Rin Tin Tin
Born 1916
Died August 8, 1932
Hollywood’s first canine superstar. US soldier Lieutenant Lee Duncan found a litter of five Alsatian puppies in a trench during World War I. A dog lover, Duncan took one of the pups back to California and began the task of training him. Rin Tin Tin was to the manor born. He was a talented performer and it was his films that prevented Warner Bros from going bankrupt in their early days. He also made Lee Duncan around $5 million. He made his début in The Man From Hell’s River (1922), but it was when he signed for Warners the following year that he became a superstar, appearing in films such as Where The North Begins (1923), Below The Line (1925), A Hero Of The Big Snows (1926), The Night Cry (1926), Man Hunter (1930) and even appeared in ‘barkies’ such as the 12-part serial The Lone Defender (1930). Many of Rin Tin Tin’s adventures were written by Darryl F. Zanuck. Jack Warner commented: “The dog faced one hazard after another and was grateful to get an extra hamburger for a reward. He didn’t ask for a raise, or a new press agent, or an air-conditioned dressing room, or more close-ups.”
CAUSE: Rin Tin Tin died at 1352 Clubview, Beverly Hills, supposedly in Jean Harlow’s arms, of natural causes, aged approximately 112 dog years old. He was buried in the back garden.
Martin Ritt
Born March 2, 1914
Died December 8, 1990
Methodic director. A talented university sportsman, Ritt was born in New York, the son of Jewish immigrants. He decided to become a lawyer but found himself distracted by his growing interest in drama occasioned by his friendship with Elia Kazan. A brief acting career decided that his place was on the other side of the camera. He worked on Broadway and directed early television broadcasts and taught at the Actors’ Studio. His students included Paul Newman, Lee Remick, Rod Steiger and Joanne Woodward. The first film he directed was Edge Of The City (1957) and he went on to direct, among others, The Long, Hot Summer (1958), The Black Orchid (1959), The Sound And The Fury (1959), Paris Blues (1961), Hud (1963), for which he was nominated for an Oscar, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965), Hombre (1967), The Molly Maguires (1970), Pete’n’Tillie (1972), Norma Rae (1979), Murphy’s Romance (1985), Nuts (1987) and Stanley & Iris (1990).
CAUSE: He died of heart disease aged 76.
Tex Ritter
Born January 12, 1905
Died January 2, 1974
Singing cowboy. Born in Murvaul, Texas, hence his nickname, Maurice Woodward Ritter had no desire to go into showbiz. At university, he studied political science and then law for two years before changing to music and becoming a relatively successful country and western singer. In 1931 he appeared in the Broadway play Green Grow The Lilacs. Five years later he made his first film, Song Of The Gringo (1936), as Tex. During the next nine years Ritter starred in 85 Westerns, including Sing, Cowboy, Sing (1937) as Tex Archer, Mystery Of The Hooded Horsemen (1937) as Tex Martin, Tex Rides With The Boy Scouts (1938) as Tex Collins, Utah Trail as Tex Stewart, Starlight Over Texas (1938) as Tex Newman, Where The Buffalo Roam (1938) as Tex Houston, Down The Wyoming Trail as Tex Yancey, Take Me Back To Oklahoma (1940) as Tex Lawton, The Cowboy From Sundown (1940) as Tex Rockett, King Of Dodge City (1941) as Tex Rawlings, Prairie Gunsmoke (1942) as Tex Terrell and Deep In The Heart Of Texas (1942) as Brent Gordon often alongside Syd Sayler. In 1952 he sang “Do Not Foresake Me, Oh My Darlin”, the theme tune to High Noon, which won an Oscar. He was elected to the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1964 and in the post-war period enjoyed 11 country Top 10 hits, including two number ones. His son, Jonathan Southworth, is an actor under the name John Ritter.
CAUSE: Ritter died of a heart attack aged 66 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Thelma Ritter
Born February 14, 1905
Died February 5, 1969
Dependable support. Thelma Ritter was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was a huge success in the theatre before she deigned to set foot in front of a movie camera for Miracle On 34th Street (1947). When she did she showed just what had made her such a successful actress. She was nominated six times for Oscars, although she never won. Her nominations were for: Bette Davis’ maid Birdie in All About Eve (1950), Ellen McNulty in The Mating Season (1951), nurse Clancy in With A Song In My Heart (1952), Moe in Pickup On South Street (1953), the drunken daily woman Alma in Pillow Talk (1959) and Elizabeth Stroud in Birdman Of Alcatraz (1962).
CAUSE: Ritter died in New York aged 63 from a heart attack.
Hal Roach
Born January 14, 1892
Died November 2, 1992
Extraordinary director. Born in Elmira, New York, Hal Roach worked as a mule skinner and then became a gold prospector in Alaska before striking a rich seam in Hollywood. He arrived in the film capital in 1912, where he became a Universal stunt man and bit part player and met Harold Lloyd. Roach believed in Lloyd’s comic potential and three years later, when Roach inherited $3,000, he formed his own studio and starred Lloyd in a comedy series called Willie Work. No, it didn’t and Roach subsequently became a director for Essanay. A stroke of luck meant that Roach found a distributor and rehired Lloyd. They retitled the character ‘Lonesome Luke’ and had a hit on their hands. Roach and Lloyd made several films together, including Ruses, Rhymes And Roughnecks (1915), Peculiar Patients’ Pranks (1915), Lonesome Luke Leans To The Literary (1916), Luke Lugs Luggage (1916), Lonesome Luke Lolls In Luxury (1916), Luke, The Candy Cut-Up (1916), Luke Foils The Villain (1916), Luke And The Rural Roughnecks (1916), Luke Pipes The Pippins (1916), Lonesome Luke, Circus King (1916), Luke’s Double (1916), Them Was The Happy Days! (1916), Luke And The Bomb Throwers (1916), Luke’s Late Lunchers (1916), Luke Laughs Last (1916), Luke’s Fatal Flivver (1916), Luke’s Society Mixup (1916), Luke’s Washful Waiting (1916), Luke Rides Roughshod (1916), Luke, Crystal Gazer (1916), Luke’s Lost Lamb (1916), Luke Does The Midway (1916), Luke Joins The Navy (1916), Luke And The Mermaids (1916), Luke’s Speedy Club Life (1916), Luke And The Bang-Tails (1916) and many more. Unlike his rival Mack Sennett, Roach made sure his films told a good story rather than just relying on slapstick. He worked with Charlie Chase, Edgar Kennedy, Will Rogers and, of course, Laurel & Hardy who signed with him on February 6, 1926. Their films included: The Battle Of The Century (1927), Leave ’Em Laughing (1928), From Soup To Nuts (1928), Big Business (1929), Berth Marks (1929), Men O’War (1929), Brats (1930), The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930), Pardon Us (1931), Be Big! (1931), Chickens Come Home (1931), Laughing Gravy (1931), Our Wife (1931), Come Clean (1931), One Good Turn (1931), Beau Hunks (1931), Helpmates (1932), The Music Box (1932), Pack Up Your Troubles (1932), Their First Mistake (1932), The Devil’s Brother (1933), Busy Bodies (1933), Sons Of The Desert (1933), Oliver The Eighth (1934), Them Thar Hills (1934), Babes In Toyland (1934), Bonnie Scotland (1935), Way Out West (1937), Block-Heads (1938), The Flying Deuces (1939) and A Chump At Oxford (1940). In the Twenties Roach’s studio began diversifying from comedy, producing Westerns and action films. He also created the Our Gang series, later retitled the Little Rascals for television. His films were distributed by MGM to whom (in 1938) he sold the rights to the Our Gang series. In WWII Roach produced propaganda films, and was promoted to the rank of major by the US Government for his war services, but his fortunes declined afterwards. His company went bust in the late Fifties and his studio was demolished in 1963. Before the decade was out, Roach made the successful compilation film The Crazy World Of Laurel & Hardy. He was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1984.
CAUSE: In 1992 he oversaw the colourisation of Way Out West and travelled world-wide promoting it. Roach died later that year, aged 100, of pneumonia in Los Angeles, California.
Jason Robards
Born July 22, 1922
Died December 26, 2000
Raspy, laconic actor. Jason Nelson Robards, Jr was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of stage and silent screen actor Jason Robards, Sr (b. December 31, 1892, d. April 4, 1963) and Hope Maxine Glanville. After seeing service in the navy in the Second World W
ar and studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Robards made his stage début at the Delyork Theater, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in July 1947 in Out Of The Frying Pan. Three months later, he made his first appearance in New York at the Children’s World Theater playing the rear end of the cow in Jack And The Beanstalk. It was from this start that Robards began a lifelong love of the theatre. He received six Tony nominations in 14 years. He made films but only to pay his alimony and allow him to work treading the boards. He was often disparaging – in public at least – about the silver screen, liking to quote Spencer Tracy on the subject: “Be on time, know the jokes. Say them as fast as you can. Take the money and go home.” He made his film début in The Journey (1959) as Paul Kedes in which he was billed as Jason Robards, Jr. His other films included By Love Possessed (1961) as Julius Penrose, Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962) as James ‘Jamie’ Tyrone, Jr, Tender Is The Night (1962) as Dr Dick Diver, Act One (1963) as George S. Kaufman (the first film in which he was not billed as Jason Robards, Jr), A Thousand Clowns (1965) as Murray Burns, Any Wednesday (1966) as John Cleves, A Big Hand For The Little Lady (1966) as Henry Drummond, John Sturges’ Hour Of The Gun (1967) as Dr John ‘Doc’ Holliday, Divorce American Style (1967) as Nelson Downes, The St Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967) as Al Capone (which was shot in just 11 days), Isadora (1968) as Paris Singer, The Night They Raided Minsky’s (1968) as Raymond Paine, C’era Una Volta Il West (1969) as Manuel ‘Cheyenne’ Gutierrez, Rosolino Paternò: Soldato… (1970) as Sam Armstrong, Julius Caesar (1970) as Brutus, Fools as Matthew South, The Ballad Of Cable Hogue (1970) as Cable Hogue, Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) as Lieutenant-General Walter C. Short, Murders In The Rue Morgue (1971) as Cesar Charron, Johnny Got His Gun as Joe’s father, The War Between Men And Women (1972) as Stephen Kozlenko, Tod Eines Fremden (1973) as Inspector Barkan, Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid (1973) as Governor Lew Wallace, Mr Sycamore (1974) as John Gwilt, A Boy And His Dog (1975) as Lou Craddock, Alan Pakula’s All The President’s Men (1976) as Ben Bradlee, the Executive Editor of the Washington Post for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, Julia (1977) as Dashiell Hammett for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the second year in a row, Alan Pakula’s Comes A Horseman (1978) as Jacob ‘J.W.’ Ewing, Hurricane (1979) as Captain Bruckner, Caboblanco (1980) as Gunther Beckdorff, Raise The Titanic (1980) as Admiral James Sandecker, Melvin And Howard (1980) as Howard Hughes for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, The Legend Of The Lone Ranger (1981) as President Ulysses S. Grant, Burden Of Dreams (1982) as Fitzcarrald, Max Dugan Returns (1983) as Max Dugan, Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) as Charles Halloway, Square Dance (1987) as Grandpa Dillard, Dream A Little Dream (1989) as Coleman Ettinger, Reunion (1989) as Henry Strauss, Parenthood (1989) as Frank, Black Rainbow (1990) as Walter Travis, Quick Change (1990) as Chief Rotzinger, Storyville (1992) as Clifford Fowler, The Trial (1993) as Doctor Huld, Philadelphia (1993) as Charles Wheeler, The Paper (1994) as Graham Keighley, Little Big League (1994) as Thomas Heywood, A Thousand Acres (1997) as Larry Cook, Heartwood (1998) as Logan Reeser, The Real Macaw (1998) as Grandpa Ben Girdis, Beloved (1998) as Mr Bodwin and Magnolia (1999) as Earl Partridge. Robards’ gravitas and raspy voice allowed him to carve a niche playing American presidents on film and television: he played Abraham Lincoln three times on television, Ulysses S. Grant twice, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the fictional President Richard Monckton in the 1977 television mini series Washington: Behind Closed Doors. He won an Emmy for the 1988 television movie Inherit The Wind in which he played Henry Drummond. On December 8, 1972, thanks in no small part to his serious drink problem, Robards was involved in a near fatal car crash on a Californian motorway near Malibu when he drove his Mercedes into the side of a hill. When he arrived at hospital he had no heartbeat, a smashed up face and a partly severed finger. It took three operations to repair his injuries. On May 7, 1948 Robards married the actress Eleanor Pitman and fathered three children: Jason III (b. 1948), Sarah Louise (b. 1951) and David (b. 1956). The couple was divorced in 1958. In 1959 he married the actress Rachel Taylor but they divorced two years later in Mexico on May 4, 1961. Wife number three was Lauren Bacall, the widow of Humphrey Bogart. They married on Independence Day 1961 in Ensenada, Mexico. A son, Sam, was born in New York City on December 16, 1961. The couple divorced in Juarez, Mexico, on September 10, 1969 on the grounds of incompatibility. On St Valentine’s Day 1970, Robards married the actress Lois O’Connor and by her had two children: Shannon (b. 1972) and Jake (b. August 15, 1974).
CAUSE: Robards died aged 78 of metastasised lung cancer in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Lyda Roberti
Born May 20, 1906
Died March 12, 1938
Uninhibited screen man-chaser. Born in Warsaw, Poland, (5)߰3,” platinum blonde Lyda was the daughter of a supposedly abusive German clown and a Polish trick rider. She was raised in the circus but left when they reached Shanghai, China, where she learned English. By 1927 she had relocated to California and landed a job in vaudeville. Three years later Broadway producer Lou Holtz cast her in his show You Said It, where she became an overnight sensation. In 1932 she signed for Paramount, working alongside Eddie Cantor and W.C. Fields. She appeared in three films for MGM and Columbia before retiring due to poor health. Her films included: Dancers In The Dark (1932) as Fanny Zabowolski, Million Dollar Legs (1932) as Mata Machree, Three-Cornered Moon (1933) as Jenny, Torch Singer (1933) as Dora, George White’s Scandals (1935) as Manya, The Big Broadcast Of 1936 (1936) as Countess Ysobel de Naigila, Nobody’s Baby (1937) as Lena and Wide Open Faces (1938) as Kitty. She was married twice. Her first husband was R.A. Golden and on June 25, 1935, she married Hugh ‘Bud’ Ernst.
CAUSE: She died in Los Angeles, California, aged 31, from a heart attack suffered while bending over to tie a shoelace.
Peggy Robertson
(MARGARET SINGER)
Born September 13, 1916
Died February 6, 1998
Assistant to Mr Hitchcock. Born in London (on the same day as Roald Dahl, another master storyteller), Peggy Robertson was working at Denham studios as a script girl when she met Alfred Hitchcock in 1948. He hired her to work on Under Capricorn (1949) and it was her diplomacy that smoothed many arguments between Hitchcock and his leading lady, in this case Ingrid Bergman. It was Hitchcock’s usual ploy – whenever things got tough on-set he left it to his minions to sort out the problems. On his next film Stage Fright (1949) Hitchcock ignored Jane Wyman to pay court to Marlene Dietrich. It was the invaluable Peggy who kept Wyman happy. Peggy left Hitchcock’s employ for eight years and married Douglas Robertson, the Canadian film editor. She and Hitchcock were reunited for Vertigo (1957). Robertson allows us to dismiss a Hitchcock canard. He told the story of how Kim Novak had upset him, he enjoyed throwing her into the water of San Francisco bay (actually a tank in a studio) 24 times. In fact, she went into the water just four times – first because of a problem with star Jimmy Stewart’s hair, second because of a hesitation on Stewart’s part and the last two times because of continuity problems. It was during North By Northwest (1958) that she became Hitchcock’s most trusted advisor. The following year he dismissed his recent films as “glossy technicolour baubles” and asked her to find a “typically un-Hitchcock picture”. She suggested a novel by Robert Bloch called Psycho. To prevent too many members of the public learning the story, he then told her to go out and buy up as many copies of the novel as possible. She also worked on The Birds (1963), Marnie (1964), Torn Curtain (1966), Topaz (1969), Frenzy (1972) and Family Plot (1976). In 1979 Hitchcock tried and failed to make a film about George Blake, the spy. Consequently, he closed down his offices and made Peggy redundant. It was a mixed blessing for her. She had begun to find Hitchcock irritating but she also was now without a salary. When Hitchcock died in 1980 he did not leave her anything in his will. She later worked as associate producer on Mask (1985) and Illegally Yours (1988).
CAUSE: She died aged 81 in Woodland Hills, California,
of natural causes.
James Robertson-Justice
Born June 15, 1905
Died July 2, 1975
Palpably British. Although red-bearded James Norval Harold Robertson-Justice appeared in numerous films, most memorably as Sir Lancelot Spratt in the Doctor series, you would never know from reading his entry in Who’s Who, where he is more concerned with his invention of “the rocket propelled net method of catching wildfowl for marking”. He admits to an “undistinguished but varied [career] comprising some three score jobs in different parts of the world”. He is too modest. The possessor of a rich voice, he made his film début in Fiddlers Three (1944) as Centurion and went on to appear in, among others, Scott Of The Antarctic as Taff Evans, My Brother Jonathan (1948), Whisky Galore! as Dr McLaren, Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951), David And Bathsheba (1951), The Story Of Robin Hood And His Merrie Men (1952), Miss Robin Hood (1952), The Sword And The Rose (1953), Doctor In The House (1954), Above Us The Waves (1955), Doctor At Sea (1955), Land Of The Pharaohs (1955), The Iron Petticoat (1956), Moby Dick (1956), Doctor At Large (1957), Doctor In Love (1960), Murder She Said (1961), The Guns Of Navarone (1961) as Jensen, Doctor In Clover (1965), The Face Of Fu Manchu (1965), Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines (1965), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) as Lord Scrumptious and Doctor In Trouble (1970). Born in Wigtown, Scotland, he was educated at Marlborough College and Bonn University. Prior to acting he was a journalist and naturalist and taught Prince Charles falconry. In 1946 he joined a select group of men who called themselves the Thursday Club, that being the day of the week on which they met for lunch in an upstairs room of Wheeler’s Oyster Bar in Old Compton Street, Soho. They would eat oysters and lobster claws washed down with Champagne and Guinness. Each month the members elected one of their fellows ‘Cunt of the Month’, an honour that went to the chap who had made the biggest fool of himself since the last election. Other club members included Larry Adler, Iain Macleod M.P., Felix Topolski, Peter Ustinov, Gilbert Harding and sundry others. Robertson-Justice was married twice.
Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries Page 150
