01 January 2022

Stars who passed away in 2021

On the first day of 2022, EFSP remembers the stars of the international cinema we had to say farewell to in 2021. Thank you, for your films and postcards. We salute you!

2 January: Vladimir Korenev (1940-2021)


Vladimir Korenev (1940-2021)
Soviet postcard by Izdanije Byuro Propogandy Sovietskogo Kinoiskusstva. This postcard was printed in an edition of 200.000 cards. The price was 5 kop. Vladimir Korenev in Mnogo shuma iz nichego/Much Ado About Nothing (Samson Samsonov, 1973).

Russian film and theatre actor Vladimir Korenev (1940) entered in 1961 the troupe of the Moscow Drama Theater, where he later was a teacher. The handsome Korenev became a sex symbol in the Soviet Union when he played the lead role of Ichthyander in the film Chelovek-Amfibiya/The Amphibian Man (1962). Korenev was awarded People's Artist of Russia (1998). The 80-year-old Korenev died of complications from COVID-19.

3 January: Gerry Marsden (1942-2021)


Gerry Mardsen (1942-2021)
British Real Photograph postcard, no. CS 146. Photo: Brel.

British musician Gerry Marsden (1942) was the frontman of the legendary Merseybeat group Gerry & the Pacemakers, the second most successful group out of Liverpool after The Beatles. Their hits included evergreens like 'You'll Never Walk Alone'(1963) and 'Ferry Cross the Mersey' (1964). Marsden had an older brother, Freddie, who co-founded and played drums in Gerry and the Pacemakers. In 1964, they also starred in the film musical Ferry Cross the Mersey (Jeremy Summers, 1964). In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he released a version of 'You'll Never Walk Alone', in tribute to the National Health Service. Marsden died on 3 January 2021 at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, after being diagnosed with a blood infection in his heart. He was 78 years old.

5 January: John Richardson (1934-2021)


John Richardson (1934-2021)
Yugoslavian postcard by Studio Sombor, Beograd, no. 186. Photo: Morava Film.

Classically handsome English actor John Richardson (1934) was best known for starring opposite Ursula Andress in She (Robert Day, 1965) and opposite Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C. (Don Chaffey, 1966). Following the steps of some other British and American actors, he moved to Italy and appeared in more than a dozen Italian and Spanish genre films. Richardson, who died of complications from COVID-19, was 86.

21 January: Nathalie Delon (1941-2021)


Nathalie Delon (1941-2021)
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

French actress Nathalie Delon (1941) was a former wife of Alain Delon and the mother of Anthony Delon. Her film debut in the classic thriller Le Samouraï (1967) proved also to be the peak of her career. Delon died in Paris, from pancreas cancer. She was 79.

2 March: Nicola Pagett (1945-2021)


Nicola Pagett (1945-2021)
Vintage card. Nicola Pagett in the TV series The Timeless Land (Michael Carson, Rob Stewart, 1980).

Egyptian-born English actress Nicola Pagett (1945) died of complications from a brain tumor. She mostly worked on stage and television for example as Elizabeth Bellamy in the series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971-1973). She also played notable film roles in Oliver's Story (John Korty, 1978), and Privates on Parade (Michael Blakemore, 1983).

16 April: Mari Törőcsik (1935-2021)


Mari Töröcsik
East-German starcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 805. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Progress / Tibor Inkey.

At the age of 85, Hungarian actress Mari Törőcsik (1935) passed away on 16 April 2021. Ever since her first film appearance, she was the leading star of Hungarian cinema. The sensitive and intelligent actress played a great diversity of roles both on stage and for the camera. During her long career, she appeared in more than 120 films and TV films.

21 April: Thomas Fritsch (1944-2021)


Thomas Fritsch (1944-2021)
German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 843. Photo: Lothar Winkler.

German actor Thomas Fritsch (1944) was the son of ‘Sunny boy’ Willy Fritsch. Thomas was a teen idol of the early 1960s who made several light entertainment films and recorded popular Schlagers. He also appeared on stage and TV and as a voice actor, he dubbed many Hollywood blockbusters in German. He was 77.

2 July: Bill Ramsey (1931-2021)


Bill Ramsey (1931-2021)
German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 2691. Photo: Polydor.

German-American pop and jazz singer and actor Bill Ramsey (1931) was best known for his German-language hits of the 1950s and 1960s. In Germany, he was called ‘the man with the black voice’. Ramsey had innumerable television appearances, toured through Europe, the US, and North Africa, and he appeared in 29 films, as a singer or as the comic sidekick. Bill Ramsey was 90.

11 July: Renée Simonot (1911–2021)


Renée Simonot
French postcard in the Nos artistes dans leur loges series, no. 25. Photo: Comoedia.

French actress Renée-Jeanne Simonot (1911-2021) was married to actor Maurice Dorléac and was the mother of actresses Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac. She was also the grandmother of actors Christian Vadim and Chiara Mastroianni. She debuted at the Odeon Theatre in 1918 at the age of 7 and acted in girl roles such as Cosette in 'Les Misérables' in 1921. When she was 18 she was officially hired by Firmin Gémier, who had taken over the theatre in 1921. Primarily a stage actress, she remained there for 28 years, holding the post of 'leading lady'. Renée Simonot was 109 (!).

17 July: Jacqueline Sassard (1940-2021)


Jacqueline Sassard (1940-2021)
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 621.

Jacqueline Sassard (1940) died of natural causes in Lugano, Switzerland. In the late 1950s and 1960, the charming and beautiful French actress had a short but successful career in European cinema. Sassard was 81.

20 July: Françoise Arnoul (1931-2021)


Françoise Arnoul (1931-2021)
Vintage card.

French actress Françoise Arnoul passed away after a long illness in Paris on 20 July 2021. In the early 1950s, the cute and pretty actress was presented as the new French sex symbol. Soon she was overshadowed by the spectacular Brigitte Bardot, but Arnoul had enough talent and range to forge a decent film career for herself. Françoise Arnoul was 90.

7 August: Jane Withers (1926-2021)


Jane Withers (1926-2021)
British Real Photograph postcard, no. 122. Photo: Fox Films.

American actress, model, and singer Jane Withers (1926) was known for being one of the most popular child film stars of the 1930s and early 1940s. She played a freckled, dark-haired hellraiser in several B-films. Jane Withers was 95.

19 August: Sonny Chiba (1939–2021)


Sonny Chiba in Kill Bill (2004)
British postcard by Pyramid Posters, Leicester, no. PC9458, 2004. Photo: Miramax / A Band Apart. Sonny Chiba as Hattori Hanzō and other cast members in Kill Bill (Quentin Tarantino, 2003-2004). Caption: The 4th film of Quentin Tarantino.

Japanese actor and martial artist Shinichi Chiba (千葉 真一, 1939–2021) was known internationally as Sonny Chiba. Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience. Chiba's breakthrough international hit was The Street Fighter (1974) which was brought to Western audiences (dubbed in English) by New Line Cinema. The film and its sequels established him as the reigning Japanese martial arts actor in international cinema for the next two decades. It was New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye who gave Chiba the English name 'Sonny', which Chiba would adopt as his own (mostly for non-Japanese projects) from that point on. Chiba's enduring onscreen career received a tribute when he appeared in a key role as Hattori Hanzo, the owner of a sushi restaurant and retired samurai sword craftsman, in Kill Bill (Quentin Tarantino, 2003-2004). Chiba starred in more than 125 films for Toei Studios and has won numerous awards in Japan for his acting.

24 August: Charlie Watts (1941-2021)


Charlie Watts (1941-2021)
French postcard by PSG, no. 446. The Rolling Stones. Charlie Watts is on the far right.

Charlie Watts (1941-2021) was the drummer for the Rolling Stones. He was one of the band's longest-serving members, joining in January 1963 and remaining a member until his death in 2021. With the Stones, he appeared in the legendary documentary Sympathy for the Devil (1968) by Jean-Luc Godard and several other films. Watts cited jazz as a major influence on his drumming style.

6 September: Jean-Paul Belmondo (1933-2021)


Jean-Paul Belmondo (1933-2021)
Yugoslavian postcard by Nip Duga (nd), Beograd (Belgrad), no. F 3.

Jean-Paul Belmondo (1933-2021) or 'Bébel' was a big comedy and action star in France from the mid-1960s till the mid-1980s, but he was initially associated with the Nouvelle Vague, the French New Wave of the 1960s. Despite his unconventional looks, including a broken nose, he was often polled as one of the sexiest men in the world. For nearly 50 years Belmondo remained one of the most popular and best-loved personalities in France. He was 88.

6 September: Nino Castelnovo (1936-2021)


Nino Castelnuovo (1936-2021)
Spanish postcard by Postal Oscarcolor, no. 476. Photo: RCA Victor / 20th Century Fox.

Italian actor Nino Castelnovo (1936) passed away in Rome. His most famous role was as Guy Foucher opposite Catherine Deneuve in Les parapluies de Cherbourg (1964). He was 84.

16 September: Jane Powell (1929-2021)


Jane Powell in Nancy Goes to Rio (1950)
Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 288. Photo: MGM. Jane Powell in Nancy Goes to Rio (Robert Z. Leonard, 1950).

Jane Powell (1929-2021) was the singing and dancing star of MGM musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. She is best known for her role as Milly in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954). Jane Powell was 92.

27 September: Jaap Maarleveld (1924-2021)


Jaap Maarleveld (1924-2021)
Dutch postcard. Jaap Maarleveld in the TV series De avonturen van Okkie Trooy/The adventures of Okkie Trooy (Nan Wamelink, Bram van Erkel, 1962-1964).

Dutch actor and stage director Jaap Maarleveld known to the Dutch public through the title role of an inventor in the popular Dutch children's series De avonturen van Okkie Trooy/The adventures of Okkie Trooy (Nan Wamelink, Bram van Erkel, 1962-1964). In 1966, he founded the theatre company De Noorder Compagnie, and later in his career, he also appeared in several Dutch films. Jaap Maarleveld was 95.

2 October: Herta Staal (1930-2021)


Herta Staal (1930-2021)
West-German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. FK 1265. Photo: Arthur Grimm / Central Eurtopa Film / Prisma.

Austrian actress and singer Herta Staal (1930) was a star of the German-language cinema of the 1950s and played leading and supporting roles in both Heimatfilms and comedies. In the 1960s, she moved to television. Herta alternated lighter roles on screen with dramatic acting in theatres throughout Germany and Austria.

14 October: Traudl Stark (1930-2021)


Traudl Stark
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 9891/1, 1935-1936. Photo: Mondial-Film.

Between 1935 and 1940, Austrian child actress Traudl Stark (1930) was the 'Shirley Temple of the German-language cinema' and starred in a dozen popular films in Austria. After the war, she married, left the film industry, and moved to the USA. Gertraud 'Trudy' South passed away in Tampa, Florida, where she resided since 1973.

7 November: Dean Stockwell (1936-2021)


Dean Stockwell (1936–2021)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 28. Photo: Universal International. Dean Stockwell in Cattle Drive (Kurt Neumann, 1951).

American actor Dean Stockwell died due to natural causes at the age of 85. He was a popular child star in the late-1940s and worked with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra in Anchors Aweigh (1945) and with Errol Flynn in Kim (1950). Later, he starred with Orson Welles in the court drama Compulsion (1959) and with Harry Dean Stanton in Paris, Texas (1984), was nominated for an Oscar in 1989 for his supporting role as Tony 'The Tiger' Russo in the crime comedy Married to the Mob (1988). Stockwell is probably best remembered as the lecherous Admiral Al Calavicci in the TV series Quantum Leap (1989-1993).

17 November: Christine Laszar (1931-2021)


Christine Laszar (1931-2021)
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 1325 F, 1960. Photo: Friedemann.

German actress Christine Laszar (1931) passed away in Berlin. In East-German crime films and political thrillers of the early 1960s, she embodied elegant, cool, and intelligent women. At the beginning of the 1970s, she became a television editor at the Deutschen Fernsehfunk (DFF - German Television Broadcasting Company), working on portraits of artists, among other things.

20 November: Ted Herold (1942-2021)


Ted Herold
German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 547. Photo: Joe Möller.

German singer and film actor Ted Herold died as a result of a fire. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was billed as 'The German Elvis'. With his Rock 'n Roll covers, he appeared in several Schlagerfilms between 1959 and 1963. In 1977 he made a surprise come-back. Ted Herold was 79.

22 November: Marie Versini (1940-2021)


Marie Versini in Winnetou I. Teil (1963)
German postcard, no. E 33. Photo: Constantin. Marie Versini in Winnetou - 1. Teil/Apache Gold (Harald Reinl, 1963). Caption: A shot rang out from ambush. Horrified, Nscho-tschi sees her father collapse dead.

French actress Marie Versini passed away in Guingamp, Brittany, at the age of 81. She was best known as Winnetou’s sister Nscho-tschi in a series of European Technicolor Westerns based on the Winnetou-stories of German author Karl May. The lovely, beguiling, dark-haired actress had an international film career in the late 1950s and 1960s.

26 November: Roger Fritz (1936-2021)


Roger Fritz (1936-2021)
German autograph card by Helga Anders Fan-Club, Letmathe.

Handsome Roger Fritz (1936-2021) was a German actor, filmmaker, and photographer. He worked with photographer Herbert List, Luchino Visconti and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. On 26 November, he passed away in a Munich clinic at the age of 85.

29 November: Arlene Dahl (1925-2021)


Arlene Dahl (1925-2021)
Italian postcard by Casa Editr. Ballerini & Fratini (B.F.F. Edit.), Firenze, no. 2114. Photo: Warner Bros.

Elegant American actress Arlene Dahl was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. The former MGM star achieved notability during the 1950s. She had three children, the eldest of whom is actor Lorenzo Lamas. Arlene Dahl was 96.

10 December: Michael Nesmith (1942-2021)


Monkees singer Michael Nesmith (1942-2021)
Italian postcard by Silvercart, Milano, no. 542/6. The Monkees with at right, with the wool hat, Michael Nesmith.

American musician Michael Nesmith (1942-2021) passed away in Carmel Valley Village, California. He was the son of Bettie Nesmith Graham, inventor of Tipp-Ex. Nesmith worked as a songwriter, actor, producer, author, businessman, and philanthropist, but he is best known as the guitarist and singer of the television pop-rock band The Monkees and co-star of the TV series The Monkees (1966–1968). After the break-up of the Monkees, Nesmith continued his successful songwriting and performing career, first with the seminal country-rock group the First National Band, with whom he had the hit, 'Joanne', and then as a solo artist. He was also an executive producer of the cult film Repo Man (Alex Cox, 1984) and created the predecessor of MTV. Michael Nesmith was 78.

19 December: Sally Ann Howes (1930-2021)


Sally Ann Howes (1930-2021)
British promotion card for the stage production 'A Hatful of Rain' (1957). Caption: March 1957, A pleasant evening to you - and I hope you enjoy 'A Hatful of Rain'. I hope too you will like the story I have specially written for 'The Star' which is appearing now. Best wishes - Sally Ann Howes.

English-American actress and singer Sally Ann Howes (1930) was best known for the role of Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). She had her first screen test offer on her 12th birthday and went on to star in several films before she turned 20. Her career on stage, screen, and television would span over six decades. Sally Ann Howes was 91.

No comments: