Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries

by Paul Donnelley

  CAUSE: In his declining years Fonda suffered heart problems. On May 15, 1981, during an operation at Cedars-Sinai Hospital Medical Center, 8700 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, doctors discovered Fonda not only had prostate cancer but that the disease had spread throughout his body. A pacemaker was fitted to ease his heart problems. On August 7, 1982, he was readmitted to Cedars-Sinai Hospital Medical Center. Five days later at 8.15am Fonda died, aged 77, following cardio-respiratory arrest. Later that day his widow and children held a press conference in the driveway of the family home – 10744 Chalon Road, Bel Air. Shirlee Fonda said, “He had a very good night the night before. He talked to all of us. He was never unconscious at any time. He woke up this morning, sat up in bed, and quietly stopped breathing.” On August 13, 1982, Fonda was cremated at Grandview Cemetery, Glendale, California.

  FURTHER READING: The Fabulous Fondas – James Brough (New York: David McKay, 1973); Fonda: My Life – Henry Fonda As Told To Howard Teichmann (London: W.H. Allen, 1982); The Fondas: A Hollywood Dynasty – Peter Collier (London: HarperCollins, 1991).

  Kam Fong

  (KAM TONG CHUN)

  Born May 27, 1918

  Died October 18, 2002

  Forever Chin Ho. Born in Honolulu, one of seven children, the family ran a sweet factory but when his father had an affair the family found themselves in reduced circumstances. His name means “golden temple” but when he went to school his teacher misunderstood and called him Kam Fong, a name he later adopted legally. After he finished his education he became a welder at Pearl Harbor and was there when the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941. He recalled: “I looked across the bay and I saw the USS Arizona burning and I cried.” In 1944 further tragedy was to haunt him when his wife Esther, son Donald and daughter Marilyn were killed when an American B-24 bomber crashed after colliding with another B-24 above his house. Fong tried to shoot himself but his mother stepped in to stop him. He took a job in which he often put his life on the line with the Honolulu police force. He earned the nickname ‘A &B ’ Chun because of his handling of cases involving assault and battery. He married Gladys Lindo and fathered four more children, finally giving up his police work in 1961 after 17 years to become an estate agent and a DJ. He also dabbled in acting and had his own television series for children Kam Fong’s Comedies. He also appeared in the films Ghost Of The China Sea (1958), Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961), Seven Women From Hell (1961) and Diamond Head (1963). Five years later, he signed to play the Irish-Hawaiian detective Chin Ho Kelly in the hit series Hawaii Five-O. He stayed with the series for ten years before finally being killed off while working undercover. The character was named after Chin Ho, a Hawaiian benefactor, and Roy Kelley, a Waikiki hotel developer. He went back to DJing and in 1988 he ran for governor of Hawaii under the slogan “Give a damn – vote for Kam”.

  CAUSE: He died in Honolulu aged 84 from lung cancer.

  John Ford

  (SEAN O’FEENEY)

  Born February 1, 1895

  Died August 31, 1973

  The Western director. One-eyed Ford was born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, the youngest of 13 children. His father was a publican and young John joined his elder brother in show business before making his name (adopted in 1923) as the foremost director of westerns. He helped the careers of numerous actors, including John Wayne and Henry Fonda, despite his low opinion of the profession: “Actors are crap,” he once said. His films included Red Saunders Plays Cupid (1917), Trail Of Hate (1917), Cheyenne’s Pal (1917), Straight Shooting (1917), Bucking Broadway (1917), Delirium (1918), Wild Women (1918), Thieves’ Gold (1918), Hell Bent (1918), Three Mounted Men (1918), Rustlers (1919), By Indian Post (1919), Gun Law (1919), Bare Fists (1919), Ace Of The Saddle (1919), Rider Of The Law (1919), Marked Men (1919), Just Pals (1920), Desperate Trails (1921), Action (1921), Little Miss Smiles (1922), Hoodman Blind (1923), Cameo Kirby (1923), North Of Hudson Bay (1923), Hearts Of Oak (1924), Kentucky Pride (1925), Thank You (1925), 3 Bad Men (1926), Upstream (1927), Four Sons (1928), Hangman’s House (1928), Riley The Cop (1928), Salute (1929), Men Without Women (1930), Born Reckless (1930), Arrowsmith (1931), Flesh (1932), Pilgrimage (1933), Doctor Bull (1933), Steamboat ’Round The Bend (1935), The Informer (1935), for which he won his first Oscar, Mary Of Scotland (1936), Wee Willie Winkie (1937), Submarine Patrol (1938), Stagecoach (1939) starring John Wayne, for which Ford was nominated for an Oscar, Drums Along The Mohawk (1939) starring Henry Fonda, Young Mr Lincoln (1939) starring Fonda, The Grapes Of Wrath (1940), for which he won his second Oscar, Tobacco Road (1941), How Green Was My Valley (1941), for which he won his third Oscar, Torpedo Squadron (1942), Sex Hygiene (1942), The Battle Of Midway (1942), They Were Expendable (1945), My Darling Clementine (1946), Fort Apache (1948), 3 Godfathers (1948), She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949), Wagonmaster (1950), Rio Grande (1950) starring Wayne, What Price Glory (1952), The Quiet Man (1952) starring John Wayne, for which Ford won his fourth and final Oscar, Mogambo (1953) starring Ava Gardner, Mister Roberts (1955), The Searchers (1956) starring John Wayne, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Cheyenne Autumn (1964) and Chesty: A Tribute To A Legend (1970). Ford once observed of his craft: “Anybody can direct a picture once they know the fundamentals. Directing is not a mystery, it’s not an art. The main thing about directing is: photograph the people’s eyes.”

  CAUSE: Ford died of cancer in Palm Desert, California. He was 78.

  George Formby, OBE

  (GEORGE HOY BOOTH)

  Born May 26, 1904

  Died March 6, 1961

  Silly songstrel. Born at 3 Westminster Street, Wigan, Lancashire, George was the eldest of seven surviving children (four girls and three boys) of James Lawler Booth (b. Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, October 4, 1875, the illegitimate son of a (4)߰tall prostitute with a fierce temper, d. Newcastle Empire, February 8, 1921 of a haemorrhage), a reasonably successful music hall comedian who was billed as “The Wigan Nightingale” and Eliza Hoy (b. 1879, d. August 1981), a devout Roman Catholic. The couple was married at Wigan Register Office on August 11, 1899. Their first six children died in infancy although James Booth was reputed to have fathered several children out of wedlock. George was born blind until a sneezing fit miraculously caused his eyesight to return when he was a few months old. His siblings were Louisa (b. Wigan, Lancashire, 1900, d. Wigan, Lancashire, 1900), Beatrice (b. Wigan, Lancashire, 1901, d. Wigan, Lancashire, 1902), Edith Lillian (b. Wigan, Lancashire, 1903, d. Wigan, Lancashire, 1903), a child (b. Wigan, Lancashire, 1905, d. Wigan, Lancashire, 1905), Louisa (b. Wigan, Lancashire, 1906), a child (b. Wigan, Lancashire, 1907, d. Wigan, Lancashire, 1907), Frances (b. Wigan, Lancashire, 1908, d. Wigan, Lancashire, 1909), Ella (b. Wigan, Lancashire, 1910, d. Wigan, Lancashire, 1998), Mary (b. Wigan, Lancashire, 1912, d. Wigan, Lancashire, 1987), Frank Allen (b. Wigan, Lancashire, 1913, d. Wigan, Lancashire, 1983), Ethel (b. Wigan, Lancashire, 1915, d. Wigan, Lancashire, 1998) and Edward (b. Wigan, Lancashire, 1918). George left school aged seven and became a stable boy with his eye on becoming a jockey. His father hired a schoolteacher to educate the boy but he was more concerned with the form of the racehorses with the result that George was almost illiterate. In 1921, George was 16 and by this time was too tall for a career in the saddle. That year, on February 8, his father died and George saw a show at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre in which a comedian called Tommy Dixon did an impression of him and used his act. Young George was annoyed by the plagiarism and decided he would use his father’s act. This happened in April 1921 at the Hippodrome, Earlestown. In deference to the old man he used his mother’s maiden name and announced he would not be known as George Formby until he topped the bill in his own right. Three years later, in August 1924, he achieved his ambition, at least of appearing in London (he was a support act) and was billed as George Formby, Jr. It was in 1925 that he began playing the instrument that was to make him famous – the ukulele. When he stopped impersonating his father his career began to soar and in 1929 he began singing and recording his
“silly little songs”. On September 13, 1924, at Wigan Register Office, he married Beryl Ingham (b. Accrington, September 9, 1900), a clog dancer, and in 1928, she took over the management of his career. Under her guidance George became a millionaire but at a price. Her control was rigid. He was not allowed to kiss his leading ladies and she placed him on an allowance of just five shillings a day. She also nagged him incessantly but claimed that George wanted her with him and was miserable when she was not in his presence. He made his film début while still a stable boy in By The Shortest Of Heads (1915) but his first feature film was Bert Tracey’s Boots! Boots! (1934) in which he played John Willie. He was paid £200 plus 10 per cent of the profits for a 15-day shooting schedule. During filming, as with his stage work, Beryl made sure that George did not associate too closely with any of his co-stars. She even went so far as to ensure that the scenes featuring a 12-year-old Betty Driver (later Betty Turpin Williams in Coronation Street) ended up on the cutting room floor because George was friendly towards her. He followed Boots! Boots! with Arthur Mertz’s Off The Dole (1935) again as John Willie, No Limit (1935) as George Shuttleworth (with a budget of £30,000), Keep Your Seats, Please as George (both helmed by Monty Banks who later declared, “The only time you’ll ever get me directing anything where that fucking Formby woman is concerned will be when she’s playing the murder victim, and the scene’s for real”), Feather Your Nest as Willie, Keep Fit (1937) as George Green for which he was paid £25,000, I See Ice (1937) as George Bright, It’s In The Air (1938) as George Brown, Trouble Brewing (1939) as George Gullip, Come On George (1939) as George, Let George Do It (1940) as George Hepplewhite, Spare A Copper (1940) as George Carter, Turned Out Nice Again (1941) as George Pearson, South American George (1941) as George Butters/Gilli Vanetti, Much Too Shy (1942) as George Andy, Get Cracking (1943) as George Singleton, Bell-Bottom George (1943) as George Blake, He Snoops To Conquer (1945) as George Gribble, I Didn’t Do It (released in July 1945) as George Trotter and George In Civvy Street (1946) as George Harper. On September 27, 1936 at Blackpool’s Feldman Theatre, he recorded the first version of ‘When I’m Cleaning Windows’, his saucy song about what a vision technician sees on the job. The BBC’s Director-General Lord Reith banned the song. “If the public wants to listen to Formby singing his disgusting little ditty, they’ll have to be content to hear it at cinemas, not over the nation’s airwaves.” The song shifted 150,000 copies within a month of its release but the follow-up ‘Window Cleaner No. 2’ was even saucier and upset the normally unflappable Beryl. In Feather Your Nest George sang what was to become virtually his signature song ‘Leaning On A Lamppost’. As often happens when stars popularise a song, Beryl asked the composer Noel Gay to add George’s name to his in the songwriting credits. Gay refused. On June 18, 1937 Beryl underwent a hysterectomy in a private nursing home in London. Beryl was determined not to become a mother – a decision she later came to regret – and the operation was her way of ensuring this never happened. It was an unusual decision because Beryl rarely slept with her husband anyway and told him that since she didn’t want sex with him, no other woman would either. It was a rather foolish assumption on her part. It is believed that while Beryl was away from the set recovering, George had a fling with his Keep Fit co-star Kay Walsh. It was not to be his last fixture playing away from home. On November 15, 1937, George appeared in his first Royal Variety Show at the London Palladium alongside fellow Lancastrian Gracie Fields. He was a massive star in the Soviet Union and in 1943 he was awarded the Order of Lenin. Following his last film, the Formbys travelled the world and George appeared in various stage shows including pantomime. Both suffered from ill health and George left the play Zip Goes A Million not as was assumed at the time because of an argument over pay but because he suffered an undiagnosed heart attack. He announced his retirement (again) after spending nine weeks recuperating. In September 1952 he was stricken with gastroenteritis and a suspected blood clot on the lung. In October 1953 he was back at work. In the summer of 1960 he began an affair with the gold-digging lesbian singer Yana. His last public performance was in November 1960 at London’s Dorchester Hotel. On Christmas Day Beryl Formby died aged 60 of uterine cancer. On St Valentine’s Day George became engaged to teacher Pat Howson (b. February 14, 1925), the daughter of family friends.

  CAUSE: On February 22, 1961, George suffered a heart attack while having dinner with his future in-laws. Prompt action from a doctor who lived three doors away saved his life and he was taken to St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Hospital in Preston. On the morning of March 6, Pat Howson went out to buy her wedding ring, announcing that the ceremony had been brought forward to March 8. George Formby died that afternoon. He was 56. More than 150,000 people attended his funeral on March 10 at St Charles’ Roman Catholic Church, Warrington. He was buried next to his father in Manchester Road Catholic cemetery, Warrington. Most of his £135,142 5s. 9d fortune went to his fiancée, much to the outrage of his family, none of whom had been close to him. On May 13, 1963, Eliza Booth and her daughters sued to overturn George’s final will. In a fit of generosity Pat Howson offered Eliza Booth a one-off payment of £5,000 and the sisters £2,000 each, even though George had not wanted them to have anything. She also agreed to meet the costs of both parties. The deal was grudgingly accepted but then the Booth women sought to have the ruling overturned. The matter was finally settled in Pat Howson’s favour in September 1965 only after invention by the Solicitor-General Sir Dingle Foot. She died of cancer in a Lytham nursing home, aged 46, on November 22, 1971. Shortly before her death, Pat had announced that she intended to become a nun.

  FURTHER READING: George Formby – John Fisher (London: Woburn-Futura, 1975); George Formby: A Troubled Genius – David Bret (London: Robson Books, 2001).

  Mimi Forsythe