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Whether he's piloting the Millennium Falcon, cracking a whip, or telling Gary Oldman to get off his plane, Harrison Ford is one of our great movie stars. He's possessed with a sly charisma that can't be matched, even when he's playing a grump. In his golden years, Ford's grown very selective about his big screen roles, often relegating himself to installments in franchises like "Star Wars," "Indiana Jones," "Blade Runner," and (with "Captain America: Brave New World") the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He loves money, and I can't blame him.

For all of the riskier roles Ford has avoided in the world of film, his late career pivot to television, however, has been a welcome surprise. He's hilarious in the Apple TV+ comedy series "Shrinking" as Paul, a senior therapist who also acts as the mentor figure for just about every character on the show. On the other side of that...

Jack Lilley, the stunt performer and actor who made a home for himself on Little House on the Prairie by working on every one of the beloved NBC drama’s nine seasons, has died. He was 91.

Lilley had Alzheimer’s disease and died Wednesday at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his granddaughter Savanah Lilley told The Signal, a news outlet in Santa Clarita.

In Blazing Saddles (1974), Lilley played one of the outlaws who loots the town of Rock Ridge, and in one scene, he and his horse slide into a pool of mud and are submerged. It was an accident, but director Mel Brooks liked it so much, he kept it in the movie.

The mustachioed Lilley had worked with Michael Landon on Bonanza for years starting in 1961, and that led to Landon hiring him for Little House in 1974. (Landon, of course, starred in,...

Olive Sturgess, whose many acting credits through the 1950s and ’60s included numerous TV Westerns and the Roger Corman horror spoof The Raven starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson, died February 19 in Los Angeles. She was 91.

Her death was announced by her family.

Although her TV career included guest roles in such comedies as The Donna Reed Show and Petticoat Junction, her forte was the television Western, a genre that was wildly popular in the ’50s and ’60s. During those years, Sturgess made guest appearances on Cheyenne, U.S. Marshal, Sugarfoot, The Texan, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, Lawman, Buckskin, Rebel, Laramie, Wagon Train, Maverick, The Rebel, Tall Man, Outlaws, Bonanza, Wide Country, Destry, and The Virginian. In 1965 she appeared in the Western feature film Requiem for a Gunfighter.

In an undated interview on the Western Clippings website, Sturgess reflected on the early days of her career.

Olive Sturgess, who appeared on about two dozen TV Westerns and got to act alongside Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholson in the Roger Corman 1963 cult horror spoof The Raven, died Feb. 19, her family announced. She was 91.

Through two decades starting in the mid-1950s, the fresh-faced Sturgess showed up on (by her count) about 300 episodes of television, including 12 from 1956-59 as the girlfriend of Dwayne Hickman’s character on the NBC-CBS sitcom The Bob Cummings Show.

The Canadian-born starlet also was seen on such series as West Point, Perry Mason, Panic!, The Donna Reed Show, Hawaiian Eye, The Danny Thomas Show, Petticoat Junction, Dr. Kildare and Ironside, but TV Westerns dominated her résumé.

Sturgess appeared on Tales of Wells Fargo, Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, U.S. Marshal, Rawhide, Have Gun — Will Travel, Lawman, Laramie, The Rebel, The Tall Man, Bronco, Whispering Smith, Maverick, Wide Country, Destry,...

On a recent ranking of the seven main characters on "Gilligan's Island," /Film ranked Mary Ann at only #5. This is not to say that she was an insignificant character, though. Indeed, all seven of the characters on "Gilligan's Island" were invaluable members of the ensemble, and removing any one of them would irreparably damage the established comedic dynamic. Mary Ann ranked low merely because she was given so few stories of her own. Her function, however, was key. Mary Ann was something of an innocent character, and her happiness was a sign that all was well on the island. You knew things were bad when Mary Ann became upset. 

Also, actress Dawn Wells embodied the character perfectly. Indeed, the characters on "Gilligan's Island" have become comedic archetypes for the ages, so deeply ingrained in the American subconscious that they are practically Jungian. It would be hard to imagine "Gilligan's Island...

Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone is not only one of the greatest television series of all time, but one of the most storied. The anthology format was perfect for telling sci-fi tales with an ironic twist, using the whiplash ending to keep audiences coming back week after week. It arrived during the height of the Space Race, and captured the zeitgeist of the time with uncanny accuracy. At the same time, Serling's penchant for social commentary and observations about human nature helped The Twilight Zone transcend the era it was made to become a timeless classic.

Considering its pedigree, it might come as some surprise that the series has never been a massive ratings hit. The first incarnation of The Twilight Zone lasted five seasons, which is respectable, but far less than other big TV hits of the series such as The Virginian and The Beverly Hillbillies. Its eventual...

Quick LinksWhat Sins Did Thunderbolt Ross Commit in the MCU?Harrison Ford's Thaddeus Ross Becomes a SlaverHarrison Ford's Thaddeus Ross Let People Take the BlameHarrison Ford's Thaddeus Ross Has an Imperialist Mentality

The following contains spoilers for Captain America: Brave New World, now playing in theaters.

One of the most alluring aspects of Captain America: Brave New World is the debut of Harrison Ford's Thaddeus Ross. Ford is taking over from the late William Hurt, and brings a sense of intimidation to the role that fans of Han Solo and Indiana Jones will enjoy.

His addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe did raise eyebrows due to his position. Ross went from being a military general to President of the United States. That's a huge promotion, especially for a man who committed disgraceful acts in the past. It had viewers keen to see if there would be revisionist history,...

Quick LinksShane Was Almost Thrown Out by Its Original PublisherThe Author of Shane Didn't Approve of Alan Ladd’s Casting in the FilmThe 2017 Film Logan Features a Reference to Shane

It might be hard for some to believe that the iconic movie Shane was the Western that almost was. The film started off as a short story by author Jack Shaefer that story follows a mysterious figure who comes into a Wyoming town and enters the lives of a family of homesteaders. Shaefer was a neophyte writer who had, himself, never been West of Ohio when the book was picked up by its publisher. It was first published in its full form in 1949 and made into a movie in 1953, starring Alan Ladd as Shane.

The book sets itself apart in a few ways, both in its narrative and its unlikely author. And it has become a cornerstone of the Western genre,...

Jan Shepard, the actress who graced both the big screen and TV during Hollywood’s Golden Age, has passed away at 96. Born Josephine Angela Sorbello on March 19, 1928, in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, Shepard wasn’t just a name in the credits—she was a dynamo of talent.

Her career spanned decades, from classic films to the era of cowboy-filled TV shows. Shepard passed away on January 17, 2025, due to pneumonia and respiratory failure.

Jan Shepard

Though she’s no longer with us, her legacy blazes bright through her iconic roles, especially her indelible collaborations with Elvis Presley. Let’s take a look at her most iconic junctures, her remarkable career on TV, and the love story that endured longer than most Hollywood stars could ever dream of.

Jan Shepard’s iconic roles alongside Elvis Presley Elvis Presley and Jan Shepard in a scene from King Creole (Credits: Paramount Pictures)

Jan Shepard had her share of unforgettable roles,...

Jan Shepard, who acted opposite Elvis Presley in 1958’s King Creole and 1966’s Paradise, Hawaiian Style, and appeared in more than 30 TV Westerns, died Jan. 17 at a hospital in Burbank, Calif. of pneumonia brought on by respiratory failure. She was 96.

In King Creole, noted as Presley’s favorite of his films, she portrayed his on-screen sister Mimi. Eight years later, Shepard played Presley’s business partner’s wife in the ’60s buddy musical comedy. In an interview from last year, Shepard said she wasn’t a fan of Presley’s ahead of working with him, but “once I met him, I just adored him.”

Per an official obituary, Presley and Shepard got on well and went to off-set lunches (where Marlon Brando once made a chance appearance). Describing him as a “big teddy bear,” Shepard once recalled that he gave her a pair of 10-cent earrings as a joke before...

Jan Shepard, who guest-starred on Rawhide, The Virginian, Gunsmoke and two dozen other TV Westerns and played opposite Elvis Presley in movies eight years apart, has died. She was 96.

Shepard died Jan. 17 at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank of pneumonia brought on by respiratory failure, her son, Hollywood prop master, Brandon Boyle, told The Hollywood Reporter. “She was a good one and will be dearly missed,” he said.

Shepard portrayed Mimi, the sister of Presley’s Danny Fisher, in the Michael Curtiz-directed King Creole (1958) and the wife of Danny Kohana (James Shigeta), who partners with Presley’s Rick Richards in a helicopter business, in Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966).

“The first time, I found him to be just the cutest kid around, a big teddy bear, a lot of fun,” she said in an interview for Boyd Magers and Michael G. Fitzgerald’s 1999 book, Westerns Women. But on their next movie,...

Filmmaker Jeannot Szwarc earned directing credits on 80 different projects over the course of a career that spanned more than 50 years – but most movie fans will likely remember him as the director of the shark thriller sequel Jaws 2, the time travel romance Somewhere in Time, and/or the DC Comics adaptation Supergirl. Sadly, Szwarc is no longer with us, as his Somewhere in Time star Jane Seymour took to social media to confirm that he has passed away at the age of 85. Seymour wrote, “Today, we say goodbye to a true visionary. Jeannot Szwarc was not just a brilliant director but a kind and generous soul. He gifted us many timeless stories, including Somewhere in Time, a film that changed my life forever. May his memory be a blessing, and may his artistry live on in our hearts.“

Born in Paris on November 21, 1939, Szwarc graduated from Harvard University before getting...

A French filmmaker best known to horror fans for directing the first sequel to Steven Spielberg’s Jaws back in 1978, Jeannot Szwarc has passed away at the age of 85 this week.

Jane Seymour, who starred alongside the late Christopher Reeve in Szwarc’s 1980 film Somewhere in Time, writes on Facebook: “Today, we say goodbye to a true visionary. Jeannot Szwarc was not just a brilliant director but a kind and generous soul. He gifted us many timeless stories, including Somewhere in Time, a film that changed my life forever.

“May his memory be a blessing, and may his artistry live on in our hearts.”

Jeannot Szwarc got his start in Hollywood directing for multiple television shows throughout the late 1960s and into the 1970s including “Ironside,” “It Takes a Thief,” “Paris 7000,” “The Virginian,” “Longstreet” and “Marcus Welby, M.D.” He made his feature debut with the 1972 TV movie Night of Terror,...

Jeannot Szwarc, the French director known for Jaws 2, Supergirl and The Rockford Files, has died. He was 85.

Jane Seymour, who starred alongside the late Christopher Reeve in Szwarc’s 1980 film Somewhere in Time, announced the director’s death Wednesday with a heartfelt statement on social media.

“Today, we say goodbye to a true visionary,” she wrote on Instagram. “Jeannot Szwarc was not just a brilliant director but a kind and generous soul. He gifted us many timeless stories, including Somewhere in Time, a film that changed my life forever. May his memory be a blessing, and may his artistry live on in our hearts.”

Producer Jeffrey Kramer, who worked with Szwarc on several titles over the years, wrote on Instagram, “Rip my dear Jeannot Szwarc One of the finest most talented souls I was privileged to know!”

Born Nov. 21, 1939 in Paris, Szwarc graduated from Harvard University before he began...

One of the most notable television Westerns of the 1960s was the James Drury-led series, The Virginian. Behind NBC's other Western giants, Gunsmoke and Bonanza, The Virginian was the third longest-running horse opera in the network's history. With nine seasons total and just shy of 250 episodes, the series only ended as a result of the rural purge that wiped out most Western programs. But how did The Virginian start? Well, believe it or not, it had its origins in an earlier program — one that aired back in 1958.

Earl Holliman, an actor whose scores of credits spanning a half-century ranged from 1950s films Forbidden Planet and Giant to Police Woman and others popular ’70s and ’80s TV dramas and starred in the first episode of The Twilight Zone, died Monday in Los Angeles after a short illness. He was 96.

His niece, Theresa Mullins Harris, announced the news on social media, writing in part: “His dream at 5 years old of becoming a movie star came true, more than he ever could have imagined.”

Holliman got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame won a Supporting Actor Golden Globe for 1957’s The Rainmaker and was nominated for the short-lived early-’90s ABC sitcom Delta, starring Delta Burke. He was a series regular on the latter, playing the understanding owner of a bar where aspiring country singer Delta Bishop (Burke) worked while trying to make it.

Born on September 11, 1928, Holliman...

Alan Hale, Jr. became a performer as part of his family's legacy. His mother was actress Gretchen Hartman who appeared in dozens of films in the 1910s, while his father, Alan Hale (real name: Rufus Edward MacKahan) racked up hundreds of credits in the silent era, typically as a reliable sidekick to Errol Flynn. Hartman retired from acting in 1929, and Hale, Sr. continued to work until his death in 1950. Alan Hale, Jr. first appeared on the screen as an infant, "starring" opposite his mother. Hale made his Broadway debut in 1931, when he was only 10, appearing in a very, very short-lived show called "Caught Wet" (it opened and closed in the same month). In 1933, Hale played uncredited role in William Wellman's Depression-era drama "Wild Boys of the Road," and it may be the first movie a casual observer would recognize him in. 

Staring in 1941, Hale began his acting career in earnest,...

In Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood," Leonardo DiCaprio plays Rick Dalton, a largely mediocre TV actor who has coasted through his career on scant charm and a willingness to be beaten up on camera. Dalton typically played heavies and villains on TV Westerns, so little has traditionally been required from him as a performer. The year is now 1969, however, and Dalton is concerned that his mediocrity is catching up with him. He drinks too much and raves about how he can't remember his lines. It's not until he has a notably good day on the set of "Lancer" (a very real TV series) that his ego gets repaired a little.  

Rick's buddy and personal assistant, stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) is also facing a downward turn in his Hollywood career, unable to get work after he murdered his wife and got away with it. Cliff...

When Kurt Russell was 12 years old, he faced a fork in his career path. His father, Bing Russell, owned a minor league baseball club, but made the bulk of his money as an actor; the elder Russell played Deputy Clem Foster in the successful TV Western "Bonanza." Kurt, exposed equally to baseball and acting, began following both his father's paths simultaneously, becoming equally interested in being a star little league player or an on-screen child star.

It was around the age of 12 that the young Kurt Russell attracted the attention of Walt Disney. He had already appeared in several hit TV shows like "Dennis the Menace," "Lost in Space," "The Virginian," "Gilligan's Island," and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," and Disney saw nothing but potential for the lad. Most notably, Russell had starred as the title character in "The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters," a Western series based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel,...

Gena Rowlands, a Hollywood legend, starred in unforgettable films like A Woman Under the Influence. Rowlands and John Cassavetes' disastrous first date led to a legendary 35-year marriage. Rowlands' Hollywood legacy includes accolades like the Silver Bear for Best Actress.

The decorated and endlessly talented Gena Rowlands was one of the silver screen's most unique performers, having dazzled audiences all across the world with her unforgettable roles in films like A Woman Under the Influence, Opening Night, Another Woman, and The Notebook. The recipient of numerous accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, four Emmys, and the prestigious Silver Bear for Best Actress, Rowlands dominated Hollywood for nearly 70 years.

Her enduring personal and professional relationship with innovative actor and director John Cassavetes also helped elevate the gifted duo, who would go on to collaborate on 10 films together over the course of more than 20 sensational years. The Tinseltown power couple left an...

Exclusive: Jeff Daniels (A Man in Full), Jared Harris (Chernobyl) and J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos) have signed on to star in Reykjavik, a historical drama from Sk Global (Anyone But You) that chronicles one of the most significant diplomatic achievements of modern times: The Reykjavik Summit.

Reykjavik takes place at the most dangerous point of the Cold War, watching as political enemies Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Iceland over one long, tense weekend to decide if there will be peace or war in the world.

Daniels plays U.S. President Reagan, with Harris as Soviet leader Gorbachev, and Simmons as United States Secretary of State George Shultz.

Michael Russell Gunn will direct from his own script, in his feature debut, following his work with Sk Global as showrunner of its acclaimed limited series Thai Cave Rescue for Netflix. He also produces alongside John Logan Pierson. Production will commence on location in Reykjavik, Iceland in early October, with extensive filming at Höfði House, the actual site of the 1986 summit.

Sources tell Deadline that Gunn’s project is one that he’s spent years working on and researching. His work began when he drove out to Stanford to interview Secretary of State Shultz before his passing, receiving now-declassified transcripts from the summit. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the recent revelation that the U.S. will again deploy long-range missiles in Germany, the hope is to reflect on how we, as citizens and as nations, can come together to work past our differences, in pursuit of a better, safer world.

Daniels is coming off of A Man in Full, Netflix’s limited series from David E. Kelley, which adapts the 1998 novel from Tom Wolfe. Recently, he was also seen starring opposite Maura Tierney in the crime drama American Rust, which ran for two seasons.

Most recently boarding Kathryn Bigelow’s new film for Netflix, as we were first to report, Harris also stars in Apple TV+ and Skydance’s sci-fi series Foundation, based on the works of Isaac Asimov, which previewed its forthcoming third season at Comic-Con. Previously garnering Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Chernobyl, he’s also recently wrapped on the indies Brave the Dark and Reawakening.

Following roles in films like National Champions and Being the Ricardos, Simmons’ upcoming slate includes the Clint Eastwood pic Juror #2, Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, Amazon’s sequel to The Accountant and holiday event film Red One, and the addiction film The Prince written by David Mamet.

Prior to Thai Cave Rescue, Gunn wrote and produced for the critically acclaimed Showtime series Billions, as well as the political thriller Designated Survivor for ABC and Netflix, having begun his career on Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom. On the film side, he sold his script The Virginian about a young George Washington to Warner Bros, and is currently adapting a novel for Charlize Theron at Universal.

Indie studio Sk Global has produced and financed over 100 features, dating back to its origins as Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. Most recently, the company unveiled the acclaimed rom-com Anyone But You, a star-making project for Glen Powell, who led the cast opposite Sydney Sweeney. The Sony pic emerged as a sleeper hit upon its December 2023 release, proving that rom-coms can continue to work theatrically as it grossed over $220 million worldwide. Also recently unveiling the acclaimed limited series Thai Cave Rescue, as well as inspirational docs like Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, which just debuted on Netflix, the company is also responsible for such acclaimed titles as Crazy Rich Asians, Hell or High Water and The Place Beyond the Pines, among many others.

Daniels is repped by CAA, Martino Management, and Yorn, Levine, Barnes; Harris by CAA, Gateway Management, Independent Talent Group in the UK, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern; Simmons by Gersh; and Gunn by WME and Artists First.

Don't call them The Addams Family: "The Munsters" may be remembered as one of two darkly funny monster family sitcoms airing in the 1960s, but it's decidedly not the same as its comic strip-based contemporary. "The Munsters," for one thing, pulled its monsters straight from the Universal back catalog, featuring characters based directly on Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf Man. The series starred Fred Gwynne and Yvonne de Carlo as married couple Herman and Lily Munster, whose household consisted of an endearing vampire grandpa (Al Lewis), wolf-boy son (Butch Patrick), human niece (Beverley Owen and Pat Priest), and a whole host of spooky-fun pets including a bat, a cat, a raven, and a dragon-like reptile named Spot.

Despite its enduring spot in the zeitgeist, "The Munsters" actually only ran for two seasons from 1964 to 1966. It was capped off with a movie, "Munsters, Go Home!" that saw the family take a trip to Europe,...

Close to three decades removed from her debut album, 1997’s The Virginian, Neko Case will tell her life story in a new memoir, out Jan. 28.

The book, The Harder I Fight, the More I Love You — which takes its moniker from the second half of Case’s celebrated, prolixly titled 2013 album — will look at how she grew up feeling invisible, “raised by two dogs and a space heater,” in Washington state’s “slummy one-horse towns” to become a critically acclaimed alt-country and indie-rock artist as a member of the New Pornographers.

Elizabeth MacRae, who played girlfriends of Gomer Pyle and Festus Haggen on television and a woman who seduces Gene Hackman’s surveillance expert in The Conversation, has died. She was 88.

MacRae died Monday in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where she was raised, her family announced.

MacRae showed up as Lou-Ann Poovie on 15 episodes of the CBS comedy Gomer Pyle: Usmc during its final three seasons (1966-69). She was signed to work just one episode, “Love’s Old Sweet Song,” on the Jim Nabors starrer but impressed producers enough to stick around for more.

Earlier, she portrayed April Clomley, the girlfriend of deputy marshal Festus (Ken Curtis), on CBS’ Gunsmoke on four installments from 1962-64.

In The Conversation (1974), written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, MacRae played Meredith, who dances with Hackman’s Harry Caul in his apartment, sleeps with him and then swipes one of his audiotapes. The actress was among...

"The City on the Edge of Forever" is often considered the best episode of the series. In it, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) encounter an impossibly ancient stone archway called the Guardian of Forever. The Guardian (Bartell Larue) is so old it has developed consciousness and serves as a time travel conduit for curious historians. Unexpectedly, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) runs through the portal — he's hopped up on drugs — and travels instantly to Earth in 1930. Kirk and Spock follow him to ensure he doesn't foul with history.

In 1930, Kirk meets an activist named Edith Keeler (Joan Collins), a kindly soul who speaks out against the growing war efforts in Europe. Kirk falls in love. Spock, however, constructs a widget showing him that only two possible futures can come of their time travel interference. It seems that if Edith Keeler dies in a car accident, it will retain...

The Western is a genre that's mostly gone by the wayside in recent decades, as portraits of straight-shooting American heroes and uncomplicated "bad guys" have become less digestible to the public. While popular neo-Westerns (like "Justified" or the works of Taylor Sheridan) and perspective-changing genre breakdowns have made a splash in recent yers, the genre has mostly died out. Of the relics that remain, few are as prolific and familiar as "Bonanza," a Western series that ran for an impressive 14 seasons on NBC in the '60s and '70s.

As a long-running TV series, "Bonanza" was able to chart the change — or stubborn lack thereof — within the genre and the country, frankly addressing topics like racism and bigotry while also delivering regular laughs and a dash of melodrama to loyal viewers. The series starred Lorne Green as widower Ben Cartwright and Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts, and Michael Landon as Ben's three sons.

After Lucille Ball's spunky housewife Lucy signed off on the last episode of "I Love Lucy" but before Mary Tyler Moore did away with the nuclear family sitcom model with her own self-titled show, another actress was one of the faces of womanhood in comedy. Oscar-winning actress Donna Reed headlined "The Donna Reed Show" from 1958 to 1966, playing middle-class mother and housewife Donna Stone in the popular black-and-white series. Reed starred opposite Carl Betz, who played Donna's husband, pediatrician Dr. Alex Stone. In season 5, family friends Midge and Dave joined the fun, but for the most part, the show was all about the lighthearted hijinks of the Stone family.

Though "The Donna Reed Show" was popular upon release, it's now perhaps most often referenced as a pop cultural window into a time before second-wave feminism, when women were expected to spend their time cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing while men went to work.

In the "Star Trek" episode "The Enemy Within", Captain Kirk (William Shatner) beams up from the planet Alpha 177 covered in a mysterious magnetic dust. Unbeknownst to any of the Enterprise crew, the dust has fouled up the transporter and created a second Kirk inside its memory buffer. After Kirk leaves the room, the second Kirk materializes ... but displays an altered personality. It seems that Kirk has been bifurcated into a gentle version of himself and a cruel, aggressive version of himself. For much of "The Enemy Within," the Evil Kirk stalks around the halls of the U.S.S. Enterprise, startling the crew and accosting Yeoman Rand (Grace Lee Whitney). Gentle Kirk soon realizes that he needs his aggression back in order to be whole. Eventually, the two Kirks confront one another. 

"Star Trek" had a modest budget back in the day, and it certainly didn't have the resources to...

Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird" is about as quintessentially American as a classic book can get. The 1960 novel, which is still commonly read in schools today, follows young Alabaman girl Scout Finch as she endures the trials and tribulations of her pre-teen years -- and witnesses the grim realities of the Jim Crow-era South. Some aspects of "To Kill A Mockingbird" haven't aged perfectly, but the book remains beloved for good reason. It's funny, sharp, and emotional, full of wisdom and harsh truth, and builds a world that's vividly alive.

That world made the leap from the page to the big screen in 1962, when director Robert Mulligan and playwright Horton Foote adapted "To Kill A Mockingbird" as a film. The movie version is indelible in its own right. It's anchored by a precise performance from Gregory Peck, who plays compassionate defense attorney Atticus Finch. In the 60 years since...

Judy Balaban, the daughter of a longtime studio mogul who dated Montgomery Clift and Merv Griffin, married Tony Franciosa and served as one of Grace Kelly’s bridesmaids at her wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco, has died. She was 91.

Balaban died Thursday night in a hospital in Los Angeles, her friend, author and documentary filmmaker Cari Beauchamp, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Balaban was a champion for civil rights, serving on the board of directors for the ACLU of Southern California for decades.

In a 2010 piece for Vanity Fair that she and Beauchamp co-wrote, Balaban described using LSD (then legal) as a form of therapy in the early 1960s when her good friends Cary Grant and his third wife, Betsy Drake, were using it, too.

“What I had with Cary and Betsy was a kind of soul-baringness that the culture didn’t start to deal with until years later,” she says in the story.

Many of the iconic Hollywood movie stars of the Golden Age got their start in classic western films, which helped launch them to stardom. Clint Eastwood and John Wayne both had breakthrough roles in westerns that paved the way for their successful careers as leading men. The western genre was a popular and influential genre in early American cinema, and actors like Charles Bronson, James Stewart, Gary Cooper, Randolph Scott, Lee Marvin, and Henry Fonda all found success through their roles in western movies.

Some of the most iconic movie stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood got their start in a classic western film that introduced them to a wider audience. In the early days of American cinema, the western was one of two popular genres – along with hard-boiled film noir – that were hugely popular among moviegoers. A hit film in one of these genres, especially westerns, could turn...

There's no question that the moviegoing experience has changed since the "The Exorcist" became a landmark cultural event when it was released the day after Christmas in 1973. Anyone that waltzed right in to see "The Exorcist: Believer" in theaters this October would have been shocked by the long lines snaking around the block to see the controversial original when it took the world by storm almost 50 years ago. It's unlikely that any other film will ever match that particular watershed moment in horror ever again.

"The Exorcist" marked the first time a genre film had ever received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Notably, the entire production garnered 10 nominations, winning two for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound. In the decades since its release, "The Exorcist" has retained its well-deserved status as one of the scariest movies ever made, having left an indelible mark on generations of unassuming spectators that...

Mark Goddard, best known for playing Major Don West on Lost in Space, has died at the age of 87.

Goddard’s death was announced by his wife Evelyn Pezzulich on Facebook. “I’m so sorry to tell you that my wonderful husband passed away on October 10th,” Pezzulich wrote. “Several days after celebrating his 87th birthday, he was hospitalized with pneumonia. We were hopeful when he was transferred to a rehabilitation center, but then doctors discovered he was in the final stages of pulmonary fibrosis for which there is no cure.“

When Goddard’s agent first pitched Lost in Space to him, he wasn’t too sure he wanted to be involved. “I said, ‘Gee, I don’t know, I’m not sure, because of the subject matter.’” Goddard said in Tom Weaver’s book They Fought in Creature Features. “And [Goddard’s agent] said, ‘Well, listen, you just do it and don’t worry about it.

Mark Goddard, the actor who made a lasting impression on young sci-fi fans as the daring, forever impatient Major Don West on CBS’ 1965-68 series Lost In Space, died of pulmonary fibrosis Tuesday in Hingham, Massachusetts. He was 87.

His death was announced by his wife Evelyn Pezzulich in a Facebook post.

“I’m so sorry to tell you that my wonderful husband passed away on October 10th,” Pezzulich wrote. “Several days after celebrating his 87th birthday, he was hospitalized with pneumonia. We were hopeful when he was transferred to a rehabilitation center, but then doctors discovered he was in the final stages of pulmonary fibrosis for which there is no cure.”

By the time he was cast in his breakthrough role as the headstrong Major West, Goddard had built a reputation as a rising young actor through supporting appearances in late-’50s fare such as Johnny Ringo and The Rebel.

Phyllis Coates, who became television’s first Lois Lane when she was cast in the classic Adventures of Superman series starring George Reeves, died yesterday of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills. She was 96.

Her death was announced by daughter Laura Press to our sister publication The Hollywood Reporter.

Born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell in Wichita Falls, Texas, on January 15, 1927, Coates and her family later moved to Hollywood. Along with some vaudeville-style performances, Coates launched her showbix career as a chorus girl during the 1940s, often touring the the Uso. Later in the decade, she landed small roles in such pictures as Smart Girls Don’t Talk and My Foolish Heart (1949), and appeared in a series of “Joe McDoakes” comedy shorts as Alice MacDoakes.

In 1951, Coates was invited to audition for the role of Lois Lane in the low-budget...

Gary Cooper, known for his Western films, also had a successful career in other genres, including romance, war, comedy, and adventure. Despite being primarily associated with Westerns, Cooper's best movies include a variety of genres, with Ball of Fire and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town being standout films. Cooper's performance as Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees showcases his ability to embody courage and humility, making it his best non-Western role.

Gary Cooper starred in a lot of Westerns, yet the two-time Oscar-winning actor's best movies also include a number of classics from other genres. Gary Cooper played many great hero characters in film, but he's probably best known for his role as the brave and noble Marshal Wil Kane in the 1952 Western High Noon. Decades earlier, he rose to fame in silent Westerns before cementing his status as a Hollywood star in his sound film debut, The Virginian.

Although "The Corbomite Maneuver" was the tenth "Star Trek" episode to air on television, it was actually the first produced after the pilot episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before." As all good Trekkies know, the ideal order in which to watch "Star Trek" is its production order. Broadcast order is for chumps and poseurs. 

In "The Corbomite Maneuver," the U.S.S. Enterprise is approached by a massive and mysterious alien spaceship, perfectly spherical and possessed of immense destructive power. The ship is called the Fesarius, and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) can only communicate with the Fesarius' captain, Balok (voiced by Ted Cassidy), via audio. Balok declares that he very much intends to destroy the Enterprise using his superior weapons. Thinking quickly, Kirk bluffs; he says that the Enterprise is equipped with an imaginary substance called Corbomite that would react negatively to a weapons attack and destroy both ships.

While Lee Majors made plenty of movies, he achieved his greatest success as a TV star, starring in a number of long-running series, including The Big Valley, The Virginian, and The Six Million Dollar Man. But while everyone seems to remember the famous lines from The Six Million Dollar Man’s opening, At a fan event a few years ago Majors said it was actually his follow-up series, The Fall Guy, that remains his favorite. (Click on the media bar below to hear Lee Majors) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Lee_Majors_The_Fall_Guy_.mp3

The Fall Guy is currently streaming on Prime Video and available on DVD.

The post Why Lee Majors Really Fell For ‘Fall Guy’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Before the days of Yellowstone and Justified, there were classic shows like Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, and Maverick that established the genre's popularity on television. Western shows were originally geared towards younger audiences, but with the explosion of television in the late 1940s, Westerns quickly became an essential genre on the small screen for adult series creating groundbreaking shows including Wagon Train and The Virginian.

NBCUniversal is diving back into the free TV realm. Months after the company discontinued its free streaming tier of Peacock, Variety reports that NBCU is launching a bundle of free ad-supported streaming TV (Fast) channels in July, spanning multiple genres and with content from most of NBCU’s channels.

The new Fast channels will initially be available on Amazon’s free streaming platform Freevee, as well as Xumo Play, the joint venture that NBCU’s parent company Comcast is building with fellow cable provider Charter Communications. No specific date was provided for the launch of the channels, but they are slated to be available sometime next month.

Watch Now $0 / month amazonfreevee.com

It’s not yet clear if the new channels will be added to other NBCU streaming platforms, such as Peacock or its new live TV service Now TV. It would certainly make sense, as Now TV already carries...

NBCUniversal is cracking open its TV and movie archives to launch around four dozen free, ad-supported streaming TV (Fast) channels — significantly expanding its footprint in the free streaming space.

In July, the company said, it will launch the new portfolio of Fast linear channels, with content from across the NBCU Television & Streaming and the NBCUniversal Global Distribution library, on Amazon Freevee and Xumo Play (the streaming platform operated as a joint venture between Comcast and Charter).

The lineup includes dedicated free streaming channels for “Saturday Night Live,” “The Real Housewives” franchises, “Top Chef” and “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” along with Spanish-language entertainment and news from Telemundo including “Historias de Amor,” “Lo Mejor de Telemundo” and “Telemundo al Día.” NBCU’s Fast channels also include those for older TV series “Little House on the Prairie,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Saved by the Bell” and “The Lone Ranger,” plus genre-based channels for sitcoms,...

Lew Palter, who played Isidor Straus in James Cameron’s Titanic and a Supreme Court justice in First Monday in October, has died. He was 94.

Palter died of lung cancer May 21 at his Los Angeles home. CalArts, where Palter was a longtime faculty member, shared news of his death on Twitter.

“It is with great sadness that we share the news that longtime #calartstheater faculty Lew Palter has passed away. Lew retired from @CalArts in 2013, having served our community since 1971 as an acting teacher, director, and mentor.”

Among his students at CalArts was Cecily Strong, said it was Palter who encouraged her to try out for improv/sketch comedy group The Groundlings, leading to her breakout role on SNL.

“Lew loved the craft of acting, and taught his students to do the same,” said CalArts School of Theater Dean Travis Preston in a statement. “He fostered deep curiosity, care, intellect,...

Lew Palter, the veteran character actor and admired CalArts School of Theater faculty member who portrayed the department store magnate Isidor Straus in James Cameron’s Titanic, has died. He was 94.

Palter died May 21 of lung cancer at his home in Los Angeles, his daughter, Catherine Palter, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The New York native played one of the Supreme Court justices in First Monday in October (1981), starring Walter Matthau, Jill Clayburgh and Barnard Hughes, and he donned a robe for stints on The Flying Nun, Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law as well.

Plus, he portrayed an LAPD detective on the 1976-77 CBS series Delvecchio, starring Judd Hirsch.

Palter joined CalArts in 1971 and served as an acting teacher and director at the Santa Clarita school until his retirement in 2013, but he also conducted private workshops and taught around the country and around the world, including in Edinburgh and at Carnegie Mellon and UCLA.

Elizabeth Hubbard, who appeared 14 times on Broadway and had long runs as Dr. Althea Davis and the cutthroat Lucinda Walsh on the daytime soap operas The Doctors and As the World Turns, respectively, has died. She was 89.

Hubbard died Saturday of cancer at her home in Roxbury, Connecticut, her son, Jeremy Bennett, told The Hollywood Reporter.

On the big screen, Hubbard played the gynecologist girlfriend of Gene Hackman’s character in I Never Sang for My Father (1970) and appeared in The Bell Jar (1979), Ordinary People (1980), Cold River (1982) and Center Stage (2000).

She portrayed Dr. Althea on NBC’s The Doctors from 1964-82 and the manipulating mogul Lucinda on CBS’ As the World Turns from 1984 until the show’s conclusion in September 2010. (Lucinda and Larry Bryggman’s John Dixon headed off to Amsterdam at the end.)

“I’ve been so lucky playing Lucinda — a character who could do anything,” she told TV Guide in 2010. “She could lie,...

Chris Pine has been making us swoon since he first burst onto the scene in the 2006 romantic comedy "Just My Luck," but his very first TV appearance actually happened when he was just 3 years old. In case you weren't aware, Chris's dad is none other than Robert Pine - the actor who famously played Sgt. Joseph Getraer on NBC's "CHiPs" in the late '70s and early '80s - and in 1983, Chris joined his dad on the show as a boy named Christopher. The two teamed up for an adorable duet of "Hurry, Hurry Climb the Ladder" and melted hearts everywhere.

Of course, this isn't the only glimpse we've gotten of their close bond. Robert often steps out to support his son at his movie premieres, and he previously told Men's Journal, "You never encourage your children to attempt this business. It can be just too painful and heartbreaking.

For nearly a century, the Western genre has been captivating movie-goers with gun-slinging cowboys who traverse the Wild West. As time progressed and societal norms shifted, so too did the western films of each era. They began to act as windows into contemporary culture rather than reflections of past eras. Western movies have become beloved staples in cinema and continue to thrill viewers today with their daring adventures set against grandiose landscapes.

Related: 10 Best Sci-Fi Movies of All Time, Ranked by Viewers

Since its birth, the western genre has retained its liveliness and novelty through many decades of existence. Creative filmmakers have continued to deliver their renditions of this classic Western style, keeping it relevant even today.

10 ‘The Hateful Eight’ (2015)

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins

In ‘The Hateful Eight’, Tarantino presents a revisionist-film-meets-spaghetti-western that honors westerns of the 1960s. Think about all those stories of violence,...

James Douglass West, who worked as a child actor alongside Roddy McDowall and Natalie Wood and spent a decade as a writer on Lassie, has died. He was 93.

West died Sunday of natural causes at his home in Studio City, his son, Daniel West, told The Hollywood Reporter.

For the big screen, West penned the original screenplay for the musical Hey Boy! Hey Girl! (1959), starring married couple Keely Smith and Louis Prima, and wrote California (1963), a Western starring Jock Mahoney.

West served for about a year as a story editor for writer-producer Charles Marquis Warren on NBC’s The Virginian, then joined the writing staff of CBS’ Lassie in 1963.

He was on the job during the 1964-65 season when the collie’s family (played by June Lockhart, Hugh Reilly and Jon Provost) move to Australia and Lassie gets paired with a Forest Service Ranger portrayed by Robert Bray.

Campbell Soup,...

Sara Lane, who portrayed the orphaned frontier girl Elizabeth Grainger for four seasons of the NBC drama The Virginian, has died. She was 73.

Lane died Friday at her home in Napa, California, after a six-year battle with breast cancer, her husband, Jon Scott, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Lane joined the 1890s Western for the start of its retooled fifth season in September 1966 alongside two other new castmembers: Charles Bickford, who played her grandfather, John Grainger, the new owner of the Shiloh Ranch, and Don Quine, who portrayed her older brother, Stacey Grainger.

She appeared on 105 episodes of the Wyoming Territory-set series through March 1970, with James Drury‘s title character and Doug McClure’s Trampas looking after Elizabeth. The Virginian aired one final season without her.

The oldest of three kids, Susan Russell Lane was born in New York on March 12, 1949. Her parents, Rusty Lane (The Harder They Fall) and Sara Anderson,...

Gabrielle Upton, who wrote the screenplay for the classic California surfing movie Gidget, starring Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson and James Darren, has died. She was 101.

Upton died Sept. 13 in Santa Rosa, California, her daughter, Greer Upton, told The Hollywood Reporter. News of her death had not been reported until now.

A three-time WGA Award nominee, Upton wrote for such network shows as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour/Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Ben Casey, Convoy, One Step Beyond, The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, The Virginian, The Big Valley and The High Chaparral.

She also worked on several daytime soap operas during her career, including Guiding Light, As the World Turns, Edge of Night, Search for Tomorrow, The Secret Storm and Love of Life.

After Frederick Kohner took a crack at adapting his best-selling 1957 novel Gidget, the Little Girl With Big Ideas for Columbia Pictures’ Gidget (1959), Upton came on and received sole screenplay credit.

Raquel Welch, the big-screen star of the 1960s and ’70s who gained fame in movies including Fantastic Voyage, One Million Years B.C., Myra Breckinridge and many others, died today after a brief illness. She was 82.

Her death was confirmed by her reps at Media 4 Management.

Related: Raquel Welch: A Career In Photos

Welch’s career spanned more than 50 years, 30 films and scores of TV series and appearances, including about a dozen visits to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson spanning two decades. She also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Imagen Foundation in 2001.

From left: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch and Donald Pleasence in ‘Fantastic Voyage’ (Everett Collection)

Born Jo Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940, in Chicago, Welch’s family moved to San Diego when she was a toddler. She attended San Diego State on a theater arts scholarship and got her start as a local TV weathercaster before starting to...