Notizie

The American Theatre Wing will soon be announcing the Tonys' Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. It traditionally goes to veteran stage performers, directors, choreographers, playwrights, songwriters, producers, and designers. In some years there are multiple honorees. Last year's recipients were directors Jack O'Brien and George C. Wolfe.

Several living male Broadway vets have already received this award: Paul Gemignani, Alan Ayckbourn, Athol Fugard, Tommy Tune, Marshall W. Mason, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Harold Wheeler, Joel Grey, and John Kander. Here are 10 possibilities, all accomplished men over the age of 65. Vote in our poll below to let us know who you’d like to see honored.

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John Caird

Two-time Tony-winning director for The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982) and Les Misérables (1987). Additional nominations for helming Stanley (1997) and cowriting Jane Eyre the Musical (2001).

Tim Curry

Three-time Tony-nominated actor for Amadeus (1981), My Favorite Year...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has held almost 100 ceremonies, which means people have been screaming that they got it all wrong in various categories since the Calvin Coolidge administration. It's a bit like in sports where people root for their favorites, only that people are arguing over intangible accomplishments rather than touchdowns and what have you.

Once you get used to the way the Oscars work (e.g. they really hate comedy), you realize there is a certain type of film that's likely to be honored, and those certain types of films attract a certain type of actor -- ergo, to a large extent, it's futile to pull for favorites. Arnold Schwarzenegger was long one of the most popular actors on the planet, but he was portrayed by the media as a walking caricature of himself; only now, in his 70s, could he earn a Best Actor...

Warning: Contains Spoilers for 9-1-1 season 8, episode 8.The fall finale of 9-1-1 season 8 aired Thursday, November 21 and saw Brad's story draw to a close. With Bobby serving as his mentor, the actor finally experiences how it feels to save a life when he talks a man off the ledge. "Wannabees" ties up most of its plotlines within the hour, but introduces a new one that leaves fans impatiently awaiting the show's return on March 6. Ryan Guzman's Eddie plans to move to Texas in the hopes of reconciling with Christopher.

Although he's important to everyone at Station 118, the character and his son have had a particularly close bond with Buck since 9-1-1 season 2. Eddie's best friend appears supportive of the move, but a lingering shot tells a different story. Showrunner Tim Minear reveals that Buck will be "spinning like a top" when viewers see him in 2025 and trying...

A new Broadway season has begun, and there are currently nine productions of plays set to open this fall. Could we see any of them contend at next year’s Tony Awards? Below, find the plot of each play as well as the awards histories of its author, cast and creative team, plus the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.

“The Roommate” (opens September 12; closes December 15)

In this new play by Jen Silverman, Sharon has never had a roommate before. But after her divorce she needs a housemate to pay the bills. That’s when Robyn arrives. The story follows an unexpected, life-changing friendship that’s both funny and deeply moving between two very different middle-aged women as they navigate the complexities of identity, morality and the dream of reinvention.

The production stars Golden Globe winner Mia Farrow and three-time Tony winner Patti LuPone. It is directed by three-time Tony winner Jack O’Brien.

Andrea Martin, Melora Hardin and Ruthie Ann Miles have joined the Broadway cast of McNeal, starring Robert Downey Jr.

On Monday, the production also announced that “a highly realistic Metahuman Digital Likeness” of Downey will be used within the production, appearing alongside Downey himself. The technology was developed by Agbo, Anthony and Joe Russo’s independent studio and Downey.

The play, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar and directed by Bartlett Sher, is scheduled to play the Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater starting Sept. 5, with an opening Sept. 30.

Additional cast members include Brittany Bellizeare (Flex), Rafi Gavron (A Star is Born) and Saisha Talwar.

The play sees Downey portraying a talented writer who grapples with a new novel, a broken family life and “an unhealthy fascination with artificial intelligence.”

Downey’s production company, Team Downey, is producing, in association with Lincoln Center Theater. The play will mark Downey’s Broadway debut.

The legendary Peter O’Toole was born on August 2, 1932. One of the most esteemed actors of his generation, he also holds the dubious record of earning the most Best Actor Oscar nominations (eight) without a win. O’Toole’s trophy case isn’t exactly bare — he won three Golden Globe Awards from eight nominations and received an honorary Academy Award for his lengthy career.

And as younger generations begin to discover his work, his reputation has only grown over the years, particularly for his big splash on the world’s film stage for his performance in “Lawrence of Arabia,” work that is astonishing in its complexity.

Take a photo gallery tour of his career ranking his 12 best film performances from worst to best. It includes ‘Venus,’ ‘My Favorite Year,’ ‘The Stunt Man’ and more.

Turner Classic Movies, the leading authority and definitive home of classic film, will celebrate its 30th anniversary on April 14, 2024. To honor the milestone, TCM will present on-air programming salutes featuring TCM staff who were there from the very beginning, as well as a 24-hour marathon of films with historical introductions from TCM’s first host and champion, Robert Osborne.

“How many other channels on television celebrate their anniversary? How many other channels’ fans know where they were the day a network launched?” says TCM Primetime Host Ben Mankiewicz. “I’m not sure either of those things are true without Robert Osborne. He’s the Walter Cronkite of TCM. The Johnny Carson. The Alex Trebek. With these intros of Robert’s, we’re celebrating his impact and his continued influence. Plus, as we do with the movies we show, we’ll put Robert into context. Additionally, we’ll also look back...

Peter O'Toole, despite his acclaimed career, never won an Academy Award, despite being nominated 8 times. O'Toole holds the record for the most nominations without a win in the Best Actor category. In 2002, O'Toole received an Honorary Academy Award for his achievements in the entertainment industry.

One celebrated actor once referred to himself as a loser when it came to the Oscars, despite his acclaimed career. Throughout the history of the Oscars, there have been many who have had the honor of winning the award for their acting abilities. But while many actors have yet to win this award, there is one actor who never managed to do so, despite multiple nominations.

Actors such as Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio were nominated several times, before winning the Oscar. Others such as Bradley Cooper, Saoirse Ronan, and Amy Adams have received several Oscar nominations but haven't won the prestigious award. Irish-British actor,...

Upon securing a spot in the 2024 Best Supporting Actress Oscar lineup, Jodie Foster (“Nyad”) officially shattered the Academy Awards record for longest span between fourth and fifth acting nominations. Following her two Best Actress wins for “The Accused” (1989) and “The Silence of the Lambs” (1992), she had last been recognized in that category for “Nell” (1995), making for a general nomination gap of 29 years. Coincidentally, she took this particular distinction from fellow “Silence of the Lambs” winner Anthony Hopkins, who waited 22 years between his supporting bids for “Amistad” (1998) and “The Two Popes” (2020).

Previously, the female record for longest wait for a fifth nomination was 12 years, as shared by Julianne Moore and Frances McDormand. Considering gaps between any two consecutive acting nominations, Foster ranks well behind overall record holder Judd Hirsch, whose first and second career notices for “Ordinary People” (1981) and “The Fabelmans” (2023) came 42 years apart. His female counterpart is Helen Hayes (39 years...

Since the establishment of the Academy Awards in 1929, exactly 60 films have achieved lone lead male acting nominations, meaning they were each recognized in the Best Actor category and nowhere else. The last such instance occurred in 2023 and involved “Aftersun” star Paul Mescal, who, at 26, stood out as the youngest member of a lineup consisting only of first-time Oscar contenders. Although his low-budget movie had a strong shot at an original screenplay bid and was viewed as a serious Best Picture candidate, it ended up getting no love outside the acting branch.

Before Mescal was recognized, his category hadn’t seen a lone nominee since Willem Dafoe earned his first lead bid for “At Eternity’s Gate” in 2019. This was the ninth time that four or more years separated consecutive Best Actor loners, with the single largest gap having spread between Cary Grant and Clifton Webb. Such nominations appear to be becoming less common in this category,...

Christian Slater, Christopher Briney, Josh Radnor, Dagmara Dominczyk and more have joined the lineup of actors participating in The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway.

The annual event sees actors, writers, directors and production staff coming together on the night of Oct. 22 for a brainstorming session. The writers create the plays overnight and then the cast comes back together on Oct. 23 to rehearse ahead of the performance that evening. This year’s event will take place at The Town Hall and will honor playwright and former Law & Order: Svu showrunner Warren Leight, who has been a longtime supporter of the organization.

“Simply put, this promises to be an unforgettable evening,” said Artistic Director Mark Armstrong. “Warren is an extraordinary artist who’s spent his career lifting up others, so it’s no surprise that a long list of great artists have stepped up to celebrate him, on and offstage. He’s been...

Noah Pritzker’s bittersweet father and sons tale Ex-Husbands (aka Men Of Divorce) world premieres in Competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival on Sunday as one of the few U.S. productions to be accompanied by its cast this year thanks to its SAG-AFTRA interim agreement.

Griffin Dunne co-stars as a New York dentist who is reeling from his wife’s demand for a divorce after 35 years of marriage, opposite James Norton and Miles Heizer as his sons.

In search of some respite, he unwittingly travels to the Mexican resort of Tulum the same weekend as his oldest son’s bachelor party, where it emerges that he is not the only one suffering a life crisis.

The mainly Spanish press gave the warm-hearted picture – exploring family bonds and questions about love, life and death – an enthusiastic reception at a packed 8.30 am screening on Sunday morning ahead of a gala screening this evening.

Michael McGrath, the veteran stage actor who received a Tony Award for his performance in the musical Nice Work If You Can Get It, has died. He was 65.

McGrath died unexpectedly in his sleep Thursday at his home in Bloomfield, New Jersey, his publicist told The Hollywood Reporter. No cause of death has been determined.

A regular in Broadway and off-Broadway musicals and musical comedy productions, McGrath had starring turns in Plaza Suite, Tootsie, Memphis, Born Yesterday and Wonderful Town. He was also the first actor to play Patsy, King Arthur’s long-suffering sidekick, in Spamalot, which earned him his first Tony nomination.

“Very saddened to hear that Michael McGrath, our first and most beloved Patsy in Spamalot, has passed away,” Idle wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Warm hugs to all the Spamalot family and very happy memories of a lovely man.”

McGrath was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Sept.

When I was a little kid in the 1960s and a teen in the 1970s, there was simply no one cooler than Mel Brooks. He was the guy (along with Buck Henry) who created and wrote the comedy masterpiece “Get Smart,” and even as a child I could recognize the genius behind it. While I was a little too young to appreciate the greatness of his 1967 directorial debut, “The Producers”, once the ’70s rolled around I was in comedy heaven thanks to “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein.” Those two classics of big screen comedy came out the same year: 1974.

As a result, I spent much of that year as a high school sophomore and junior laughing my proverbial butt off in movie theaters (those things we used to frequent prior to the advent of streaming technology). The campfire farting scene in “Bs” was my generation’s comedic colossus.

I lost...

This episode of The Black Sheep was Written and Narrated by Andrew Hatfield, Edited by Brandon Nally, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

The creature feature just isn’t explored enough anymore. Jaws was a monster of a success story and ended up having three sequels on its own and had a slew of imitators. 1980 would give us, in my humble opinion, one of the better ones with Alligator starring Robert Forster. It was successful too, making 6 and a half million on a 1.5-million-dollar budget. I know that’s not crazy money, but it was a hit and had a fun pedigree with it that remains very popular today. Its one of the movies that keeps selling well with new and old fans and so it recently got put on 4K. There weren’t as many creature flicks through the rest of the...

Norman Steinberg, screenwriter of films including “Blazing Saddles” “My Favorite Year” died March 15. He was 83.

His other credits include the film “Johnny Dangerously,” the TV movie “Free to Be…You and Me,” and the TV show “Doctor, Doctor.”

Born in Brooklyn, Steinberg went to college at the U. of Maryland and law school at the U. of Pittsburgh and began practicing law in Manhattan.

He disliked being a lawyer, his family said, and met Mel Brooks when he would stop for coffee at Chock Full o’ Nuts. After much badgering from Steinberg, Brooks told him to try writing a script for “Get Smart.” When Brooks told him the script was funny, he quit his job at the law firm the same day.

He started out writing for the music magazine Cash Box, then wrote a political humor album for David Frye. After moving to Los Angeles, he started writing for the “Flip Wilson Show,...

Norman Steinberg, who co-scripted Mel Brooks’ comedy classic Blazing Saddles with and won an Emmy for Flip Wilson’s 1970s variety show, has died. He was 83. The WGA East said Steinberg died March 15 but did not provide other details.

Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Whoopi Goldberg Pushes Back On Claims 'Blazing Saddles' Is Racist: "Don't Make Me Come For You" Related Story Carol Arthur Dies: 'Blazing Saddles,' 'Hot Stuff' Actress & Wife Of Dom DeLuise Was 85

Steinberg was a disgruntled lawyer met Brooks in the 1960s at a Manhattan coffee shop, where he would run into the future Egot winner regularly. After repeatedly telling him that we wanted to be a comedy writer, Brooks relented and told Steinberg to submit a script for his James Bond-spoofing sitcom Get Smart! The series was canceled, but Brooks told the would-be scribe that...

Norman Steinberg, the Emmy-winning screenwriter who teamed with Mel Brooks on Blazing Saddles and My Favorite Year and wrote for the Michael Keaton-starring Mr. Mom and Johnny Dangerously, has died. He was 83.

Steinberg died March 15 at his Hudson Valley home in upstate New York, his family announced.

Steinberg also wrote Yes, Giorgio (1982), starring Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti in his feature acting debut, and co-wrote Funny About Love (1990), directed by Leonard Nimoy and starring Gene Wilder and Christine Lahti.

The Brooklyn native and former lawyer won his Emmy very early in his career, for his work on a Flip Wilson variety show.

His TV résumé also included developing Marlo Thomas’ 1974 landmark kids special, Free to Be … You & Me (he brought Brooks in on that); serving as a writer and executive producer on the first two seasons of CBS’ Cosby; and creating the short-lived CBS sitcoms Doctor, Doctor and Teech.

Norman Steinberg, screenwriter of the classic Mel Brooks comedy “Blazing Saddles,” has died at the age of 83, his family said through a statement by the Writers Guild of America East.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, and a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh law school, Steinberg sought to be a comedy writer after he felt dissatisfied with life as an attorney. That dream was something that he would regularly tell Brooks when he encountered him at the Chock Full ‘O Nuts cafe in Manhattan, which led the famed comedian and producer to tell Steinberg to write a script for the sitcom “Get Smart.”

Though “Get Smart” was canceled by the time Steinberg finished the script, Brooks enjoyed it and told him to pursue writing. He quit his job as a lawyer and got his start as a writer for the music magazine Cash Box. Like countless others, he moved to...

NBC’s landmark “Your Show of Shows” won its second consecutive best variety program statuette at the primetime Emmy Awards held Feb. 5, 1953 at the old Hotel Statler hosted by Art Linkletter. The 90-minute live program had strong competition- “Arthur Godfrey and His Friends” (CBS); “The Colgate Comedy Hour” (NBC); “The Jackie Gleason Show” (CBS) and “The Toast of the Town” (CBS).

Other winners that evening included another landmark series, CBS’ “I Love Lucy” which was named best situation comedy with NBC’s “Robert Montgomery Presents” receiving best dramatic program honors. CBS’ “What’s My Line? claimed the title of best audience participation, quiz or panel show. NBC’s “Dragnet” was the recipient of the best mystery, action or adventure program. Ktla’s “Time for Beany” won best children’s program, while Edward R. Murrow’s “See It Now” (CBS) received the Emmy for public affairs program.

On the acting front, Oscar-winners...

A revolutionary, an alien, an actor in drag, a missing journalist and an alcoholic lawyer. It was a mixed bag of Best Picture nominees at the 55th Academy Awards ceremony, but in the end there weren’t a lot of surprises. The epic film with the most nominations won the most awards; however, a fantasy film that garnered a surprising nine nominations won the hearts of millions and cemented a place in film history. The Best Director and three of the four acting winners were first-time nominees, and the fourth acting winner was on a record-setting streak that would last decades, while a couple nominees were on losing streaks. The hosts were also a bit of a mixed bag, with Liza Minnelli, Dudley Moore, Richard Pryor and Walter Matthau joining forces to steer the event. Let’s flashback 40 years to the ceremony on April 11, 1983.

The esteemed British filmmaker Richard Attenborough...

For every actor that wins multiple Oscars, there are others who, no matter how much they put into their roles and how much campaigning they do, just can’t make the conversion into winning their first Academy Award.

More often than not, it’s just a matter of bad timing, like being nominated for an Oscar in the same year as one of the four actors mentioned above. There’s just no way of knowing when you’re taking on a role or shooting a film or even once a movie gets out to the critics, how things might change in the time before Oscar night.

Scroll through our photo gallery above (or click here for direct access) to see the 25 actors with the most Oscar nominations and no wins. We include everyone who has been nominated for an acting award at least four times, with Glenn Close and Peter O’Toole...

The Academy Awards often reward the greatest actors in Hollywood with a shiny trophy, but some screen legends have multiple nominations and no Oscars to show for it. In the first few years of the event, actors were nominated based on their body of work for the entire year. According to Emanuel Levy’s book All About Oscar, by the fourth ceremony, actors were nominated for a specific performance in a single movie, limiting their chances. Katharine Hepburn won more Oscars than any other actor with a grand total of four while Meryl Streep has more nominations than any of her peers with a whopping 21 nods — and three wins.

From Halle Berry’s groundbreaking Monster’s Ball victory to Heath Ledger’s posthumous win for The Dark Knight, the Academy has often rewarded the talent that most deserved recognition. However, there have also been plenty of notorious snubs throughout Oscar history.

Click here to read the full article.

May Routh, the fashion illustrator turned renowned costume designer who brought iconic looks to such films as The Man Who Fell to Earth, My Favorite Year and Being There, has died. She was 87.

Routh died peacefully June 1 at her home in Los Angeles, set decorator and family spokesperson Bryony Foster told The Hollywood Reporter.

Routh also did several projects with director John Frankenheimer, starting with the acclaimed 1996 Civil War-set Andersonville and followed by another TNT miniseries, 1997’s George Wallace, starring Gary Sinise as the Alabama governor, and the big-screen action thrillers Ronin (1998) and Reindeer Games (2000).

Routh received Emmy nominations for her work on Andersonville and the 1991 CBS telefilm Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter, starring Frances Fisher and Maurice Benard.

She earned her first screen credit as a costume designer on Nicolas Roeg‘s The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), starring David Bowie as...

Bradley Cooper is a triple threat at the Academy Awards, being nominated a total of nine times in the acting, producing and writing categories. However, he has yet to take home the golden statuette. His most recent bid was for producing the Best Picture nominee “Nightmare Alley,” which lost to “Coda” at the 2022 Oscars ceremony. At nine career losses, that means Cooper has quietly now surpassed legendary performers Glenn Close and Peter O’Toole, both of whom failed to win any of their eight bids (all for acting).

Cooper’s three Oscar nominations in the Best Actor race came for “Silver Linings Playbook” (2012), “American Sniper” (2014) and “A Star Is Born” (2018), plus he earned one notice in Best Supporting Actor for “American Hustle” (2013). The multi-hyphenate was recognized four times for producing Best Picture contenders “American Sniper,” “A Star Is Born,” “Joker” (2019) and “Nightmare Alley” (2021). And he has a Best Adapted Screenplay mention...

Film editors Lillian E. Benson and Richard Chew will receive Career Achievement Awards for their outstanding contributions to film editing at the 72nd Annual Ace Eddie Awards, taking place on March 5 at the Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.

“Lillian and Richard are rock star editors and represent the very best of our craft and profession,” said Ace president Kevin Tent. “Just look at those credits! Not only have they had incredibly prolific careers, but they’ve given back to our community in many ways, not the least of which by mentoring the next generation of editors. We are thrilled to honor these two special editors and look back at their amazing careers.”

Past recipients of the Ace Career Achievement Award include Alan Heim, Thelma Schoonmaker, Dede Allen, Janet Ashikaga, Craig Mckay, Margaret Booth, Carol Littleton, John Soh, Mark Goldblatt and Leon Ortiz-Gil, among many others.

Benson made history as...

The former head of the ACLU discusses some of the movies – and sports legends – that made him.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Mighty Ira (2020)

The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)

42 (2013)

Shane (1953)

Panic In The Streets (1950)

Last Year At Marienbad (1962)

The Seventh Seal (1957)

La Strada (1954)

Wild Strawberries (1957) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

The Virgin Spring (1960) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Last House On The Left (1972) – Darren Bousman’s trailer commentary

A Walk In The Sun (1945) – Glenn Erickson’s review

Paths Of Glory (1957) – George Hickenlooper’s trailer commentary, John Landis’s trailer commentary

All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary

Lonely Are The Brave (1962)

Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

On The Waterfront (1954) – John Badham’s trailer commentary

12 Angry Men (1957)

Inherit The Wind (1960)

Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)

Witness For The Prosecution (1957)

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

The Verdict (1982)

Twelve Angry Men teleplay (1954)

The Front (1976)

Judgment At Nuremberg teleplay...

Celebrating the release of his new memoir, multi-hyphenate Steven Van Zandt joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss a few of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Elevator To The Gallows (1958) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Breathless (1960) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)

The Fisher King (1991)

Tony Rome (1967)

Lady In Cement (1968)

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

The Killer (1989)

True Romance (1993)

True Lies (1994)

Get Shorty (1995) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Point Blank (1967) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Catch Us If You Can a.k.a. Sweet Memories (1965)

Double Trouble (1967)

Performance (1970) – Mark Goldblatt’s trailer commentary

The Driver (1978)

A Hard Day’s Night (1964) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Tfh’s Don’t Knock The Rock piece

Help! (1965) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s review

Blue Collar (1978) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s...

Character actor Basil Hoffman, who had more than 100 roles in television shows and movies, died Sept. 17, according to his manager Brad Lemack. He was 83.

He had recurring roles on several series, playing Ed Greenglass on “Hill Street Blues,” Joshua Friendly on “Santa Barbara,” Principal Dingleman on “Square Pegs,” and Simeon Trapp in “Courage, New Hampshire.”

Hoffman was born and raised in Houston, and started his acting career after graduating Tulane U. with a degree in economics. He trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, then began working in commercials and small roles before moving to Hollywood.

He appeared in Academy Award-winning films “Ordinary People” and “The Artist,” and had small roles in films including “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Hail Caesar!,” “All the President’s Men,” “Comes a Horseman,” “The Milagro Beanfield War” and “Down With Love.” His other film roles included “My Favorite Year,” “The Electric Horseman,...

Basil Hoffman, who starred in the Academy Award-winning films The Artist and Ordinary People, has died. He was 83.

Hoffman died Friday, his longtime friend and personal manager Brad Lemack announced.

He had more than 200 acting credits across film, television and stage. He appeared as Sloan in Ordinary People (1980) and as an auctioneer in The Artist (2011). Both dramas won best picture at the Oscars. Hoffman also had roles in the films My Favorite Year (1982), The Last Word (2017), All the President’s Men (1976) and Rio, I Love You (2014). Some of his television credits include recurring roles on the 1980s series Hill Street Blues and ...

Basil Hoffman, who starred in the Academy Award-winning films The Artist and Ordinary People, has died. He was 83.

Hoffman died Friday, his longtime friend and personal manager Brad Lemack announced.

He had more than 200 acting credits across film, television and stage. He appeared as Sloan in Ordinary People (1980) and as an auctioneer in The Artist (2011). Both dramas won best picture at the Oscars. Hoffman also had roles in the films My Favorite Year (1982), The Last Word (2017), All the President’s Men (1976) and Rio, I Love You (2014). Some of his television credits include recurring roles on the 1980s series Hill Street Blues and ...

Exclusive: The Random House imprint Ballantine Books has acquired and set a November 30 publication date in the U.S. for the Mel Brooks memoir All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business. The iconic director, producer, writer, and actor has also recorded an audiobook version that will be released simultaneously by Penguin Random House Audio. Century, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK, will publish in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. The world publishing rights for the book were acquired by Ballantine Books Executive Editor Pamela Cannon from Jonny Geller of Curtis Brown.

This is a long awaited memoir from a comic genius whose career includes the trailblazing irreverent films Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, History of the World Part I and Spaceballs, TV shows like Get Smart and Your Show of Shows, and bringing The Producers to screen and stage, winning an Oscar for Best Screenplay and the Tony Award for the effort.

When a classic television series goes off the air they rarely ever ride into the sunset thanks to the nostalgia channels that rerun the show, streaming services and DVD and Blu-Ray box sets. They are also often rebooted or turn up as a TV movie such as “Return to Mayberry,” “Return from the Man from U.N.C.L.E” and “Still the Beaver.” And networks also have mined ratings gold bringing back the casts of TV series often on a notable anniversary of the show for reminisces, tears and a plethora of clips.

This year, HBO Max scored with its much ballyhooed and at times surprisingly emotional “Friends: The Reunion,” It just received an Emmy nomination for Best Variety Special (pre-taped), as did “A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote,” which found the cast of the multi-Emmy Award-winning NBC series reuniting to encourage people to vote...

Andrea Martin (Great News), Robert Ri’chard (Empire), Juani Feliz (Blue Bloods), Kate Rockwell (Mean Girls: The Musical) and Sullivan Jones (The Surrogate) are set for recurring roles on Amazon’s Harlem, the comedy series from Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip), Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite Productions and Universal TV. They’ll join previously announced Whoopi Goldberg and Jasmine Guy, who also recur.

Created, written and executive produced by Oliver, Harlem, formerly the Untitled Tracy Oliver Project, is a single-camera comedy following the lives of four black women, friends from their college days at NYU, as they navigate sex, relationships and chasing their dreams.

Martin will play Robin, Camille’s passionate feminist mentor at Columbia University. Ri’chard portrays Shawn, Quinn’s sexy, stripper one-night stand who sticks around much longer than she planned. Feliz is Isabela, a local politician on track to beating AOCs record as the youngest member of Congress...

8 random things that happened on this day, February 25th, in showbiz history...

Feb 25th, 1964 in history (left) and reenacted in 2020 for One Night in Miami... (right)

1950 Your Show of Shows premieres on NBC. The live variety show starring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, was a stepping stone for legendary comedy writers like Mel Brooks and Neil Simon. The show helped create the  variety genre and inspired both the TV classic The Dick Van Dyke Show and the movie My Favorite Year.

1956 Poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes meet at a party. Their doomed romance is dramatized in the 2003 film Sylvia starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Daniel Craig...

In Los Angeles Times film critic Justin Chang’s appreciative and insightful review of Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round,” Chang notes “ ‘Another Round,’ while very much about addiction, isn’t really an addiction drama. It’s a male midlife-crisis comedy in which drinking to excess is less a cause than a symptom of Martin’s funk — and sometimes, yes, a viable solution to it.”

Chang, aware of the film’s provocative examination of intoxication, quotes director Vinterberg, who calls the film’s Pov a “scandalous approach to a serious topic,” and Chang notes that “Round” “not only acknowledges, but also celebrates the life-giving buzz his characters experience with every swig of absinthe or Smirnoff.”

This unorthodox and non-judgmental view of the possible joys of dipsomania doesn’t just run counter to the cultural moment we’re in, but it’s also in stark contrast to the mainstream cinema’s traditionally...

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“Nostalgia, Swashbuckling, And Laughter”

By Raymond Benson

Mel Brooks served as executive producer on this thoroughly delightful picture released in 1982 and directed by actor/director Richard Benjamin. It feels like a Brooks movie (but perhaps not as zany). In fact, My Favorite Year, which was written by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo, from Palumbo’s story, is loosely inspired by Brooks’ days as a writer on Sid Caesar’s early television comedy/variety programs, Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour, in the 1950s.

The year is 1954, New York City, and Benjy Stone (Mark Linn-Baker) is a young comedy writer on “Comedy Cavalcade,” which stars the demanding and difficult-to-work-for King Kaiser (Joseph Bologna). The studio is lucky to snare a guest appearance on the show by the once hugely popular but now fading swashbuckling movie star, Alan Swann (Peter O’Toole). Swann is a notorious alcoholic,...

Bill Macy, the actor who made an indelible imprint on 1970s sitcoms with his portrayal on Norman Lear’s Maude of the loving if always up-for-an-argument Walter Findlay, died last night in Los Angeles. He was 97.

Macy’s death was announced by his producer and manager Matt Beckoff, writing on Facebook “My buddy Bill Macy passed away at 7:13pm tonight. He was a spitfire right up to the end…My condolences to his beautiful wife Samantha Harper Macy.” (See the post below.)

Macy costarred in the 1972-78 All in the Family spin-off series opposite Bea Arthur, who played the outspoken liberal Maude Findlay, a cousin of Family‘s Edith Bunker.

Macy’s post-Maude credits include 1979’s Steve Martin vehicle The Jerk, 1982’s My Favorite Year, Movers & Shakers (1985), Tales from the Darkside (1986), Me, Myself and I (1992), Analyze This (1999), Surviving Christmas (2004), The Holiday (2006), and Mr. Woodcock (2007), among many others.

Numerous TV...

Bill Macy, who played Bea Arthur’s husband Walter Findlay on the “All in the Family” spinoff, “Maude,” died on Thursday. He was 97.

“My buddy Bill Macy passed away at 7:13pm tonight. He was a spitfire right up to the end,” producer and manager Matt Beckoff wrote on Facebook. “My condolences to his beautiful wife Samantha Harper Macy.”

Macy was born in Revere, Mass., and grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. He worked as a taxi driver for a decade before scoring a Broadway gig in 1958 as Walter Matthau’s understudy in “Once More, With Feeling.” In 1966, he played a cab driver on the soap opera “The Edge of Night,” and met his wife, Samantha Harper Macy, on the set of the 1969 Off Broadway play “Oh! Calcutta!”

Sitcom creator Norman Lear saw his comedic skills Off Broadway and brought him to Hollywood, where Macy first earned a small part...

Bill Macy, best known for playing Bea Arthur’s husband Walter Findlay on the 1970s sitcom “Maude,” has died. He was 97.

“My buddy Bill Macy passed away at 7:13 p.m. tonight,” producer and manager Matt Beckoff wrote in a Facebook post Thursday. “He was a spitfire right up to the end. What an honor to book him for Gilbert Gottfried II Frank Santopadre and Dara Kravitz Gottfried podcast. It really was the cherry on top. He Loved being on that show. My condolences to his beautiful wife Samantha Harper Macy.”

Beckoff did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Also Read: Norman Lear Becomes Oldest Emmy Winner at 97

“Maude,” a spinoff of Norman Lear’s “All in the Family” ran for six seasons on CBS from 1972 to 1978. Along with his parts on those two iconic Lear shows, Macy’s other small-screen credits include “Seinfeld,” “St. Elsewhere,” “The Facts of Life,...

Bill Macy, who played the frustrated husband Walter Findlay opposite Bea Arthur on the hit 1970s sitcom Maude, has died. He was 97.

Macy, who also portrayed Sy Benson, the head writer of a 1950s sketch comedy show, in the classic My Favorite Year (1982), died Thursday night in Los Angeles at 7:13 p.m. local time, producer and manager Matt Beckoff told The Hollywood Reporter.

Macy also stood out as the weaselly Charlie Hatter, an old pal of Art Carney's aging detective character, in Robert Benton's The Late Show (1977), and his Stan Fox helped Steve Martin's Navin R. Johnson ...

Bill Macy, who played the frustrated husband Walter Findlay opposite Bea Arthur on the hit 1970s sitcom Maude, has died. He was 97.

Macy, who also portrayed Sy Benson, the head writer of a 1950s sketch comedy show, in the classic My Favorite Year (1982), died Thursday night in Los Angeles, producer and manager Matt Beckoff told The Hollywood Reporter.

Macy also stood out as the weaselly Charlie Hatter, an old pal of Art Carney's aging detective character, in Robert Benton's The Late Show (1977), and his Stan Fox helped Steve Martin's Navin R. Johnson bring the (ultimately flawed) eyeglass invention ...

My Favorite Year

Blu ray

Warner Archive

1982/ 1.85:1 / 92 min.

Starring Peter O’Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Joe Bologna

Directed by Richard Benjamin

Nat King Cole’s shimmering version of Stardust, Rockefeller Plaza surrounded by wide-brimmed hats and two-toned Buicks – the first three minutes of My Favorite Year invoke the past with such ease that Proust might applaud.

Sentimental as they are, the sights and sounds of 1954 foreshadow something more significant in the zeitgeist – the era when television was on the rise and Hollywood’s star system was headed in the opposite direction.

Richard Benjamin’s 1982 comedy opens with the camera gliding by the sleek deco marquee of Radio City Music Hall where Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was the summer showcase – on Broadway the Rivoli was flogging the “right at you” thrills of House of Wax. One film in CinemaScope and four track stereo, the other in 3-D – each designed to lure...

Peter O’Toole in My Favorite Year is available on Blu-ray from Warner Archives

King Kaiser’s Comedy Cavalcade goes on in minutes. But guest star Alan Swann is exiting the building. Fast. “I’m not an actor. I’m a movie star!” he bellows in stark fear. He just found out the show is Live!

Directed by Richard Benjamin and inspired by incidents from comedy legend Mel Brooks’ early career, My Favorite Year is a golden age revisited, a zany, misty-eyed tribute to TV’s early days. Academy Award® winner* Peter O’Toole plays Swann. Once a swashbuckling movie idol whose face was plastered on fan magazines, Swann is now mostly plastered. And it falls to Cavalcade’s rookie writer (Mark Linn-Baker) to keep him on the sober and narrow. Don’t touch that dial.

Mark Linn-Baker makes his debut and Peter O’Toole is a delight in this...

Live Nation, The Araca Group and Ebg (Entertainment Benefits Group) are pleased to announce that iconic Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner Mel Brooks will take the stage on June 17 and 18 as part of the recently announced In Residence on Broadway series at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street).

Blazing Saddles. Young Frankenstein. The Producers. Mel Brooks has created some of the most iconic comedies in film history, and he is returning to the New York stage for an exclusive two-night engagement. The actor, writer, director, and producer stars in a hilarious unscripted show combining off-the-cuff comedy, unbelievable personal stories, and film clips from some of his most memorable work in Mel Brooks On Broadway. Mel Brooks On Broadway will be a very special evening of unforgettable tales and non-stop laughter.

Mel Brooks, director, producer, writer and actor, is in an elite group as one of the few entertainers...

Glenn Close just set a new Oscar record, and not in a good way. With Close’s loss at the 91st Academy Awards for “The Wife,” she now has seven nominations and no wins, more than any other actress in film history. Amy Adams, Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter all have six Oscar misfires, with Adams joining that list during Sunday’s ceremony. As for male actors with the most at-bats without a home run, Close now ties Richard Burton at seven while Peter O’Toole is still in the record books at eight. Click through our photo gallery above for a closer look at Close’s seven Oscar nominations.

See 2019 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 91st Academy Awards [Updating Live]

For her role as Joan Castleman, the repressed wife of a Nobel Prize-winning author (Jonathan Pryce), Close earned her fourth bid for Best Actress. Her co-nominees this...

As we’re now about halfway through the Broadway season, there are currently eight productions of plays set to open this spring. Could we be seeing any of them contend at this year’s Tony Awards? Below, we recap the plot of each play as well as the awards history of its author, cast, creative types, the opening, and (where applicable) closing dates.

“Choir Boy” (opens January 8; closes March 10)

In this new play by Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney, the story centers on the Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys, which for a half a century has been dedicated to the education of strong, ethical black men. One talented student has been waiting for years to take his rightful place as the leader of the school’s legendary gospel choir. But can he make his way through the hallowed halls of this institution if he sings in his own key?...

Jessica Harper has a key role in the Luca Guadagnino-directed “Suspiria,” which opens Nov. 2. It’s a nod to her work in Dario Argento’s 1977 original, just one of the many cult films she’s starred in. The list also includes “Shock Treatment” (the sequel to “Rocky Horror Picture Show”), Brian De Palma’s rock musical “Phantom of the Paradise,” “My Favorite Year” with Peter O’Toole and “Pennies From Heaven” with Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters. Harper’s first professional job came as she joined the Broadway cast of “Hair” in 1969, and her first mention in Variety was Jan. 6, 1971, in a story about NBC’s “Super Plastic Elastic Goggles.” This November, Harper will release “Winnetka,” a 10-episode podcast charting her life from infancy until “Hair.” Harper and her husband, Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman, have two daughters.

What do you remember about “Super Plastic Elastic Goggles”?

I think...

Accidents will happen — but new albums won’t. That seems to have been Elvis Costello’s attitude in recent years, as his once-prolific recording career ground to a deliberate halt in favor of a determined focus on themed tours. But come October 12, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer will return with “Look Now,” his first album of any kind in five years and first with his regular touring band, the Imposters, in a decade.

The unveiling of the 12-song collection’s contents coincides with the digital release of two preview tracks from the set: “Under Lime,” the album’s leadoff track, and “Unwanted Number,” a song he wrote for the 1996 Allison Anders movie “Grace of My Heart” but never committed to record until now. Both tracks are available immediately with pre-orders of “Look Now” or for streaming. “Unwanted Number” additionally has a lyric video (watch it below), for fans...

92nd Street Y's 48th season ofLyrics amp Lyricistscontinues with a close-up and personal look atLynn Ahrens' extraordinary body of work. Ahrens, who will serve as host at each performance, earned the triple crown of Broadway awards Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle, and she received two Grammy nominations for the score ofRagtime.For the animated filmAnastasia, she was nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globes. Ahrens is currently represented on Broadway by two hit shows the revival ofOnce On This Island, for which she wrote both book and lyrics, and the stage adaptation ofAnastasia in a season which also marks the 35th anniversary of her collaboration with composer Stephen Flaherty. Other work on and off Broadway for which Ahrens is celebrated includes the musicalsSeussical,My Favorite Year, Dessa Rose, The Glorious Ones, A Man of No Importanceand more. And Lynn Ahrens' work is embedded in the...