RIP: Reel Important People -- July 31, 2006
by Christopher Campbell Jul 31st 2006 // 3:09PM
Bret Adams (1930-2006) - Talent and literary agent who dealt with every aspect of the entertainment industry. He died Tuesday following a stroke, in NYC. - Ray Blanco (c.1956-2006) - Emmy-nominated television producer who was also credited as an associate producer on 21K. He died of an apparent heart attack, in New Jersey.
- Carl Brasher (1931-2006) - This first black U.S. Navy diver (pictured) and the inspiration for Men of Honor, in which he was portrayed by Cuba Gooding, Jr. He died Tuesday, in Richmond, VA, of respiratory and heart failure.
- Ronald Cass (1913 or 1923-2006) - Screenwriter of and composer of the scores for The Young Ones, Summer Holiday and Wonderful Life, all which starred Cliff Richard. He also wrote the script for French Dressing. He died June 6 of natural causes.
- Harold D. Cohen (c.1926-2006) - Agent and manager who worked with Robert Blake, Rosanna Arquette and Mel Brooks. He also produced Hail, Hero!, which starred a young Michael Douglas, and I Walk the Line, which starred Gregory Peck. He died July 22, in Beverly Hills.
- Barbara Eiler (c.1927-2006) - Actress who worked mostly in radio and TV, but who did appear in one film, the war movie The Deep Six. She died July 16 of complications following hip surgery, in Sherman Oaks, California.
- Karen Mayo-Chandler (1958-2006) - Actress and model who appeared in Explorers, Beverly Hills Cop and Hamburger ... The Motion Picture, as well as many low-budget thrillers and horror films. She died of breast cancer on July 12, in Long Beach, California.
- Hani Mohsin Hanafi (1965-2006) - Malaysian actor who appeared in Beyond Rangoon, Embun and Spinning Gasing. He died of a heart attack on Tuesday, in Kuala Lumpur.
- Michael Jeffrey Woods (1947-2006) - Brother of actor James Woods, and a former Warwick, RI, mayoral candidate. He appeared in a few of his brother's films, including The Hard Way, Straight Talk and Another Day in Paradise. He died suddenly Wednesday, having gone to the hospital because he wasn't feeling well; his heart stopped while he was there.
- J. Madison Wright (1984-2006) - Former child actress and model who played "True Danziger" in the TV-show Earth 2 and also appeared in the film Shiloh, playing Rod Steiger's daughter. In 1999, Wright was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and the following year she had a heart transplant. She died of a heart attack on July 21, sadly the day she returned from her honeymoon, in Lexington, KY.
- Ferenc Zenthe (1920-2006) - Hungarian actor who last year won the Actor of the (Hungarian) Nation lifetime achievement award. He appeared in Egri Csillagok (Star of Eger), Sobri and Magyar Vándor, as well as many other films and TV-series. He died Sunday following a long illness.
