Billy Chapin, Child Star of 'Night of the Hunter' Dies

Sad to report that Billy Chapin, who memorably starred opposite ROBERT MITCHUM in 1955's "The Night of the Hunter," has passed away at the age of 72.

His sister, Lauren Chapin, reported his passing on her Facebook page:

It is with a saddened heart that I say" Good Bye " to my precious brother Billy Chapin, wonderful Star of Movies , Television and Radio. He passed away last night after a long illness but now is in the arms of his Savior.
Billy was a wonderful brother to both Michael and me. And he made us proud of all the great films he was in: Night of the Hunter, A Man Called Peter, Kid From Left Field, Tension at Table Rock, No Business Like Show Business just to name a few! He will be greatly missed.

Lauren and her brother Michael were all successful child actors during the 1940s and ’50s, according to Variety.

Chapin's most famous role was in "The Night of the Hunter" as John Harper, who, along with his sister Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce) distrust their new stepfather, Rev. Harry Powell (Mitchum) with good reason: He's only after the money stolen by their late father (Peter Graves) in a hold-up.

The film was Charles Laughton's only directorial effort, one that has only gained in stature since its release.

My condolences to Chapin's family. 

Former Child Star Dick Moore Dies at 89

RIP to Dick Moore, who had a small but pivotal role as a mute employee of ROBERT MITCHUM's in 1947's Out of the Past. In the final scene of the film, he lies to make sure that Ann, the nice girl Jeff (Mitchum) was seeing, thinks he was going away with bad girl Kathie (Jane Greer) so she'll go on with her life. After she walks away in tears, he gives a final salute to the sign on the gas station that reads "Jeff Bailey."

Moore got his start as an infant in 1927's Beloved Rogue and his last film was 1952's The Member of the Wedding. In between, he played the lead in Oliver Twist, gave Shirley Temple her first kiss in 1942's Miss Annie Rooney, and starred opposite Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford and Gary Cooper.

He is survived by his wife, actress and singer Jane Powell of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Ken Takakura, Star of 'The Yakuza' Dies

Ken Takakura, ROBERT MITCHUM's co-star in 1974's The Yakuza, has died at age 83, Variety reports. He also starred in Ridley Scott's 1989 film Black Rain opposite Michael Douglas. He most recent film was Zhang Yimou’s Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles.

One of the film's other co-stars, James Shigeta, died earlier this year. Keiko Kishi, Mitchum's love interest in the film, is still alive. In 2002, she won the Japan Academy Prize for best actress for her role in the film Kah-chan.

"The Big Sleep" Director Michael Winner Dies

Mitchum, Joan Collins and Michael Winner. Photo courtesy of the Joan Collins Archive.

Michael Winner, the director of films including the Charles Bronson Death Wish films and the original The Mechanic (recently remade with Jason Statham) has died at age 77. The British director had been in ill health for a number of years, according to the Guardian UK.

He made his debut as a writer-director with the 1960 crime thriller Shoot to Kill. He went on to direct The System, starring Oliver Reed, whom he'd work with again on several films, including the critically panned 1978 remake of The Big Sleep, starring ROBERT MITCHUM and Joan Collins. His last film, 1999's Parting Shots, reteamed him with Reed, who died that year.

His biggest success was with the 1974 drama Death Wish, which spawned two sequels.

Winner was reportedly offered an OBE in 2006 but turned it down, saying, "An OBE is what you get if you clean the toilets well at King's Cross station." Mitchum and Winner reportedly didn't get along -- Mitchum once punned that Winner was really a "loser" -- but that's the kind of gesture Mitchum would have admired.

RIP, Harry Morgan

Sad to hear that Harry (also known as Henry) Morgan has passed away at the age of 96. He was best known for his role as Col. Potter on TV's MASH, but he also had a long film career. One of my favorite roles of his is as the judge in Holiday Affair. He hears an outlandish case involving ROBERT MITCHUM and his wry amusement at the convoluted love triangle with Mitchum, Janet Leigh and Wendell Corey and peculiar details involving a squirrel and a little girl with a balloon on her head, make for a very funny scene. RIP.

Elizabeth Taylor's Best Performance in 'Secret Ceremony?'

Very sad to hear of the loss of legend Elizabeth Taylor, who died this morning of congestive heart failure.

Among her many tributes and retrospectives, there's sure to be little mention of the one movie she did with ROBERT MITCHUM, 1968's 'Secret Ceremony.' It received terrible reviews, but, according to Wikipedia, features one of her best performances. It's one I haven't seen myself, only in bits on TV. It's currently available only in a non-USA format DVD.

The film stars Mia Farrow and Taylor in a rather twisted faux mother-and-daughter relationship; Mitchum plays Farrow's randy stepfather. Joseph Losey ('The Servant,' 'The Go-Between') directed.



Photo thanks to Heck Yeah, Robert Mitchum.

Jane Russell Dies at Age 89

Sad news! Jane Russell, one of my favorite movie stars and ROBERT MITCHUM co-star, has died at age 89. Here's a blog I wrote in her memory over at Examiner.com, complete with photo gallery of this stunning star.

Mitchum fans will remember her from her turns in the RKO noirs 'Macao' and 'His Kind of Woman,' where she always gave as good as she got.

Here's a short bit on their working relationship: Mitchum's Leading Ladies

Farewell, Jane. We'll miss you!

'Friends of Eddie Coyle' Director Peter Yates Dies

Director Peter Yates, best known for the films 'Bullitt' and 'Breaking Away,' died Sunday. He was 82.

Yates was a graduate of London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art who relocated to New York. His first Hollywood production, 'Bullitt,' became the high point of Steve McQueen's career and its chase scenes set a new standard. The film won an Oscar for Best Editing.

Yates also directed ROBERT MITCHUM in the 1973 crime film 'The Friends of Eddie Coyle,' about a small-time Boston hood. The film was recently released on DVD, after several years of being unavailable.

He earned a Best Director nomination for the 1979 coming-of-age film 'Breaking Away' and for 1983's 'The Dresser,' which also scored Best Ator nominations for stars Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay.

Read more at the New York Daily News

RIP Leslie Nielsen

In all the kudos for the late Leslie Nielsen (who died November 28), I doubt anyone mentioned his role in 'The Amsterdam Kill,' a 1977 thriller about the international drug trade, starring ROBERT MITCHUM. It's a low point in both their careers and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but diehard Mitchum fans (and, apparently fans of "Golden Harvest Trash," as it's labeled in the Youtube trailer below.

If you've ever wanted to hear Mitchum dubbed in German, now's your chance! His German voice double is actually quite good! And the film is re-titled "The Tiger From Taipei."



Nielsen would go on to reinvent his career as a comedian with 'Airplane!' just three years later and in the '80s, Mitchum would go on to make 'That Championship Season' and the TV miniseries 'The Winds of War,' which introduced him to a new generation.

Jean Simmons Dead at Age 80

Very sad to share the news that actress Jean Simmons has died of lung cancer at the age of 80. Simmons is well-known for her roles in Guys and Dolls and Spartacus, but ROBERT MITCHUM fans will also remember her as a femme fatale in the noir Angel Face. She also starred with Mitchum in the comedy She Couldn't Say No and The Grass is Greener.

She was married to actor Stewart Granger and under contract to movie mogul Howard Hughes. "I was married to Jimmy (Granger's real name was James Stewart), so Hughes remained at a distance," she recalled years later. "But those movies! So terrible they aren't even on videocassettes." Of course, Angel Face has benefited from the resurrection of many film noirs that were overlooked in their day.

The Washington Post gives this account of her time with Hughes:
Ms. Simmons was wildly miscast in a series of lurid dramas and second-rate adventure and historical films ....

Hughes reportedly refused to lend her to another studio for the leading female role in "Roman Holiday" (1953), which made a star and Oscar-winner of Audrey Hepburn. Granger later wrote in his memoir that Ms. Simmons's relationship with Hughes deteriorated so badly that the producer cast her as a murderess in the drama "Angel Face" (1952), with Robert Mitchum, and reportedly ordered director Otto Preminger to be rough with her.

Preminger demanded repeated takes of Mitchum's character slapping Ms. Simmons, and the actress's face became redder and redder. Finally, according to Granger, Mitchum punched Preminger, asking how that take was, or "Would you like another, Otto?

Good to know she had Bob on her side. RIP, Jean

Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden dead at 97

Story at CNN.com

Veteran actor Karl Malden, who won an Academy Award for his role in A Streetcar Named Desire, has died at age 97, his manager said Wednesday.

Among Malden's films is the 1967 western The Way West, costarring ROBERT MITCHUM and Kirk Douglas.