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Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling, spine #1247, is now available on 4K in the Criterion Collection.

Known for his edgy stand-up comedy and his over-the-top film performances in movies like Stir Crazy, Superman III and See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Richard Pryor took on his most daring and personal work with the semi-autobiographic Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling. Mixing comedy and drama, Pryor wrote, produced, directed and starred in the story that held a mirror to his life, highlighting his struggles with addiction and his womanizing lifestyle.

Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling plot

Following a near-death experience, successful comedian Jo Jo Dancer has an out-of-body experience that allows his to watch and experience the highs and lows of his life. From childhood to fame, Jo Jo watches, helpless to intervene as he makes poor choice after poor choice.

The review

Pryor’s directorial debut...

Gwen Van Dam, a veteran character actress of seven decades whose 140 credits spanned television, film and the Los Angeles stage, died Dec. 19 at her home in West LA. She was 96.

Per previous reporting attributed to her son Dirk Smillie, the cause of death was a recurrence of cancer.

Throughout her long-tenured career, Van Dam appeared in 1978’s Halloween with Jamie Lee Curtis, 1994’s Star Trek Generations with Patrick Stewart, the romantic war drama Coming Home featuring Jane Fonda and Jon Voight and the Sidney Poitier-helmed Gene Wilder pic Stir Crazy.

Among her television credits are illustrious series like Days of Our Lives, Gilmore Girls, Knots Landing, ER, Moonlighting, The Brady Bunch, Maude, Owen Marshall, New Girl, Modern Family and Criminal Minds.

On the music video side of things, she appeared in visual works for U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Panic! At the Disco and heavy metal band Mastodon.

Gwen Van Dam, a prolific character actress who appeared in TV and film, has died. She was 96.

Van Dam’s death was confirmed by her son, Dirk Smillie, who told our sister site The Hollywood Reporter that she died in her West Los Angeles home on Dec. 19, after a recurrence of cancer.

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Starting off her decades-long career in the 1950s, Van...

Gwen Van Dam, whose 70-year career as a character actress for film, television and the stage included turns in True Confessions, Halloween, Coming Home, Stir Crazy and The Trip to Bountiful, has died. She was 96.

Van Dam, who compiled about 140 acting credits on IMDb, died Dec. 19 at her home in West Los Angeles after a recurrence of cancer, her son, Dirk Smillie, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Van Dam remained a busy actress until the end, appearing on the first five episodes of Prime Video’s Homecoming in 2018, on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie in 2019 and on two installments of Hulu’s Interior Chinatown last year. She recently finished a play, too.

Her TV résumé included The Brady Bunch, Mannix, Maude, House Calls, Days of Our Lives, Moonlighting, 227, Knots Landing, Star Trek: Generations, ER, Gilmore Girls, Charmed, New Girl, Criminal Minds, Angie Tribeca and Modern Family.

Meanwhile, she spent the...

Peter Yates' "Bullitt" is one of the most stylish cop flicks ever made. Those multi-screen opening credits designed by the great Pablo Ferro, that jazzily urbane Lalo Schifren score, those wildly cool outfits donned by Steve McQueen at the height of his laconic sexiness (some inspired by the suits sported by real life detective Dave Toschi) –- it's a stone groove punctuated by spasms of violence and, of course, a raucous car chase through the hilly streets of San Francisco. It's so ineffably pleasurable, you don't mind that the narrative is a sketchily plotted afterthought. Who needs an intricately structured story when you're watching, as Quentin Tarantino wrote in his book "Cinema Speculation," "one of the best directed movies ever made?"

You throw on "Bullitt" for the 1968-ness of it all (it's the apolitical flip-side of the coin to Haskell Wexler's roiling docudrama "Medium Cool"), as well as the...

Recently, I wrote an article about movies that were surprisingly hard to find on streaming or Blu-ray, and one of the movies I mentioned was a little-remembered 1988 thriller called Shoot to Kill (aka Deadly Pursuit in the UK). The film was a decent box office hit in its day, but outside of a DVD release many years ago, it has sunk into obscurity.

This is a shame, as Shoot to Kill is a nifty little movie. After a few comments praised the film, I decided to revisit it for myself, as I honestly hadn’t seen it since the nineties and had no idea if it would hold up. To my surprise, not only did it hold up, but Shoot to Kill is a bit of a lost 80s action classic.

The film stars Sidney Poitier as a veteran FBI agent investigating a strange robbery where the owner of a...

Conan O’Brien was blown away by Gene Wilder's chemistry with Richard Pryor in movie comedies like Silver Streak and Stir Crazy. Did Wilder feel it too? Boy, did he. “I don’t want to be shocking,” Wilder told Conan in 2005, “but it’s a little bit like a sexual chemistry.”

“Look, it’s true,” Wilder argued after the audience’s amused reaction. “You see someone and you say, ‘I really am attracted to that woman, right?’ And someone says, ‘But why her? That girl is much prettier. She’s taller, she’s shorter, she’s fatter, she’s slimmer. Why that one?’ I don’t know.”

Pryor, in other words, was the right one for Wilder. “When Richard and I did our first scene, some magic happened. What they call chemistry,” Wilder explained. “He improvised. I used to improvise in class but not in front of the movie camera.

Wilder and Pryor's comedic chemistry in films like Silver Streak and Stir Crazy was unmatched in American cinema history. Despite societal boundaries, Wilder and Pryor broke barriers as a rare black and white comedy duo in the film industry. The disappointing end of their partnership in Another You highlighted the struggles faced due to Richard Pryor's deteriorating health.

The screen duo of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor was one of the greatest pairings of comedians American cinema had ever seen, and together, the two made four feature films between 1976 and 1991. With an innate understanding of one anothers comedic sensibilities, whenever Wilder and Pryor shared a scene together, hilarity was almost a certainty, as they could expertly adlib and always get the best out of one another. While both performers had acclaimed careers as individuals, they accomplished some of their best work together.

Of course, Wilder was known for...

I rarely have the opportunity to call any actor sweet, but I think that term certainly applies to the beloved Gene Wilder, who passed away in 2016. It’s remarkable how a gentle man like Wilder survived and prospered in the cut-throat world of film acting but survive he did in an esteemed film career that lasted nearly four decades.

Wilder was one of those rare actors nominated at the Academy Awards for both acting (Best Supporting Actor for 1967’s “The Producers”) and writing. Wilder was also nominated for two Best Actor Golden Globe Awards (for 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and 1976’s “Silver Streak”) and won an Emmy in his final on-screen work in 2003 for his guest performance on “Will and Grace.”

So let’s raise a glass of something wild to toast and remember the great Wilder. Tour our photo gallery featuring his 12 greatest film performances, ranked worst to best.

The St. Louis Jewish Film Festival has begun is 29th season and hosted a special opening night celebration on Sunday, April 7 at B&b Theater in Creve Coeur.

“On October 7, 2023, Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack caused the evacuation and cessation of all activities at Sapir College in Sderot, Israel—home to its premier film program. Sapir students were just weeks away from presenting their final film projects at the annual film festival at Cinema South. In solidarity with Israel, and to specifically draw attention to the Israeli filmmakers coming out of Sapir College, the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival featured five students’ films. Attached to each one is a one-of-a-kind story about the directors, actors, and other individuals who participated in the making of the film whose lives have been turned upside down in the days since October 7, 2023. With Israel fighting for its very existence, these films can be viewed...

Plot: The life and career of Gene Wilder are remembered by his friends and colleagues.

Review: Gene Wilder was a one-of-a-kind talent. While it seems like he’s mostly remembered these days for playing Willy Wonka (with his performance inspiring Timothee Chalamet’s recent take), there was a lot more to him than just that one film. For one thing, his cinematic partnership with Mel Brooks resulted in three all-time classics: The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. Plus, he and Richard Pryor made an iconic mismatched duo in a slew of films (some better than others), while Wilder directed several highly successful films on his own.

In this loving tribute to the late icon, director Ron Frank pulls back the curtain to dip into both Wilder’s creative process and sometimes tragic life. Pulling from an audiobook he recorded of his memoirs, the film is distinguished because Wilder himself tells much of the story.

Comedy actor and writer Gene Wilder is to be celebrated in documentary Remembering Gene Wilder, and here’s the trailer.

To several generations, Gene Wilder will forever be known as the definitive screen version of Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka in 1971 film Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. To others, he might be best known for his frequent collaborations with comedian Richard Pryor in films like Silver Streak, Stir Crazy, See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Another You.

Going on to forge a career as a writer and director, one of the most underrated comedies of the 1970s, and one that is well worth tracking down if you haven’t had the pleasure, is The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes’ Younger Brother. Wilder’s 1975 directorial debut saw the actor star alongside the powerhouse pairing of Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldmen, both of whom he worked with in Young Frankenstein, the...

Mickey Gilbert, the fearless stunt performer who jumped off a cliff for Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and doubled for Gene Wilder in films including Blazing Saddles, Silver Streak and The Frisco Kid, has died. He was 87.

Gilbert died Monday of natural causes at his home in Camarillo, California, his oldest son, Tim Gilbert, also a stunt performer, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Early in his career, Gilbert was a horse wrangler in William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959) and a bank robber in Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969). Years later, he took the lumps for Lee Majors’ Colt Seavers on the 1981-86 ABC action show The Fall Guy.

Though they weren’t friends at the time, Gilbert and Redford were in the same class at Van Nuys High School, graduating in 1954. They got together on George Roy Hill’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) when Redford...

Gene Wilder, an influential comedic actor, collaborated with Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor in several films, showcasing his outrageous antics and larger-than-life performances. Wilder's memorable scenes in films like "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex" and his iconic portrayal of Willy Wonka in "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory" solidified his place in comedy history. "Young Frankenstein" stands as Wilder's best film and a collaborative masterpiece between him and Mel Brooks, showcasing their comedic genius and visually impressive storytelling.

Gene Wilder was an extremely influential and one-of-a-kind comedic actor who appeared in a number of classic films in the 20th century. Wilder, whose real name was Jerome Silberman, became a frequent collaborator of legendary comedic writer/director Mel Brooks, starring in three of his films in 1967 and 1974. Wilder also appeared onscreen frequently with the pronounced comedian Richard Pryor, co-starring alongside him in four individual films between 1976 and 1991. Wilder...

Comedy duos have a long history in entertainment, with vaudeville theater being the birthplace of this comedic dynamic. Some duos work by highlighting the differences between the two actors, while others back each other up in increasingly bizarre situations. The most classic form of a comedy duo involves a "straight man" who feeds lines to the "funny man," but there are plenty of hilarious ways to break away from this framework.

Comedy movies have a long history of creating entertaining duos, and sometimes great chemistry can lead to long-running relationships. So many comedies thrive on the juxtaposition between two central characters, whether they're best friends with a shared sense of humor or bitter enemies forced to spend time together. The comedic duo has its roots in vaudeville theater, where the interplay between two performers was a natural way to provide a set-up and a punchline. Comedy duos on TV and...

Though not a setting often associated with the realm of comedy, there have been dozens of hilarious movies throughout the years that have taken place within the walls of a prison. Many likely spring to mind. And while Down by Law (1986) wasn't one of them, the film at hand in terms of sheer hilarity outshines those that may have. Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, this is the funniest prison movie ever made regardless of popularity and critical acclaim.

And although Down by Law by no means made waves at the worldwide box office, it was well-received upon release by critics and audiences alike. Marking the third feature film of the aforementioned American auteur following Stranger Than Paradise (1980) and Permanent Vacation (1984), this was by far his funniest film to that point. One could argue it remains the most uproarious Jarmusch film even four decades later. And despite its many competitors,...

Nicolas Coster, the actor known for his roles on “Santa Barbara,” “The Bay” and “All the President’s Men,” has died. He was 89.

Coster died on June 26 in a hospital in Florida, according to his daughter Dinneen Coster.

Dinneen shared the news of her father’s death on Facebook. “Please remember him as a great artist. He was an actor’s actor!” she wrote. “I will always be inspired by him and know how lucky I am to have such a great father!!”

From 1984 to 1993, Coster starred on NBC’s soap opera “Santa Barbara” as Lionel Lockridge. He appeared in just under 600 episodes of the series before it ended. His “Santa Barbara” co-star A Martinez, who played Cruz Castillo in the series, responded on Tuesday to the news of Coster’s death, writing on Facebook, “It was an honor to work in a company with him, and I’ll always hold...

Nicolas Coster, the soap opera stalwart who starred on Another World, Santa Barbara and All My Children and appeared in such films as All the President’s Men, Reds and Stir Crazy, has died. He was 89.

Coster died Monday in a hospital in Florida, his daughter Dinneen Coster announced on Facebook.

“Please remember him as a great artist,” she wrote. “He was an actor’s actor! I will always be inspired by him and know how lucky I am to have such a great father!!

A familiar character actor who often portrayed officious types, Coster played chief of detectives J.E. Carson on The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo and later recurred as the millionaire father of Lisa Whelchel’s Blair Warner on another 1980’s NBC sitcom, The Facts of Life.

He appeared often on Broadway, and in his 1961 debut, he understudied for Lawrence Olivier as Henry II in Becket. Two decades later,...

The cliche holds that when a movie star attains a certain degree of success, they get bored or convinced of their own brilliance and say, "What I'd really like to do is direct."

Name a big-screen megastar from the last 75 years of filmmaking, and it's likely they followed through on this impulse. Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Jack Nicholson, Kevin Costner, Denzel Washington... these men didn't become icons the world over because they lacked ambition. Once they racked up a few box office hits and maybe an Academy Award nomination or two, they surveyed the Hollywood landscape and saw many more worlds to conquer. Sometimes it goes poorly (Nicholson's "The Two Jakes"), sometimes it's a draw, and sometimes it's an Oscar jackpot (Redford's "Ordinary People" and Costner's "Dances with Wolves").

For Eddie Murphy, if we're going strictly by the finished product, his one and only directorial effort...

The Gotham Film & Media Institute has set the late actor, filmmaker and activist Sidney Poitier for the Icon Trbute at the 32nd annual Gotham Awards, taking place live and in person at NYC’s Cipriani Wall Street on November 28.

The Icon Tribute was conceived by the Gotham Awards Advisory Committee in 2021 to call attention to the boldness, artistry and impact of a filmmaker from a historically excluded community whose work has not been previously recognized by the organization. Playwright and filmmaker Kathleen Collins last year became its inaugural recipient.

Related Story Harry Belafonte, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry Join In Tributes To Sidney Poitier – Update Related Story Gotham Awards To Honor Gina Prince-Bythewood, Audible's Don Katz With Tributes Related Story Focus Features' Peter Kujawski & Jason Cassidy Set For Industry Tribute At 2022 Gotham Awards

The Gotham’s posthumous recognition of Poitier comes following the Toronto Film Festival premiere and September release of Sidney,...

The ‘love letter to the movies’ genre is revived in this poignant, wonderfully acted drama about love, life and films

The “love letter to the movies” is a tricky genre, teetering on maudlin industry indulgence; my own rule is that any film, on any subject, if it is any good, is already a love letter to the movies. The template tends to be melancholy and bittersweet, a ruin-porn lament for nearly empty theatres and nearly lost youth. Maybe in the future there will be films that are love letters to streaming: sad films showing people watching TV screens that are blank except for the single title card declaring that the streamer has gone broke due to unsustainable debt … before thoughtfully wondering what is on at the cinema.

But Sam Mendes, making his first solo outing as a writer as well as director, has taken the style and substance of this...

Click here to read the full article.

With only his second produced screenplay, after 1917, Sam Mendes delves into the territory of his formative years and a mood of nostalgia. The story he tells in Empire of Light isn’t strictly autobiographical, but it draws upon the music and movies and political climate that informed his coming-of-age — the movies especially. It’s not cinema with a capital “C” that Mendes is celebrating, but the kinds of popular features that shape memories and are indelibly associated with life passages. A valentine to celluloid that doesn’t entirely avoid self-consciousness, it’s a handsome film set mainly in a vintage gem of a movie palace on England’s southeastern coast. In the role of the troubled, dazzlingly resilient, poetry-loving manager of the theater, Olivia Colman delivers a stirring performance and some of her most affecting screen work to date.

As the story opens,...

You know him as Willy Wonka, the Waco Kid, a Frankenstein heir, and perhaps Skip Donahue. Whatever the role, Gene Wilder had a knack for burrowing into the hearts of audiences all over the world. Over several decades, the Milwaukee-born multi-hyphenate endeared scores of fans to his work in now-classic films like "The Producers," "Silver Streak," "Young Frankenstein," and "Blazing Saddles," each time lighting up the screen with natural absurdity and poignant emotional warmth.

Wilder's longtime collaboration with Mel Brooks began with the filmmaker's directorial debut, the 1967 comedy "The Producers," wherein Wilder plays neurotic accountant Leo Bloom and earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance. His most iconic role, as eccentric candyman Willy Wonka, came in 1971, just a few years before teaming up with Brooks again for his 1974 comedy-western "Blazing Saddles," filling the role of the boozy Waco Kid.

It was during the final weeks of shooting...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Sidney Poitier holding his best actor Oscar, won for his role in Lilies of the Field (1963). The singular actor, director, and civil rights activist Sidney Poitier died last Thursday. An immigrant from the Bahamas who rose to prominence through the American Negro Theatre, then Broadway, Poitier entered Hollywood when few complex roles for Black actors were available. He became the first Black man to win the best actor Oscar in 1963 for Lillies of the Field, but also frequently received criticism for playing roles perceived as overly chaste and stately. Poitier persisted nonetheless, and later directed his own films, such as Buck and the Preacher (1972), starring his friend Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee, and the Gene Wilder-Richard Pryor prison break comedy Stir Crazy (1980). The prolific critic, programmer, and filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich also died on Thursday.

Chicago – With the passing of actor Sidney Poitier at the age of 94 on January 6th, 2022, another lion of the cinema – who represented succinctly an era of the movies – has left the mortal coil. HollywoodChicago.com presents the following appreciation through three film essays in retrospect by Patrick McDonald, Spike Walters and Jon Lennon Espino.

Although Poitier represented American blacks in his early career, often cast as the dignified presence among the bigotry floating around him, his early life was in the Bahamas. He moved to Miami at age 15 (he was born in Miami while his Bahamian parents sold produce there) and after serving in the Army during World War II, he joined the American Negro Theater in New York City.

Poster Art: ‘Lilies of the Field’ (1963), Featuring Oscar Best Actor Sidney Poitier

Photo credit: HBO Max (VOD)

After working in theater, he made his major film debut in 1950 with the incendiary “No Way Out.

“Sidney Poitier was the epitome of Black Dignity, Black beauty, Black pride and Black power” by “N.Y. Times” Charles M. Blow Sidney Poitier family issues statement on his death: “he is our guiding light.” “Sidney L. Poitier Kbe, February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022, R.I.P. Sidney Poitier was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and ambassador. In 1964, he was the first black person and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two Academy Award nominations, ten Golden Globes nominations, two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, six BAFTA nominations, eight Laurel nominations, and one Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) nomination. Poitier’s entire family lived in the Bahamas, then still a British colony, but he was born unexpectedly in Miami while they were visiting for the weekend, which automatically granted him U.S. citizenship. He grew up in the Bahamas, but moved to Miami at age 15, and to...

Hollywood and the nation are mourning a Hollywood pioneer today. Click on the photo above to launch a photo gallery on the career of Oscar winner Sidney Poitier, who has died at 94.

His 60-year résumé is filled with groundbreaking roles in singular movies. He played the Philadelphia homicide detective Virgil Tibbs investigating a murder in a Deep South town (In the Heat of the Night and its sequel), the doctor who gets engaged to a white woman and deals with uncertainly from both sets of parents and a convict chained to a white fellow escapee (Tony Curtis) in The Defiant Ones.

Poitier was the first Black person to win an lead-acting Oscar (Lilies of the Field), the first whose character shared an onscreen interracial kiss in a major movie and the first whose character physically struck a white co-star onscreen.

Sidney Poitier, the noble leading man whose work in such films as No Way Out, Lilies of the Field and In the Heat of the Night paved the way for minority actors and actresses everywhere, has died. He was 94.

Poitier died Thursday night at his home in Beverly Hills, a rep for his family told The Hollywood Reporter.

Poitier was the first Black man to win an Academy Award for best actor when he was acknowledged for his portrayal of a good-hearted handyman for Arizona nuns in Lilies of the Field (1963).

He received an earlier best actor nomination for his turn as a convict on the run in The Defiant Ones (1958).

In 2002, he received an honorary Oscar from the Academy “for his extraordinary performances and unique presence on the screen and for representing the motion picture industry with dignity, style and intelligence throughout the world.”

Poitier was the first actor...

Sidney Poitier, the trailblazing and iconic Black actor, director, civil rights activist and humanitarian, has died, the Bahamian Minister of Foreign Affairs announced Friday.

Details of his death were not immediately available.

The first Black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor — for 1964’s Lilies of the Field — Poitier was towering figure in Hollywood and beyond, starring in such classics as A Raisin in the Sun, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night and To Sir With Love, to name a select few, while taking on a global profile for his unceasing calls for civil rights, racial equality and human dignity.

Offscreen, Poitier’s work and support for civil rights in the 1960s put him at the forefront of the movement and made him one of its most prominent public faces. He attended, along with his lifelong friend Harry Belafonte, the 1963 March on Washington,...

Many modern films embrace 1980s nostalgia, but few embody the lo-fi aesthetic like Forgotten Trash. The shot-on-video sci-fi horror movie is available for digital download from Retro Video Pictures. Here’s the trailer:

A recent film school graduate stumbles across an alien in the woods who convinces him to help with an intergalactic television show. Little does he know that the extraterrestrial entertainment involves traveling from planet to planet and killing the inhabitants.

Forgotten Trash is written and directed by Brandon Espana, whose passion for filmmaking bleeds into the storyline along with social commentary regarding media consumption. Connor McDonald and Steve Kasan star.

Rather than adding digital effects, Espana shot the movie on a MiniDV camcorder then transferred it to VHS to capture the grainy visuals. It plays like a genuine relic rather than a pastiche of tongue-in-cheek nostalgia. “I wasn’t trying to make something self-referential,” Espana explains. “It...

Alvin Ing, the Honolulu native who starred on Broadway in a revival of Flower Drum Song and appeared in two editions of Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures, has died. He was 89.

Ing died Saturday of cardiac arrest amid a battle with Covid-19 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, a publicist announced. Though he had been fully vaccinated, he had been diagnosed with the virus two weeks earlier.

Ing also appeared in such films as The Final Countdown (1980), Stir Crazy (1980), Troop Beverly Hills (1989), Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997) and The Gambler (2014).

On television, he had recurring roles on The Doctors and Falcon Crest and ...

Alvin Ing, the Honolulu native who starred on Broadway in a revival of Flower Drum Song and appeared in two editions of Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures, has died. He was 89.

Ing died Saturday of cardiac arrest amid a battle with Covid-19 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, a publicist announced. Though he had been fully vaccinated, he had been diagnosed with the virus two weeks earlier.

Ing also appeared in such films as The Final Countdown (1980), Stir Crazy (1980), Troop Beverly Hills (1989), Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997) and The Gambler (2014).

On television, he had recurring roles on The Doctors and Falcon Crest and ...

Alvin Ing, a pioneering Asian American Broadway actor who appeared in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Flower Drum Song” and Stephen Sondheim’s “Pacific Overtures,” died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif. on July 31. He was 89.

Ing’s representatives said that the fully-vaccinated actor was diagnosed with pneumonia in mid-July and then contracted Covid-19 a few days later. After battling the illness for two weeks, Ing died due to cardiac arrest.

Born in Honolulu, Ing studied music at the University of Hawaii before moving to New York at age 25 to pursue an acting career. He landed various roles in Off Broadway shows and touring productions before making his Broadway debut in the 1976 original production of Sondheim’s “Pacific Overtures.” He reprised the performance almost 30 years later, when the musical was revived on Broadway in 2004. Ing also starred in the 2002 revival of “Flower Drum Song,” in which he performed the song “My Best Love.

Alvin Ing, a pioneering Asian American actor who appeared on Broadway in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song and Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures and whose guest roles on numerous television series stretched from the 1970s until very recently, died July 31 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, of Covid-19 complications. He was 89.

Ing’s death was previously confirmed by his representation, Shushu Entertainment, but today his reps disclosed that the fully-vaccinated Ing was first diagnosed with pneumonia in mid-July and then confirmed to have Covid-19 a few days later. After two weeks of battling the illness, he died due to cardiac arrest, they said.

“Honolulu native and American Army veteran with a gift to serve, he felt a duty to himself and his fellow citizens to be fully vaccinated,” said spokesperson Shaina Manlangit in a statement approved by Shushu.

Deaths and hospitalizations from breakthrough Covid are considered to be extremely rare.

With bounty hunter Din Djarin usually hidden beneath his beskar helmet, The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal mostly just uses his voice to portray his character on the hit Star Wars show. Because of that, fan encounters can be a bit awkward, especially with little kids who don’t recognize him, as the actor has admitted the tone of the voice he uses to play Mando isn’t really appropriate for some occasions.

Pascal spoke with Josh Horowitz for Comedy Central’s Stir Crazy series and admitted that he “feels bad” when Star Wars-loving children meet him on the street and are completely unimpressed by their TV hero in the flesh. Without his character’s armor or Baby Yoda by his side, they don’t believe that Pascal is the real deal. And he can’t even do his Mando voice to convince them as he says it’s kind of “like a bedroom voice.

The ‘Best Chris’ debate, as if you don’t know, is a ceaseless online discussion over which of the four Hollywood Chrises – Evans, Hemsworth, Pratt and Pine – is the greatest and why. Now, it seems the latter of these is feeling the pressure to raise his prominence in the rankings.

Pine, best known for his turns as Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984 and Captain Kirk in the Kelvin Timeline Star Trek movies, is typically something of an outlier in the arguments as he’s the only one to not feature in the McU and thus regularly share screen time with the others.

While speaking to Comedy Central interview series Stir Crazy about the issue, he had this to say:

“I feel like I’m the underdog right now so I’ll take all the support I can get… Those damn Chrises man, I just, it’s either...

It has already been fifteen years since the world lost the wonderfully talented actor and comedian, Richard Pryor. He leaves behind plenty of albums with his comedy, and several beloved films, many of which he starred with Gene Wilder. Audiences can watch him again and again in classics like Stir Crazy, Moving, and Superman 3. 

Related: The Crown: Princess Diana's 10 Best Quotes 

However, those are not the only things he left behind for audiences to cherish. Pryor had plenty of things to say about a lot of subjects, including life itself. He had ample amounts of wisdom to share alongside his comedy.

'Fast and Furious' stars Dwayne Johnson and Tyrese Gibson's years-long feud has finally come to an end.

The notorious beef between the two 'Fast and Furious' actors dates back to 2017 when it was reported that Johnson had plans to make a spin-off movie based on his character from the franchise.

The actor and singer, 41, who joined the franchise as Roman Pearce in 2003's '2 Fast 2 Furious', reportedly expressed his disgust at Dwayne Johnson's 'Hobbs and Shaw' and blamed the spin-off movie for pushing off 'Fast and Furious 9' which has reportedly been delayed several times.

The 2011's 'Fast Five' marked the former WWE superstar's first outing as Luke Hobbs which led to the eventual spinoff that centered on him and Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw.

Tyrese Gibson voiced his displeasure on 2019's 'Hobbs and Shaw' in several Instagram posts and even...

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Getty / Alberto E. Rodriguez

Finally, some good news: Dwayne Johnson and Tyrese's Fast & Furious feud has officially come to an end. During an appearance on Monday's Stir Crazy With Josh Horowitz, Tyrese confirmed that he and The Rock are back on good terms after they connected a few weeks ago. "Me and The Rock peaced up, by the way," the 41-year-old actor and singer revealed. "We talked for four hours about three weeks ago. . . . It was great. What's interesting about The Fast and the Furious is it's not about any of us individually. We're like the Un at this point."

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Tyrese and Johnson's feud dates all the way back to 2017, when the Hobbs & Shaw spinoff was first announced and it pushed back the release of Fast & Furious 9. Almost immediately after the news broke, Tyrese...

It’s a Christmas miracle everyone! It looks like one of the most infamous feuds in Hollywood, the one between Tyrese and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has finally been put to rest. Tyrese said as much in a recent interview with Josh Horowitz on Comedy Central’s Stir Crazy. “Me and The Rock peaced up by the way,” Tyrese revealed.…...

WandaVision star Paul Bettany recently provided an answer for a Nsfw question about Vision's anatomy. Bettany is currently out promoting the upcoming Disney+ series, which will officially debut early next year. Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are still trying to crack the code behind the show that utilizes classic sitcoms from throughout the decades to tell its story. As usual, Marvel Studios is keeping all of the important details under wraps, while letting the fans create speculation and hype all on their own.

Paul Bettany appeared on Comedy Central's Stir Crazy and was asked about Vision's anatomy and whether or not McU fans will see any nudity when WandaVision premieres. "There is no nudity, so to speak... I think people can answer these questions for themselves," said Bettany. The actor then jokingly added, "Vision can change his density, so, there's that." When Bettany was asked what color Vision's anatomy is,...

Larry Rosen, an Emmy-nominated producer who worked on programs including The Partridge Family and The Mike Douglas Show, died Sept. 14 in Los Angeles of complications from pancreatic cancer, his family announced. He was 84.

Working with Larry Tucker, the onetime writing partner of Paul Mazursky, Rosen also created the short-lived sitcoms Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, an adaptation of the 1969 movie; Mr. Merlin, starring Barnard Hughes as the legendary wizard living in present-day San Francisco; Jennifer Slept Here, with Ann Jillian playing a screen legend who returns as a ghost; and Stir Crazy, featuring Larry Riley and Joseph Guzaldo as prison escapees....

Larry Rosen, an Emmy-nominated producer who worked on programs including The Partridge Family and The Mike Douglas Show, died Sept. 14 in Los Angeles of complications from pancreatic cancer, his family announced. He was 84.

Working with Larry Tucker, the onetime writing partner of Paul Mazursky, Rosen also created the short-lived sitcoms Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, an adaptation of the 1969 movie; Mr. Merlin, starring Barnard Hughes as the legendary wizard living in present-day San Francisco; Jennifer Slept Here, with Ann Jillian playing a screen legend who returns as a ghost; and Stir Crazy, featuring Larry Riley and Joseph Guzaldo as prison escapees....

Bruce Jay Friedman, novelist and screenwriter who earned an Oscar nomination for the screenplay of the Tom Hanks film “Splash,” died Wednesday at the age of 90, his son told The New York Times. The cause of death is not yet known.

Born and raised in New York City, Friedman got his start in writing through men’s magazines in the 1950s before releasing his first novel, “Stern,” in 1962. His short story “A Change of Plan” was adapted by Neil Simon into the 1972 film “The Heartbreak Kid.” In 1980, he got his first screenplay produced with “Stir Crazy,” which was directed by Sidney Poitier and starred Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor as two men on hard times who are framed for robbery after taking a job wearing woodpecker costumes for a job with a bank.

Also Read: Herb Stempel, Whistleblower Who Inspired Robert Redford Film 'Quiz Show,' Dies at 93

Then, in 1984, Friedman co-wrote “Splash,...

Writer Bruce Jay Friedman, who received an Oscar nomination for the 1984 comedy “Splash,” died Wednesday at his home in Brooklyn. He was 90.

His death was confirmed by his son Josh, who told the New York Times that the cause had not been determined.

Friedman, a native of the Bronx, emerged in the 1960s as a novelist specializing in dark comedy centered on self-involved protagonists with “Stern” and “A Mother’s Kisses,” followed by the plays “Scuba Duba” and “Steambath.” His short story, “A Change of Plan,” was adapted by Neil Simon into the 1972 movie “The Heartbreak Kid,” starring Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd, Eddie Arnold and Jeannie Berlin, with Elaine May directing.

Friedman found box office success with his 1980 Richard Pryor-Gene Wilder prison comedy “Stir Crazy,” directed by Sidney Poitier. He wrote the first draft of “Splash,” the 1984 romantic comedy about a love affair between Tom Hanks’ character and...

Is it possible to choose between Jamie Dornan and Christian Grey? Just ask Dakota Johnson. The High Note star had pick between her Fifty Shades of Grey co-star and his alter ego while playing a game of "Would You Rather" during her virtual visit to Stir Crazy with Josh Horowitz, where she was asked who she'd enlist to join an erotic book club with her. "Probably Jamie," she said. "He's a lot funnier than Christian Grey."  During the game, Johnson's infamous gap was also brought up when she was asked to choose between having a 4-inch gap in her teeth or sporting bangs that covered her eyes. As she contemplated the question, she joked that she's been trying to get...

Inspired by this unusual time of social distancing and home isolation amid the coronavirus pandemic, Josh Horowitz is launching a digital interview series aptly titled Stir Crazy.

The show will offer lively and humorous chats between Horowitz — who is holed up in his New York apartment — and various entertainers who join him via a remote video connection. Will Arnett kicks off the series as the first guest.

Upcoming stars include Dan Levy, Josh Hutcherson, Ed Helms, Ricky Gervais and Ben Schwartz. To keep his guests from going stir crazy, Horowitz will utilize games like Charades and I Spy.

Known ...

I rarely have the opportunity to call any actor sweet, but I think that term certainly applies to the beloved Gene Wilder, who passed away in 2016. He would have celebrated his 86th birthday on June 11, 2019. It’s remarkable how a gentle man like Wilder survived and prospered in the cut-throat world of film acting but survive he did in an esteemed film career that lasted nearly four decades.

SEEOscar Best Supporting Actor Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History

Wilder was one of those rare actors nominated at the Academy Awards for both acting (Best Supporting Actor for 1967’s “The Producers”) and writing. Wilder was also nominated for two Best Actor Golden Globe Awards (for 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and 1976’s “Silver Streak”) and won an Emmy in his final on-screen work in 2003 for his guest performance on “Will and Grace.”

So let’s raise a glass...

“No Way Outâ€. (1950)

In his big-screen debut, Sidney Poitier makes a memorable impression as a pioneering African American physician who runs afoul of a racist thug (Richard Widmark) whose brother died in his care.

“Blackboard Jungleâ€. (1955)Â

In this melodrama, the first Hollywood feature to include rock songs, Glenn Ford plays a new teacher at a troubled inner-city school where Poitier is music-loving rebel.

“The Defiant Onesâ€. (1958)

Poitier starred opposite Tony Curtis in Stanley Kramer’s Oscar-winning drama about two escaped convicts who — since they are still chained together — reluctantly agree to cooperate despite their differences.

“A Raisin in the Sunâ€. (1961)

Reunited with much of the cast of the 1960 Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry’s play, Poitier plays the ambitious young Chicago man squabbling with his family over how best to spend their late father’s insurance money.

“Lilies of the Fieldâ€. (1963)

Poitier plays a former G.I. who agrees to...

“I Am Richard Pryor,” a look at a comedy legend who reinvented stand-up with his confessional style of humor, is being produced for Paramount Network. The film follows Richard Pryor as he rises from his impoverished childhood, growing up in a brothel run by his grandmother, to become the highest-paid performer in the entertainment industry. In addition to being a stand-up legend and a keen social critic of race in America, Pryor starred in “Stir Crazy,” “Silver Streak,” and other Hollywood blockbusters.

The film will be executive produced by Jennifer Lee Pryor, the late comic’s wife. It is being backed by filmmaker Derik Murray’s Network Entertainment and is part of the company’s “I Am” series. The documentaries look at celebrities such as Paul Walker, Heath Ledger, and Steve McQueen.

The Pryor film features interviews with comedians, filmmakers, writers, and collaborators including Lily Tomlin, Tiffany Haddish, Michael Epps,...