Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries

by Paul Donnelley

  CAUSE: In early 1990 Perkins visited his doctor, worried about a case of Bell’s Palsy, a facial paralysis caused by the herpes simplex virus. A few weeks passed and then, on March 27, 1990, the National Enquirer ran a story headlined “Psycho Star Battling AIDS Virus”. The story goes that neither Perkins nor his wife knew he was HIV +. He was urged to sue the tabloid for libel but decided to have a blood test just to make his case watertight. When the results came back from the doctor the Perkinses were horrified to learn that he was indeed stricken with the disease. Apparently, a minion at the first doctor’s surgery had gotten hold of a sample of the star’s blood and had it tested secretly. When he learned he had the disease, Perkins made a statement that was only released after his death. It read: “I chose not to go public because, to misquote Casablanca, ‘I’m not much at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see the problems of one old actor don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.’ There are many who believe this disease is God’s vengeance, but I believe it was sent to teach people how to love and understand and have compassion for each other. I have learned more about love, selflessness, and human understanding from the people I have met in this great adventure in the world of AIDS, than I ever did in the cut-throat, competitive world in which I spent my life.” Perkins died aged 60 at 4.06pm at his home, 2840 Seattle Drive, Los Angeles, California 90046. His death was caused by gram negative bacteremia, due to bilateral pneumonitis, due to AIDS. Five days later, he was cremated. A memorial service was held on September 19, and lasted two and a half hours. It was attended by 150 people including his former boyfriend Grover Dale and his wife Anita Morris, gay mogul David Geffen, Sandy Gallin, Barry Diller, Janet Leigh, Buck Henry, Sophia Loren, Mike Nichols and Dan Aykroyd.

  FURTHER READING: Anthony Perkins: A Haunted Life – Ronald Bergan (London: Little, Brown, 1995); Split Image: The Life Of Anthony Perkins – Charles Winecoff (New York: Dutton, 1996).

  Jon Pertwee

  Born July 7, 1919

  Died May 20, 1996

  The only Dr Who. Born in Chelsea, south-west London, John (after the apostle) Devon (after the county) Roland (after his father) Pertwee came from a theatrical family. His father was the playwright, novelist and director Roland Pertwee (b. Brighton, May 17, 1885, d. London, April 26, 1963); his brother was the playwright Michael Pertwee (b. London, April 24, 1916, d. London, April 17, 1991) and his cousin, the actor Bill Pertwee (b. July 21, 1926), was a radio stalwart with Kenneth Horne and plagued Captain Mainwaring as Chief ARP Warden Hodges in the TV and film versions of Dad’s Army. The family name was Huguenot in origin, Perthuis de Laillavault. “Just the job for a variety act. Here he comes your own Happy Perthuis! No wonder our family changed it. I get called Peewit, Pee Wee – and a New York stage door man once told me seriously, ‘There is an urgent message for you, Mr Putrid.’” He pronounced it P’twee. Pertwee had problems with authority as a young man. He was thrown out of his Eastbourne prep school, Aldro, for swinging on a lavatory chain, he was expelled from public school, Sherborne, in Dorset, and then was thrown out of RADA for refusing to portray “a Greek wind”. He went into repertory theatre and was sacked for his habit of shaking hands with the leading man while holding a raw egg. Despite these setbacks he enjoyed life in other rep companies and also the people he met, including on one occasion Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. In 1939 he joined the Royal Navy and met his lifelong friend, the broadcaster David Jacobs. Following demob he appeared in several radio shows including Waterlogged Spa (began September 17, 1948) and Up The Pole (1947–1952). In 1958 he recorded the pilot of the sitcom The Navy Lark which then ran for 18 years. In 1936 he made his movie début in Dinner At The Ritz and followed that with A Yank At Oxford (1937), eventually appearing in over 40 films. He played a soothsayer in Carry On Cleo (1964), Sheriff Albert Earp in Carry On Cowboy (1965), Dr Fettle in Carry On Screaming (1966) and also appeared in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (1966), The House That Dripped Blood (1970), One Of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975), Adventures Of A Private Eye (1977), Cannon & Ball’s execrable The Boys In Blue (1983) and the equally appalling Carry On Columbus (1992) in which he was the Duke of Costa Brava. However, it was his performance (from 1970 until 1974) as the dandified, short-tempered third Dr Who that won him instant recognition and lasting fame. He regarded his mortal enemies the Daleks as “ridiculous – put together with a sink plunger, an egg whisk and 24 tennis balls.” Most actors have just one creation with which they are usually associated or identified. Rarely do they have two, as with 6́ 2˝ Pertwee. To a second generation of children he was the scarecrow Worzel Gummidge in the Southern TV series of the same name (31 episodes between February 25, 1979 and December 12, 1981. A further 22 episodes made in New Zealand were broadcast on Channel 4 between October 4, 1987 and April 16, 1989). “Worzel,” he said, “is much more like me than Dr Who ever was.” Pertwee was difficult to work with, eccentric, egocentric and possessed of a quick temper, although he was equally fast to apologise. On April 2, 1955, he married the actor Jean Lyndsay Torren Marsh (b. Stoke Newington, London, July 1, 1934) but the relationship didn’t last and they separated after only a year and divorced in March 1960. On August 13 of that year in Bourne, Buckinghamshire, he married fashion designer Ingeborg Rhoesa. They had two children, both actors Sean (b. London, June 4, 1964) and Dariel.

  CAUSE: In 1992 he collapsed with pneumonia in a Leeds shopping centre and was hospitalised. In the months leading up to his death he suffered coronary problems. He died of a heart attack, aged 76, in Connecticut. He left £420,149.

  Jean Peters

  Born October 15, 1926

  Died October 13, 2000

  Mrs Howard Hughes. Born in Canton, Ohio, Elizabeth Jean Peters intended to become a teacher but instead chose the cinema and made her film début in Captain From Castile (1947) as Catana Perez. The previous year on July 4 she had met the film producer Howard Hughes at a party at the home of Bill Cagney, James’ brother. He was enchanted by her and not discouraged by the fact that she was in the throes of a passionate affair with Audie Murphy. On July 7, 1946 while attempting to impress Peters, Hughes crashed his XF-11 aeroplane near Beverly Hills. Not long after, he began a non-exclusive affair with Peters, non-exclusive for him that is. He kept a harem of women including the actress Terry Moore. Peters, meanwhile, was forbidden from seeing other men. Still, she tired of Hughes’ eccentricities and on May 29, 1954 she married Stuart Cramer III in Washington, D.C. Hughes assigned a private detective to dig up any and all dirt on Cramer. In the intervening years since meeting Hughes, Peters had appeared in the following films: Deep Waters (1948) as Ann Freeman, It Happens Every Spring (1949) as Deborah Greenleaf, Love That Brute (1950) as Ruth Manning, Take Care Of My Little Girl (1951) as Dallas, As Young As You Feel (1951) as Alice Hodges, Anne Of The Indies as Captain Anne Providence, Wait Till The Sun Shines, Nellie (1952) as Nellie Halper, Lure Of The Wilderness as Laurie Harper, O. Henry’s Full House (1952) as Susan, Viva Zapata! (1952) as Josefa Zapata, A Blueprint For Murder (1953) as Lynne Cameron, Niagara (1953) as Polly Cutler, Vicki (1953) as Vicki Lynn, Pickup On South Street (1953) as Candy, Apache (1954) as Nalinle, Three Coins In The Fountain (1954) as Anita Hutchins, Broken Lance (1954) as Barbara and A Man Called Peter (1955) as Catherine Wood Marshall which was to be her last cinematic release. Not long after the marriage Cramer was summoned to see Howard Hughes, his wife conveniently forgetting to mention her involvement with him. Hughes told Cramer that he was in love with his wife and she with him and he would like them to divorce. Back home, Cramer confronted Peters but she assured him that she did not want a divorce. Still Hughes would not give up. He rang Cramer and told him that if he truly loved Peters he would let her go. The millionaire Cramer later remarked, “If your wife is going to get a divorce, you might as well let her marry someone who can afford to support her. It’s the cheapest way out.” (In 1959 Cramer married Terry Moore.) Once he had her back in his clutches Hughes installed her in a bungalow in Los Ange
les where she was watched around the clock by a team of aides and maids. He told her he was too busy to marry her and carried on romancing other women. Eventually, Peters and Hughes were married in secrecy on January 12, 1957 in the Mizpah Hotel, Main Street, Culver City, California. Hughes told his people to pretend they were going duck hunting. The couple even used fake names: he was G.A. Johnson and she Marian Evans. Hughes and Peters remained married, although often apart, until June 15, 1971. Five years earlier, she studied for a BA at UCLA. Jean Peters appeared in two television films and a mini series but to all intents and purposes her career was over the moment she married Howard Hughes. In August 1971, she married Stanley Hough, an executive at 20th Century Fox.

  CAUSE: She died in Carlsbad, California, aged 74 from leukeamia.

  Gérard Philipe

  (GÉRARD PHILIP)

  Born December 4, 1922

  Died November 25, 1959

  Handsome romantic Gall. Born in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France, Philipe was the son of a hotel manager and intended to become a doctor until the lure of the stage became too much for him to ignore. He appeared in various stage roles before making his film début as Jérôme in Les Petites Du Quai Aux Fleurs (1944). His reputation was made with his portrayal of Prince Muichkine in L’Idiot (1946). The following year he played François Jaubert, a lovestruck 17-year-old schoolboy in Le Diable Au Corps/Devil In The Flesh (1947). The film caused an uproar but made Philipe an international star. He was propelled into being the most popular French romantic star of his era. His later films included: Tous Les Chemins Mènent A Rome (1949), La Beauté Du Diable (1950), Fanfan La Tulipe (1952), Monsieur Ripois (1954), Pot-Bouille (1957) as Octave Mouret and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1959) as Vicomte de Valmont.

  CAUSE: He died aged 36 in Paris of a heart attack.

  Julia Phillips

  (JULIA MILLER)

  Born April 7, 1944

  Died January 1, 2002

  Tell-all producer. Julia Phillips was completely unknown to the general public until she decided to publish her revelatory autobiography You’ll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again. In the industry she was well known having in 1973 become the first woman to win a best picture Oscar for The Sting. Born in New York, the daughter of Jewish intellectuals, she grew up in Brooklyn and Great Neck, Long Island. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, where she won prestigious awards for her short-story writing. She married Michael Phillips on July 31, 1966 and had one daughter, Kate. After working in magazine publishing, Phillips joined Paramount Pictures in 1969 as its East Coast story editor. Later, Phillips became president of her own company, Ruthless Productions. Following the success of The Sting, she went on to co-produce Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver in 1976, followed by director Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977), although by this time she was a drug addict. “He essentially kicked her off the movie,” said one insider. “It pretty much ended her career.” In 1990 she wrote her autobiography which wasn’t like the usual anodyne Tinseltown tales. She named names and revealed the petty indiscretions and vindictiveness among the town’s upper echelons. She revealed that Warren Beatty once asked if she wanted to have a threesome with him and her 12-year-old daughter. Julia replied, “Warren, we’re both too old for you.” She once said, “You always have to pay your dues. I paid them backwards – starting at the top and going to the bottom.”