[Spotlight Post] We Remember
This week’s spotlight post is, by necessity, a memorial post. It’s been a rough week for Hollywood – and by extension, those of us who’ve been influenced by their work. The internet has been a-buzz about the shocking death of Robin Williams and the loss of Hollywood icon, Lauren Bacall, but there were also a couple of important character actors we lost as well – Ed Nelson and Arlene Martel.
From Hollywood Reporter.com and the Everrett Collection
• Arlene Martel played ONE role in Star Trek (the Original Series). She played T’Pring, Spock’s “wife”. This was a pivotal character in a truly important episode that resonated with fans since airing. Though this is the role most SF fans remember, Martel had a long and varied career – showing up in Hogan’s Heroes, The Rockford Files, and every other 1970s mystery show on the air. She was an extremely talented lady and will be missed.
From IMDB.com
• Ed Nelson is one of those actors “you know when you see him”. He was a guest star/character actor who also played bad buys. He was a staple in 1960s westerns. He was a “sliver fox” character in the 1980s mysteries like Murder, She Wrote. He’s been in everything I ever grew up watching and/or influenced me growing up – because the man has been a working actor since 1952.
From Past Deadline – Hollywood Reporter and the Academy Awards
• Lauren Bacall. Wow, Lauren Bacall was a Hollywood icon. That there’s a generation who probably would say, “WHO?” when you say her name or don’t know “Bogie and Bacall” makes me even more sad. Bacall was one of those “Classy Dame” actresses with Katherine Hepburn and Bette Davis. She was brazen and bold and talented – and she married Humphrey Bogart. DUDE. I watched a lot of the “old movies” both growing up and in college. She was simply a class act all the way – both in movies and television.
From The Giant Bomb and License to WEd
• Robin Williams. There’s not much I can add to all the brilliant tributes that have been said in his memory. His was the most shocking because he was by far the youngest and most “recent” of the losses. He fought a lot of shadows in his life – and overcame a lot. The fact he was facing further debilitating illness makes his loss even sadder. His comedic brilliance and range of skills to entertain create a hole that can’t be matched. There simply is no other entertainer like Robin Williams, and probably won’t ever be. He taught generations of creative professionals to be bold and fearless. I will go on tears about how Good Will Hunting didn’t deserve the SCREENWRITING Academy Award, but Williams DESERVED every accolade and award his talent brought him. I hope he’s found rest, and I hope his family can find peace.
Though I don’t have any personal stories to tell of these actors, their work and their lives are part of my background. They helped influence and shape the kind of writer I am today by giving me talent to strive to create work for. And now the lights in the entertainment world shine a little less brightly – and we all have to step up our game to reach the bar these professionals set for us.