puzlman 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Ossie Davis, an African-American actor died. Not sure how many of you "Eastside of the Pond" people know him, but he was a really good actor. He was just a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia....iki/Ossie_Davis Imdb.com http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001115/ So I guess he along with Schmeling makes 2 deaths today....when's the third gonna drop? Puzlman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handrejka 1,904 Posted February 4, 2005 Already has. Probably not famous enough though TORONTO (CP) -- He was the smarmy Dean Wormer in the sophomoric cult movie Animal House. He was a bad guy who got tossed out a window to his death by the even badder Lee Marvin in Point Blank. But Canadians may best remember actor John Vernon as a crusading coroner in the groundbreaking 1960s CBC crime series Wojeck. Vernon, 72, died peacefully at his Los Angeles home Tuesday, his family said. With his pockmarked face and heavy-lidded blue eyes, Vernon proved to be the ideal villain in dozens of the 85 motion pictures he made over a four-decade career. But he started as a hero in Wojeck in which his character was based on real-life Toronto coroner and politician Dr. Morton Shulman and which formed the template for future forensics-based crime series, from Quincy to Da Vinci's Inquest to CSI. "Everybody's seen my face but nobody's sure who I am," he once told an interviewer, revealing that he had often been mistaken for Richard Burton or Robert Shaw. "People confuse me with other people and I enjoy that." He was seen most recently on the "double secret probation" DVD edition of Animal House, in a feature that offered a tongue-in-cheek current look at the characters of the 1978 film. Vernon's Dean Wormer was a crotchety, snowy-haired senior in a wheelchair. Chris Haddock, creator of Da Vinci's Inquest, said at the time he was surprised that Vernon was still around and agreed it was a great idea to see if he could make a cameo appearance on the series as a sort of tribute. Vernon's other notable film roles included The Outlaw Josey Wales, Dirty Harry, Airplane II, Topaz, Brannigan, Charley Varrick, Nobody Waved Goodbye and Tell Them Willie Boy Was Here. He also starred in a short-lived ABC-TV Animal House spinoff series called Delta House and in a 1990 CBC movie that reprised his Wojeck character. TV guest roles included The FBI, Bonanza, Mission Impossible, The Name of the Game, High Chapparall, Judd for the Defence and Quincy. He also made a pilot for a failed U.S. series called Hunter. There were more than 100 roles in Canadian TV, running the gamut from Tugboat Annie to Cannonball to Forest Rangers. Regina-born and stage trained, the six-foot-two Vernon, whose birth name was Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz, spent five years at the Stratford Festival, where he met his future Wojeck co-star Ted Follows, Megan Follows' father. Speaking from his home in Kitchener, Ont., Follows said Thursday that although he and Vernon hadn't been in touch since they made the Wojeck movie, they had been close friends for many years. He understood Vernon had had heart problems and was recently released from hospital. He recalled how "way ahead of its time" Wojeck was as a prime-time series that dealt frankly with such issues as abortion and lesbianism. "(Vernon) was awfully good in that show . . . he really was perfect in that role." ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -------------- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
football_fan 42 Posted February 4, 2005 I saw a few of the movies he was in, including "Roots", "Jungle Fever", "Do the Right Thing", "Grumpy Old Men", and "Animal House." He was very popular in North America in the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's and had an acting career that spanned four decades. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest dave Posted February 5, 2005 actor ossie davis has died aged 87....http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/04/entertainment/main671755.shtml he apparentely read the eulogies at the funeral of Martin Luther King and malcolm X Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest iain Posted February 5, 2005 He was very famous among the black community..he read the eulogy at the funerals of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
honez 79 Posted February 5, 2005 Really? I'd heard he read the eulogies for Malcolm X and Martin Luther Ki... Oh, bugger! Too late Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Bearer 6,109 Posted February 5, 2005 Really? I'd heard he read the eulogies for Malcolm X and Martin Luther Ki... Oh, bugger! Too late Yeah, both of them using the same computer beat you to it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Terminator 13 Posted February 8, 2005 I saw a few of the movies he was in, including "Roots", "Jungle Fever", "Do the Right Thing", "Grumpy Old Men", and "Animal House." He was very popular in North America in the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's and had an acting career that spanned four decades. Wasn't his last film "Bubba Hotep", where he played JFK (in disguise as an elderly black man at an old people's home) who teams up with an elderly Elvis Presley to take on a risen mummy? What a great concept to end a career on. By the way, I recommend the film. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BluesDragon 0 Posted February 8, 2005 I saw Bubba Hotep too, what a great film. He looked pretty good for his age, altough i think the film was in limbo for a while. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites