A Short Stack of Stuff

As mentioned yesterday, I worked on my first claim assignment for 2011. Hopefully, many, many more will be coming in soon.

Additional note, I was in the Chatsworth Superior Court yesterday morning for that claim assignment, and in a courtroom, an attorney was reading the Los Angeles Times' obituary page on Anne Francis. From where I was sitting, I couldn't tell who it was who died, so I walked over to see who it was. It was a surprise to see it was Anne Francis from the classic Forbidden Planet. It is weird that two stars from that movie (Leslie Nielsen) have passed away in such short order.



On The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan, I am expecting the issue of Metropolis magazine to be out not too long from now. The layout on the article was received just before Christmas and I share the page (actually two of them as her article continutes to another page with mine) with Christina Aguilera.



Also, I have decided to repeat the advertisement (created by Archie Waugh) that appeared in Famous Monsters of Filmland #253 in the upcoming FM #254. Again, the issue will have variant covers and I am guessing that this one (above) of Vincent Price will be the subscriber cover. The Price cover and the others will be available at newsstands.

Passings: Leslie Nielsen and Irvin Kershner

Two passings are worth noting:




Leslie Nielsen died Sunday at a hospital near his home in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida from complications of pneumonia. He was 84. He is best known for his comedic roles in Airplane! and The Naked Gun series. He also appeared in the science-fiction classic, Forbidden Planet.

Nielsen seemed to have fallen into comedic acting by his deadpan role in Airplane! He originated the police lieutenant Frank Drebin character in the Police Squad television series. I will always remember Nielsen in a dentist office scene on Police Squad. It was hilarious. He went on to play Drebin in the Naked Gun movies.






Director Irvin Kershner died November 27. Kershner was best known for directing the best of the Star Wars sequels, The Empire Strikes Back. He was 87.

The filmmaker passed away at his Los Angeles home after a long bout with an unspecified illness.

Kershner also directed Sean Connery's comeback as James Bond in Never Say Never Again.