We have lose a voice for social issues in comics as longtime comic book writer and editor Dennis O’Neil has taken his Final Taxi.
The world will remember O’Neil’s writing for DC Comics’ “Batman” from 1986 to 2000 where he took a prankster villain “Joker” and turn him into a darker, twisted soul. Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix borrowed heavily from O’Neil’s version for their film portrayal of this complicated individual. O’Neil introduced the villain Ra’s Al Ghul who would be seen later in the Batman movies as well as the ‘Arrow’ TV series. While working with DC Comics he also wrote and created, along with artist Steve Ditko, the bizarre hero ‘The Creeper’ who has remained one of my favorite characters.
O’Neil also worked at Marvel Comics on such series as “Spider-Man,” “Doctor Strange,” “X-Men” and “Iron Man”. On “Iron Man” he had the hero (Tony Stark) relapse into alcoholism. Much of O’Neil’s work on this plot thread was based on experiences with alcoholics he knew personally.
One of O’Neil most award winning and note worthy writing endeavors was his run on “Green Lantern-Green Arrow.” During this time Green Arrow became a vocal leftist, criticizing the “law and order over all” attitudes of his fellow superheroes. The two heroes of the book take to the road looking for social justice instead of fighting ‘super-villains.’ The ‘ Hard-Traveling Heroes’ raised issues that had rarely been touched on in mainstream comics. Long before the Black Live Matter movement is a memorable moment in which a Black man confronts Green Lantern, asking why he cares more for the plight of aliens than that of his fellow Americans, especially those who are black.
Another famous plotline was when it was revealed that Green Arrow’s sidekick Speedy had become addicted to heroin. This was strong stuff for comic of the early 1970’s.
It was Dennis O’Neil’s writing for DC Comic’s ‘The Question’ that was my favorite book by him. ‘The Question’ was created by artist Steve Ditko, who also created Spider-Man, and is based on his political anti-hero “Mr. A”. O’Neil took the character back to those political roots. The Question is a reporter in Hub City, which has become corrupt. Street gangs and the mob rule the city and the government is run by them, resulting in complete lawlessness. He is a man with a faceless skin mask, with no powers and no heroes to help him clean up this city.
O’Neil’s run tackled many social issues and injustices rarely addressed in comics.
Dennis O’Neil retired in 2000, after garnering numerous industry awards, and leaving a legacy of some of the greatest heroes and villains of all time. He was 81.
I really hate how the media sometimes summarize someone’s life in a few words.
Many times they will look at an incredible actor and only see a few of the more popular roles he played and miss the greater body of work. They are doing that now with Alan Rickman.
Actor Alan Rickman took his Final Taxi at age 69 because of cancer. He has done so many wonderful films that have touched our lives but the news mostly focuses on the franchises, Harry Potter and Die Hard.
I first took notice of Rickman as an actor in the movie “Truly, Madly, Deeply” in 1990. This was two years after Die Hard. In it he plays Jamie, a dead musician so in love that death cannot keep him apart from his lover. It was kind of a thinking man’s “Ghost.”
One of my daughter’s favorite Rickman films is Ang Lee’s ” Sense and Sensibility” from 1995. This adaption of Jane Austin’s book has Rickman playing Colonel Brandon as a rich and worthy suitor for Marianne, played by Kate Winslet. This would not be the only time Winslet and Richman worked together. In 2015 Rickman directed ” A Little Chaos” with her as his lead ( He gives a great portrayal of King Louis XIV.)
Many fans will remember his role in 1999’s Galaxy Quest. Playing Alexander Dane, a Shakespearean actor who had found himself trapped and most fondly remembered for an alien on a silly sci-fi TV show. He did not hide the fact he hated it and we all thought it was hilarious as it echoed reality with a great spoof of Star Trek’s Spock. ( “By Grabnar’s Hammer!” )
I will always remember Rickman’s voice. It conveyed a wide range – from dripping sarcasm to great comic pomposity. He proved that in one of my favorite roles as Marvin the paranoid robot in 2005’s “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. With a brain as big as a Volkswagen, Marvin was utterly depressed by having to hanging out with other life forms that were less intelligent than him. Rickman was actually one of the best at that kind of deadpan comic delivery. He used his voice only again in 2010’s Alice In Wonderland as the Blue Caterpillar a role that he repeated for the 2016 sequel.
There are so many other great films by Rickman you should see- The Cohen Brother’s “Gambit,” “Bottle Shock” Lee Daniel’s “The Butler” and “Something The Lord Made”. Alan Rickman will be missed for many reasons — his dry wit, incredible English humor, and most importantly for his ability to completely capture our attention on the big screen with his incredible performances. ..and that unforgettable voice.
Back in 1974 director George Lucas created a fad with the film “American Graffiti”. Nostalgia for the 1950’s echoed throughout the movie and soon all the media were recalling the decade. Movies, music and TV series started popping up recreating that innocent chapter in American life. One of the more popular TV shows was “Happy Days”, starring Ron Howard and Henry Winkler. This series was so popular that it spawned several others including “Laverne & Shirley”, “Joanie Loves Chachi” and “Mork & Mindy”, among others. In “Mork & Mindy” a space alien lands on Earth to report observations on its inhabitants back to his home planet, Ork. The only thing the show had going for it was a fresh faced comedian, Robin Williams. Williams’ wild antics and manic improvisational comedic talent made the show worth watching.
Sadly, Robin Williams, often labeled the “Funniest Man in the World”, has taken his Final Taxi.
Two entertainers shine the brightest in my memories of high school in the 70’s. Steve Martin in his white suit, with his “wild and crazy guy” act, and Robin Williams sporting rainbow suspenders while delivering an Orkiain handshake, saying “Na-Nu Na-Nu” as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The catchphrase among my classmates back in the day was “Shazbot”, a made-up swear word from the show that made us feel like we were all in on the joke.
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on July 21, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator Anselm J. McLaurin. Robin briefly studied political science before enrolling at Juilliard School to study theatre. After he left Juilliard, he performed in nightclubs, which is where he was discovered for the role of Mork.
In 1980 the first movie Williams did was Robert Altman’s “Popeye” based on the comic / cartoon created by E.C. Segar. He was able to capture the style of the early Popeye and the comedy came from the low mutterings under his breath. It was a great role from him but the film did not do so well at the box office.
I was lucky to be working as a theatre manager for a chain in 1982 when “The World According to Garp” came out. The trailer made the film look like a comedy- and several people came to the movie excepting to see “Mork” on the big screen. The film was very dark and preachy with a few black comedy bits scatter about. I had many people walk out during the movie. This was Williams telling the public he was not “Mork” and making it clear he wanted more serious roles. “Garp” continues to be one of my favorite Robin Williams movies – giving us what life is really like. It has ups and downs, happy and sad moments and before you know it – it’s over.
From that point on Williams was able to mix comedy and drama. He knew how to wear the mask. There was a palpable energy around him. Whether he was Adrian Cronauer of “Good Morning, Vietnam” or Patch Adams, there was that fine balance of drama and comedy. Even with “Mrs. Doubtfire” he so eloquently portrayed the sadness of a father missing his children while hamming it up as the crazy nanny he played just to be near them. The balance was there. It echoed throughout “Hook,” Bicentennial Man” and “The Fisher King.”
William played pure comedy roles in “The Survivors,” “Aladdin,” “Flubber,” “Night At The Museum,” and “RV” to name a few. He could also play very creepy and dark characters such as twisted Seymour Parrish in “One Hour Photo” or villains in “Insomnia” and TV shows like “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Homicide: Life on the Street.”
After being nominated for an Academy Award several times for films ( including my favorite, “Dead Poet’s Society”) William won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of Sean Maguire in 1997’s “Good Will Hunting“.
Robin Williams has always been one of my favorite actors. While my policy here on the Final Taxi has been to never write about someone who took their own life, this is different. Williams suffered from a sickness which was kept in the shadows up until his death. Depression can make you do things you would not normally do and we need to not judge him by this.
I thought about Juan de Dios Peza‘s famous poem about English actor David Garrick, “To Laugh While Crying.” The poem is about a man who is depressed and goes to see a doctor.
It reads: “Nothing holds any enchantment or attractiveness; I don’t care about my name or my fate I die living an eternal melancholy and my only hope is that of death”.
The doctor tells him go to see Garrick. He will make him laugh and forget his worry and pains. The man begins to cry that he is Garrick.
The last lines are moving and remind me of Williams:
How many are there who, tired of life, ill with pain, dead with tedium, make others laugh as the suicidal actor, without finding a remedy for their illness!
Ay! How often we laugh when we cry! Nobody trust the merriment of laughter, because in those beings devoured by pain, the soul groans when the face laughs!
If faith dies, if calm flees, if our feet only step on thistles, the tempest of the soul hurls to the face, a sad lighting: a smile.
The carnival of the world is such a trickster, that life is but a short masquerade; here we learn to laugh with tears and also to cry with laughter.
God Bless Robin Williams—Thanks for all the joy you gave us.
Quote from Robin Williams in the movie” Jack”:
“Please, don’t worry so much. Because in the end, none of us have very long on this Earth. Life is fleeting. And if you’re ever distressed, cast your eyes to the summer sky when the stars are strung across the velvety night. And when a shooting star streaks through the blackness, turning night into day, make a wish, and think of me. Make your life spectacular.”
In 1978 just as actor Peter Falk was leaving his most famous role – that of Lt. Columbo – he took a part in a comedy called “The Cheap Detective.” I was excited about seeing Falk in a different role than I had seen him in before. I laughed at Falk throughout the film, but one actress kept stealing my attention. She was playing the role of Betty DeBoop, who I had seen only a few months earlier in a film called “FM.” In it she played a sexy voiced DJ named ‘Mutha’. This actress was Eileen Brennan.
Eileen Brennan, 80, has taken her Final Taxi.
Eileen Brennan was best known for her supporting role as tough-talking drill captain Doreen Lewis in the film ” Pvt. Benjamin”
The actress played memorable roles as the brothel madam in “The Sting”, as a café waitress in “The Last Picture Show” and in “Scarecrow” alongside Gene Hackman and Al Pacino.
Brennan scored an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in 1980’s “Private Benjamin,” and won both an Emmy and Golden Globe for the role in the subsequent TV series adaptation in the early 1980s. She also had a memorable turn as Tess Skeffington, the blonde sidekick to Peter Falk’s San Francisco gumshoe Sam Diamond, in the all-star Agatha Christie spoof “Murder by Death”.
Other films include “Stella,” “Texasville” and “Jeepers Creepers” along with TV appearances in the likes of “Will and Grace,” “7th Heaven,” “E.R.,” and “Blossom”.
I will always remember Brennan for her brilliant work as Mrs. Peacock in one of my favorite films: 1985’s cult comedy classic “Clue”.
As long as I can remember vampires have been popular. Some may think it’s just a fad, but ever since “Dracula” was published in 1897, vampires have captured a place in our collective imagination. Currently there are several books and book series on the market in which vampires feature prominently. Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire novels and Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series are just two of my favorites. Don’t forget Anne Rice’s classic “Interview with the Vampire” and the hugely successful Twilight series. Many of these tales have been translated into film, and there are hundreds of movies with vampire characters. From the sympathetic Blade in the series of that name to the wide-eyed adolescents of The Lost Boys to real baddies like those in Fright Night – good guy or villain – we run to queue up at theatres to get our fix of romance/horror.
In the 60’s and 70’s there was one vampire that I would literally run to see every weekday. He was on TV every afternoon at 3:00. The problem was that my bus did not bring me home until about 3:10 or 3:15. This gothic soap opera was a half hour program and I barely got to see the last 10 to 15 minutes of it. The program was called “Dark Shadows” and the vampire who made himself at home among the unsuspecting citizens of Collinwood was named Barnabas Collins. This particular blood sucker was played by a Shakespearean actor named Jonathan Frid. Frid has taken his final taxi at the age of 87.
The character Barnabas Collins was a 200-year-old vampire who roamed in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette. He was brought into the ghost-infested soap in hopes of boosting its low ratings. Originally this was to be a brief role for Frid. He was booked for only 13 weeks, but the unheard of introduction of a vampire into a daytime series caused ratings to rise from the crypt and soar like a winged bat fluttering outside a heavily curtained castle window. Frid/Barnabas became the star of the show.
Frid did not expect Barnabas to be the one character that would define his acting career. He had only taken the role to pay for a move to the West Coast but scrapped other projects once the ‘short role’ became a major one. He played Barnabas untill “Dark Shadows” ended in 1971, after a five year run. He also played the vampire in the 1970 movie “House of Dark Shadows.” Frid had a few other TV and movie roles, but type casting bogged him down. He eventually returned to his first love, theater, in 1978.
Frid had a love/ hate relationship with Barnabas but eventually embraced the character, showing up at Dark Shadows conventions and even reprising the role in the new soon-to-be-released Tim Burton movie by the same title. Frid will play the older Barnabas Collins catching a glimpse of his younger self, as played by Johnny Depp.
To show you the popularity of the role Jonathan Frid developed, one of my favorite memories is of being in second grade and getting permission from my Mom to buy a book through the “Weekly Reader” book sale. I dashed in that autumn afternoon, clutching my copy of a little vampire joke book called “Barnabas Collins In A Funny Vein” just in time to tune in to Dark Shadows.
I think I grew up eating nothing but peanut butter sandwiches.
There was always that satisfying mix of peanut butter with jellies, jams, bananas, honey or even apples served in our kitchen. Mom always had first choice of getting the brand name but sometimes us kids were given a chance to pick what type we would get. There was Koogle peanut butter flavored with chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla and banana. Other favorites were Jif, Skippy and the local Bama brand. There was even one pre- mixed with grape jelly…but the one I always wanted to buy was Peter Pan.
Sure I knew who the character was from the Disney cartoon and the old Mary Martin television specials, but the real reason I like this brand was because of the crazy commercial that aired on TV featuring an insane and bumbling adult dressed as Peter Pan pushing the product. In the 70’s this was played by comedian Alan Sues.
Alan Sues took his Final Taxi this week at the age of 85.
Sues will be better known by some people as the flamboyant regular comic on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” in the late 1960s and early ’70s. He played mostly effeminate characters, such as Big Al, in a time when ‘coming out’ meant the end of your professional career. Sues joined the weekly cast of Goldie Hawn, Ruth Buzzi, Judy Carne, Jo Anne Worley, Arte Johnson and Henry Gibson in the hip and wacky comedy show.
Sues played in a few films such as “The Americanization of Emily” (1964) and “ Snowballing” (1984) but I adored him in the 1980 movie “O Heavenly Dog” with Chevy Chase, Jane Seymour and Benji. He also appeared in episodes of “The Twilight Zone”, “The Wild Wild West”, and “Punky Brewster”. He was the jealous reindeer in “Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July”.
Mash-ups have become very popular in modern music. They’re created when a DJ mixes two popular songs together to make one new song. This is accomplished by seamlessly overlaying the vocal track of one song over the instrumental track of another. This has been used quite a bit in the TV show ‘Glee’ where they’ve even done an entire show based on mash-ups. Recently I played one of my favorites to my girlfriend, Lesa. Imagine Led Zepplin’s ‘Stairway To Heaven’ and the theme to the TV show ‘Gilligan’s Island’ melded into one song. (This was recorded by Little Roger and the Goosebumps.)
Most everyone can sing the theme to ‘Gilligan’s Island’ if they’ve ever watched any of these shows. Remember these lyrics?
“Sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip.
It started from this tropic port aboard this tiny ship.
The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The skipper brave and sure,
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three-hour tour.”
The music and lyrics for the song, “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle,” were written by Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle. The TV show was also created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz.
Sherwood Schwartz has taken his Final Taxi.
Schwartz guided the little show through three seasons and garnered solid ratings during its run. It later appeared in syndication in the 70’s & 80’s making Gilligan a television icon and Bob Denver (who played the main character) a recognizable face.
Schwartz later took aim at the American family after hearing that in 1965 nearly one-third of American households included at least one child from a previous marriage. He then wrote the story of the marriage between a “lovely lady” with three daughters and “a man named Brady” with three sons. The series was called “The Brady Bunch”. It became the first sitcom to feature a family blended from two previous marriages. The show ran from 1969 to 1974 and had a theme song which, again, featured catchy lyrics written by Schwartz.
The show was so popular that it spun off a Saturday morning cartoon, a variety show, a reality show, TV movies, and several TV sitcoms. There was even a stage production called “The Real Live Brady Bunch” in the 90’s. A reboot in the movies came about in 1995 with “The Brady Bunch Movie” followed by “A Very Brady Sequel” (1996) and “The Brady Bunch in the White House,” a 2002 TV movie. Schwartz had his hand in all these projects in some form or another.
Schwartz also worked on “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” “I Married Joan,” “The Red Skelton Show,” and “My Favorite Martian” early in his career.
One of the most memorable scenes in Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 film “Reservoir Dogs” was when the character Mr. Blonde (played by Michael Madsen) tortures Kirk Baltz while dancing to the 1972 classic song by the band Stealers Wheel called “Stuck in the Middle With You”. The song was originally a joke song by a member of the band that parodied Bob Dylan’s distinctive lyrical style. It became a surprise hit for the group and peaking at No. 6 in 1973 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
The song was written by song writters Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty. Singer and songwriter Gerry Rafferty has taken his Final Taxi at age 63.
Rafferty will be best known for his solo work which includes hits like “Baker Street” and “Right Down the Line”.
Known for its prominent eight-bar saxophone riff, “Bakers Street” remains Rafferty‘s most identified song. Released in 1978 it reached No. 2 in the U.S singles chart. The album it came from,” City To City”, sold over 5.5 million copies and became a No. 1 selling LP. The songs lead to a resurgence of saxophone use in mainstream pop music and TV advertising at the time.
His song “Right Down the Line” reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and spent four non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart in the U.S., making this Rafferty’s only song to ever reach No. 1 on any US chart.
Rafferty continued to record music but never had the success he did with “City To City.” His last recording was titled “Life Goes On” which was released in November 2009.
Christmas Day of 1976 my brother and his girlfriend talked me in to going with him to see a movie named “Silver Streak”. We wanted to see it because it had two things going for it. One was funnyman Gene Wilder and the other was comedian Richard Pryor. This would be the first on screen performance of this comedy team.
The movie would be a first for me as well in many ways. One was it was the first time I would ever see anything regarding Star Wars. The movie trailer was played before the film started. This would be what many of us would talk about until the films first release. The other first was the initial time I would ever see actress Jill Clayburgh. Her role as Gene Wilder’s love interest in the movie made me want to protect her from the villains that we after her. She was beautiful, smart and sexy. She became an actress that I would remember and follow for years to come.
In the early hours of November 5th Jill Clayburgh, surrounded by her family, succumbed to chronic lymphocytic leukemia after a 20 year battle. She left us with a 40 year film & TV career .
After Sliver Streak , I remember her first movie with Burt Reynolds called ‘Semi-Tough’ (1977). She had a weird thing going on with him and Kris Kristofferson. It was her next movie in 1978 would get critics and her peers to take her serious as an actress. The movie was called “ An Unmarried Woman” and it would be nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress (Jill Clayburgh) and Best Writing. Clayburgh was robbed of the award by Jane Fonda in ‘Coming Home’but would win it during the 1978 Cannes Film Festival. Anyone who saw the movie can not forget her dance around the house in her underwear long before Tom Cruise made his debut doing it.
She also received an Oscar nomination for her part in the 1979 movie ‘Starting Over’. Other films include ‘It’s My Turn’ (1980), ‘Shy People(1987), ‘Hanna K’ (1983), and many more. She will be seen in the upcoming movie ‘Love and Other Drugs’.
Television audiences know Clayburgh from the roles she did in series like ‘Law and Order’, ‘Nip/Tuck’ and as the main character’s mother in ‘Ally McBeal.’ Clayburgh appeared in the ABC TV series ‘Dirty Sexy Money’ in 2007 to 2009.
On our first date I took my wife to see the movie “Airplane.” We were embarrassed by the fact that we were laughing so hard and hardly knew one another. It was a great first date because we gained an understanding of each other’s sense of humor. It has helped us through 29 years of marriage.
“Airplane!” is on so many people list of funniest movies of all time. It is always in the top ten lists and even ranked at number two in the British 50 Greatest Comedy Films poll on Channel 4. (Monty Python’s The Life of Brian was the first place spot for that poll.) This was due to the great cast of which many were not known for their comedic roles. This included Robert Stack, Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Barbara Billingsley and Peter Graves.
It is Peter Graves who took his Final Taxi at the age of 83.
In Airplane Graves played the part of the pilot of the airplane, Captain Clarence Oveur. There were many funny lines about the character’s last name but the funniest for me was when a boy asked to visit the cockpit. ( Yes, this is pre-9-11.) Graves asks the boys questions like “Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?” “ Have you ever seen a grown man naked?” or “Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?” The humor came from the deadpan seriousness that Graves delivered. What also blew me away was this was coming from a man who I grew up watch on the TV show “Mission Impossible.”
Graves played the government secret agent Jim Phelps, the leader of the Impossible Missions Force from 1967 to 1973 and then reprised the role in 1988-1990. The show started during the “spy” craze started by the James Bond movies. Graves lead this super-secret government organization that preformed dangerous undercover assignments given to him by audio tape that self-destructed once he heard the message. This was my father’s favorite show to watch so I got to watch Graves every week.
I also remember watching old westerns with Peter Graves in them. These were movies like “The Yellow Tomahawk” from 1954 and “Texas Across the River” from 1966 but his first movie was with Rory Calhoun in 1950’s “Rogue River.” The western part really hit home for me when I found out Grave’s real name is Peter Aurness and that he has a brother named James Aurness. This is the man who played Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the TV show “Gunsmoke. “
In later years Peter Graves was host on A&E TV’s “Biography” program. He narrated the lives of many of the rich and famous. He also in one of the funniest commercials from Geico insurance where he helps a “real Geico customer” narrating her story. In it he tells about putting on tangerine lip gloss and how he was one “lucky woman.”
The Final Taxi 