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André Holland continues his streak as one of the sharpest dramatic actors working today — and I’m not just talking about “Moonlight,” have you seen TV’s “The Knick”? — as a New York businessman in marital freefall in Andre Gaines’ “The Dutchman.” Gaines and co-writer Qasim Basir lift Amiri Baraka’s classic 1964 play out of its midcentury Civil Rights Movement context and transplant the text to present-day Manhattan, where Clay (Holland) is going mad over his wife Kaya’s (Zazie Beetz) recent admission of an infidelity.

So launches a dark night of the soul through the city that echoes “Eyes Wide Shut” — in which mysterious women also tempt a spiraling Tom Cruise over an evening after Nicole Kidman confesses to extramarital thoughts — and even “After Hours” with its magical realism and deus-ex-machina moments of utter (and intentional) absurdity. But Clay’s psychosexual and personal freefall does not land him at...

In The Dutchman, Andre Gaines retrofits Amiri Baraka’s caustic play about a fatal encounter between a reserved Black man and a roguish white woman for the modern age. He intensifies the dramatic work’s surrealist undertones and takes the central couple’s story above ground. No longer confined to the claustrophobic interior of a train car, Clay (André Holland) and Lula (Kate Mara) gain greater contemporary resonance but also lose some of their edge.

When Dutchman opened at the Cherry Lane Theater in 1964, its acerbic take on the relationship between white and Black Americans shocked audiences. One critic called the Off-Broadway production, which later won an Obie award, “an explosion of hatred.” He wondered: “If this is the way even one Negro feels there is ample cause for guilt as well as alarm, and for the hastening of change.”

This slim play (it was only half an hour) debuted...

October 25 will mark 62 years since the release of the first film directed by Francis Ford Coppola: “Come on Out” (later retitled “Tonight for Sure”), a re-edited feature version of three different shorter nudie films he made while a film student at UCLA. It debuted in 1962, right in the middle of the Cuban missile crisis.

With “Megalopolis” opening, he likely has the longest feature film directorial career ever, ahead of Manoel de Oliveira (61 years), Jean-Luc Godard (58), Jerzy Skolimowsky (58), and Frederick Wiseman (56). Clint Eastwood, whose latest film “Juror #2” premieres next month, spans a mere 53 as a director.

To sustain a career that long necessitates a lot of success, which Coppola has had, led by “The Godfather.” But it has been a perilous journey, elongated (“Megalopolis” the most extreme) by his willingness to spend money to keep directing. Of note, his last studio-financed film was “The Rainmaker,” 27 years — and nearly half his career — ago.

Though the title of the awards has changed over the decades, the two guest star in a drama series Emmys are among the most competitive handed out during the Creative Arts ceremony. Cicely Tyson earned the most nomination in this category with nine. Michael J. Fox received seven nominations earning the award in 2009 for FX’s “Rescue Me.” And who have won the most in the past five decades? Patricia Clarkson, Charles S. Dutton, Cherry Jones, Ron Cephas Jones, John Lithgow, Shirley Knight, Margo Martindale, Patrick McGoohan, Amanda Plummer and Alfre Woodward have each won twice.

This year five drama nominees appeared in FX’s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith“- Michaela Cole, Paul Dano, Sarah Paulson, Parker Posey and John Turturro. Rounding out the nominees for Best Drama Guest Actress are Claire Foy for “The Crown,” Marcia Gay Harden for “The Morning Show” while Nestor Carbonell for “Shogun,” Tracy Letts...

In 2022, Marcia Gay Harden received her third career Emmy nomination for appearing in a second season episode of “The Morning Show.” Since her first bid had come 15 years earlier for her work on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” she qualified for entry into the club of Best Drama Guest Actress nominees for multiple series. Scroll through our photo gallery to learn who else is in this exclusive group.

Of the 28 women on this list, nine took the gold for at least one of their nominated performances. The one who triumphed most recently was Cherry Jones, whose consecutive victories for “The Handmaid’s Tale” (2019) and “Succession” (2020) made her the category’s fourth two-show winner, after Shirley Knight (“Thirtysomething”; “NYPD Blue”), Alfre Woodard (“L.A. Law”; “The Practice”), and Amanda Plummer (“The Outer Limits”; “Law & Order: Svu”).

Although the Best Drama Guest Actress award has only been bestowed on an annual basis...

Bill Klages, a trailblazer in the field of television lighting design and a seven-time Emmy recipient, died Sunday at his home in Santa Monica, his son, Jonathan Klages, told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 97.

Klages in 2012 became the only lighting designer inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. His six-decade career spanned the early days of black-and-white live television through the sophisticated high-definition productions of today.

The native New Yorker lighted the Emmys, the Tonys, the Grammys and The Kennedy Center Honors as well as a range of high-profile entertainment programs that included Kraft Music Hall, My Name Is Barbra, Sills and Burnett at the Met, Baryshnikov by Tharp and The Dorothy Hamill Special.

Nominated for 22 Emmys, Klages collected his first trophy in 1974 — when he won for The Lie, an Ingmar Bergman-written telefilm that starred George Segal and Shirley Knight — and his last in 1991, when he was honored...

In 1967, Agnes Moorehead made history as the first woman (and second performer) to receive Primetime Emmy nominations in two categories at once. By winning for her work on “The Wild Wild West” while also competing as a star of “Bewitched,” she blazed a trail for 55 other actresses who have since been given double or even triple chances at Emmy glory. Scroll through our chronological photo gallery to find out who else is included in this special group.

Over the years, 14 women have simultaneously competed for two acting Emmys at multiple points in their careers. The overall record for most entries on this or the corresponding male list belongs to Cloris Leachman, who was doubly recognized seven different times between 1973 and 2006.

Whereas James Earl Jones is the only male actor to have ever won two Emmys in a single year, eight actresses have accomplished the same feat. Aside from Leachman (1975), that...

Exclusive: Aldis Hodge (Black Adam) and Lauren E. Banks (City on a Hill) are the latest additions to the cast of The Dutchman, the psychological thriller based on the Obie Award-winning play by Amiri Baraka, which began filming under a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement in September.

The actors join an ensemble that includes André Holland, Kate Mara, Zazie Beetz and Stephen McKinley Henderson, as we were first to tell you. Emmy nominee Andre Gaines (The One and Only Dick Gregory) is directing from his screenplay written with filmmaker Qasim Basir.

Set on a New York subway, The Dutchman centers on an encounter between a well-to-do Black man and an enchanting white woman who match wits in a sexualized game of cat and mouse that leads to a violent conclusion. The searing confrontation amplifies the dimensions of racial conflict in America in this adaptation of the stage show first presented at the...

Exclusive: André Holland (Passing), Kate Mara (Black Mirror), Zazie Beetz (The Harder They Fall) and Stephen McKinley Henderson (Beau Is Afraid) are set to star in The Dutchman, a psychological thriller based on the Obie Award-winning play by Amiri Baraka that has landed a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement.

Directing from his script written with filmmaker Qasim Basir is Andre Gaines, the Emmy-nominated multi-hyphenate behind Showtime’s 2021 documentary The One and Only Dick Gregory. Production kicks off in New York City September 25th, putting a group of 150 or so back to work.

Set on a New York subway, The Dutchman centers on an encounter between a well-to-do Black man and an enchanting white woman who match wits in a sexualized game of cat and mouse that leads to a violent conclusion. The searing confrontation amplifies the dimensions of racial conflict in America in this adaptation of the stage show first presented...

Before we present the New York premiere of a new 4K restoration of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rain People this weekend at NYC’s Roxy Cinema, it seemed germane to point towards this early meeting of two old friends (just before they changed Hollywood forever). In 1968 the enterprising experimental filmmaker George Lucas followed The Rain People‘s production across America, documenting the practical, grinding realities of film and stresses upon its artists, in the process finding a young, prodigiously talented director making his first pushes against an industry that––some things never change!––doesn’t attract, as he’d put it, “some of the most interesting guys.” The resulting work was Filmmaker: a diary by george lucas, which Coppola would suggest is superior to his own feature, and served as the first title copyrighted under either’s companies, American Zoetrope and Lucasfilm.

To which degree this could only anticipate...

Robert Patrick, the prolific playwright and onetime roommate of Lanford Wilson best known for the drama Kennedy’s Children, which starred Shirley Knight in a Tony-winning performance, has died. He was 85.

Patrick died in his sleep Sunday at his home in Los Angeles, Jason Jenn, his caregiver and longtime friend and associate, announced.

Patrick got his start at the West Village off-off-Broadway venue Caffe Cino and worked at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, and more than 300 productions of his plays were staged in New York in the 1960s.

Patrick started writing Kennedy’s Children — set in a bar on New York’s Lower East Side on Valentine’s Day — in 1968 and finished it four years later. He premiered it off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizon to little attention before taking it to London, where it played in a pub and then the West End, was directed by Clive Donner and became a sensation.

Robert Patrick, a pioneering playwright in the Off Off Broadway movement who later won wider acclaim for the 1975 Broadway staging of his play Kennedy’s Children, died in his sleep at home in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 23. He was 85.

His death was announced by Jason Jenn, a longtime friend and associate.

The Broadway production of Kennedy’s Children starred Shirley Knight, who won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress, beating out a competitive roster that included Meryl Streep, Mary Beth Hurt and Lois Nettleton.

The play, which focused on a group of former 1960s activists reuniting and reminiscing in a Lower East Side bar, was adapted by Patrick for a 1982 TV movie that starred Knight, Jane Alexander, Lindsay Crouse and Brad Dourif, among others.

Robert Patrick O’Connor was born in Kilgore, Texas to migrant workers, later joining the Air Force for a stint cut short when a poem...

The fourth and final season of “Succession” was always going to be an Emmy threat. The HBO drama about a powerful and wealthy New York media family led by Logan Roy (Brian Cox) amassed a whopping 48 nominations and 13 wins throughout its first three seasons. Nearly half of those bids (23) were for acting, so no one should be surprised if/when the Jesse Armstrong-created series earns several more on its way out, beginning with the guest categories and going all the way up the chain. And no one should be surprised if a few of those nominations also lead to repeat winners.

Cherry Jones is one of three “Succession” actors who have won for their performance thus far (Jeremy Strong and Matthew Macfadyen are the others). She took home the Emmy for Best Drama Guest Actress in 2020 for her turn as Nan Pierce, the formidable head of the wealthy Pierce...

Emmy-winning cinematographer Bill Butler, who was Oscar nominated for shooting “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” and was also the D.P. on Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” died Wednesday, according to the American Society of Cinematographers. He was 101.

Spielberg remembered Butler in a statement, saying, “On ‘Jaws,’ Bill Butler was the bedrock on that rickety, rocking boat called the Orca. He was the only calm in the middle of that storm, and as we went into a battle against nature and technology that wore both of us down, the audience eventually won the war. Bill’s outlook on life was pragmatic, philosophical and so very patient, and I owe him so much for his steadfast and creative contributions to the entire look of ‘Jaws.’”

In addition to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Butler served as d.p. on a number of other high-profile films of the 1970s, including Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation,...

Sandra Seacat, the actress and influential acting coach who as a Lee Strasberg disciple taught the craft to the likes of Laura Dern, Mickey Rourke, Harvey Keitel, Common, Andrew Garfield, Michelle Williams and many others, has died. She was 86.

Seacat died Tuesday of natural causes in Santa Monica, family friend and publicist Stan Rosenfield announced.

Seacat’s students said her innovative techniques were able to extract out of them their most truthful, powerful and naturalistic performances.

“Sandra lived by seeing magic and possibility in everything,” Dern said in a statement. “She met the discovery of character and story with equal protectiveness, irreverence, humility and grace. She taught us the practice of investigating healing through acting.

“But more than that, she invited us to know ourselves as artists and humans in ways I could’ve never begun to explore without her. She’s been my teacher since age 17, and I had...

Diane McBain, whose career playing spoiled rich girls included turns as the yacht owner Daphne Dutton on the ABC crime show Surfside 6 and an author stalking Elvis Presley in Spinout, has died. She was 81.

McBain died Wednesday morning at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills after a battle with liver cancer, her friend and writing partner, Michael Gregg Michaud, told The Hollywood Reporter.

McBain also guest-starred on four episodes of ABC’s Batman, first as a hat shop assistant who’s in cahoots with David Wayne’s Mad Hatter in 1966 and then as stamp company proprietor Pinky Pinkston — she wore only pink and had a pink dog — on the memorable 1967 installment that featured The Green Hornet (Van Williams) and Kato (Bruce Lee).

In her first film, McBain appeared with Richard Burton in Vincent Sherman’s Ice Storm (1960), then starred alongside Troy Donahue and Claudette Colbert...

Hello, everyone! August 23rd is a quiet day for horror and sci-fi home media releases, but that doesn’t mean that this week’s offerings aren’t pretty darn great all the same. Scream Factory has put together a killer Collector’s Edition 4K release for Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers and Kino Lorber has put together reissues of their Blu-ray box sets for seasons one and two of The Outer Limits, which genre fans will definitely want to pick up.

Cheers!

Dog Soldiers: 4K Collector’s Edition

A group of soldiers dispatched to the Scottish Highlands on special training maneuvers face their biggest fears after they run into Captain Ryan – the only survivor of a Special Ops team that was literally torn to pieces. Ryan refuses to disclose his mission even though whoever attacked his men might be hungry for seconds. Help arrives in the form of a...

Mathieu Amalric on the coat worn by Shirley Knight in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rain People and the one on Vicky Krieps: “That’s the reference. I told that to Caroline Spieth, the costume person.”

Mathieu Amalric’s terrific Hold Me Tight (Serre Moi Fort), based on the play Je Reviens De Loin by Claudine Galéa, shot by Christophe Beaucarne and starring Vicky Krieps and Arieh Worthalter was a highlight of the 74th Cannes Film Festival and New York’s 27th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. In the first instalment with Mathieu we discussed his films on John Zorn, thoughts on Robert Musil, Thomas Bernhard, Jerry Lewis, and going to Rome to film with Nanni Moretti Il Sol Dell'avvenire.

Mathieu Amalric (Je Reviens De Loin by Claudine Galéa) with Anne-Katrin Titze on Vicky Krieps as Clarisse: “As you said, she does the film. Her character is the projectionist,...

It was an unusual ceremony, in which an Emmy rule change pitted series regulars against one-episode guest stars. In addition, two of the most awarded comedies of all time battled it out, a favorite drama lost the top spot and one of the most celebrated talk shows of all time finally received a top honor. This was also the last year that the Big Four networks received all the nominations for Best Drama Series and Best Comedy Series. We’re throwing it back three decades to August 30, 1992, when Tim Allen, Kirstie Alley and Dennis Miller hosted the 44th Primetime Emmy Awards on Fox. Read on for our Emmys flashback 30 years ago to 1992.

Between 1989 and 1992, “Cheers” and “Murphy Brown” volleyed the Best Comedy award back and forth. This was “Murphy’s” year, winning in this category for the second and final time. The other sitcoms up were “Brooklyn Bridge,” “Home Improvement” and “Seinfeld.

SAG-AFTRA’s unclaimed residuals fund has grown to roughly $76 million – up 60% from $48 million six years ago. According to the union, the fund now contains 124,000 separate accounts for members and others, living and dead, that it can’t locate. That’s up from 96,000 accounts in 2016.

“The funds may be unclaimed for a variety of reasons including a bad address or as a result of mail returned for other reasons; unresolved estate issues, or the funds may be in trust for an inactive or dissolved loan out corporation,” a spokesperson for the union said. “Most often, residuals may be waiting for a recipient or their agent to formalize a change of address or submit the appropriate paperwork to claim the funds. The union uses a number of tools to locate and get money to those individuals due unclaimed residuals including mail, email and telephone outreach to last known address and telephone number,...

Retro-active: The Best From The Cinema Retro Archives

Review – Naked City: The Complete Series

Rlj Entertainment / 6,063 minutes

By Harvey F. Chartrand

Naked City was like no other TV series before or since – Michel Moriarty, star of Law and Order, once told this reviewer.

Inspired by Jules Dassin's 1948 film of the same name, Naked City centers on the detectives of the NYPD’s 65th Precinct, but the criminals and New York City itself often played as prominent a role in the dramas as the series regulars. Like the film it was based on, Naked City (1958- 1963) was shot almost entirely on location. The first season ran as a half-hour show under the title The Naked City, starring James Franciscus and John McIntire playing, respectively, Detective Jimmy Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon—the same roles essayed by Don Taylor and Barry Fitzgerald in the film.

The Naked City also starred Harry Bellaver as Det.

Once upon a time a movie could really send you out of the theater with a smile on your face (Don’t make me explain what a movie theater was). James L. Brooks scores here with another fine entertainment, creating yet another character for Jack Nicholson to hit out of the park. But the generosity of characterization anoints the entire cast, especially Helen Hunt, the most emotionally deserving working woman since Shirley MacLaine’s Fran Kubelik. Nicholson’s miserable curmudgeon is once again a guy who learns how to be a mensch, at least a little bit. It’s an old story but Brooks makes it new again.

As Good As It Gets

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint]

1997 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 138 min. / Street Date September 3, 2021 / Available from / 50.99

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr., Skeet Ulrich, Shirley Knight, Yeardley Smith, Lupe Ontiveros, Bibi Osterwald, Brian Doyle-Murray.

Cinematography: John Bailey...

Throughout TV history, many original series leads who left their posts have later returned for guest spots, including Farrah Fawcett (“Charlie’s Angels”), Ron Howard (“Happy Days”), and Steve Carell (“The Office”). While these special appearances typically delight fans, they rarely capture the attention of Emmy voters. To date, only four previously nominated stars have received guest bids for reprising their roles, with Claire Foy (“The Crown”) having just added her name to the list this year. If she is successful on this outing, she will be the first winner of both lead and guest acting prizes for the same role.

Three decades ago, Alfre Woodard became the first performer to be recognized for her return to a once lead-nominated role. Her 1986 Best Drama Actress bid for her portrayal of Dr. Roxanne Turner on “St. Elsewhere” was her third overall and represented the series’ first and only showing in the category.

Hello, dear readers! August 10th looks to be something of a quiet day for horror and sci-fi home media releases, but one of this writer’s favorite films of 2021 is arriving on Blu-ray and DVD this week—My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To—so that makes me incredibly happy. Cult genre fans will be excited about the opportunity to add The Frenchman’s Garden and Jess Franco’s Angel of Death to their personal media collections, and if you missed it in theaters, The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2 is headed home on Blu and DVD this Tuesday as well.

Other releases for August 10th include re-releases for Friday the 13th (1980), The Haunting (1999), Disintegration, Day of the Reaper, Prison of the Psychotic Damned, and Dark Stories.

The Frenchman’s Garden

"The Frenchman" was what locals called the man who ran the bar and restaurant in the...

Alexis Bledel is the early favorite to take home the Best Drama Guest Actress Emmy for “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a potential victory that would enter her in the record books. That’s because it would be her second award, which would put her in a seven-way tie for most wins in the category.

Bledel first won drama guest actress in 2017 for her performance as Emily on the first season of “Handmaid’s,” kicking off what would be a three-year reign in the category for the Hulu series. Her co-stars Samira Wiley and Cherry Jones prevailed in 2018 and ’19, respectively. Jones is one of the six people who’ve won the category twice; her other win was just last year for “Succession.” The other two-time champs are: Patricia Clarkson (“Six Feet Under,” 2002, ’06), Shirley Knight, Margo Martindale Amanda Plummer (“The Outer Limits,” 1996; “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” 2005) and Alfre Woodard (“L.A. Law,...

Grandma's Boy has gone animated in a new clip shared online by producer, co-writer, and star Allen Covert. Released in 2006, Grandma's Boy was directed by Nicholas Goossen and written by Covert, Barry Wernick, and Nick Swardson. It follows a video game tester and total pothead (Covert) who moves in with his grandmother (Doris Roberts) after he's evicted from his home. It didn't exactly light the box office on fire when it was released, but it's a movie that has garnered a cult following in the years since.

On Monday, Allen Covert posted a video on his Instagram account featuring the return of his character, Alex. An animated short, the clip is just under two minutes long. Of course, it depicts Alex smoking cannabis alongside his pot dealer, Dante, played by Peter Dante in the movie. Heavily inebriated, the two interact with Dante's new Alexa, even somehow sharing a joint with the electronic device.

Who will be included for the special “In Memoriam” segment for Sunday night’s Oscars 2021 ceremony? With last year’s Academy Awards happening over 14 months ago, it means an even larger number of film veterans have died. Producers will hopefully be offering a longer remembrance and not leaving out people for the sake of time.

Superstar actor Chadwick Boseman died late last summer and is a nominee as Best Actor for his role in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Previous Oscar winners from acting categories show who will likely be honored include Sean Connery, Olivia de Havilland, Cloris Leachman and Christopher Plummer. Past acting nominees include Hal Holbrook, Ian Holm, Shirley Knight, George Segal, Cicely Tyson, Max von Sydow and Stuart Whitman.

SEE2021 Oscars presenters: Last year’s winners Renee Zellweger, Joaquin Phoenix, Laura Dern, Brad Pitt returning

Almost all of the near 100 people on the list below were Academy members.

Even though Sunday’s SAG Awards ceremony will be shortened to just one pre-taped hour on TNT and TBS, the special In Memoriam segment will still be a highlight. Since the 2020 event aired on January 19, it will be over 14 months until the one on April 4. That means even more actors, actresses and members of SAG/AFTRA will hopefully be honored than the 40 people in the tribute last year.

Chadwick Boseman died last August and is a four-time nominee for the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday. The two individual nominations are for his leading role in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and his supporting performance in “Da 5 Bloods.” Those two films also are nominated for the top ensemble category.

Oscar winners who have died in the past 14 months include Sean Connery, Olivia de Havilland, Cloris Leachman and Christopher Plummer. Academy Award nominees include Boseman, Kirk Douglas, Hal Holbrook, Ian Holm,...

Some movies, performances and moviemakers are so iconic that it’s easy to assume the Academy recognized them at some point, and it can be astounding to find out that some of them failed to take home a statue. Such is the case with the 33rd annual Academy Awards ceremony, helmed by iconic host Bob Hope on April 17, 1961. Whereas a deserving picture did win, a few equally memorable movies and performances were left out, a legendary director would lose his last chance at the statue and it was both the first and last year for some Oscar traditions.

Prolific writer and director Billy Wilder was no stranger to the Academy – in fact, he already had 17 nominations and three wins prior to 1960. However, this would prove to be an historic year for him, as he became the first individual to win Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay (Original) all in the same year,...

Many TV legends and contributors were included for the “In Memoriam” segment on Sunday’s Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony for ABC. But producers are always forced to omit some of the 100+ insiders who died since the last ceremony. Who was left out of the group that was honored?

With dozens of television veterans having died since last year’s mid-September ceremony, people certainly included were these six TV Academy Hall of Fame members:

Diahann Carroll

Leonard Goldberg (executive at 20th Century Fox and ABC; producer of “Charlie’s Angels” and more)

Jim Lehrer (anchor/reporter of “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour)

Regis Philbin

Carl Reiner

Fred Silverman

SEECelebrity Deaths 2020: In Memoriam Gallery

Even though he wasn’t known for his TV work, blockbuster film actor Chadwick Boseman was featured in the final slot. NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant was not mentioned, even though the event was being held in the Staples Center.

For Sunday’s Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on ABC, producers will have the always difficult task of assembling a memoriam segment. Even though the event hosted by Jimmy Kimmel will be virtual, it’s a certainty they will include the popular “In Memoriam” on the show.

With over 100 television veterans having died since last year’s mid-September ceremony, those expected to be honored would include such TV legends and TV Academy Hall of Fame members:

Diahann Carroll

Leonard Goldberg (executive at 20th Century Fox and ABC; producer of “Charlie’s Angels” and more)

Jim Lehrer (anchor/reporter of “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour)

Regis Philbin

Carl Reiner

Fred Silverman

SEECelebrity Deaths 2020: In Memoriam Gallery

Even though they weren’t known for their TV work, it’s very likely NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant and blockbuster film actor Chadwick Boseman will be honored. Also among the dozens most likely included since they...

Cherry Jones was a surprise Emmy champ last year, prevailing in Best Drama Guest Actress for her, um, super brief appearance in “The Handmaid’s Tale” over favorite Phylicia Rashad (“This Is Us”). She’s back in the same category this year for “Succession,” but a victory this time would be far less shocking, though no less notable.

If Jones, who’s in second in our odds, wins, she’d join Margo Martindale as the only people to snag back-to-back statuettes in this category. Martindale, who also knows a thing or two about winning for short appearances, triumphed in 2015 and 2016 for “The Americans” (she’s nominated this year in limited/TV movie supporting actress for “Mrs. America”). Since Martindale won for the same show, Jones would also stand alone as the first to win two consecutive drama guest actress Emmys for different shows. Charles S. Dutton is the only performer to accomplish this twofer so far,...

After getting away with her fifth Best Drama Guest Actress Emmy bid for “How to Get Away with Murder” on Tuesday, Cicely Tyson now holds the solo record for the nominations in this category.

The icon had shared it with Shirley Knight, Margo Martindale, Diana Rigg and Alfre Woodard for the past year following her fourth bid for the ABC thriller.

This year, Tyson faces former champ Alexis Bledel (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), Laverne Cox (“Orange Is the New Black”), Phylicia Rashad (“This Is Us”), Harriet Walter (“Succession”) and Cherry Jones (“Succession”). Jones is the defending champ — but for another show, “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

See Full list of 2020 Emmy nominations

If setting one record wasn’t already enough, Tyson could set one of the following two in September: If she triumphs at 95, she’ll become the oldest winner in this category; if she doesn’t, she’ll be the performer with...

Cicely Tyson has already claimed three Emmys, two for “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” in 1974 (Best Movie/Mini Actress and Actress of the Year) and one for “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All” in 1994 (Best Movie/Mini Supporting Actress). But despite four Best Drama Guest Actress nominations for “How to Get Away with Murder,” she has yet to triumph for her turn as Ophelia Harkness. Might she, at long last, bag one for the show’s sixth and final season?

A 15-time nominee, Tyson looks safe to scoop up her 16th career bid, currently topping our early combined odds. The only year she was left out for “Murder” was 2016 for its second installment — but she was on the same ballot that year for “House of Cards.” Considering the latter netted eight acting citations that year, five of which were for guest actors, it’s probable that Tyson split her own vote.

While April was late to arrive, given that March lasted 4 years as we all adjusted to the new world over, it was over in a flash. In case you missed any herewith a baker's dozen to highlight this past month on The Film Experience. We're working hard behind the scenes to make May truly extra so please support us with clicks, shares, follows, and subscriptions.

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For the first time in the history of the Oscars, movies that made a streaming debut will be allowed to qualify for awards, including Best Picture. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has amended its rules, for next year's Academy Awards only, to allow for streaming movies to compete. This comes at a time when theaters all across the U.S. are closed for an indefinite time, making it incredibly difficult for movies to qualify under the old rules.

The Academy's board of governors approved the rule change, but emphasized it is a temporary measure. Once theaters are allowed to reopen, the rules of exemption that have been established temporarily will no longer apply. Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson had this to say about it in a statement.

"The Academy firmly believes there is no greater way to experience the magic of movies than to see them in a theater.

Not all Tennessee Williams film adaptations are successful, but Richard Brooks’ blend of romance, show biz venality and political thuggery is just too entertaining to dismiss. The entire cast is better than good, with Geraldine Page shining and Paul Newman well-cast. And the ingenue Shirley Knight receives her most iconic role, right at the beginning of her career. It’s sad timing for admirers of Ms. Knight, but still good to see her looking so radiant.

Sweet Bird of Youth

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1962 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 120 min. / Street Date April 28, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Ed Begley, Rip Torn, Mildred Dunnock, Madeleine Sherwood.

Cinematography: Milton Krasner

Film Editor: Henry Berman

Written by Richard Brooks from a play by Tennessee Williams

Produced by Pandro S. Berman

Directed by Richard Brooks

As with many American playwrights, Tennessee Williams was definitely bitten by the bug to...

Chicago – There was a time in Hollywood when the character actor was a familiar and reassuring presence in great movies and TV series. Shirley Knight, who worked from 1959-2018, was one of those reliable performers. Knight passed away on April 22nd, 2020, at the age of 83.

Shirley Knight was born in Kansas, and came up through the famous Pasadena Theatre School and the Hb Studio in New York City in the 1950s. Her unique look and talent was evident in her Oscar nominated roles in “The Dark At the Top of the Stairs” (1960) and “Sweet Bird of Youth” (1962). She worked steadily in film during the 1960s, with roles in “The Group” (1966) and “Petulia” (1968), which have become cult favorites.

In subsequent years, she was cast in films as diverse as “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure” (1979). “Endless Love” (1981), “As Good As it Gets” (1997), “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (2009) and the Blumhouse Production, “Mercy” (2014). On TV,...

by Nathaniel R

Two-time Oscar nominee Shirley Knight has passed away at 83 years of age of natural causes. Knight began her enduring screen career with guest starring roles in TV series of the 1950s in her early twenties and by 1959 she'd made her credited big screen debut as a nun in the violent B movie Five Gates to Hell (1959). It didn't take her long to achieve the pinnacle of Hollywood accolades, though, with nominations for Best Supporting Actress for just her third and fourth movies (the family drama Dark at the Top of the Stairs in 1960 and the Tennessee Williams adaptation Sweet Bird of Youth in 1962...

Even more sad news is coming in this week as the Emmy and Tony-winning actress Shirley Knight has passed away. Known for her work in movies like The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and Sweet Bird of Youth, Knight was a veteran actress whose impressive performances have stuck with viewers for decades. Reportedly, Knight died on Wednesday due to "natural causes" at the San Marcos, Texas home of her daughter, actress Kaitlin Hopkins.She was 83 years old.

Shirley Knight was born in Goessel, Kansas, on July 5, 1936. Knowing very early in life she wanted to perform, Knight had begun studying to be an opera singer at the age of eleven. After graduating from high school, Knight attended Phillips University and Wichita State University, going on to study at the Pasadena Theatre School to train as an actress. She would make her movie debut in the 1959 movie Five Gates to Hell,...

Shirley Knight, a two-time Oscar nominee and Emmy-winning actress, died at her daughter’s home in Texas. She was 83.

Knight died of natural causes, her actress daughter Kaitlin Hopkins announced in a note mourning her mother she posted on Facebook. The Kansas native died on Wednesday.

“Early this morning April 22nd you passed away, and your sweet soul left us for a better place. I was at your side and you went peacefully. To me, you were ‘just mom”’ to some you were ‘Miss Knight’, ‘Miss Shirley’, ‘Mama Shirley’ (to my students), ‘Shirl the Girl’ (to your friends), and ‘Shirley Knight’ to your fans,...

Shirley Knight, a Tony- and Emmy Award-winning actress whose long and varied career included Oscar-nominated performances in 1960’s The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and 1962’s Sweet Bird of Youth, died today of natural causes at the home of her daughter Kaitlin Hopkins, in San Marcos, TX. She was 83.

In a memorial tribute addressed to Knight and posted on Facebook, Hopkins, an actress, wrote: “Early this morning April 22nd you passed away, and your sweet soul left us for a better place. I was at your side and you went peacefully. To me, you were ‘just mom’, to some you were ‘Miss Knight’, ‘Miss Shirley’, ‘Mama Shirley’ (to my students), ‘Shirl the Girl’ (to your friends), and ‘Shirley Knight’ to your fans.”

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Actress Shirley Knight, star of “Sweet Bird of Youth,” and “As Good As It Gets” has died, her daughter actress Kaitlin Hopkins announced in a facebook post. She was 83.

Knight received two Oscar nominations for her work in her third and fourth films, “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs” and “Sweet Bird of Youth, and appeared in numerous movies such as “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” and television shows such as “Thirtysomething” and “NYPD Blue.”

A native from Kansas, Knight received a Tony Award in 1976 for her portrayal as an alcoholic actress in “Kennedy’s Children,” and received a second nomination again in 1997 in Horton Foote’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Young Man From Atlanta.” Knight won two Emmys in 1995 and a Golden Globe, the first Emmy was for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie in the the television movie “The McMartin Trial,” where she starred as Peggy Buckley,...

Shirley Knight, who was twice Oscar nominated for best supporting actress, for “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs” (1960) and “Sweet Bird of Youth” (1962), and won a Tony and three Emmys, died on Wednesday of natural causes in San Marcos, Texas. She was 83.

Her daughter, actress Kaitlin Hopkins, paid tribute to Knight in a lengthy Facebook post.

Knight continued to work as she approached 80, reprising her role as Mom in “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2” in 2015 after appearing in the 2009 original.

In 1997’s “As Good as It Gets,” starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, Knight played the mother of Hunt’s character; the New York Times called her performance “tenderly funny.”

Other film credits of recent vintage include Luis Mandoki’s “Angel Eyes” (2001), starring Jennifer Lopez; thriller “The Salton Sea” (2002); “Grandma’s Boy” (2006); Rebecca Miller’s “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee” (2009), with Robin Wright; “Our Idiot Brother” (2011), toplined by...

Shirley Knight, the daring actress and darling of Tennessee Williams who received Oscar nominations for her work in her third and fourth films, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and Sweet Bird of Youth, has died. She was 83.

Knight died Wednesday of natural causes at the home of her daughter, actress Kaitlin Hopkins, in San Marcos, Texas.

Knight was known for taking bold chances during her career — as when she portrayed a promiscuous woman who confronts a young black male (Al Freeman Jr.) on the New York subway in the incendiary 1966 independent film Dutchman ...

Shirley Knight, the daring actress and darling of Tennessee Williams who received Oscar nominations for her work in her third and fourth films, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and Sweet Bird of Youth, has died. She was 83.

Knight died Wednesday of natural causes at the home of her daughter, actress Kaitlin Hopkins, in San Marcos, Texas.

Knight was known for taking bold chances during her career — as when she portrayed a promiscuous woman who confronts a young black male (Al Freeman Jr.) on the New York subway in the incendiary 1966 independent film Dutchman ...

Aidan Quinn (CBS’ Elementary) has been cast in a lead role of Signature Theatre’s upcoming Off Broadway revival of Horton Foote’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Young Man From Atlanta.

The production will be directed by Michael Wilson (The Orphans’ Home Cycle), and is set to begin previews at the Irene Diamond Stage at the Pershing Square Signature Center on Nov. 5, with an opening night of Nov. 24. The engagement runs through Dec. 8.

Signature announced the casting today. In addition to Quinn, the previously announced production will feature Devon Abner, Dan Bittner, Pat Bowie, Kristine Nielsen, Jon Orsini and Larry Pine. Additional casting will be determined at a later date.

Quinn and Nielsen (Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus) will play Will and Lilly Dale Kidder, the play’s central couple. The drama follows the aging Kidders as they grieve the recent drowning death of their son Bill, who may or...

Beyonce is in the Emmy race for “Homecoming,” but it’s Patricia Clarkson who could end up being ***Flawless. The “Sharp Objects” star is the early favorite in our odds to claim the Best Limited Series/TV Movie Supporting Actress prize, which would give her a pristine 3-for-3 Emmy record.

Clarkson has never lost an Emmy race, nabbing two Best Drama Guest Actress statuettes in 2002 and ’06 for “Six Feet Under.” The dual victories made her one of five women to have won that category a record two times, alongside Shirley Knight, Margo Martindale, Amanda Plummer and Alfre Woodward. Clarkson and Martindale, who went back to back in 2015-16 for “The Americans,” are the only ones to win multiple times for playing the same character on the same show.

After winning the catch-all supporting Golden Globe and the Critics’ Choice Award in January, Clarkson was the top choice in our nomination...

By Tim Greaves

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One of the most surprising things about director Roger Christian’s 1982 chiller The Sender, which screams America from almost every fibre, is that it’s British made. With a cast and crew of varied nationality and narratively set in America – location work took place in Georgia – all the studio work for the Paramount Pictures production was actually shot on stages at Shepperton in the UK.

British born Christian himself was a former Academy Award winning art director on the first Star Wars (and a nominee in the same category for Alien). On the other end of the ‘accomplishments to be proud of’ scale, however, he’s the man responsible for the woeful Battlefield Earth, so it’s fair to say his cinematic career was mixed. The Sender, his debut in the director’s chair, resides on the upper end of that scale.

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1960 is coming on Sunday July 21st. Meet The Panelists Here. The readers (that's you!), collectively, are the final panelist each month. If you want to participate please email in your votes by Friday July 19th.

Glynis Johns, The Sundowners Shirley Jones, Elmer Gantry Shirley Knight, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs Janet Leigh, Psycho Mary Ure, Sons and Lovers

How it's done? You grade each nominee on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (absolute perfection) hearts... vote only on the performances you've seen, please, as votes are weighted so no performance is rewarded or punished for being abundantly seen or underseen. ...