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Mel Novak, the great movie villain known for his slick turns as the sniper Stick in Bruce Lee’s Game of Death, the gangster Blue Eyes in Jim Kelly’s Black Belt Jones and the informant Tony Montoya in Chuck Norris’ An Eye for an Eye, has died. He was 90.

Novak died Wednesday of natural causes at a hospice facility in Granada Hills, his daughter Nikol Conant told The Hollywood Reporter.

In a career that spanned seven decades, the charismatic Novak did lots of his own stunts, as in The Ultimate Warrior (1975), starring Yul Brynner and Max von Sydow. That was one of the four films he made with Enter the Dragon director Robert Clouse.

In his death scene for that post-apocalyptic adventure, “They covered me with peanut butter and sunflower seeds and then put 40 live rats on me,” Novak recalled in a 2018 interview. “I told their trainer, ‘If one of them bites me,...

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By Dana Schoel

The best place to start when telling how I came to write a screenplay about Steve McQueen is somewhere in the middle, around the time Netflix came knocking and asked me to develop a project about the King of Cool. To be precise, Netflix held a pitch session in 2018, in Montreal, where I live. Members of the Writer’s Guild of Canada (experienced screenwriters) were invited to a swanky hotel, where we went one-by-one into different rooms to meet the heads of various departments at Netflix. I met with the head of Independent Film Acquisition. My project was about a young Steve McQueen —a coming of age story, which ends before he gets into acting; lots of amazing things happened to him before he became a star, and in my view, those formative years were the most interesting and dramatic.

Mel Novak is an action star who is best known for his performance as Stick the Assassin in Bruce Lee’s final film Game of Death (1978). Having starred in more than 60 feature films, he has given no indication that he is slowing down and following on for the success of Syndicate Smasher (2017) Mel has several new projects which are due for release soon. I got a chance to ask Mel as few questions about how he got into acting, doing his own fight scenes, stunts and whether there are any characters he like an opportunity to portray on screen again…

How did you first get into acting originally?

I had initially acted in some plays in school and a couple in local theatres. In La, I got a job with an insurance company as a bodily injury claims adjuster. It was there that I met a gal that set up...

Later this month, my father will be in La, and Toshi is already asking me what movie he's going to get to watch with Grandaddy this time. As we covered in an earlier Film Nerd 2.0, my dad shared some John Wayne films with Toshi and Allen during a vacation to Big Bear a few years ago, and they both connect John Wayne to my father now, exactly the same way I did when I was their age. Today, my father turns 76 years old, and one of the things that I love about our relationship was the way he defined certain icons of cool for me because I saw what they meant to him. Steve McQueen, for example. I can't think of McQueen without thinking of my dad. On more than one occasion, I was able to get him to stop cold in his tracks simply by flipping past a cable...

Richard Farnsworth in David Lynch's The Straight Story Jeff Bridges, Ellen Burstyn, Albert Finney, Julie Walters: Oscar Veterans 2000 Richard Farnsworth Richard Farnsworth was nominated as Best Actor for David Lynch's drama The Straight Story. Farnsworth had previously received a Best Supporting Actor nod for Alan J. Pakula's Comes a Horseman (1978), in which he was featured opposite Jane Fonda and James Caan. Among Farnsworth's other credits are William Wiard's Tom Horn (1980), Phillip Borsos' The Grey Fox (1982), and Rob Reiner's Misery (1990). The former stuntman was 79 when the 1999 nominations were announced in early 2000. He killed himself that same year after discovering he was terminally ill with cancer.

John Wayne's Ringo Kid and Alan Ladd's Shane have landed top spots in a new poll of the greatest movie cowboys.

The two movie icons' western heroes in the films Stagecoach and Shane, respectively, feature in Cowboys & Indians magazine's list of the 15 most beloved film characters.

Also making the grade: Gary Cooper's Will Kane from High Noon; Steve McQueen's Tom Horn; Marlon Brando's Rio from One Eyed Jacks, and Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday from Tombstone.

Legendary movie cowboy Wayne makes the list twice - he's also honoured for his role of Tom Doniphon in 1962 film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Photo exhibitions, film screenings and the publication of a new book will mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Steve McQueen.

The Hollywood icon died at the age of 50 on November 7, 1980, following surgery to remove tumours caused by the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

His widow Barbara McQueen is coming to the UK with his official biographer Marshall Terrill to launch the book, Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool, at a series of promotional events which will include film screenings and exhibitions.

Written by Terrill, with a foreword by Barbara, the book tells the actor's story through memories from his family, friends, co-stars, business associates, acquaintances and fans.

Published on November 1, it also details the star's battle against mesothelioma. His doctor and specialist nurse give their personal accounts of Steve's illness and how he fought hard until the end.

Barbara McQueen and Marshall Terrill will attend a...

This might be the last day in Amazon's DVD/Blu-ray Gold Box week. Today they are actually offering three different DVD box sets for 58% off in the Gold Box Deal of the Day. Martin Scorsese Collection (After Hours/Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore/Goodfellas/Mean Streets/Who's That Knocking At My Door?) for $25.49 ($60msrp) The Complete James Dean Collection (East of Eden / Giant / Rebel Without a Cause Special Edition) for $28.99 ($69msrp) The Essential Steve McQueen Collection (Bullitt Two-Disc Special Edition / The Getaway Deluxe Edition / The Cincinnati Kid / Papillon / Tom Horn / Never So Few) for $28.99 ($69msrp) As with all the gold box deals, this deal vanishes at midnight Saturday night.

Dear Lee;

The copies of Cinema Retro arrived. You did a beautiful layout and Raymond Benson wrote a magnificent and compelling article. The photos and words match perfectly. I read the article out loud to my wife Holly and she said, "Raymond captured your whole life." I am deeply grateful to be in your splendid film magazine. I feel very moved. What an honor to be in Cinema Retro!

With gratitude & respect,

Harry Northup 

Retro Responds: Harry, it is we who are honored. We've admired your performances for many years and appreciate you sharing your insights on working with heavyweights such as Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme and Steve McQueen.Keep up the great work -we're sure the best is yet to come.

(Acclaimed actor and poet Harry Northup is interviewed in issue #14 of Cinema Retro. He shares fascinating insights about co-starring in such films as Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and Tom Horn.

Hundreds of personal possessions belonging to the late actor Steve McQueen will be auctioned off this November, 26 years after his death. The legendary star of classics such as The Great Escape, Bullitt and The Getaway died of lung disease in 1980, age 50. The items being sold include three of his motorbikes, a Wurlitzer jukebox, a pair of leather chaps and 14 guns including a Winchester rifle used in his penultimate film Tom Horn. Also up for auction at Bonhams & Butterfields in Los Angeles on 11 November is a truck with the license plate McQ3188 - McQueen's number during the time spent as a youth at a reform school in Chino, California. The items are being sold by his third wife, Barbara McQueen Brunsvold, and have never been exhibited before. She says, "For over 25 years I have held on to the many items that Steve collected. I know there is a public who would love to own a piece of his collection."...