Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries

by Paul Donnelley

  CAUSE: Howard died aged 74 in Bushey, Hertfordshire, after a short illness. He left £3,024,130.

  FURTHER READING: Trevor Howard: A Gentleman And A Player – Vivienne Knight (London: Muller, Blond & White, 1986).

  Frankie Howerd, OBE

  (FRANCIS ALICK HOWARD)

  Born March 6, 1917

  Died Easter Sunday (April 19), 1992

  Camp comic. Born in York’s City Hospital, the elder son of three children of Frank Alfred William Howard (b. 1886, d. May 12, 1935) and Edith Florence Morrison (b. 1888, d. June 7, 1962), Frankie Howerd won a scholarship to Shooters Hill Grammar School in Woolwich, London and went there with an ambition to become a saint. He turned to acting in a bid to cure a stammer but at 17 his nervousness led him to fail an audition for RADA. He became a clerk by day and attempted a stand-up routine as Ronnie Ordex at night. It was a failure: as the spotlight came on, Howerd went off. He failed to join ENSA and joined the regular army where he became a sergeant in the Royal Artillery. On July 31, 1946 he made his professional début at the Sheffield Empire. His bill matter listed him as “Frankie Howerd: The Borderline Case” and his act lasted eight minutes. By 1948 he was top of the bill at the London Palladium with a script written by Eric Sykes. He made his first film in 1953 The Runaway Bus in which he played Percy Lamb, a relief bus driver. Howerd also consolidated his radio and stand-up work. He developed a number of catchphrases including “And the best of luck,” “I was a -mazed,” “Just make meself comfy,” “Ladies and gentle-men !,” “Oooh, no missus,” “Nay, nay and thrice nay,” “No, don’t mock,” “Please yourselves,” “Poor old girl, she’s past it,” “Shut your face” and, most famously, “Titter ye not”. Having seen the success of (Sir) Norman Wisdom, studios began to hire Howerd to appear in their vehicles. In 1955 he appeared as an emcee in An Alligator Named Daisy, had a bit part as a barrow boy in the Ealing comedy The Ladykillers and as greyhound owner Willy Joy in Jumping For Joy. In July and August 1956 he filmed A Touch Of The Sun, in which he used George Formby’s catchphrase “Turned out nice again”. On May 19, 1958 Further Up The Creek began shooting and was released on October 20 of the same year. It was a follow-up to Up The Creek which had starred Peter Sellers. Further Up The Creek was a flop. Howerd played a Bilko-esque bosun called Dibble who always had an eye open for a moneymaking scheme. The late Fifties and early Sixties were a bad time for him professionally and he began to suffer from depression. In 1961 he guest starred as a church organist in Watch It, Sailor! and the following year was a road workman in The Fast Lady. In July 1962 he filmed Michael Winner’s The Cool Mikado (released on May 19, 1963) playing Ko-Ko Flintridge and later said, “I can say without equivocation that not only was it the worst film ever made but the only production in show business that I’m positively ashamed of having appeared in.” Then on April 6, 1963 his star rose again with an appearance on the television show That Was The Week That Was. That led to the lead role as Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum which opened on October 3, 1963 at the Strand Theatre. He stayed with the show until July 3, 1965 and left “before I get stale”. His subsequent films, The Great St Trinian’s Train Robbery (1966) as Alphonse of Monte Carlo/Alfred Askett, Carry On Doctor (1967) as Francis Kitchener Bigger (he was paid £7,500 for the five week shoot between September 18 and October 20, 1967), Carry On Up The Jungle (1970) as Professor Inigo Tinkle (filmed from October 15, 1969, he was paid £9,000 for six weeks’ work although the role was initially intended for Kenneth Williams), Up Pompeii! (1971) as Lurcio, fared rather better. He resurrected the Lurcio character twice in slightly different guises as Lurkalot and Richard the Lion-Heart in Up The Chastity Belt (filmed between April 20 and May 25, 1971) and as Lurk in Up The Front (1972). “The film I enjoyed making the most” was how he described The House In Nightmare Park (filmed between November 6 and December 16, 1972 at Pinewood Studios) in which he played Foster Twelvetrees. His last film was Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1977) and he said, “They only got me because they couldn’t get Ronald Colman.” The film flopped and his career again took a downturn in the late Seventies. He was in the doldrums for five years until 1981 when he appeared in Die Fledermaus, and his TV career again took off. From the Fifties he appeared in several television series including The Howerd Crowd (BBC, January 12, 1952–August 27, 1955 and then ATV, August 17, 1958), Frankly Howerd (BBC, May 1–June 5, 1959), Frankie Howerd (BBC, December 11, 1964–March 29, 1966), The Frankie Howerd Show (ATV, August 9–September 13, 1969), Up Pompeii! (BBC1, March 30–October 26, 1970), Whoops Baghdad (BBC1, January 25–March 1, 1973), An Evening With Francis Howerd (BBC2, April 30–May 14, 1973), The Howerd Confessions (Thames TV, September 2–October 7, 1976), Frankie Howerd Strikes Again (Yorkshire TV, September 1–October 6, 1981), Then Churchill Said To Me (BBC2, made in 1982 but unseen because of the Falklands war, finally broadcast April 8–September 10, 2000), All Change (Yorkshire TV, November 15, 1989–March 12, 1991) and Frankie’s On… (Central TV, June 21–July 12, 1992). A promiscuous homosexual, Frankie Howerd would never be seen in public without his wig. He suffered from alopecia which left a saucer-sized bald spot on his forehead from his early twenties. He was extremely sensitive about his rug and once had a second assistant at Pinewood fired when he walked into the dressing room and saw Frankie minus toupe. He never married. A story is told of a showbiz dinner in 1966 at which the room was packed with people keen to see Frankie. One of those on the top table turned to Tommy Cooper and said, “Well, there’s one thing you can say for Frankie. He certainly puts bums on seats.” “Yes,” said Tommy, “safest place for them.”

  CAUSE: On April 3, 1992 he was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Harley Street Clinic, Weymouth Street, London, suffering from respiratory problems. Four days later, he was moved from the ICU and was discharged on April 14. On Good Friday he had lunch at this favourite restaurant Al Gallo d’Oro with his loyal sister Betty (b. October 1921) who had moved into his home at 27 Edwardes Square, Kensington, London to look after him. It seemed that he was rallying and his specialist said that he could finish his recuperation at his Somerset bolthole. Frankie lay on the settee for a nap and his long-term boyfriend Dennis Heymer (they moved in together in 1956) checked on him every 15 minutes. On the fourth attempt Heymer noticed that his lover was not breathing and Betty rang 999. An ambulance rushed him to Charing Cross Hospital but on the way he suffered a heart attack and died. He was 75. On April 29, 1992 Frankie Howerd was buried at St Gregory’s, Weare in Somerset. A memorial service was held at St Martin-in-the-Fields on July 8, 1992. He left £1,327,198.

  FURTHER READING: Titter Ye Not The Life Of Frankie Howerd – William Hall (London: Grafton, 1992); Star Turns The Life And Times Of Benny Hill & Frankie Howerd – Barry Took (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1992); The Complete Frankie Howerd – Robert Ross (London: Reynolds & Hearn, 2001); Frankie Howerd Stand Up Comic – Graham McCann (London: Fourth Estate, 2004).

  Gusti Huber

  Born July 27, 1914

  Died July 12, 1993

  Matriarch. Auguste Huber was born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria-Hungary, and was a mainstay in the German cinema before the Second World War. She began working in the theatre in Zurich before moving into films. Between 1940 and 1944 she worked in the Viennese Castle Theatre. Her films included Ein Walzer Um Den Stephansturm (1935), Buchhalter Schnabel (1935), Tanzmusik (1935) as Hedi Baumann, Fiakerlied (1936), Savoy-Hotel 217 (1936) as Daria Plagina, Die Unentschuldigte Stunde (1937) as Käte Riedel, Land Der Liebe (1937) as Prinzessin Julia, Der Mann, Von Dem Man Spricht (1937) as Bianca Zaratti, Der Optimist (1938), Kleiner Mann – Ganz Groß! (1938), Das Mädchen Gon Gestern Nacht (1938) as Jean Miller, Eine Frau Für Drei (1939) as Marguerite Kranz, Wie Konntest Du, Veronika! (1940), Herz – Modern Möbliert (1940), Jenny Und Der Herr Im Frack (1941) as Jenny, Gabriele Dambrone (1943), Am Abend Nach Der Oper (1944), Wie Ein Dieb In Der Nacht (1945) and The Diary Of Anne Frank (1959) as Mrs Edith Frank. Her second marriage was to an A
merican soldier and she moved to the States permanently. From 1952 she appeared on the American stage including Dial M For Murder in 1953 on Broadway but rarely stepped before the cameras. In 1961 she retired from acting and lectured regularly in New York on the legacy of Anne Frank. Her daughter was Bibi Besch and her granddaughter is Samantha Mathis.

  CAUSE: She died of heart failure in Mount Kisco, New York, aged 79.

  Rock Hudson

  (ROY HAROLD SCHERER, JR)

  Born November 17, 1925

  Died October 2, 1985

  Secret gay. Born in Winnetka, Illinois, Hudson was never cast in school plays because he simply couldn’t remember lines. He began his working life as a postman before becoming a truck driver, doing which job he was discovered by the gay agent Henry Willson, who was also responsible for launching the careers of Tab Hunter and Rory Calhoun. He renamed his discovery after the Rock of Gibraltar and the Hudson River. As the world now knows Hudson’s career was based on a sham. Rather than the lady-killer of celluloid fame, he was, in fact, a promiscuous homosexual who regularly trawled gay bars looking for pick-ups. “Rock Hudson was emotionally constipated. He hated having to play hetero on screen, he hated having to pretend off screen, and he hated anyone saying he was gay,” revealed openly gay actor Paul Lynde. “We acted together, but we could never have socialised. I let it all hang out; he left it all hanging in. And now that he’s not a big star any more, he’s still just as uptight.” It was Rock Hudson’s looks rather than his talent that made him a movie star. He made his first film appearance in Fighter Squadron (1948) and went on to appear in Winchester ’73 as Young Bull, I Was A Shoplifter (1950), Tomahawk (1951) as Corporal Burt Hanna, Bright Victory as Dudek, Horizons West (1952) as Neil Hammond, Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952) as Dan, Sea Devils (1953) as Gilliatt, The Lawless Breed (1953) as John Wesley Hardin, Seminole (1953) as Lance Caldwell, Taza, Son Of Cochise (1954) as Taza, Bengal Brigade (1954) as Captain Jeffrey Claybourne, Magnificent Obsession (1954) as Bob Merrick, All That Heaven Allows (1955) as Ron Kirby, Captain Lightfoot (1955) as Michael Martin, Written On The Wind (1956) as Mitch Wayne, Never Say Goodbye (1956) as Dr Michael Parker, Giant (1956) as Jordan ‘Bick’ Benedict, A Farewell To Arms (1957) as Lieutenant Frederick Henry, Battle Hymn (1957) as Colonel Dean Hess, Twilight For The Gods (1958) as Captain David Bell, Come September (1961) as Robert Talbot, Tobruk (1967) as Major Donald Craig, Ice Station Zebra (1968) as Commander James Ferraday, Hornet’s Nest (1970) as Captain Turner, Darling Lili (1970) as Major William Larrabee (“I heard that my Darling Lili taskmasters, Blake Edwards and Julie Andrews, were implying to the press that I’m gay. I could hardly believe it! Talk about the kettle calling the pot black!”), Pretty Maids All In A Row (1971) as Michael ‘Tiger’ McDrew and Avalanche (1978) as David Shelby. At one point in the Fifties it seemed as if Hudson’s secret was going to be revealed by Confidential magazine, so Henry Willson arranged for Hudson to marry 5́ 6˝ Phyllis Lucille Gates (b. Minnesota, December 7, 1925), a secretary in Willson’s office. They eloped to Santa Barbara on November 9, 1955; Gates maintains she had no idea of her husband’s true sexuality. They divorced in 1957 and neither partner ever remarried. Hudson appeared in a number of romantic comedies such as Pillow Talk (1959) as Brad Allen and Lover Come Back (1961) as Jerry Webster playing opposite Doris Day and in the Seventies was known to television audiences for his portrayal of San Francisco police chief Stewart Macmillan in Macmillan And Wife. He deeply disliked his co-star Susan Saint James. “I tell you the truth. I wouldn’t even stand next to her at a cocktail party!” On his 50th birthday he walked down the staircase at home wearing only a nappy while a band played ‘You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby’. For some time in the late Seventies and early Eighties Hudson was absent from public view. In 1984 he was signed to appear on the glossy soap Dynasty. The show was created for ABC and Aaron Spelling by Esther Shapiro and her husband Richard as a rival to CBS’s Dallas. In America the series gradually gained momentum and overtook Dallas in the ratings, something it never achieved in Britain. Dynasty relied as much on its big name guest stars as well as its outlandish plots to win over audiences. On October 9, 1984, it was announced that Rock Hudson had signed to play handsome horse breeder Daniel Reece for six episodes with an option for four more and a spin-off series the next year. When Hudson arrived on set at the end of October he looked ill, seriously ill. His previously muscular 6́ 6˝ frame was nearly skeletal and his clothes hung from the bones. All sorts of rumours about the nature of Hudson’s condition were doing the rounds; AIDS was still virtually unknown to the public at large at the time. In an interview with U.S.A. Today Hudson claimed his weight loss was due to a stringent diet and that he was more than happy with his appearance. It was not a convincing explanation. One scene was to cause controversy not just on the Dynasty set but around the world. Millionaire Daniel Reece, who owned the Delta Rho Stables, was an old flame of Krystle Carrington, played by Linda Evans, and the script called for the two to kiss. According to his authorised biography, Hudson returned to his home, known as ‘The Castle’, at 9402 Beverly Crest Drive, Beverly Hills, California, and flung the script across the room. He discussed his dilemma with his close friend Mark Miller – should he admit he had AIDS and finish his career, or kiss Linda Evans? At that time no one knew for certain how the HIV virus was passed on and it was believed that casual contact – even touching – was enough to transmit the virus. Hudson made a decision. Throughout his career he had always put his career first. Career. Sex. People. They were the three driving forces in his life. Dying from AIDS, there would be no exception to his rule. Prior to the scene Hudson was sitting next to Joan Collins in the make-up room. He chain-smoked and small-talked as the technicians performed their wizardry – trying to make Hudson look human. After he left for the set Joan Collins’ openly gay hairdresser speculated that Hudson had the deadly AIDS virus. Immediately prior to the kiss Hudson utilised every mouthwash and gargle he could find and then kissed Linda Evans. As soon as the director shouted, “Cut!” Evans rushed to her dressing room, where she spent 15 minutes cleaning her teeth, using antiseptic mouthwashes and harshly washing her face. The next day Evans told Joan Collins she had gone through with the kiss because she did not want to hurt Hudson’s feelings! Back home Hudson said to Mark Miller, “The fucking kiss is over with. Thank God!” Miller said Hudson thought it one of the worst days of his life. The episode aired on February 6, 1985. Former actor George Nader is Mark Miller’s boyfriend and the two men were with Tom Clark, Hudson’s former lover, the closest friends Hudson had in the world, when the episode screened – Nader taped the programme as he watched it. He commented afterwards, “I could see where Rock kept his lips closed and hit Linda on the side of the cheek for a brief, chaste kiss. He did not open his mouth, no saliva was exchanged.” Hudson completed his contract with Dynasty, smoking 40 cigarettes a day on the set and drinking vodka as if it was water. When it was announced that Hudson was suffering from AIDS the cast and crew of Dynasty were united in their sympathy for him. No one seemed bothered that Hudson may have exposed Linda Evans to a deadly disease. (Remember, at that time no one knew for certain just how contagious the disease was or exactly how it was passed on.) The reaction from the public was different and Hudson was widely criticised for his thoughtless actions. Even Mark Miller admitted he was worried about touching Hudson, despite knowing he could not get the disease through touch alone. His official biographer Sara Davidson wrote, “Rock did not give the matter [of kissing Linda Evans] a second thought, once it was over. It was a lifelong pattern: he didn’t seem vulnerable to guilt.”

  CAUSE: Rock’s condition became apparent when he appeared alongside Doris Day at a press conference on July 15, 1985, in Carmel, California, the town that elected Clint Eastwood mayor. Hudson’s weight had dropped from just under 14st to a worrying 9st and his waist had shrunk from 38” to 33”. It was patently clear that something was terribly wrong with him although his publicist, Dale Olson, maintained that Hudson was
happy with the weight loss and intended to buy a whole new wardrobe. Ten days later in Paris, Hudson’s publicist, Yannou Collart, announced he was suffering from AIDS. He had been diagnosed as HIV + on June 5, 1984. However, Hudson continued to have sex with his boyfriend Marc Christian until February 1985. In September 1984 Hudson told his secret to a friend and asked how to put condoms on. “I’ve never worn [one] in my life. Won’t I give the show away if I suddenly have to put one on?” Hudson’s doctor later revealed that if the actor had stayed in Paris, his condition might have stabilised and he may have survived longer. However, that was never Hudson’s style and he travelled around Europe with a young friend until he returned to the States to work on Dynasty. On October 7, 1984, Hudson told Mark Miller that his blood was clear of the virus and he was safe. What he didn’t tell him was that he had to stay on the treatment for his blood to remain clear. A week later, he continued to lose weight. In November he began to lose interest in sex. He developed impetigo, causing itching sores over his body, his teeth began to fall out and his body was covered in rashes that could not be alleviated by cortisone because that affected his immune system. He returned to America on July 30, 1985, and was admitted to UCLA Medical Center. On August 24, Marc Christian went to visit palimony lawyer Marvin Mitchelson. Later that month, Hudson went to his beloved home, ‘The Castle’, for the last time. His death was announced at 9.15am on October 2, 1985. A mortuary van arrived at 10.45am and, after its windows were blacked out with Hudson’s butler James Wright’s towels, his corpse was taken to the crematorium. The back of the van had no lock, so Tom Clark had to hold the doors shut while straddling Rock’s body. At the crematorium the corpse was placed in a cardboard box and burned.