• Had MNB been 'live" last week, we inevitably would've paid attention to the deaths, one day apart, of actress Carrie Fisher, who died at age 60, and her mother, Debbie Reynolds, who passed away at 84.
Both, obviously, were legends. They both, ironically, made the films for which they probably were most famous at age 19.
Put away the Star Wars films for a second. Two of my favorite Fisher performances include her first - as a precocious (to say the least) teenager in Shampoo, written by Robert Towne and directed by Hal Ashby - and her one-woman show, "Wishful Drinking," which was an HBO special just a few years ago. (It was based on one of her books, which was a typically funny, take-no-prisoners, skillfully crafted piece of work.)
As for Reynolds ... if there's a heaven and she's knocking on the pearly gates, it seems to me that all she'd need for admission is a single song from the first movie in which she starred, Singin' In The Rain - "Good Morning." Has there ever been a brighter, happier song in a Hollywood movie? (It is ever more impressive that she didn't dance before Singin' In The Rain, and essentially was taught for the movie by her co-star, Gene Kelly.)
• The other death of note in the cultural arena was that of William Christopher, who played Father Mulcahy on "M*A*S*H" from 1972 to 1983, serving as a soft-spoken foil for the rambunctious surgeons played by Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers and Mike Farrell. He was 84 and had been battling cancer.
Both, obviously, were legends. They both, ironically, made the films for which they probably were most famous at age 19.
Put away the Star Wars films for a second. Two of my favorite Fisher performances include her first - as a precocious (to say the least) teenager in Shampoo, written by Robert Towne and directed by Hal Ashby - and her one-woman show, "Wishful Drinking," which was an HBO special just a few years ago. (It was based on one of her books, which was a typically funny, take-no-prisoners, skillfully crafted piece of work.)
As for Reynolds ... if there's a heaven and she's knocking on the pearly gates, it seems to me that all she'd need for admission is a single song from the first movie in which she starred, Singin' In The Rain - "Good Morning." Has there ever been a brighter, happier song in a Hollywood movie? (It is ever more impressive that she didn't dance before Singin' In The Rain, and essentially was taught for the movie by her co-star, Gene Kelly.)
• The other death of note in the cultural arena was that of William Christopher, who played Father Mulcahy on "M*A*S*H" from 1972 to 1983, serving as a soft-spoken foil for the rambunctious surgeons played by Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers and Mike Farrell. He was 84 and had been battling cancer.
- KC's View:
