Thursday, April 30, 2015

RIP Patachou



Patachou, one of the most cheeky voices of French music after World War II, had owned a famous Parisian cabaret in Montmartre before launching herself on stage, died April 30th, at 96 years of age, surrounded his family. This artisan girl born June 10, 1918 in Paris, was first a typist and factory worker, in 1948 she opened and managed a cabaret-restaurant in Montmartre, with her husband Jean Billon, she quickly made a famous place of the Parisian night life. Supported by Maurice Chevalier, Patachou then took to the microphone herself, with a repertoire of realistic songs (“La complainte de la Butte”, “Gamin de Paris”) and light ditties (“le Tapin tranquille”, “Douce Marijane”). She has also performed abroad (U.S.A., Canada, Great Britain, Brazil), as well as getting small roles in film (1954) in "French Cancan" and Renoir's "Napoleon" by Guitry.  In 1966 Patachou is back in Paris at the tavern " La Tête de l'art" and in 1969 the restaurant of the Eiffel Tower, before ending her singing career.  From the 1980s, Patachou is seen in film and television.

She appeared as a guest star in the French, Canadian, U.S.A. co-producer TV series Bordertown in 1991.

Doctor Who: A Town Called Mercy (TV)



Doctor Who: A Town Called Mercy – English title

A 2012 British, Canadian television production [BBC (Cardiff)]
Producer: Marcus Wilson
Director: Saul Metzstein
Story: Toby Whithouse
Screenplay: Toby Whithouse
Cinematography: Stephan Pehrsson [color]
Music: Murray Gold
Running time: 60 minutes

Cast:
Doctor Who – Matt Smith (Matthew Smith)
Rory – Arthur Darvill (Thomas Darvill)
Amy Pond – Karen Gillan
The Gunslinger – Andrew Brooke
Marshal Isaac – Ben Browder (Robert Browder)
Abraham - Garrick Hagon
Doctor Kahler-Jex - Adrian Scarborough
Kahler-Mas – Dominic Kemp
Sadie – Joanne McQuinn
Preacher – Byrd Wilkins (William Wilkins)
Dockery - Sean Benedict (Anthony Benedict)
Walter – Rob Cavazos (Roberto Von Loesecke)


Season 7 episode 3 “A Town Called Mercy”. The Doctor gets a Stetson and a gun, and finds himself the reluctant sheriff of a western town under siege by a relentless cyborg who goes by the name of ‘The Gunslinger’. But who is he and what does he want?

The seventh series of the British science fiction television program ‘Doctor Who’ aired from September 1, 2012 to May 18, 2013, being split into two parts, as with the previous series. The series was broadcast concurrently on BBC One in the U.K., BBC America in the U.S.A., and on Space in Canada, and also on ABC in Australia, with the first five episodes each released a week after its U.K. and North American premiere and the remainder released the day after each episode's U.K. premiere. Following its premiere on September 1, 2012, the series aired weekly until September 29, 2012. Six episodes were broadcast in 2012, including the 2012 Christmas special, "The Snowmen", which aired separately from the main series. The remaining eight episodes began broadcasting on March 30, 2013. "The Snowmen" introduced a new TARDIS interior, title sequence, theme tune, and outfit for the Doctor.

Birthdays Then and Now



Carlo Rizzo (actor) 1907 – 7/26/1979
Phil Brown (actor) 1916 – 2/9/2006
Felipe Sacdalan (cinematographer) 1916 – 9/1/2005
Ricardo Blasco (director, screenwriter) 1921 – 2/8/1994
Peter Carsten (producer, actor) 1928 – 4/20/2012
Marc Richards (screenwriter) would have been 85 today, he died in 2006.
Adriana Asti (actress) 1933 -
Sergio Testori (actor) is 80 today.








Burt Young (actor) is 75 today.








Dan van Husen (actor) is 70 today.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Who Are Those Gals? - Eugenia Bosanceanu




Eugenia Bosânceanu was born in Radauti-Prut, Dorohoi, Romania on February 8, 1925. Eugenia graduated from the Institute of Theatre and Film in Bucharest in 1952.  Specializing mainly in supporting roles - according to her own words, "you do not need more than one reply to make a big role." Her career has spanned more than fifty years of cinema, television series and movies, short films, radio and dubbing voice parts.

Eugenia Bosanceanu began her artistic career before graduating - her second year as a result of an examination, Alexander Finţi, Army Theatre director hired her without hesitation. After seven years of theater in 1957, the actress debuted in cinema with a small role in “Ciulinii Bărăganului”, a film adaptation of his novel Stump, a Romanian-French co-production co-directed by Louis Daquin and Gheorghe Vitanidis, selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

After a first feature film role in the fiction of Mircea Săucan,Când primăvara e fierbinte” (1960), Eugenia Bosanceanu collaborated on a new Romanian-French co-production - and also a film adaptation of Stump “Codin” (1963), by Swiss director Henri Colpi. She took a role in the last film by Victor Iliu, “Comoara din Vadul Vechi” (1964), during which she met Lucian Pintilie, she then debuted in cinema as an assistant director and had an offer, with roles in two of his seminal films “Duminică la ora 6” (1966) and “Balanța” (1992). Moreover, her huge talent allowed her to play very different characters which brought the actress multiple collaborations with some of the largest and most prolific directors before and after 1989 Romanian Mircea Muresan (“Răscoala” and “Baltagul”, where she provided the voice of Vitoria Lipan) Nicolaescu
“Atunci i-am condamnat pe toți la moarte”, “Pentru patrie”, “Triunghiul morții” and “15”), Mircea Moldovan (“Vifornița”, “Pintea”, “Totul se plătește și Expediția”), Maria Callas Dinescu (“De bunăvoie și nesilit de nimeni”, “Bunicul și doi delincvenți minori și Marele premiu”), Malvina Urșianu (“Întoarcerea lui Vodă Lăpușneanu” and “Liniștea din adâncuri”), Mircea Drăgan (“Raliul” and “Atac în bibliotecă”), Cristian Mungiu (“Occident și 4 luni, 3 săptămâni și 2 zile”) and Călin Peter Netzer (“Maria, Medalia de onoare” and “Poziția copilului”).

Her only Euro-western role was as Mrs. von Simmons in Dean Reed’s “Blood Brothers” (1975).

She was awarded the Romanian Gopo Award for Lifetime Achievement in March of this year.


BOSANCEANU, Eugenia (Eugenia Bosânceanu) [2/8/1925, Radauti-Prut, Dorohoi, Romania –
     ] – stage, TV actress awarded Gopo Award for Lifetime Achievement [2015].
Blood Brothers - 1975 (Mrs. von Simmons)