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Legendary Canadian actor Donald Sutherland, who died on Thursday after a long illness and a celebrated Hollywood film and TV career, revealed why he never sought dual Canadian and U.S. citizenship by acquiring an American passport.

“Because we don’t have the same sense of humor. It’s true. We don’t. I’m a Canadian through and through,” Sutherland told the CBC radio show Q with Tom Power in March during one of his last media interviews.

Sutherland, who had been living in recent years in Quebec, around 12 miles from the U.S. border, recalled giving that answer to an American border guard who asked why the Canadian actor, who already had a green card to work stateside, didn’t get an American passport to more quickly cross the border to complete errands.

“Anyway, I love the country. I’m very, very proud that they gave me a stamp,...

We're very sad to report that Donald Sutherland has passed away at the age of 88 after a long illness.

Sutherland appeared in countless movies and TV shows over the course of his six-decade career, taking on a wide range of roles. Early standouts include Pvt. Vernon Pinkley in The Dirty Dozen (1967), Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce in M*A*S*H (1970), hippie tank commander Sgt. Oddball in Kelly’s Heroes (1970), and the titular private eye in Alan J. Pakula’s Klute (1971).

Though he often played heroic characters, Sutherland also brought life to his share of villains, including a ruthless Nazi spy in Eye of the Needle (1981), and President Snow in the Hunger Games movies. He is also known for his devastating turn as a grieving father in Nicholas Roeg's sinister horror/thriller Don't Look Now (1973), which featured an infamously graphic (for its time) sex scene with Julie Christie.

The prolific actor's résumé also includes:...

Veteran British actor Murray Melvin who’s best known for his role in “The Phantom of the Opera,” “A Taste of Honey” and the “Doctor Who” spin-off “Torchwood,” died April 14 at St Thomas’ hospital in London. He was 90.

London-based creative director Kerry Kyriacos Michael made the announcement on Twitter and said Melvin died after taking a bad fall in December “from which he never fully recovered.”

“He was one of my closest friends and will be missed by so many of us who had the privilege to know him,” Michael wrote.

He had a fall in December, from which he never fully recovered. He died at St Thomas' Hospital on Friday, 14th April, aged 90. He was one of my closest friends and will be missed by so many of us who had the privilege to know him.

— Kerry Kyriacos Michael MBE (@1KerryMichael) April 15, 2023 Also Read:

Mark Sheehan, Guitarist of Irish Band The Script,...

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between.

Today, we go from wild to Wilder! Gene Wilder! Conor and I are joined by the Pittsburgh-based writer Amanda Waltz, the A&e Editor at the Pittsburgh City Paper and a co-host of the Ghoul on Ghoul Podcast.

The B-Sides featured today are: Start the Revolution Without Me, Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx, The Woman in Red, and Haunted Honeymoon.

Wilder started his career in movies a bit later than most, exploding onto the scene with Bonnie and Clyde and The Producers in 1967. Only four years later, he was Willy Wonka. In between came our first two B-Sides! He would go on to direct four feature films, including our final two B-Sides!

We compare Wilder’s Wonka to Depp’s,...

When “All in the Family” debuted Jan. 12, 1971, on CBS, it was exactly the TV show America needed — though America didn’t realize it at the time.

Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin had taped two ABC pilots of the script, both starring Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton, starting in 1968. But ABC was reluctant to commit; as Lear told Variety’s Army Archerd, it was “too controversial.”

Lear and Yorkin took the show to CBS, which surprisingly bought it.

The show was carefully tested for a long time. On July 22, 1970 — six months before the debut — Variety asked CBS president Robert Wood why the network wasn’t trumpeting the new show. He said, “Frankly, we’re still not sure how to introduce this one to the public … it might just be best to go on with no fanfare, and then prepare ourselves for the explosion.”

The first episode, “Meet the Bunkers,” aired Tuesday,...

As we bid farewell this week to the mighty Gene Wilder, find out how many of his movie roles you can recognise

Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx

Bonnie and Clyde

The Producers

Young Frankenstein

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)

Rhinoceros

The Woman in Red

Silver Streak

The Frisco Kid

Haunted Honeymoon

Blazing Saddles

Stir Crazy

Blazing Saddles

The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother

Start the Revolution Without Me

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx

The Woman in Red

The World's Greatest Lover

Silver Streak

Stir Crazy

See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Hanky Panky

Another You

Silver Streak

Sunday Lovers

Bonnie and Clyde

Blazing Saddles

The Little Prince

Young Frankenstein

The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother

Rhinoceros

See No Evil, Hear No Evil

The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother...

The sad news for fans of film comedy spread like wildfire earlier this week. Here’s the opening paragraph facts from the New York Times:

Gene Wilder, who established himself as one of America’s foremost comic actors with his delightfully neurotic performances in three films directed by Mel Brooks; his eccentric star turn in the family classic “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”; and his winning chemistry with Richard Pryor in the box-office smash “Stir Crazy,” died early Monday morning at his home in Stamford, Conn. He was 83.

A nephew, the filmmaker Jordan Walker-Pearlman, confirmed his death in a statement, saying the cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

Mr. Wilder’s rule for comedy was simple: Don’t try to make it funny; try to make it real. “I’m an actor, not a clown,” he said more than once.

And what an actor. That’s from the...

The New Erotic Adventures Of Casanova

(1977, dir: Carlos Tobalina)

John Holmes (Eruption) stars as John, a man who has recently inherited and sold off the estate of his late great grandfather. Looking for something of a keepsake, he visits the antique dealer (Tory Jeffery, The Autobiography of a Flea) and is given a bottle of cologne found in a desk. The cologne belongs to great Casanova and was used to scent his love letters. He applies some to his clothes and this leads to the first of many sexual encounters, this time being with the cleaner of the motel he is staying at. Once getting dirty with cleaner, he visits his family while he’s in town. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your preference) the effect of the cologne rubs off on them, leading John to literally rub off on them. Yes, even his underage cousins fall foul to magic of this scent.

The film and television director, producer and writer died of natural causes at his Bel Air Home. He was 89.

Yorkin was born in the coal mining town of Washington, Pennsylvania on February 22 1926 and after serving in the Navy embarked on a career as a camera engineer for NBC.

He became a stage manager and then writer, working on NBC’s variety showcase The Colgate Comedy Hour. He moved into directing that show and then directed stints on programmes such as The Spike Jones Show and Light’s Diamond Jubilee.

Film director credits include Love Hurts, Twice In A Lifetime, Arthur 2: On The Rocks, The Thief Who Came To Dinner, Start The Revolution Without Me, Inspector Clouseau, Divorce American Style and Come Blow Your Horn.

He also served as executive producer on Blade Runner and played a role as producer in bringing to fruition the sequel, which is set to begin shooting next summer.

His credits...

Billie Whitelaw, the acclaimed British actress who won praise for her roles on stage as well as on screen, has died in a nursing home at age 82. Whitelaw began appearing in British films in the 1960s and gradually became one of the nation's most reliable and respected actresses. Her film titles include "Carve Her Name With Pride", "Charlie Bubbles", "The Krays", "Gumshoe", Hitchcock's "Frenzy", "Start the Revolution Without Me", "The Dark Crystal" and her final big screen venture, the 2007 hit cult comedy "Hot Fuzz". She is best known to American audiences as Mrs. Baylock, the creepy housemaid from the 1976 version of "The Omen" who has a knock-down brawl to the death with Gregory Peck. Whitelaw, who was also a popular presence through frequent appearances in television series, attributed her rise to stardom to her close association with avant garde playwright Samuel Beckett, with whom she collaborated on numerous acclaimed stage productions.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Ah, the Kaiser Chiefs. Ask anyone around the ages of 18-21 about their first album purchases, and chances are it won’t be long until you hear their first album, Employment, being brought up into conversation. After its release back in 2004, the band rode a wave of success based on the numerous hit singles including Modern Way, Oh My God and of course, I Predict A Riot. Unfortunately, they have struggled to match the success of their debut, and last year they attempted to rekindle public interest in the band with the innovative release of their album The Future Is Medieval.

A unique idea, the band allowed listeners to create their own album of ten tracks from a selection of twenty that they posted online, as well as design their own cover art. The band didn’t really receive the overwhelming reaction they hoped though, and...

'Cheeky cockney' character actor who graced British screens for more than 60 years

While working on the classic Ealing comedy Hue and Cry in 1947, the actor Harry Fowler, who has died aged 85, was given sage advice by one of his co-stars, Jack Warner: "Never turn anything down … stars come and go but as a character actor, you'll work until you're 90."

Fowler took the suggestion and proved its near veracity. Between his 1942 debut as Ern in Those Kids from Town until television appearances more than 60 years later, he notched up scores of feature films and innumerable TV shows, including three years as Corporal "Flogger" Hoskins in The Army Game.

He never attained star status but created a gallery of sparky characters, including minor villains, servicemen, reporters and tradesmen enriched by an ever-present cheeky smile and an authentic cockney accent. He was Smudge or Smiley, Nipper or Knocker, Bert or 'Orace, as...

It looks like we can be expecting a new Blade Runner movie to hit theaters in the next few years. Warner Bros-based Alcon Entertainment (the financing and production company behind The Blind Side and The Book of Eli) are currently in final discussions to secure film, television, and ancillary franchise rights to develop prequels and sequels to Ridley Scott‘s classic 1982 sci-fi film.

I just want to point out that the deal exclude rights to remake the original film, so you will not see a remake of Blade Runner.

I've always wanted to see more movies made based on the world of Blade Runner. Hopefully they will end up being worthy of the film that Scott created and live up to the expectations of the fans. That's not going to be an easy thing to do, and I'm sure not everyone will be happy with the outcome. Moon director Duncan Jones...

[1] Warner Bros-based Alcon Entertainment (the financing and production company behind The Blind Side and The Book of Eli) are in final discussions to secure film, television and ancillary franchise rights to produce prequels and sequels to Ridley Scott's iconic 1982 science-fiction film Blade Runner. Not many details are known about the situation, but we have been told the following: Alcon’s franchise rights would be all-inclusive, but exclude rights to remake the original. The Company, however, may produce projects based on situations introduced in the original film. The project would be distributed domestically by Warner Bros. International rights are yet to be determined. So don't expect to see a remake of the original movie. It is also unclear if they have any screenplay or treatments for possible projects. You might recall that Eagle Eye screenwriters Travis Wright and John Glenn were paid to explore a potential secret sequel [2] from 2003-...