Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-27 of 27
- Actress
- Director
- Producer
The early film career of Stella Stevens could be said to mirror that of Marilyn Monroe. She began by playing a succession of sensuous, blond glamour girls, from naïve virgins and funny coquettes to precocious or briny-tongued floozies. Her early maturity on screen may have reflected her own turbulent private life: she was married at 15, had a child (Andrew Stevens) at 16 and was divorced a year later. At 21, having a child to support and no money, she posed for a celebrated Playboy centerfold. She was Playmate of the Month for January 1960 which did her subsequent movie career no harm whatever. She was voted by Playboy as one of the 100 Sexiest Women of the 20th century and became one of the most photographed stars of the 1960s.
The voluptuous, blue-eyed Stella was born Estelle Caro Eggleston to one of the oldest families in Yazoo City, Mississippi. A myth which had her hailing from the quaintly named area of Hot Coffee was purely an invention by Hollywood publicists. Her father, Thomas Ellet Eggleston, was an insurance salesman, her mother, Estelle (nee Caro), a nurse. The family moved to Memphis when she was four.
During her early childhood, Stella was nicknamed "Bootsie". Precocious and impatient to grow up, she took to watching movies at every opportunity. It became her main passion. Graduating from high school in 1955, she spent two years attending Memphis State University where she was 'discovered' during a production of Bus Stop in the role of aspiring nightclub singer Chérie (famously played by Marilyn in the film version). Borrowing some money, Stella made her way to the bright lights of Los Angeles and was signed by 20th Century Fox in 1959. She made only three films for the studio during a six months spell before her contract was dropped, her debut being a bit part in Frank Tashlin's saccharine comedy-drama Say One for Me (1959).
Her role won her a Golden Globe Award as Most Promising Newcomer. That same year, she was picked up by Paramount and made her first breakthrough on the screen as the vampish Apassionata von Climax in the film version of the hit Broadway musical Li'l Abner (1959), based on Al Capp's comic strip.
She alternated motion pictures with television appearances, displaying a perhaps unexpectedly wide range as an actress in both dramatic and comedic roles. She stood out in films like Too Late Blues (1961) and The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), both under greatly contrasting directorial styles.
Above all, she saw herself not as a sex icon but as a comedienne. She once said "I want to be remembered for whatever made people laugh the most." Unafraid to do physical comedy in the manner of Lucille Ball she was also often lauded for her comic timing in films like The Silencers (1966) (a James Bond-style spoof, co-starring a sleepy-eyed Dean Martin) and Where Angels Go Trouble Follows! (1968). In the 1970s, her best role was as a warmhearted prostitute in Sam Peckinpah's seminal western The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970). Writer and critic Roger Ebert wrote of her performance "There are few enough actresses who can be funny and feminine at the same time, but she is certainly one of them." Conversely, in the classic disaster epic The Poseidon Adventure (1972), she played a former hooker with a heart closer to tin.
Like many film careers, hers too experienced a fair share of hiccups along the way, often due to typecasting: duds like Slaughter (1972), Stand Up and Be Counted (1972), Las Vegas Lady (1975), The Manitou (1978), and others. However, Stella proved resourceful enough to diversify and go behind the camera, both as producer and director of a feature-length documentary, The American Heroine (1979). She co-authored a novel entitled 'Razzle, Dazzle' (published in 1999), about the rise and fall of a glamorous rock star. She unveiled her own range of women's and men's fragrances, called 'Sexy'.
During the 1980s and 1990s, she concentrated primarily on television and enjoyed lengthy tenures on the glossy soaps Flamingo Road (1980) and Santa Barbara (1984), in addition to many guest appearances in shows as diverse as Police Story (1973), Hotel (1983), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985) and In the Heat of the Night (1988). In 1976, she briefly forsook the glamour of Beverly Hills and set up home on a 27-acre ranch on the edge of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State and then proceeded to operate an art gallery and bakery in a nearby town.
By 1983, she had returned to her Beverly Hills home where she lived with her partner (rock guitarist Bob Kulick), until the home was sold in 2016. Afflicted by Alzheimer's disease, Stella Stevens spent her remaining years in an assisted living home in California and passed away in Los Angeles on February 17 2023 at the age of 84.- Director
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
George Miller was born on 28 November 1943 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. He was a director and producer, known for The Man from Snowy River (1982), Matlock Police (1971) and The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990). He died on 17 February 2023 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.- Actor
- Make-Up Department
- Soundtrack
Lee Whitlock was born on 17 April 1968 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Cassandra's Dream (2007) and Jack the Giant Slayer (2013). He died on 17 February 2023.- Joyce Arleen was born on 20 May 1931 in New Jersey, USA. She was an actress, known for The Gay Sisters (1942), Kings Row (1942) and Our Neighbors - The Carters (1939). She was married to Al Baldock. She died on 17 February 2023 in Bakersfield, California, USA.
- Composer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Music Department
Kyle Jacobs was born on 26 June 1973 in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA. He was a composer, known for Lee Brice: I Drive Your Truck (2012), Nashville (2012) and CMT Hot 20 Countdown (2001). He was married to Kellie Pickler. He died on 17 February 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Patti Love was born on 18 August 1947 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. She was an actress, known for The Long Good Friday (1980), Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005) and An Awfully Big Adventure (1995). She died on 17 February 2023 in London, England, UK.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Shahnawaz Pradhan was born on 6 December 1963 in Raj Khariar, Nuapada, Orissa, India. He was an actor, known for Raees (2017), 24: India (2013) and M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016). He died on 17 February 2023 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Composer, author and oboist, educated at Juilliard (BS). He was first oboist for the Dallas Symphony and the New York Little Orchestra between 1948 and 1956. Then he joined Revue Studios in California, lasting until 1960, thereafter working freelance. Joining ASCAP in 1956, his chief musical collaborators included Johnny Mercer and Jack Brooks.- Jenny Clève was born on 3 April 1930 in Roubaix, Nord, France. She was an actress, known for Welcome to the Sticks (2008), IP5: The Island of Pachyderms (1992) and Temporale Rosy (1980). She was married to Claude Talpaert. She died on 17 February 2023 in Tourcoing, Nord, France.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Writer
Academy Award winner, Tom Whitlock '76, did not have a typical college experience. Student by day, rock n roll artist by night, Whitlock spread out his college career over several decades, allowing him to build a solo career as a songwriter. Whitlock's music has been featured in movies such as Beverly Hills Cop, Ten Things I Hate About You, and most notably, Top Gun. His love song, "Take My Breath Away," won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1986. Whitlock grew up in Springfield, Missouri, spending his high school days attending class during the day and playing with his rock bands on the weekends throughout the Midwest. He continued this lifestyle throughout college. Between several contracts with Columbia Pictures and other movie production companies, Whitlock managed to complete most of his credits at Drury University to complete a degree in music from 1971 - '81. But his successful music career prevented him from graduating. Though lacking a bachelor's degree, Whitlock found great value in the knowledge gained from his classes at Drury. He credits Dr. Richard Mears and Dr. James Livingston with exposing him to literature that positively influenced his music. In 1999, Drury finally awarded Whitlock a degree- an honorary doctorate in music. When asked which musical accomplishment was most important to him, Whitlock did not have an answer. "The reason for it is always the next song. My mind is always on the next project, the job of the day." Whitlock works with artists across the globe, creating music for movies in America to rock bands in Australia. Among his many accomplishments, including several gold and platinum records, Drury honored Whitlock with a Distinguished Alumni award in 1998.- Composer
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Hans Poulsen was born on 7 March 1945 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was a composer and actor, known for December Boys (2007), Travelling Light (2003) and Getting Back to Nothing (1971). He died on 17 February 2023 in Australia.- Actress
- Writer
Lyudmila Abramova was born on 16 August 1939 in Moscow, Russia. She was an actress and writer, known for 713 prosit posadku (1962), Vostochny koridor (1967) and Poka ne vypal sneg... (1984). She was married to Vladimir Vysotskiy and Yuri Ovcharenko. She died on 17 February 2023 in Moscow, Russia.- Michaël Denard was born on 5 November 1944 in Dresden, Germany. He was an actor, known for La rumba (1987), La Dame aux Camélias (2008) and Chouette, chat, chien... show (1980). He died on 17 February 2023 in Paris, France.
- Otilia Docaos was an actress, known for Disparen a matar (1990), María María (1990) and Intermezzo (1988). She died on 17 February 2023 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
- Born in Seattle, Washington in 1944, he was a movie buff and an amateur thespian through high school, community theater, and college productions. He was accepted into the U of W's BFA Professional Actor's Training Program in 1970, then in its third year of existence; still turning out actors 36 years later. He worked in Regional Theatre in the Northwest for a few years, and then relocated to Los Angeles. In 1977, he took a job at an agency for the blind that was located near Hollywood, and he found a new love; special education. He returned to college, getting his MA in Education, and has been working with blind people for 30 years.
- Amritpal Chotu was an actor, known for Singh Is King (2008), Sardaarji 2 (2016) and Dhan Dhan Baba Buddan Shah Ji (2013). He died on 17 February 2023 in India.
- Erwin Berner was born in 1953 in East Berlin, East Germany. He was an actor, known for Präriejäger in Mexiko (1988), Geschichten übern Gartenzaun (1982) and Der Blitzprozess (1977). He died on 17 February 2023.
- Director
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Maurizio Scaparro was born on 2 September 1932 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for L'ultimo Pulcinella (2008), Don Chisciotte (1984) and Amerika (2004). He died on 17 February 2023 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Leonid Zhukhovitsky was born on 5 May 1932 in Kiev, USSR. He was a writer, known for Brief Encounters (1967), Siramargi tchiche (1983) and Rebyonok k noyabryu (1992). He died on 17 February 2023.
- Lucien Georges was born in 1937 in Miziara, Zghorta, Lebanon. He died on 17 February 2023 in Beirut, Lebanon.
- Music Department
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jerry Dodgion was born on 29 August 1932 in Richmond, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Malcolm X (1992), Hands of a Stranger (1962) and Brother on the Run (1973). He died on 17 February 2023 in Queens, New York, USA.- Pansequito was born in January 1945 in La Línea de la Concepción, Cádiz, Andalucía, Spain. He was an actor, known for Todos con la copla (2003). He died on 17 February 2023 in Spain.
- Actress
- Director
Henrietta Mbawah was an actress and director, known for Santana City (2016), Refugees: Life in Exile (2013) and A Stitch in Time (2014). She died on 17 February 2023 in Sierra Leone.- Aleksandr Gusenkov was born on 9 January 1942. He was an actor, known for Delo bilo v Gavrilovke (2007). He died on 17 February 2023.
- Vijay Kichlu died on 17 February 2023 in India.
- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Stunts
Dan Palumbo was born on 7 April 1966. He was an actor, known for Where's Smilin Sarah (2022) and The Mourning After (2006). He died on 17 February 2023.- Rebecca Blank was born on 19 September 1955 in Columbia, Missouri, USA. She was married to Hanns Kuttner. She died on 17 February 2023 in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, USA.