Jonnathon Demme director of Philedelphia and Silence of the Lambs has died He was a hell of a good director and a great activist .RIP http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39724613 Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning director of The Silence of the Lambs, has died in New York at the age of 73. His publicist confirmed he died from complications from oesophageal cancer. Born in 1944, Demme's other features included Philadelphia, Something Wild and the Talking Heads documentary Stop Making Sense. British actress Thandie Newton, who worked with him on Beloved and The Truth About Charlie, said she was "deeply saddened" by his passing.
RIP Michael Parks: Hollywood's most underrated actor? please log in to view this image Image copyright Getty Images Image caption In the 1960s, Michael Parks was touted as the "new James Dean" Michael Parks, who was named by directors Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith as one of their favourite actors, has died at the age of 77. Smith broke the news, describing Parks as "the best actor I've ever known" and "the most incredible thespian I ever had the pleasure to watch perform". Smith cast him in Red State and Tusk, while he appeared in both of Tarantino's Kill Bill films. Tarantino described him in 1997 as "one of my favourite actors in the world". Parks made his name on US TV in the 1960s and with film roles including Adam in director John Huston's 1966 epic The Bible: In the Beginning... please log in to view this image Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Parks (centre) with producer Dino de Laurentiis (left) and director John Huston on the set of 1966's The Bible He had the lead role in TV series Then Came Bronson in 1969-70 - which Tarantino described as "the most naturalistic acting I've ever seen on a TV show". He was likened at the time to James Dean - but never had a major breakthrough and his career faded. There were suggestions that he was shunned by Hollywood studios - which has been attributed to him speaking out about the violence in Then Came Bronson, a contract dispute with Universal, or being difficult to work with. Something of a career revival began when David Lynch cast him as Jean Renault in the second season of Twin Peaks, which aired in 1990. 'A true legend' His other film credits included Django Unchained, Grindhouse, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Argo. Director Robert Rodriguez, who cast him in From Dusk Till Dawn, said in 2011: "He was always considered to be the actor who should replace James Dean when James Dean passed, and his naturalism was just amazing to watch." Responding to the news of Parks's death, Rodriguez wrote on Twitter: "A heartfelt farewell to the one and only Michael Parks. A very kind man and a true legend." In his Instagram tribute on Wednesday, Kevin Smith added: "He elevated any flick or TV show he was in and elevated every director he ever acted for. I was so... blessed to have worked with this bona fide genius."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39885577 Geoffrey Bayldon - Catweazle. One of my favourite programmes as a kid. Oddly enough I was driving the other day and spotted an old water tower, which, if memory serves is where he lived.
Veteran Character Actor Powers Boothe Dies, Aged 68 please log in to view this image Powers Boothe, the prolific character actor who frequently specialised in playing villains, has died. He was 68. His friend and fellow actor, Beau Bridges, announced the news, describing Boothe as a “friend, great actor, devoted father & husband”. A native of Texas, Boothe’s first high-profile role came in the TV movie Guyana Tragedy: The Story Of Jim Jones, in which Boothe played the infamous cult leader. He won an Emmy for the role and gained national attention. He often played morally ambiguous characters, skulking on the sidelines of numerous films during the 1980s and 1990s, including Tombstone, Blue Sky, Sudden Death, and Extreme Prejudice. It was the latter which won Boothe a fan in the form of director Robert Rodriguez, who cast him in Sin City and its sequel A Dame To Kill For as the corrupt politician Senator Roark. Boothe also enjoyed a prolific career on the small screen, starring as the title character on Philip Marlowe, Private Eye, as Al Swearengen’s rival Cy Tolliver in Deadwood, as President Noah Daniels in 24, and as Lamar Wyatt in Nashville. After a shadowy appearance in Joss Whedon’s Avengers Assemble, he graduated to the TV spin-off in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. In a career spanning five decades, Booth clocked up almost 70 credits across film, television and stage. He even found room to parody his own character type, as Colonel Jim Faith in action movie spoof MacGruber. He is survived by his wife and college sweetheart Pam, to whom he was married for nearly 50 years; and his two children He always seemed play a nasty villanous character, but quite likeable with it.
Such a shame those two bastards beat the noose by a few months. Personally don't believe in capital punishment purely on the lack of appeal procedures, an exception would be made for those two though.
I agree with it when it's proved beyond reasonable doubt with DNA and recordings etc as was the case with Brady & Hindley. Also Huntley, Neilson, Nilsen and the murderers of John Moncton and lawyer Tom ap Rhys Pryce. Those are for starters off of the top of my head. Oh and the Lee Rigby killers. I'd open the trapdoor, fire the gun or drop the cyanide myself if needs must.
That evil **** was doubtless provided with every comfort, security and medical attention during his incarceration, provisions those poor children he and Hindley murdered were denied. It saddens me that society 'treats' people like Brady, Sutcliffe and Huntley rather than deals swiftly by removing them from the face of the earth.
Sadly, too many do-gooders have made life cushy for the likes of these sub-humans. Strange we have to respect their 'human rights' when they have behaved inhumanely. Hell is too good for him...
Aside from the financial aspect, it will have cost millions to keep Hindley & Brady alive, money well wasted, if capital punishment were reinstated there would be an appeals process. The publicly funded appeals lawyers would run up seven figure fees too. Either way, it is a huge financial cost to the state. Probably better that life should mean life and it should be in a cell with no creature comforts whatsoever. The reality of that would be worse than death for most. Sadly, the PC, Lilly livered, human rights liberals who seem to shout louder or are listened to more than Mr General Public Common Sense, will never allow appropriate prison conditions for detritus like Brady.
He could have been sent to the general population of a jail in the US. Child killers don't last too long.
Ian Brady's body will not be released until assurances are made his ashes will not be scattered on Saddleworth Moor, a coroner has ruled. isnt that nice they should be scattered in the nearest rubbish bin