The End - the Classic Film Obituary thread 2024

American actress Barbara Rush has left us at the age of 97, on March 31st.


She won the Golden Globe Award as most promising female newcomer for her role in the 1953 American science-fiction film It Came from Outer Space.
Later in her career, she became a regular performer in the television series Peyton Place, and appeared in TV movies, miniseries, and a variety of other programs, including the soap opera All My Children and family drama 7th Heaven, as well as starring in films, including The Young Philadelphians 1959, The Young Lions 1958, Robin and the 7 Hoods 1964, and Hombre 1967.

She is remembered by Variety

R.I.P. Barbara Rush

One of the best reasons to sit through SNL a few decades ago was knowing that it would be followed by the more satisfying episodes of SCTV, featuring Mr. Flaherty, Mr. Candy, and other talented comic actors. He was also appreciated in the unfairly too-short run of Freaks and Geeks, a series sabotaged by NBC. Guy Caballero could've done a better job running that network.
Nice to know he was also a classic film fan.


R.I.P., and thanks for the many laughs.

American racing driver and film and television director Bruce Kessler has left us at the age of 88, on April 4th.


He was a second unit director on Howard Hawks' Red Line 7000 (1965). He directed the feature films Angels from Hell (1968), Killers Three (1968), The Gay Deceivers (1969) and Simon, King of the Witches (1971), as well as several made for television films.
Some of his credits include the television series The Monkees, The Flying Nun, Mission: Impossible, It Takes a Thief, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Rockford Files, McCloud, CHiPs, The Greatest American Hero, The A-Team, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Hunter and Renegade, his last directing credit.
During the 1950's he was a racing driver, that career ended after a serious crash in 1959 after he spent several days in coma.

He is remembered by Hollywood Reporter

R.I.P. Bruce Kessler

American rhythm and blues singer and pianist Clarence "Frogman" Henry has left us at the age of 87, on April 7th.


He used his trademark croak to improvise the song "Ain't Got No Home" one night in 1955. Chess Records' A&R man Paul Gayten heard the song, and had he record it in September 1956. Initially promoted by local DJ Poppa Stoppa, the song eventually rose to number 3 on the national R&B chart and number 20 on the US pop chart. The gimmick earned his his nickname of 'Frogman' and jump-started a career that endured until his death.
A cover of Bobby Charles' hit "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do", and "You Always Hurt the One You Love", both from 1961, were his other big hits.
He opened 18 concerts for the Beatles across the US and Canada in 1964, but his main source of income came from New Orleans's Bourbon Street strip, where he played for 19 years.

His music and singing appears on several soundtracks.

He is remembered by Rolling Stone Magazine

R.I.P. Clarence Henry