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Ron Thompson, the unheralded actor who starred on Broadway for Charles Gordone in the Pulitzer Prize-winning No Place to Be Somebody and played father and son musicians for Ralph Bakshi in the animated cult classic American Pop, has died. He was 83.

Filmmaker Joe Black told The Hollywood Reporter that he found Thompson in his Van Nuys apartment on Saturday afternoon. The two had worked together in eight features, including Hate Horses (2017), Chicks, Man (2018) and Suffrage (2023), and Black visited him a couple times a week to help him out.

“For a man of his age, he was so full of life, he had such a presence,” Black said. He called Thompson “the Sam Jackson to my Tarantino.”

In 1969, Thompson originated off-Broadway the role of Shanty Mulligan in the Joseph Papp-produced No Place to Be Somebody, starring Ron O’Neal, then accompanied the drama to Broadway and on a tour around the country.

Ron Thompson, a veteran character actor best known for his role in Ralph Bakshi’s rotoscope film American Pop and his 1970s TV series portrayal of Detective Nopke in Baretta, died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 83. No cause was given by his friend Professor Rel Dowdell of Hampton University, who confirmed the death.

Thompson had a brief career as a rock singer in the 1960s and wrote and recorded a number of singles as Ronnie Thompson.

He also originated the role of Shanty Mulligan in the Pulitzer Prize winning play No Place to Be Somebody by Charles Gordone. He also won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his 1973 lead performance in the play Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?

Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1941, Ron, his older brother, and parents moved to Miami, Florida in ’45. Ron began to show talents as a singer/performer at an early age,...

1981: Another World's Cecile announced she had married Jamie.

1987: One Life to Live's Tina went over a waterfall to her "death" in Argentina.

1987: Another World's Donna & Michael married.

2007: Ashley Abbott arrived on The Bold and the Beautiful."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1953: On Love of Life, nine-year-old Ben "Beanie" Harper (Dennis Parnell) and his roommate planned to escape from the boarding school.

1970: On Dark Shadows, Carolyn Stoddard (Nancy Barrett) told Jeb Hawkes (Christopher Pennock) she could not go through with the wedding.

1981: James Reynolds debuted as Abe on Days of our Lives.

1993: Luke & Laura returned to General Hospital, with Lucky!

1996: Guiding Light's Annie vowed to get clean.

2007: Jack Branning arrived in EastEnders' Albert Square."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1965: The Days of our Lives pilot was re-shot with Frances Reid replacing Mary Jackson as Alice Horton.

1965: On Another World, Tony Douglas (Alex Canaan) was unhappy with Alice Matthews' (Jacqueline Courtney) timid attitude about intimacy.

1969: NBC aired the 1,000th episode of Days of our Lives.

1979: On As the World Turns, the...

Irna Phillips was born 116 years ago today. She is pictured

above dictating stories to her assistant, Rose Cooperman."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1901: Legendary soap opera creator Irna Phillips was born in Chicago, the youngest of ten children. She was educated at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois. She took graduate work at the University of Wisconsin. Miss Phillips also had an adopted son and daughter.

1981: Another World's Cecile announced she had married Jamie.

1987: One Life to Live's Tina went over a waterfall to her "death"

in Argentina. 1987: Another World's Donna & Michael married.

2007: Ashley Abbott arrived on The Bold and the Beautiful."Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results."

― Machiavelli

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1953: On Love of Life, nine-year-old Ben "Beanie" Harper (Dennis Parnell) and...

Melrose Place veteran Vanessa Williams has joined the Days of Our Lives TV show cast, on NBC. The actress announced the news on Instagram (see below). She is a re-cast of the Dr. Valerie Grant character, originated by Tina Andrews in 1975, who played the part until 1977. Kitty Lester and the late Lawrence Cook played Valerie's parents, Helen and Paul Grant. Soap Central reports Andrews was not approached to reprise the role.Rose Fonseca assumed the role of Valerie from 1977 to '78. Diane Sommerfield brought the character back to Salem, from 1981 to '82. Per Deadline, Williams' first airdate is slated for October 25, 2016. Since Valerie's former love interest, Abe Carver (James Reynolds), is widowed, unattached, and still living in Salem...

Dr. Valerie Grant is — after a decades-long absence — back in.

NBC’s Days of Our Lives has cast Melrose Place and Soul Food actress Vanessa Williams as Dr. Grant, a role that originated in the 1970s and was controversial at the time, our sister site Deadline reports.

RelatedSusan Lucci: All My Children Creator Agnes Nixon ‘Was All I Hoped to Be’

In the late ’70s, Valerie (then played by Tina Andrews) and David Banning were daytime’s first interracial couple. They planned to marry, though that endeavor went south after he had an affair. Diane Sommerfield later took...

How did we come up with our chart? By tallying the votes of our pop writers – and here's what they plumped for

Tim Jonze

Albums

John Wizards – John Wizards

Disclosure – Settle

Paramore – Paramore

Hebronix – Unreal

Kanye West – Yeezus

Christopher Owens – Lysandre

Julia Holter – Loud City Song

Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

Sky Ferreira – Night Time, My Time

British Sea Power – From The Sea To The Land Beyond

Tracks

Julia Holter – Hello Stranger

Miguel and Mariah Carey – #Beautiful

Drake – Hold On, We're Going Home

Sky Ferreira – You're Not the One

Justin Timberlake – Suit and Tie

Jeffrey Lewis – Wwprd

Paramore – Still Into You

Disclosure feat. AlunaGeorge – White Noise

The 1975 – Chocolate

Stylo G – Soundbwoy

Tom Hughes

Albums

15-60-75 The Numbers Band – Jimmy Bell's Still in Town

Meat Wave – Meat Wave

The Drones – I See Seaweed 4

White Fence – Live in San Francisco

Ooga Boogas – Ooga Boogas

Superchunk – I Hate Music

Bits of...

Haim, Vampire Weekend and The Civil Wars are among the acts that will feature on the soundtrack of the Carrie remake.

Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore star in the fresh adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel of the same name.

The soundtrack - released on October 15 via Columbia Records - includes Haim album track 'Let Me Go' and The Civil Wars cut 'Dust to Dust'.

The Vampire Weekend track 'Diane Young' is included alongside offerings from The Naked & Famous, Krewella and Haerts.

The soundtrack is available to stream here.

Moretz revealed that the film was pushed from a March release date to October in the Us to extend certain scenes and amp up their level of horror.

The 1976 adaptation of the supernatural horror featured Sissy Spacek in the titular role.

Check out the full tracklisting below:

1. Ends of the Earth – Lord Huron

2. College – Rogue Wave

3. Hip Hop Kids – Portugal.

This article was originally posted in February of 2010 but is being reposted here with updates and to tie in to next week’s Wamg Top Ten Tuesday List “The Best of Russ Meyer”.

Mondo Topless (1966) is Russ Meyer’s send up of the swingin’ 60′s, a pseudo-documentary portrait of San Francisco, and most of all, a tribute to Meyer’s favorite subject; naked women! The 61-minute sort-of-documentary is sparse, even by Russ Meyer standards – just a rock soundtrack by The Aladdins accompanied by an overexuberant announcer who provides double entendre narration as stacked women dance about displaying their figures. Mondo Topless, which seems relatively wholesome now, was definitely a product of its time and requires historical perspective (and, despite the name of this column, it Is available on DVD).

With today’s endless cornucopia of internet porn, it’s hard to believe that less than 50 years ago, there was an...

Mondo Topless (1966) is Russ Meyer’s send up of the swingin’ 60’s, a pseudo-documentary portrait of San Francisco, and most of all, a tribute to Meyer’s favorite subject; naked women! The 61-minute sort-of-documentary is sparse, even by Russ Meyer standards – just a rock soundtrack by The Aladdins accompanied by an overexuberant announcer who provides double entendre narration as stacked women dance about displaying their figures. Mondo Topless, which seems relatively wholesome now, was definitely a product of its time and requires historical perspective (and, despite the name of this column, it Is available on DVD).

With today’s endless cornucopia of internet porn, it’s hard to believe that less than 50 years ago, there was an entire industry based on a glimpse at women’s breasts. In the 1950s, when healthy male movie fans wanted to see females naked on-screen, their only choice were ‘nudist camp movies’ – a genre...