Obits
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Obit: Brit Cinematographer Jack Cardiff
Oscar-winning British cinematographer Jack Cardiff, who was also nominated as a director, died after a short illness in his home at Cambridgeshire in southeast England on Wednesday. He was 94. Cardiff won his Academy Award for the 1947 film "Black Narcissus." He received two more nominations, for "War and Peace" in 1956 and "Fanny" in…
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Obit: Jody McCrea, ‘Beach Party’ Star
Jody McCrea, best known for his roles as a muscle-bound surfer in the "Beach Party" movies in the 1960s, died on April 4 in New Mexico, of cardiac arrest. He was 74. McCrea was the son of movie stars Joel McCrea and Frances Dee. In addition to the "Beach Party" comedies "Muscle Beach Party," "Bikini…
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Obit: J.G. Ballard, Wrote ‘Empire of the Sun’
British writer J.G. Ballard, a novelist whose work was turned into films by such directors as Steven Spielberg and David Cronenberg, died Sunday, his agent said. He was 78. Ballard had been suffering from prostate cancer diagnosed in 2006. It was not immediately clear where he died. He was best known for the autobiographical novel…
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Obit: Peter Rogers, Produced ‘Carry On’ Series
Peter Rogers, producer of the popular British "Carry On" films, has died. He was 95. Rogers died Tuesday at his home in Gerrards Cross, northwest of London. He produced all 31 of the innuendo-laden "Carry On" films, beginning with "Carry On Sergeant" in 1958 and including "Carry On Nurse" and "Carry On Doctor," which featured…
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Obit: Marilyn Chambers, Porn Star, Found Dead at 56
Marilyn Chambers, the Ivory Snow model who became a porn sensation, was found dead in her Southern California home April 12. She was 56. Chambers was found unresponsive in her Canyon Country home at 8:15 p.m. Los Angeles County coroner's spokesman Ed Winter told the Los Angeles Times that the cause of death was under…
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Obit: Dave Arneson, ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Co-Creator
Dave Arneson, co-creator of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, died after a two-year battle with cancer in St. Paul, Minnesota, his family said Thursday. He was 61. Arneson was a tabletop wargamer who enjoyed reenacting historical battles with miniature armies at the time he met his other Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax in…
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Wrap Staff -
Obit: Joseph Helfgot, Market Research Guru
Updated Thursday morning: Joseph Helfgot, founder of the leading movie research firm MarketCast, a sociologist-turned-sex-advice-columnist-turned-Hollywood marketing guru, died from complications of a heart transplant on Wednesday in Boston. He was 60. Helfgot founded MarketCast in 1985 and sold the company to Reed Business Information in 2000, but stayed on as president, while moving his family…
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Obit: Fortissimo Films’ Wouter Barendrecht
Fortissimo Films co-founder and chairman Wouter Barendrecht died Sunday in Bangkok of heart failure. He was 43. Barendrecht was in Thailand to screen a rough cut of Fortissimo’s latest film, "Nymph," and had just left a busy Filmart in Hong Kong. Barendrecht, who spent the past 19 years with Fortissimo and guided such Asian films…
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Wrap Staff -
Obit: Jazz Flutist Bud Shank
Bud Shank, a flutist and alto saxophonist who worked with a variety of jazz greats as well as famous pop acts such as the Mamas and the Papas, has died. He was 82. Shank died Thursday of pulmonary failure at his home in Tucson, Arizona, according to his Web site and JazzTimes magazine. Shank first…
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Obit: Documentary Filmmaker Jorge Prelorán
Jorge Prelorán, a pioneer in the field of ethnographic documentary film and a professor emeritus at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, died March 28 in Los Angeles following a 10-year battle with prostate cancer. He was 75. A cinematic icon in his native Argentina and a UCLA alumnus, Prelorán taught at UCLA…