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Mitzi McCall, the trailblazing comedian, actress and half of the comedy duo McCall and Brill, died Thursday in Burbank. She was 93.

Born on Sept. 9, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, her comedic talents were evident early in life, leading to a distinguished career that spanned over seven decades. She emerged as a prominent voice in the male-dominated comedy world, paving the way for future generations of female comedians.

McCall’s legacy is perhaps most enduringly marked by her work with her husband, actor and comedian Charlie Brill, as part of the comedy duo “McCall and Brill.” The pair became television staples, gracing numerous variety shows, including a memorable appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” during The Beatles’ American debut in 1964 — a moment that has since become television history.

Mitzi’s career began in the late 1940s with a stage debut at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in “Strange Bedfellows” in 1948. In the early 1950s, she...

Mitzi McCall, the delightful actress and sitcom writer who partnered with her husband, Charlie Brill, in a sketch comedy act that famously floundered between sets by The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, has died. She was 93.

McCall died Thursday at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, her family announced.

The pint-sized Pittsburgh native also played the dry cleaner’s wife who wears a fur coat owned by Jerry’s mom on the 1994 Seinfeld episode “The Secretary,” and she was the mother of Carol Leifer’s optometrist character on the 1997-98 WB sitcom Alright Already.

McCall had a thriving career as a voiceover artist; she played Mother Goose on Mother Goose and Grimm and worked on other animated projects including The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, Paw Paws, Darkwing Duck, Yo Yogi! and Ice Age (2002).

And she wrote for shows including 13 Queens Boulevard, Eight Is Enough, One Day at a Time,...

Legendary producer and director Roger Corman, who died recently at age 98, had an immeasurable impact on American cinema as we know it. The number of actors, writers, and directors who learned their craft on a Corman production is staggering, and he was known for giving people chances to prove themselves on the low-budget pictures he either produced or directed himself. Tons of notable names went through the so-called "Corman school," including James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard, and Joe Dante, just to name a few.

Three-time Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson is another significant alumnus of the Corman school of filmmaking — in fact, his very first movie, "The Cry Baby Killer," was a Corman production, and it provided Nicholson the first of many starring roles across his incredible career. The film follows a young man who thinks he's committed murder outside of a local hang-out restaurant,...

Renowned independent movie producer, distributor, and director Roger Corman passed away on May 9 at the age of 98, leaving behind a legacy that reshaped Hollywood.

On May 9, at his residence in Santa Monica, California, surrounded by loved ones, Roger Corman passed away, as confirmed by his family to Variety.

In a poignant statement, his family reflected on Corman’s legacy, describing his films as revolutionary and iconoclastic, capturing the essence of their era.

They shared Corman’s words, expressing his desire to be remembered simply as a filmmaker.

“His films were revolutionary and iconoclastic, and captured the spirit of an age. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that.’”

Corman has been hailed as the King of B-movies and a trailblazer for independent filmmaking.

Roger Corman mentored numerous legendary filmmakers

Born in Detroit, Michigan on April 5, 1926, Corman’s prolific career spanned over six decades,...

Roger Corman, a pioneer of low-cost independent filmmaking and the godfather of B-movies who produced hundreds of genre films in a career spanning eight decades, has died. He was 98.

During a prolific career that started in the 1950s and encompassed all genre, Corman directed the 1960 original The Little Shop Of Horrors – reportedly shot in two days – as well as The Man With The X-Ray Eyes, The Trip, The Wasp Woman, The Masque Of The Red Death, House Of Usher, and The Raven – the last three counting among a number of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations.

Dubbed ’the Pope of Pop Cinema...

Roger Corman, who directed and produced countless B-movies and championed future industry stalwarts Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, and Jack Nicholson, died at his home in Santa Monica, California on May 9, Variety reports. He was 98.

“His films were revolutionary and iconoclastic, and captured the spirit of an age. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that,’” the family said in a statement to the outlet.

For nearly five decades, he dominated the B-movie market, with films that ranged from his early work in the Fifties,...

Roger Corman, the fabled “King of the B’s” producer and director who churned out low-budget genre films with breakneck speed and provided career boosts to young, untested talents like Jack Nicholson, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, Gale Anne Hurd and James Cameron, has died. He was 98.

The filmmaker, who received an honorary Oscar in 2009 at the Governors Awards, died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, his family told The Hollywood Reporter.

“He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him,” they said in a statement. “When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that.’”

Corman perhaps is best known for such horror fare as The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) and his series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations starring Vincent Price, but he became celebrated for drugs-and-biker sagas like The Wild Angels...

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is a classic horror flick that really gets under your skin. It’s all about this guy named Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson, who goes totally off the deep end. The 86-year-old’s performance is unforgettable, as he nails the whole tormented, crazy thing. But here’s the kicker: he never got an Oscar for it. Can you believe that?

Jack Nicholson in How Do You Know

Despite all the creepy vibes and stellar acting, the Academy just looked the other way. It’s a real head-scratcher and one of those moments where you wonder what they were thinking.

The Shining Deserved An Oscar Win For Jack Nicholson

The Shining, directed by Stanley Kubrick, is a horror classic that really packs a punch. And Jack Nicholson’s performance as Jack Torrance is what makes it so unforgettable. He really nails the whole unraveling, going crazy thing,...

Jack Nicholson's versatile acting abilities shine through in his best movies, whether he's playing a hero or a villain. Nicholson's performances in underrated films like "The Passenger" and "The Last Detail" demonstrate his immense talent. From courtroom dramas like "A Few Good Men" to romantic comedies like "As Good as It Gets," Nicholson's filmography is unmatched in cinematic history.

The best Jack Nicholson movies show off the actor's brilliant ability to inhabit a role, and he has touched multiple generations of cinema. The three-time Oscar winner has been in some of the most iconic and acclaimed films of all time and always gives a performance that is at least interesting, if not brilliant. Making his debut in the 1958 film The Cry Baby Killer, Nicholson soon grew into a bona fide movie star just as Hollywood was going through a cultural revolution of its own in the 1960s and '70s.

On April 28, 2023, the sports and entertainment worlds lit up with joy at the sight of Jack Nicholson taking his courtside seat at Crypto.com Arena for the Los Angeles Lakers' semifinals-clinching game against the Memphis Grizzlies. This was the 86-year-old star's first appearance at a game since the home opener of the 2021-22 season, and it dispelled rumors of ill-health that had flitted about due to his absence from the public eye.

Ever since his career took off in the late 1960s, Nicholson exemplified Hollywood stardom. He played the celebrity game with devilish glee, donning his Ray-Ban sunglasses and strutting down red carpets to the delight of shutterbugs and fans. He was a near-constant presence at the Academy Awards, where he typically sat in the front row because, well, he's Jack. And no Lakers home game felt official without him sitting just to the right of the visiting team's bench...

Gerald Fried, the Oscar-nominated, oboe-playing composer who created iconic gladiatorial fight music for the original Star Trek series and collaborated with Quincy Jones to win an Emmy for their theme to the landmark miniseries Roots, has died. He was 95.

Fried died Friday of pneumonia at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut, his wife, Anita Hall, told The Hollywood Reporter.

After meeting Stanley Kubrick on a baseball field in the Bronx in the early 1950s, Fried wound up scoring the filmmaker’s first four features: Fear and Desire (1953), Killer’s Kiss (1955), The Killing (1956) and Paths of Glory (1957).

Fried also supplied the music for such cult Roger Corman classics as Machine-Gun Kelly (1958), The Cry Baby Killer (1958) and I Mobster (1959). He also worked with directors Larry Peerce on One Potato Two Potato (1964) and The Bell Jar (1979), as well as with Robert Aldrich on The Killing of Sister George (1968), What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?...

Composer Gerald Fried, who won an Emmy for the landmark miniseries “Roots” and whose 1960s scores, from “Star Trek” to “Gilligan’s Island,” left an indelible impression on a generation of TV watchers, died of pneumonia Friday at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport, Ct. He was 95.

His wide-ranging career included scoring five early Stanley Kubrick films, including “Paths of Glory” and “The Killing”; receiving the only Oscar nomination ever given for a documentary score, 1975’s “Birds Do It, Bees Do It”; and earning five other Emmy nominations for music in specials, TV movies and miniseries.

The prolific Fried scored approximately 40 films, some three dozen TV-movies and miniseries, and episodes of another 40 TV series during a career that spanned more than six decades.

Among his most famous TV series music was from the original “Star Trek.” He scored five episodes of the series, most famously the Spock-in-heat episode “Amok Time,” which...

Joseph John Nicholson, or Jack Nicholson as he's better known, is one of the most recognizable and prolific actors in the history of American cinema. Boasting a career that spans 50 years, the three-time Oscar-winner holds the honor of being the male actor with the most nominations in the Academy's history (12), and, with Michael Caine, shares the distinction of having been nominated at least once every decade since the '60s. 

Born in 1937 in Neptune City, New Jersey, Jack moved to California in the '50s, making his film debut in the low-budget Roger Corman noir, "The Cry Baby Killer." The rest, as they say, is Hollywood...

The post Jack Nicholson's 15 most iconic roles ranked appeared first on /Film.

Like father, like son! Jack Nicholson and his youngest son, Ray Nicholson, stepped out for a theatre fundraiser this past weekend in the Hamptons where they quickly proved how similar they look. The 77-year-old screen legend and his 22-year-old son share those very distinctive eyebrows, as well as an irresistible smile. Besides the physical similarities, both Nicholsons share a passion for the movie scene. At the age of 22, Jack made his big screen debut in the 1959 movie, The Cry Baby Killer.  Meanwhile, Ray already has two assistant director credits to his name including the comedic drama, A Reunion, released earlier this year. The father-son duo has remained close over the years....

Roger Corman was a guest with HuffPost Live host Ricky Camilleri on Wednesday afternoon, and the 87-year-old filmmaker shared some stories about Jack Nicholson. The acclaimed, three-time Oscar winner got his start as an actor in the Corman production "The Cry Baby Killer" and frequently worked with Corman throughout the 1960s. "I felt that he was going to be star," Corman, who also helped launch the careers of Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard and James Cameron, said.

Watch Corman discuss Nicholson in the clip above. More of Corman's appearance can be spied below.

Let's rewind the clock (and some very old video) to the glorious, often unsung moment when future superstars made their film debut. This star-studded video essay, created by Flavorwire, digs up some obscure cameos from your favorite actors and actresses. For example, who knew that future "Office" leading man John Krasinski appeared briefly in David Mamet's "State and Main?" Or that Zach Braff's first role was in "Manhattan Murder Mystery?" Speaking of Woody Allen, Sharon Stone was the "pretty girl on train "in his 1980 movie "Stardust Memories," and Woody himself made his acting debut opposite Peter O'Toole in 1965's "What's New Pussycat?" You can check out their debuts, as Robert De Niro's, Sylvester Stallone's and more, in the video above. (On a film nerd note: Jack Nicholson's first role was actually in 1958's "The Cry Baby Killer," but since he's so much fun as an eager,...

Jack Nicholson fought back tears as he paid tribute to the director who gave him his big break in the late 1950s during a recent documentary chat.

The movie legend agreed to sit down for 20 minutes for director Alex Stapleton's Roger Corman film, Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, but according to The Hollywood Reporter he became emotional as the memories ticked by.

He ended up spending hours chatting to Stapleton, who says, "After we finished, Jack told me, 'I've only gone on camera one other time for something like this - for Stanley Kubrick.'"

Nicholson's first movie role was in Corman's 1958 movie The Cry Baby Killer.

I wrote about Project Nim last time (read that here) and since then I have watched six more documentaries, trying to close the gap on the number of documentaries I missed out on seeing over the course of 2011. As a result, I have now seen five of the 15 documentaries shortlisted by the Academy for Oscar consideration and unfortunately I don't have access to the other ten, though I still have the much talked about Senna and Werner Herzog's Into the Abyss yet to watch. Beyond all that, however, I have six documentaries to briefly discuss today so let's no waste anymore time... Undefeated Undefeated is hands-down, without a doubt fantastic. Yet, at the moment, two things piss me off about it. The Weinstein Co. hasn't done anything to promote it. There isn't a clip; there isn't a trailer; and the poster I used to the left is some rush...

Roger Corman is an interesting character. He’s a provocateur, a goof, a “schlockmaster,” a great assembler of talent, an independent film legend, an international film buff, an under-appreciated master of concepts and execution. All of these sides are shown in Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, director Alex Stapleton‘s new documentary that attempts to reconcile all of these disparate character traits and titles into one cohesive piece. And, happily, he mostly succeeds.

The film is a combination of Hollywood luminaries relating to the audience what makes Corman so unique through talking head interviews mixed with a mostly-chronological telling of his story to inform us of what exactly we should be admiring about him. The crux of the story seems to be that he is under-appreciated not only amongst the film elite but also from an entire new generation of film fans that grew up without drive-thrus or grindhouses (alas,...

Jack Nicholson wasn’t particularly good looking, muscular or indeed an early screen success story when he won his colourful, breakthrough supporting role, at the age of 32, in Dennis Hopper’s 1969′s road-trip classic Easy Rider. But his remarkable presence in that film and future prominent roles in Five Easy Pieces, Carnal Knowledge, The Last Detail, and Chinatown along with his Oscar winning turn in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest subsequently cemented him as one of the finest leading actors of the era.

Some 40 years (and 40 odd films… including iconic turns in The Shining, Batman, A Few Good Men and The Departed) later, even in semi-retirement, the legendary 73 year old with the killer grin, is still considered an undisputed king of the screen. And here are 50 reasons why I think he could just be the greatest living actor today.

1. Charisma

Jack Nicholson is one of the most charismatic actors in the business.

The veteran character actor received an Emmy nomination for portraying a crotchety shut-in on a 1993 episode of the sitcom.

By Eric Ditzian

Bill Erwin as Sid Fields in "Seinfeld"

Photo: Sony Pictures Television

Bill Erwin, an actor best known for his Emmy-nominated turn as a crotchety old man on "Seinfeld," died at his home in Studio City, California, on Wednesday at 96 of age-related causes, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A well-respected character actor whose career spanned films, television and the stage, Erwin starred in a 1993 episode of "Seinfeld," playing an elderly man named Sid Fields with whom Jerry Seinfeld volunteers to spend time. Erwin's portrayal of the foul-mouthed, paranoid shut-in became one of the more memorable guest spots in the show's history. Fields is convinced that the CIA is after him, his maid is stealing his money and Jerry has come to kill him.

"I wasn't born yesterday," Fields says in the episode.