Showing posts with label comedian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comedian. Show all posts

Saturday, December 13, 2025

DICK VAN DYKE IS 100 YEARS OLD TODAY!


Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor and comedian. His work spans screen and stage, and his awards include six Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award. He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1993, and then the Television Hall of Fame in 1995. He was recognized as a Disney Legend in 1998. He has been honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2013, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2020.
(From WIKIPEDIA)









Van Dyke often spoke of his admiration for silent film era comedians such as Buster Keaton and his hero Stan Laurel



Van Dyke had a chance to do his Stan Laurel impression on the Dick Van Dyke Show with Henry Calvin portraying Oliver Hardy.






With Nancy Kwan and Walt Disney



THE COMIC (1969) with Michele Lee and Mickey Rooney


A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM (2006) with Mickey Rooney and Bill Cobbs










 
FITZWILLY, WHAT A WAY TO GO!, THE ART OF LOVE, DIVORCE AMERICAN STYLE, MARY POPPINS, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, NEVER A DULL MOMENT, BYE BYE, BIRDIE,  LT. ROBIN CRUSOE U.S.N.


COLUMBO - With Peter Falk and JoAnna Cameron in "Negative Reaction".
Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo and Dick Van Dyke as Paul Galesko


With Peter Falk, years after starring together in the Columbo episode "Negative Reaction

  


Barbara Bain, Patrick MacNee, Robert Culp, Robert Vaughn and Dick Van Dyke in
DIAGNOSIS MURDER



Dick Van Dyke reached the ripe old age of 100 on December 13th, 2025!

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

STAN LAUREL (1890 - 1965)

As we do every year on February 23rd, we take a moment to pay tribute to one of the greatest  comedians to ever grace the silver screen: Mr. Stan Laurel!

                                                You can check Stan's entry on IMDb here:

                                                                         STAN LAUREL

Friday, November 29, 2019

CARY GRANT remembered.

                                              We lost Cary Grant on November 29, 1986.


Born Archibald Alexander Leach, he was born in Horfield, Bristol on January 18, 1904 and passed away on November 29, 1986 at the age of 82.




His skill at playing comedy and dramatic roles with equal ease, was unparalleled in his time and as of today, there's still no other actor that can match his style or charismatic screen presence and charm.
I immensely enjoyed his early screwball comedies from the mid thirties through the forties like GUNGA DIN, THE AWFUL TRUTH, BRINGING UP BABY, PENNY SERENADE, HIS GIRL FRIDAY, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE and MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE, and I still watch them repeatedly whenever I can.





But my favorite films are the ones from his later career like TO CATCH A THIEF, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, OPERATION PETTICOAT and CHARADE, probably just because I was born in the fifties and I related to these more closely.








Anyway, Cary Grant was one of my very favorite actors and, like every male back in the day, I also wished I was more like Cary Grant.





Cary Grant and his fifth wife, Barbara Harris.



Cary Grant, like many celebrities, was the subject of many affectionate caricatures throughout his career.


 By Al Hirschfeld


         Hollywood Steps Out (Merrie Melodies) 1941

 By Mort Drucker

It should be mentioned that Cary Grant was one of the names considered when Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli were about to cast the first James Bond film, DR. NO, back in 1962.  Grant didn't want to sign for a multi-picture contract so he passed on the offer.


CHARADE (1964) 

Here's a video showing how Cary Grant could've handled 007's duties: