Leonard Maltin phoned a little while ago to tell me that actor Charles Lane had passed away at the too-early age of 102. If you've been with us on this weblog for a while, you've read many a message about the amazing Mr. Lane. Rather than write a new obit saying old things, I refer you to...
This post, in which we summarize the long, hard-working career of one of Hollywood's great character actors.
This post, which was all about his 100th birthday party.
This post, which was about a salute to Charles Lane on the TV Land Awards that year. (See below.)
This post, which was about an appearance I attended where they screened The Music Man — one of the eight jillion movies in which Charles Lane appeared — and he was present to discuss it and his work.
This post, which was about one of the other eight jillion films.
This post, which congratulated him on his 101st birthday.
Not much more I can add to all that except that at the screening of The Music Man and at the TV Land Awards, he reminded everyone that he was still available for acting work. I'd be curious if anyone took him up on it. Here's a video clip of that TV Land Awards moment, which focused on his television work and ignored the eight jillion movies...
Doug Marlette, the North Carolina-born cartoonist who won a Pulitzer Prize and created the popular strip "Kudzu," was killed in a car accident Tuesday morning in Mississippi, authorities said. He was 57.
More details here. And elsewhere on your Internet.
Hard to believe that another Comic-Con International is in our immediate futures but 'tis. If you're thinking of going, it would be a good idea to register in advance. Otherwise, there's a very good chance you won't get in, especially on Saturday.
Any day you go, there will be loads of fun things to do and see. The convention crew has posted the Programming Guide so you can see what events you won't be able to attend because they're opposite other events you want to attend. Here's the guide for Thursday. Here's the guide for Friday. Here's the guide for Saturday. And here's the guide for Sunday.
But to save you time, I've prepared a guide of the events you really want to see. They're the ones I'm hosting. Here's that all-important list.
There's a Canadian TV show called Fanatical that profiles folks who are just nuts about their favorite TV show to the extent that it invades their lives. You can watch episodes online here and you might especially enjoy the one about my pal Andy Mangels, who's passionate about Wonder Woman, and my pal Scott Shaw!, who's not only a fan of Fred Flintstone, but all the time I've known Scott, I've watched him slowly turn into Fred. (That's not a complaint. When we go out for ribs, you should see the size of the portions we get.) The one about Scott features an appearance by our mutual amigo, Sergio Aragonés.
July 11, 2007
