R.I.P., 2013

The new year starts with 4 more ...

Jon Finch (1941- 2012). I was sad to see his obituary in today's Daily Telegraph. I was actually just thinking yesterday of getting Polanski's MACBETH as had not seen it since the early 70s when Finch was THE new actor, with the Polanski,  Hitchcock's FRENZY and Robert Bolt's LADY CAROLINE LAMB and he had that great scene too with the other Finch - Peter - in Schlesinger's SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY, and of course items like THE VAMPIRE LOVERS! He was cast in the John Hurt role in ALIEN but his diabetes forced him to withdraw ... he seemed an actor without vanity or any love for the limelight. He died aged 71 in Hastings, England, on 28 December. His career seems to typify the vagueries of an actor's life .... going from being very in demand in the early '70s to being almost a supporting player in DEATH ON THE NILE in '78. He is quoted though as saying he never wanted to be a big star, so perhaps he lacked that vital ambition. A sobering thought as this awards season gets underway with the current crop gleefully waving their prizes and working those red carpets ... 

Robert Kee, 93. Broadcaster and writer and a prolific journalist. One of those fascinating lives: born in Calcutta in 1919 as part of the British Raj, he was educated at Stowe College and Magdalen, Oxford. He was a bomber pilot in the RAF during World War II, and then went into journalism and current affairs broadcasting. His series on Ireland was well received as was a follow-up 3-volume book "The Green Flag" on Ireland.

Patti Page (1927 - 2013) - maybe the best selling female vocalist of the'50s. Her "Tennessee Waltz" was a huge seller (and even turns up on the eclectic soundtrack of Antonioni's ZABRISKIE POINT), she also did some film roles, as in ELMER GANTRY, 1960. 

Mariangela Melato (1941-2013) - Italian actress whom I mentioned recently in the FLASH GORDON review where she is wildly funny as Kala. Best known role in Wertmuller's SWEPT AWAY ...