The Toronto film community lost one of its own yesterday when Adam Lopez, founder of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, passed away at the age of 52. Lopez had been battling Stage IV cancer of the head and throat since 2021. Initially given only a year to live, Lopez defied all odds and went …
Obituaries
Film scholar David Bordwell has passed away at the age of 76 after a long struggle with a degenerative lung disease. The name would be familiar to anyone who has taken film school, as he was one of the key figures in film studies. Along with his wife and fellow University of Wisconsin-Madison film professor …
This is a tough obituary post for me to write since it affects the rest of the Toronto film community and me quite personally. Suppose you have ever attended the Toronto International Film Festival or one of the dozens of other film and cultural events around Toronto. In that case, chances are that you have …
Director and producer Ivan Reitman has died at the age of 75. Reitman is best known as the director of many popular comedies in the 1970s and 1980s, including 1979’s Meatballs, 1981’s Stripes, and of course 1984’s Ghostbusters and its 1989 sequel. Ivan Reitman was arguably more prolific as a producer, with some of his …
Oscar-winning Italian film composer Ennio Morricone has died at the age of 91. I thought that the best way that I can pay tribute to him to share some of my favourite Morricone themes from films that include The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Thing, and …
It is with great sadness that I report that character actor Dick Miller has passed away at the age of 90. Miller first became known by his work with cult filmmaker Roger Corman, particularly his lead role as Walter Paisley in 1959’s A Bucket of Blood. It was Dick Miller’s work with Roger Corman that lead to Corman’s …
We lost one of the undisputed masters of horror this past weekend, as George A. Romero passed away from cancer at age 77. Romero is probably best known for creating the modern depiction of zombies in 1968’s Night of the Living Dead and its multiple follow-ups that includes 1978’s Dawn of the Dead, 1985’s Day of …
In some shocking and sad news, it is being reported today that actor Bill Paxton has passed away at the age of 61, due to complications from surgery. Bill Paxton was probably best known by many for his recurring roles in the films of James Cameron, ranging from a punk in The Terminator, a cowardly …
I’m a few days late, but it wouldn’t be right for me not to pay my respects to actor John Hurt, who passed away on Friday at the age of 77. The British character actor had a career that dated back to the early 1960s, though Hurt is probably most well known for his role …
Well, 2016 has truly been a horrible year when it comes to high profile celebrities passing away. It doesn’t look to stop anytime soon, as it has been reported that Carrie Fisher has died at the age of 60, after suffering from a heart attack last week. Fisher is of course best known for playing …
2016 has turned into quite the terrible year when it comes to celebrity deaths and probably the most tragic is today’s news that actor Anton Yelchin has died in a car accident today at the all two young age of 27. My first exposure to Yelchin was in the 2006 thriller Alpha Dog, where he …
It has definitely been a rough start of the year. Following the deaths over the last couple weeks of Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister and David Bowie, it has been reported that actor Alan Rickman has died of cancer at the age of 69, which is ironically the same age and cause of Bowie’s death less than a week …
It’s sad news today as acclaimed actor Christopher Lee has passed away at the age of 93. With a career that lasted more than 65 years, Lee was best known for his roles in the Hammer horror films of the 1950s, particularly the 1958 version of Dracula. He also had memorable roles as Lord Summerisle in …
Fans of Star Trek are now in mourning, as it is being reported that Leonard Nimoy has died at the age of 83. Nimoy is of course best known for playing Mr. Spock on the original 1966-69 television series, a role which he reprised in eight feature films (including the two recent films by J.J. …
I am absolutely devastated to hear that comedian Robin Williams has died today at the age of 63. While it has not yet been officially confirmed, the reports are that Williams had been suffering from serious depression lately and that his death was an apparent suicide. Robin Williams was a comedian I literally grew up …
I briefly interrupt my Hot Docs coverage to report the sad news that British actor Bob Hoskins has passed away at the age of 71. Hoskins will always be most remembered by me as private investigator Eddie Valiant from the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He is also the man who got to play …
It is quite sad to hear that Mickey Rooney, one of the longest living Hollywood icons, has passed away yesterday at the age of 93. Born in 1920, Rooney has been acting for practically all his life, beginning with the Mickey McGuire short films from 1927 – 1934. In the late 1930s, he would continue …
Yesterday I was saddened to hear the news that actor and director Harold Ramis passed away at the age of 69. As an actor, Ramis was best known for playing the ultra-scientific Egon Spengler in the Ghostbusters films, which he also co-wrote with Dan Aykroyd. He was also one of the original cast members of …
Sad news is being reported today as the Wall Street Journal broke the story that Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead today in his New York City apartment. The cause of death is currently unknown, though the New York Post is reporting that it was from an apparent drug overdose. Hoffman was 46 …
It is definitely a sad day for cinephiles as, one of the all-time great film critics, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times has passed away at the age of 70. There has pretty much never been a period in my lifetime when Robert Ebert (and his late television co-host Gene Siskel of the Chicago …
This news sort of caught me off guard tonight. I was away from home and checking twitter, when I started seeing a lot of tweets referring to the death of film-maker Tony Scott, the brother of Ridley, best known for directing Top Gun and True Romance. I actually had to backtrack a bit through tweets and articles before …
The news has spread today that film critic and theorist Andrew Sarris has died at the age of 83. In the field of Film Studies, I’m most familiar with Sarris as being the one who wrote the English definition for the auteur theory, which was originally theorized by François Truffaut in Cahiers du Cinéma. In his short, but poignant, …
The news spread fast last night (on Twitter of course) that Leslie Nielsen had died yesterday, from complications from pneumonia, at the age of 84. I, like most people of my generation, am most familiar with Nielsen for his comedy work during the last 30 years. I was particularly a fan of the Naked Gun …
Even though I’m in the middle of my TIFF coverage, it wouldn’t be respectful not to mention that Patrick Swayze succumbed yesterday to his battle with pancreatic cancer and died at the age of 57. Swayze is, of course, best known for his roles in the films Dirty Dancing and Ghost. I personally quite enjoyed …
John Hughes, director of many teen films from the 1980s, such as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, died today of a heart attack at the age of 59. This news is definitely sad, since many of the films he directed are today considered classics. He will be missed.
After a battle with cancer, Farrah Fawcett has died at the age of 62. She was probably best known for her role of the Charlies Angels TV series and also had roles in the films The Cannonball Run, The Apostle, and Logan’s Run. I believe the only film I really saw her in was the …
Now this one’s sad. David Carradine, known the TV show Kung Fu, as well as being the title character in Kill Bill was found dead in his hotel room at the age of 72. I won’t go into details, but apparently there were signs that he committed suicide. I wasn’t really all that family with …
Paul Newman was considered on the great actors, but I have only seen a handful of his films, all of them from the last 20 years of his life. In fact, I think the only film I saw theatrically with him in it was Road to Perdition in 2002. Still you can’t ignore all the …
Boy, it really has been a sad year for celebrity deaths. I just found out today that Bernie Mac just died of complications from pneumonia at the age of 50. I first heard of Bernie Mac when The Bernie Mac Show started in 2001. However, my real first experience was when he was part of …
I was a bit saddened today to hear that stand-up comedian and actor George Carlin has died from heart failure at the age of 71. My earliest memories of George Carlin was as “Mr Conductor” on the children’s show Shining Time Station. I first movie I was Carlin in was Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. …