The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

(This post is part of the Vincent Price Blogathon hosted by Cinematic Catharsis and Reelweegiemidget Reviews)

Among the legendary horror movie actors, Vincent Price was utterly unique. Unlike Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Sir Christopher Lee, he never played monsters. Unlike Peter Cushing, he rarely played monster hunters. Instead Vincent Price played mortal men caught up in circumstances not necessarily of their own making. He played his share of heroes, including Dr. Warren Chapin in The Tingler (1959) and Dr. Robert Morgan in The Last Man on Earth (1964). More often he played villains, including Professor Henry Jarrod in House of Wax (1954) and Frederick Loren in House on Haunted Hill (1959). His speciality was playing individuals, who through circumstances or through the ill intent of others, had been driven beyond the brink of sanity. 

Among the most complicated characters Vincent Price ever played was Dr. Anton Phibes in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and its sequel, Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972). Like many of Mr. Price's character, Dr. Phibes was a man driven mad by tragedy, in his case the untimely death of his wife. Unlike many of Mr. Price's characters, it is difficult to describe Dr. Phibes as a hero or a villain. Having lost his wife during a surgery, Dr. Phibes was scarred and left mute when he experienced a car crash in trying to get to her at the hospital. Unfortunately, rather than file a malpractice suit against the doctors involved in his wife's death, Dr. Phibes kills them one by one using means inspired by the ten plagues of Egypt. Dr. Phibes's motivation is then understandable to anyone who has experienced the death of someone they love, although he goes about dealing with his grief in ways that most of us would find, well, abominable.

Dr. Anton Phibes was the creation of William Goldstein, who co-wrote the screenplay for The Abominable Dr. Phibes with James Whiton. The genesis of Dr. Phibes was in a series of dreams that Mr. Goldstein had over the course of a week. After the last night of dreams, he wrote all of them down and then contacted James Whiton to see if the dreams could form the basis of a movie. Mr. Whiton had already written episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. William Goldstein and James Whiton's screenplay eventually found its way to Ronald S. Dunas, a real estate man who had moved into film production. It was Ronald S. Dunas who brought the screenplay to the attention of James H. Nicholson of American International Pictures.

Before settling on the title The Abominable Dr. Phibes, the film had the working titles of Dr. Phibes and The Curse of Dr. Phibes. It was in a September 1970 article in Variety that it was reported that the film would be produced by Albert Fennell with Ronald Dunas, although ultimately it would be produced by Mr. Dunas and Louis M. Heyward, who had written for both The Gary Moore Show and The Ernie Kovacs Show and went onto become AIP's Director of Overseas Productions in London. He had already produced such classic horror movies for AIP as The Oblong Box (1970). 

Of course, much of the appeal of The Abominable Dr. Phibes is seeing two legends from the Golden Age of Hollywood pitted against each other. While Vincent Price played Dr. Anton Phibes, Joseph Cotten played Dr. Vesalius, the head of the team of doctors that had performed surgery on Dr. Phibes's wife. While Dr. Vesalius remains one of Joseph Cotten's best known roles, he was not the first actor considered for the role. Initially the role was offered to legendary horror actor Peter Cushing, who had to decline because of the recent death of his wife Helen.  

Dr. Phibes's vocal cords having been damaged in his automobile accident, the character required prosthetics to be able to speak. Because of this, as well as the heavy make up required of the role, all of Vincent Price's lines would be dubbed in post-production. This led to a complaint from Joseph Cotten that he had to remember his lines, while Mr. Price's lines would be dubbed in post production. Vincent Price simply replied to Mr. Cotten's complaint, "Yes, but I still know them, Joe." Vincent Price was known throughout his career for his remarkable memory, able to memorize not only his own lines, but those of every other character in a screenplay. Despite Joseph Cotten's complaint, according to Louis M. Heyward, Joseph Cotten was a total gentleman. He knew his lines perfectly and devoted all of his considerable talent to the role.

The role of Dr. Phibes required Vincent Price to spend several hours each day having his make-up applied. In order to make Joseph Cotten more comfortable on the set, Vincent Price would often joke around with his fellow veteran actor. As a result, Mr. Price's makeup would sometimes have to be reapplied.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes was directed by Robert Fuest, who had directed several episodes of the classic British spy TV series The Avengers. The plot of The Abominable Dr. Phibes already resembled the plot of a typical episode The Avengers, with individuals dying in bizarre fashions. It was in a large part because of Robert Fuest that the movie feels a lot like an episode of The Avengers, albeit one set in the 1920s.  In addition to the movie's touches of humour, it also features lavish sets and rich cinematography that would not be out of place in an episode of The Avengers.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes was filmed from November 2 1970 to January 1971. Most of the film was shot at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, with various scenes being shot around both London and Hertfordshire. Dr. Phibes's mansion was the Rosary Priory High School in Herfordshire at the time the film was shot and had previously been Caldecote Towers Hotel (it is now Immanuel College). Highgate Cemetery in London was the final resting place of Dr. Phibes's wife.

Because Dr. Anton Phibes was a concert pianist with degrees in music and theology, music plays a big role in The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Such diverse pieces of music as "War March of the Priests" by Felix Mendelssohn, "What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry?," "Darktown Strutters' Ball," and "Charmaine" appear throughout the film. That having been said, much of the music in The Abominable Dr. Phibes is anachronistic. While the film appears to be set in the Twenties, it features songs written after that decade, including "Close Your Eyes (1933)," "Elmer's Tune (1941)," "All I Do Is Dream of You (1934)," "You Stepped Out of a Dream (1941)," "A Hundred Years from Today (1933)," and "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) (1943)." While an instrumental version of "Over the Rainbow," written specifically for The Wizard of Oz (1939), plays over the closing credits, it is background music, as opposed to other anachronistic pieces of music that are played within the movie itself (for instance, "Elmer's Tune" on a music box).

Although The Abominable Dr. Phibes is now considered one of the greatest horror movies ever released by American International Pictures, according to Louis M. Heyward, AIP co-founder  Samuel Z. Arkoff hated The Abominable Dr. Phibes and even wanted his name removed from the movie. He had very little faith that the film could be a success. Initially, The Abominable Dr. Phibes was not a success. Marketed through a tongue in cheek campaign centred on the tagline, "Love never means having to say you're ugly! (a parody on Love Story's "Love never means to have to say you're sorry"), The Abominable Dr. Phibes did poorly at the box office. Fortunately, AIP switched to a more traditional, straight-forward marketing campaign and The Abominable Dr. Phibes proved to be a hit.

In fact, The Abominable Dr. Phibes proved to be such a hit that a sequel was planned. Screenwriters William Goldstein and James Whiton proposed a sequel titled The Brides of Dr. Phibes. Louis M. Heyward rejected The Brides of Dr. Phibes, and then turned to Robert Blees to write the sequel.  Dr. Phibes Rises Again was released in 1972.  Dr. Phibes Rises Again proved successful enough that more sequels were considered. Other proposed sequels included Dr. Phibes in the Holy Land, The Son of Dr. Phibes, Phibes Resurrectus,  Dr. Phibes, Phibes Resurrected, and The Seven Fates of Dr. Phibes. Sadly, none of these sequels ever made it to production.

These proposed sequels were not the only attempts to revive Dr. Phibes. In the mid-Seventies, Louis M. Heyward and William Goldstein proposed a TV series to NBC which would have featured Dr. Phibes fighting crimes using his considerable talents in makeup and technology. The network passed on the project.

While Dr. Phibes would never return to the big screen following Dr. Phibes Rises Again and would  never have his own TV series, the character would eventually be resurrected. Dr. Phibes's creator, William Goldstein, revived the character starting with the novel Dr. Phibes - In the Beginning in 2011, co-written with his son Damon J. A. Goldstein. Since then, the two men have written Dr. Phibes Vulnavia's Secret, Dr. Phibes, Dr. Phibes Rises Again!, and Dr. Phibes - The Androbots.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes stands as one of the most famous of AIP's later movies as well as one of AIP's greatest horror movies. It seems likely that its success is due to multiple factors. It is one of the most effective horror movies of the Seventies. It features some very frightening scenes, including several horrifying deaths. At the same time, however, it features touches of humour, with neither of the lead characters (Dr. Phibes and Dr. Vesalius) ever being the object of that humour. The movie's cast is certainly one of the reasons for much of its success. Both Vincent Price and Joseph Cotten give sterling performances. What is more, the cast includes such talents as Peter Jeffrey, Hugh Griffith, and Terry-Thomas. Certainly Robert Fuest's direction is responsible for much of the movie's success. Mr. Fuest was able to blend horror, humour, and music together in a way that it seems perfectly natural and yet unlike any movie before it.

Of course, most of all it is perhaps the character of Dr. Anton Phibes that is responsible for the success of The Abominable Dr. Phibes. It is with good reason that Dr. Phibes is listed in the closing credits alongside Dr. Vesalius as one of the protagonists. Despite being responsible for several terrifying deaths throughout the film, Dr. Phibes is not a villain. Instead Dr. Phibes is a figure with whom anyone that has lost someone they dearly love can sympathise. Dr. Phibes lost the one person he loved more than anyone else in the world, his beloved wife Victoria, and at the same time was horribly damaged physically himself. It is not merely out of anger that Dr. Phibes strikes against those he believes to be responsible for Victoria's death, it is also out of what must be overpowering grief. Given how much Dr. Phibes loved Victoria, it probably came as no surprise that the plot of the second movie, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, sees him seeking to resurrect her. While Dr. Phibes commits some very atrocious acts in The Abominable Dr. Phibes, he then remains a sympathetic figure. At his core, Dr. Anton Phibes is simply a man who was deeply in love with his wife and remains so even after her death.

It has been nearly fifty years since the release of The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Today Dr. Anton Phibes remains one of Vincent Price's best known roles and The Abominable Dr. Phibes one of his best known films. While Dr. Phibes might never have been resurrected again on the big screen after Dr. Phibes Rises Again, through the continued popularity of the film the character will never die. 

The Late Great Mort Drucker

Mort Drucker, who worked on movie and television show parodies for Mad magazine for literally decades, died on April 9 2020 at the age of 91.

Mort Drucker was born on March 22 1929 in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Erasmus High School.  While he was a talented artist from when he was young, he did not become serious about it until after he graduated high school. Comic book legend Will Eisner was a family friend, and it was on Mr. Eisner's recommendation that he was hired as an assistant to Bert Whitman on the comic strip Debbie Dean in 1947.

Afterwards he was hired by National Periodical Publications (even then known informally as "DC Comics") as a retoucher. At DC, Mort Drucker worked on a variety of titles including, the feature "Rancho Pancho" in Romance Trail. He also worked as a ghost on Paul Webb's single panel comic strip The Mountain Boys published in issues of Esquire. In 1950 he began freelancing for various comic book publishers, including St. John (where he worked on Abbot and Costello) andDell (where he worked on Western titles). At DC Comics he provided covers for Fox and the Crow.

It was in 1956 that Mort Drucker went to work for Mad magazine. His early work at Mad was often illustrating articles written by such comedic luminaries as Sid Caesar and Bob & Ray. He was the very first artist to illustrate Mad magazine's long running feature "Ads We'd Like to See." It was with a parody of the TV show Perry Mason, "The Night Perry Masonmint Lost a Case," published in Mad no. 48 (July 1959), that Mort Drucker's talent for parody was fully realized. The parody set the pace for every movie and TV show parody published in Mad afterwards. While movie and TV shows had been parodied in Mad before by such luminaries as Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, and Will Elder, "The Night Perry Masonmint Lost a Case" established Mort Drucker as the magazine's parody artist of choice.

Mort Drucker also continued working for DC Comics. He worked on both The Adventures of Martin & Lewis (which later became The Adventures of Jerry Lewis) and The Adventures of Bob Hope, and other humour characters as Buzzy, Everything Happens to Harvey, Here's Howie, and Swing with Scooter. He worked on several war titles, including All-American Men of War, G.I. Combat, Our Army at War, Our Fighting Forces, and Star Spangled War Stories. He provided art for horror and science fiction titles, including House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Mystery in Space, Strange Adventures, and Tales of the Unexpected. At DC he also worked on All-Star Western, My Greatest Adventure, and Tomahawk.

Mort Drucker did a good deal of illustration beyond Mad and DC Comics. He illustrated children's books, as well as such political satire books as John F. Kennedy Coloring Book, The Ollie North Coloring Book, and Farewell Tribute to Ronald Reagan Coloring Book. He illustrated movie posters for the films Casino Royale (1967), It's Alive (1974), American Graffiti (1973) and Finders Keepers (1984). He created artwork for the opening credits of the short-lived Seventies series Syznick. He also illustrated album covers, including The Bears' self-titled debut album and Anthrax's State of Euphoria. He did illustrations for advertisements for Heinz Ketchup, Seagram's Vodka, the U.S. Postal Service, and Whirpool refrigerators, among others.

Between 1984 and 1986 Mort Drucker and James Dumas had their own syndicated gag strip titled Benchley, which centred on a fictional assistant of Ronald Reagan by that name. 

Mort Drucker retired from Mad in 2006, after fifty five years. This made him the artist with the longest uninterrupted run at the magazine. Of artists who did not write their own articles, Mort Drucker had more bylines in Mad than any other.

There can be no doubt that Mort Drucker was the master of celebrity parodies. He had a particular gift for caricaturing several celebrities all in one panel. What is more, he could capture the spirit of an celebrity in such a way that the celebrity was immediately recognisable. There was very little exaggeration in his work. What made Mort Drucker's movie and television show parodies even better is that they were very cinematic, with attention to angles, lighting, and other details. Mort Drucker was so good at what he did that he even had fans among the very celebrities he parodied. Both Speaker of the House Tip O'Neil and President Ronald Reagan were fans of his work on Benchley. Other cartoonists recognised Mr. Drucker's talent. Charles M. Schulz once said, that  he"...draws everything the way we would all like to draw." It was perhaps George Lucas who summed up Mort Drucker's long and acclaimed career best, calling him, "...the artist that defines Mad for me." There can be no doubt that Mort Drucker defined Mad for many others as well.

Happy Easter 2020

Here at A Shroud of Thoughts I am well aware that there are those who prefer cheesecake to chocolate eggs, so here are this year's pinups!

First up is Dorothy Jordan dressed as a bunny!

Here is Pat Hall with a real bunny!

Here is Angie Dickinson with a creepy bunny!

The leggy and lovely Mary Tyler Moore with a bunch of bunnies!

And finally, here is Ann Miller who is watering her lilies. It is also Ann Miller's birthday! She was born today in 1923.

Happy Easter!

The 30th Anniversary of Twin Peaks

It was thirty years ago today that Twin Peaks debuted on ABC. Created by television writer Mark Frost and motion picture director David Lynch, Twin Peaks only a ran a little over a year, but it launched a media franchise that lasts to this day. It also revolutionised American broadcast television.

Twin Peaks centred on the small town of the same name located in the state of Washington. Initially it followed the investigation of Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean) into the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). The show was unusual in that it was one of the few network television dramas of the time outside of soap operas to have a serialized storyline. It was also set apart from other shows in that it combined several different genres, including detective fiction, supernatural horror, soap opera, and even camp.

As mentioned earlier, Twin Peaks was created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. Mark Frost was a well-established television writer who had served as story editor on the show Hill Street Blues. Of course, David Lynch was the director of such motion pictures as The Elephant Man (1980) and Blue Velvet (1986). The two men met when they were working together on a screenplay about the life of Marilyn Monroe based on the book The Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe. The project never moved forward and Messrs. Frost and Lynch afterwards worked on a comedy screenplay titled One Saliva Bubble, which also never got off the ground. It was David Lynch's agent, Tony Krantz, who suggested that he do a television show. Mr. Lynch was not enthusiastic about doing a television show, but Mr. Krantz encouraged him to do a television show "...about real life in America—your vision of America the same way you demonstrated it in Blue Velvet."

Initially Mark Frost and David Lynch decided the show would be set in the plains of North Dakota and would even be titled North Dakota. It was after they screened the movie Peyton Place (1957) that they changed the show's location to the Pacific Northwest and the title of the show to Northwest Passage. The murder of Laura Palmer that provided the impetus for much of Twin Peaks was inspired by an actual unsolved death. Mark Frost had been told by his grandmother, Betty Calhoun, about Hazel Irene Drew, who had been murdered in Sand Lake, New York in 1908. Miss Drew was a 19 year old blonde who worked as a governess for a local professor and who, from the expensive clothing she wore and her reported relationships with various men, appeared to lead a double life. Her death received national attention and remains unsolved to this day.

Mark Frost and David Lynch pitched what would become Twin Peaks to ABC and they received the go-ahead to make the series pilot. While Bob Iger, who had become head of ABC Entertainment after the network had picked up the project, liked the pilot, there were those ABC executives who were nervous about it and a few who thought the show would either never make it to the air or would simply air as a seven hour miniseries. As it was, ABC need not have worried. Twin Peaks debuted on April 8 1990 to good ratings. The pilot movie was watched by 33% of the television audience at the time. While Twin Peaks would not maintain such incredible Nielsen ratings, it proved to be very popular. In fact, in its first season Twin Peaks was something of a phenomenon, comparable to the "Davy Crockett" mini-series on Disneyland in the Fifties or the TV series Batman in the Sixties.

Indeed, in 1990 it would have been very difficult to avoid coverage of Twin Peaks. The show was featured on the covers of such magazines as Playboy, Rolling Stone, Time, and TV Guide. As might be expected, Twin Peaks inspired its share of merchandise. The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer was published in September 1990. It was followed by The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes and Welcome to Twin Peaks: An Access Guide to the Town in 1991. The soundtrack to the TV series was also released in September 1990. Just as Batman in 1966 before it, there was a good deal of unauthorised Twin Peaks merchandise on the market, particularly T-shirts.

Unfortunately, the success of Twin Peaks would not last. Ratings for the show declined with the second season. Worse yet, ABC pressured Mark Frost and David Lynch to resolve the murder of Laura Palmer. With the resolution of Laura Palmer's murder, ratings for Twin Peaks would fall even further. Eventually ratings for Twin Peaks were so bad that ABC placed the show on indefinite hiatus. It was after a letter writing campaign that ABC decided to air the show's final six episodes, which were burned off during the summer. After being one of the most successful shows of the 1989-1990 season, Twin Peaks was cancelled in the 1990-1991 season.

As to what led to the cancellation of Twin Peaks in its first run, there were multiple reasons. Chief among these was the fact that ABC moved the show around the network's schedule. Sadly, changing time slots often hurt a show's ratings. As mentioned above, the resolution of Laura Palmer's murder also led to a drop in the show's ratings. With the murder solved, many viewers likely lost interest in the show. Both Mark Frost and David Lynch believe that the resolution of Laura Palmer's murder is what killed the show. Complicating matters further, following the resolution of Laura Palmer's death, Twin Peaks was often pre-empted by coverage of the Gulf War. 
While there can be no doubt that inconsistent time slots, the resolution of Laura Palmer's murder, and consistently being pre-empted by Gulf War coverage took their toll on Twin Peaks, there may be another reason the show declined in the ratings. Twin Peaks was very much a fad, not unlike Batman in the Sixties. Like Batman, Twin Peaks received phenomenal ratings when it initially aired. And like Batman, ratings declined dramatically in its second season. In this respect, both Batman and Twin Peaks took the same course as most fads, from the hula hoop to pet rocks.  In the book Fads, Follies, and Delusions of the American People by Paul Sann, it is noted that often the more intensely a fad is adopted, the shorter its duration will be. Viewers embraced Twin Peaks almost immediately and there was already a good deal of press coverage and merchandise in its first few months. Having been embraced by viewers so quickly and so intensely, it was perhaps inevitable that viewers would eventually grow tired of the show and stop watching it. Quite simply, the Twin Peaks fad ended.

While ABC had cancelled the show, Twin Peaks was hardly gone. A prequel movie,  Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, directed by David Lynch, was released in August 1992. In 1993 cable channel Bravo began airing reruns of Twin Peaks. While no new Twin Peaks material would emerge following Fire Walk with Me, the show's fandom remained active and effectively kept the show alive.

It would be the continued popularity of Twin Peaks that would lead to a third season on the premium cable channel Showtime. The new season debuted on Showtime on May 21 2017 and included eighteen new episodes. The new season brought with it new Twin Peaks merchandise, including the books The Secret History of Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier.

For a show that lasted only a little over a year, Twin Peaks would have a  lasting influence. Prior to Twin Peaks, outside of primetime soap operas, there were only a few shows with extended storylines, among them Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, Crime Story, and Wiseguy. Twin Peaks went even further with its serialised storyline than many of the shows before it, to the point that many have counted it as a primetime soap opera. As one of the earliest American television shows with serialised storylines, Twin Peaks would have a lasting impact on television series from The X-Files to Lost to Mad Men.

Along with Miami Vice and Crime Story, Twin Peaks was also among the first television shows to put an emphasis on cinematography. Twin Peaks looked very much like a feature film. In this respect, Twin Peaks can be considered a forerunner of modern television shows, which tend to look much more cinematic than many television shows made in the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties. In fact, many more recent shows have borrowed liberally from Twin Peaks in everything from its use of space to tracking shots. Twin Peaks may have been shot in the traditional television aspect ratio of 4:3 and using analogue technology, but it was by far the most cinematic television show up to that time.

In the years since Twin Peaks aired its influence has continued to be felt on television shows. The mystery comedy Pscyh did a tribute to the show with its episode "Dual Spires," which not only contained several references to Twin Peaks, but included many of its cast as guest stars. While Riverdale is loosely based on Archie Comics characters, it also owes a good deal to the show. In fact, Mädchen Amick (who played Shelly on Twin Peaks) is even a member of the cast of Riverdale. Twin Peaks has been referenced on shows from The Simpsons  to Gravity Falls.

Twin Peaks lasted all too briefly. Even with the revival on Showtime there are only 48 episodes. Still, it had an impact much larger than many shows that ran much longer. Even now, Twin Peaks continues to have an impact. 

The Late Great James Drury

In the annals of Westerns on American television, James Drury occupied a unique place. He is one of only two actors (the other being the late Stuart Whitman) to play the lead in a 90 minute Western. That Western, The Virginian, would prove to be one of the most successful Westerns on American broadcast television, running for nine years and, along with Bonanza, sparking a second wave of Westerns on the American broadcast networks in the Sixties. James Drury never again had the success he did with The Virginian, and for the most part he was typecast in the role. Despite this, he was always grateful for having played such an iconic character. Sadly, Mr. Drury died yesterday at the age of 85.

James Drury was born on April 18 1934 in New York City. His father a professor of marketing at New York University. His mother's family owned a ranch in Salem, Oregon. James Drury spent much of his childhood on the ranch. It was where he would both learn to ride a horse and shoot a gun, skills that would prove useful in his acting career. He began acting while very young, appearing on stage beginning when he was 8 years old. When he was 12 he went on tour with a production of Life With Father.

James Drury attended New York University for a time, dropping out after he signed a contract with MGM. He made his film debut in an uncredited role as a hospital attendant in Blackboard Jungle (1955). He made his television debut the same year in an episode of Cameo Theatre. In the late Fifties he appeared in the films Love Me or Leave Me (1955), The Tender Trap (1955), Diane (1956), Forbidden Planet (1956), The Last Wagon (1956), Love Me Tender (1956), Bernardine (1957), Good Day for a Hanging (1959), Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960), Pollyanna (1960), and Ten Who Dared (1960). He guest starred on The 20th Century Fox Hour, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Broken Arrow, Man Without a Gun, The Walter Winchell File, Decision, Playhouse 90, The Silent Service, The Texan, Flight, Bronco, Zane Grey Theatre, Disneyland, Have Gun--Will Travel, Track Down, Richard Diamond Private Detective, Lawman, Black Saddle, Steve Canyon, Cheyenne, Death Valley Days, Men Into Space, Lock Up, Bourbon Street Beat, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, and The Loretta Young Show.

It was in 1962 that James Drury began playing The Virginian on the show of the same name. It was actually the second time Mr. Drury played the role. He had earlier played the role in an unsold pilot that aired as an episode of the anthology series The Virginian in 1958. The Virginian was historic as the first ninety minute American television show with continuing characters. The success of The Virginian would lead to a new wave of Westerns in the Sixties, as well as other ninety minute shows with continuing characters (The Name of the Game and The NBC Mystery Movie, among them). Ultimately it ran for nine seasons, making it the third longest Western to run on American broadcast television after Gunsmoke and Bonanza. In the Sixties Mr. Drury also guest starred on the shows Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Michael Shayne, The Rifleman, Stagecoach West, Rawhide, Perry Mason, The Detectives, It Takes a Thief, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.  He appeared in the movies Ride the High County (1962), Third of a Man, and The Young Warriors (1967).

James Drury began the Seventies still playing The Virginian. In the Seventies Mr. Drury was the lead on the short-lived television series Firehouse. He guest starred on Ironside and Alias Smith and Jones. He appeared in the TV movies The Devil and Miss Sarah and Bull of the West. In the Eighties he guest starred on the TV show The Fall Guy. In the Nineties James Drury guest starred on Walker, Texas Ranger; The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.; and  Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. He appeared in the TV movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw and had a cameo in the TV movie The Virginian. He had a cameo in the movie Maverick (1994).

In the Naughts he appeared in the movie Hell to Pay (2005). He guest starred on the TV show Tales of the Cap Gun Kid.

There can be no doubt that James Drury will always be remembered as The Virginian. In fact, despite the number of times the novel has been adapted as feature films, chances are good that he will always be the actor most identified with the role. If James Drury will always be identified with The Virginian, it is not without good reason. He played the role perfectly. The Virginian was taciturn and tough, but at the same time fair minded and warm hearted. While James Drury will always be best remembered as The Virginian, he was fully capable of playing other roles. One of his best performances was a the former outlaw Johnny Red in the Gunsmoke episode of that name. In the episode of The Rebel titled "Vindication" he played a blind man whose wife had been killed by Apaches. James Drury could even play villains quite well. In the Rilfeman episode "Death Trap" he played Spicer, the sadistic and psychopathic leader of a gang of outlaws.

In real life James Drury was much closer to The Virginian than any villains he might have played in his career. He was well known for attending many classic television and Western conventions through the years, and did so nearly until his death. Mr. Drury was intelligent, well-spoken, and warm, and he truly appreciated his many fans. I had the honour of being Facebook friends with James Drury, and while I did not get to interact with him a whole lot (usually I interacted with his assistant Karen, who is a sweetheart), my interactions with him were always wonderful. James Drury was one of the nicest gentleman one could ever interact with. If James Drury played The Virginian so well, it is perhaps because James Drury was very much like him in real life.

The Late Great Honor Blackman

Honor Blackman, best known for her roles as Cathy Gale on The Avengers and Pussy Galore in the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964), died yesterday at the age of 94. She numbers among those actors who have never known life without. Indeed, she played the goddess Hera in the very first movie I can remember watching all the way through, Jason and the Argonauts (1963). Later I encountered her in Goldfinger when it debuted on The ABC Sunday Night Movie. Still later I would see her in such films as A Night to Remember (1958) and The Secret of My Success (1965). While I was aware that she played John Steed's partner on The Avengers before Diana Rigg joined the show as Emma Peel, with the first three series of The Avengers unavailable in the United States, I would be an adult before I finally got to see Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale. Once I did, Cathy Gale became one of my favourite television characters and the role that will forever come to my mind when I think of Honor Blackman. Miss Blackman was an incredible actress, elegant, intelligent, and powerful. She was perfect for such empowered characters as Cathy Gale, Hera, and Pussy Galore.

Honor Blackman was born on August 22 1925 in Plaistow, Essex. She attended North Ealing Primary School and Ealing County Grammar School for Girls. For her fifteenth birthday her parents gave her elocution lessons. She began her training as an actor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1940. She made her film debut in an uncredited role in Fame is the Spur in 1947. In the late Forties she appeared in the films Daughter of Darkness (1948), Quartet (1948), A Boy, a Girl and a Bike (1949), Conspirator (1949), Diamond City (1949), and So Long at the Fair (1950).

Miss Blackman made her television debut in 1951 in the BBC production Joseph Proctor's Money in 1951. In the Fifties she had recurring roles on the TV shows Probation Officer and The Four Just Men. She guest starred on the shows Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents, I tre moschettieri, Boyd Q.C., The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, Hour of Mystery, The Invisible Man, African Patrol, The Vise, Suspense, The Third Man, and Danger Man. She appeared in the movies Green Grow the Rushes (1951), Manchas de sangre en la luna (1952), The Rainbow Jacket (1954), Diplomatic Passport (1954), The Devaline Affair (1955), The Glass Cage (1955), Breakaway (1956), You Pay Your Money (1957), Suspended Alibi (1957), Account Rendered (1957), A Night to Remember (1958), and The Square Peg (1958).

It was in 1962 that Honor Blackman began playing one of her best known roles, that of  Catherine Gale on The Avengers. Cathy Gales was one of two replacements introduced in the second season for John Steed's original partner, Dr. David Keel. In the second season Cathy Gale rotated episodes with Steed's other partner, nightclub singer Venus Smith, but it was Mrs. Gale who proved to be the most popular of the two. While Venus was a more traditional female character, Cathy Gales was a woman as television had never seen before. Cathy Gale was an anthropologist with a doctorate in anthropology. Not only was she self-assured and assertive, but she was a skilled combatant as well. Clad in leather, Mrs. Gale regularly dispatched opponents using judo. Popular in its first season, the presence of Cathy Gale on The Avengers turned the show into a sensation in the United Kingdom. For the show's third series, Cathy Gale was Steed's only partner. It was following the third season of The Avengers that Honor Blackman left the show to take the role of Pussy Galore in The Avengers.

In the Sixties, prior to her role in The Avengers, Honor Blackman guest starred on the shows Knight Errant Limited, Bootsie and Snudge,  Kraft Mystery Theatre, Top Secret, The Pursuers, Ghost Squad, and The Saint. Following The Avengers she guest starred on ITV Play of the Week, ABC Stage 67, Armchair Theatre, ITV Playhouse, The Name of the Game and ITV Saturday Night Theatre. Arguably the Sixties marked the height of Honor Blackman's film career. In addition to playing Hera in Jason and the Argonauts and Pussy Galore in Golfinger, she also played Lily, Baroness von Lukenberg in The Secret of My Success (1965), Norah Hauxley in Life at the Top (1965), and Lady Daggett in Shakalo (1968). She also appeared in the movies A Matter of WHO (1961), Serena (1962), Moment to Moment (1966), A Twist of Sand (1968), Kampf um Rom I (1968), Twinky (1970), The Last Grenade (1970), and The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970).

In the Seventies Miss Blackman appeared in the movies Fright (1971), Something Big (1971), To the Devil a Daughter (1976), Age of Innocence (1978), and The Cat and the Canary (1978). She guest starred on the shows Boney, Columbo, Jubilee, Robin's Nest, and Crown Court. She played Margaret Stevenson in the mini-series The Lives of Benjamin Franklin.

In the Eighties Honor Blackman had the regular role of Veronica Barton on the TV show Never the Twain, Later in the decade she began playing Laura West in the long-running sitcom The Upper Hand. She guest starred on the shows Holding the Fort, In Performance, Minder, Doctor Who, and Crossbow.

In the Nineties she continued to star on The Upper Hand. She guest starred on The ABC Weekend Specials and Doctors. She appeared in the movies Tales of the Mummy (1998) and To Walk with Lions (1999). In the Naughts she appeared in the movies Bridget Jones' Diary (2001), Jack Brown and the Curse of the Crown (2004), Colour Me Kubrick: A True...ish Story (2005), and Reuniting the Rubins (2010). She guest starred on the television shows The American Embassy, Midsomer Murders, The Royal, Revolver, Coronation Street, New Tricks, and Hotel Babylon.

In the Teens she guest starred on Casualty, and You, Me & Them. She appeared in the mini-series By Any Means.She appeared in the movies I, Anna (2012) and Cockneys vs. Zombies (2012).

Honor Blackman also had a considerable stage career, appearing in such productions as Mr. & Mrs.; Move Over, Mrs Markham; Night and Day, The Sound of Music; My Fair Lady; and Cabaret. More recently she toured in her own showy Honor Blackman as Herself, a look back at her life and career.

Chances are good that Honor Blackman will always be remembered as Cathy Gale and Pussy Galore, but she played a variety of roles throughout her long career. In Britain Miss Blackman will also be remembered as Laura West on The Upper Hand, lead character Caroline Wheatley's glamorous mother who dates a succession of men. In the Danger Man episode "Colonel Rodriguez," she played the wife of an American journalist arrested on a small island nation. She made one of her best known guest appearances on television in the Columbo episode "Dagger of the Mind." She played Shakespearean actress Lillian Stanhope, who proves to be a worthy opponent to Lt. Columbo.

The fact is that Honor Blackman was an enormous talent. What she brought to her many roles was more than beauty and elegance, but also intelligence, determination, professionalism, and, when the role called for it, even physical prowess. Much like Cathy Gale and Pussy Galore, Honor Blackman was a remarkable woman in real life, well known for her political activism. Honor Blackman wasn't simply a talented actress, but she was also a lady through and through.

Godspeed Bill Withers

Bill Withers, the singer-songwriter who produced such classic songs s "Ain't No Sunshine," "Lean on Me," and "Just the Two of Us," died March 30 2020 at the age of 81. The cause was heart complications.

Bill Withers was born on July 4 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia, a small coal mining town. He grew up in nearby Beckley, West Virginia. His father died when he was only 13 years old. Mr. Withers enlisted in the United States Navy when he was 17. He served for nine years as an Aviation Boatswain's Mate. It was while he was serving in the Navy that he became interested in singing and songwriting.

Following his service in the Navy he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music. He worked in factories for various companies, among them Douglas Aircraft Corporation,  performing at clubs at night. During this same period he made various demo tapes. One of these demo tapes found its way to Clarence Avant, owner of Sussex Records. Mr. Avant signed Bill Withers to Sussex Records.

His first album, Just As I Am, was released in 1971. While the first single from the album, "Harlem," failed to chart, the second single, "Ain't No Sunshine," proved to be a hit. It went to no. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and no. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart. The third single, "Grandma's Hands," also performed well. While it went to only no. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100, it went to no. 18 on the Billboard  R&B chart.

The biggest hit of Bill Withers's career would come from his second album, Still Bill. "Lean on Me" was the first single from the album. It went to no. 1 on  both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard R&B charts. The second single from the album, "Use Me," also did well. It went to no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and no. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart.

In 1973 the live album Bill Withers at Carnegie Hall was released. It was followed by his final album on Sussex Records, +'Justments. It was also during this period that he wrote and produced the songs "Better You Go Your Way" and "Tenderness is His Way" for the Gladys Knight & the Pips album I Feel a Song.

After Sussex Records folded, Mr. Withers signed with Columbia Records. His first album with Columbia Records, Making Music, was released in 1975. It was followed by the album Naked & Warm. Bill Withers's third album on Columbia Records, Menagerie, produced the minor hit "Lovely Day." "Lovely Day" went to no. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and no. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart. Menagerie  was followed by the album 'Bout Love in 1979.

Bill Withers's next major hit would be a collaboration with saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., and appeared on Mr. Washington's 1980 album Winelight. "Just the Two of Us" reached no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and no. 3 on the Billboard singles chart. He also collaborated on "Soul Shadows" with The Crusaders and In the Name of Love" with Ralph MacDonald.  Despite the success of "Just the Two Of Us," Bill Withers would record only one more studio album. Watching You Watching Me was released in 1985. "Oh Yeah," a single from that album, reached no. 22 on the Billboard R&B chart.

Bill Withers elected not to renew his contract with Columbia Records due to disagreements with the label. He then effectively retired from his music career.

Bill Withers was unlike any other music artist of his era. Whether it was because he grew up in a small town or because he started his musical career later than most, his songs were always grounded in reality and addressed the concerns of ordinary adults. "Lean on Me" was about having a sense of community. "Grandma's Hands" was simply about his grandmother. Bill Withers's songs displayed a maturity sometimes lacking in popular music of the Seventies. Of course, what made his music even better was his voice soulful and genuine. It was a voice that could relay both comfort and warmth. Between his talent and maturity as a songwriter and his remarkable voice, Bill Withers remains one of the greatest singers and songwriters in the history of American popular music.