DEATHS ; Notable Passings; The Thread to Pay Last Respects

[Zombie_61]

Actor Gregory Sierra, arguably best known for his role as Detective Sergeant Chano Amenguale on Barney Miller, died from cancer on January 4th at the age of 83.

Mr. Sierra was one of my favorite "that guy" character actors from the 70s and 80s, but I must admit I hadn't seen much of him since the mid-80s.

 

[MisterCairo]

One of the stations I worked at carried Larry King's overnight talk show over the Mutual network, and for almost nine years, I heard the tail end of just about every one of his broadcasts. He always closed out with "Duke's Place," which in his context didn't refer to Mr. Ellington, but to Duke Zeibert's Restaurant in Washington, where the elite were wont to meet to eat. I often wondered what Ross Perot would have ordered during one of those after-show parties.

King was a far better interviewer than he ever really got credit for, especially on radio, where the conversation tended to be more free-ranging than on his television shows. There isn't anyone quite like him today.

But he had his slips as well. Seinfeld rips him a third one here:

 

[Frunobulax]

Actor Gregory Sierra, arguably best known for his role as Detective Sergeant Chano Amenguale on Barney Miller, died from cancer on January 4th at the age of 83.

Mr. Sierra was one of my favorite "that guy" character actors from the 70s and 80s, but I must admit I hadn't seen much of him since the mid-80s.

El Puerco!

 

[MisterCairo]

Actor Gregory Sierra, arguably best known for his role as Detective Sergeant Chano Amenguale on Barney Miller, died from cancer on January 4th at the age of 83.

Mr. Sierra was one of my favorite "that guy" character actors from the 70s and 80s, but I must admit I hadn't seen much of him since the mid-80s.

Barney Miller was one of my favourite shows growing up, loved all the characters including Chano. Quite few gone now from that show. Inevitable, but still sad...

 

[MisterCairo]

Toronto Maple Leafs legend George The Chief Armstrong has died, aged 90. He spent his entire NHL career with the Leafs, was captain 12 of those years and won four Stanley Cups.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/nhl-maple-leafs-george-armstrong-obit-1.5885742

https://www.bing.com/images/search?...9QbvXcDzyw=&shth=OSH.0NAkDdqswHh0ePuq7%2F79oA

 

[OldStrummer]

Actor Gregory Sierra, arguably best known for his role as Detective Sergeant Chano Amenguale on Barney Miller, died from cancer on January 4th at the age of 83.

Mr. Sierra was one of my favorite "that guy" character actors from the 70s and 80s, but I must admit I hadn't seen much of him since the mid-80s.

Oddly enough, I was speaking to a co-worker the other day about PlutoTV, the free service that includes a lineup of many "classic" television shows. To which he responded with, "Do they have Barney Miller re-runs?" I admitted I didn't know, but at the first opportunity to check, I found they did not.

It seems nearly impossible to find Barney Miller re-runs. Does anyone know why?

 

[Zombie_61]

Barney Miller was one of my favourite shows growing up, loved all the characters including Chano. Quite few gone now from that show. Inevitable, but still sad...

I really liked the way they dealt with the death of Jack Soo in 1979.

For non-fans, Jack Soo played Detective Sgt. Nick Yemana on Barney Miller, and Mr. Soo died from esophageal cancer during the show's fifth season. Instead of doing what most television shows would probably do, the cast of Barney Miller did a special episode dedicated to Mr. Soo in which the actors simply sat on the Barney Miller set and shared their memories and stories of Mr. Soo, integrated with some "best of" clips of his performances. I thought it was very respectful to Mr. Soo to remember in that way how much he meant to them.

 

[MisterCairo]

I really liked the way they dealt with the death of Jack Soo in 1979.

For non-fans, Jack Soo played Detective Sgt. Nick Yemana on Barney Miller, and Mr. Soo died from esophageal cancer during the show's fifth season. Instead of doing what most television shows would probably do, the cast of Barney Miller did a special episode dedicated to Mr. Soo in which the actors simply sat on the Barney Miller set and shared their memories and stories of Mr. Soo, integrated with some "best of" clips of his performances. I thought it was very respectful to Mr. Soo to remember in that way how much he meant to them.

I remember that one well. The worst thing they could have done was replace the character or worse, the actor.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Barney Miller" was a brilliant piece of work -- it was as close to the feel and the sensibility of a theatrical one-act play as television could ever get, with Broadway-level writing -- someone ought to publish the scripts in book form, because they'd be a perfect textbook for studying how to create real character-based comedy. And it was also a parade of some of the finest character actors ever to work in the medium. There hasn't been anything like it on television since.

For a while I was catching reruns on MeTV, but they haven't been there recently.

 

[Zombie_61]

"Barney Miller" was a brilliant piece of work -- it was as close to the feel and the sensibility of a theatrical one-act play as television could ever get, with Broadway-level writing -- someone ought to publish the scripts in book form, because they'd be a perfect textbook for studying how to create real character-based comedy. And it was also a parade of some of the finest character actors ever to work in the medium. There hasn't been anything like it on television since...

I've also heard and read comments from people who claimed to be detectives who worked for the NYPD in the 1970s who said it was one of the most realistic depictions of a detective's day-to-day routine they had seen in any production.

...For a while I was catching reruns on MeTV, but they haven't been there recently.

If you have FeTV (Family Entertainment Television) they're airing two episodes a night Sundays through Thursdays.

 

[Zombie_61]

Emmy and Oscar winner Cloris Leachman has died at the age of 94. Her longtime manager said she died peacefully in her sleep of natural causes.

 

[MisterCairo]

^^^

Another inevitable, and yet sad, loss.

Started watching her in the Mary Tyler Moore show as a kid as my mum was a huge fan of the show.

And of course, I never hear horses without imagining this:

Thanks for the laughs!

 

[Frunobulax]

Emmy and Oscar winner Cloris Leachman has died at the age of 94. Her longtime manager said she died peacefully in her sleep of natural causes.

I just watched a very young Ms. Leachman in an ep of Wagon Train last week.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Award winning American actress of stage & screen, Cicely Tyson has died aged 96.

 

[GHT]

Award winning American actress of stage & screen, Cicely Tyson has died aged 96.

Cicely Tyson was an American actress and fashion model. In a career spanning more than seven decades, she became known for her portrayal of strong African-American women. Tyson was the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Black Reel Awards, one Screen Actors Guild Award, one Tony Award, an honorary Academy Award, and a Peabody Award. A remarkable woman. RIP.

 

[Doctor Strange]

What a terrible week for actresses. One of Ingmar Bergman's 50s/60s stock company:

Gunnel Lindblom, Familiar Face in Bergman Films, Dies at 89 - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

She's on the right in this still from The Virgin Spring (1960):

 

[Doctor Strange]

It's apparently also a bad week for sixties kids TV performers, first magician Mark Wilson and now Sonny Fox.

Sonny Fox, Whose ‘Wonderama’ Mixed Fun and Learning, Dies at 95 - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

News From ME - Mark Evanier's blog

 

[Frunobulax]

Ms. Tyson always stuck me as a very "purposeful" actress. She seemed to attend to her craft in a very deliberate fashion that resulted in several notable performance.

I think I first saw her in Sounder.

 

[MisterCairo]

Screech has died, aged only 44, from lung cancer:

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/us/d...r-dead-at-44/ar-BB1dioOo?ocid=iehp&li=AAggNb9

 

[Doctor Strange]

Distinguished actor Hal Holbrook:

Hal Holbrook, Actor Who Channeled Mark Twain, Is Dead at 95 - The New York Times (nytimes.com)