Celebrity

Walter Mirisch, Oscar-winning producer, dead at 101

Published

1 year ago

2023-02-28

LOS ANGELES — Walter Mirisch, a smart and Oscar-winning movie producer who oversaw classics like “Some Like It Hot,” “West Side Story,” and “In the Heat of the Night,” died of natural causes on Saturday, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He was 101.

According to a statement from the Academy’s CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang, Mirisch died on Friday in Los Angeles.

“Walter was a true visionary, both as a producer and an industry leader,” they said, noting that he had previously served as academy president and governor. “His passion for filmmaking and the Academy never wavered, and he remained a dear friend and advisor. During this difficult time, we send our love and support to his family.”

Mirisch won the Academy Award for best picture for 1967′s “In the Heat of the Night,” and the company he and his brothers ran also produced best-picture Oscar winners “The Apartment” and “West Side Story.”

He was born eight years before the first Academy Awards ceremony and was president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1973 to 1977. He received two honorary Oscars for his work and humanitarian efforts in 1978 and 1983.

Mirisch aggressively recruited top filmmakers such as Billy Wilder and Norman Jewison as producers, then gave them free rein to craft the films as they saw fit.

“We provided what these filmmakers required,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 1983. “Billy could call me up and say, ‘I’d next like to do a picture about so-and-so’ — and that’s all we’d need to know. … We effectively became partners with our directors.”

Mirisch aggressively recruited top filmmakers such as Billy Wilder and Norman Jewison

In addition to Wilder and Jewison, his company’s regular board of directors included Blake Edwards and John Sturges. The company also produced films by John Ford, John Huston, William Wyler, George Roy Hill, and Hal Ashby.

Mirisch began his career in the film industry as a teenager, working his way up from usher to management positions with a theatre chain before moving on to production work on low-budget action films and Westerns in the late 1940s.

His company, which he founded with his brother Marvin and half-brother Harold in 1957, was one of the most successful independent production outfits to emerge from the old studio system as television reduced movie attendance.

From the 1950s to the 1970s, the Mirischs had a string of hits, including “The Magnificent Seven,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “The Great Escape,” “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming,” “The Thomas Crown Affair,” “The Pink Panther,” and its sequel, “A Shot in the Dark.”

Their company began with a few Westerns before producing 1959′s “Some Like It Hot,” a Wilder comedy starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis as cross-dressing musicians fleeing the mob.

Mirisch was open to trying out new projects. He was a Harvard-trained business executive who efficiently oversaw the business side of things, allowing his filmmakers to focus on their films.

Elmore Leonard, the crime novelist and screenwriter on two Mirisch productions, “Mr. Majestyk” in 1974 and “Desperado” in 1987, dedicated his Hollywood satire “Get Shorty” to Mirisch, calling him “one of the good guys.”

Mirisch was also one of a few filmmakers mentioned by Sidney Poitier in his acceptance speech for an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement at the 2002 Academy Awards.

mirisch

Mirisch was open to trying out new projects.

“Those filmmakers persevered, speaking to the best in all of us through their art,” said Poitier, who starred in Mirisch’s “In the Heat of the Night” and the sequel “They Call Me Mister Tibbs!”

The Mirisch brothers tailored their management style to the level of oversight they felt a director desired or required. Mirisch stated in a 1972 interview in the journal “Films and Filming” that some directors worked well as their producers, while others had little interest outside the actual filmmaking.

“We’ve worked with brilliant directors and producer-directors, and I must say that our relationships with each of them have been very different,” he explained.

The Mirisch brothers worked in theatre as a team for most of their careers. Walter worked as a producer and later as head of the production before joining the Allied Artists production company in the 1940s, while Harold and Marvin worked in administration.

Walter Mirisch continued to make theatrical films until the 1980s.

While at Allied, Walter produced Westerns and a series of low-budget titles in the “Bomba the Jungle Boy” series starring Johnny Sheffield, who had played Boy in the 1940s “Tarzan” films.

Following the death of his oldest brother, Harold, in 1968, the surviving siblings carried on their business with Marvin as chairman and Walter, the youngest brother, in charge of production. Marvin passed away in 2002.

Walter Mirisch continued to make theatrical films until the 1980s. Although his films’ quality and commercial success declined in general, he did have some hits, including Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe for “Same Time Next Year.” Other late-career films included “Midway,” “Gray Lady Down,” and the 1979 remake of “Dracula.” In the 1990s, he was also an executive producer on several television projects.

In New York City, Walter Mortimer Mirisch was born on November 8, 1921. After attending City College of New York, he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1942 from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and a master’s in business in 1943 from Harvard.

Mirisch married Patricia Kahan in 1947, and she died before him. Anne, Andrew, and Lawrence were their three children.

The family has asked for donations to the Motion Picture and Television Fund instead of flowers (MPTF).

A memorial service will take place at a later date.

SOURCE – (AP)

Celebrity

Kevin Spacey Denies “New Allegations” of Inappropriate Behavior

Published

1 hour ago

2024-05-04

Geoff Thomas

Kevin Spacey said he has struggled to get back to work: Getty Images

Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has denied new allegations of inappropriate behavior from men in a British television documentary airing next week. After his acquittal last year in a London court, Spacey told journalist Dan Wootton online that he had hard to return to work.

in the interview “Kevin Spacey: Right Of Reply” that aired late Friday on Wootton’s YouTube channel.

Four men accused Spacey of sexual assault 20 years ago, but a London jury acquitted him in July. The court victory was his second since defeating “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp’s $40 million New York case in 2022.

Channel 4 in Britain and Max in the U.S. will carry the documentary “Spacey Unmasked” on May 6 and 7.

The actor indicated in an interview that the documentary will contain men’s 1976–2013 testimony.

Spacey, who won Oscars for “The Usual Suspects” and “American Beauty,” stated, “I take full responsibility for my past behaviour and my actions, but I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who’s made up stuff about me or exaggerated stories about

“Never have I said that if someone gives me sexual favors, I will help them with their career,” he told AP.

Old Vic Theatre in London: Getty Images

Kevin Spacey, who was creative director of the Old Vic Theatre in London from 2004 to 2015, said that he was a “flirt” with 20-something males and made “clumsy” approaches.

“I’ve clearly hooked up with some men, who thought a relationship with me might help them advance in their careers,” he stated. “But there was no conversation with me, it was all part of their plan, a plan that was only going to fail because I wasn’t involved.”

Kevin Spacey said on X, formerly Twitter, that he had “repeatedly requested” that Channel 4 give him more than seven days to react to their documentary charges.

Spacey said the channel declined “on the basis that they feel that asking for a response in 7 days to new, anonymized and non-specific allegations is a ‘fair opportunity’ for me to refute any allegations made against me.”

“Each time I have been given time and a proper forum to defend myself, the allegations have failed under scrutiny and I have been exonerated,” he said. Spacey called his acquittal a “life sentence” and said he struggled to return to work.

Since the #MeToo movement began in 2017, his acting career has suffered. He lost his Netflix leadership role as Frank Underwood in “House of Cards”.

Kevin Spacey Found Not Guilty on 9 Sexual Misconduct Charges

Kevin Spacey Found Not Guilty on 9 Sexual Misconduct Charges

Celebrity

‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’

Published

7 hours ago

2024-05-04

Kiara Grace

AP - VOR News Image

Washington — On Friday, “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill visited the White House with President Joe Biden, leaving with a pair of the president’s aviator sunglasses and a newfound respect for the job.

“I love the merch,” he added, removing his glasses briefly at the White House daily press briefing following his meeting with Biden. Hamill, 72, famous for playing Luke Skywalker, joked with reporters that he’d answer a few questions as long as they weren’t about “Star Wars.”

AP – VOR News Image

‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’

“I was honored to be asked to come to the White House to meet the president,” he told reporters. He’d been to the White House previously, during the Carter and Obama administrations, but he’d never seen the Oval Office, which he described as impressive. According to Hamill, Biden displayed photographs and other memorabilia from the Oval Office.

Hamill claimed Biden told him to call him “Joe,” to which Hamill responded with an alternative suggestion: “Can I call you Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi?”

“He liked that,” said Hamill, who also portrayed the Joker in “Batman: The Animated Series.”

AP – VOR News Image

‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’

Both Mark and the White House were hazy about the cause for his visit. But Mark, a Democrat and Biden supporter with a sizable social media following, has been posting about the president’s reelection campaign this week.

“May 1 Not Quench Your Thirst For Biden’s Re-election!” he tweeted on May 1.

On Friday, he wrote, “May 3 be absurd that the guy who tried to steal a fair election is allowed to run again,” referring to Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

May 4 is unofficially known as “Star Wars” Day, partly due to the famous Jedi line “May the Force Be With You.” The pun is “May 4 be with you.”

AP – VOR News Image

‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’

Mark also provided his voice for “Air Alert,” a downloadable program linked to Ukraine’s air defense system. His voice warns citizens to take cover if Russia launches another aerial strike on Ukraine.

SOURCE – (AP)

Celebrity

Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week

Published

7 hours ago

2024-05-04

Kiara Grace

AP - VOR News Image

LONDON — Kevin Spacey, the Oscar-winning actor, has denied new charges of inappropriate behavior by men who will appear in a British television documentary airing next week.

In an online interview with journalist Dan Wootton, Spacey stated that he has never done anything unlawful and has struggled to return to work since being convicted of criminal charges in a London court last year.

“I can’t go through this again, allowing myself to be baselessly attacked without defending myself,” he said in the “Kevin Spacey: Right Of Reply” interview, which aired late Friday on Wootton’s YouTube channel.

AP – VOR News Image

Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week

Last July, a London jury cleared Spacey of sexual assault charges stemming from 20-year-old allegations made by four men. The court triumph was his second since defending himself against a $40 million lawsuit filed in New York in 2022 by “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp.

The documentary “Spacey Unmasked” will be shown on Channel 4 in Britain on May 6 and 7 and on Max in the United States.

The actor mentioned during the interview that the program will feature men’s evidence about events between 1976 and 2013.

“I take full responsibility for my past behaviour and my actions, but I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who’s made up stuff about me or exaggerated stories about me,” said Spacey, who received Academy Award nominations for “The Usual Suspects” and “American Beauty.”

“I’ve never told someone that if they give me sexual favors, then I will help them out with their career, never,” he said.

Rolling Stone – VOR News Image

Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week

Spacey, the creative director of the Old Vic Theatre in London from 2004 to 2015, said that he was a “flirt” with men in their twenties and occasionally made “clumsy” advances.

“I’ve clearly hooked up with some men who thought they might get ahead in their careers by having a relationship with me,” he went on to say. But there was no conversation with me. It was all part of their plan, a plan that was always destined to fail because I wasn’t in on the deal.”

The actor also stated on X, formerly Twitter, that he had “repeatedly requested” that Channel 4 give him more than seven days to reply to the claims brought against him in their program.

Spacey said that the network turned down his request “on the basis that they feel that asking for a response in 7 days to new, anonymized and non-specific allegations is a ‘fair opportunity’ for me to refute any allegations made against me.”

“Each time I have been given the time and a proper forum to defend myself, the allegations have failed under scrutiny and I have been exonerated,” he said.

ABC – VOR News Image

Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week

Spacey said he had struggled to return to work since being acquitted of all criminal charges, characterizing the experience as a “life sentence.”

His acting career had suffered since 2017 when he was publicly accused of inappropriate behavior at the start of the #MeToo movement. He then lost his starring role as Frank Underwood in the Netflix thriller “House of Cards”.

SOURCE – (AP)