RIP thread for people involved in film

"John Lafia, who co-wrote 1988 horror film “Child’s Play” and also co-wrote and directed “Child’s Play 2,” died April 29 in Los Angeles," according to Variety.

"According to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, the cause of death was suicide," Variety reports.

Lafia collaborated with Tom Holland and Don Mancini on the horror movie screenplay, and was credited with coining the name “Chucky” and contributed the famous line, “Hi, I’m Chucky, wanna play?” In 1988, the original “Child’s Play” went on to top the box office and received a Saturn award for best horror film, as well as a nomination for best writing. He also received a writing credit on the 2019 remake.

“Child’s Play” creator and screenwriter Don Mancini said in a statement provided by Lafia’s family, “We’re devastated to hear of the passing of our friend John Lafia. He was a crucial part of the ‘Chucky’ family from the very beginning. He co-wrote the original ‘Child’s Play’ script along with director Tom Holland and myself, and John directed ‘Child’s Play 2,’ — the consensus favorite film among ‘Chucky’ fans. John was an incredibly generous artist. He let me tag along with him to every meeting, and shadow him on set; he taught me more about filmmaking during the production of that movie than several semesters in film school. John was also one of the most naturally curious and constantly creative people I ever met, someone who was always taking pictures, and jotting down ideas.”

Lafia was born in 1957 and received a BFA in Motion Picture and Television from UCLA. He worked in the art department on Alex Cox’s “Repo Man” and on “Space Raiders” before moving into screenwriting.

His first major credit was 1988’s “The Blue Iguana,” an action film starring Dylan McDermott, which he wrote and directed in addition to producing its soundtrack. “The Blue Iguana” was selected for a midnight showing in the official selection at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival. In 1993, he wrote and directed the science fiction film “Man’s Best Friend,” which debuted at No. 2 at the box office. Lafia also wrote, directed and produced the TV mini-series “10.5” in 2004 and its spinoff “10.5: Apocalypse” in 2006.

His other directing credits include the TV series “Freddy’s Nightmares,” TV movie “The Rats” and the live action video game “Corpse Killer.” Lafia’s last project was the TV movie “Firestorm: Last Stand at Yellowstone” in 2006, starring Scott Foley and Richard Burgi.

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Fred Willard (he was in many Christopher Guest films) has died at age 86

I just heard about this now, sadly. I'll always remember him as one of the commentators in Best In Show:

The photos in the obit articles which are mostly from quite some time ago, so I confused Willard with John Michael Higgins for a minute. Looked them up - age difference aside, there's a remarkable resemblance. In the photo below, Willard is in the centre, and Higgins rightmost.

Aussie supporting staple Arthur Dignam passed away a week ago. Parts in The Devils Playground, Australia etc.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0226583/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Fred Willard (he was in many Christopher Guest films) has died at age 86

His turn in Guest's "A Mighty Wind" is my favourite.

His improv skills were astounding. As were his frosted tips.

RIP

bnt wrote: »

Veteran character actor Richard Herd has died at 87. He seemed to be comfortable in both movies and TV e.g. in 1980 he played a Captain in an episode of M*A*S*H and a General in Private Benjamin. In recent years he worked mostly in TV, including Seinfeld and Star Trek: Voyager, but was in Get Out, The Oath and The Mule over 6the last few years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQbj_4tr-Us

He was always the guy from the V mini series and the captain from TJ Hooker to me.

Herbert Stempel, the fall guy turned whistleblower from the Twenty-One show-fixing scandal of the 1950s has died at age 93. John Turturro played him in Robert Redford's Quiz Show in 1994.

Denise Cronenberg passed away last month, aged 81. She worked as costume designer on films such as Bless the Child, Dracula 2000, Dawn of the Dead (2004), Dead Silence, Shoot ‘Em Up, The Incredible Hulk and Resident Evil: Afterlife.

She'll be best known for her work on the films of her brother David, including Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, M. Butterfly, Crash, eXistenZ, Spider, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, The Fly, and others.

There's a good obituary on The Star (Canadian newspaper).

George Mikell, Lithuanian-born Aussie actor, played villainous German henchmen a lot; was gone the 90 also;

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0586393/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Ian Holm has died at the age of 88. Great actor in all sorts of different kinds of films. RIP.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2020/jun/19/ian-holm-a-virtuoso-actor-of-steel-sinew-and-charm-peter-bradshaw-appreciation

Such a wonderful actor. He had that RADA 'voice' which is so compelling.

I know he is more famous for his supporting roles in Alien, Lord of the Rings etc but the roles that stick with me are some BBC TV movies (The Browning Version, The Last Romantics) or the offbeat Canadian movie The Sweet Hereafter (1997)

I'd say apart from the obvious the first thing I'd think of with Ian Holm is "From Hell". I just looked up his Wikipedia page and didn't realise he played Frodo in a radio adaptation of LOTR in the 70's.

mikhail wrote: »

Here's the scene. Holm's delivery is great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA8jv1M6Y2g

The dialogue is great, but Holm's carefully considered and matter of fact delivery makes it chilling.

Arghus wrote: »

The dialogue is great, but Holm's carefully considered and matter of fact delivery makes it chilling.

It draws a line under how inhuman the character is. Plus, the little break from action and suspense has let the audience relax, and now he stabs us in the heart by telling us that everyone is as good as dead. It's great setup for the big push to the end of the movie.

As someone noted above, it's partly the script, but O'Bannon wrote some stinkers in his day. If he wrote something great here, he also got lucky with the performances, editing, music, and all the film-making craft from Scott that keeps everyone on the edge of their seat.

Sad Professor wrote: »

Shame that so many media reports of Holm's death describe him as the guy who played Bilbo in LOTR. He was so much more. Hopefully younger people will check out some of his earlier work. As odyssey said, he was amazing in The Sweet Hereafter, should have won an Oscar for it.

I think some younger people will check out his earlier work precisely because they have heard of him from LotR. It's a positive thing.

RIP Joel Schumacher
Director of Batman Films and ‘Lost Boys,’ Dies at 80

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/joel-schumacher-dead-dies-batman-director-1234644961/

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Lost Boys is a classic and really enjoyed Falling Down, Phone Booth and Flatliners.
Really hated his Batman movies though. RIP Joel

Quite enjoyed 8mm tbh.