Harvey Korman Dies At 81

Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to "The Carol Burnett Show" and on the big screen in "Blazing Saddles," died Thursday. He was 81.


Korman died at UCLA Medical Center after suffering complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago, his family said in a statement released by the hospital.

His daughter, Kate Korman, said in the statement that it was a "miracle" that her father had survived the aneurysm at all, and that he had several major operations.

"Tragically, after such a hard fought battle he passed away," she said.

A natural second banana, Korman gained attention on "The Danny Kaye Show," appearing in skits with the star. He joined the show in its second season in 1964 and continued until it was canceled in 1967. That same year he became a cast member in the first season of "The Carol Burnett Show."

Burnett and Korman developed into the perfect pair with their burlesques of classic movies such as "Gone With the Wind" and soap operas like "As the World Turns" (their version was called "As the Stomach Turns").

Another recurring skit featured them as "Ed and Eunice," a staid married couple who were constantly at odds with the wife's mother (a young Vickie Lawrence in a gray wig). In "Old Folks at Home," they were a combative married couple bedeviled by Lawrence as Burnett's troublesome young sister.

Burnett was devastated by the news, said her assistant, Angie Horejsi.

"She loved Harvey very much," Horejsi said. She said Burnett had not yet made a statement.

Korman revealed the secret to the long-running show's success in a 2005 interview.

"We were an ensemble, and Carol had the most incredible attitude. I've never worked with a star of that magnitude who was willing to give so much away."

After 10 successful seasons, he left in 1977 for his own series. Dick Van Dyke took his place, but the chemistry was lacking and the Burnett show was canceled two years later. "The Harvey Korman Show" also failed, as did other series starring the actor.

"It takes a certain type of person to be a television star," he said in that 2005 interview. "I didn't have whatever that is. I come across as kind of snobbish and maybe a little too bright.

Give me something bizarre to play or put me in a dress and I'm fine."

His most memorable film role was as the outlandish Hedley Lamarr (who was endlessly exasperated when people called him Hedy) in Mel Brooks' 1974 Western satire, "Blazing Saddles."

He also appeared in the Brooks comedies "High Anxiety," "The History of the World Part I" and "Dracula: Dead and Loving It," as well as two "Pink Panther" moves, "Trail of the Pink Panther" in 1982 and "Curse of the Pink Panther" in 1983.

Korman's other films included "Gypsy," "Huckleberry Finn" (as the King), "Herbie Goes Bananas" and "Bud and Lou" (as legendary straightman Bud Abbott to Buddy Hackett's Lou Costello). He also provided the voice of Dictabird in the 1994 live-action feature "The Flintstones."

In television, Korman guest-starred in dozens of series including "The Donna Reed Show," "Dr. Kildare," "Perry Mason," "The Wild Wild West," "The Muppet Show," "The Love Boat," "The Roseanne Show" and "Burke's Law."

In their '70s, he and Tim Conway, one of his Burnett show co-stars, toured the country with their show "Tim Conway and Harvey Korman: Together Again." They did 120 shows a year, sometimes as many as six or eight in a weekend.

Harvey Herschel Korman was born Feb. 15, 1927, in Chicago. He left college for service in the U.S. Navy, resuming his studies afterward at the Goodman School of Drama at the Chicago Art Institute. After four years, he decided to try New York.

"For the next 13 years I tried to get on Broadway, on off-Broadway, under or beside Broadway," he told a reporter in 1971.

He had no luck and had to support himself as a restaurant cashier. Finally, in desperation, he and a friend formed a nightclub comedy act.

"We were fired our first night in a club, between the first and second shows," he recalled.

After returning to Chicago, Korman decided to try Hollywood, reasoning that "at least I'd feel warm and comfortable while I failed."

For three years he sold cars and worked as a doorman at a movie theater. Then he landed the job with Kaye.

In 1960 Korman married Donna Elhart and they had two children, Maria and Christopher. They divorced in 1977. Two more children, Katherine and Laura, were born of his 1982 marriage to Deborah Fritz.

In addition to his daughter Kate, he is survived by his wife and the three other children.

Alexander Courage Dead At 88

Legendary composer Alexander Courage has passed away at the age of 88. Courage will always be remembered as the composer of the now iconic theme for the original "Star Trek".
Courage's eight-note brass signature for the Enterprise may be the single best-known fanfare in the world. When told that more people know it than know Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, Courage – in his typically self-deprecating fashion – said that must surely be an exaggeration.

Courage's fanfare for the Starship Enterprise, written in 1965 for the first of two Star Trek pilots, was heard throughout the three original seasons of the show and has been reprised in all of the Trek feature films and several of the TV series, especially Star Trek: The Next Generation in the 1980s and '90s.


Courage’s credits range from musicals like "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", "Singin’ in the Rain", "Oklahoma!" and "Guys and Dolls" (all of which he wrote arrangements for) to episodes of "Lost in Space" and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", and the score to "Superman IV: The Quest For Peace".He also scored a handful of films in the late 1950s, including "Arthur Penn's The Left-Handed Gun" and such drive-in fare as "Shake, Rattle and Rock" and "Hot Rod Rumble". But television became Courage's primary outlet for composition, including various episodes of M Squad, Wagon Train and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" at Universal, "National Velvet" at MGM and "The Untouchables" at Desilu.

"Laugh In" Star Dick Martin Dead At 86

Dick Martin, the zany half of the U.S. comedy team whose "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" took television by storm in the 1960s, making stars of Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin and creating such national catch-phrases as "Sock it to me!" has died. He was 86.


Martin, who went on to become one of television's busiest directors after splitting with Rowan in the late 1970s, died Saturday night of respiratory complications at a hospital in Santa Monica, family spokesman Barry Greenberg said.

"He had had some pretty severe respiratory problems for many years, and he had pretty much stopped breathing a week ago," Greenberg said.

Martin was surrounded by family and friends when he died just after 6 p.m., Greenberg said.
"Laugh-in," which debuted in January 1968, was unlike any comedy-variety show before it. Rather than relying on a series of tightly scripted song-and-dance segments, it offered up a steady, almost stream-of-consciousness run of non-sequitur jokes, political satire and madhouse antics from a cast of talented young actors and comedians that also included Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, Jo Anne Worley and announcer Gary Owens.

Presiding over it all were Rowan and Martin, the veteran nightclub comics whose standup banter put their own distinct spin on the show.

Like all straight men, Rowan provided the voice of reason, striving to correct his partner's absurdities. Martin, meanwhile, was full of bogus, often risque theories about life, which he appeared to hold with unwavering certainty.

Christian Bale Signs On For 3 "Terminator" Films

Christian Bale is to play rebel leader John Connor in three sequels to the Terminator franchise, its producers have revealed.

The Welsh-born star, who is soon to be seen in Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight, has already started shooting the first of those films, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.

"He's really an actor's actor, so we're very proud," said Victor Kubicek of film company Halcyon.

Charlie's Angels director McG is directing the new film, which is due to be released on 22 May 2009.

"Christian was our first choice and he's a big fan of The Terminator, so we're very lucky," Kubicek told the BBC at the Cannes Film Festival.

"But with Batman he's already done the whole franchise thing, so we weren't sure he'd respond."

Luckily, said Kubicek's business partner Derek Anderson, "he read the script and he loved it, so he's signed on for all three."

US rap star Common will also have a lead role in the film, as will Australian actor Sam Worthington, who will soon be seen in Titanic director James Cameron's science-fiction epic Avatar.


Arnold Schwarzenegger played the Terminator in three blockbuster films.
The producers would not reveal whether Arnold Schwarzenegger would reprise his role as the Terminator. Nor would they discuss character names or plot details.

"We can't talk about the story points at all," said Kubicek, adding the project was being kept strictly under wraps.

"Not everyone gets to see the script. They only see the part of the script that's relevant to the job they're doing."

But the producers promised not to disappoint fans of the time-travelling franchise, which has also spawned TV series The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

"We're both huge Terminator fans and we're just approaching it from the point of view of what we'd like to see," said Anderson.

"Any time we're feeling pressure we just take a step back and say, as fans, 'what would we like to see

Romero's Original "Dawn Of The Dead" Goes 3D

"Dawn of the Dead"

George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" will be "dimensionalized" to stereoscopic 3-D for a planned theatrical release.

New Amsterdam Entertainment has tapped 3-D company In-Three, which will use its proprietary "dimensionalization" process to turn the 1978 indie horror flick movie into 3-D. The project is expected to be completed within the year.

So far the only legacy 2-D film that has been converted and re-released in digital 3-D is "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas," which Disney released in October 2006 in 168 theaters, grossing $8.7 million. Disney reissued the film in October and plans to repeat this year and in 2009.

There are slightly more than 1,000 3-D-ready digital screens in the domestic market, and that number is expected to grow.

In-Three uses patented software tools and techniques to create a second camera image from a 2-D image. Each frame is "dimensionalized," meaning that all objects are moved forward or backward from the screen or in relation to one another so as to achieve the desired dramatic effect.

In-Three "dimensionalized" the "Star Wars" 3-D demo clip that first screened at ShoWest in 2005.

Conversion of legacy material using the process starts at about $50,000 per minute and can reach more than $100,000, depending on the complexity of the imagery in terms of visual effects and other elements.

"We are seeing interest now that people realize there will be sufficient screens to justify the cost," In-Three's Neil Feldman said.

ABC Announces 2008/2009 Schedule

ABC has officially released their 2008/2009 schedule.
Renewals include "According to Jim," "America's Funniest Home Videos," "The Bachelor," "Boston Legal," "Brothers & Sisters," "Dancing with the Stars," "Desperate Housewives," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Eli Stone," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "Private Practice," "Pushing Daisies," "Samantha Who?," "Supernanny," "Ugly Betty," "Wife Swap" and "20/20."

Cancellations include "Big Shots," "Carpoolers," "Cashmere Mafia," "Cavemen," "Just for Laughs," "Miss/Guided," "Notes from the Underbelly," "October Road," "Oprah's Big Give," "Women's Murder Club"



MONDAY
8pm: "Dancing with the Stars"
9:30pm: "Samantha Who"
10pm: "Boston Legal"

TUESDAY
8pm: "Opportunity Knocks"
9pm: "Dancing with the Stars the Results Show"
10pm: "Eli Stone"

WEDNESDAY
8pm: "Pushing Daisies"
9pm: "Private Practice"
10pm: "Dirty Sexy Money"

THURSDAY
8pm: "Ugly Betty"
9pm: "Grey's Anatomy"
10pm: "Life on Mars"

FRIDAY
8pm: "Wife Swap"
9pm: "Supernanny"
10pm: "20/20"

SATURDAY
8pm: "Saturday Night College Football"

SUNDAY
7pm: "America's Funniest Home Videos"
8pm: "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
9pm: "Desperate Housewives"
10pm: "Brothers and Sisters"

Lindsay Lohan Fired From "Manson" Film

Lindsay Lohan has reportedly been fired from a forthcoming film about Charles Manson.

The actress was due to star in independent movie ‘The Manson Girls‘ - playing Nancy Pitman, one of the cult followers of the notorious Manson who was convicted of seven counts of murder in 1971 - but was dropped after other actors refused to work alongside her.

The 21-year-old actress signed up for the movie in March and was due to start shooting in Los Angeles in July.

Manson masterminded a series of gruesome murders including that of pregnant actress Sharon Tate, the then-wife of director Roman Polanski. He is now 73 and serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in jail.

Nancy Pitman - who was known as Brenda when she was part of the ‘Manson Family’, the nickname given to his followers - ran away from her wealthy family home in Malibu, California, at the age of 16 to be with Manson.

While she didn’t participate in the murders, she is believed to have accompanied Manson to the scene of the crime afterwards to help remove evidence.

Lindsay has hit the headlines more for her partying, drinking and alleged drug taking than her acting work recently. Her last big screen outing, ‘I Know Who Killed Me‘ was a box office flop.

She was publicly criticised by bosses on ‘Georgia Rule‘ after a string of absences during filming.

James G. Robinson, CEO of Morgan Creek Productions who made the movie, issued an open letter to her saying:

“You and your representatives have told us that your various late arrivals and absences from the set have been the result of illness. We are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real reason for your so-called ‘exhaustion’.”

She is currently filming a cameo in hit US TV comedy-drama ‘Ugly Betty’.