News

Murder, infidelity, gambling, and sinister bed and breakfasts. We rank the stories in Tales Of The Unexpected’s first series…

From 1979 to 1988, Tales Of The Unexpected served up a semi-regular diet of murder, cruelty, betrayal and intrigue. An anthology show initially based on short stories by Roald Dahl (later seasons introduced work by other writers), the series could be described as ITV’s answer to Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Indeed, several of its stories were previously adapted in that American anthology show. And, just as Hitchcock showed up in front of the camera to introduce his episodes, Dahl appears here, seated next to a roaring open fire, providing an opening ramble about each story.

The title sequence, meanwhile, with its infuriatingly catchy theme tune and silhouettes of dancing ladies, feels like something from an early James Bond movie. Maybe it was Dahl’s homage to his contemporary and friend, 007 creator Ian Fleming…...

Here’s a fun fact to blow your minds: Yes, technically, Knots Landing is a spin-off from mega-hit Dallas. Gary Ewing is the middle brother of Jr and Bobby Ewing, who made one appearance on the Mother Ship show, played by David Ackroyd before Ted Shackelford took over the role for the next decade-plus.

But the original Kl concept pre-dated Dallas. It was supposed to be an American version of the Swedish series Scenes From a Marriage by Ingemar Bergman. That series didn’t get picked up. But when CBS wanted a Dallas spin-off, Lorimar made one of the characters a Ewing, and we were off to the races! You can watch the entire series from the start right here on Amazon Prime. Here’s why you should definitely do that.

Soap Hub may receive a commission on orders placed through retail links.

More People, More Romance

Dallas, Falcon Crest,...

Stephen King has made a name for himself since his iconic debut novel, Carrie, in 1974, as a living legend of horror who truly changed the genre forever. His prolific career has been incredibly successful, producing 65 novels and more than 200 short stories, which have gone on to sell over 400 million copies, gaining him a legion of loyal fans. Unsurprisingly, his work translated incredibly well to the screen, with many of his works being transformed for both film and television - with many more still to be adapted - creating some of the most iconic horror works in cinematic history.

Though many of his works have been widely celebrated, some have been overshadowed or flown under the radar, such as Christine and 1408, both of which share many of the trademarks of King's classic film adaptions. King is a master of combining terrifying supernatural elements with a deep look at human psychology,...

As the nights grow longer and the air turns crisp, it’s the perfect time to settle in with some of the best spooky films ever made. From eerie silent classics to modern horror hits, spooky cinema has evolved across decades, yet each era has its own spine-tingling gems. Whether you love atmospheric terror or heart-pounding scares, here’s a journey through the best films from the 1920s to today that will give you chills. Things to do: Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. Limited Time Offer – Free Subscription to The Hollywood Insider Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision, values and mission statement here – Media has the responsibility to better our world – The Hollywood Insider fully focuses on substance and meaningful entertainment, against gossip and scandal, by combining entertainment, education, and philanthropy. 1920s - 1980s ‘The Haunting’ (1963) Cast: Julie Harris,...

The American TV-movie has gained a bad rap over the years, but there was a time when folks looked forward to these flicks — and not in an ironic sense or a need to hate-watch.

That period of kinder and less cynical viewership was surely in the 1970s and ’80s when the made-for-television movie became more widespread. The “movie of the week” format took off in the former decade, with the major networks at the time devoting blocks in their schedules to these standalone, small-screen features. And one of the more revisited genres was horror. Duel, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Trilogy of Terror, Are You in the House Alone?, The Initiation of Sarah. These are just a few of the classic telefilms that scared a whole generation of viewers.

There have been great strides to archive and restore these past horror TV-movies,...

If you’re looking to get tangled up in some big drama — and some even bigger hair — we’ve got just the cul-de-sac for you.

Knots Landing, the long-running spinoff of Dallas — and the third most sought-after, non-streaming show in a July 2023 TVLine poll — is now available to binge in all its 344-episode glory on Plex. The sudser has been streaming this month on Warner Bros.’ Primetime Soaps Fast channel (available via Freevee and Plex), but it has not been available to binge episode-by-episode until now.

More from TVLine<em>The Drew Carey Show</em> Is Streaming for the Very First Time...

Peter Marshall, the velvety-voiced host who presided over NBC’s celebrity-filled game show The Hollywood Squares for 16 years, died Thursday. He was 98.

Marshall, an accomplished singer who also was a leading man on Broadway and one-half of a popular comedy team before embarking on his game-show gig, died of kidney failure at his Encino home, his family announced.

The pride of West Virginia hosted some 6,000 episodes of The Hollywood Squares from 1966 through 1981, winning four Daytime Emmy Awards. Marshall often worked just one day a week, when he taped five shows. “It was the easiest job I ever had, and I never rehearsed,” he said.

Soon after starring in the Tony-nominated Broadway musical comedy Skyscraper opposite Julie Harris, Marshall was offered the job as host of The Hollywood Squares, created by Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley. An earlier version of the show, hosted by Bert Parks, had been turned down.

Marshall...

Editor’s note: this list was originally published in May 2024. It has since been updated in honor of Father’s Day.

Every family relationship is fertile material for any film, but none have been pillaged quite as extensively as the father/son dynamic. Blame the patriarchy, perhaps, for centering the male experience far more extensively in fiction, resulting in films where daughters and mothers tend to fall by the wayside in favor of drama between the men of the family.

Still, filmmakers and their work respond to the imperfect culture we all live in, and the relationship between a father and son can act as a vehicle to explore powerful ideas on screen. Familial expectations, pressures to uphold legacies, and the emotional repression that often defines heterosexual male relationships inform many of cinema’s greatest father stories, which can frequently be boiled down to the (somewhat reductive) label of “daddy issue” dramas.

Jerry Herman’s musical “Hello, Dolly!” dominated the 18th Tony Awards which took place at the New York Hilton on May 24, 1964. “Hello, Dolly!” entered the ceremony with 11 nominations and walked out with ten awards including best musical, best actress for Carol Channing, original score for Herman and for Gower Champion’s choreography and direction.

Other musicals in contention for multiple awards that year were “High Spirits,” based on Noel Coward’s classic comedy “Blithe Spirit,” “Funny Girl,” which transformed Barbra Streisand into a Broadway superstar, and “110 in the Shade,” based on the straight play “The Rainmaker.”

Bert Lahr, best known as the Cowardly Lion in the 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz,” won lead actor in a musical for “Foxy,” based on Ben Jonson’s “Volpone.” The musical was not a hit closed after 72 performances. Also nominated in the category was Bob Fosse for a short-lived revival of Rodgers and Hart’s “Pal Joey.

Glynis Johns, remembered by movie audiences as Mrs. Banks from Mary Poppins and by Broadway devotees as the first person to sing Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” on a national stage, died Thursday of natural causes at an assisted living home in Los Angeles. She was 100.

Her death was announced by her manager and publicist Mitch Clem. “Today’s a sad day for Hollywood,” Clem said in a statement. “She is the last of the last of old Hollywood.”

A Tony winner (Best Actress/Musical) for her performance as Desiree Armfeldt in the original 1973 Broadway cast of the Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler A Little Night Music, Johns both debuted and, due to her widespread acclaim, helped popularize what would become perhaps Sondheim’s most beloved and well-known songs with “Send in the Clowns.”

Born in Pretoria, South Africa, the Welsh Johns made her West End debut in 1931 at age...

Alice Walker published her acclaimed novel “The Color Purple” in 1982. It sold five million copies; Walker became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize and she also received the National Book Club Award. Three years later, Steven Spielberg directed the lauded film version which made stars out of Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. It earned 11 Oscar nominations. The story revolves around a young woman who suffers abuse from her father and husband for four decades until she finds her own identity. Not exactly the stuff of a Broadway musical.

But the 2005 tuner version received strong reviews, ran 910 performances and earned ten Tony nominations, winning best actress for Lachanze. The 2015 production picked up two Tonys for best revival and actress for Cynthia Erivo. The movie musical version opened strong Christmas Day with $18 million and is a strong contender in several Oscar categories especially for Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks.

The American Broadcasting Company aired its iconic series ABC Movie of the Week from 1969 to 1975. In the intro of Michael Karol’s book The ABC Movie of the Week Companion: A Loving Tribute to the Classic Series, the author called the anthology show “influential” for baby-boomers. Karol then went on to quote a press release from Barry Diller; ABC’s vice president at the time said the network was trying to “broaden the base of familiar television anthologies and movies-for-television” and how a 90-minute format would “do justice to that special echelon of story ideas, which don’t quite work in the standard one-and two-hour television program forms.” The concept also entailed working with production companies outside of their own (ABC-Circle Films), including frequent collaborator Spelling-Goldberg. And as many fans of vintage American tele-cinema will agree, one of Spelling-Goldberg’s, not to mention ABC’s most memorable TV-movies from that...

Ellen Holly, whose long-running turn as Carla on ABC’s One Life to Live made her the first Black actress to gain stardom on a daytime soap opera, has died. She was 92.

Holly died in her sleep Wednesday at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx, publicist Cheryl L. Duncan announced.

A member of The Actors Studio who did Shakespeare for Joseph Papp and was mentored by the same woman who discovered Julie Harris and Kim Stanley, Holly appeared four times on Broadway, beginning with her acclaimed performance in 1956 as the female lead in Too Late the Phalarope.

She appeared in a handful of films as well, from Take a Giant Step (1959), starring Johnny Nash, Estelle Hemsley and Ruby Dee, to School Daze (1988), directed by Spike Lee.

Holly, however, did not work as often as her talents suggested she should have, because as a light-skinned African American, she had difficulty being hired...

“Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within…and whatever walked there, walked alone.” – Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House (1959).

Of all the subgenres of horror, the haunted house story has provided the most opportunities for slow and subtle terror that creeps and crawls its way under the skin and into the psyche. The Old Dark House (1932), The Uninvited (1944), The Innocents (1961), Burnt Offerings (1976), and The Changeling (1980) stand among the best that not only the haunted house film, but all of horror have to offer. For many, the absolute pinnacle of these films is Robert Wise’s 1963 masterpiece of suggestive horror The Haunting. Based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, the film owes much to the influences of the past while still carving a way toward the future, is populated by rich and relatable characters, and is a deeply felt...

With the insane games that the various streaming platforms are pulling in terms of removing content from their services (sometimes projects that were made specifically for those platforms), an added emphasis has been placed on home video. And with good reason. The only way you can insure that the movies you love will be around is by owning them on Blu-ray. Thankfully the home video labels have been stepping up their game, with deluxe packages overflowing with extras and feature films presented in their best possible format.

Here are the biggest and best releases on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K in August 2023.

Marvel Studios

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”

Ready for one last ride? Writer/director James Gunn, who is now overseeing DC Studios at Warner Bros., returned for the third part of his “Guardians of the Galaxy” saga. This time around, the Guardians, led by Star Lord (Chris Pratt...

To mark the release of Studiocanal’s Vintage Classics’ 4k restorations of three comedies directed by Muriel Box available in the UK from 14 August, we have Blu-Ray box sets to give away to 2 lucky winners.

Studiocanal are pleased to announce their Vintage Classics release of brand new 4k restorations of three comedies directed by Muriel Box, one of Britain’s earliest trailblazing female directors who remains to date the most prolific UK female director in history. Muriel Box’s The Passionate Stranger, The Truth About Women and Rattle Of A Simple Man will be available in the UK on DVD and, for the first time in the UK, on Blu-ray and Digital from 14 August.

The Passionate Stranger (1957) centres around happily married house-wife Judith Wynter (Margaret Leighton) who keeps the fact she is a best-selling author of steamy romance novels, a closely guarded secret. As her husband Roger (Ralph Richardson), recovers from a serious illness,...

“It grabbed my heart and just shook it,” reveals Audra McDonald of Adrienne Kennedy’s searing play “Ohio State Murders.” The six-time Tony Award winner initially participated in a reading of the script over Zoom, one of many plays producer Jeffrey Richards organized during the pandemic to keep folks engaged while theater was shuttered. “When we finished, I couldn’t breathe. I was so stunned, and my soul was so shaken by what I had just read that I couldn’t let it go,” admits McDonald. The actress immediately agreed to star in the searing drama, eventually earning her 10th career Tony nomination. Watch the exclusive video interview above.

Even though it just recently debuted on Broadway, “Ohio State Murders” was first performed over 30 years ago. Its central figure, Suzanne, never leaves the stage and endures a horrific, unceasing wave of racism, misogyny, and violence. “I know that if I...

With her most recent Tony Award nomination, for her role in Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders, Audra McDonald reached yet another career milestone.

The six-time Tony Award winner already holds the record for most competitive wins by an actor but has now tied the record for most nominated individual performer, with 10 nominations. This puts her in the same category as Chita Rivera and Julie Harris.

McDonald, who is also the only person to win awards in all four Tony acting categories, says this nomination comes as an “incredible honor,” particularly because of the recognition it gives to Kennedy, a revered playwright who made her Broadway debut with the play at the age of 91.

In the play, which ran on Broadway from November through January, McDonald played writer Suzanne Alexander, who returns to Ohio State University to give a lecture on the violence in her writing. As she speaks, Alexander...

According to our current combined predictions, Jodie Comer (“Prima Facie”) is the frontrunner to win Best Actress in a Play at this year’s Tony Awards with 12/5 odds. She already won an Olivier a couple of months ago for her work in the West End production. She would be the fifth Tony winner in this category for a one-woman performance.

In Suzie Miller‘s one-woman show, Comer plays Tessa, a barrister from working-class origins who must deal with an unexpected event that forces her to confront the patriarchal power and morality of the law.

When it comes to solo performances at the Tonys, four have prevailed in this category before. In 1977 Julie Harris won her fifth and final competitive accolade for her portrayal of Emily Dickinson in William Luce‘s “The Belle of Amherst.” In 1986 Lily Tomlin won for playing multiple characters in Jane Wagner‘s “The Search for Signs...

Only 18 people have won the awards grand slam known as the Egot. They are (in chronological order of achievement) composer Richard Rodgers, actress Helen Hayes, actress Rita Moreno, actor John Gielgud, actress Audrey Hepburn, composer Marvin Hamlisch, orchestrator Jonathan Tunick, writer/director/composer Mel Brooks, director Mike Nichols, actress Whoopi Goldberg, producer Scott Rudin, composer Robert Lopez, singer and actor John Legend, composer Tim Rice, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer Alan Menken, actress/producer Jennifer Hudson and actress Viola Davis.

Tour our photo gallery above for information about the 28 living people who just need an Academy Award to achieve Egot. They are: actor Andre De Shields, actress Cynthia Erivo, composer/producer Anne Garefino, actor Hugh Jackman, actor James Earl Jones, composer and producer Quincy Jones, actress Rachel Bay Jones, composer John Kander, composer Tom Kitt, composer/actress Cyndi Lauper, composer Alex Lacamoire, producer Stan Lathan, actress Katrina Lenk, actress Audra McDonald,...

Duane Earl Poole, writer of “Hart to Hart,” died on April 1 due to cancer. He was 74.

Poole worked under Aaron Spelling’s team of writers and producers on television programs including “Hart to Hart,” “The Love Boat,” “Lottery!,” “Glitter” and “Hotel.”

He also worked with Hanna-Barbera’s production team alongside Sid and Marty Kroft, where he contributed to children’s programs such as “The Great Grape Ape,” “A Flintstones Christmas,” “The Smurfs,” “Electra Woman and Dyna Girl,” “Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and “C.H.O.M.P.S.”

Poole was born on Sept. 15, 1948, in Prescott, Ariz. Shortly after his birth, Poole was awarded first runner-up in the Gerber Baby Photo Search, marking the beginning of his career in show business.

His family then moved to Washington, where Poole would eventually attend the University of Washington. After he graduated from college, Poole began working for King World Productions in Seattle. He...

It was the battle of the Stephens at the 27th annual Tony Awards telecast March 25, 1973 on ABC from the Imperial Theatre. In one corner was Stephen Sondheim’s glorious and exquisite romantic musical “A Little Night Music” based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 comedy “Smiles of a Summer Night.” And in the other corner, 25-year-old Stephen Schwartz’s hip, cool, Fosse Fosse Fosse musical “Pippin.”

“A Little Night Music,” which featured song memorable tunes as “Send in the Clowns” and “A Weekend in the Country,” waltzed into the ceremony hosted by Rex Harrison and Celeste Holm and co-hosted by Sandy Duncan and Jerry Orbach with 12 nominations including best musical, best original score, best book for Hugh Wheeler, best direction of a musical for Harold Prince, best performance by a leading actress in a musical for Glynis Johns, leading actor in a musical for Len Cariou, featured actress in a musical for...

Rococo Hussy.

After four weeks of nothing but “Weird Sex” films, including David Cronenberg’s “the medium is the message” Videodrome, Andrzej Żuławski’s tentacle divorce film Possession, Kevin Smith’s “creature feature” Tusk, and Mike Nichols’ genre mixing Wolf, Trace and I are venturing into more subdued territory with Robert Wise‘s 1963 black and white classic, The Haunting.

In the film, sexually repressed Nell (Julie Harris) escapes from her sheltered life when she receives an invitation by Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson) to stay at the infamous Hill House. She’s joined by telepath and explicit lesbian Theo (Claire Bloom), as well as disbeliever Luke (Russ Tamblyn) for a scientific experiment to confirm the existence of the supernatural. But, as the opening voice over tells us, Hill House is evil and it will stop at nothing to ensure Nell, its next victim, sticks around the house forever.

Be sure to...

The Screen Actors Guild presented legendary comic actor Eddie Cantor with the first annual Life Achievement Award back in 1962. Over the past six decades, the award for ‘outstanding achievement in fostering ideals of the acting profession” has been given to such Hollywood icons as Stan Laurel, Bob Hope, Barbara Stanwyck, Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, Frank Sinatra, James Cagney, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. More recently, Mary Tyler Moore, Charles Durning, Debbie Reynolds, Rita Moreno, Carol Burnett, Helen Mirren and Robert De Niro have received the honor.

Two-time Oscar and three-time Emmy Award winning Sally Field is the latest recipient of the Life Achievement Award. The 76-year-old actress, who came to fame as the ultimate teenager “Gidget” in the 1965-66 ABC sitcom, is currently starring with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Rita Moreno in the hit feature comedy “80 for Brady.” She appeared with Jim Parsons last year in the drama...

Frank Galati, the Tony Award-winning director of Broadway’s The Grapes of Wrath and nominee for Ragtime, died Monday night. He was 79.

A cause of death was not immediately available.

Galati, who was an associate director at Chicago’s famed Goodman Theatre from 1986 to 2008 and a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company since 1985, was Oscar-nominated, along with co-writer Lawrence Kasdan, for the 1988 screenplay adaptation of Anne Tyler’s novel The Accidental Tourist.

Galati’s 1990 stage adaptation of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath won the Tony Award for Best Play; Galati also won the award that year for Best Direction. The acclaimed production, which debuted at Steppenwolf before transferring to Broadway, starred Gary Sinise, Terry Kinney, and Lois Smith in Tony-nominated performances.

“Frank had a profound impact on Steppenwolf, and all of us, over the years,” said Steppenwolf’s co-artistic directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis in a joint statement.

Edyth “Edie” Landau, producer of The David Susskind Show and Long Day’s Journey Into Night as well an executive at National Telefilm Associates, died in her home on December 24, 2022. She was 95.

Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery Related Story Jo Mersa Marley Dies: Reggae Artist & Bob Marley's Grandson Was 31 Related Story Marcus Coloma Did Not Film Final 'General Hospital' Scenes "Due To Health Issues"

The producer was born on July 15, 1927, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. After graduating college she moved to New York City to pursue a career in entertainment where she became an executive at National Telefilm Associates, a company run by Ely Landau, who Edie ended up marrying.

Edie became Executive Vice President of the company, overseeing the station’s original programming including the anthology drama series The Play of the Week, The Mike Wallace Show, The David Susskind Sho, and Open End.

She and...

As discussed when thumbing through IndieWire’s favorite horror scores earlier this month, much of the work of horror filmmaking is about giving fear a shape. Horror movies imbue the world we know with a malevolent power, bringing out the threat of violence we suspect is always lurking just below the surface. The home is a particularly potent setting for such a transformation, and while there are a lot of different methods for making a moviegoer question the safety of their supposed haven, one of the most dependable is a good old fashioned haunting. Looking at horror movies from across the decades, we can see patterns of production design, composition and lighting, special effects, and sonic choices that give haunted houses their ghostly and/or ghastly strength. We’ve selected six essential films exhibiting the key building blocks the best filmmakers use to construct the sinister shadows and otherworldly presences...

Click here to read the full article.

Carl Samrock, the veteran Hollywood publicist who over the course of a 50-year career worked for Warner Bros. and headed his own firm, has died. He was 81.

Samrock died Saturday night of pancreatic cancer at his home in Encino, his wife of 44 years, Carol Andelman Samrock, announced.

Samrock was vice president of national publicity at Warner Bros. Pictures in Burbank under co-chairmen Bob Daly and Terry Semel. He joined the company in 1982 as West Coast publicity director and built and managed a 16-member staff responsible for publicity duties on some 30 films in production or release annually.

Samrock moved to Warner Home Video in 1997 as a consultant to help then-president Warren Lieberfarb introduce the new format.

A year later, he launched Carl Samrock Public Relations, a boutique firm that focused on publicity and promotion campaigns for DVD and Blu-ray releases. For the next nearly two decades,...

When giving out movie recommendations for movie night with teens, one that might raise eyebrows is "Cool Hand Luke." But Stuart Rosenberg's 1967 prison movie makes perfect sense for the youths. Adapted from the 1965 book of the same name by ex-con Donn Pierce, the tale contains what Lee Adams calls "one of the great anti-authoritarian figures of American cinema." Paul Newman stars as war vet Lucas Jackson, dispatched to a muggy Florida road camp after vandalizing some parking meters in a drunken haze. An aggressive nonconformist, Jackson lands on the brutal prison warden's radar, takes his licks every time, and becomes a hero among the inmates as a result.

A member of the Actors Studio, the "Hud" star had no problem going above and beyond the pages of the script, where Method acting might enable a more genuine performance. The star drank with fellow cast members and helped foster the...

It’s such fun flashing back to Emmy ceremonies of yesteryear, and it’s interesting to see how they have evolved over time, and reflect on how much TV has grown and changed. In the early years, the categories were much different, with no distinction between dramatic and comedic performances; instead, there was a category for “Outstanding Continued Performance” (which came from ongoing series) and a separate one for “Outstanding Single Performance”. Going back six decades, there were only three networks competing, but some of the biggest names in the history of the medium were on the ballot, and some legendary performers presented, when Johnny Carson, Bob Newhart and David Brinkley hosted the 14th Emmy Awards on NBC on May 22, 1962. Read on for our Emmys flashback 60 years ago to 1962.

Newhart was already making a name for himself in these early days of television. His variety series “The Bob Newhart Show...

Ok, so the actor Anthony Perkins is best known for his legendary role as Norman Bates in Hitchcock’s Psycho and its sequels… but that part is not the sum total of this superb actor’s career. That’s not to say he didn’t trade on his status as cinema’s seminal psycho, and starred in plenty of chiller thrillers, instantly lending them Batesian cachet… for example Edge of Sanity, a delirious conflation of Robert Louis Stephenson’s classic horror novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Jack the Ripper’s real-life reign of terror over Victorian London, where Perkins plays the unhinged lead role with aplomb. To celebrate the release of Edge of Sanity on Blu-ray from Arrow Video, here’s a round-up of some of Perkins’ finest non-Bates roles…

Pretty Poison (1968)

In this wonderful cult classic black comedy thriller, Perkins plays Dennis Pitt,...

James Rado, who along with his friend and writing partner Gerome Ragni created Broadway’s seminal Age of Aquarius musical Hair, died peacefully Tuesday evening of cardio respiratory arrest in New York City, surrounded by family. He was 90.

His death was announced by his longtime friend, publicist Merle Frimark.

Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery

Rado and Ragni, who died in 1991, wrote the book and lyrics to the landmark musical (full title: Hair – The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical), with music composed by Galt MacDermot, who died in 2018. In addition to its hugely influential insertion of a ’60s counterculture sensibility into Broadway’s mainstream, the musical contributed a score of songs that would become radio hits (often in cover versions) and stage musical standards: “Aquarius,” “Let The Sunshine In,” “Hair,” “Ain’t Got No/I Got Life,” “Good Morning Starshine,” “Easy To Be Hard,” among others.

In addition to co-creating the musical,...

Netflix is developing a miniseries based on John Steinbeck’s massive 700-page novel “East of Eden,” as reported on Tuesday. Florence Pugh is the first cast member announced, though it is unclear who she’ll be playing. (Will a modern spin change the story—a California tale loosely based on the Biblical trope of Cain and Abel—into the story of two sisters? Crazier things have happened!)

The most exciting news, however, is how this production is “keeping it in the family,” so to speak. Zoe Kazan has been announced as writer and executive producer. Her grandfather, the legendary Elia Kazan, directed the 1955 adaptation starring James Dean, Raymond Massey, Julie Harris, Burl Ives, and Jo Van Fleet, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Kazan was nominated for Best Director, Paul Osborn was nominated for Best Screenplay, and Dean was nominated for Best Actor, posthumously.

Zoe Kazan’s last...

Netflix has signed up hot property, Florence Pugh to star in their upcoming limited series, an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s ‘East of Eden.’

Currently in early development, the series will be written and executive produced by Zoe Kazan, whose grandfather, Elia Kazan, helmed the 1955 film adaptation of Steinbeck’s novel.

Set in California between the Civil War and World War I, the novel tells the interconnected stories of the Hamilton family, an Irish immigrant family with nine children, and the Trask family, lead by the wealthy Adam Trask.

Also in news – ‘Game of Thrones’ Jon Snow spin-off in the works at HBO

The limited series adaptation will explore the novel’s themes of trauma and repair; love and betrayal; duty and free will. The series will sketch an intimate portrait of the Trask family against the backdrop of huge historical forces — or, as Steinbeck put it, “the story of...

It was a night of record-making firsts and honoring legends from Hollywood’s Golden Era. John Forsythe and Marlo Thomas hosted the 34th Primetime Emmy Awards on ABC on September 19, 1982 — before cable TV and streaming services took over and network TV still ruled the small screen. Read on for our Emmys flashback 40 years ago to 1982.

One of the most celebrated dramas of all time set new records and dominated the acting categories. “Hill Street Blues” received 16 major nominations, breaking the two-decade record of 14 for “Playhouse 90” in 1959. It’s also the first series to receive nine acting noms in one ceremony. It would end the evening tied with “Fame” for the most wins with four, including Best Drama Series, a writing win (it received four out of the five bids in that category) and two acting trophies.

SEEEmmys flashback 20 years ago to 2002, when ‘Friends’ finally won and ‘The West Wing’ dominated...

Netflix is developing a new limited series adaptation of John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden,” Variety has confirmed.

The series, which is still in early development, will be written and executive produced by Zoe Kazan, whose grandfather, Elia Kazan, helmed the 1955 film adaptation of Steinbeck’s novel. Florence Pugh is attached to star in the series, though the character she will play remains unconfirmed. Anonymous Content and Endeavor Content will co-produce the series.

Published in 1952, Steinbeck’s “East of Eden” is set in California’s Salinas Valley over a period that stretches from the Civil War to the end of World War I. The epic novel tells the interconnected stories of the Hamilton family, an Irish immigrant family with nine children, and the Trask family, lead by the wealthy Adam Trask. The story eventually narrows its focus to center around the Trask family and the drama surrounding Adam, his wife...

“Thank you for this work that’s just so magic and so worth it,” expressed Mary-Louise Parker when she accepted the Tony Award from presenter Gwyneth Paltrow in 2001 for her unforgettable performance in “Proof.” This year, Parker competes for the same prize for starring in the first Broadway production of Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “How I Learned to Drive” and could take home the third trophy of her career for it. Below, see a list of all five of Mary-Louise Parker’s Tony nominations and two wins.

See Mary-Louise Parker (‘How I Learned to Drive’) poised to make Tony Awards history

Parker originated the role of Li’l Bit in the original Off-Broadway production of “How I Learned to Drive” 25 years ago. This Broadway revival reunited her with costars David Morse and Johanna Day as well as director Mark Brokaw. The drama is a haunting memory play that...

Fresh off of her second Tony Award victory last year for “The Sound Inside,” Mary-Louise Parker has earned a follow-up nomination in the same category for her work in the revival of Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “How I Learned to Drive.” Parker returned to the haunting piece 25 years after she originated the role Off-Broadway, reuniting with costars David Morse – who also reaped a bid – and Johanna Day, plus director Mark Brokaw.

This nomination not only celebrates her exemplary performance, but also moves Parker into an extremely exclusive list of performers who have earned at least five nominations in the Best Play Actress category. Her first bid dates back to 1990, when she contended for “Prelude to a Kiss.” Over a decade later, Parker earned her second nomination for “Proof” and went on to win the prize. In the following two decades, she earned another nom for “Reckless” in 2005 and last year for “The Sound Inside,...

A post-James Bond Daniel Craig and Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga currently are shaking things up on Broadway in the latest revival of “Macbeth,” Shakespeare’s tragedy of mayhem, power, murder and madness. The “Scottish play” has a reputation for being cursed because the Bard used real witches’ spells.

It certainly has fallen afoul of the Tony Awards over the years. Negga was nominated but Craig was snubbed. Of the 11 previous stagings of “Macbeth” since the start of the Tony Awards, only the 2008 revival merited nominations for both stars (Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood). Glenda Jackson reaped a bid in 1988 while Christopher Plummer was left in the wings.

The first recorded production of the play in New York was way back in 1768 at the John Street Theatre, which had been built the year before. Though the closing date is unknown, the theater was demolished in 1897. Lewis Hallam, who is the only known cast member,...

Television drama matured in the early 1960s with gritty often controversial series shot on location including “The Naked City” and most notably “The Defenders,” which aired on CBS from 1961-65, winning 13 Emmys during its run including three consecutive Best Drama Series awards.

The legal drama starring E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son attorneys picked up its first four prizes at the 14th Primetime Emmy Awards on May 22, 1962. It also won for Marshall; helmer Franklin J. Schaffner (who went to pick up an Oscar for directing 1970 Best Picture Oscar champ “Patton); and Reginald Rose for writing.

Rose of “12 Angry Men” fame based the series on his two-part 1957 “Studio One” drama “The Defender” with Ralph Bellamy and William Shatner as the father-son attorneys and Steve McQueen as the defendant. For Rose, “The law is the subject of our programs, not crime, not mystery, not the courtroom for its own sake.

Italian producer Massimo Cristaldi, who as a production manager worked with masters such as Federico Fellini and Francesco Rosi before setting up his own company and shepherding films including prizewinning drama “Sicilian Ghost Story,” has died. He was 66.

Cristaldi’s death was announced over the weekend by his Rome-based company Cristaldi Pictures in a statement that did not specify the cause.

Born in 1956, Massimo Cristaldi was the only son of prominent producer Franco Cristaldi, the triple Oscar-winner who made Pietro Germi’s “Divorce Italian Style,” Federico Fellini’s “Amarcord” and Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Cinema Paradiso.”

In 1974 Massimo Cristaldi started cutting his teeth in the film business first as a production assistant and eventually, starting in the 1980s, becoming a line producer on many of his father’s productions, working with Fellini, Rosi, Tornatore, and many other Italian cinema greats.

After Franco Cristaldi’s death in 1992, he took over management of...

Only 16 people have won the awards grand slam known as the Egot. They are (in chronological order of achievement) composer Richard Rodgers, actress Helen Hayes, actress Rita Moreno, actor John Gielgud, actress Audrey Hepburn, composer Marvin Hamlisch, orchestrator Jonathan Tunick, writer/director/composer Mel Brooks, director Mike Nichols, actress Whoopi Goldberg, producer Scott Rudin, composer Robert Lopez, singer and actor John Legend, composer Tim Rice, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and composer Alan Menken.

SEEWhich 16 people have the Egot?

Tour our photo gallery above for information about the 29 living people who just need an Academy Award to achieve Egot. They are: actor Harry Belafonte, actor Andre De Shields, actress Cynthia Erivo, composer/producer Anne Garefino, actor Hugh Jackman, actor James Earl Jones, composer and producer Quincy Jones, actress Rachel Bay Jones, composer John Kander, composer Tom Kitt, composer/actress Cyndi Lauper, composer Alex Lacamoire, producer Stan Lathan, actress Katrina Lenk, actress Audra McDonald,...

A star is born — twice over. Alana Haim and Rachel Zegler have turned in breakout performances in their film debuts, “Licorice Pizza” and “West Side Story,” respectively. Now can either of them — or both — score a Best Actress Oscar nomination?

Haim’s and Zegler’s paths to knocking at the Oscars’ door are completely different. Haim was already an established, Grammy-nominated musician with her two older sisters and Haim bandmates Este and Danielle (who also appear in “Licorice Pizza” along with their parents) by the time Paul Thomas Anderson, who had directed several Haim music videos, cast her as Alana Kane in his ’70s-set tale of teenage love and infatuation. Her naturalistic performance and chemistry with Cooper Hoffman have won her critical praise and the National Board of Review Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, shared with Hoffman. Since “Licorice Pizza” first screened last month, Haim has risen to eighth place...

Paul Thomas Anderson grew up in the San Fernando Valley, which played an important role in his 1997 breakthrough film “Boogie Nights,” which looked at Valley’s porn industry during the ‘70s and 80s. In his new United Artists release “Licorice Pizza,” Anderson returns to the Sfv for a nostalgia-tinged comedy-of-age story set in 1973 starring Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim. Both young performers received strong notices with the L.A. Times’ Justin Chang declaring Haim as the true star of “this boisterous, bighearted movie and its raison d’être.” And Bradley Cooper has earned positive notices for his funny turn as hairdresser turned film producer Jon Peters, who ironically was a producer on Cooper’s 2018 “A Star is Born.”

So, what was the world like in 1973? It was the year of Watergate, Roe Vs. Wade and “The Exorcist” hitting the big screen. Let’s travel back almost half a century to look at the top films,...

Twenty years after Ruben Santiago-Hudson first brought the town of Lackawanna, New York to life Off-Broadway, his autobiographical play “Lackawanna Blues” has arrived on Broadway. The solo show features playwright and director Santiago-Hudson inhabiting 25 different characters from the steeltown in the 1950s as he brings the memorable figures of his childhood to life. At the center of the play is Rachel Crosby, or “Nanny,” the boarding-house proprietor who takes these unforgettable characters under her wing. The play opened on Oct. 7 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

“Lackawanna Blues” marks Santiago-Hudson’s first Broadway performance in nearly a decade. He last starred on Broadway in “Stick Fly” (2011) and won a Tony Award for his featured role in August Wilson’s “Seven Guitars” (1996). In recent years, he has gravitated toward directing works on Broadway, earning a Tony nomination for his mounting of Wilson’s “Jitney” (2017). He will also helm Dominique Morisseau’s “Skeleton Crew” later this season.

Two decades ago Mary-Louise Parker won her first Tony Award for her enthralling performance in David Auburn’s “Proof.” Five Broadway appearances later, Parker is on the cusp of winning the second Tony of her career for her searing turn in Adam Rapp’s “The Sound Inside,” according to our exclusive Tony Awards predictions. “The Sound Inside” has six nominations, including Best Play.

Parker earned the best reviews of her stage career for “The Sound Inside,” topping even the rapturous notices she received for “Proof.” Back then, John Simon (New York Magazine) called Parker’s work in “Proof” “a performance of genius.” In his rave review of “The Sound Inside,” Jesse Green (New York Times) wrote, “Parker, never better in her 30-year stage career, has dug even deeper into Bella, treating each line as if it were an archaeological site; she builds her performance on artifacts, not theories.” Vinson Cunningham...

With the long-delayed 74th Tony Awards set for Sept. 26 at the Winter Garden and streaming on Paramount + and a CBS special, let’s take a deep dive into Tony Awards history and look back at the first decade. Broadway was bristling with excitement post World War II. Young playwrights such as Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and William Inge breathed new life into the Great White Way. And new talents electrifying audiences included Marlon Brando, Julie Harris and Gwen Verdon. It was the perfect time for the creation of the Tony Awards in 1947. The Antoinette Perry Awards or Theatre Excellence were named after the legendary theater actress who was co-founder of the American Theatre Wing; she had died in 1946.

The first annual Tony Awards took place on April 6, 1947 at the Waldorf Astoria and was broadcast on radio on Wor and Mutual Network radio. There was no categories for best play or musical,...

On Christmas Eve 1951, NBC aired the very first “Hallmark Hall of Fame” with the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Christmas opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” Rosemary Kuhlman and 12-year-old Chet Allen starred in this Peabody and Christopher Award-winning holiday story of the three Magi who stay with a young physically disabled boy and his widowed mother on their way to Bethlehem to find the Christ child. The presentation was so popular, the cast reprised their roles the following April. The production was done three more times in the 1950s on NBC, but Bill McIver played Amahl because Allen’s voice had changed.

The “Hallmark Hall of Fame,” which would air on NBC, ABC and CBS and is now exclusively on the Hallmark Channel, is the longest-running primetime series in TV history. In the past 70 years it has won over 80 Emmy Awards and dozens of Peabody Awards, Golden Globes,...

Half a decade has passed since Lin-Manuel Miranda finished his Broadway run as the star of “Hamilton,” but the adulation for his work just keeps coming. The Tony-winning smash, which Miranda also wrote, experienced a surge in popularity after a filmed version featuring the entire original cast premiered on Disney+ last July. Miranda and six of his castmates have been recognized for their acting, which makes most of them part of an exclusive group of performers who have earned Tony and Emmy bids for the same role.

Just as they did at the 2016 Tonys, leading men Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr. face each other directly in this year’s Best Movie/Limited Actor Emmy race. Nominated for their supporting turns are Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jonathan Groff, Anthony Ramos, and Phillipa Soo. Ramos is the only one to have not originally competed at the Tonys, as that slot was instead filled by Christopher Jackson.

Francis Ford Coppola’s 1966 comedy about a love-starved nebbish boasts a daunting cast, including Geraldine Page, Julie Harris, and Rip Torn. Peter Kastner plays the teenager kicked out of the nest by his gruff father—fortunately (or not) he falls right into the arms of the ethereal Elizabeth Hartman. A bittersweet film if ever there was, it got a big boost from John Sebastian and The Lovin’ Spoonful’s breezy pop score.

The post You’re A Big Boy Now appeared first on Trailers From Hell.