obituary

A Heartbreaker Dies: Goodbye Tom Petty

Tom Petty was a Rock n’ Roll genius. Melodic, heartfelt and incredibly catchy, his music was tremendous. As a solo artist, the leader of Mudcrutch and The Heartbreakers or as a member of supergroup The Travelling Wilburys, Petty’s [...]

October 3, 2017

Obituary: Powers Boothe Dead At 68

Powers Boothe was a powerful screen presence. You might say that Boothe was a character actor, but he was much more than that. He had his own gravitational pull, anchoring movies and TV shows with his own brand of gravitas and strength. Boothe has [...]

May 15, 2017

Obituary: Bill Paxton 1955 – 2017

Bill Paxton died on February 25 2017 following a stroke after heart surgery. He was 61 years old. I grew up with Bill Paxton on screen. He was a pleasure to watch, an actor who straddled the line between leading man and character actor. Paxton was [...]

February 27, 2017

Screen Actor John Hurt Dies

John Hurt has shuffled-off into that great acting workshop on the sky. The distinguished actor was probably best known for his work in David Lynch’s The Elephant Man and Alien but he had a tremendous body of work behind him. He starred in [...]

January 28, 2017

Obituary: Carrie Fisher 1960 – 2016

Actress and writer Carrie Fisher has died at the age of 60 years old. She suffered a heart attack on 23 December on a flight from London to Los Angeles before passing away four days later on 27 December. Fisher will forever be associated with the [...]

December 29, 2016

Obituary: Gene Wilder 1933-2016

The majestic Gene Wilder has died at the age of 83 years old. The comedian was a live wire, a true genius who was able to add a certain amount of zing and pizzazz to everything he was in. Sadly, Wilder passed away due to complications from [...]

August 30, 2016

Obituary: Alan Rickman 1946 – 2016

Alan Rickman, the acclaimed stage and screen actor has died from cancer at the age of 69. Rickman made movies better. No matter the film, no matter the role, Rickman delivered on a level that only the best actors can. He was able to cover a [...]

January 14, 2016

Obituary: David Bowie 1947 – 2016

Musician, actor and cultural trendsetter David Bowie has died from cancer at the age of 69. Bowie was one of the few artists who managed to legitimately transcend pop consciousness – he was his own thing. He was David Bowie. Born David Jones [...]

January 11, 2016

The Passing Of An Acting Great: James Garner Dead at 86

  The great James Garner has died at the age of 86. At the minute the cause of death is unknown, but it is being reported that he died in his Los Angeles home. Nobody did laid-back cool quite like James Garner. An underrated star, Garner was [...]

July 20, 2014

Character Actor James Rebhorn Writes His Own Obituary

People die – we all know it. However, it makes us stop for a moment and think. We then move on with our lives as best we can. Sometimes people make lasting impressions, more so in the world of cinema and television where people, moments live [...]

March 25, 2014

The Passing Of Harold Ramis – A Comedic Genius

Harold Ramis has died. To many he will always be Egon Spengler in the Ghostbusters movies but to others he was a damn fine writer/director, behind some of the most influential comedy films of the last 40 years. Ramis directed Groundhog Day (a film [...]

February 24, 2014

Movies In Focus On The Passing Of Peter O’Toole

Movies In Focus gives me the unique platform to talk about films and filmmakers that interest me. This site doesn’t choose between young, old, modern or classic – it’s about what makes films special – it quite simply puts the movies in [...]

December 16, 2013

FAST AND FURIOUS Star Paul Walker Dies In Car Accident

Paul Walker, best known for starring in the Fast and the Furious movies has died at the age of 40. The actor was a passenger in a car that crashed into a light pole following a charity event in Los Angeles. While I’m no big fan of Walker’s, I do [...]

December 1, 2013

Obituary: Lou Reed 1942 – 2013

Lou Reed was more than a rock star. He was a street poet, a purveyor of the grit and the grime of the under-belly of New York. His music was polarizing but also deeply influential. His late 60s work with Andy Warhol’s The Velvet Underground helped [...]

October 28, 2013

Obituary: Director Tony Scott Dead At 68

Tony Scott, the hugely successful Hollywood producer and director of films such as Top Gun and Enemy of the State has passed away at the age of 68. Reports indicate that Scott took his own life by leaping from a bridge in Los Angeles, California. He [...]

August 20, 2012

Obituary: Ernest Borgnine 1917-2012

Ernest Borgnine, the beloved Oscar-winning star of Marty and The Wild Bunch has passed away at the age of 95. His manager, Lynda Bensky announced that he died of renal failure at Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, with his family at his [...]

July 9, 2012

STAR WARS Concept Artist Ralph McQuarrie Dies

Ralph McQuarrie, the artist who is most famous for creating some of the Star Wars saga’s most striking images has died. McQuarrie passed away on March 3rd at the age of 82, leaving behind a legacy that will continue for as long as film is a [...]

March 4, 2012

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