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| From | "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | R.I.P. Darren McGavin |
| Date | Sun, 26 Feb 2006 11:31:16 -0500 |
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It's been a difficult weekend for fans of classic TV and movies.
Just hours after the announcement of the passing of comedy great Don Knotts,
came word that another Hollywood veteran had passed away.
Darren McGavin, a man whose career spanned everything from Mike Hammer to
the original “Kolchak the Night Stalker” died on Saturday of natural causes.
He was just three months shy of his 84th birthday.
McGavin was an actor of incredible breadth, capable of hilarious comedic
performances or tense dramatic turns.
But it was as the renegade newspaper reporter in the white suit working for
the fictional I.N.S. wire service that he became best known to a generation
in the 70s.
The TV show “The Night Stalker” featured McGavin as Karl Kolchak who
continually faced down vampires, monsters, zombies and other bizarre
creatures, although no one – including his long suffering editor - ever
believed him.
The “Night Stalker” started as a series of TV movies and had a short run in
1974, but it’s fondly remembered as a cult show that would inspire a viewer
named Chris Carter to create his own weird classic years later – “The X
Files”.
The actor would later make a few cameos on the show.
This season's remake was quickly cancelled, although it contained one golden
moment in the first episode -- McGavin’s original character digitally
inserted into one shot.
McGavin was trained in New York and got his big break in the 1955 movie “The
Man with the Golden Arm,” considered one of Frank Sinatra’s greatest films.
That landed the young thespian his first TV role as Mickey Spillane’s hard
boiled detective Mike Hammer a year later.
A long series of movies and TV parts followed, and he won an Emmy for
playing Murphy Brown's father in a 1990 episode of the Candice Bergen
series.
But it’s one outstanding film role that assures McGavin will forever be
remembered at least once a year.
His turn as the irritable, constantly cursing “Old Man”, Ralphie’s dad in
the classic “A Christmas Story”, turned the actor into a holiday icon.
His warning that his son will “put his eye out” with his dreamed of Red
Ryder BB gun is heard every year in December.
Surveys show the film has become one of the favourite Christmas movies of
all time, and a U.S. cable network runs it for 24 hours straight every
December 25th.
McGavin’s death was announced on his official website.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Darren McGavin at
approximately 7:10am Pacific time Saturday 25, 2006 …
“Darren is gone, but in many respects he will always be with us: as Carl
Kolchak, fighting authority and battling monsters; the grumpy Old Man
sending curses over Lake Michigan; as David Ross, the outsider, Grey Holden,
captain of the Enterprise, the irascible detective Mike Hammer or any number
of memorable guest star appearances.”
He leaves behind four children and a legion of fans.
Jaimie Vernon,
President, Bullseye Records
"Not Infecting Our Customers' Computers Since 1985!!"
http://www.bullseyecanada.com
http://www.bullseyerecords.com
Author, Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/
http://www.myspace.com/jaimievernonsmovingtargetz
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