John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 – April 29, 2019) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for directing Boyz n the Hood (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, becoming, at age 24, the first African American and youngest person to have ever been nominated for that award.
Singleton was a native of South Los Angeles, and many of his films, such as Poetic Justice (1993), Higher Learning (1995), and Baby Boy (2001), had themes which resonated with the contemporary urban population. He also directed the drama Rosewood (1997) and the action films Shaft (2000), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), and Four Brothers (2005). He co-created the television crime drama Snowfall.
On April 17, 2019, Singleton suffered a stroke and was placed under intensive care. He reportedly began to experience weakness in his legs after returning to the United States from a trip to Costa Rica. On April 25, it was reported that he was in a coma. On April 29, Singleton was removed from life support, and he died at the age of 51 at Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
Mother Phyllis Jane Schellhous (September 24, 1922 - April 28, 1972) and her daughter Roxanne Schellhous (September 10, 1956 - April 28, 1972) were drowned in the surf near Agana, Guam on April 28, 1972. They are buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica, California.
Hagåtña (formerly in English: Agana) is the capital village of the United States territory of Guam. From the 18th through mid-20th century, it was Guam's population center, but today it is the second smallest of the island's 19 villages in both area and population. However, it remains one of the island's major commercial districts in addition to being the seat of government.
Carmine Valentino Coppola (June 11, 1910 – April 26, 1991) was an American composer, flautist, editor, musical director, and songwriter who contributed original music to The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, and The Godfather Part III, all directed by his son Francis Ford Coppola.[1]
Personal life
Coppola was born in New York City, the son of Marie (née Zasa) and Agostino Coppola. His brother is opera conductor and composer Anton Coppola. He was the father of August Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola,[1] and Talia Shire, and grandfather of Nicolas Cage, Sofia Coppola, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Robert Schwartzman.
His wife, Italia, died in 2004 in Los Angeles. Coppola died in Northridge, California at the age of 80. Both Coppola and his wife are buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery. Upon Coppola's death, his grandson Robert Schwartzman changed his last name to 'Carmine' in his grandfather's honor.
Career Coppola played the flute. He studied at Juilliard, later at the Manhattan School of Music and privately with Joseph Schillinger. During the 1940s, Coppola worked under Arturo Toscanini with the NBC Symphony Orchestra.
Then in 1951, Coppola left the Orchestra to pursue his dream of composing music. During that time he mostly worked as an orchestra conductor on Broadway and elsewhere, working with his son, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, on additional music for his Finian's Rainbow.
Carmine contributed to the music performed in the wedding scene in The Godfather (1972). Later, his son called on him to compose additional music for the score of The Godfather Part II (1974), in which he and his father received an in-movie tribute with the characters Agostino and Carmine Coppola, who appear in a deleted scene from the young Vito Corleone flashback segments. Principal score composer Nino Rota and Carmine together won Oscars for Best Score for the film.[1] He also composed most of the score for The Godfather Part III (1990).[1] He made cameo appearances in all three Godfather films as a conductor.
Carmine and Francis together scored Apocalypse Now (1979), for which they won a Golden Globe Award for best original score. He also composed a three-and-a-half-hour score for Francis' 1981 reconstruction of Abel Gance's 1927 epic Napoléon. Carmine composed the music for The Black Stallion (1979), on which Francis was executive producer, and four other films directed by his son in the 1980s. In his audio commentary on The Godfather Part III DVD, Francis said that his father missed a cue during the shooting of that film's opening wedding reception—something he never did in his prime. At that point, Francis realized that his father had little time left. As it turned out, Carmine died less than four months after Part III premiered,[2] of a stroke. [3]
Filmography Tonight for Sure (1962, Composer (Music Score)/Musical Direction/Supervision) The People (1972, Composer (Music Score)) The Godfather (1972, Mall Wedding Sequence) The Godfather Part II (1974, Conductor/Additional Composer (Music Score)/Musical Direction/Supervision) The Black Stallion (1979, Composer (Music Score)) Apocalypse Now (1979, Composer (Music Score)) The Outsiders (1983, Composer (Music Score)) Gardens of Stone (1987, Composer (Music Score)) Blood Red (1989, Composer (Music Score)) Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988, Add'l Composer (Music Score)/Songwriter) New York Stories (segment Life Without Zoë) (1989, Composer (Music Score)/Actor: Street Musician) The Godfather Part III (1990, Composer (Music Score)/Musical Direction/Supervision) The Freshman (1990, Songwriter)
References 1. Saxon, Wolfgang (April 27, 1991). "Carmine Coppola, 80, Conductor And Composer for His Son's Films". The New York Times. 2. The Godfather Part III DVD commentary featuring Francis Ford Coppola, [2005] 3. http://articles.latimes.com/1991-04-27/news/mn-642_1_carmine-coppola
Ken Kercheval (July 15, 1935 – April 21, 2019) was an American actor, best known for his role as Cliff Barnes on the television series Dallas and its 2012 revival.[1][2]
Early life
Kercheval born on July 15, 1935, in Wolcottville, Indiana, to Marine "Doc" Kercheval, a local physician, and the former Christine Rieber, a registered nurse.[3] He was raised in Clinton, Indiana. As a teenager, Kercheval often was with his dad in the operating room and once put two stitches in his sister Kate when she had an appendectomy.[3] Kercheval attended Indiana University, not to become a doctor but to major in music and drama. He later studied at the University of the Pacific and, starting in 1956, at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City under Sanford Meisner.[3]
Career
Kercheval made his Broadway debut in the 1962 play Something About a Soldier. He appeared off-Broadway in the 1972 Kurt Weill revue Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill, and can be heard on the cast recording. His oher theatre credits included The Apple Tree, Cabaret (replacing Bert Convy as Cliff), and Here's Where I Belong. In 1966, he appeared as the title character in the original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof, co-starring with Herschel Bernardi, Maria Karnilova, Julia Migenes, Leonard Frey and Pia Zadora.
Kercheval gained his first television role, playing the part of Dr. Nick Hunter #1 on Search for Tomorrow in 1966. His later soap opera roles were in The Secret Storm and How to Survive a Marriage. His film credits include The Seven-Ups with Roy Scheider and Tony LoBianco plus F.I.S.T. with Sylvester Stallone. In 1976 he co-starred in 2 episodes of The Adams Chronicles as James Madison.
Kercheval is best known for having played Cliff Barnes on the CBS television series Dallas.[4] He starred in the show from 1978 to 1991, from its pilot episode to the series finale. He initially was cast as Ray Krebbs before being given the role of Cliff Barnes. Kercheval and Larry Hagman were the only Dallas cast members to stay with the series throughout its entire run, although Kercheval's character was only a recurring character during the first two seasons. He became a regular cast member in the 1979–1980 season. Kercheval reprised the role of Cliff Barnes in the 1996 Dallas reunion, J. R. Returns, and he appeared in the 2004 CBS reunion special. He again reprised the role in the Dallas (2012) series.[5][2]
In the 1980s, he made numerous appearances on Super Password and The $25,000 Pyramid. In 1991, he appeared in the reunion movie, I Still Dream of Jeannie, playing Mr. Simpson, a guidance counselor at Anthony Nelson Jr.'s high school and was the temporary master for Anthony Jr.'s mother, Jeannie (Barbara Eden); this was because Larry Hagman, who played Tony Nelson, was not available to reprise his role, as he had not yet finished his run on Dallas – the irony being that I Dream of Jeannie was Hagman's first major series, and the actors' respective Dallas characters despised each other. He also appeared as a ballroom dance teacher in the independent film California Casanova.
In 2006, Kercheval appeared in a musical at Southampton's Mayflower Theatre and Plymouth's Theatre Royal in the performance of White Christmas playing The General. In 2007, he reprised his role at the Edinburgh Playhouse and the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. He reprised his role in Sunderland in 2010. He also returned to his role playing The General in the White Christmas at The Lowry in Salford Quay with Coronation Street actor Wendi Peters and Brookside regular Claire Sweeney from November 2012 until January 2013.
Personal life and death
In 1985, Kercheval became a partner in the Old Capital Popcorn Company.[1] The business thrived at first, but the partnership soured in 1988. The financial issues and other conflicts led to a 1989 armed rampage and suicide on the Dallas set by one of the partners.[6]
A lifelong smoker, Kercheval was a lung cancer survivor having had part of his lung removed in 1994.[7][8] He had five children from three marriages, all of which ended in divorce. As of 2012, he had six grandchildren.
Kercheval died of pneumonia on April 21, 2019, at the age of 83.[3][9]
Filmography
Naked City (1962, TV Series) as Acting Student (uncredited)
The Defenders (1962–1965, TV Series) as Harry Grant / Jack Wilks
The Nurses (1965, TV Series) as Mac
The Trials of O'Brien (1965–1966, TV Series) as Jerry Quinlan / Dr. McCahey
Hawk (1966, TV Series) as Clark
An Enemy of the People (1966, TV Movie) as Billing
Pretty Poison (1968) as Harry Jackson
The Secret Storm (1968, TV series regular) as Archie Borman
Cover Me Babe (1970) as Jerry
Rabbit, Run (1970) as Barney
The Coming Asunder of Jimmy Bright (1971, TV Movie) as Jimmy Bright
Search for Tomorrow (1965-1973, TV series regular) as Dr. Nick Hunter
The Seven-Ups (1973) as Ansel – Seven-Up
Get Christie Love! (1974, TV Series) as Alec Palmer
The Disappearance of Flight 412 (1974, TV Movie) as White
How to Survive a Marriage (1974, TV series regular) as Larry Kirby
Beacon Hill (1975, TV Series) as Dist. Attorney
The Adams Chronicles (1976, TV Series) as James Madison
Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys (1976, TV Movie) as District Attorney Tom Knight
Network (1976) as Merrill Grant
The Lincoln Conspiracy (1977) as John Surratt
Rafferty (1977, TV Series) as Jerry Parks
Family (1978, TV Series) as Mark Adams
Kojak (1973–1978, TV Series) as Teddy Maclay / Professor Lacey / Ray Fromm
F.I.S.T (1978) as Bernie Marr
Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978, TV Movie) as Miles Amory
CHiPs (1978, TV Series) as Dr. Faraday
Too Far to Go (1979, TV Movie) as Jack Dennis
Starsky and Hutch (1979, TV Series) as Deputy D.A. Clayburn
Walking Through the Fire (1979, TV Movie) as Dr. Freeman
Here's Boomer (1980, TV Series) as Dr. Haggert
Trapper John, M.D. (1981, TV Series) as Marty Wicks
The Patricia Neal Story (1981, TV Movie) as Dr. Charles Canton
The Demon Murder Case (1983, TV Movie) as Richard Clarion
Calamity Jane (1984, TV Movie) as Buffalo Bill Cody
The Love Boat (1981–1984, TV Series) as Lester Erwin / Don Bartlett
Glitter (1985, TV Series) as John Ramsey Jr.
Hotel (1983–1986, TV Series) as Frank Jessup / Leo Cooney
You Are the Jury (1986, TV Series) as Stanley Nelson
Mike Hammer (1987, TV Series) as A. Walter Decker
Matlock (1987, TV Series) as Louis Devlin
Highway to Heaven (1988, TV Series) as Richard Osbourne
Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter (1990, TV Movie) as L.D. Ryan
Corporate Affairs (1990) as Arthur Strickland
Dallas (1978–1991, TV series regular) as Cliff Barnes
California Casanova (1991) as Willie
Keeping Secrets (1991, TV Movie) as Frank Mahoney
I Still Dream of Jeannie (1991, TV Movie) as Mr. Simpson
Diagnosis Murder (1992, TV Movie) as Frank Stevens
L.A. Law (1992, TV Series) as Al Bremmer
Murder, She Wrote (1992, TV Series) as Alex Ericson
Dangerous Curves (1992, TV Series) as Jimmy Douglas
In the Heat of the Night (1993, TV Series) as Judge Lawton Gray
Woman on the Ledge (1993, TV Movie) as Doctor Martin
The Golden Palace (1993, TV Series) as Charlie
Beretta's Island (1994) as Barone
Walker, Texas Ranger (1993, TV Series) as Dr. Slade
Lovejoy (1993, TV Series) as Rutherford Lovejoy
Burke's Law (1994, TV Series) as Bernie Green
A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Grimacing Governor (1994, TV Movie) as Harlan Richards
Dallas: J.R. Returns (1996, TV Movie) as Clifford 'Cliff' Barnes
Rusty: A Dog's Tale (1998) as Carl Winthrope
ER (1 episode, 1998) as Mr. Zwicki
Diagnosis Murder (1993–2000, TV Series) as Keith Dunn / Duke Fallon / William P. Bissell / Alex Ridlin
Crossing Jordan (2002–2006, TV Series) as Claude Manning
Blind Obsession (2002) as Harrison Pendragon
Corrado (2009) as Vittorio
Dallas (2012–2014, TV Series, recurring role) as Cliff Barnes
The Promise (2017) as Dr. Christopher Webber
Surviving in L.A. (2019) as Charlie (final film role)
References
1. Brogan, Daniel (July 5, 1987). "With Kercheval As Cliff Barnes, Something Pops". Chicago Tribune. Chicago: Tribune Publishing. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
2. Schillaci, Sophie A (August 9, 2012). "Dallas Finale Postmortem: Patrick Duffy on the Shocking Conclusion and What's Next". The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles: Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group (Valence Media). Retrieved August 28, 2012.
3. Barnes, Mike (April 24, 2019). "Ken Kercheval Death : Actor who played Cliff Barnes on "Dallas" Passed Away– obituary". The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles: Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group (Valence Media). Retrieved April 24, 2019.
4. "Ken Kercheval – Biography – MSN Movies". MSN. United States: Microsoft. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
5. Keck, William (September 19, 2011). "Keck's Exclusives: Details on Ken Kercheval's Return to Dallas". TV Guide. New York City: CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
6. Wilkinson, Tracy; Sahagun, Louis (July 20, 1989). "Studio Shooting Blamed on Business Deal". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times Communications LLC (Nant Capital). Retrieved May 18, 2012.
7. Yang, Rachel (April 24, 2019). "Ken Kercheval, Cliff Barnes on 'Dallas,' Dies at 83". Variety. Los Angeles: Variety Media, LLC. (Penske Media Corporation). Retrieved April 24, 2019.
8. Kercheval, Ken (August 15, 1994). "Where There's Smoke, By Ken Kercheval, A Former Dallas Star Confronts Lung Cancer". People. United States: Meredith Corporation. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
9. The Daily Telegraph Staff (April 24, 2019). [Ken Kercheval Death : Actor who played Cliff Barnes on “Dallas” Passed Away "Ken Kercheval Death : Actor who played Cliff Barnes on "Dallas" Passed Away – obituary"] Check |url= value (help). MARKET NEWS. London: Market News. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
Pamela Susan Courson (December 22, 1946 – April 25, 1974) was the long-term companion of Jim Morrison, vocalist of The Doors. After the deaths of Morrison and Courson, her parents petitioned an out-of-state court to declare that the couple had a common law marriage.
Early life and involvement with Morrison
Courson was born in Weed, California. She was described as a reclusive young girl from a family that didn't mix with the neighbors very much. She did well in school until junior high, when records show that her family was contacted about truancy. Courson hated high school, and her grades declined when she was sixteen. She did not return to Orange High School for her senior year. That spring, she left for Los Angeles, where she and a friend got an apartment. It has been rumored[1] (and denied) that Neil Young wrote the song "Cinnamon Girl" about her. One biography states that she and Morrison met at a nightclub called The London Fog on the Sunset Strip in 1965, while Courson was an art student at Los Angeles City College. In his 1998 memoir, Light My Fire: My Life with the Doors, former keyboardist Ray Manzarek stated that Courson and a friend saw the band during their stint at the London Fog, a lesser-known nightclub, and that she was initially courted by Arthur Lee, of the Californian band Love, who brought The Doors to the attention of Elektra Records boss Jac Holzman.
Courson's relationship with Morrison was tumultuous, with repeated sexual excursions by both partners. Courson briefly operated Themis, a fashion boutique that Morrison bought for her.[2] Her death certificate lists her occupation as "women’s apparel."
Deaths of Morrison and Courson
On July 3, 1971, Courson found Morrison dead in the bathtub of their apartment in Paris, France. The official coroner's report listed his cause of death as heart failure, although no autopsy was performed. Questions persist over the actual cause of death. Under Morrison's will, which stated that he was "an unmarried person," Courson inherited his entire fortune. Lawsuits against the estate would tie up her quest for inheritance for the next two years. Courson did not remain in contact with the remaining Doors members after she received her share of Morrison's royalties.
After Morrison's death, Courson became a recluse, using heroin and showing signs of mental instability. On April 25, 1974, she died of a heroin overdose on the living room couch at the Los Angeles apartment she shared with two male friends. A neighbor said she had talked about looking forward to seeing Jim again soon.
Her parents intended that she be buried next to Morrison at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, and they listed this location as the place of burial on her death certificate, but due to legal complications with transporting the body to France, her remains were buried at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, California, under the name "Pamela Susan Morrison."
After her death, her parents — Columbus and Penny Courson — inherited Morrison's fortune, but Morrison's parents later contested their executorship of the estate.
Estate controversy
In his will, made in Los Angeles County on February 12, 1969, Morrison left his entire estate to Courson, also naming her co-executor with his attorney, Max Fink.
When Courson died, a battle ensued between Morrison's and Courson's parents over who had legal claim to Morrison's estate. On his death, his property became Courson's; on her death, her property passed to her next heirs at law, her parents. Morrison's parents contested the will under which Courson and subsequently her parents had inherited their son’s property.
To bolster their positions, Courson’s parents presented an unsigned document that they claimed Pam Courson had acquired in Colorado, apparently an application for a declaration that she and Morrison had contracted a common-law marriage under the laws of that state. The ability to contract a common-law marriage was abolished in California in 1896, but the state's conflict of laws rules provided for recognition of common-law marriages lawfully contracted in foreign jurisdictions. Colorado was one of the 11 U.S. jurisdictions that still recognized common-law marriage. As long as a common-law marriage was lawfully contracted under Colorado law, it was recognized as a marriage under California law. However, neither Morrison nor Courson had signed the document, nor was there any proof that either of the deceased had even been aware of the document's existence. Neither Morrison nor Courson was ever a resident of Colorado.
Whatever the circumstances of the unsigned document, the court case, and the controversy surrounding it, the California probate court decided that Courson and Morrison had a common-law marriage under the laws of Colorado. The effect of the court ruling was to close probate of Morrison's and Courson's estates and to reinforce the Courson family's hold on the inheritance.
Fictional portrayals
Courson was portrayed by Meg Ryan in Oliver Stone's 1991 film, The Doors.[3]
References
1.^ Davis, Stephen. Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend. New York: Gotham, 2005. ISBN 9781592400997. 2.^ Butler 107 3.^ Kagan, Norman. The cinema of Oliver Stone. Continuum, 2000. p. 312. ISBN 0826412440.
Further reading
Butler, Patricia. Angels Dance and Angels Die: The Tragic Romance of Pamela and Jim Morrison. Schirmer Books, 2000.
