Anna Massey

Anna Massey was a british actress that passed away on July 5th from Cancer. Here’s a list of films to remember her by:

An Angel For May (2002) Rated NR

While playing in a deserted farmhouse, a boy named Tom is whisked back in time to World War II. Tom is guided by a dog, and becomes friends with a young evacuee named May. The three set off on an adventure with consequences they won’t forget.

The Machinist (2005) Rated R

Trevor Reznik hasn’t slept in a year. The shocking deteroration of his physical and mental health has made his every waking moment an unrelenting state of confusion, paranoia, guilt, anxiety and terror. His only solace from this living nightmare comes from an affectionate prostitute. When cryptic notes turn up mysteriously in his apartment and hallucinations of a co-worker that no one else sees causes a gruesome machine shop injury, he embarks on a journey to find out whether there is an elaborate plot to drive him mad or his fatigue has simply robbed him of reason.

Mansfield Park (1986) Rated NR

True virtue triumph’s over superficiality in 18th century England. Young, impoverished Fanny Price arrives at the elegant estate of her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram. Snubbed by everyone except her cousin Edmund, she begins her long struggle for accceptance by her shallow relatives who believe wealth automatically means quality.

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005) Rated NR

 Mrs. Palfrey, an elegant, genteel widow, has come from Scotland to London to take up residency at the Claremont Hotel. Though she had high hopes for the cosmopolitan pleasures of living in a big city, such as attending lectures and concerts, as well as making a wider assortment of acquaintances, she is soon filled with a sense of uneasiness and slight gloom as she surveys her drab surroundings at the Claremont. The only bright spot in her decision to come to London is the fact that she will be closer to her only grandson, Desmond.

Tess of the D’Urbervilles (2008) Rated NR

When the beautiful and innocent Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D’Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting the manipulative Alec proves to be her downfall.

Anna also read books for audio: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

 

Jeff Conaway

1950-2011

On May 11, 2011, Conaway was found unconscious from what was initially described as an overdose of substances, believed to be pain medication, and was taken to Encino Tarzana Medical Center in Encino, California, where he was listed as being in critical condition and in a coma. On May 26, 2011, Conaway’s family took him off life support after doctors decided there was nothing they could do to revive him. Conaway died the following morning at the age of 60.

Babylon 5 (1994-1998) Rated NR

Babylon 5 is an outer-space way station, a port-of-call for diplomats, entrepreneurs, and scalawags of all species. Commander Jeffrey Sinclair–aided by chief security officer Michael Garibaldi, Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova, and resident telepath Talia Winters–tries to keep apprised of all the intrigues swirling around his little corner of the galaxy, but things invariably spiral out of control.

Taxi (1978-1982) Rated NR

Louie De Palma is a cantankerous taxi dispatcher for a New York City taxi company. He tries to maintain order over the varied collection of strange characters who drive for him. As he bullies and insults them from the safety of his “cage,” they form a special bond among themselves, becoming friends and supporting each other through the inevitable trials and tribulations of life.

Grease (1978) Rated PG

It’s love when a greaser falls for a good girl in this musical depicting young life in the fifties.

Pete’s Dragon (1977) Rated G

A 9-year old boy and his pet dragon (invisible to all but him) run away from his foster parents.

The Eagle Has Landed (1976) Rated PG

Sixteen German paratroopers are dropped on the coast of England in 1943 with orders to kidnap Churchill and bring him back to Hitler.

Information cited from Reuters, May 19, 2011 and Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2011.

Arthur Laurents

 

1917-2011

Arthur Laurents was a famed play and screen writer for 66 years. Arthur passed away on May 5th from complications of pheumonia. He was 93 years old.  He wrote a number of popular plays and movies, some of which are listed below.

Anastasia (1956) Rated NR

An expatriate White Russian general sets in motion a grand hoax after he meets a destitute woman on the banks of the Seine River in Paris. He is amazed at her resemblance to Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas of Russia, rumored to have somehow survived the Bolsheviks’ execution of the Romanoff family in 1918. He trains her to impersonate the missing princess but soon begins to feel she may be the real Anastasia. Ultimately, the truth can only be decided by one person–Anastasia’s grandmother, the Dowager Empress.

Gypsy (1962) Rated NR

The story of burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, her rise to stardom from vaudeville and her volatile relationship with her ambitious mother.

Turning Point (1977) Rated PG

Two friends who started in ballet are reunited after many years; one is now a star ballerina, the other a Midwestern housewife/dance teacher whose daughter is embarking on her own ballet career.

Way We Were (1973) Rated PG

The romance and marriage of opposites– the love that binds them together and the differences that tear them apart. A love story from college to Hollywood in the thirties, forties, and fifties.

West Side Story (1961) Rated NR

This musical sets the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet against a backdrop of the rivalry of two street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, in New York of the 1950s. A young woman who is sister to the Sharks leader has her first taste of love with the former head of the Jets.

Arthur Laurents also wrote a book on directing musicals.

Mainly on Directing