Tony Curtis, Actor, "Some Like It Hot", "Spartacus", "The Sweet Smell of Success" 1925-2010

ABC News has confirmed the passing of actor Tony Curtis through his business manager and family spokesman, Preston Ahearn Thursday.

Curtis passed away at midnight ET peacefully in bed laying next to his wife in their home in Henderson, NV. He was 85.

Curtis starred alongside Jack Lemon and Marilyn Monroe in the film, "Some Like It Hot."

He dominated the box office in the 50s and 60s with his 1957 turn in "The Sweet Smell of Success" opposite Burt Lancaster and earned an Oscar nomination for "The Defiant Ones."

But Curtis may best be remembered for his magic touch displayed with some of Hollywood's leading ladies including Natalee Wood, Marilyn Monroe, and Janet Leigh - the first of six wives.

Curtis and Leigh had two children, one of them actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

Born Bernard Schwartz June 3, 1925 in the Bronx, Curtis joined the Marines in World War II.

He took the name Tony Curtis when he began his film career in 1949.

His career stalled later and he battled with drugs and alcohol problems.

Via ABC News

Here's Tony with two other late legends, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe in a scene from Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot" (1959).

Gloria Stuart, actress, "Roman Scandals" , 1997's "Titanic". 1910-2010

LOS ANGELES – Gloria Stuart, the 1930s Hollywood beauty who gave up acting for 30 years and later became the oldest Academy Award acting nominee as the spunky survivor in "Titanic," has died. She was 100.

Stuart died in her sleep Sunday night at her Los Angeles home, her grandson Benjamin Stuart Thompson said Monday.

In her youth, Stuart was a blond beauty who starred in B pictures as well as some higher-profile ones such as "The Invisible Man," Busby Berkeley's "Gold Diggers of 1935" and two Shirley Temple movies, "Poor Little Rich Girl" and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm." But by the mid-1940s she had retired.

She resumed acting in the 1970s, doing occasional television and film work. But Stuart's later career would have remained largely a footnote if James Cameron had not chosen her for his 1997 epic about the doomed luxury liner that struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in 1912.

Stuart co-starred as Rose Calvert, the 101-year-old survivor played by Kate Winslet as a young woman. Both earned Oscar nominations, Winslet as best actress and Stuart as supporting actress.

Cameron wanted an actress who was "still viable, not alcoholic, rheumatic or falling down," Stuart once said. Then in her mid-80s, Stuart endured hours in the makeup chair so she could look 15 years older, and she traveled to the Atlantic location, where the wreck of the real Titanic was photographed.

"Titanic" took in $1.8 billion worldwide to become the biggest modern blockbuster, a position it held until Cameron's "Avatar" came along last year and passed it on the box-office chart.

It was the first time in Oscar history that two performers were nominated for playing the same character in the same film, and it made the 87-year-old Stuart the oldest acting nominee in history.

"Anchors aweigh!" Stuart said when nominations were announced in February 1998.

The film's release was preceded by delays and speculation that it could turn into a colossal flop. Of the film's doubters, Stuart said: "They were dissing it all around. That happens in Hollywood."

Stuart was thought by many to be the sentimental favorite for the supporting-actress prize, but the award went to Kim Basinger for "L.A. Confidential."

But she capitalized on her renewed fame by writing a memoir, "I Just Kept Hoping," which raised eyebrows because of its sexual frankness.

The best known of her early film work came in two of the celebrated series of horror films by director James Whale.

In 1932's "The Old Dark House," Stuart plays one of the travelers who take refuge in a spooky home peopled with strange characters, one played by Boris Karloff, fresh off his star-making turn in Whale's "Frankenstein."

In 1933's "The Invisible Man," Stuart is the love interest for the scientist (Claude Rains) who makes himself invisible.

Among her other films were the Eddie Cantor comedy "Roman Scandals," John Ford's "The Prisoner of Shark Island" and a string of dramas. She said she quit the business because she was tired of playing "girl detective, girl reporter and Shirley Temple's friend." But she brought spirit and intelligence to many routine plots.

"The Girl on the Front Page" is typical of such films. Made in 1936, it tells the story of a socialite who inherits a newspaper when her father dies suddenly. Stuart's character decides to learn the business by working anonymously as a reporter, and after some sparring with the tough editor, she winds up helping him solve a murder-blackmail plot.

In her later years, she took an occasional role in television, but before doing "Titanic," she had not worked in several years.

Stuart was born in 1910 in Santa Monica, Calif., and began acting while in college. She soon signed with Universal Studios, which was responsible for "The Old Dark House" and many other horror classics of the 1930s.

Stuart is survived by a daughter, Sylvia Vaughn Thompson, four grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren

Via AP

Here's a video tribute to her.

Cinemateria Septiembre 18, 2010

Marcos Rodriguez, Emilio Torres y Alberto Reyes les brindan para este programa sus reseñas de las películas RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE (3D) y MACHETE.

¡Baja este episodio del Podcast de Cinemateria Aqui!

"Borat" to play Queen's Freddie Mercury in upcoming film!

Ali G and Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen is to play Freddie Mercury in a film about Queen, the rock band's guitarist Brian May has confirmed to the BBC.

"We have Sacha Baron Cohen, which will probably be a shock to a lot of people, but he's been talking with us for a long time," May told the HARDtalk show.

Frost/Nixon scribe Peter Morgan is writing the screenplay, he added.

The film, which will focus on the period leading up to Live Aid in 1985, will begin shooting next year.

"I think we'll try and keep ourselves out of it as much as we can," May said.

Baron Cohen had been "on this project since we started talking about it seriously with Peter Morgan a couple of years ago," he added.

May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor will oversee music featured in the film, which will include songs by the band and by Mercury as a solo performer.

Graham King, of GK Films, which is co-producing the movie along with Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal's production company Tribeca, said Queen was "a music brand all unto itself".

"Freddie Mercury was an awe-inspiring performer so with Sacha in the starring role, coupled with Peter's screenplay and the support of Queen, we have the perfect combination to tell the real story behind their success."

Morgan, whose previous works include the Oscar-nominated screenplays for The Queen and Frost/Nixon, is already working on the script for the as-yet-untitled project.

Queen's 21-minute appearance at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium featured Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are The Champions and Radio Ga Ga. It is considered to be one of the classic rock performances.

Cinemateria 09/11/2010

Criticamos a la pelicula puertorriqueña ELITE y hablamos de nuestras experiencias en KAISEN 7.

Cinemateria Clasico 07/24/2010

Reseñas de las películas INCEPTION y PREDATORS. También ofrecemos nuestro listado de películas favoritas con el tema de los sueños. Como siempre ofrecemos nuestros respectivos listados de los “Top 5” en la taquilla para los Estados Unidos y para Puerto Rico.

Cinemateria Clasico 07/17/2010

Reseñas de las peliculas LAST AIRBENDER y SORCERER'S APPRENTICE. Entrevista a miembros de la Asociación de Caricaturistas de Puerto Rico en acerca de la Exposición 40/30.

Cinemateria Clasico 07/10/2010

Hablamos de las peliculas KNIGHT AND DAY y DESPICABLE ME. Top 5's villanos de comics. Top 5's peliculas de espionaje.

Cinemateria Clasico 07/03/2010

Este programa es dedicado a la discusión de la pelicula TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE. contamos con la participación de las expertas Eva y Janice.

Cinemateria Clasico 06/26/2010

Reseña de la pelicula GROWN-UPS. Calendario de estrenos de interes para el resto del verano. Nuestras cinco peliculas favoritas cuyo tema es el deporte.

Cinemateria Clasico 06/19/2010

Reseña de la pelicula TOY STORY 3. Como invitados los integrantes de CINEMOVIDA José Valdez, Carlos De León y Daniel Torres.

Cinemateria Clasico 06/12/2010

Reseña de las peliculas THE A-TEAM y KARATE KID. Como invitados tenemos al Sr. José Rivera y a su hijo que nos hablan de su nueva tienda de anime en Caguas.

Cinemateria Clasico 05/22/2010

Artistas invitados Joel Vazquez (Chizo), Wewex, Miguel A. Sanjurjo, David Alvarez. Hablando del festival de animación KARIBUKAI.

Cinemateria Clasico 05/15/2010

Reseña de ROBIN HOOD. Hablamos de pasadas películas de Robin Hood y discutimos el final de temporada de la serie SMALLVILLE.

Cinemateria Clasico 05/08/2010

Reseña de IRON MAN 2. Transmitimos desde el 2do Encuentro de Blogueros. Continuamos la discusión de la escena local de comics con Rosa Colón de Soda Pop Comics y Efraín Morales & Rigo Jiménez de Astral 22 Comics.

Cinemateria Clasico 05/01/2010

Reseña de THE LOSERS. Ricardo Carrión nos habla de lo que pasó en el Puerto Rico Comic-Con 2010 y José Hernández Falcón discute el 2do Encuentro de Blogueros.

Cinemateria Clasico 04/24/2010

Reseña de DEFENDOR, hablamos de los próximos estrenos de la temporada de verano y discutimos las secuelas que nunca debieron haber existido.

Cinemateria Clasico 04/17/2010

Reseña de KICK ASS, discusión del Puerto Rico Comic Con y de los comics boricuas. Invitados Ricardo Carrión (PRCC), Angel Fuentes (Gunbreed), Juan Lapaix (Demonio), Roberto Cruz (Tears from Heaven) y Miguel A. Sanjurjo (Jíbaro Samurai).

Cinemateria Clasico 04/10/2010

Reseñas de CLASH OF THE TITANS, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON y nuestras opiniones sobre el I-pad.

Cinemateria Clasico 04/03/2010

Discusión de películas bíblicas, animación boricua y el festival de animación Karibukai. Invitados Reynaldo León (GUABAMAN) y Miguel A. Sanjurjo (Jíbaro Samurai)

Cinemateria Clasico 03/27/2010

Reseñas de COP-OUT, REPO-MEN y BOONDOCK SAINTS II, ALL SAINT'S DAY. Discusión del "casting" para la película de CAPITAN AMERICA.

Cinemateria Clasico 03/20/2010

Hablamos de NuestraPelicula.com y la industria de cine boricua con Angel Hoyos (Centro Universitario Columbia) y del Taller de Comics con Luis Lacourt y Omar Cruz (Fundación Luiz Muñoz Marín).

Cinemateria Clasico 03/13/2010

Reseña de ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Nuestros invitados son Angel Fuentes & Jowie Rodríguez de RBA Comics y Miguel A. Sanjurjo de Algaro Comics.

Cinemateria Clasico 03/06/2010

Reseña de SHUTTER ISLAND. Nuestras predicciones para los Oscars y los Razzies.

Cinemateria Clasico 02/27/2010

Reseñas de FROM PARIS WITH LOVE, HALO: LEGENDS y JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON 2 EARTHS.. Invitados: Guillermo Vazquez de la Sociedad de Cine de Puerto Rico, Jorge Martínez y José Saul (Rayuta) Nieves de la convención Central Fan Fest.