The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio
The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio |
| 'All In The Family' actress dies at 90 Posted: 02 Jun 2013 08:56 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actress Jean Stapleton, best known for her Emmy-winning role as the good-hearted housewife Edith Bunker in the groundbreaking 1970s television comedy All In The Family, has died at age 90, her family said on Saturday. Stapleton (pic) died on Friday of natural causes at her home in New York City, her son, film and television director John Putch, said in a statement. "It is with great love and heavy hearts that we say farewell to our collective Mother, with a capital M," Putch and his sister, Pamela Putch, said in a joint statement. "Her devotion to her craft and her family taught us all great life lessons." The actress won three Emmys, U.S. TV's highest honour, for her role as Edith, the long-suffering, unsophisticated but understanding wife of the reactionary and often racist Archie Bunker, played by the late Carroll O'Connor, in the hit TV sitcom. All In The Family, inspired by the British program Till Death Us Do Part, was a success with audiences even as it helped usher in a new era for U.S. television by confronting contentious topics such as racism, the Vietnam War and the feminist movement. Archie, a working-class New Yorker, often clashed over politics and social issues with his adult daughter, Gloria, and his liberal son-in-law, Michael Stivic, whom he called "Meathead." Edith spoke in a nasal, high-pitched voice, and seemed confused at times by the social changes going on around her. Her gentle nature contrasted with her husband's mean streak. Although Archie often called her a "dingbat," she patiently stood by him. In a nod to the generational conflict on display in the show, the program, aired on CBS, began with Archie and Edith at a piano singing the nostalgic Those Were The Days. "No one gave more profound 'How to be a Human Being' lessons than Jean Stapleton," Norman Lear, the producer of All In The Family, said in a written statement released to Reuters. Film director Rob Reiner, who played Edith's son-in-law, said in a statement to CBS News that Stapleton was "a brilliant comedienne with exquisite timing." Stapleton appeared in All In The Family from 1971 to 1979, and continued her role for a time in the 1979 spinoff show Archie Bunker's Place. MAKING EDITH FUNNY Stapleton was born Jeanne Murray in New York in 1923 to an opera singer mother and a businessman father. She would later use her mother's maiden name, Stapleton, as her stage name. She worked during World War Two as a typist for the British War Ministry Office in New York and made her professional stage debut in 1941. In the 1950s and 1960s, she acted in a number of Broadway productions, including a part in Damn Yankees that got Lear's attention and her role in All In The Family. Sitting alongside O'Connor for a 2000 interview on the talk show Donny & Marie, Stapleton said she developed her nasal voice to play an oddball in Damn Yankees and decided to use it again in All In The Family, after behind-the-scenes work that saw Edith go from abrasive to daffy. "As we developed and found the characters, which was in the rehearsal process and which was very stimulating, very exciting and a learning process, as these elements came to us, something else developed," Stapleton said. "And one was, I think I'll use that nasal voice because it's funny." O'Connor, who died in 2001, said in the same interview that if Stapleton had followed the British version of the show and played Edith as sharp-tongued, the program would have been less successful. "She had to be what she created in order to make Archie work," he said. After All In The Family, Stapleton played former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt in a 1982 television movie, and had a supporting role in the 1998 romantic comedy You've Got Mail. She maintained a lifelong love of the theater, and in 1990, received the Village Voice newspaper's Obie Award for her performances in Harold Pinter's Off-Broadway plays Mountain Language and The Birthday Party. She spent a number of years living and working in Los Angeles, but returned to her native New York in 2002 to live permanently. Stapleton is survived by her son and daughter. Her husband, William Putch, died in 1983. |
| Posted: 02 Jun 2013 11:44 PM PDT Car repair shop owner Danny Koker takes viewers along on his new reality show as he acquires and restores vehicles. In the 15 years Danny Koker has been in the car and motorbike restoration business, he has gotten some weird requests. But the craziest one the vehicle addict, who has a stable of 58 cars and 78 motorcycles in his collection, ever received was a request to build a motorcycle that looks like a horse. The owner of Count Kustoms, a custom auto repair shop in Las Vegas, says: "This customer brought in drawings and wanted me to build a motorcycle like a horse, complete with a head, body and tail. I had to respectfully turn down the project, it's just not what I do." Koker, who is well known as The Count from his frequent guest appearances on Pawn Stars, the American reality show about a family pawning business, will now take the spotlight in his own show. The show Counting Cars takes the audience on a ride with The Count and his crew as they acquire and restore vehicles. Koker, 47, says: "There is a lot of competition in the industry but Count Kustoms is different because when a vehicle comes into my shop, it never has to leave for anything. We do everything from the fabrication to the body work to the painting." He started collecting vehicles with his father when he was a child and his father brought home a 1966 Mustang Shelby GT-350 which, to this day, is still one of his most prized possessions. The self-taught mechanic grew up in Detroit watching how-to shows for car geeks and reading every magazine on vehicles that he can get his hands on. The only "professional" training he had was when he took auto-shop classes in Valley High School in Las Vegas. He has pimped up his car: A white 1965 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham with a black vinyl top as well as black pinstripes on the sides. It has gangster whitewall tyres and a nice exhaust with a low rumble. But what he is most proud of is the black fur interior of the car that speaks of his roots. He says: "I couldn't help it. Black fur is a very Detroit thing." Perfecting a vehicle's customisation is not the only thing he cannot resist. As shown in Counting Cars, he is also adamant when it comes to acquiring vehicles he has set his eyes on. He says: "I've gone across the country to buy a car, I've knocked on people's doors and chased down cars. If there's a car that's really talking to me, I don't take 'no' for an answer too well." Once, he almost got beaten up by a motorcyclist he had chased down for his bike. Koker says: "All the metal on it was raw steel and it had custom hand-brushed artwork on it. It had a very unique style. I managed to convince him to sell it to me after 30 minutes." His passion for cars is a family trait: Most of the relatives on his father's side work in the Ford Motor Company. Of the American automobile industry, he says: "It is on a comeback trail. It took a hit together with the economy in the past several years. But I'm proud of companies like the Ford Motor Company who declined to take stimulus dollars and fixed the problem on its own." At the side, the car enthusiast is also a singer in a 1970s hard rock band. He performs at his own rock 'n' roll club, Count's Vamp'd, where his wife Korie is the entertainment director. When asked if his tinkering with cars may be environmentally unfriendly, he says: "If a vehicle is properly tuned to get the most power, it is burning fuel properly and running very clean." – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network Counting Cars airs every Monday at 9.30pm on History (Astro Ch 555). |
| Handsome reward for Secret Agent Posted: 02 Jun 2013 11:45 PM PDT 988 listener wins new car in Secret Tune contest. After a month of recruitment, 90 "Secret Agents" made it to the finale of 988's Secret Tune contest in which the winner stands to win a brand new Toyota Camry worth RM 150,000. Held at Empire Shopping Gallery, Subang Jaya, the finalists went through a few rounds of challenging missions such as Hide & Find, Takut Test, Bop It!, Do U Have Balls, 988 Puzzle and Triple Play before the final face-off for the ultimate prize. Mun Chang Oon, 34, beat the other contestants in the aforementioned games and became last Secret Agent standing. Mun, who hails from Ampang, drove home the Toyota Camry. Besides the thrilling challenges, 988 deejays also entertained the crowd with a dance. The performance was the result of a lost bet by DJ KK during his show, The Good Show (weekdays, 4pm–8pm). Although DJ KK was supposed to perform solo, his partners DJ May and Anson decided to join in the fun. The trio performed PSY's Gentleman, much to the delight of the crowd. All the hard work in learning the dance in such short period of time paid off with thunderous applause from the crowd. Secret Tune is a follow up to the contest Reverse Song held in April. In total, 988 gave away cash prizes worth up to RM280,000 in the last two months. Also on 988 this week The Feature (Mon-Tues, 9am-10am) Ever heard of Cow's Milk Protein Allergy (CMPA)? An experienced doctor joins 988 to explain CMPA and the impact of lactose intolerance on kids. Music VIP (Mon-Fri, 2pm) There's so much more to Taiwanese Jeff Chang Shin Che than just being the Prince Of Love Ballads. Don't miss the interview with Chang as he shares more about himself. Download the 988 app or stream it online at 988.com.my. 988 is the subsidiary of Star Radio Group. |
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