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1-11 of 11
- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
A supremely gifted, versatile player who could reach dramatic depths, as exemplified in her weary-eyed, good-hearted waitress in The Last Picture Show (1971), or comedy heights, as in her sadistic drill captain in Private Benjamin (1980), Eileen Brennan managed to transition from lovely Broadway singing ingénue to respected film and television character actress within a decade's time. Her Hollywood career was hustling and bustling at the time of her near-fatal car accident in 1982. With courage and spirit, she recovered from her extensive facial and leg injuries, and returned to performing... slower but wiser. On top of all this, the indomitable Eileen survived a bout of alcoholism and became recognized as a breast cancer survivor, having had a mastectomy in 1990. On camera, she still tosses out those trademark barbs to the delight of all her fans, as demonstrated by her more-recent recurring roles as the prying Mrs. Bink on 7th Heaven (1996) and as Zandra, the disparaging acting coach, on Will & Grace (1998).
She was born with the highly unlikely marquee name of Verla Eileen Regina Brennan in Los Angeles, California, the child of Irish-Catholic parents Regina ("Jeanne") Manahan (or Menehan), a minor silent film player, and John Gerald Brennan, a doctor. Following grade school education, she attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and appeared in plays with the Mask and Bauble Society during that time. She then went on to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Her lovely soprano coupled with a flair for comedy was the winning combination that earned her the break of her budding career as the not-so-dainty title role in the off-Broadway, tongue-in-cheek operetta "Little Mary Sunshine". For this 1959 endeavor, Eileen not only won an Obie Award, but was among an esteemed group of eight other thespians who won the Theatre World Award that year for "Promising New Personality", including Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda, Carol Burnett and a very young Patty Duke.
Unwilling to be pigeonholed as a singing comedienne, Eileen took on one of the most arduous and demanding legit roles a young actress could ask for when she portrayed Annie Sullivan role in a major touring production of "The Miracle Worker" in 1961. After proving her dramatic mettle, she returned willingly to the musical theatre fold and made a very beguiling Anna in a production of "The King and I" (1963). She took her first Broadway bow in another comic operetta, "The Student Gypsy" (1963). In the musical, which was an unofficial sequel to her "Mary Sunshine" hit, she played a similarly-styled Merry May Glockenspiel, but the show lasted only a couple of weeks. Infinitely more successful was her deft playing of Irene Malloy alongside Carol Channing's Dolly Levi Gallagher in the original Broadway production of "Hello, Dolly!" (1964). Eileen stayed with the role for about two years.
By this time, Hollywood beckoned and Eileen never looked back... or returned to sing on Broadway. After a support role in the film comedy Divorce American Style (1967) starring Debbie Reynolds and Dick Van Dyke, Eileen's talents were selected to be showcased on the irreverent variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967). But what seemed to be an ideal forum to show off her abilities didn't. Overshadowed by the wackier talents of Goldie Hawn, Ruth Buzzi and Jo Anne Worley, who became television comedy stars from this, Eileen seemed out of sync with the knockabout slapstick element. She left the cast before the show barely got off the ground. "Laugh-In" (1968-1973) went on to become a huge cult hit.
In retrospect, this disappointment proved to be a boon to Eileen's dramatic film career. Set in a dusty, barren town, she played up her hard looks and earned terrific reviews for her downbeat role of Genevieve, the careworn waitress, in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971). As part of a superb ensemble cast, her hard-knocks vulnerability and earthy sensuality added authenticity to the dreary Texas surroundings. Following this, she scored great marks for her brothel madam/confidante in George Roy Hill's ragtime-era Oscar winner The Sting (1973). Bogdanovich himself became a fan and used Eileen again and again in his subsequent films -- the ambitious but lackluster Daisy Miller (1974) and At Long Last Love (1975). At least, the latter movie allowed her to show off her singing voice. Her comedic instincts were on full display too in the all-star mystery spoofs Murder by Death (1976) and The Cheap Detective (1978) where she fared quite well playing take-it-on-the-chin dames.
Eileen hit the apex of her comic fame playing the spiky and spiteful drill captain who mercilessly taunts and torments tenderfoot Goldie Hawn in the huge box-office hit Private Benjamin (1980). She deservedly earned a "best supporting actress" Oscar nomination for her scene-stealing contribution and was given the chance to reprise the role on the television series that followed. Starring Lorna Patterson in the Hawn role, Private Benjamin (1981) was less successful in its adaptation to the smaller screen but Eileen was better than great and earned both Emmy and Golden Globe Awards in the process.
During the show's run in 1982, Brennan had dinner one evening with good friend Goldie Hawn at a Los Angeles restaurant. They had already parted ways when Brennan was hit and critically injured by a car while crossing a street. Replaced in the television series (by "Alice" co-star Polly Holliday), her recovery and rehabilitation lasted three years, which included an addiction to painkillers. She returned to the screen in another amusing all-star comedy whodunit, Clue (1985), in which she played one of the popular game board suspects, Mrs. Peacock. While looking weaker and less mobile, she showed she had lost none of the disarming causticity that made her a character star.
Forging ahead, Eileen went on to recreate her tough luck waitress character in Texasville (1990), the sequel to The Last Picture Show (1971), and also appeared with Bette Midler in the overly mawkish Stella (1990). However, for the most part, she lent herself to playing eccentric crab apples in such lightweight fare as Rented Lips (1987), Sticky Fingers (1988), Changing Habits (1997), Pants on Fire (1998), Jeepers Creepers (2001), Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005) and Naked Run (2011). She has also provided crotchety animated voices for series cartoons.
Eileen Brennan died at age 80 on July 28, 2013 at her Burbank, California home after a battle with bladder cancer. She is survived by her two sons, Patrick (formerly a basketball player, now an actor) and Sam (a singer), from her first and only marriage in the late 1960s to mid-1970s.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Suzanne Krull was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She moved to Southern California with her family during high school. Upon graduating, she auditioned for acceptance to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She was accepted and completed two years of the program. She was then invited to return to perform in their Production Company. Immediately after that, she became a founding member of The Fountainhead Theatre Co. While working there, she juggled numerous other local LA theatre projects and did over 30 plays in a ten year span, earning a DramaLogue Best Actress nod.
She began doing Stand Up comedy and was quickly asked to do the festival circuit, performing at HBO's Aspen Comedy Festival, Vail Comedy Festival and becoming a regular face at The Hollywood Improv. Despite immediate success and work in the Stand-Up world, she missed the ensemble and character work of the written word. Like most character actors, once Suzanne hit her 30s the jobs started flooding in. She appeared in numerous guest and recurring roles on shows like Nash Bridges, N.Y.P.D Blue, The Practice, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Buffy, Charmed, Nip Tuck, LOST, Desperate Housewives, Perfect Couples, Mr. Sunshine, PSYCH, to name a few. She starred opposite Madonna in "The Next Best Thing", worked with Jim Carrey in "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", and starred opposite Leslie Nielsen in Camouflage (2001), among others.
While on location in Vancouver, and with many hours of downtime, she began writing a screenplay. After its completion it was immediately optioned by a Major Studio. She wrote, starred in and produced the Short, SAM and MIKE which won numerous festival awards for Best Short Film. She has written One Act Plays that have been produced by The Hidden Theatre Co. Her short story, "The In and Out" was published in JANE Magazine after winning it's Short Story contest. In 2002, she began one on one coaching Actors for auditions, and found that it was the perfect way to hone and work on her craft while helping others. She was married to stand-up comedian, actor and writer Peter Spruyt, with whom she had a daughter, Harper Joy.
She died suddenly on July 28, 2013 in Los Angeles of an ruptured aortic aneurysm, aged 47.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Jagdish Raj was born in 1928 in Sargodha, Punjab, British India. He was an actor, known for Ilzam (1970), Deewaar (1975) and Pyar Ka Bandhan (1963). He died on 28 July 2013 in Juhu, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.- Peter Eastman was born on 11 September 1919 in Essex, England, UK. He was an actor, known for What's Up, Doc? (1972), My Favorite Year (1982) and Body of Evidence (1992). He was married to Barbara Smith. He died on 28 July 2013.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Rita Reys was born on 21 December 1924 in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. She was an actress, known for Muziek voor U! (1961), Rita Reys (1963) and The Subject Is Jazz (1958). She was married to Pim Jacobs and Wessel Ilcken. She died on 28 July 2013 in Breukelen, Utrecht, Netherlands.- Amanda Pointer was born on 28 July 1963 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was an actress, known for Nice Work (1989), Guru in Seven (1998) and Look at It This Way (1992). She died on 28 July 2013 in Camden, London, England, UK.
- Pat Harmon was born on 2 September 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was married to Anna Margaret Worland. He died on 28 July 2013 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
- Ersilio Tonini was born on 20 July 1914 in Centovera di San Giorgio Piacentino, Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He died on 28 July 2013 in Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Jûgatsu Toi was born on 12 October 1948. He was an actor and writer, known for Kaze no kuni (1991), Burst City (1982) and Saraba aibô (1982). He died on 28 July 2013 in Tokyo, Japan.- Frank Castillo was born on 1 April 1969 in El Paso, Texas, USA. He died on 28 July 2013 in Bartlett Lake, Arizona, USA.
- Three-time All-Star George Scott, "The Boomer", was a stand-out first baseman in the American League from 1967-78 for the Boston Red Sox, the Milwaukee Brewers (to whom he was traded in 1971), and again with the Red Sox (who re-acquired The Boomer in 1977). In addition to his eight Gold Gloves for being the outstanding fielding first-sacker in the junior circuit, he also won the A.L. home-run and runs batted-in titles in 1975 (sharing the former title with Reggie Jackson, who also hit 36 "taters" as Scott called circuit-clouts).
The "Boomer" was discovered playing baseball in his hometown of Greenville, Mississippi by former Negro Leaguer Ed Scott, who had been hired by the Red Sox (the last team to integrate) to find African prospects. Ed Scott was impressed by his fielding skills, which he retained throughout his career. He was, arguably, the top fielding first baseman of the 1970s, setting the record for most Gold Gloves at his position when he won his eighth in 1976. (The record was later broken by Keith Hernandez.)
Unfortunately, after 1978, The Boomer's career was cut short by a case of "Dunlop disease", as he called it: "My belly done lopped over my belt." The spare tire The Boomer carried around after rejoining the Red Sox began to limit his mobility, and after his batting declined during the 1979 season, he was dealt to the Kansas City Royals. He finished his career that year with the New York Yankees, the Red Sox's hated intradivision rivals.
George Scott finished his 14-season career eight hits shy of 2,000, with 251 home-runs and 1,051 runs batted in.
The Boomer will always be remembered in the Red Sox Nation for being a key part of the 1967 American League championship winning team, the fondly remembered "Impossible Dream" pennant. (The term used first during the team's improbable pennant run by Boston Globe night editor Peter Stilla, Sr. after a trip with his wife to the Boston roadshow production of "Man of La Mancha (1972)." which featured the eponymous song.) The Boomer also was part of the 1978 team that set many slugging records and let a 14-game, mid-summer lead over the Yankees slip away, before tying them the last day of the season. The Red Sox went down to the Bronx Bombers in a one-game playoff, when Bucky Dent and Reggie Jackson hit home-runs offsetting that of Carl Yastrzemski, who along with The Boomer, was the last member of the '67 team on BoSox.
The Boomer was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2006. He was bitter that the Red Sox never hired him as a coach. He died in his hometown of Greenville on July 28, 2013, at the age of 69.