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Richard Roundtree shot to fame as the ultra-hip, flamboyantly-dressed -- not to mention charismatic-- private eye John Shaft. The film Shaft (1971) spawned a genre, two sequels and a series. It made Roundtree a household name, and, for a while, one of the hottest box-office stars in Hollywood. As New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby put it: "Shaft is the sort of man who can drink five fingers of scotch without gagging or his eyes watering. He moves through Whitey's world with perfect ease and aplomb, but never loses his independence, or his awareness of where his life is really at." Rather aptly, Roundtree has been described as blaxploitation's James Bond.

Fame and success did not come at once. The son of Kathryn (a nurse and/or maid), and John Roundtree (employed variously as a garbage collector and caterer), Richard was born in New Rochelle, New York. During high school, he excelled at football and duly won an athletic scholarship at Southern Illinois University. However, he dropped out in 1963 and worked a succession of different jobs, including as janitor and salesman. He became a fashion model after being signed by Eunice Johnson of Ebony Magazine, later posing as an advertising model for a brand of hair grease and for Salem cigarettes. Deciding to give acting a go, Roundtree returned to New York to take drama lessons. In 1967, he joined the acclaimed Negro Ensemble Company, working alongside people like Robert Hooks, Rosalind Cash and Moses Gunn. He was soon cast in several off-Broadway productions and had a first headlining role as boxing legend Jack Johnson in The Great White Hope.

In 1971, Roundtree, then a virtual unknown in show biz, ignited the screen as the macho sleuth Shaft. Slickly directed by Gordon Parks and filmed on location in Harlem, Greenwich Village and Times Square, the picture was a tangible box-office hit, which satisfied both black and white audiences alike and likely saved a struggling MGM from impending bankruptcy. Shaft can also be said to have spawned the blaxploitation action genre of the 70s. Roundtree went on to star in two less successful sequels (Shaft's Big Score! (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973)) and a series. He reprised his character for a 2000 motion picture which starred Samuel L. Jackson as John Shaft's nephew.

Down the line, Roundtree portrayed a few other robust characters: a Union army deserter teaming up with a crippled Indian to escape a sadistic bounty hunter in Charley-One-Eye (1973), a professional jewel thief in Diamonds (1975) (alternatively titled 'Diamond Shaft'-- a curious coincidence), a treasure hunter in Day of the Assassin (1979) and a Zimbabwean guerrilla in Game for Vultures (1979). By the mid-80s, however, the actor found himself increasingly relegated to the supporting cast as conventional establishment figures, often police or army officers.Television afforded him several good roles, notably in the Emmy Award-winning miniseries Roots (1977) and as former slave-turned gunslinger Isaiah "Ice" McAdams in Outlaws (1986). He subsequently had recurring roles in the cast of the soap Generations (1989) (as a doctor), the drama Being Mary Jane (2013) (as the titular talk show host's dad) and (as a grandfather) in the sitcom Family Reunion (2019).

Roundtree's accolades have included an MTV Lifetime Achievement Award for Shaft in 1994, a Peabody Award in 2002 and a Black Theater Alliance Award Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.

Though diagnosed with male breast cancer in 1993 and having undergone both chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, Roundtree bravely soldiered on in his chosen profession and continued to act on screen right up to his death from pancreatic cancer on October 24 2023, at the age of 81.

Matthew Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, to Suzanne Marie (Langford), a Canadian journalist, and John Bennett Perry, an American actor. His ancestry includes English, Irish, German, Swiss-German, and French-Canadian.

Perry was raised in Ottawa, Ontario, where he became a top-ranked junior tennis player in Canada. However, after moving to Los Angeles at the age of 15 to live with his father, he became more interested in acting. In addition to performing in several high school stage productions, he remained an avid tennis player. Perry ranked 17th nationally in the junior singles category and third in the doubles category. Upon graduating from high school, Perry intended to enroll at the University of Southern California. However, when he was offered a leading role on the television series, Boys Will Be Boys (1987), he seized the opportunity to begin his acting career.

Perry appeared in the hit comedy film The Whole Nine Yards (2000), as the neighbor of a hit man, played by Bruce Willis. His other feature film credits included Fools Rush In (1997), A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988), She's Out of Control (1989) and Parallel Lives (1994). He also co-starred with Chris Farley in the buddy comedy Almost Heroes (1998) and in the romantic comedy, Three to Tango (1999), opposite Neve Campbell. Perry resided in Los Angeles. He enjoyed playing ice hockey and softball in his spare time.

Piper Laurie was a three-time Oscar nominee, nominated by BAFTA as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for best performance by an actress in 'The Hustler' with Paul Newman.

Laurie was born Rosetta Jacobs in Detroit, Michigan, to Charlotte Sadie (Alperin) and Alfred Jacobs, a furniture dealer. She had an elder sister. Her family was of Russian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent.

Young Rosetta had been studying acting with Benno and Betomi Schnider for three years when she auditioned for Universal Studios, who signed her to a long term contract and was renamed Piper Laurie. She made more than twenty films, appearing opposite such actors as Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson and Tyrone Power.

Disgusted with the lack of serious roles, Laurie finally broke her lucrative Hollywood contract, moved to New York, lived on a budget, worked on live television and theater, and within two years changed her life and her career.

She stopped working for fifteen years after 'The Hustler' to devote her energies to the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, feeling acting was less important. When she accepted work again she was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for 'Carrie' with Sissy Spacek, and again as Best Supporting Actress in 'Children of a Lesser God' with Marlee Matlin. She won the Golden Globe for her role in the David Lynch cult favorite 'Twin Peaks' and was nominated for an Emmy for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress in 'Twin Peaks'.

She was nominated a total of twelve times for the Emmy, including one for the original and celebrated live broadcast of 'The Days of Wine and Roses' with Cliff Robertson, directed by John Frankenheimer, as well as for her comedic performance in 'Frasier'. She won an Emmy for her performance in 'Promise' opposite James Woods and James Garner. She was Harvard's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year, and she also received an SFECA award for her performance as Dolly in the film 'The Grass Harp'.

In 2010, she played an elderly grandma who learns to smoke a bong in the feature film 'Hesher', with Joseph Gordon Levitt and Natalie Portman. Most recently she appeared as Grandma Hershe in White Boy Rick, starring Matthew McConaughey, and as Rose Muller in 'Snapshots', directed by Melanie Mayron. In 2013, she made her musical stage debut in 'A Little Night Music' as Madame Armfeldt.

Laurie performed on Broadway in the Tony-nominated Lincoln Center production of 'Mornings at Seven' directed by Dan Sullivan at the Lyceum Theatre. She also appeared on Broadway in the 20th Anniversary production of 'The Glass Menagerie', in which she played Laura Wingfield, with Maureen Stapleton (only 7 years older) as her mother, Amanda, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

Off-Broadway, she appeared in Molly Kazan's 'Rosemary and the Alligators' and in Larry Kramer's 'The Destiny of Me'. She toured in a one-person play about Zelda Fitzgerald, written by Bill Luce. In 2010 she directed Jim Brochu in his one-man show 'Zero Hour', for which he received the Drama Desk Award for best solo performance on or off Broadway, playing Zero Mostel.

Laurie was divorced from Wall Street Journal's movie critic, Pulitzer Prize-winner Joe Morgenstern. They had a daughter. Laurie's autobiography, Learning to Live Out Loud, was published by Crown in 2011 to rave reviews and is now available as an audio book on audible.com.

Charles Richard Moll was an American actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the role of Aristotle Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon, the bailiff on the NBC sitcom Night Court from 1984 to 1992. He has also done extensive work as a voice actor, typically using his deep voice to portray villainous characters in animation and video games, most notably the voice of Two-Face in Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Moll passed away on October 26, 2023 at the age of 80.

Suzanne Somers was the third of four children born to Frank and Marion Mahoney. Her father worked loading beer onto boxcars, and her mother was a medical secretary. She grew up living in constant fear of being hurt or even killed at the hands of her verbally and physically abusive, alcoholic father. She was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was young, and was a poor student. She excelled, however, in the arts and was active in her school's theater program. She won a music scholarship to college, but became pregnant after six months. She married the baby's father, Bruce Somers, and her only child, Bruce Somers, was born in November 1965. She was unhappy in her marriage and began an affair with her former drama teacher. Her husband found out about it and the marriage ended after just two years, in 1967. A single mom, she turned to modeling in San Francisco to support herself and her son. She also distanced herself from her family because her older brother and sister by then were also alcoholics.

In 1968, she won a job as a prize model on a game show hosted by her future husband, Alan Hamel, who was married at the time. The two began dating, and she became pregnant while Hamel was still married. They came to the conclusion that Suzanne should have an abortion, from which she suffered severe complications for several days.

In 1971, her son Bruce was severely injured when he was hit by a car, and the therapist counseling him only charged the financially struggling Somers $1 per week. She underwent therapy herself to overcome the problems of her dysfunctional childhood. In the early 1970s, she landed minor roles in film and TV, and finally won a role on the series Three's Company (1976). She married Hamel in 1977. She was fired from the series after she asked for a raise at the beginning of the fifth season.

She then headed to Las Vegas, where she performed extensively in the mid-1980s. In 1986, she began writing her autobiography, "Keeping Secrets", which was later made into a TV movie. In 1991, she landed the role of "Carol Foster", opposite Patrick Duffy, on the TV series Step by Step (1991). After the end of that show, she began co-hosting Candid Camera (1992).

Burly, talented character actor who remained consistently busy playing "rough edged" or scary characters, often on the wrong side of the law. Young was born on April 30, 1940, in New York City, the son of a high school shop teacher. He is of Italian descent. Young received his dramatic arts training under acting coach Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.

Young first gathered notice playing tough thugs in such films as The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971), Across 110th Street (1972), Chinatown (1974) and The Gambler (1974). Director Sam Peckinpah cast Young as the getaway driver/assassin, "Mac", in The Killer Elite (1975), and Young came to the attention of newcomer Sylvester Stallone, who cast him as future brother-in-law "Paulie" in the 1976 sleeper hit Rocky (1976).

Young was nominated for an Oscar, and has gone on to reprise the role in all five "Rocky" sequels to date! Peckinpah re-hired him to play renegade trucker "Pigpen" in the moderately successful Convoy (1978) (watch for "Pigpen's" Mack truck where the writing on the door states "Paulie Hauling"!).

Young also appeared in Once Upon a Time in America (1984), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) and The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002).

Befitting her original name (Violet Pretty), the knockout English brunette Anne Heywood won the coveted "Miss Great Britain" beauty title in 1950 at the young age of 17. Born on December 11, 1931, the daughter of a violinist, she originally trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She gained early experience on the stage with the Highbury Players in Birmingham and moved on to some TV work. The Rank Organization caught sight of her and offered the former beauty queen a seven-year contract. During that time, however, she was pretty much relegated to playing 'nice girl' types in the 50s and 60s.

In later career, her film appearances courted controversy and she seemed drawn toward highly troubled, flawed characters. Very popular with Italian audiences, Anne never endeared herself to American film goers although she did stir up some curiosity with one of her more noteworthy films, the pioneer lesbian drama The Fox (1967). Starring Anne with Sandy Dennis, the two were quite believable as an unhappy, isolated couple whose relationship is irreparably shattered by the appearance of a handsome stranger (Keir Dullea). At the height of the movie's publicity, Playboy magazine revealed a "pictorial essay" just prior to its 1967 release with Anne in a nude and auto-erotic spread. The film won a "Best Foreign Film" Golden Globe Award (it was made in Canada) and Anne herself earned a "Best Actress" nod.

Despite being aggressively promoted in its aftermath by husband/producer Raymond Stross, who was instrumental in reshaping her image with such sexy, offbeat dramas as The Night Fighters (1960), The Very Edge (1963), 90 Degrees in the Shade (1965), Midas Run (1969), I Want What I Want (1972) and Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1979), Anne has remained a distinct European film product. She last appeared on TV in The Equalizer (1985) series. Following her husband's death in 1988, Anne remarried (to a former New York Assistant Attorney General) and begged away from the camera. The couple settled in Beverly Hills.

Haydn Gwynne was fluent in French and Italian. She studied Modern Languages at the University of Warwick before taking a five-year lectureship in Italy, where she taught English. She also drove across the United States before becoming an actress in her mid-twenties.

She first came to notice on television as starring in the David Lodge campus comedy/drama Nice Work (1989), before joining the sharp comedy series set in a television newsroom, Drop the Dead Donkey (1990). She was known for her roles in the medical series Peak Practice (1993) and the police drama Merseybeat (2001), but later played in the stage musicals 'Billy Elliot' and 'Ziegfeld'.

She lived in London with her partner Jason Phipps, a psychotherapist, and their two sons, Orlando and Harry. Offscreen, she volunteered for Sightsavers, a group committed to combating blindness in under-developed countries.

Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, Phyllis Coates moved to Hollywood as a teenager with intentions of enrolling at UCLA. A chance encounter with Ken Murray in a Hollywood & Vine restaurant landed her in the comedian's vaudeville show. She started out as a chorus girl and worked her way up to doing skits before moving on to work for veteran showman Earl Carroll and later touring with the USO. Coates got some of her first motion picture experience in comedy short subjects at Warner Brothers and then graduated to roles in early '50s films. After a one-season stint with the Man of Steel (George Reeves on Adventures of Superman (1952)), she began to divide her time among TV, B-movie assignments and serials at Republic.

Born Charles Harvey Goddard, Mark Goddard was best known for his role as the feisty, combative Major Don West in the cult TV series Lost in Space (1965). The youngest of five siblings, he was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, but grew up in Scituate, raised as a Catholic. Though excelling in sports, Goddard gave up early ambitions of a professional basketball career. Following advice from the head of the dramatic society of the College of the Holy Cross, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan.

Two years later, he relocated to Los Angeles and, before long, received offers to act in television. His first recurring role on the small screen was as the lead character's deputy in the western series Johnny Ringo (1959). He replaced Lee Farr as one of The Detectives (1959), portraying police officer Chris Ballard in 64 episodes.

Goddard made guest appearances in The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), The Virginian (1962), Gunsmoke (1955) and Perry Mason (1957) and co-starred alongside John McGiver in the short-lived sitcom Many Happy Returns (1964), before signing on as one of the crew in Irwin Allen 's Lost in Space. From season two, his character projected increasing antagonism towards the nefarious Dr. Zachary Smith. After that series had run its course, Goddard remained a frequent guest TV star on popular shows like Mod Squad (1968) and The Streets of San Francisco (1972). He had recurring stints on the soaps One Life to Live (1968) and General Hospital (1963) and made occasional forays into film acting, most notably in the off-beat horror flick Blue Sunshine (1977) (as a drug dealer turned politician).

The following year, he made his sole Broadway appearance in the musical The Act, opposite Liza Minnelli and Barry Nelson. Well-received, it ran for 233 performances between October 1977 and July 1978. Goddard retired from acting in 2015.

In between acting, Goddard often sidelined working with children, including at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Having graduated with a Master's Degree in education from Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, he eventually pursued a new vocation from 1991 as a special education teacher.

Goddard published his memoirs, "To Space and Back", in 2009. He was married three times. His second wife (divorced) was the actress Susan Anspach. His daughter is the producer Melissa Goddard .

Mark Goddard died of pulmonary fibrosis on October 10, 2023 at the age of 87.

Lara Parker was born Mary Lamar Rickey in Knoxville, Tennessee, and grew up in Memphis. She attended Central High School in Memphis, and won a scholarship to Vassar College. At Vassar, Lara began a major in philosophy, which she completed at Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College), receiving her BA. She attended graduate school at the University of Iowa and completed all course work on a Masters in speech and drama. During the summer when Lara was supposed to write her thesis, she acted at the Millbrook Playhouse, in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, playing 5 leading roles in 6 weeks. Rather than returning to Iowa, she decided to try her luck in New York. During only her second week in the city, she was cast as Angelique, the witch, in the daytime horror serial, Dark Shadows (1966). It was a role she held for 5 years. It culminated with the film, Night of Dark Shadows (1971). While still in New York, Lara appeared on Broadway in "Woman is My Idea", as well as in two off-Broadway plays: "Lulu" and "A Gun Play".

In 1972, she moved to Los Angeles, and began working in film and prime-time television, performing many guest starring roles, and occasionally returning to daytime television. After retiring from acting, she changed her focus back to what her original interests were. She became a high school and college English teacher, and obtained her MFA in creative writing (from Antioch University). Parker authored four novels based on "Dark Shadows" (see book section, below).

Parker lived in California with her husband, Jim Hawkins and their daughter, Caitlin Hawkins. She died at age 84 from cancer in October 2023.

Tyler Christopher was born on 11 November 1972 in Joliet, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for General Hospital (1963), Shouting Secrets (2011) and Into the West (2005). He was married to Brienne Pedigo and Eva Longoria. He died on 31 October 2023 in San Diego, California, USA.

Joan Katherine Eunson was the daughter of playwright/screenwriter Dale Eunson and movie press agent, journalist and writer Katherine Albert. They were friends with Joan Crawford who became her godmother. With such connections in show business, it was always on the cards that teenaged Joan would divide her time "between the Broadway theatrical world and the swimming pools of Hollywood".

Brought up in an adult world, she attended the Birch Wathen Lenox School in Manhattan, but dropped out before her sophomore year when she was signed at 14 years of age by Samuel Goldwyn. At that time, she had no formal dramatic training and only limited stage experience. However, a New York theatre critic had seen her perform as a child in the play Guest in the House and recommended her to Goldwyn who had been casting for a teenage lead in his next film.

Thus, Joan (now billed as 'Joan Evans') made her film debut opposite Farley Granger in the title role of Roseanna McCoy (1949). The wafer-thin romance was set against the background of the infamous hillbilly feud between the Hatfield and McCoy families which began in 1863 and lasted 28 years. Since the age of consent was 16, her parents lied about their daughter's date of birth prior to the picture's release, adding two years to her age. She appeared with Granger in two more RKO productions (Our Very Own (1950) and Edge of Doom (1950)) before headlining as a teenager driven to the brink of suicide by uncaring and irresponsible parents (played by Melvyn Douglas and Lynn Bari) in On the Loose (1951). The melodramatic screenplay was written by Evans' parents.

Next, she was loaned to MGM to appear in the Esther Williams musical Skirts Ahoy! (1952) (for the musical numbers her voice was dubbed by another Joan: vocalist Joan Elms), then to Universal to play Irene Dunne's daughter in It Grows on Trees (1952). Ironically, Skirts Ahoy was produced by Joe Pasternak, whose screen test Evans had failed years earlier. On that occasion, Pasternak had expressed the opinion that she would never make it in pictures.

Evans made a few more films, including a couple of westerns opposite Audie Murphy (Column South (1953) and No Name on the Bullet (1959)), the circus drama The Flying Fontaines (1959) and the noirish crime thriller The Walking Target (1960). She had several TV guest roles before retiring from acting in 1961, her last outing being an episode of Laramie (1959) .

In 1952, she married a car dealer named Gerald Kirby Weatherly (over the objections of her parents who thought her too young for wedlock) who asked her godmother, Joan Crawford, to try to talk her out of it. Instead, a secret wedding ceremony was performed in Crawford's home and Evans' parents were not informed. This ended the friendship between Evans' parents and Crawford but the marriage, against all odds, was a success and lasted until Evans' death in 2023. The Weatherlys had two children.

Post-retirement, Joan Weatherly devoted herself to family life. She worked for some time as an editor for the Hollywood Studio Magazine before becoming director of the Carden Academy in Van Nuys during the 1970s, teaching the largely classical-based "Carden Method".

Anthony (Tony), started as a club promoter in London in the early eighties and financed his first short 'rock-a-bye baby' by holding an event at Le'quipe Anglaise, where all the door money went to finance the film. In fact, when it was finished it was the clubs owner Shariffi who showed it to producer Micheal White (Rocky horror show) who was so impressed, he gave Tony a one way ticket to L.A.saying don't come back until you have made it. Tony didn't return for eight years.

in L.A. Tony famously met the producer of 'Waxwork', Staffan Ahrenberg, when he crashed into the back of his car in the motel they were both staying at on Fairfax. Tony, broke at the time, talked Staffan into letting him pay for the damage by writing him a script for $3000 only. Staffan agreed, but wouldn't pay a penny until it was delivered. Tony wrote it in three days. Waxwork.

The script then did the rounds getting turned down by every studio, until an independent, Vestron was the only one left. They turned it down two days before Christmas. it was over the vacation that their friend, producer Mark Burg (Saw), said he couldn't believe that Dan Ireland (the head of the studio) wouldn't have loved it. It turns out he hadn't read it, it never made it past the readers.

The first day after the vacation, Mark sent 'Waxwork' to Dan himself, the rest, as they say, is horror movie history.

Joanna Merlin is an actress and casting director who was born in Chicago, Illinois. She made her motion-picture debut in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956). In 1961 she made her Broadway debut as a replacement performer in "A Far Country," a play about Sigmund Freud. Next on Broadway she created the role of Tzeitel in the original production of "Fiddler on the Roof," produced by Harold Prince. Beginning with the original production of "Company," Merlin served as casting director for a now-legendary string of Broadway musical plays on which Prince collaborated with composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, including "Follies," "A Little Night Music," "Pacific Overtures," "Sweeney Todd," and "Merrily We Roll Along." Merlin's other Broadway casting credits include the Prince-directed "On the Twentieth Century," "Evita," "A Doll's Life," "Play Memory," and "End of the World." Since 1975, she has worked regularly as an actress in feature films, counting among her credits such notable motion pictures as Hester Street (1975); All That Jazz (1979); Fame (1980); The Killing Fields (1984); and Mystic Pizza (1988). Merlin appeared in several episodes of Law & Order (1990), and for the past four and one-half years she has appeared in the recurring role of Judge Lena Petrovsky on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).

Richard J. Butkus, "Dick," was born in Chicago, Illinois, December 9, 1942. He graduated from the University of Illinois where he was a two time All- American line backer. A first round draft pick of the Chicago Bears, Dick played for them from 1965-1973, and was named All-Pro linebacker seven times. Mr. Butkus was elected into the NFL "Football Hall of Fame" at Canton, Ohio. Many football gurus consider Dick Butkus the finest linebacker in the history of football.

Terence Davies was born on 10 November 1945 in Liverpool, England, UK. He was a writer and director, known for Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), The House of Mirth (2000) and Benediction (2021). He died on 7 October 2023 in Mistley, Essex, England, UK.

Anne Orwin was an actress, known for Crime and Punishment (1979), Ladder of Swords (1989) and Catherine Cookson's Tilly Trotter (1999). She died on 8 October 2023 in the United Kingdom.

Wendell Johnson was a production designer and art director, known for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), The Neighborhood (2018) and Andy Richter Controls the Universe (2002). He died on 18 October 2023.

American child actress of the 1950s, on screen from the age of three. Judy Nugent was the daughter of MGM prop man Carl Nugent and his wife Lucille Jane Redd (1916-2004), also a former child actress (in early Our Gang comedies) who later worked as a theatrical agent and was stage mother to her daughters (Carol Nugent, Judy's older sister, who also in pictures).

Judy was barely glimpsed in tiny movie bit parts until she made her breakthrough in the role of Donna in The Ruggles (1949). The first family sitcom to air on television was broadcast live on ABC. After the show had run its course, Judy appeared in episodes of The Lone Ranger (1949) and (as a blind girl) in Adventures of Superman (1952). She played another blind girl in Annie Oakley (1954), was one of the kids of Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (1954) and rode donkeys in episodes of Sugarfoot (1957) and Rawhide (1959). Her personal favorite role was in the romantic melodrama Magnificent Obsession (1954) (as a teen named Judy), which starred Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman. A chance encounter with Cary Grant on the Universal lot prompted the actor to use his famous line "Judy, Judy, Judy".

Later roles included Annette Funicello's outsider Jet Maypen in Annette (1958) and The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) and guest spots in 77 Sunset Strip (1958) and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959). She had a lengthy hiatus from acting after 1962 (following her marriage to western actor Buck Taylor) but made a brief return to the screen as a stunt rider and body double for Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1980), shot on location in Durango, Mexico.

A self-confessed country girl and tomboy, Judy Nugent lived on her Montana ranch until her death on October 26 at the age of 83.

Tony Rohr was born on 21 May 1939 in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland. He was an actor, known for Leap Year (2010), The Double (2013) and The Long Good Friday (1980). He was married to Janet Revell. He died on 29 October 2023.

Paul Lukaitis was born on 10 July 1959 in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada. He was a production manager and actor, known for In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007), Alone in the Dark (2005) and 50/50 (2011). He was married to Margaret Yaworski. He died on 26 October 2023 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Brandon Smith was born on 13 August 1952 in Harris County, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Powder (1995), Jeepers Creepers III (2017) and Jeepers Creepers (2001). He was married to Margaret Laurence. He died on 27 October 2023 in Houston, Texas, USA.

Raymond O'Connor was born on 13 September 1952 in South Bronx, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Rock (1996), Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) and Just Like Heaven (2005). He died on 9 October 2023 in the USA.

Thomas Horn is an internationally recognized lecturer, radio host and best selling author of several books including his newest books, Petrus Romanus: The Final Pope Is Here, Forbidden Gates and Apollyon Rising 2012. He is a well-known columnist whose articles have been referred to by writers of the L. A. Times Syndicate, MSNBC, Christianity Today, New Man Magazine, World Net Daily, News Max, White House Correspondents and dozens of news magazines and press agencies around the globe. He has been interviewed by US Congressmen and Senators on his findings as well as featured repeatedly in major media including top-ten talk shows, America's Morning News for The Washington Times, The 700 Club, The Harvest Show, Coast to Coast AM, Prophecy in the News, and the Southwest Radio Church to name a few. Thomas received the highest degree honorary doctorate bestowed in 2007 from legendary professor Dr. I.D.E. Thomas for his research into ancient history, and has been endorsed by such national leaders as Dr. James Kennedy.