Hi Jaimie--Nice overview of an actor who wore both masks of the theater 
without any trouble.

I plan to leave my "leg lamp" on all night in his honor!!

Steve
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com>
To: <audities@smoe.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2006 8:31 AM
Subject: R.I.P. Darren McGavin


> 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
>
>
>