to become a concert pianist. Mr. Brubeck then not only learned to play piano, but various other instruments as well. He first performed publicly when he was only 14. He attended the College of the Pacific in Stockton, California with the intention of becoming a veterinarian, but within a year switched to music.  In 1942, following his graduation, Mr. Brubeck joined the United States Army. He played in the Army band at Camp Haan, North Carolina for two years before he was made a rifleman and eventually sent to Metz, France, in the expectation that he would serve in combat. He was saved in combat when his commanding officer heard him playing piano with a Red Cross travelling show one day. His commanding officer made certain he was assigned to a band that would entertain the troops.

Following World War II he attended Mills College where he studied under French composer Darius Milhaud. It was in 1946 that Mr. Brubeck formed his first jazz group, an octet. It was in 1951 that he formed The Dave Brubeck Quartet. The group toured colleges and had success with their recordings. In 1954 Mr. Brubeck became only the second jazz musician to appear on the cover of Time (the first had been Louis Armstrong). It was in 1954 that he signed with Columbia Records. His most legendary album, Time Out, was released in 1959. The album featured what may be Dave Brubeck's best known piece, "Take Five." The album also featured  another hit, "Blue Rondo à la Turk." Time Out was followed by the similar albums  Time Further Out: Miro Reflections (1961), Countdown: Time in Outer Space  (1962), Time Changes (1963), and Time In (1966).  In 1967 The Dave Brubeck Quartet disbanded.

Following the disbanding of The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Mr. Brubeck began concentrating on longer, orchestral pieces. He formed another quartet in 1968. He would both record and perform with them often. Dave Brubeck continued to work into 2011.

Dave Brubeck was easily one of the most successful jazz musicians of all time, one of the few who saw success on the pop charts in the Fifties and Sixties. "Take Five" would be ubiquitous in those decades, even serving for a time as the them to the Today show. He was very innovative, incorporating ideas from European composition into American jazz. He was also exceedingly versatile. He not only composed shorter jazz pieces, but oratorios, concertos, and musicals as well. What makes all of this even more remarkable is that Mr. Brubeck never made a big deal of his success. His reaction to Time featuring on their cover was that Duke Ellington should have had a cover before he did. He led a relatively quiet life. He never drank nor did drugs. and he was married to the same woman for years. A man of great modesty, he was also a man of great talent.

Mickey Baker Passes On

Legendary rhythm and blues guitarist Mickey Baker died 27 November 2012 at the age of 87.

Mickey Baker was born on 15 October 1925 in Louisville, Kentucky. He was only eleven when he was placed in an orphanage. He ran away from the orphanage often, being retrieved in each case. When he was 16 he moved to New York City and worked menial jobs before becoming a pool hustler. At 19 he enrolled in the New York City School of Music to study guitar, but eventually dropped out. Instead he taught himself guitar and by 1949 he had formed his own jazz combo. It was not long before he switched to rhythm and blues.

Starting in the early Fifties he served as a session musician on many recordings. He played guitar on hits produced by such artists as The Drifters, Big Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, Big Maybelle, Little Willie John, and others. He also released a few singles under his own name. In the mid-Sixties he formed Mickey & Sylvia with his student Sylvia Vanderpool. The two would have a top twenty hit with the song "Love is Strange"  in 1956. The duo would break up in the early Sixties, although they would continue to record together on and off for years to come.

In the mid-Sixties Mickey Baker moved to France, where he recorded for such French performers as Francoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan, and Ronnie Bird.  He would also write a number of instruction books on playing guitar.

Although not as well known, Mickey Baker can be counted alongside such greats as Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry as having an influence on guitar in both rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll. His influence would be felt not only on rhythm and blues acts of the Sixties, but even the British Invasion bands of the same era. His book Jazz Guitar has remained in print since it was first published over fifty years ago.

Dann Cahn R.I.P.

Dann Cahn, a film editor who made his career working on such classic television shows as I Love Lucy and The Beverly Hillbillies, died on 21 November 2012 at the age of 89,

Dann Cahn was born on 9 April 1923 in Hollywood, California. Both his father and his uncle were film editors. He served in World War II, as part of the First Motion Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Force  in Culver City at the Hal Roach Studios. His first editing work came while he was in the military, editing the training short "Airborne Liferaft."

After the war Dann Cahn followed his father and uncle into film editing. He started editing in television with an episode of Your Show Time in 1949. It was in 1952 that he became the editorial supervisor for Desilu, working on the classic sitcom I Love Lucy. In the Fifties he would also work on such series as Our Miss Brooks, The Lineup, Cavalcade of America, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Make Room for Daddy, and U. S. Marshal.  He also edited the film Forever Darling. In the Sixties he also edited such series as The Beverly Hillbillies, Many Happy Returns, Branded, My Mother the Car, and The Guns of Will Sonnett. He edited such films as Heaven with a Gun (1969), The Phynx (1970), and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970).

In the Seventies he edited such shows as The Delphi Bureau, Police Woman, Man From Atlantis, and 240 Robert. He directed such films as Zero to Sixty (1978) and The Octagon (1980). In the Eighties he worked on such shows as The Fall Guy, Remington Steele, My Sister Sam, and DEA. He worked on the films Tough Enough (1983) and The Elite (1989).

Dann Cahn also served as a producer on such shows as Branded, The Mothers in Law, and Shaft. He also directed episodes of Rescue 8, Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, M Squad, Leave It to Beaver, Coronado 9, and Man From Atlantis.

I Love Lucy  was not the first American filmed series. It was not even the first using a three camera system. That having been said, it was among the earliest American filmed series and among the earliest to use a three camera system. This made Dann Cahn a pioneer in the area of television editing. Not only did he work on I Love Lucy, but other early filmed series such as Our Miss Brooks and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. Dann Cahn then paved the way for television editing to this day. 

Dinah Sheridan Passes On

Legendary British actress Dinah Sheridan died 25 November 2012 at the age of 92.

Dinah Sheridan was born Dinah Nadyejda Mec Ginsburg  at Hampstead Garden Suburb, London on 17 September 1920. Her parents operated a photography business under the name Studio Lisa and later had the Royal family as clients. Only Studio Lisa was allowed to photography the royal, Christmas pantomimes. Miss Sheridan studied at Sherrards School in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. She trained in acting at Italia Conti school. She made her acting debut at age 11 in Where the Rainbow Ends at the Holborn Empire in 1932. On stage she would go onto play Wendy in Peter Pan. She made her film debut in Give Me My Heart in 1935 and had her first credited role in 1937 in Landslide..

In the late Thirties Miss Sheridan appeared in such films as Behind Your Back (1937), Father Steps Out (1937), Merely Mr. Hawkins (1938), Irish and Proud of It (1938), and Full Speed Ahead (1940).  The early Forties Miss Sheridan spent as an ambulance driver during World War II. She returned to film in 1942 with the movie Salute John Citizen (1942). In the Forties she appeared in such films as Get Cracking (1943), For You Alone (1945), 29 Acacia Avenue (1945), Murder in Reverse (1945), The Hills of Donegal (1947), Calling Paul Temple (1948), The Huggetts Abroad (1949), Dark Secret (1949), The Story of Shirley Yorke (1950), Paul Temple's Triumph (1950), No Trace (1950), and Blackout (1950).

In the Fifties Dinah Sheridan appeared in such films as Where No Vultures Fly (1951), The Sound Barrier (1952), The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953), and Genevieve (1953).  Genevieve would mark one of the high points of her career, but she decided to retire from acting to spend time with her second husband, John Davis, and children immediately afterwards. Her marriage to John Davis ended in divorce in 1965, and she returned to the stage in the comedy Let’s All Go Down the Strand that year. She also appeared in such stage productions as A Boston Story in 1968 and Out of the Question in 1969. She made her television debut in an episode of Armchair Theatre in 1968. In 1970 she returned to film in one of her best known roles, appearing in The Railway Children.

From the Seventies to the Nineties most of her career was spent in television. She was a regular in the Eighties series Don't Wait Up and the Nineties series Just Us. She also appeared on such shows as Play for Today, Seasons of the Year, Ooh La La, Zodiac, Crown Court, Hammer House of Horror, Doctor Who, Keeping Up Appearances, All Night Long, and Jonathan Creek. Her only film following The Railway Children was the Agatha Christie adaptation The Mirror Crack'd in 1980.

There can be no doubt that Dinah Sheridan was beautiful and elegant. In fact, many considered her the quintessential English rose (although her father was Russian and her mother German). More importantly, she was also extremely talented. While many of her roles were that of wives of mothers, there was always a good deal of variety in the sorts of wives and mothers she played.  In Genevieve she played Wendy McKim, the witty voice of reason in the film who was never afraid to speak her mind. In The Railway Children she played Mrs. Waterbury, the mother of the children of the title children. Miss Sheridan played Mrs. Waterbury as responsible, level headed, and concerned with her children's welfare.  As Paul Temple's journalist wife Steve in two "Paul Temple" films, she was intelligent and somewhat independent. Even her television career was extremely varied, playing everything from Chancellor Flavia on Doctor Who to Angela Latimer on Don't Wait Up. She was not simply one of our last surviving links to the Golden Age of British Cinema, but one of its brightest stars as well.

NaNoWriMo 2012 Completed

Wednesday, 28 November 2012, I completed my novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, for short). For those of you who don't know what National Novel Writing Month is, it is an event wherein the individual tries to write a novel of at least 50,000 words. This is the third time I've participated and the third time I've completed a novel in less than 30 days. Anyhow here's one the cool graphics you get when you win!

Anyhow, I enjoyed participating in NaNoWriMo this year.  For once I was ahead all month. And I think this particular novel was a bit tighter than the previous two. That having been said, I am glad it is over. Now I can devote more time to writing that actually makes me money, not to mention my blog.

The Late Great Larry Hagman

There are those eulogies that are extremely difficult for me to write. This is one of them. I grew up watching I Dream of Jeannie when it was rerun daily here in mid-Missouri. I also watched Dallas loyally. Larry Hagman was one of my favourite actors both when I was a lad and now that I am an adult. I not only appreciated his performances as Major Tony Nelson on I Dream of Jeannie and J. R. Ewing on Dallas, but also in the many films he made, including Fail-Safe (1964) and In Harm's Way (1965). He was an incredible actor who play almost anything, from comedy to drama, from heroes to villains. Sadly, Mr. Hagman died last night, 23 November 2012, at the age of 81, of complications from cancer. Although I never had the opportunity to meet Larry Hagman or interact with him in any way, I almost feel as if I have lost a close friend.

Larry Hagman was born on 21 September 1931 in Weatherford, Texas in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. His mother was Mary Martin, who would become a screen and stage legend in her own right. His father, Jack Hagman, was an accountant and district attorney. His parents divorced when he was five years old. When Mary Martin signed a contract with Paramount in 1938, young Larry Hagman stayed with his maternal grandmother in Texas. He attended the Black-Foxe Military Institute in Los Angeles, California and later moved with his mother to New York City where she was pursuing her acting career. In 1946 he returned to Weatherford and attended Weatherford High School. There he participated in school plays and took drama classes. When he graduated high school in 1949 it was his mother, Mary Martin, who suggested he take up acting as a profession.

Larry Hagman started his acting career in Dallas, serving as a  production assistant and acting in small parts at Margo Jones' Theatre there. He made his Broadway acting debut in a part in a production of Taming of the Shrew in 1951. In 1952 he was drafted in the United States Air Force. He served in London and spent most of his time entertaining American troops in both the United Kingdom and Europe.

After his service in the Air Force ended in 1956 Larry Hagman appeared in an off-Broadway production of Willam Saroyan's Once Around the Block. In 1957 he made his television debut as a guest star on the show Decoy. In the late Fifties he would guest star on such shows as Goodyear Television Playhouse, Studio One, Kraft Theatre, Harbourmaster, Sea Hunt, The United States Steel Hour, and Diagnosis: Unknown. He had recurring roles on the weekday serials The Edge of Night and Search for Tomorrow. On Broadway he appeared in Comes a Day, God and Kate Murphy, The Nervous Set, and The Warm Peninsula.

In the Sixties Larry Hagman made his film debut in Sette contro la morte in 1964.  In the Sixties he would go onto appear in such films as Ensign Pulver (1964), Fail-Safe (1964), In Harm's Way (1965), The Group (1966), and Up in the Cellar (1970). It was also during the Sixties that he would be cast in one of his best known roles, that of Major Anthony Nelson on the television series I Dream of Jeannie. Although it only did moderately well in the ratings in its first run on NBC, the series would become one of the most successful shows in syndication of all time, not only in the United States and Canada, but around the world as well. He also guest starred on such shows as The Defenders, The DuPont Show of the Week, Mr. Broadway, The Rogues, Love American Style, and Night Gallery.  In 1962 and 1963 he also appeared on Broadway in The Beauty Part.

In the Seventies Larry Hagman appeared in such films as The Hired Hand (1971), Beware! The Blob (1972), Antonio (1973), Harry and Tonto (1974), Stardust (1974), Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976), The Big Bus (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Cry for Justice (1977), Chequered Flag or Crash (1977), and Superman (1978). On television he had the lead role in the short lived shows The Good Life and Here We Go Again. It was in 1978 that he began another of his best known roles, that of J. R. Ewing on Dallas. The show proved to be a veritable phenomenon, not only becoming the number one show for a time, but running a total of thirteen years as well. He guest starred on such shows as Dan August, The Name of the Game, Medicinal Centre, Police Woman, Lucas Tanner, McCloud, Harry O, Ellery Queen, Barnaby Jones, The Streets of San Francisco, McMillan and Wife, and Sword of Justice. He reprised his role as J. R. on guest appearances on the Dallas spin off Knot's Landing.

In the Eighties Larry Hagman appeared in such films as S.O.B. (1981), Jag rodnar (1981). In the Nineties he appeared in the films Nixon (1995) and Primary Colours (1998),. He was one of the lead characters on the short lived show Orleans. In the Naughts he guest starred on The Simpsons, Nip/Tuck, and Somos cómplices. In the teens he resumed his role as J. R. Ewing on the successful revival of Dallas on the cable channel TNT. He also guest starred on Desperate Housewives and appeared in the film Flight of the Swan.

For many Larry Hagman will forever be Major Nelson on I Dream of Jeannie. I must confess that I am one of them. As I said earlier, as a lad I watched the show every day. Other might identify him more as J. R. Ewing on Dallas, his other well known role. While Larry Hagman will always be identified with both those roles, the fact is that he had an incredible career in which he played a large number of parts over the years. Indeed, although his two best know roles are from television, he was a bona fide movie star, appearing in Fail-Safe, In Harm's Way, S.O.B., Nixon, and may other films. With regards to movies Larry Hagman did just about everything, from B movies to major feature films.

And while Larry Hagman may be best identified with honest, hard working astronaut Tony Nelson and evil, conniving oil executive J. R. Ewing, he actually played a wide variety of roles. In Primary Colours he was Governor Picker, a politician who appeared to be honest, straight talking, and wholesome, but had more than his fair share of secrets. In Fail-Safe he played Buck, the president's translator, so convincingly that one could believe Mr. Hagman actually knew Russian.  Over the years he played everything from good guys to bad guys and everything in between. He was a great actor, although sadly not recognised as such often enough.

What is more, Larry Hagman was not only a great actor, but from all reports a true gentleman. Such co-stars as Barbara Eden, Patrick Duffy, and Linda Gray have all described him as one of the nicest, most compassionate men one could ever meet, and one with a slight mischievous streak at that. Those fans who were lucky enough to meet him or otherwise interact with him have also testified that he was a incredibly nice man. With Larry Hagman's death,then we have not only lost a truly great actor, but also a truly great gentleman as well.