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- Michael Sundin was an English actor, puppeteer, dancer, and trampolinist from Low Fell, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. He was better known as one of the presenters of the children's program "Blue Peter" from 1984 to 1985. He was fired under controversial circumstances.
Sundin initially became known as a champion trampolinist. He reportedly won five British titles and one world title in trampolining tournaments. He decided to follow a career in show business, making his stage debut in a 1980 version of the Christmas pantomime "Jack and the Beanstalk".
Sundin found work as both an actor and a dancer. From 1982 to 1983, he portrayed the acrobatic kitten Bill Bailey in the musical "Cats" (1981). The musical was loosely based on the poetry collection "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" (1939) by T. S. Eliot, and depicted sentient cats competing for a chance at rebirth.
In 1984, Sundin was hired as in-suit performer for the dark fantasy film "Return to Oz" (1985). The film was a loose adaptation of the fantasy novels "The Marvelous Land of Oz" (1904) and "Ozma of Oz" (1907) by L. Frank Baum. Sundin was chosen to portray the sentient robot Tik-Tok, one of the film's main characters. He operated the character's body, while Tim Rose remotely-operated the head and Sean Barrett voiced the character. While Sundin was preparing for this role, his casting attracted considerable press attention. Television producer Biddy Baxter invited him to audition for a position as one of the presenters of "Blue Peter". Sundin passed the audition, and was chosen to replace Peter Duncan. His debut episode was broadcast in September 1984.
Sundin made his last appearance as a television presenter in late June 1985. His contract was not renewed following the end of the season. The production team claimed that Sundin "had little rapport with the viewers", but Baxter also reported that both parents and viewers had complained that Sundin was too effeminate. The press had recently outed Sundin as a gay man, which was thought to be the undeclared reason for his firing. Biddy Baxter later claimed in an interview that Sundin was fired because "children didn't like him", not because of his sexuality. The controversy over the perceived discrimination was covered in the tabloid press.
After portraying Tik-Tok "Return to Oz", Sundin was chosen to portray the March Hare in the drama film "Dreamchild" (1985). In the film, the elderly Alice Liddell finds herself becoming the center of attention at the centenary of Lewis Carroll's birth. Her memories of her long-gone friend and potential suitor are juxtaposed with hallucinations of meeting both a ghostly Carroll and the characters from Wonderland.
Sundin subsequently had his last film appearance in the adventure film "Lionheart" (1987). In the film, a group of orphans attempt to join the crusading army of Richard the Lionheart, King of England (1157-1199, reigned 1189-1199), while evading a slave trader who wants to sell them as slaves. The film combined events from the Third Crusade (1189-1192) and the Children's Crusade (1212).
Sundin fell ill in 1988, and was hospitalized in 1989. In July 1989, he died at the Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne. He was only 28-years-old at the time of his death, and he was the first among the presenters of "Blue Peter" to die. The British press initially attributed his death to liver cancer. Later press reports indicated that Sundin had contracted the virus HIV/AIDS, and died due to the infection. - Actor
- Soundtrack
"Sunshine Sammy" Morrison was most famous as one of the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids, but he was probably the most experienced actor of that group. Morrison made his film debut while still an infant; his father worked for a wealthy Los Angeles family that had connections in the film industry, and one day a producer who was an acquaintance of his father's needed a baby for a scene and asked him to bring Sammy as a replacement for a child who wasn't working out. Morrison pulled off the job like a trouper, and his career was born. He appeared in films with such comedians as Harold Lloyd and, in fact, was paired with 'Snub' Pollard in a series of one-reel comedies in 1920. Producer Hal Roach gave Morrison his own comedy series in 1921, but only one was made. He was eventually cast by Roach as one of the original Our Gang kids. He left the series in 1924 for a turn in vaudeville, where he spent the next 16 years. When the East Side Kids films were being cast, producer Sam Katzman remembered Morrison from the days when Katzman was a theatrical producer and Morrison had worked for him, and hired him as a member of the gang. Morrison left the series when he was drafted into the army during World War II, and after he got out he was offered his old job back, but declined it. After a few more film roles, Morrison left show business entirely, took a job in an aircraft assembly plant and spent the next 30 years in the aircraft industry.- Actor
Curtis Jurgens was born on 17 December 1920 in Emerson, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor. He died on 24 July 1989 in San Leandro, California, USA.- Actress
Dolores Corrigan was born on 14 October 1923 in Buffalo, New York, USA. She was an actress. She died on 24 July 1989 in Los Angeles, California, USA.