In Memoriam

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It’s hard to believe that Shirley Temple Black, who died February 11, 2014 at age 85, was for a period in the 1930s the world’s biggest star, earned millions of dollars and won an honorary Oscar – before turning 8! The little girl with blonde curls made Hollywood history and virtually created the figure of child star. She would retire from motion pictures at the age of 22.

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To Marlon Brando he was Il Patron. To Angela Lansbury he was a regular dance partner.

Italian film composer Riz Ortolani, who died recently in his villa outside Rome at age 87, was arguably one of the world’s most prolific creators of music for the movies. He scored comedies and dramas, spaghetti westerns and documentaries, erotica and horror, in a composing career that lasted some 50 years.

Before Capote, he was considered a character actor with a devoted but limited following. His scene-stealing roles in The Talented Mr.

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Maximilian Schell, the Swiss-Austrian actor who won a Golden Globe for his role in Judgment at Nuremberg (1962) and a second one in 1992 for the TV Movie Lenin, died last Saturday in Innsbruck, Austria. He was 83.

Producing movies, his own way, was Saul Zaentz's third career. And it was richly rewarded, in money and fame, including two Best Motion Picture - Drama Golden Globe awards: Amadeus (1985) was nominated in 6 categories and won Best Motion Picture - Drama for Zaentz, as well as Best Director (Milos Forman) and screenplay (Peter Shaffer) and The English Patient (1996) brought Zaentz his second Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Drama, and another one for his composer, Gabriel Yared.

Hollywood lost one of its screen legends this past weekend when Joan Fontaine died at 96. The Academy Award-winning actress found stardom with roles in Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion and Rebecca and also worked with directors such as Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang, and Nicholas Ray.