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John Lawlor, who portrayed one of Cloris Leachman’s co-workers on the CBS sitcom Phyllis and the Eastland School for Girls headmaster on the first season of the NBC comedy The Facts of Life, has died. He was 83.

Lawlor died Feb. 13 at a veterans’ hospice facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, his family announced.

His 60-plus years as an actor also included turns in such films as Blake Edwards’ S.O.B. (1981) and Lawrence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp (1994).

Lawlor played the inept Leonard Marsh, who works with Leachman’s Phyllis Lindstrom in the San Francisco City Supervisor’s office, on the second and last season (1976-77) of Phyllis, one of the many Mary Tyler Moore Show spinoffs. (He had portrayed a cop on a first-season episode.)

When The Facts of Life — a Diff’rent Strokes spinoff — premiered in August 1979, Lawlor was there as headmaster Steven Bradley. He appeared on all 13 installments...

Suzanne Somers, best known for her ditsy comedy turn in the hit television series Three’s Company, has died. She was 76.

“Suzanne Somers passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of October 15th. She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years,” Somers’ longtime publicist R. Couri Hay wrote in a statement to People shared on behalf of the actress’ family.

“Suzanne was surrounded by her loving husband Alan, her son Bruce, and her immediate family,” the statement continued. “Her family was gathered to celebrate her 77th birthday on October 16th. Instead, they will celebrate her extraordinary life, and want to thank her millions of fans and followers who loved her dearly.”

Somers first cultural impression was as the blonde beauty in a white Thunderbird in George Lucas’ ‘60s hit comedy-drama, American Graffiti (1973).

Her big break came in 1977, when she was cast as one of the...

Sara Lane, who portrayed the orphaned frontier girl Elizabeth Grainger for four seasons of the NBC drama The Virginian, has died. She was 73.

Lane died Friday at her home in Napa, California, after a six-year battle with breast cancer, her husband, Jon Scott, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Lane joined the 1890s Western for the start of its retooled fifth season in September 1966 alongside two other new castmembers: Charles Bickford, who played her grandfather, John Grainger, the new owner of the Shiloh Ranch, and Don Quine, who portrayed her older brother, Stacey Grainger.

She appeared on 105 episodes of the Wyoming Territory-set series through March 1970, with James Drury‘s title character and Doug McClure’s Trampas looking after Elizabeth. The Virginian aired one final season without her.

The oldest of three kids, Susan Russell Lane was born in New York on March 12, 1949. Her parents, Rusty Lane (The Harder They Fall) and Sara Anderson,...

When is a person not a person?

No, not when they are ajar.

The answer to the question was at the center of X-Men Gold Vol 2, #9 , “Kitty Goes to Washington” Part 1.

Why did Kitty Pride, leader of the X-Men at the time of this story, go to Washington? To appear before a Congressional committee to speak against a proposed Mutant Deportation Act. What was the Mutant Deportation Act? The story didn’t say and researching on the online Marvel Database didn’t help. It’s entry on the bill said, and I quote, “The Mutant Deportation Bill was a bill voted on by Congress.” Even Captain Obvious found that answer to be a little bit on the nose. As I don’t want to spend the rest of this column speculating on what the act said, I will assume it said the United States could deport all mutants.

Is there...

Tom Laughlin: ‘Billy Jack’ movie franchise comes to an end; U.S. government, Hollywood studios blamed (See previous post: “‘Billy Jack’: Tom Laughlin Revolutionized Film Distribution Sytem.”) In 1975, Tom Laughlin’s self-produced Western The Master Gunfighter — a remake of Hideo Gosha’s samurai actioner Goyokin, co-starring Ron O’Neal and Barbara Carrera — bombed at the box office after opening at more than 1,000 locations. Laughlin reportedly had spent $3.5 million to market the $3.5 million production, having hired John Rubel, assistant secretary of defense under Robert McNamara, to plan the film’s distribution tactics. Financially depleted and embroiled in more lawsuits against Warner Bros., Laughlin embarked on the Billy Jack series’ fourth — and, as it turned out — final film, Billy Jack Goes to Washington. A 1977 Frank Capra Jr.-produced reboot of Frank Capra’s 1939 classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Laughlin’s final directing effort was barely seen even in its drastically edited form.

Younger movie buffs may have no idea how popular the Billy Jack movies were in the early ’70s but Billy Jack and The Trial Of Billy Jack were the cool films to see when I was in middle school. The first film in the series was Born Losers in 1967, an above average entry in the biker genre notable for its odd hero Billy Jack, a brave Native American ex-Army Green Beret played by Tom Laughlin who used his karate skills to fight a nefarious motorcycle gang. Laughlin wrote and directed three sequels which costarred his wife Delores Taylor. Billy Jack was released in 1971, and this time Billy used those same skills to fight racism and oppression. With its themes of child abuse, the trampling of Indian rights, prejudice, television exposes, campus shootings by the National Guard, the Mi Lai massacre, culture clashes, Jungian philosophy, police brutality, government corruption, karate, guns,...

By Lee Pfeiffer 

Maverick actor and filmmaker Tom Laughlin has died at the age of 82 after a long illness. Laughlin was just another hunky actor in small roles in films like South Pacific and Tea and Sympathy. However, in 1967 he successfully rode the wave of popularity attached to biker flicks by writing, directing and starring in The Born Losers. (He used the named T.C Frank for his non-acting credits). The film starred Laughlin as a half-Native American named Billy Jack who takes on seemingly insurmountable odds to help oppressed people. The film was a hit and Laughlin revived the character in 1971 in the film Billy Jack. However, he was angry with Warner Brothers' lukewarm marketing of the film. He engaged in a high profile battle to win back distribution rights and finally prevailed in court. In 1974 Laughlin took the bold step of investing millions of dollars in re-marketing a...

Tom Laughlin, the actor who wrote, directed, starred in and distributed the 1970s’ Billy Jack films, died on Thursday in California. He was 82.

Actor Tom Laughlin Dies

Billy Jack was the second of four movies featuring the title character, a half-Native American former Green Beret and Vietnam veteran, as he fought on the side of a progressive school that sought desegregation. The people in the Western town wanted to keep the Native American students out of the system, which Billy Jack wouldn’t stand for.

Studios wanted nothing to do with the sequel, believing that the vigilante nature of Billy Jack would be a turn off to audiences. However, after Laughlin secured theaters to show the film, it went on to become a box-office success. His legwork to make the film happen is credited with being an inspiration to modern independent filmmakers and changing Hollywood’s marketing strategies.

Laughlin is...

Not many people have seen Jerry Lewis' The Day The Clown Cried. And David has a good idea as to why that is...

Legendary comedian Jerry Lewis is known for a lot of things. When he first exploded on the scene in the late 40s with Dean Martin, they were the rock stars of comedy. Whether performing onstage or starring together in movies, they were the hottest act in show business.

When Lewis went solo in the late 50s, he had big success writing, directing and acting in a number of classic comedies, peaking in 1963 with the original Nutty Professor. (Julius Kelp, the uber nerdy title character, was the inspiration for Professor John Frink on The Simpsons.)

In modern day, you still see Lewis every Labor Day raising money on his telethon for muscular dystrophy, and you see his comedic influence continue through generations of funny people, from Woody Allen to Jerry Seinfeld.