HUCKLEBERRY FIN
Top billing on this update goes to Val Kilmer, Hollywood leading man of the 90s. His portrayal of Tom Cruise’s rival Iceman in Top Gun put him on the map, and soon enough he was Jim Morrison, Doc Holliday, and Batman. A “tough to work with” reputation tapered out his superstar days and a throat cancer bout in the mid-2010s made him a deadpooling fixture of the era. His voice permanently affected by the disease, he made a final film appearance in the Top Gun sequel. Now, he’s dying, how are you?
Richard Chamberlain was a popular 60s heartthrob as Dr. Kildare in the titular medical drama. Long struggling to shed the teen idol image, he enjoyed a second wind as the “king of the miniseries” that included Centennial, Shögun, and The Thorn Birds. Another teen idol of the era was country popster Johnny Tillotson, who didn’t find the pop charts too nice to rearrange after topping it in the UK with “Poetry in Motion”. Turning to folk and psychedelic was Jesse Colin Young, Youngbloods frontman best known for the peace anthem “Let’s Get Together”.
The 70s Columbo killers go this far and no farther, with Clive Revill leaving their dwindling ranks. He also voiced Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back, and also going from Star Wars was Patty Maloney, who played Chewy’s son Lumpy in the esteemed Christmas special. Bruce Glover played henchman Bond villain Mr. Wint in Diamonds Are Forever, while Robert McGinnis designed the film’s poster on top of dozens of other flicks. Simon Fisher-Becker played Crespallion black marketeer Dorium Maldovar in Doctor Who, and Lee Montague was a regular tough guy character actor on UK film and TV.
If Richard Chamberlain was in Centennial, there’s more where that came from. Four hits who made the ton were oldest MLBer Art Schallock, last Battle of Britain pilot John Hemingway, Bletchley Park codebreaker Betty Webb and NASA executive William R. Lucas, whose iron-fisted management style caused his downfall in the face of the Challenger disaster. Returning to your regular nonagenarian programming, Athol Fugard was one of South Africa’s most acclaimed playwrights, often with an anti-apartheid theme.
F1 team owner Eddie Jordan was a popular pick following the deadpooling perennial December cancer announcement. Also impactful to the title race are Amish reality TV personality Mary Schmucker, mountain rescuer David “Heavy” Whalley, Brixton rioter/children’s author Alex Wheatle, and Cannes-winning actress Emilie Dequenne. US politics voted out Mike’s wife Kitty Dukakis, incumbent representative Raul Grijalva, senator Alan Simpson who blessed the world with “Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dogg”, and former congresswoman Mia Love who was a bountiful unique for The Living End. We also lost Currys boss Stanley Kalms, cricketer Peter Lever, Gaelic footballer/manager Mick O’Dwyer, and utter feckers Theodore McCarrick and Irmgard Furchner too.