Oscar-Winning Actor Cliff Robertson Passes Away

Cliff Robertson as Uncle Ben Parker in Spider-Man (2002)Long time actor Cliff Robertson, 88, passed away of natural causes on Saturday, September 10 just a day after his 88th birthday.  His secretary of 53 years, Evelyn Christel, said he died at Stonybrook University Medical Center in Long Island, NY.

The actor won an Academy Award for his performance as a mentally disabled man in the movie Charly (1968), though his big break came when he was picked by late President John F. Kennedy to play a young JFK in the WWII made for TV movie PT 109 (1963).

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Harvey Pekar - 1939 - 2010

Harvey Pekar, the curmudgeonly author and subject of the film American Splendor, has passed away at the age of 70. He was found by his wife, Joyce Brabner, around 1am this morning.

My memory of Harvey, like a lot of us, probably, began with his appearances on Late Night with David Letterman, and his contentious last appearance on the show is featured below. But prior to those interviews, Harvey had already established himself as something of a working class hero: He had a job as a file clerk, he worried incessantly about his own anxieties, and year later, he struggled with cancer. And it was all in his comic book series, American Splendor. Pekar's work was not limited to comics, however; he was also a well-regarded jazz aficionado and critic. And, of course, there was the file clerk job, which he kept until he retired in 2001. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2003, and was nominated for its adapted screenplay, but how the Academy ignored both Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis, I'll never know. Great performances, and a truly memorable film.

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Dennis Hopper: 1936 - 2010

The legendary Dennis Hopper has passed away from complications of prostate cancer. He was 74. Hopper's death was not unexpected, since he had been dealing with the cancer for some time, and he was surrounded by friends and family at his home in California.

His hand and forehead bandaged, a frail Hopper made his last public appearance in March of this year, accepting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His battle against what had been called a terminal form of cancer coincided with an ugly divorce from his wife of 14 years. Hopper will forever be known as one of Hollywood's ultimate hellraisers. His career started in the immediate shadow of James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, and worked steadily from the mid-1950s until the early 1970s, appearing primarily on television until he directed, co-wrote, and co-starred in the counterculture classic Easy Rider in 1969.

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Peter Graves: 1926 - 2010

Airplane! changed the way audiences looked at Peter Graves and Leslie Nielsen. Neither man was known for his comedic abilities before that film, and in fact, you could extend that to include Robert Stack and Lloyd Bridges, as well.

Graves passed away on Sunday at the age of 83; he would have been 84 later this week. He is perhaps best remembered for his starring role on the original Mission: Impossible series, and perhaps known least of all as the younger brother of another TV legend, Gunsmoke star James Arness. In all, Graves appeared in about 125 TV shows and movies in a career that spanned almost 60 years: Stalag 17, The Night of the Hunter, his later work as the host of A & E's Biography. Despite it all, when I hear that Graves had passed away, this is the scene that immediately went through my mind:

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Corey Haim: 1971 - 2010

After struggling mightily with drug addiction for half his life, actor Corey Haim died this morning at a Los Angeles County hospital of what is being ruled an accidental overdose. He was 38.

TMZ reports the actor collapsed in his mother's Los Angeles apartment, where several prescription bottles were found. No illegal drugs were located, although Haim had in part been battling Valium addiction over the years, which is not an illicit substance. TMZ also reports that the prescriptions were not related to flu-like symptoms that had apparently stricken Haim in the previous few days. Haim shot to teen stardom in the mid-1980s - along with Corey Feldman - in movies like License to Drive and The Lost Boys. But like so many child stars, Haim couldn't make a smooth transition to acting success as an adult. His last major film was Dream a Little Dream, though Haim kept working and working. Last year, a sequel to The Lost Boys was released on DVD and prior to his death, he had roughly ten projects in various stages of production.

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