For decades, my only real memory of him was being urinated on by a Jesuit in Shogun. Then, I finally got around to watching The Last Wave, which was pretty good, and a made-for-TV short called The Christmas Messenger, as my solo Christmas activity one year.
I totally missed out on Dr. Kildare and the Musketeer films, and The Thorn Birds etc were just 80s mini-series, the artistic equivalent of a parking-lot carnival. One thing I'll observe is that I always had the vague impression he was British, and I think he sorta merged in my mind with Michael York.
@Gill H You're right - Lightning Tree is a good duet. I've done it with Valerian once before - which was mildly terrifying, since she is a professional musician. I sang the verse, and she played guitar and did all the "ba-da-ba" twiddly bits.
I was rather keen on Richard Chamberlain, as Dr Kildare was on TV when I was at an impressionable age.
I must unearth my one Richard Chamberlain LP tomorrow, see if the record player still works and have myself a little nostalgia-fest.
I always associated Mr Chamberlain with his role as the Prince in the Slipper and the Rose, which I loved as a teenager. May he rest peacefully
I was watching that the other week. I do love a Sherman Brothers song, although 'What a comforting thing to know' would ring a little hollow at the moment. Still, we must be protocoligorically correct.
I'm sad to report the death of Kerry Greenwood, Australian author. She is most well known for her books featuring the female detective Phrynne Fisher, which were adapted for TV as Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.
I came in on the end of a news report on our Oz ABC yesterday, and was shocked to hear it.
Played Dennis The Menace(American character) on TV.
I think I've seen maybe five minutes of that show in reruns. Slightly more minutes watching him in a late-night local TV broadcast of The Teacher, a soft-core nudie flick, the plot of which you can guess, in the 1980s. I actually remember the theme song better than his performance.
Played Dennis The Menace(American character) on TV.
Gee, Mr. Wilson, there goes a bit of my childhood.
Not that I ever saw him on DtM, but based on his performances on The Lucy Show and one interview on local television, Gale Gordon always struck me as an odd choice to play Mr. Wilson. Too svelte, dashing, and anglo-coded.
Never saw the 1990s Dennis The Menace movie either, but Walter Matthau was much closer to my idea of the character.
Played Dennis The Menace(American character) on TV.
Gee, Mr. Wilson, there goes a bit of my childhood.
Not that I ever saw him on DtM, but based on his performances on The Lucy Show and one interview on local television, Gale Gordon always struck me as an odd choice to play Mr. Wilson. Too svelte, dashing, and anglo-coded.
To be technical, Gale Gordon played Mr. Wilson’s brother. Joesph Kearns, who played neighbor George Wilson, died while the show was still on, so Gale Gordon was brought on as his brother, to maintain the dynamic.
And I must say, svelte and dashing are not words I’ve ever associated with Gale Gordon or the characters he played. Stout and self-important, yes, but not svelte or dashing.
And fwiw, I think both Gale Gordon and Joseph Kearns strongly resembled Mr. Wilson from the comic strip. Gale Gordon in particular.
And I must say, svelte and dashing are not words I’ve ever associated with Gale Gordon or the characters he played. Stout and self-important, yes, but not svelte or dashing.
Fair enough. For my perception of Gordon's usual persona, I think I meant something like "snooty and aristo-coded, maybe something like Mr. Drysdale from TBH years later. Whereas I view Mr. Wilson more as gruff and blue-collar.
I saw a few Lucy re-runs in the day, and also that interview on local TV, where he seemed to come off as a classical thespian, and he mentioned that he had gone to school in England. So, those kinda perceptions tend to stick.
Thanks for the info on Kearns. Looked him up, yeah, he and Gordon certainly share a likeness, eh? Guess it makes sense, because the set-up of the jokes requires Mr. Wilson to have an unfailingly consistent persona.
I'm sad to report the death of Kerry Greenwood, Australian author. She is most well known for her books featuring the female detective Phrynne Fisher, which were adapted for TV as Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.
I read Corrinne Chapman books first and wish she had written more of them.
I think all I really know about him is that he ran for the presidency as a thatcherite neoliberal, losing to Alberto Fujimori. Who, of course, turned out to be an utter sociopath.
Some time after that election, I saw the movie Tune In Tomorrow, based on one of Vargas Llosa's stories. It was funny and well-made, but seemed to fit what I understand to be the magical-realism school of writing, which, based mostly on screen adaptations, I find entertaining but rather frivolous in its purpose(*).
(*) IIRC, one of the stated messages of Tune In Tomorrow was "Hatred is just as important as love."
Lulu Roman has passed. May she rest in peace and rise in glory. I remember her music video against prosperity theology called “Never-Ending Shopping List.” God bless her.
A bit niche, this one, probably only of interest to more ancient UK folk who, like me, were viewers of Coronation Street in its very early days.
Philip Lowrie, who played Dennis, son of the somewhat disreputable Elsie Tanner, has died, aged 88.
Just saw that the leading ecumenical Catholic theologian David Tracy (Blessed Rage for Order, The Analogical Imagination) has died at 86. He was based at the University of Chicago and had published less in recent years but like many others I found him so erudite and appealing I could read anything he wrote.
A bit niche, this one, probably only of interest to more ancient UK folk who, like me, were viewers of Coronation Street in its very early days.
Philip Lowrie, who played Dennis, son of the somewhat disreputable Elsie Tanner, has died, aged 88.
Appeared in the very first episode in 1960 and quickly became my favourite.
I was very sorry to hear about the sudden death of Peter Morwood. He was a SF writer, and husband of Diane Duane, SF and Star Trek writer. I first came across him at Star Trek conventions in the 1980s - he hadn't yet got married to Diane, but they were a brilliant double act on panels.
The last time I saw him was at Dublin World Con in 2019 - I went to the panel on swords and stage fighting because I knew he was on the panel, and he was clearly having enormous fun. His tumblr account often had fun facts about swords, and he had an encyclopaedic knowledge of film sword fights.
The SF community is rallying round to help Diane Duane.
I don't know if there will be any old Greenbelters here who remember Mike Peters and The Alarm. His obit is currently on the last episode of Radio 4s 'Last Word'. I am sadder than I expected to be - he seemed like a nice bloke, and his was a voice from my teenage years which I had kind of forgotten. RIP
I remember The Alarm’s 68 guns.
I didn’t become a Christian until the mid-90s so my Greenbelt years are later (I started dating Mr Heavenly at Greenbelt 1998) but my husband remembers him from the 80s and says the gig in the Shelter was fabulous.
Comments
For decades, my only real memory of him was being urinated on by a Jesuit in Shogun. Then, I finally got around to watching The Last Wave, which was pretty good, and a made-for-TV short called The Christmas Messenger, as my solo Christmas activity one year.
I totally missed out on Dr. Kildare and the Musketeer films, and The Thorn Birds etc were just 80s mini-series, the artistic equivalent of a parking-lot carnival. One thing I'll observe is that I always had the vague impression he was British, and I think he sorta merged in my mind with Michael York.
I must unearth my one Richard Chamberlain LP tomorrow, see if the record player still works and have myself a little nostalgia-fest.
I was watching that the other week. I do love a Sherman Brothers song, although 'What a comforting thing to know' would ring a little hollow at the moment. Still, we must be protocoligorically correct.
I keep mixing that up with some in-theatres movie where Christopher Reeve played a priest.
Yep. Looked it up afterwards. 0% rating on Rotten Tomatos.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/02/entertainment/val-kilmer-death/index.html
I remember him most fondly for his performance as Doc Holiday in Tombstone
May it shock people into realizing what’s happening…
I came in on the end of a news report on our Oz ABC yesterday, and was shocked to hear it.
He was pretty intense with his drumming, indeed. Often seemed almost in a trance.
Played Dennis The Menace(American character) on TV.
I think I've seen maybe five minutes of that show in reruns. Slightly more minutes watching him in a late-night local TV broadcast of The Teacher, a soft-core nudie flick, the plot of which you can guess, in the 1980s. I actually remember the theme song better than his performance.
Every boy needs a teacher...
Not that I ever saw him on DtM, but based on his performances on The Lucy Show and one interview on local television, Gale Gordon always struck me as an odd choice to play Mr. Wilson. Too svelte, dashing, and anglo-coded.
Never saw the 1990s Dennis The Menace movie either, but Walter Matthau was much closer to my idea of the character.
And I must say, svelte and dashing are not words I’ve ever associated with Gale Gordon or the characters he played. Stout and self-important, yes, but not svelte or dashing.
And fwiw, I think both Gale Gordon and Joseph Kearns strongly resembled Mr. Wilson from the comic strip. Gale Gordon in particular.
I saw a few Lucy re-runs in the day, and also that interview on local TV, where he seemed to come off as a classical thespian, and he mentioned that he had gone to school in England. So, those kinda perceptions tend to stick.
Thanks for the info on Kearns. Looked him up, yeah, he and Gordon certainly share a likeness, eh? Guess it makes sense, because the set-up of the jokes requires Mr. Wilson to have an unfailingly consistent persona.
I read Corrinne Chapman books first and wish she had written more of them.
I think all I really know about him is that he ran for the presidency as a thatcherite neoliberal, losing to Alberto Fujimori. Who, of course, turned out to be an utter sociopath.
Some time after that election, I saw the movie Tune In Tomorrow, based on one of Vargas Llosa's stories. It was funny and well-made, but seemed to fit what I understand to be the magical-realism school of writing, which, based mostly on screen adaptations, I find entertaining but rather frivolous in its purpose(*).
(*) IIRC, one of the stated messages of Tune In Tomorrow was "Hatred is just as important as love."
RIPARIG 🙏🕯
https://youtu.be/DWzpBQfvBlg?si=qqcGHSoYVWPjMbAy
Philip Lowrie, who played Dennis, son of the somewhat disreputable Elsie Tanner, has died, aged 88.
https://www.supermanhomepage.com/comic-industry-mourns-loss-of-superman-artist-jackson-butch-guice-at-63/
https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/ruth-buzzi-dead-laugh-in-comedian-1236384980/
The last time I saw him was at Dublin World Con in 2019 - I went to the panel on swords and stage fighting because I knew he was on the panel, and he was clearly having enormous fun. His tumblr account often had fun facts about swords, and he had an encyclopaedic knowledge of film sword fights.
The SF community is rallying round to help Diane Duane.
I didn’t become a Christian until the mid-90s so my Greenbelt years are later (I started dating Mr Heavenly at Greenbelt 1998) but my husband remembers him from the 80s and says the gig in the Shelter was fabulous.