In this annual article we take a brief look at the careers of film personalities who passed away during 2010 and were not given individual tributes.
Eric Rohmer was an influential but enigmatic French director whose work was described as subtle, witty, delirious, tedious, arty and tiresome. He was born in Nancy on April 4, 1920, and after becoming an author and film critic, he began directing films and soon became a part of the French New Wave cinema. His films include Ma Nuit Chez Maud (1969), for which he won an Oscar nomination, Pauline à la Plage (1983) and Les Rendez-vous de Paris (1995). Rohmer died of natural causes on January 11 in Paris.
British comedy actor Ian Carmichael was born on June 18, 1920 in Hull and had begun his career on the stage. He started as a his film-acting career in films like Betrayed (1954) and The Colditz Story (1955) but found success in comedies such as Private’s Progress and I’m All Right Jack (1959). Carmichael died peacefully in his sleep on February 5 in the Esk Valley, Yorkshire, England.
Lionel Jeffries was a British character actor, born on June 10, 1926 in London, who often played eccentrics. His best films include The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and Eyewitness (1970), which was shot entirely in Malta.
Jeffries also directed three films: The Railway Children (1970), The Amazing Mr Blunden and Baxter (both 1972). He died after a long illness in a nursing home in Poole, Dorset on February 19.
Corey Haim was born on December 23, 1971 in Toronto, Canada, and died on March 10, in Burbank, California, from an accidental drug overdose. His best remembered films include The Lost Boys (1987), Licence to Drive (1988) and Dream a Little Dream (1989). We still have to see him in Decisions (2011).
The tall, handsome and muscular actor Peter Graves was the brother of actor James Arness. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 18, 1926, he is best remembered as Jim Phelps in the popular TV series Mission: Impossible (1967-1973; 1988-1990), but also appeared in feature films such as Stalag 17 (1953), A Rage to Live (1965) and Airplane! (1980). Graves died of a heart attack on March 14 in the Pacific Palisades, California.
Like Graves, Fess Parker also started out on television as Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, but made a few films such as The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), Old Yeller (1957) and Hell is for Heroes (1962). He was born on August 16, 1934 in Forth Worth, Texas, and died on March 18 in Santa Ynez, Texas, from natural causes.
Robert Culp was born in Oakland, California, on August 16, 1930 and after a brief success in theatre and in the television series I Spy (1965-67), he turned to a sporadic career in film. His best remembered films are Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice (1969), Hannie Caulder (1971) and The Pelican Brief (1993). Culp died from complications after a fall on March 24 in Las Vegas.
Christopher Cazenove was another television actor who made a few big screen appearances in films like Royal Flash (1974), Zulu Dawn (1979) and Eye of the Needle (1980). He was born in Winchester, England, on December 17, 1943 and died from septicaemia on April 7, in London.
Beautiful blonde Dorothy Provine was born in Deadwood, South Dakota on January 20, 1935 and was a popular singer and actress. Her most recognisable films include The Bonnie Parker Story (1953), It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and Good Neighbour Sam (1964). Provine died from emphysema on April 25 in Bremerton, Washington.
Lynn Redgrave, who was born in London on March 8, 1943, came from a fine line of actors. Her father was the noted actor Sir Michael Redgrave and she is the sister of Vanessa and Corin Redgrave, who are both actors, and is also the aunt of the late Natasha Richardson. After making her debut in Tom Jones (1963), she went on to receive two Oscar nominations for her parts in Georgy Girl (1966) and Gods and Monsters (1998).
The Spanish-American actress Adele Mara was born in Highland Park, Michigan on April 28, 1923 and started her career as a singer/dancer with Xavier Cugat’s band. In films she often played señoritas in cheap westerns but later she proved herself as a dramatic actress in films like Angels in Exile (1948), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and The Big Circus (1959). Mara died on May 7, in the Pacific Palisades, California.
(To be concluded)