| 27th February 2006 07:49 PM |
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| Gimme Shelter |
February 27: RIP Darren McGavin
Various sources have reported that Darren McGavin, the actor best-known to horror fans as reporter-turned-monster hunter Carl Kolchak, died Saturday of natural causes at age 83 at a Los Angeles-area hospital. McGavin, whose career spanned over 50 years beginning in 1945, first played Kolchak in the 1971 TV movie THE NIGHT STALKER, written by Richard Matheson and directed by John Llewellyn Moxey. Its popularity led to a sequel, 1972’s THE NIGHT STRANGLER, and a KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER TV series that ran for only one season but became a cult favorite. The creators of THE X FILES (in which McGavin played Agent Arthur Dales in two episodes), among others, citted the NIGHT STALKER show as an influence, and when some of them spearheaded a new version of the show last year (with a miscast Stuart Townsend as a younger Kolchak), McGavin was digitally integrated into a scene in the pilot episode.
McGavin appeared in a total of over 170 TV shows and movies, including appearances on ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED, TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE, THE HITCHHIKER, MONSTERS and MILLENNIUM. He acted for Steven Spielberg in the director’s early TV fright film SOMETHING EVIL (1972), tangled with extraterrestrials in the miniseries THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES and the feature HANGAR 18 (both 1980), went evil for DEAD HEAT (1988) and co-starred in the schlocker HAPPY HELL NIGHT (1992). He made his feature-film directorial debut on the 1973 thriller HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, LOVE GEORGE (a.k.a. RUN STRANGER RUN), starring Patricia Neal, Cloris Leachman, a young Ron Howard and his KOLCHAK editor Simon Oakland.
McGavin is survived by four children: York, Megan, Bridget and Bogart. Services are set for March 5 at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. —Michael Gingold and Jack Ulrich
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| 27th February 2006 11:29 PM |
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| Kilroy |
So the three that go this time Don, Dennis and Darren. All Greats!
RIP Barney, Chester, and everybodys dad in the 50's. |
| 28th February 2006 09:36 AM |
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| stonedinaustralia |
i was going to say..these guys are dropping like flies
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| 28th February 2006 09:43 AM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
"The above image is from Hot Lead and Cold Feet, a Western in the same comic vein as the earlier Apple Dumpling Gang (which my whole family loved back in the day). In the 1978 film, McGavin and Knotts play a small-town mayor and sheriff who are entangled in a scramble for a family fortune. Ultimate Disney has a full review, which is good because I barely remembered the movie."
Cinematical.com
http://www.cinematical.com/2006/02/27/vintage-image-of-the-day-knotts-and-mcgavin
[Edited by Ten Thousand Motels] |
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