Conny Van Dyke, a singer-songwriter signed to Motown Records who starred in such films as “W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings” and “Framed,” has died. She was 78.
Van Dyke died on Nov. 11 at her home in Los Angeles due to complications of vascular dementia, her son Bronson Page told Variety.
The Detroit native was a longtime colon cancer and stroke survivor. She got her start in the entertainment industry when she was just 15 and a student in high school, making the film “Among the Thorns” with Tom Laughlin, Bill Wellman Jr. and Stephanie Powers. During that time, Van Dyke also worked as a songwriter for Wheelsville Records in Detroit.
In 1961, Van Dyke signed with Motown Records, making her one of the first white recording artists on the label. Her first two singles, “Oh, Freddy,” written by Smokey Robinson, and “It Hurt Me Too,” previously written and recorded by Marvin Gaye, were...
Van Dyke died on Nov. 11 at her home in Los Angeles due to complications of vascular dementia, her son Bronson Page told Variety.
The Detroit native was a longtime colon cancer and stroke survivor. She got her start in the entertainment industry when she was just 15 and a student in high school, making the film “Among the Thorns” with Tom Laughlin, Bill Wellman Jr. and Stephanie Powers. During that time, Van Dyke also worked as a songwriter for Wheelsville Records in Detroit.
In 1961, Van Dyke signed with Motown Records, making her one of the first white recording artists on the label. Her first two singles, “Oh, Freddy,” written by Smokey Robinson, and “It Hurt Me Too,” previously written and recorded by Marvin Gaye, were...
- 11/11/2023
- by Valerie Wu
- Variety Film + TV
James Hampton, best known for his roles in “F Troop,” “Teen Wolf” and “The Longest Yard,” for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination, died Wednesday due to complications from Parkinson’s disease, his agent confirmed to Variety. He was 84.
An award-winning actor, director, writer and producer, Hampton enjoyed a career in entertainment that spanned half a century before retiring to his native Texas.
Born in Oklahoma City and raised in Dallas, he served in the Army after attending North Texas State College. Shortly after, he landed a role in the hit television series, “Gunsmoke.”
On “Gunsmoke,” he met and developed a close relationship with Burt Reynolds. The pair worked together on “The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing,” “The Longest Yard,” “W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings” and “Hustle.” Hampton also wrote and directed several episodes of Reynolds’ CBS sitcom, “Evening Shade.”
Throughout his career, Hampton played supporting roles in films like “The China Syndrome,...
An award-winning actor, director, writer and producer, Hampton enjoyed a career in entertainment that spanned half a century before retiring to his native Texas.
Born in Oklahoma City and raised in Dallas, he served in the Army after attending North Texas State College. Shortly after, he landed a role in the hit television series, “Gunsmoke.”
On “Gunsmoke,” he met and developed a close relationship with Burt Reynolds. The pair worked together on “The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing,” “The Longest Yard,” “W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings” and “Hustle.” Hampton also wrote and directed several episodes of Reynolds’ CBS sitcom, “Evening Shade.”
Throughout his career, Hampton played supporting roles in films like “The China Syndrome,...
- 4/8/2021
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Burt Reynolds, one of Hollywood’s most popular leading men during the ’70s and early ’80s in such films as “Deliverance,” “Smokey and the Bandit, “The Longest Yard” and “Semi-Tough,” has died. His rep confirmed that he died Thursday in Jupiter, Fla. He was 82.
He later earned an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ode to skin flicks, “Boogie Nights.” He had been set to appear in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Hollywood.”
Reynolds’ appeal lay in his post-modern macho posture undercut by a wry self-awareness, which he used to good effect in comedies as well as action films. For a period during the ’70s he was the nation’s top box office draw. But after one too many bad movies, his popularity waned. He returned to television, where he’d gotten his start, mostly in Westerns, and produced his own sitcom, “Evening Shade,” which brought him an Emmy.
He later earned an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ode to skin flicks, “Boogie Nights.” He had been set to appear in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Hollywood.”
Reynolds’ appeal lay in his post-modern macho posture undercut by a wry self-awareness, which he used to good effect in comedies as well as action films. For a period during the ’70s he was the nation’s top box office draw. But after one too many bad movies, his popularity waned. He returned to television, where he’d gotten his start, mostly in Westerns, and produced his own sitcom, “Evening Shade,” which brought him an Emmy.
- 9/6/2018
- by Richard Natale
- Variety Film + TV
Chicago – His films were more popular than his name, but director John G. Avildsen did put his mark on the last 30 years of 20th Century movies. Avildsen died last week at the age of 81. He is known best for the Oscar Best Picture-winning “Rocky” (1976), but also did the controversial “Joe” (1970), “Save the Tiger” (1973, Best Actor Oscar for Jack Lemmon), John Belushi’s last film “Neighbors” (1981), “The Karate Kid” (1984), “Lean on Me” (1989) and “8 Seconds” (1994). Patrick McDonald, Spike Walters and Jon Espino of HollywoodChicago.com offer three essays on their Avildsen favorites.
Director John G. Avildsen on the Set of ‘Rocky’ with Sylvester Stallone
Photo credit: United Artists
John G. Avildsen was born in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, and graduated from New York University. He started as an assistant director for Arthur Penn and Otto Preminger, before breaking out on his own in the low budget “Joe,” featuring Peter Boyle, in 1970. He scored his biggest success with “Rocky” in 1976 – winning the Oscar for Best Director – and revisited the franchise later with “Rocky V” (1990). He also directed both sequels to “Karate Kid” with “Part II” (1986) and “Part III” (1989). At his peak, he was the original director for “Serpico” (1973) and “Saturday Night Fever” (1977), but was let go from both films. His final film as director was “Inferno” (1999), featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Avildsen passed away in Los Angeles on June 16th, 2017, of complications due to pancreatic cancer. He was 81 years old.
Patrick McDonald, Spike Walters and Jon Lennon Espino of HollywoodChicago.com pay tribute to the director who was nicknamed “King of the Underdogs,” with the following film essays.
Rocky (1976) by Patrick McDonald
Rocky
Photo credit: MGM Home Entertainment
“Rocky” is a miracle of a film, considering both its eventual prize (Oscar Best Picture) and the way it made it to the screen the first place. A broke actor named Sylvester Stallones writes a desired boxing movie script that has one caveat… he must portray the title character. As a gambit, he proposes a budget of only one million dollars, and the film gets the green light. For all of the notion of Stallone as Rocky’s prime creator, it is actually director John Avildsen who delivered the on-screen goods – the famous running scene, the freeze frame on the top of Philadelphia’s “Rocky Steps,” boxing sequences that had never been seen before and the third use of the (just invented) Steadicam by a major motion picture.
Avildsen loved to tell the stories of having Stallone write additional dialogue because the budget was so tight they couldn’t afford to match Rocky’s boxing shorts with the on-set posters or send back his too-big ring entrance robe. And remember the classic song “Gonna Fly Now”? It was Avildsen who brought in composer Bill Conti from his previous directorial effort of the Burt Reynolds film, “W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings.” The underdog of underdog films was delivered to a Bicentennial audience, and the little-movie-that-could took home Oscars for Best Picture, Director and Editing, in addition to being the highest grossing film of 1976. No wonder Avildsen became the “Ka-Ching of the Underdogs.”
Gonna Fly Now: The portrayal of the character of Rocky by Stallone was never better in this film, with Six sequels now in the culture. Director Ryan Coogler of the latest Rocky adventure, the excellent “Creed,” seemed to use the John Avildsen template in approaching the sequencing of that story.
The Karate Kid (1984) by Spike Walters
The Karate Kid
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
John G Avildson was a bit of a journeyman… his Oscar notwithstanding. He wasn’t one of those visionaries who develop a signature style, but his subtle gift was making a formula work. And they don’t come much more formulaic than 1984’s underdog/odd couple buddy movie “The Karate Kid.” Yet Avildson knew how to inject heart into this story of the undersized “Kid” and his quiet but powerful teacher. As the listless remake and some of its later sequels show, this is not nearly as easy as Avildson makes it look here – this is the 1980’s classic that scored Pat Morita an Oscar nomination and holds up relatively well today. It’s not exactly groundbreaking but director Avildson knew how to make the most of it.
Gonna Fly Now: You’d expect the man who directed the original “Rocky” to find the right beats in the inevitable training montage, but Kid Daniel’s “crane kick” training – which predictably but winningly leads to a triumph at the end – still delivers the goods.
Lean On Me (1989) by Jon Lennon Espino
Lean on Me
Photo credit: Warner Home Video
High school sometimes get a bad rap as a physical hell on Earth. John G. Avildsen’s “Lean On Me” does nothing to make anyone think otherwise. Avildsen, like many of his films, has fun with this one. He shows us an exaggerated look at a public school system after minorities have taken over the neighborhood. The director has long had a fascination with creating hero stories, and in this one, he gives us a breakout performance by Morgan Freeman… his performance and approach to the character is everything! This movie lives on the over-the-top action of Freeman, breathing a fun air into the entire film as he does things that may be extremely illegal in real life, but are completely entertaining within the scope of the film. Avildsen knows exactly how to set a scene, which you know right away after the opening montage that is essentially a music video. His films often have an after school special feel, but “Lean On Me” shows just how well it works even when school is still in session.
Gonna Fly Now: The opening credits where we are taken on a tour of the school while Guns-n-Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” is playing. He hilariously frames and choreographs the fighting to simulate feral animals in the jungle.
John G. Avildsen, 1935-2017
By Patrick McDONALDWriter, Editorial CoordinatorHollywoodChicago.compat@hollywoodchicago.com
© 2017 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com...
Director John G. Avildsen on the Set of ‘Rocky’ with Sylvester Stallone
Photo credit: United Artists
John G. Avildsen was born in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, and graduated from New York University. He started as an assistant director for Arthur Penn and Otto Preminger, before breaking out on his own in the low budget “Joe,” featuring Peter Boyle, in 1970. He scored his biggest success with “Rocky” in 1976 – winning the Oscar for Best Director – and revisited the franchise later with “Rocky V” (1990). He also directed both sequels to “Karate Kid” with “Part II” (1986) and “Part III” (1989). At his peak, he was the original director for “Serpico” (1973) and “Saturday Night Fever” (1977), but was let go from both films. His final film as director was “Inferno” (1999), featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Avildsen passed away in Los Angeles on June 16th, 2017, of complications due to pancreatic cancer. He was 81 years old.
Patrick McDonald, Spike Walters and Jon Lennon Espino of HollywoodChicago.com pay tribute to the director who was nicknamed “King of the Underdogs,” with the following film essays.
Rocky (1976) by Patrick McDonald
Rocky
Photo credit: MGM Home Entertainment
“Rocky” is a miracle of a film, considering both its eventual prize (Oscar Best Picture) and the way it made it to the screen the first place. A broke actor named Sylvester Stallones writes a desired boxing movie script that has one caveat… he must portray the title character. As a gambit, he proposes a budget of only one million dollars, and the film gets the green light. For all of the notion of Stallone as Rocky’s prime creator, it is actually director John Avildsen who delivered the on-screen goods – the famous running scene, the freeze frame on the top of Philadelphia’s “Rocky Steps,” boxing sequences that had never been seen before and the third use of the (just invented) Steadicam by a major motion picture.
Avildsen loved to tell the stories of having Stallone write additional dialogue because the budget was so tight they couldn’t afford to match Rocky’s boxing shorts with the on-set posters or send back his too-big ring entrance robe. And remember the classic song “Gonna Fly Now”? It was Avildsen who brought in composer Bill Conti from his previous directorial effort of the Burt Reynolds film, “W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings.” The underdog of underdog films was delivered to a Bicentennial audience, and the little-movie-that-could took home Oscars for Best Picture, Director and Editing, in addition to being the highest grossing film of 1976. No wonder Avildsen became the “Ka-Ching of the Underdogs.”
Gonna Fly Now: The portrayal of the character of Rocky by Stallone was never better in this film, with Six sequels now in the culture. Director Ryan Coogler of the latest Rocky adventure, the excellent “Creed,” seemed to use the John Avildsen template in approaching the sequencing of that story.
The Karate Kid (1984) by Spike Walters
The Karate Kid
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
John G Avildson was a bit of a journeyman… his Oscar notwithstanding. He wasn’t one of those visionaries who develop a signature style, but his subtle gift was making a formula work. And they don’t come much more formulaic than 1984’s underdog/odd couple buddy movie “The Karate Kid.” Yet Avildson knew how to inject heart into this story of the undersized “Kid” and his quiet but powerful teacher. As the listless remake and some of its later sequels show, this is not nearly as easy as Avildson makes it look here – this is the 1980’s classic that scored Pat Morita an Oscar nomination and holds up relatively well today. It’s not exactly groundbreaking but director Avildson knew how to make the most of it.
Gonna Fly Now: You’d expect the man who directed the original “Rocky” to find the right beats in the inevitable training montage, but Kid Daniel’s “crane kick” training – which predictably but winningly leads to a triumph at the end – still delivers the goods.
Lean On Me (1989) by Jon Lennon Espino
Lean on Me
Photo credit: Warner Home Video
High school sometimes get a bad rap as a physical hell on Earth. John G. Avildsen’s “Lean On Me” does nothing to make anyone think otherwise. Avildsen, like many of his films, has fun with this one. He shows us an exaggerated look at a public school system after minorities have taken over the neighborhood. The director has long had a fascination with creating hero stories, and in this one, he gives us a breakout performance by Morgan Freeman… his performance and approach to the character is everything! This movie lives on the over-the-top action of Freeman, breathing a fun air into the entire film as he does things that may be extremely illegal in real life, but are completely entertaining within the scope of the film. Avildsen knows exactly how to set a scene, which you know right away after the opening montage that is essentially a music video. His films often have an after school special feel, but “Lean On Me” shows just how well it works even when school is still in session.
Gonna Fly Now: The opening credits where we are taken on a tour of the school while Guns-n-Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” is playing. He hilariously frames and choreographs the fighting to simulate feral animals in the jungle.
John G. Avildsen, 1935-2017
By Patrick McDONALDWriter, Editorial CoordinatorHollywoodChicago.compat@hollywoodchicago.com
© 2017 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com...
- 6/23/2017
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Of the two biggest franchise-launchers of 1977, one involved a pair of rebellious outlaws with a shaggy sidekick, a runaway heroine, a Mutt-and-Jeff pair of tall-short comic relief characters, epic-length chases, spectacular stunts, and endless vehicular mayhem. The other was "Star Wars." Yep, we're talkin' "Smokey and the Bandit," which opened 35 years ago this week (on May 27, 1977) and wound up grossing more money than any movie that year except for George Lucas' interstellar road adventure. It also launched a truckload of sequels on film and TV, gave Burt Reynolds his most iconic role, helped make movie stars out of country guitarist Jerry Reed and TV sitcom starlet Sally Field, provided a career comeback for Jackie Gleason, and sent Pontiac Trans Am sales soaring. Still, as popular as Reynolds and his muscle car were, there's plenty about "Smokey and the Bandit" that you may not know. Read on to learn Bandit's real name,...
- 5/28/2012
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
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