TV Obits: Goodman, Wilson, Love
A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.
- Dody Goodman: She was a comic and character actress who appeared on several TV shows, including Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, The Tonight Show, St. Elsewhere, Diff’rent Strokes, Murder, She Wrote, The Phil Silvers Show, Punky Brewster, Alvin & The Chipmunks, and The Love Boat, and was in movies such as Grease and Splash. She died at age 92.
- Gerald Wilson: He was an editor on several TV shows over the years, including Bewitched, Serpico, Adventures in Paradise, Gunsmoke, and The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, as well as the miniseries Washington: Behind Closed Doors. He was also an editor on movies such as A Farewell To Arms and Mind Over Murder. He died at age 93.
- Kermit Love: He was the co-creator of the Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus. He also played Willie the Hot Dog vendor on the show, and Jim Henson named Kermit The Frog after Love.. He was also an acclaimed choreographer and costume designer. He died at age 91.
Lisa Simpson’s Voice Files for Divorce
Despite having all the answers on The Simpsons, Yeardley Smith could only come up with one solution this time around.
The character actress and vocal talent behind the animated Lisa Simpson for the past two decades has filed for divorce from her husband of six years, Daniel Erickson.
Per the petition filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Smith cited the most-checked box everirreconcilable differencesas the reason for the split. Their date of separation is “under determination.”
The duo have no children. Smith has requested she not be ordered to pay spousal support and is looking to have her legal name changed back to Yeardley Smith, because she has apparently been toting the “Erickson” around since tying the knot in 2002.
Seriously? Some Scoop on NBC's Thursday Night Comedies
Hey all, Jennifer here! Apparently, that Comedy Night Done Right nonsense airs Thursdays on NBC, so to celebrate I brought you a little preseason scoop from some of your Peacock faves:
SCRUBS
I tracked down Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence at the NBC party and told him he was required to confide in me about Scrubs' season seven, because my ex-roommate's fiancé is his wife's agent and that makes us practically best friends. Lucky for y'all, the darn fool bought it.
Resurrection Trip: I asked if the rumors of Nurse Roberts' demise had been greatly exaggerated, and Lawrence told me, “I actually haven't talked to anybody about this! And this is an official apology to fans of the show if they notice the actress Aloma Wright is back on Scrubs, even though her character, Nurse Roberts, died last year. I'm hoping they can separate fantasy from the real world. We thought last year was the last year of the show! I would never take work away from a character actress, so I told her that the show might be coming back, and if it did, we would bring her back as another character."
So, are we about to meet Nurse Roberts' evil twin or perhaps her wacky cousin from the country? Said Lawrence: “We're trying to figure it out so it's not so broad people make fun of us. She appears pretty early in the show. It'll be interesting to see if people recognize her right off. But she's around."
Dr. and Mrs. Crankypants: Jordan (Christa Miller) may be acting as an absentee partner in her marriage to Dr. Cox. According to Bill Lawrence (who is married to Ms. Christa, in case you didn't know), “My wife has made life miserable for me, because she took the lead in a new miniseries called The Andromeda Strain, which they're remaking it right now in Canada, so she's not as available right now as I would want her to be. But she's gonna be on the show. They'll be together."
Love Among the Mops: Last but not least, Bill has plans for Kelso and the Janitor as the show zooms toward the series finale. He told me, “Some big things happen to Dr. Kelso, because I always promised Ken Jenkins something good. And I promised Neil Flynn, the Janitor, he would get a girlfriend. So, he has a love interest this year." Goody gumdrop!
MY NAME IS EARL
Suplee Figures: I loves me some Ethan Suplee! I've been a fan ever since his hilarious but almost totally unseen turn in The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest, so I used that little bit of flattery as an opening. I was hoping I could butter him up for My Name Is Earl scoop.
I wanted to know what's in store for Randy and Catalina. Ethan told me, "Nothing. We're married, but we're in a platonic marriage." What a waste! "Well, she's disgusting, and there's really no getting over that."
As for what Earl's incarceration might mean for brother Randy, Ethan joked, "What's happening is just before the season premiere—which they won't show, but you'll know, and I'll know—Randy has the entire blueprints of the jail, not tattooed but written in crayon, on his body."
By God, it's so crazy it just might work!
THE OFFICE
Oscar Worthy: I pulled The Office's Oscar Nuñez (Oscar) and Kate Flannery (Meredith) in with my tractor beam and asked them what they thought Ryan's promotion might mean for his relationship with his colleagues from the Scranton branch. Will angry sparks fly?
Nuñez put the question to Flannery: "Wait, it depends, where's he going to be? In Scranton or in New York?" Flannery responded, "He's going to be in New York. But when a younger person is in charge of older people, sparks fly."
Added Nuñez, "Because of the resentment we older people have."
Hmmm…Ryan, you might want to brace yourself.
Quote of the Moment
"I'm an improv guy by training, yes, not by trade—improv is not a paying gig."
—Jack McBrayer, aka Kenneth the Page, of 30 Rock. (Look for more from Jack Be Awesome in a future item!)
Frances McDormand Biography
An intelligent, versatile character actress who virtually disappears into each role, Frances McDormand earned a Best Actress Academy Award as Marge Gunderson, the pregnant deputy sheriff of the Coen brothers’ “Fargo” (1996), her third film with husband Joel and brother-in-law Ethan. After graduating from Yale Drama School, McDormand hit NYC, appearing in several plays, notably “Painting Churches” and “Awake and Sing!” (both 1984). She also entered features as the dim, violent tart whose cuckold husband hires a hit man to kill her and her lover in “Blood Simple” (1984), the debut film of the Coen brothers. She then appeared as a nun in Sam Raimi’s “Crimewave” (1985), a slapstick crime comedy co-written by the Coens and Raimi, and reunited with the former pair to play a shrill, swinging Southern wife who offers Holly Hunter child-rearing advice in their broad-as-a-barn kidnapping comedy “Raising Arizona” (1987).
McDormand was still virtually an unknown when she won an Oscar nomination playing a meek Southern woman abused by her Klansman husband in Alan Parker’s “Mississippi Burning” (1988). Her character’s unconsummated relationship with Gene Hackman’s FBI agent produced scenes that were a stunning tutorial on how to express emotion without words. She played one of her few up-market characters–a lawyer–to Liam Neeson’s comic-book vigilante in Raimi’s “Dark Man” and won the admiration of Ken Loach for her turn as an American human rights activist in his political thriller set against the battleground of Northern Ireland, “Hidden Agenda” (both 1990), prompting the august British director to tell her as she was leaving, “Not only have you changed my opinion of actors, you’ve changed my opinion of Americans.” She also offered tense comic relief as the ex-wife of Peter Gallagher and lover of Tim Robbins in Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts” (1993).
McDormand admits now that she took roles in the failed Hollywood comedies “The Butcher’s Wife” (1991) and “Passed Away” (1992) “to prove that I could be funny” and her lackluster part as Patricia Arquette’s sister in “Beyond Rangoon” (1995) so that she could travel to Malaysia. After “Fargo”, Hollywood needs no further proof that she can be funny. McDormand’s likable, reality-based performance as the deputy investigating a series of killings made the Coens’ chilling bit of madness safe for decent folk to laugh at and brought her much-deserved stardom along with practically every acting prize. She also delivered acclaimed turns that year as the alcoholic hooker June in the heist comedy “Palookaville,†a football-crazed divorcee in friend John Sayles’ underrated Western “Lone Star” and a psychiatrist interviewing a potential killer in the courtroom thriller “Primal Fear.â€
McDormand flirted briefly with television in the 80s, acting in the 1985 TV-movie “Scandal Sheet” (ABC) and as a regular in the short-lived detective drama “Leg Work” (CBS, 1987), but her work for the small screen in the 90s has been more inspiring. She rejoined fellow Yale grad and NYC roommate Holly Hunter for Martha Coolidge’s “Crazy in Love” (TNT, 1992) and joined first-time directors Kathy Bates for the monologue drama “Talking With” (PBS) and Tommy Lee Jones for TNT’s “The Good Old Boys” (both 1995). She also turned up as Gus, a tough-talking mechanic, in HBO’s acclaimed look at the working poor, “Hidden in America” (1996), starring Beau Bridges. Her return to the stage as Stella in “A Streetcar Named Desire” netted her a Tony nomination in 1988, and after performing at Yale Repertory in “A Moon for the Misbegotten” (1990-91), she was back on the Great White Way in Wendy Wasserstein’s “The Sisters Rosensweig” in 1992, followed by a turn in “The Swan” (1993) at NYC’s Public Theatre.
Since portraying a German Jewish doctor incarcerated by the Japanese during World War II in “Paradise Road” (1997), which she filmed prior to receiving her Oscar, McDormand has been very selective in her projects. In Dublin she courageously essayed the role of Blanche in “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1998), and though the famous neurotic was a reach for her, one had to applaud her risk-taking. On film that year, she donned the habit as Miss Clavell, the headmistress of the boarding school girls of “Madeline”, based on the books of Ludwig Bemelmans, and she also returned to the New York stage in a modern adaptation of “Oedipus”. Teaming with director Curtis Hanson for his first foray into comedy, “Wonder Boys” (2000), McDormand excelled in the quiet, understated part as a college chancellor, revealing new facets of her screen persona. She next surfaced amidst the huge ensemble of Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” comedy-drama (2000), playing the overprotective, unintentionally funny mother of the young journalist (Patrick Fugit) drawn from Crowe’s experiences as a teenager writing for Rolling Stone. In 2002, McDormand stood by her man as husband Robert DeNiro realizes that the killer he has been searching for is his son in the crime drama “City By The Sea.â€
The following year, she portrayed a entirely different kind of mother from her “Fargo” and “Almost Famous” roles in the indie feature “Laurel Canyon,” a drama that also co-starred Christian Bale and Kate Beckinsale. Although the film was lackluster, it was invigorated by McDormand’s fresh and fearless performance as a sexually confident record producer in her 40s who sketchy personal choices and innate desire to stay youthful, hip and edgy has alienated from her son (Bale) and intrigued her future daughter-in-law (Beckinsale). McDormand was equally appealing in her too-brief turn as Diane Keaton’s tell-it-like-is sister in the romantic comedy “Something’s Gotta Give” (2003).
After a supporting role in the blockbuster bomb, “Aeon Flux†(2005), McDormand again appeared with her “Flux†co-star Charlize Theron in the far more competent and emotionally involving “North Country†(2005). She played a smiling, but tart-tongued truck driver at an iron mine who helps her friend Josey (Theron) speak out against the poor treatment of female employees by their male counterparts. McDormand earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by An Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture. She also got a nod from the Academy Awards, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
- Also Credited As:
Fran McDormand - Born:
on 06/23/1957 in Illinois - Job Titles:
Actor
Family
- Brother-in-law: Ethan Coen.
- Father: Vernon McDormand. member of the Disciples of Christ denomination; Canadian by birth
- Mother: Noreen McDormand. Canadian
- Son: Pedro McDormand Coen. adopted; born c. November 1994 in Paraguay
Significant Others
- Husband: Joel Coen. directed McDormand in films “Blood Simple” and “Fargo”; together from 1984; married c. 1994; his second marriage
Education
- School of Drama, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, drama, 1982
Milestones
- 1980 Made stage acting debut in “Winterset: Four New American Plays” at Yale Repertory Theater
- 1984 Film acting debut, “Blood Simple”; first collaboration with the Coen brothers
- 1984 New York stage debut, Tina Howe’s “Painting Churches”
- 1985 Credited as Fran McDormand for Sam Raimi’s “Crimewave”
- 1985 TV-movie acting debut, “Scandal Sheet” (ABC)
- 1987 Co-starred in TV series, “Leg Work” (CBS)
- 1987 Reteamed with the Coen brothers for “Raising Arizona”, playing a shrill vulgarian offering Holly Hunter’s character child-rearing advice
- 1988 Earned a Tony nomination as Lead Actress in a Play for her turn as Stella Kowalski in a Broadway revival of “A Streetcar Named Desire” starring Blythe Danner and Aidan Quinn
- 1988 Won substantial acclaim and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her emotive turn opposite Gene Hackman in “Mississippi Burning”
- 1990 Appeared uncredited in a bit part as a secretary in the Coens’ “Miller’s Crossing”
- 1990 Co-starred in Ken Loach’s controversial political thriller “Hidden Agenda”
- 1990 Reteamed with Raimi on “Darkman”
- 1992 Played Pfeni, the youngest of three sisters, in the original Broadway production of Wendy Wasserstein’s “The Sisters Rosenzweig”
- 1993 Had featured role as Tim Robbins’ girlfriend in Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts”
- 1995 Acted in Tommy Lee Jones’ critically-acclaimed writing-directing debut, “The Good Old Boys” (TNT), playing Jones’ hardened wife Eve
- 1995 Portrayed Patricia Arquette’s sister in John Boorman’s “Beyond Rangoon”
- 1996 Delivered a gem of a turn as Gus, a tough mechanic, in HBO’s acclaimed “Hidden in America”, a look into the lives of the working poor
- 1996 Earned critical praise and numerous accolades including a Best Actress Oscar for her performance as the pregnant police chief investigating a murder in the Coen brothers’ “Fargo”
- 1997 Cast as a German doctor forced into an internment camp with other European women in Bruce Beresford’s “Paradise Road”
- 1998 Played Miss Clavell in “Madeline”, a film adaptation stitching together elements from four of Ludwig Bemelmans’ illustrated children’s books about a plucky girl at a small French boarding school
- 1998 Returned to the New York stage co-starring with Billy Crudup in an Off-Broadway production of “Oedipus”
- 1998 Starred as Blanche Du Bois in an Irish production of “A Streetcar Named Desire”
- 2000 Co-starred as Michael Douglas’ lover, a college chancellor, in “Wonder Boys”
- 2000 Reteamed with Crudup for Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous”, an autobiographical film about a teenage rock journalist; received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination
- 2001 Played a straying spouse in the Coen brothers’ modern noir “The Man Who Wasn’t There”
- 2001 Served as off-screen narrator for the Fox Family Channel series “State of Grace”
- 2002 Co-starred in the crime drama “City By The Sea”
- 2002 Co-starred in the drama “Laurel Canyon”; received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best supporting female
- 2002 Returned to the NYC stage opposite Willem Dafoe in “To You, the Birdie!”, an adaptation of Racine’s “Phedre” performed by the Wooster Group
- 2003 Featured in the Comedy “Something’s Gotta Give”
- 2005 Cast in “North Country” a fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States; earned Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Supporting Actress
- 2005 Portrayed the Handler in the feature adaptation of the MTV cartoon “Aeon Flux,” starring Charlize Theron in the title role
- 2006 Co-starred with Joan Cusack, Jennifer Aniston and Catherine Keener in “Friends with Money”
- Before age eight, moved frequently with family, living in Illinois, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennesse before finally settling in Pennsylvania
- First professional job, acting in Trinidad in a play written by Jamaican poet Derek Walcott and funded by his MacArthur Grant
- Involved in a terrible auto mishap on way to auditioning for the Yale School of Drama; all passengers were clear of the vehicle when it was demolished by a truck
- Moved to NYC, initially sharing a Bronx apartment with friend and fellow Yale graduate Holly Hunter, through whom she heard about Joel and Ethan Coen, two brothers who were planning to produce and direct a low-budget thriller
- Took a role as a department store clerk in a “Sesame Street” video for children, “Big Bird Gets Lost”