RIP Olivia Newton John, John Eastman, Anne Heche, Robin Griggs, and Denise Dowse
I was out sick last week and missed a bunch of celebrity deaths. Here is my combined remembrance:
Remembering Olivia Newton-John 1948-2022
Singer/actress Olivia Newton-John has died at 73. She was already established as a pop singer in the 70s when she was cast as Sandy in the 1978 film adaptation of Grease. It is one of the great nostalgic musicals of all time and Newton-John and co-star John Travolta made this timeless. She and Travolta reunited a few more times. It needs to be added that her version of “Over the Rainbow” appeared in John Woo’s Face/Off, one of Travolta’s best performances. But I digress. They teamed up for a Christmas album in 2012 as well.
The soundtrack to Grease was a massive hit. I got the vinyl in my collection. There are some pop standards on this and her songs are among the highlights. Her 1981 song “Physical” was one of the biggest hit songs of the 80s, spending 10 weeks at #1 and Billboard named it #1 of the 1980s. I remember her video for “Soul Kiss” in 1985 too.
The link above is the obit from CNN.
Remembering John Eastman 1939-2022
Entertainment lawyer John Eastman has died at 83. He was the older brother of Linda McCartney. When Paul McCartney married Linda in 1969, John and his father Lee began representing Paul after The Beatles break-up. Paul recently paid tribute to his brother-in-law online.
The link above is the obit from People.
Remembering Anne Heche 1969-2022
Heche being held by the cast of Cedar Rapids
Sad news that about a week after a terrible car accident, actress Anne Heche has died at 53. She got a lot of attention in the 90s for being Ellen DeGeneres’s girlfriend during the time that she came out. But Heche was actually a good supporting actress. Notable performances include Walking and Talking, Donnie Brasco, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Wag the Dog, Gus Van Sant’s remake of Psycho, the criminally underrated comedy Cedar Rapids, and Rampart.
Shortly before I was an intern for Ted Demme (I was a location intern on Monument Ave and at his production company Spanky Pictures), Ted directed Anne in the “Manhattan Miracle” segment of the HBO anthology film SUBWAYStories: Tales from the Underground. It was almost a silent film, when Gregory Hines sees Anne on the opposite subway platform. Great segment of an underrated film!
The link above is the obit from CNN.
Remembering Robin Griggs 1973-2022
Soap opera actress Robin Griggs has died at 49. I was not too familiar with her films, TV shows or soaps, but what got my attention about her is that she got her start as a teen on the Nickelodeon movie review show Rated K: For Kids by Kids. I was into it at the very moment I was getting into movies and watching Siskel & Ebert, it was tweens and teens talking about movies in a way you could relate. I sent in fan letters and even hoped to get on the show as a critic one day. Once in a while I got a postcard back thanking me and one time I even was told my fan letter was selected in a contest and I won sneakers! I don’t really remember Robin on the show, so I think she was on the show in the very beginning.
The link above is the obit from People.
Remembering Denise Dowse 1958-2022
Dowse as Tyrone’s Mother in Requiem for a Dream
Actress Denise Dowse has died at 64. She actually got her start as an FBI agent in a 1989 episode of ALF. Also worth noting that she appeared in two separate episode of in Seinfeld 1992 and 1994. Her biggest role was as Ms. Teasley Beverly Hills, 90210 on from 1990 to 2000. Other notable roles include Requiem for a Dream and Ray.
The link above is the obit from Deadline.
