Obit of the Day
Looking at the famous, infamous, not-so-famous, and unique lives that have shuffled off this mortal coil.
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Obit of the Day: He Was Gumby (Dammit)
and Speedy, the Alka-Seltzer mascot, and Davey from Davey and Goliath, and Richie Rich’s annoying rival, Rollo, and the voice of dozens of other children on television and film. Dick Beals, who passed away at 87, suffered from a glandular disorder that limited his height (4’ 7”) and never allowed his voice to mature. But he parlayed that unique vocal characteristic into a six-decade career.
A graduate of Michigan State University, Beals got his start playing boys on various radio programs that were originally broadcast from Detroit including The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet. He would end up in Hollywood and his first film was the animated cartoon, From A to Z-Z-Z-Z (see above). Although he plays the lead character, Ralph Phillips, Beals is uncredited. The cartoon would earn a 1953 Academy Award nomination. (Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom from Disney won the Oscar.)
In an unusual move for the voice-over industry, Mr. Beals would always wear a suit and tie to recording sessions. Mark Evanier, who wrote the obit to which this post links, thought it was Mr. Beals’ way of reminded people that he was an adult not just a boy. (Mr. Evanier’s post has a link to an old Alka-Seltzer commercial featuring “Speedy” and…Buster Keaton. Brilliant.)
(From A to Z-Z-Z-Z is copyright of Warner Brothers and courtesy of abloink on YouTube.com. I recommend watching it. Note: There is a scene of Ralph being chased by stereotypical “Indians” that is tasteless by 21st century standards by acceptable in 1953.)
Obit of the Day: Co-Founder of the New York Film Festival
Amos Vogel came to the United States having escaped the Nazis in Austria. Only a teenager, Vogel worked at various jobs until he could learn English. And once he had he earned a dual degree in political science and economics from the New School for Social Research. His true love, however, was film.
In 1947 he formed a film club, Cinema 16, that would show films “rejected as too provocative, pornographic, subversive, or just too strange.” Starting with 200 members, Vogel would highlight foreign and independent directors including Roman Polanski, Alain Resnais, and John Cassavetes. By 1963, Cinema 16 had over 7000 members.
That same year Vogel partnered with Richard Roud, film critic for The Guardian of London, to create the first New York Film Festival. The festival opened with The Exterminating Angel directed by Luis Buñuel of Mexico. Vogel would lead the festival until 1968.
Amos Vogel, who also from the classic in film criticism Film as a Subversive Art, died six days after turning 91 years old.
(Image of the poster from the very first NY Film Festival is courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art. Here is the full citation: 1963. Offset lithograph, 46 x 29 7/8” (116.8 x 75.8 cm). Gift of Lincoln Center. © 2012 Estate of Larry Rivers/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY)
Obit of the Day (Historical): Sam Kinison (1992)
On April 10, 1992, comedian Sam Kinison was killed in a two-car accident on U.S. Highway 95 on the way to a performance. He was 38 years old.
Kinison was at the height of his stardom when he was killed. He had begun performing in Houston comedy clubs in 1978 not long after his divorce from his wife. Known for his comedic rants that often ended in his famous “scream,” Kinison was the son of a Pentecostal preacher - and trained as one himself. Because of his background Kinison’s routines often contained biting commentaries on religion and hypocrisy. When paired with material that was considered misogynist and homophobic, Kinison’s routines often bred controversy….and popularity.
Kinison had made appearances on David Letterman (back when Letterman was on NBC), as well as Rodney Dangerfield’s Young Comedians special, thrusting him into the spotlight. His fame grew after his appearance in Dangerfield’s 1986 comedy Back to School. Although on screen for only a minute-and-a-half, Kinison’s performance was one of the highlights of the film. Following the movie’s release Kinison was offered a special by HBO (in his NY Times obit, it’s still quaintly referred to as “Home Box Office”).
Kinison would appear on Married with Children as well as the short-lived FOX series Charlie Hoover. He also was a frequent guest on Howard Stern’s show. Stern later bought the film rights to the Sam’s brother’s memoir Brother Sam: The Short, Spectacular Life of Sam Kinison. (As of 2008 a biopic was in the works but nothing seems to have come of it.)
When Kinison died he was driving with his wife, Malika, who he had married only five days before his death. The driver of the pickup truck was a 17-year-old who was arrested for DUI and vehicular manslaughter. (Ironically, Kinison often mocked anti-drunk driving campaigns and jokingly defended the need for the behavior: “How else are we gonna get our cars home?”) The youth was sentenced to 300 hours of community service and one year of probation.
(Video is copyright of MGM and courtesy of paulc4567 on Youtube.com)
Obit of the Day: Put the Ponderosa on the Map
In 1959, Robert Ayres was asked by Paramount Pictures to create a map of the area outside of Virginia City, Nevada including a large area of ranch land, called “Ponderosa.” Ayres colorful illustration would serve as the opening image for the television show Bonanza for all fourteen seasons and 430 episodes, as well as decades of re-runs. The map, which was then copied so that it could be burned in the title sequence, was owned by the creator of the show, David Dortort, and is now in the collection of the Autry National Center of the American West.
Ayres, trained in art in Chicago and L.A., spent his career in Hollywood as a set illustrator on such movies as Ben-Hur, Blue Hawaii, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and The Black Hole. He also designed artwork for Disney’s EPCOT Center before he retired in 1980. Ayres died at the age of 98, just three days after visiting the Autry Center to see his Ponderosa map one more time.
(Image of the Ponderosa map is courtesy of The Autry Center of the American West and is on display permanently.)
