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Friday, 29 March 2024
Side Walk Talk
Sidewalk Talk comes from the season 5 episode "The Inheritance", written by Madonna it is performed by Catherine Buchanan and Madonna.
Thursday, 28 March 2024
Dick Miller NY Times Obituary 2019
Dick Miller NY Times Obituary 2019
Dick Miller, 90, Dies; Character Actor and Roger Corman Mainstay
By Daniel E. Slotnik
Dick Miller and an unidentified actress in “A Bucket of Blood” (1959), directed by Roger Corman. Mr. Miller’s character in that movie, a would-be artist turned murderer, was named Walter Paisley; in several later films his character had the same name, an inside joke and a homage to his best-known part.
Dick Miller, a character actor whose reputation as a regular in dozens of low-budget movies produced or directed by Roger Corman led to parts in films by acolytes of Mr. Corman like Joe Dante, Martin Scorsese and James Cameron, died on Wednesday in Burbank, Calif. He was 90.
His wife, Lainie Miller, said he died after a heart attack and had congestive heart failure and pneumonia. Mr. Miller was a diminutive actor with an authentic Bronx accent and youthful good looks that later matured into craggier features. In a career that began in the mid-1950s, he appeared in nearly 200 films and television shows. Mr. Corman cast Mr. Miller in his first film role, as an Indian in the western “Apache Woman” (1955), and he soon became a stock player in Mr. Corman’s relentless stream of horror, science fiction and crime movies.
Mr. Miller could imbue even meager parts with authenticity, making Mr. Corman’s over-the-top films more believable or adding to their camp, depending on one’s point of view. He played a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman in “Not of This Earth” (1957), a leper in “The Undead” (1957) and a scientist in “War of the Satellites” (1958), among numerous roles.
Mr. Corman cast Mr. Miller in the lead in two films relatively early in his career. He played a nightclub patron who stands up to thugs in “Rock All Night” (1957) and a would-be beatnik artist turned murderer in the horror comedy “A Bucket of Blood” (1959). “We made many movies together over many decades, but I will always think of him as the beat artist Walter Paisley in ‘A Bucket of Blood,’ ” Mr. Corman wrote on Twitter after Mr. Miller’s death. “Dick was able to take what was written and reach the deepest depths of the character while still injecting humor into each role.” “A Bucket of Blood” became a cult favorite, and Mr. Miller became identified with Mr. Corman’s films. This was especially true among filmmakers whose early works were produced by Mr. Corman, like Mr. Dante, Mr. Scorsese and Mr. Cameron. Mr. Miller’s acting career endured when this new generation added him to their roster. Mr. Miller played a veteran terrorized by mischievous monsters in Mr. Dante’s “Gremlins” (1984), a nightclub owner in Mr. Scorsese’s musical drama “New York, New York” (1977) and a gun-shop clerk who helps outfit a murderous robot played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in Mr. Cameron’s “The Terminator” (1984).
In several later films Mr. Miller’s character was named Walter Paisley, an inside joke and a homage to his best-known part. His last role was in the forthcoming horror movie “Hanukkah,” as Rabbi Walter Paisley.
Richard Miller was born in the Bronx on Dec. 25, 1928, to Ira Miller, a printer, and Rita (Blucher) Miller, an opera singer, who encouraged him to sing before an audience in the Catskills as a boy. After graduating from high school, he served in the Navy. He then returned to New York, where — even though he later said he had no great acting ambitions — he studied theater. Mr. Miller moved to Hollywood in the early 1950s to try writing scripts, without much success. He met Lainie Halpern there in 1959, and they married that year. In addition to his wife, with whom he lived in Los Angeles, he is survived by a brother, William Miller, a State Supreme Court judge in Brooklyn; a daughter, Barbara Ann Levandoski; and a granddaughter. Mr. Miller’s other roles include a police chief who calls the Ramones “ugly, ugly people” in Allan Arkush’s “Rock ’n’ Roll High School” (1979) and an eccentric flower-shop customer in Mr. Corman’s “The Little Shop of Horrors” (1960), which also featured Jack Nicholson in a bit part. Mr. Miller had a recurring role as the proprietor of a bowling alley on the 1980s television show “Fame,” based on the 1980 movie about a performing arts high school. He was also credited with the stories for two 1970 movies, the western “Four Rode Out” and the Jerry Lewis comedy “Which Way to the Front?” He was the subject of a documentary released in 2014, “That Guy Dick Miller.” |
Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Tuesday, 26 March 2024
Monday, 25 March 2024
Scorn - Dick Miller, Gene Anthony Ray, Carlo Imperato, Billy Hufsey, Jesse Borrego - Song of the Week
"Just Remember When You're Trying To Score, Hit them Before they Hit You" comes from "Scorn" from the season 4 episode "The Ol' Ball Game" and is performed by Dick Miller, Gene Anthony Ray, Carlo Imperato, Billy Hufsey and Jesse Borrego.
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Friday, 22 March 2024
Thursday, 21 March 2024
Fame Connections: Bill on his Own
"Bill On His
Own" is an American made for TV Film from 1983. Starring Mickey Rooney, it is a sequel to the
1981 TV Movie "Bill" and follows the life and intellectually disabled
older man who has spent all his life in institutions. The story is based on the real life of Bill
Sackter.
Mickey Rooney won an
Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance in the original movie and in 1983
the sequel was made.
In 1934 Mickey
Rooney signed a contract with MGM, who produced Fame, and appeared in many of
the studios films, including a number of musicals with Judy Garland. From 1938
to 1943 he was in the Top 10 box office stars, heading the list for 3 of those
years.
Mickey Rooney is the
father of Dancer and Choreographer, Michael Rooney. Michael was one of the fame dancers during
the time "Bill on his Own" was made and aired.
Alan Landsburg,
Valerie's father was the Executive Producer on both "Bill" and
"Bill On His Own". The films were also released by Alan's production company: Alan Landsburg
Productions.
Fame's Lee Curreri
wrote the score and incidental music, for "Bill On His Own." This was one of the first projects that Lee
wrote for outside of "Fame". The official Fame magazine reported that
Valerie and her boyfriend James McVay were helping Lee with the project.
Valerie has no credit on the movie.
However, James is
credited for writing and singing the films opening theme song "Better to Fly", which is a very Fame like Song.
Lyric of the Week
Which Fame song does the Lyric: "Just Remember When You're Trying To Score, Hit them Before they Hit You" come from?