TV Obits: Davis, Beckman, Furlong
A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.
- Don S. Davis: The veteran actor appeared on numerous TV shows over the past 25 years, including Stargate SG-1 (he played Major General George Hammond), Twin Peaks, The X-Files, The Dead Zone, Psych, Highlander, Supernatural, Flash Gordon, The West Wing, NCIS, The Chris Isaak Show, Profit, M.A.N.T.I.S., MacGyver (also serving as Dana Elcar’s body double), L.A. Law, Joanie Loves Chachi, and many others. He also appeared in dozens of movies, including A League of Their Own, Con Air, Miracle, The 6th Day, Hook, The Fan, and Best In Show. He died this week at age 65.
- Henry Beckman: He appeared in tons of shows over a 50 year acting career, including Here Come The Brides (he played Captain Clancy), Peyton Place (George Anderson), The X-Files, MacGyver, Booker, Werewolf, St. Elsewhere, Quincy, M.E., Simon & Simon, Fantasy Island, The Rockford Files, Barney Miller, The Six Million Dollar Man, Ironside, Gunsmoke, Cannon, Mannix, Here’s Lucy, Shaft, Night Gallery, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Perry Mason, Andy Griffith Show, McHale’s Navy, The Wild, Wild West, Studio One, Flash Gordon (50s version), and many others. He died at age 86.
- John Furlong: The actor was probably best known for appearing in many Russ Meyer films (and dubbing his voice in many of them), but he also appeared in dozens of TV shows over the years, including Murder, She Wrote, Cagney and Lacey, Remington Steele, Airwolf, Simon & Simon, Dallas, T.J. Hooker, Hart to Hart, The Rockford Files, McCloud, Ironside, Adam-12, and many more. He also appeared in the movies Blazing Saddles, Wyatt Earp, Jagged Edge, The Swarm, All The President’s Men, and The Front Page. He died on June 23.
Who should play Jeannie on the big screen?
The big screen adaptation of I Dream of Jeannie has been years in the making. Now a script writer is attached, so who knows, maybe we’ll see it in theaters in the next few years (IMDB.com lists a release date of 2010). And something tells me we’ll probably see a belly button or two.
Producer Sid Ganis is bringing Rita Hsiao, who scribed Mulan, on board to rewrite the script for a movie based on the 1960s series. Ganis is psyched for Hsiao’s vision of the character — a Jeannie who’s smack in the middle of modern times.
In a Hollywood Reporter story, Ganis said of Hsiao’s meeting with the producers, “She has a terrific, bright, fresh approach to Jeannie’s story, with a twist and turn along the way. She captured all of our imaginations in the telling of it.”
I’m geeked because Hsiao was also brought on board to rewrite 2007’s Enchanted and 2004’s 13 Going on 30, two of my favorite romantic comedies in recent years.
Ganis has no qualms about the movie taking time to evolve, noting that Jeannie is a “beloved and iconic character,” and they want to get it right and stay loyal to the TV series. Once a script is in place, they’ll work on a director and cast.
Hmmm … let’s think about this. Just for kicks, I looked up Barbara Eden, who played Jeannie in the TV series. She’s been working steadily through the years, and recently had gigs on Army Wives, George Lopez, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. I think she’d be great as Jeannie’s mom in the movie. Larry Hagman is still around, too, having done a stint on Nip/Tuck in 2006. Let’s find a role for him in the movie.
As for who should play Jeannie, Kristen Bell of Veronica Mars and Heroes springs to mind. She’s got the sassy thing down cold, her belly button is cute, and she’s already made a successful leap from TV to movies, with Forgetting Sarah Marshall. (At least, I thought it was successful.)
For Major Nelson, that’s a tough one. Maybe Peter Krause? John Krasinski?
Who would you pick to play Jeannie and Major Nelson?
TV Obits: Burton, Jacobs, Leach, Pizer
A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.
- Iris Burton: She was a veteran Hollywood agent (and former Broadway/movie dancer) who represented such child stars as River and Joaquin Phoenix, Kirk and Candace Cameron, and Adam Rich. She died of complications from pneumonia and Alzheimer’s. She was 77.
- Seaman Jacobs: He was a veteran television writer who worked on such shows as The Andy Griffith Show, Petticoat Junction, The Love Boat, My Three Sons, F Troop, Diff’rent Strokes, I Dream of Jeannie, The Lucy Show, Here’s Lucy, The Addams Family, Chico and the Man, and many others. He also wrote several specials for Bob Hope. He died of a heart attack at age 96.
- Robert Warnes Leach: He was also a TV writer, working on such early TV shows as Perry Mason, Ripcord, Men Into Space, and The Adventures of Jim Bowie. He was also a journalism and screenwriting teacher. He died at age 93.
- Larry Pizer: He was a cinematographer who worked on many TV movies and miniseries, including I’ll Take Manhattan, Unnatural Causes, and Intimate Strangers, as well as the big screen movies Mannequin 2, Folks!, Phantom of the Paradise. He died at age 82.
- If you missed it, here is our obituary for Monk star Stanley Kamel.
TV Obits: Cromwell, Begg, Sharp, Goldstone
A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.
- Gloria Cromwell: She appeared in a number of TV shows over the years, including Kate & Allie (she played Janet, their landlord), Ryan’s Hope, Murder, She Wrote, Moonlighting, Hill Street Blues, The Golden Girls, Hunter, Cop Rock, Designing Women, Coach, L.A. Law, and many others. She was also in many films, including Say Anything, The Odd Couple: Together Again, The War of the Roses, and The Parent Trap II. She died on March 3 (age unknown).
- Alex Sharp: He appeared in many TV shows over the years, including Gunsmoke, The Virginian, Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, Father Murphy, Cannon, Ironside, Highway to Heaven, Mission: Impossible, Peter Gunn, Batman, and many others. He was also a writer, penning episodes of Bonanza and High Chaparral, and did stunts for many TV shows and movies, including the Planet of the Apes movies, In the Line of Fire, The Rookie, Dirty Harry, Diamonds Are Forever, Bullitt, It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Spartacus, and many others. He died from complications from a stroke and heart problems in Los Angeles.
- Jim Begg: He was a veteran actor who appeared in several shows since the early 60s, including Happy Days, WKRP, I Dream of Jeannie, The Wonderful World of Disney, Petticoat Junction, Mayberry, RFD, Gomer Pyle, USMC, Bailey’s Comets, Bewitched, The Andy Griffith Show, Gunsmoke, and many others. He was also a producer on several films, including Leprechaun and Children of the Corn III. He died at age 69 in Los Angeles.
- Raymond Goldstone: He wrote for many TV shows over the years, including Knot’s Landing, Falcon Crest, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, Search For Tomorrow, and the TV movie The Night the Bridge Fell Down. He died of a heart attack at age 88.