Tom Smothers, the countercultural comedy icon admired for the 1960s variety program he created and hosted with his younger brother, Dick, and for the tenacity he displayed in frequent clashes with CBS censors, has died. He was 86.
Smothers died Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, California, after a battle with cancer, his brother announced in a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter by the National Comedy Center.
“Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner,” Dick, 84, said. “I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years. Our relationship was like a good marriage — the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another. We were truly blessed.”
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ran from February 1967 until April 1969, when the pair were fired after...
Smothers died Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, California, after a battle with cancer, his brother announced in a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter by the National Comedy Center.
“Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner,” Dick, 84, said. “I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years. Our relationship was like a good marriage — the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another. We were truly blessed.”
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ran from February 1967 until April 1969, when the pair were fired after...
- 12/27/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Norman Steinberg, screenwriter of films including “Blazing Saddles” “My Favorite Year” died March 15. He was 83.
His other credits include the film “Johnny Dangerously,” the TV movie “Free to Be…You and Me,” and the TV show “Doctor, Doctor.”
Born in Brooklyn, Steinberg went to college at the U. of Maryland and law school at the U. of Pittsburgh and began practicing law in Manhattan.
He disliked being a lawyer, his family said, and met Mel Brooks when he would stop for coffee at Chock Full o’ Nuts. After much badgering from Steinberg, Brooks told him to try writing a script for “Get Smart.” When Brooks told him the script was funny, he quit his job at the law firm the same day.
He started out writing for the music magazine Cash Box, then wrote a political humor album for David Frye. After moving to Los Angeles, he started writing for the “Flip Wilson Show,...
His other credits include the film “Johnny Dangerously,” the TV movie “Free to Be…You and Me,” and the TV show “Doctor, Doctor.”
Born in Brooklyn, Steinberg went to college at the U. of Maryland and law school at the U. of Pittsburgh and began practicing law in Manhattan.
He disliked being a lawyer, his family said, and met Mel Brooks when he would stop for coffee at Chock Full o’ Nuts. After much badgering from Steinberg, Brooks told him to try writing a script for “Get Smart.” When Brooks told him the script was funny, he quit his job at the law firm the same day.
He started out writing for the music magazine Cash Box, then wrote a political humor album for David Frye. After moving to Los Angeles, he started writing for the “Flip Wilson Show,...
- 3/22/2023
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Norman Steinberg, who co-scripted Mel Brooks’ comedy classic Blazing Saddles with and won an Emmy for Flip Wilson’s 1970s variety show, has died. He was 83. The WGA East said Steinberg died March 15 but did not provide other details.
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Steinberg was a disgruntled lawyer met Brooks in the 1960s at a Manhattan coffee shop, where he would run into the future Egot winner regularly. After repeatedly telling him that we wanted to be a comedy writer, Brooks relented and told Steinberg to submit a script for his James Bond-spoofing sitcom Get Smart! The series was canceled, but Brooks told the would-be scribe that...
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Whoopi Goldberg Pushes Back On Claims 'Blazing Saddles' Is Racist: "Don't Make Me Come For You" Related Story Carol Arthur Dies: 'Blazing Saddles,' 'Hot Stuff' Actress & Wife Of Dom DeLuise Was 85
Steinberg was a disgruntled lawyer met Brooks in the 1960s at a Manhattan coffee shop, where he would run into the future Egot winner regularly. After repeatedly telling him that we wanted to be a comedy writer, Brooks relented and told Steinberg to submit a script for his James Bond-spoofing sitcom Get Smart! The series was canceled, but Brooks told the would-be scribe that...
- 3/22/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Norman Steinberg, the Emmy-winning screenwriter who teamed with Mel Brooks on Blazing Saddles and My Favorite Year and wrote for the Michael Keaton-starring Mr. Mom and Johnny Dangerously, has died. He was 83.
Steinberg died March 15 at his Hudson Valley home in upstate New York, his family announced.
Steinberg also wrote Yes, Giorgio (1982), starring Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti in his feature acting debut, and co-wrote Funny About Love (1990), directed by Leonard Nimoy and starring Gene Wilder and Christine Lahti.
The Brooklyn native and former lawyer won his Emmy very early in his career, for his work on a Flip Wilson variety show.
His TV résumé also included developing Marlo Thomas’ 1974 landmark kids special, Free to Be … You & Me (he brought Brooks in on that); serving as a writer and executive producer on the first two seasons of CBS’ Cosby; and creating the short-lived CBS sitcoms Doctor, Doctor and Teech.
Steinberg died March 15 at his Hudson Valley home in upstate New York, his family announced.
Steinberg also wrote Yes, Giorgio (1982), starring Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti in his feature acting debut, and co-wrote Funny About Love (1990), directed by Leonard Nimoy and starring Gene Wilder and Christine Lahti.
The Brooklyn native and former lawyer won his Emmy very early in his career, for his work on a Flip Wilson variety show.
His TV résumé also included developing Marlo Thomas’ 1974 landmark kids special, Free to Be … You & Me (he brought Brooks in on that); serving as a writer and executive producer on the first two seasons of CBS’ Cosby; and creating the short-lived CBS sitcoms Doctor, Doctor and Teech.
- 3/22/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Well, not exactly. Roberts is pretty much a born villain so of course he's the one who's burying the living! Check out the first word, stills, and more regarding Rustin Branaman's new indie horror title Project Solitude: Buried Alive right here!
Vanessa Lee Evigan, Michelle Belegrin, David Frye, Stacy Stas, and Eric Roberts star.
Synopsis
A small group goes into the deep winter woods for a science project run by John Sola, testing humans' survival instincts. But to their horror, this soon becomes more than just an academic question. One the campers disappears along with their van, their only way back to civilization. Then, their only cell phone can't get any reception in the remote area. Suspicion mounts as the survivors fend for their lives.
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Vanessa Lee Evigan, Michelle Belegrin, David Frye, Stacy Stas, and Eric Roberts star.
Synopsis
A small group goes into the deep winter woods for a science project run by John Sola, testing humans' survival instincts. But to their horror, this soon becomes more than just an academic question. One the campers disappears along with their van, their only way back to civilization. Then, their only cell phone can't get any reception in the remote area. Suspicion mounts as the survivors fend for their lives.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Bury others in the comments section below.
- 11/8/2013
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
By Lee Pfeiffer
David Frye, who soared to fame in the late 1960s with his devastating mimicry of Richard M. Nixon, has died in Las Vegas at age 77. Frye was an omnipresent fixture on TV variety shows especially in the lead-up to the presidential election in 1968 which saw Nixon rise from being a political has-been to being the leader of the free world after his narrow defeat of Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey. Although Frye was an equal opportunity satirist, spoofing both liberals and conservatives, he was so closely associated with Richard Nixon that few remembered his other targets. Arguably, his career declined as some the figures he spoofed ended up with less-than-comical legacies. President Lyndon Johnson refused to run for re-election and emerged from the White House as a battered and embittered man, a victim of his Vietnam policy that overshadowed his often remarkable advances in social programs. Senator Robert F. Kennedy,...
David Frye, who soared to fame in the late 1960s with his devastating mimicry of Richard M. Nixon, has died in Las Vegas at age 77. Frye was an omnipresent fixture on TV variety shows especially in the lead-up to the presidential election in 1968 which saw Nixon rise from being a political has-been to being the leader of the free world after his narrow defeat of Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey. Although Frye was an equal opportunity satirist, spoofing both liberals and conservatives, he was so closely associated with Richard Nixon that few remembered his other targets. Arguably, his career declined as some the figures he spoofed ended up with less-than-comical legacies. President Lyndon Johnson refused to run for re-election and emerged from the White House as a battered and embittered man, a victim of his Vietnam policy that overshadowed his often remarkable advances in social programs. Senator Robert F. Kennedy,...
- 1/30/2011
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
You've seen the photos , the package art , now Sony was kind enough to unleash the trailer for Anacondas: Trail of Blood on ShockTillYouDrop.com. This is the fourth installment in the nature-run-amok series that stars Crystal Allen, John Rhys-Davies, Linden Ashby and David Frye. Bit 'o trivia for ya: Don E. FauntLeRoy, the cinematographer of both Jeepers Creepers films, directed this and its predecessor, Anaconda 3: Offspring . Look for Trail on DVD June 2nd.
- 4/9/2009
- shocktillyoudrop.com
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