R.I.P.

Herbert Lom (1917-2012), at the tremendous age of 95 - it was always a pleasure seeing Herbert in a film, even a rubbish one. There were a lot of good ones too: his perfectly judged Ben Yusef in EL CID (right), and popping up in SPARTACUS, as well as the terrific British actioner HELL DRIVERS in 1957, and of course in those PINK PANTHERs, CHASE A CROOKED SHADOW, THE BIG FISHERMAN and so many others like THE LADYKILLERS, NORTH WEST FRONTIER, Napoleon in WAR AND PEACE (1956), Captain Nemo in MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. Herbert, originally from Prague, was an effective villain too (PASSPORT TO SHAME) as well as his understanding psychiatrist in his tv series THE HUMAN JUNGLE.

Andy Williams (1927-2012), another of the great American entertainers and vocalists departs this year, at the good age of 84. We know the songs, we grew up on the television shows ... (what a lot of singers and musicians have departed this year: Etta, Whitney, Donna, Dory, a Bee Gee, a Monkee, a member of The Band, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Tony Martin, Joe South, Scott Mc Kenzie, and now Andy ...