GOODBYE, BÉBÉ.

In the summer of 1969, my Dad took me to see SPIRITS OF THE DEAD. I had been watching the very seductive ads in the local paper that promised "Edgar Allan Poe's Ultimate Orgy of Evil". EAP and an orgy? What was there not to look forward to?

It was playing the Art Theater at Topanga and Ventura boulevards. In those days, there were tons of movie theaters in the San Fernando Valley: The Topanga, Baronet, Holiday, Valley Circle, etc., all gave way to multiplex's in the 1970's.

The Art Theater was scoffed at by us young teens because it was a dingy, tiny thing squeezed between other shops and had the reputation that nothing but "artsy-fartsy" movies played there. After watching it, I thought: it's was no wonder that SPIRITS OF THE DEAD was one of them.

Being the die-hard monster kid that I was, I cajoled my Dad (the same Good Ol' Dad that let me buy my first monster magazine off the newsstand rack outside the Owl Rexall Drug Store on Van Nuys Blvd. just a few years before) to take me to this R-rated movie.

Well, we sat there with our box of popcorn and cup of soda and got through the whole thing. Talk about disappointed! I wanted this to be a good movie, but instead I was bored to tears. Where were the monsters? Where were the spooks? Where was Poe? And, fer chrissakes, where was the friggin' orgy of evil?

I'm sure my Dad wondered why the hell I wanted to see this movie in the first place. Well, with a cast of high-brow actors like Jane and Peter Fonda, Alain Delon, Brigitte Bardot and Terence Stamp, and lensed by directors, Frederico Fellini, Roger Vadim and Louis Malle, SPIRITS OF THE DEAD certainly was a movie that deserved to be played at the "artsy-fartsy" Art Theater! [see the rest of this post HERE.]

What made this film watchable were the two gorgeous actresses that played in it. One was Jane Fonda, who would star as Barbarella the same year, and she never looked better during this period. The other was a French actress named Brigitte Bardot, that left me panting (and maybe even drooling a little, too) she was so strikingly beautiful.

Brigitte Bardot in Spirits of the Dead "William Wilson" segment.

Bardot and co-star Alain Delon on the set of Spirits of the Dead.

The foregoing all came back when I heard the sad news that Brigitte Bébé (a nickname derived from her initials) Bardot had passed away yesterday at the age of 91 from an undisclosed illness in Saint-Tropez, France.

Born Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot on September 28, 1934 in Paris, she originally aspired to be a ballerina, but turned instead to modeling and acting in a possible act of rebellion against her strict and sometimes abusive Catholic parents. Her breakout role was as an 18 year old libertine in AND GOD CREATED WOMAN (1956) directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim. For years, she wowed the public with her seductive charm, sexuality and provocative lifestyle, earning the nickname, "sex kitten".

But all that came at a price; battling depression she attempted to end her life on more than one occasion. She was also convicted and fined five times in France for inciting racial hatred as a result of her very vocal objection to the Muslim method of slaughtering sheep without sedation during religious holidays.

Tiring of living up to the rigors of international fame, relentless media attention and "sick of being beautiful every day", in a move that shocked millions, she retired from acting in 1973 and devoted the rest of her life to her real passion: animal rights. Ultimately, I'm sure that was much more rewarding for her than looking sexy in front of a camera 24/7.

The 60s was the decade of the sex goddess and while there were a lot of candidates, it's hard to name any of them before Brigitte Bardot.

Rest in peace, Bébé.

Brigitte Bardot Gallery:

Brigitte Bardot in the April 1969 issue of PLAYBOY:

R.I.P. CLAUDIA CARDINALE

Taking time out today to mourn the passing of one of the most famous leading actresses in Italian cinema history -- the talented and stunningly-beautiful Claudia Cardinale, who died on September 23 at the age of 87.

Miss Cardinale starred in many prominent films such as Fellini's 8 1/2 (1963), THE PINK PANTHER (1963), THE LEOPARD (1963), THE PROFESSIONALS (1966) and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968). Why she wasn't cast in a James Bond film during this period is beyond my comprehension. And while she could have easily been cast in any number of Italian gothic horror films, she never appeared in one. Nevertheless, she had a very successful career and will be remembered by film fans for everywhere.

R.I.P. OZZY

It was a warm June night in Southern California in 1970 and the Santa Ana wind was blowing dryly through the air. I recall it was a Friday and my sister drove us up to Westwood Village to hang out. We went into a Tower Records store and a large display right when you walked in assaulted my eyes. I was transfixed by the album cover, witchy and inviting.

What was this that stood before me? A figure in black called my name! And the title, Black Sabbath, was the only identifying description of what lurked within the record sleeve.

I bought it and carried it around with me the rest of the night until I got back home and dropped it on my record player spindle, put on my headphones (didn’t want to wake Mom and Dad!) and began to listen. Indescribably, a loathsome, deafening sound met my ears. This was not Led Zeppelin! This was not even Iron Butterfly or Steppenwolf. This was music from the Depths of Hell itself. I loved it and have ever since.

The "Prince of Darkness", the "Blizzard of Oz", has passed. Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath died less than three weeks after his farewell concert, Back to the Beginning, a fitting coda to a career with a band that changed the face of rock music. A great singer and showman, his "crazy train" will ride on the rails into legend.

Thanks for rocking my world, Ozzy.

R.I.P. STEPHEN FABIAN AND GEORGE BARR

Prince Sirki has taken two more very creative artists in the last months: Stephen Fabian and George Barr. What's a little strange is that I didn't find out about either of these until this week's Bud Plant newsletter. There was no word from any of the news feeds and info outlets that I frequent.

Stephen Fabian passed away on May 6 at the age of 95. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed Fabian's work, His comparison to the legendary pulp illustrator Virgil Finlay is rightly claimed.

George Barr passed earlier this year on April 19 at the age of 88. Among other works, Barr painted countless fantasy and science-fiction book covers, many of which I've managed to purchase and collect over the years.

While they both lived long lives, it's still a blow when you lose two artists of the highest caliber.

THE PRINCE SIRKI FILES

Readers of the earlier issues of FM may recall that FJA often used the name used by Fredric March in 1934's DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY, Prince Sirki, when announcing the passing of a horror actor, director or other genre luminary.

I gathered what I could find here at the Mysterious Mansion of the obituaries that I have been collecting over the years. Most of these clippings are from THE SEATTLE TIMES and THE LOS ANGELES TIMES. I thought it would be a good time to digitize them before they started crumbling into so much mummy dust.

R.I.P. ROGER CORMAN

This one's a big one, folks. Last Thursday we lost one of the best: Roger Corman passed away at the age 98. His contribution to horror films and films in general cannot be estimated. A true pioneer on the world of low-budget movie-making, he showed everyone else just how to do it.

Roger Corman, Hollywood mentor and ‘King of the Bs,’ dies at 98

By Bob Thomas and Amy Taxin | May 12, 2024 | apnews.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Roger Corman, the “King of the Bs” who helped turn out such low-budget classics as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and gave many of Hollywood’s most famous actors and directors early breaks, has died. He was 98.

Corman died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, California, according to a statement released Saturday by his wife and daughters.

“He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him,” the statement said. “When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that.’”

Starting in 1955, Corman helped create hundreds of B-movies as a producer and director, among them “Black Scorpion,” “Bucket of Blood” and “Bloody Mama.” A remarkable judge of talent, he hired such aspiring filmmakers as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, James Cameron and Martin Scorsese. In 2009, Corman received an honorary Academy Award.

“There are many constraints connected with working on a low budget, but at the same time there are certain opportunities,” Corman said in a 2007 documentary about Val Lewton, the 1940s director of “Cat People” and other underground classics.

“You can gamble a little bit more. You can experiment. You have to find a more creative way to solve a problem or to present a concept,” he said.

The roots of Hollywood’s golden age in the 1970s can be found in Corman’s films.

Jack Nicholson made his film debut as the title character in a 1958 Corman quickie, “The Cry Baby Killer,” and stayed with the company for biker, horror and action films, writing and producing some of them. Other actors whose careers began in Corman movies included Robert De Niro, Bruce Dern and Ellen Burstyn.

Peter Fonda’s appearance in “The Wild Angels” was a precursor to his own landmark biker movie, “Easy Rider,” co-starring Nicholson and fellow Corman alumnus Dennis Hopper. “Boxcar Bertha,” starring Barbara Hershey and David Carradine, was an early film by Scorsese.

Corman’s B-movie directors were given minuscule budgets and often told to finish their films in as little as five days. When Howard, who would go on to win a best director Oscar for “A Beautiful Mind,” pleaded for an extra half day to reshoot a scene in 1977 for “Grand Theft Auto,” Corman told him, “Ron, you can come back if you want, but nobody else will be there.”

“Roger Corman was my very first boss, my lifetime mentor and my hero. Roger was one of the greatest visionaries in the history of cinema,” Gale Ann Hurd, whose notable producing credits include the “Terminator” film franchise, “The Abyss” and “The Walking Dead” television series, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Initially only drive-ins and specialty theaters would book Corman films, but as teenagers began turning out, national chains gave in. Corman’s pictures were open for their time about sex and drugs, such as his 1967 release “The Trip,” an explicit story about LSD written by Nicholson and starring Fonda and Hopper.

Meanwhile, he discovered a lucrative sideline releasing prestige foreign films in the United States, among them Ingmar Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers,” Federico Fellini’s “Amarcord” and Volker Schlondorff’s “The Tin Drum.” The latter two won Oscars for best foreign language film.

Corman got his start as a messenger boy for Twentieth Century-Fox, eventually graduating to story analyst. After quitting the business briefly to study English literature for a term at Oxford University, he returned to Hollywood and launched his career as a movie producer and director.

Despite his penny-pinching ways, Corman retained good relations with his directors, boasting that he never fired one because “I wouldn’t want to inflict that humiliation.”

Some of his former underlings repaid his kindness years later. Coppola cast him in “The Godfather, Part II,” Jonathan Demme included him in “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia” and Howard gave him a part in “Apollo 13.”

Most of Corman’s movies were quickly forgotten by all but die-hard fans. A rare exception was 1960’s “Little Shop of Horrors,” which starred a bloodthirsty plant that feasted on humans and featured Nicholson in a small but memorable role as a pain-loving dental patient. It inspired a long-lasting stage musical and a 1986 musical adaptation starring Steve Martin, Bill Murray and John Candy.

In 1963, Corman initiated a series of films based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. The most notable was “The Raven,” which teamed Nicholson with veteran horror stars Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone. Directed by Corman on a rare three-week schedule, the horror spoof won good reviews, a rarity for his films. Another Poe adaptation, “House of Usher,” was deemed worthy of preservation by the Library of Congress.

“It was my privilege to know him. He was a great friend. He shaped my childhood with science fiction movies and Edgar Allen Poe epics,” John Carpenter, director of “Halloween,” “The Thing” and other classic horror and action films, said on X. “I’ll miss you, Roger.”

Near the end of his life, Karloff starred in another Corman-backed effort, the 1968 thriller “Targets,” which marked Peter Bogdanovich’s directorial debut.

Corman’s success prompted offers from major studios, and he directed “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” and “Von Richthofen and Brown” on normal budgets. Both were disappointments, however, and he blamed their failure on front-office interference.

Roger William Corman was born in Detroit and raised in Beverly Hills, but “not in the affluent section,” he once said. He attended Stanford University, earning a degree in engineering, and arrived in Hollywood after three years in the Navy.

After his stint at Oxford, he worked as a television stagehand and literary agent before finding his life’s work.

In 1964 he married Julie Halloran, a UCLA graduate who also became a producer.

He is survived by his wife, Julie, and children Catherine, Roger, Brian and Mary.

R.I.P. TRINA ROBBINS

We've lost another one of our great cartoonists, this time one of the most influential in the industry. Trina Robbins passed away at the age of 85 on 10 April 2024 in San Francisco from complications following a stroke according to her long-time partner and distinguished comic book inker, Steve Leialoha.

Robbins' first work was published in 1966 in the underground newspaper, THE EAST VILLAGE OTHER. Shortly thereafter, she came to prominence in the underground comics network, publishing the first all-women created underground comic, IT AIN'T ME BABE, in 1970.

She was an outspoken voice against the male-dominated comics industry, both underground and mainstream. But, along with a small group of other women who found it difficult getting their work in print, her first hurdle was breaking into the "closed shop" of the undergrounds. She specifically called out Robert Crumb, whose blatantly misogynistic and bigoted comics were nevertheless the most popular and best-selling titles at the time. In Roger Sabin's book, Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A History Of Comic Art (Phaidon Press, 1996), she commented: "It's weird to me how willing people are to overlook the hideous darkness in Crumb's work . . . What the hell is funny about rape and murder?" Ironically, these were among the same transgressive themes that were wide spread throughout the underground comics scene, as well as the same topics which made them both famous and infamous.

Robbins would later migrate to the "establishment" where she drew Wonder Woman for DC and an adaptation of the HONEY WEST TV series (starring Anne Francis, who played a strong but seductive female lead) for Moonstone. She is also noted for designing the original costume for James Warren's Vampirella, seen on the character's first magazine cover as painted by Frank Frazetta.

Over the years, she published numerous non-fiction books on female characters in the comics, among them are: A Century of Women Cartoonists (Kitchen Sink, 1993), The Great Women Superheroes (Kitchen Sink, 1997) and The Great Women Cartoonists (Watson-Guptill, 2001). I don't mind saying that I'm the proud owner of The Great Women Super Heroes that I bought from the one-of-a-kind Bud Plant Comic Art Catalog when it was published by Kitchen Sink. It includes a tipped in postcard-sized plate (see original source art below) that is signed and numbered by by Trina.

Trina Robbins' homage to Tarpe Mills, the female cartoonist who created
the Golden Age character Miss Fury.

She was formally recognized numerous times during her long career. Among her many achievements, she received the Inkpot Award in 1977 and was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2013.

Born Trina Perlson on 17 August 1938 in New York City, she is survived by Leialoha and a daughter by comics publisher, Kim Deitch. 

Original cover art for "Girl Fight Comics" (Print Mint, 1972).

A fantasy "Weird Tales" cover in tribute to Margaret Brundage (No date).

A full-page Wonder Woman pin-up from "Turned On Cuties" (1972).

A hand-colored and signed print for the San Diego ComicCon (1970's).

IT AIN'T ME BABE COMIX (LAST GASP ECOFUNNIES, April 1970, "Conceived by the Women's Liberation Basement Press").