Category: TV

Marvin J. Chomsky, the four time Emmy winning director and producer died on March 28th at the age of 92.  No cause of death was given.

Mr. Chomsky began his career as an art and set director.  He began directing in 1964 on the television series The Doctors and the Nurses where he helmed three episodes.  Mr. Chomsky spent the bulk of his career working in television where he directed some of the most popular tv series (usually multiple episodes) and television movies.  Mr. Chomsky also directed five feature films.

A sample of some of the series where Mr. Chomsky served as a director include: The Wild, Wild West; Star Trek; Gunsmoke; Lancer, The Magical World of Disney; The Name of the Game; Bearcats!; Mission Impossible; Hawaii 5-0; Mannix; The Magician and Police Story.

Some of the tv movies directed by Marvin Chomsky include: Mrs. Sundance; Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan; Victory at Entebbe; Attica and Catherine the Great.

A few of the TV mini-series on which Marvin Chomsky directed include: Roots; Holocaust; Peter the Great; The Deliberate Stranger; Billionaire Boys Club and Brotherhood of the Rose.

His feature films include: Evel Knievel; Mackintosh and T.J.; Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff and Tank.

Mr. Chomsky won three Emmy Awards: as Outstanding Director for a Drama Series for Holocaust in 1978; as Outstanding Director for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special for Attica in 1980 and for Inside the Third Reich in 1982.  When Mr. Chomsky accepted his third Emmy for directing, he was said that he had won awards for directing projects about events that “never should have happened.”

Marvin Chomsky directed episodes of some of my favorite shows when I was a kid: The Wild, Wild West; Star Trek; (the short-lived) Bearcats! and (also short-lived) The Magician.  Another favorite directed by Mr. Chomsky was Brotherhood of the Rose based on David Morrell’s best selling novel.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Marvin Chomsky’s family, friends and fans.

William Hurt’s son announced today that his father died of natural causes one week short of his 72 birthday.  William Hurt’s acting career spanned over 40 years.  He appeared on the stage, television and feature films.

Mr. Hurt began his career as a stage actor and won  an Obie Award (Off Broadway Theater Award) for his debut performance in Corinne Jacker’s My Life in 1977.  In 1977, he also made his first television appearance in Kojak.  William Hurt’s feature film debut came in 1980’s Altered States and his performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best New Actor in a motion picture.

For the rest of his career William Hurt continued to appear on stage, television and in feature films.  He won one Oscar for Best Actor (Kiss of the Spider Woman) and had four Best Actor Oscar nominations.  Three of the nominations came in three successive years!

Some of William Hurt’s most notable feature film appearances were in: Altered States; Body Heat; The Big Chill; Kiss of the Spider Woman; Children of a Lesser God; Broadcast News; The Accidental Tourist; Dark City;  A.I. Artificial Intelligence; The Village;  A History of Violence; Captain America: Civil War; Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game.

Some of Mr. Hurt’s most notable television appearances were in: Kojak; Varian’s War; Damages; Endgame; Too Big to Fail and Bonnie & Clyde.

My favorite William Hurt performance was in Body Heat.  I had seen him prior to that but his performance as Ned Racine was the one that made me sit up and take notice.  It was interesting to see how William Hurt was able to adapt to different roles over the course of his long and memorable career.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to William Hurt’s family, friends and fans.

Johnny Brown, actor and singer, died on March 3, 2022, at the age of 84.  No cause of death was reported.

Mr. Brown began his career as singer.  He toured with Sam “the man” Taylor.  In 1961, Johnny Brown released an album of his own.  Sammy Davis Jr. became a mentor to Johnny Brown and this led to Brown’s role in Golden Boy on Broadway.  His first movie role was in Sammy Davis’ film, A Man Named Adam.

Johnny Brown was a regular on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.  His contract on Laugh-In prevented him from accepting the role of Redd Fox’s son on Sanford & Son.  After Laugh-In, Mr. Brown was a regular on Good Times,  Other major appearances include the shows: Love American Style, Night Gallery, Maude, Chico and the Man, Gimme a Break, Archie Bunker’s Place, The Jeffersons, Fantasy Island and Family Matters.

Johnny Brown always made me smile.  I’ll miss seeing him pop-up in surprising places.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Johnny Brown’s family, friends and fans.

Mitchell Ryan, the actor of stage and screen, died yesterday from heart failure at the age of 88.  Mr. Ryan’s career spanned over 60 years, so depending on your age you may know him best from his work on Dark Shadows, Lethal Weapon, Dharma & Greg or any of his well over 130 credits.

Mitchell Ryan began his career in a theater production of Thunder Road.  His Broadway credits include Wait Until Dark, Medea and The Price.  In 1958, he earned his first screen credit in the Robert Mitchum film, Thunder Road.  For the rest of his career, Mitchell Ryan alternated between television and feature films.

A few of his major television roles included the shows: Naked City, Dark Shadows, The High Chaparral, Cannon, Chase, Having Babies, The Chisholms, Hardcastle & McCormick, Dallas, Renegade, Murder She Wrote and Dharma & Greg.

Some of his more memorable film roles were in: High Plains Drifter, Electra Glide in Blue, Lethal Weapon, and Judge Dredd.

Mitchell Ryan was always a welcome addition to any movie or tv show.  He played a great bad guy – one who came off as smart, tough and just a bit arrogant.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ryan Mitchell’s family, friends and fans.