Alice Ghostley: 1926 - 2007

Alice Ghostley, the beloved character actress who made a career out of playing flustered or dingy types, has died.

An accomplished stage performer (she won the Tony Award for the drama The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, and played Miss Hannigan in the original Broadway run of Annie), Ghostley was mostly known for her nearly 50 years on television.

Among her many appearances, Ghostley played an ugly stepsister to Julie Andrews' Cinderella, the bumbling Esmeralda on Bewitched, and eccentric Sugarbaker family friend Bernice Clifton on Designing Women, which earned her her one and only Emmy nomination. On film, she appeared in such classics as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Graduate and Grease.

Links via Imdb.com and NYTimes.com.

Jane Wyman: 1914-2007

Jane Wyman, the Academy Award-winning star of Johnny Belinda and many other film classics, passed away this morning at the age of 93.

Wyman started her career in Hollywood as a contract player at Warner Brothers, but it wasn't until she was loaned out to Paramount for the Oscar-winning The Lost Weekend that she became a star. Roles in The Yearling, The Glass Menagerie and Here Comes the Groom solidified her stardom, and she'll always be a favorite for her two Douglas Sirk melodramas (co-starring Rock Hudson) Magnificent Obsession and All That Heaven Allows, and as the rigid Aunt Polly in Disney's Pollyanna.

Her later career was mostly devoted to television, including her own self-titled anthology series and the popular primetime soap, Falcon Crest, for which she won the Golden Globe playing the winemaking matriarch, Angela Channing.

Links via Imdb.com and HollywoodReporter.com.

Au Revoir, Albin

Michel Serrault, the French actor who created the role of Albin in the original film version of La Cage aux Folles, has died.

Serrault's outrageous performance of Albin and his flamboyant drag diva alter ego Zaza won him his first César Award (France's Oscar). He reprised the role in two sequels as well. La Cage (based on the play by Jean Poiret, which Serrault also starred in) was recreated on Broadway as a splashy Jerry Herman musical and was remade in America as The Birdcage.

In addition to the La Cage trilogy, Serrault appeared in more then 130 films, including two more César Award-winning roles in Garde à Vue and Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (co-starring Emmanuelle Béart).

Links via Imdb.com and Advocate.com.

Michelangelo Antonioni: 1912-2007

Michelangelo Antonioni, the Italian modernist who's stark, enigmatic films provided a counterpoint to the neorealism of such peers as Frederico Fellini, died yesterday, the same day as another cinematic legend, Ingmar Bergman.

Antonioni made his mark on international filmmaking in the 1960's with his acclaimed L'Avventura trilogy (featuring his muse, Monica Vitti) and the highly influential Blow Up, a watershed moment for the swinging decade. Following the infamous Zabriskie Point, Antonioni rebounded with The Passenger (starring Jack Nicholson), considered by many one of his finest works.

Although not as prolific as some of his contemporaries, Antonioni's seductive visual style and minimalist vision placed him among the elite of international iconoclasts. His impact and influence on world film is immeasurable.

Links via Imdb.com and NYTimes.com.

Ingmar Bergman: 1918-2007

Ingmar Bergman, a master of cinema and one of the most influential directors in film history, has died.

In his lifetime, Bergman won many world film prizes, including the Thalberg, the César and several at Cannes. However, all it takes is a casual glance over his filmography to see the true impact the Swedish auteur had on international film:

Smiles of a Summer Night. The Seventh Seal. Wild Strawberries. Through a Glass Darkly. Persona. Cries and Whispers. Scenes from a Marriage. Face to Face. Autumn Sonata. Fanny and Alexander.

Masterpieces all. A true genius has left our midst.

Links via Imdb.com and Reuters.com.

God Rest, Tammy Faye

Tammy Faye Messner, former televangelist and subject of the beloved documentary The Eyes of Tammy Faye, has died.

Messner, just seen in a Larry King interview on Thursday, had battled colon cancer since 1996. She passed away peacefully Friday morning at the age of 65.

Per CNN, Messner was "one of the few evangelical Christians who had the support of the gay community. She was one of the first televangelists to reach out to those with AIDS when it was a little-known and much-feared disease. In return, she told King in July, "When I went -- when we lost everything, it was the gay people that came to my rescue, and I will always love them for that."

And we will always love you, Miss Tammy Faye.

Links via Imdb.com and CNN.com.

What a Character

Sad news this past week for classic film and television fans: prolific character actor Charles Lane has passed away at the age of 102. Yes, you read that right, 102. It is always sad to hear of anyone's passing, but to make it to 102. Bless is heart, as Big Edie would say.

Lane is probably near the top of most people's "know the face, don't know the name" list. In his amazing 70-year career, he appeared in such film classics as 42nd Street, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It With You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ball of Fire, Arsenic and Old Lace, It's a Wonderful Life and The Music Man.

He was no stranger to television either, with multiple appearances on I Love Lucy and Lucille Ball's other shows, as well as such programs as Dennis the Menace, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Petticoat Junction, The Beverly Hillbillies and Bewitched. Man, can you imagine the stories he could tell?

Head over to TCM's blog Movie Morlocks for Richard Harland Smith's moving tribute to this legendary character actor.

Links via Imdb.com, LATimes.com and MovieMorlocks.com.