Shirley Jo Finney, a theater director and actor known for the 1975 TV biopic “Wilma,” died on Oct. 10 following an eight-month battle with cancer. She was 74.
The Fountain Theatre announced the news of Finney’s death in a statement on Friday.
“It shatters my heart beyond expression to announce the passing of my artistic sister,” said Stephen Sachs, artistic director of the Fountain Theatre. “I am deeply, deeply devastated. She was my theatrical soulmate for 26 years.”
Finney directed eight productions over many years at the Fountain Theatre, including Endesha Ida Mae Holland’s “From the Mississippi Delta”; Stephen Sachs’ “Central Avenue”; Dael Orlandersmith’s “Yellowman”; Ifa Bayeza’s “The Ballad of Emmett Till”; Claudia Rankin and Stephen Sachs’ “Citizen: An American Lyric”; and Jeremy J. Kamps’ “Runaway Home,” among other titles. Finney and her productions received several accolades, including the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP Theatre Award for best director for “Yellowman.
The Fountain Theatre announced the news of Finney’s death in a statement on Friday.
“It shatters my heart beyond expression to announce the passing of my artistic sister,” said Stephen Sachs, artistic director of the Fountain Theatre. “I am deeply, deeply devastated. She was my theatrical soulmate for 26 years.”
Finney directed eight productions over many years at the Fountain Theatre, including Endesha Ida Mae Holland’s “From the Mississippi Delta”; Stephen Sachs’ “Central Avenue”; Dael Orlandersmith’s “Yellowman”; Ifa Bayeza’s “The Ballad of Emmett Till”; Claudia Rankin and Stephen Sachs’ “Citizen: An American Lyric”; and Jeremy J. Kamps’ “Runaway Home,” among other titles. Finney and her productions received several accolades, including the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP Theatre Award for best director for “Yellowman.
- 10/15/2023
- by Jaden Thompson
- Variety Film + TV
Award-winning Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase has been appointed to helm the official film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The selection was made by the International Olympic Committee in collaboration with the Organizing Committee of the Games who review proposals from the host nation’s top filmmaking talent. Kawase was chosen after close consultation among Tokyo 2020, Japanese film experts, international film experts and the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage who guides the production on behalf of the Ioc.
Kawase, who is a regular at the Cannes Film Festival, is the fifth woman to direct an Official Film, following the works of Caroline Rowland (London 2012), Gu Jun (Beijing 2008), Mai Zetterling (for one of the segments of the film Munich 1972) and Leni Riefenstahl (Berlin 1936).
She will also build on a legacy of more than 100 years of Olympic Film, including documentaries created for past Olympic Games that were held in Japan: Tokyo 1964 (Kon Ichikawa...
Kawase, who is a regular at the Cannes Film Festival, is the fifth woman to direct an Official Film, following the works of Caroline Rowland (London 2012), Gu Jun (Beijing 2008), Mai Zetterling (for one of the segments of the film Munich 1972) and Leni Riefenstahl (Berlin 1936).
She will also build on a legacy of more than 100 years of Olympic Film, including documentaries created for past Olympic Games that were held in Japan: Tokyo 1964 (Kon Ichikawa...
- 10/23/2018
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
In this episode, David Blakeslee, Arik Devens and Aaron West take a break from watching live coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Peongchyang to talk about some of their favorite images from past Winter Games, as captured in the Criterion Collection’s massive release from late 2017, 100 Years of Olympic Films 1912-2012.
Spanning fifty-three movies and forty-one editions of the Olympic Games, 100 Years of Olympic Films: 1912–2012 is the culmination of a monumental, award-winning archival project encompassing dozens of new restorations by the International Olympic Committee. The documentaries collected here cast a cinematic eye on some of the most iconic moments in the history of modern sports, spotlighting athletes who embody the Olympic motto of “Faster, Higher, Stronger”: Jesse Owens shattering world records on the track in 1936 Berlin, Jean-Claude Killy dominating the Grenoble slopes in 1968, Joan Benoit breaking away to win the Games’ first women’s marathon in Los Angeles in...
Spanning fifty-three movies and forty-one editions of the Olympic Games, 100 Years of Olympic Films: 1912–2012 is the culmination of a monumental, award-winning archival project encompassing dozens of new restorations by the International Olympic Committee. The documentaries collected here cast a cinematic eye on some of the most iconic moments in the history of modern sports, spotlighting athletes who embody the Olympic motto of “Faster, Higher, Stronger”: Jesse Owens shattering world records on the track in 1936 Berlin, Jean-Claude Killy dominating the Grenoble slopes in 1968, Joan Benoit breaking away to win the Games’ first women’s marathon in Los Angeles in...
- 2/20/2018
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
The Criterion Collection has unveiled its holiday slate, with “Election” leading the list of titles being released this December. Joining Alexander Payne’s classic in the Collection are a new digital transfer of Barbet Schroeder’s documentary “General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait,” “The Complete Monterey Pop Festival,” and the previously announced “100 Years of Olympic Films 1912-2012.” More information — and, just as importantly, cover art — below:
Read More:Criterion Collection Announces November Titles, Including Seminal Lesbian Drama ‘Desert Hearts’ and ‘The Philadelphia Story’
“Election”
“Perky, overachieving Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) gets on the nerves of history teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) to begin with, but after she launches her campaign for high-school president and his personal life starts to fall apart, things spiral out of control. In Alexander Payne’s satire ‘Election,’ the teacher becomes unhealthily obsessed with cutting his student down to size, covertly backing a spoiler candidate to...
Read More:Criterion Collection Announces November Titles, Including Seminal Lesbian Drama ‘Desert Hearts’ and ‘The Philadelphia Story’
“Election”
“Perky, overachieving Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) gets on the nerves of history teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) to begin with, but after she launches her campaign for high-school president and his personal life starts to fall apart, things spiral out of control. In Alexander Payne’s satire ‘Election,’ the teacher becomes unhealthily obsessed with cutting his student down to size, covertly backing a spoiler candidate to...
- 9/15/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(June 2011, screening at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival)
Directed by: Eric Drath
Featuring: Renée Richards, Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Barbara Krohn, Nicholas Raskind, Bud Collins, Mary Carillo, Billie Jean King and Virginia Wade
For those familiar with the tennis legacy of Renée Richards (even if only as an answer to a Trivial Pursuit question), Eric Drath’s Espn Films documentary serves up (no pun intended) an engrossing documentary. Richards’ efforts as a male, then as a professional female tennis player deserve to be more widely known, and the transsexual’s exploits on and off the court in the late 1970s must be considered in any assessment of public pioneers for the Lgbt cause.
Born Richard Raskind in 1934, the Yale athlete and medical-school graduate seemed to have everything going for him as a surgeon and first-class amateur tennis player. That he felt compelled to embrace his...
(June 2011, screening at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival)
Directed by: Eric Drath
Featuring: Renée Richards, Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Barbara Krohn, Nicholas Raskind, Bud Collins, Mary Carillo, Billie Jean King and Virginia Wade
For those familiar with the tennis legacy of Renée Richards (even if only as an answer to a Trivial Pursuit question), Eric Drath’s Espn Films documentary serves up (no pun intended) an engrossing documentary. Richards’ efforts as a male, then as a professional female tennis player deserve to be more widely known, and the transsexual’s exploits on and off the court in the late 1970s must be considered in any assessment of public pioneers for the Lgbt cause.
Born Richard Raskind in 1934, the Yale athlete and medical-school graduate seemed to have everything going for him as a surgeon and first-class amateur tennis player. That he felt compelled to embrace his...
- 6/19/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(June 2011, screening at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival)
Directed by: Eric Drath
Featuring: Renée Richards, Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Barbara Krohn, Nicholas Raskind, Bud Collins, Mary Carillo, Billie Jean King and Virginia Wade
For those familiar with the tennis legacy of Renée Richards (even if only as an answer to a Trivial Pursuit question), Eric Drath’s Espn Films documentary serves up (no pun intended) an engrossing documentary. Richards’ efforts as a male, then as a professional female tennis player deserve to be more widely known, and the transsexual’s exploits on and off the court in the late 1970s must be considered in any assessment of public pioneers for the Lgbt cause.
Born Richard Raskind in 1934, the Yale athlete and medical-school graduate seemed to have everything going for him as a surgeon and first-class amateur tennis player. That he felt compelled to embrace his...
(June 2011, screening at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival)
Directed by: Eric Drath
Featuring: Renée Richards, Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Barbara Krohn, Nicholas Raskind, Bud Collins, Mary Carillo, Billie Jean King and Virginia Wade
For those familiar with the tennis legacy of Renée Richards (even if only as an answer to a Trivial Pursuit question), Eric Drath’s Espn Films documentary serves up (no pun intended) an engrossing documentary. Richards’ efforts as a male, then as a professional female tennis player deserve to be more widely known, and the transsexual’s exploits on and off the court in the late 1970s must be considered in any assessment of public pioneers for the Lgbt cause.
Born Richard Raskind in 1934, the Yale athlete and medical-school graduate seemed to have everything going for him as a surgeon and first-class amateur tennis player. That he felt compelled to embrace his...
- 6/19/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Welcome of the 269th Edition of my series. This week, I pay tribute to Bud Greenspan and Anne Francis who both recently left us. Today I will just be watching football, now that the 49ers are not in and the Colts got knocked out, I will support the Eagles and Chiefs to go into the superbowl because of their running backs really helping me in Fantasy Football this year. This edition was very...
- 1/9/2011
- by Shaun Berk
Universal Sports has announced plans for a nine-night celebration of legendary sports filmmaker Bud Greenspan, who passed away on Christmas Day at age 84 after battling Parkinson's disease. Greenspan is best known for his series of documentaries chronicling the Olympic Games, many of which are rarely seen anymore and are not currently available on DVD.
The tribute, which Universal Sports is dubbing "Nine Nights of Glory," begins Saturday (Jan. 1, 9/8c) with the iconic 16 Days of Glory: Los Angeles '84. "Bud Greenspan ...
Read More >...
The tribute, which Universal Sports is dubbing "Nine Nights of Glory," begins Saturday (Jan. 1, 9/8c) with the iconic 16 Days of Glory: Los Angeles '84. "Bud Greenspan ...
Read More >...
- 12/30/2010
- by Rich Sands
- TVGuide - Breaking News
Revered documentary maker Bud Greenspan has lost his battle with Parkinson's disease. The "100 Years of Olympic Glory" director died in New York on Christmas Day, December 25 , aged 84.
In his landmark 1996 documentary about the Olympic Games, Greenspan interviewed hundreds of athletes who had taken part in the sporting event throughout the 1900s. Greenspan began his career as a sports broadcaster in New York and his love of all things Olympic Games began in 1952 when he covered the event in Helsinki, Finland.
In his first major film, "Jesse Owens Returns To Berlin", Greenspan chronicled the American sprinter's return to the scene of his medal-winning triumphs at Adolf Hitler's 1936 Olympics in the early 1960s. Greenspan served as the official documentarian of seven summer and winter Olympics. He won seven Emmy Awards.
In his landmark 1996 documentary about the Olympic Games, Greenspan interviewed hundreds of athletes who had taken part in the sporting event throughout the 1900s. Greenspan began his career as a sports broadcaster in New York and his love of all things Olympic Games began in 1952 when he covered the event in Helsinki, Finland.
In his first major film, "Jesse Owens Returns To Berlin", Greenspan chronicled the American sprinter's return to the scene of his medal-winning triumphs at Adolf Hitler's 1936 Olympics in the early 1960s. Greenspan served as the official documentarian of seven summer and winter Olympics. He won seven Emmy Awards.
- 12/27/2010
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
Revered documentary maker Bud Greenspan has lost his battle with Parkinson's disease.
The 100 Years of Olympic Glory director died in New York on Christmas Day, aged 84.
In his landmark 1996 documentary about the Olympic Games, Greenspan interviewed hundreds of athletes who had taken part in the sporting event throughout the 1900s.
Greenspan began his career as a sports broadcaster in New York and his love of all things Olympic Games began in 1952 when he covered the event in Helsinki, Finland.
In his first major film, Jesse Owens Returns To Berlin, Greenspan chronicled the American sprinter's return to the scene of his medal-winning triumphs at Adolf Hitler's 1936 Olympics in the early 1960s.
Greenspan served as the official documentarian of seven summer and winter Olympics. He won seven Emmy Awards.
The 100 Years of Olympic Glory director died in New York on Christmas Day, aged 84.
In his landmark 1996 documentary about the Olympic Games, Greenspan interviewed hundreds of athletes who had taken part in the sporting event throughout the 1900s.
Greenspan began his career as a sports broadcaster in New York and his love of all things Olympic Games began in 1952 when he covered the event in Helsinki, Finland.
In his first major film, Jesse Owens Returns To Berlin, Greenspan chronicled the American sprinter's return to the scene of his medal-winning triumphs at Adolf Hitler's 1936 Olympics in the early 1960s.
Greenspan served as the official documentarian of seven summer and winter Olympics. He won seven Emmy Awards.
- 12/27/2010
- WENN
Bud Greenspan, who for six decades chronicled the lives of Olympic athletes in his uplifting documentary films, died Saturday of complications from Parkinson's disease, his companion and business partner said. He was 84. Greenspan died at his home in New York City, Nancy Beffa said. Greenspan's first Olympics were the 1948 London Games, and he was a familiar sight at nearly every Summer and Winter games thereafter, including the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, from which his work will be released in the coming weeks. His films always focused on the most inspirational stories, even as...
- 12/27/2010
- The Wrap
Oh, to catch Bud Greenspan's eye and then turn up in one of his Olympic documentaries. For many athletes, from the famous to the obscure, the honor ranked just behind winning a medal.
The filmmaker, whose riveting tales soared as triumphantly as the men and women he chronicled for more than six decades, died Saturday at his home in New York City of complications from Parkinson's disease, companion Nancy Beffa said. He was 84.
"Bud was a storyteller first and foremost. He never lost his sense of wonder and he never wavered in the stories he wanted to tell, nor how he told them," she said through a family friend. "No schmalzy music, no fog machines, none of that. He wanted to show why athletes endured what they did and how they accomplished what so few people ever do."
As a 21-year-old radio reporter, Greenspan filed his first Olympic story...
The filmmaker, whose riveting tales soared as triumphantly as the men and women he chronicled for more than six decades, died Saturday at his home in New York City of complications from Parkinson's disease, companion Nancy Beffa said. He was 84.
"Bud was a storyteller first and foremost. He never lost his sense of wonder and he never wavered in the stories he wanted to tell, nor how he told them," she said through a family friend. "No schmalzy music, no fog machines, none of that. He wanted to show why athletes endured what they did and how they accomplished what so few people ever do."
As a 21-year-old radio reporter, Greenspan filed his first Olympic story...
- 12/27/2010
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Bud Greenspan, the filmmaker whose documentaries often soared as triumphantly as the Olympic athletes he chronicled for more than six decades, died at his home in New York City. He was 84. He died Saturday from complications of Parkinson's disease, companion Nancy Beffa said. Greenspan's most recent work dealt with the rough cuts of films from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. The award-winning filmmaker unapologetically focused on both the large and small successes of the athletes in the Summer and Winter Games. His career took off with a film he made in 1964 about Olympian Jesse Owens returning to the scene...
- 12/26/2010
- by Jim Litke (AP)
- Hitfix
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