Latest news with #TheRockfordFiles
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Priscilla Pointer, Dallas Vet and Mother of Amy Irving, Dead at 100
Veteran actress Priscilla Pointer, best known for playing Dallas' Rebecca Barnes Wentworth, the mother of Victoria Principal's character, died Monday. She was 100. Pointer was the real-life mother of actress Amy Irving. The pair appeared together in more than a half-dozen movies, including the 1976 horror classic Carrie. More from TVLine The Vivienne Dead: RuPaul's Drag Race Star's Cause of Death Revealed Gene Hackman Dead: Cause of Death Revealed for Oscar Winner and Wife Betsy Arakawa Gene Hackman, Oscar-Winning Star of The French Connection, Dead at 95 Irving shared on Instagram that Pointer 'died peacefully in her sleep… hopefully to run off with her two adoring husbands and her many dogs.' Pointer recurred on Dallas from Seasons 4-6, appearing in a total of 44 episodes of the iconic '80s primetime soap 'My favorite TV mama and a wonderful woman passed away today,' Principal shared on Instagram. 'My sincere condolences to Amy Irving and all of Priscilla's family. Always a special place in my heart.' Additional TV credits for Pointer included guest stints on The Rockford Files, L.A. Law, The A-Team, Judging Amy and Cold Case. Best of TVLine Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?) The Emmys' Most Memorable Moments: Laughter, Tears, Historical Wins, 'The Big One' and More 'Missing' Shows, Found! The Latest on Severance, Holey Moley, Poker Face, YOU, Primo, Transplant and 25+ Others
The Guardian
04-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Where is our Tiananmen square ‘Tank Man' who can stand up to Trump?
Everyone's waiting for that one person to stand up to Donald Trump. Not just that one person. There are a lot of such people. You can read about them in every newspaper. But that one person with real power who's willing to risk something costly in defiance. That one university president who'll say, fuck you and your money. That one Democrat who'll say, fuck you and your threat to my re-election or that of my party. Everyone's looking for our Tank Man, staring down a column of tanks, all by himself, in Tiananmen Square. Why don't we see that person? Where is our Tank Man? (And, no, I don't think Cory Booker doing a marathon-length filibuster counts.) The reason we don't see that person is that we're asking the wrong question. There's a reason there are so few lonely individuals willing to stand up to the machine. It's not just simple cowardice or craven self-interest, though that might explain some of it. There's something deeper at work. It's hard to take a risk, but it's especially hard when you feel like there's no point, that you'll fail, or worse, that you'll be the only one out there doing it. When you're the only one doing it, you run a risk much worse than failure. You run the risk of doing something pointless. Everything in our nature cuts against the grain of pointlessness. Yes, history might remember you, but what is history? To risk pointlessness is to risk foolishness, frivolousness, fatuity, inanity. It can even feel like moral slovenliness. Take Roy Huggins, one of my favorite villain-heroes of the blacklist era. You've probably never heard of him. In his time, he was a screenwriter, producer and director of some note. He was responsible for The Fugitive and The Rockford Files. He also named names, after initially refusing to cooperate with the government. Why did he do it? He had a lot of reasons. But this one has always stayed with me: When you're thinking of becoming a hero, you feel like a slob. You feel, do you really have a right to do that? It's a perplexing question: do I have the right to become a hero? One doesn't usually think of heroism as a right. Why does Huggins frame the question that way? Because he thinks of heroism as some sort of extravagance, some sort of selfishness, a kind of grandstanding that comes awfully close to vanity. The philosopher Thomas Hobbes had some thoughts on this matter, how easily the quest for glory, which had traditionally been considered a virtue, could slide into vaingloriousness. And the philosopher Max Weber had a similar intuition: how easily the tragic hero becomes a kind of narcissist, preening in front of the mirror. I think Huggins is getting at something like that slide, from glory to vainglory, from heroism to vanity and narcissism. It's why he immediately follows up his question on the right to heroism with the question: do I have the right to be a slob? That's what made him afraid. He could imagine taking on a heroic act if he thought it might achieve something, even in failure. But to think that the act would be completely extinguished by failure, by its pointlessness, that was too much. Sign up to Fighting Back Big thinkers on what we can do to protect civil liberties and fundamental freedoms in a Trump presidency. From our opinion desk. after newsletter promotion I find myself thinking about this fear a lot. I've done a fair amount of political stuff over the years, some of it at some cost and risk. But it was always collective and it was always meant to work, to be successful, in some way, to achieve something, even in failure. That's what made it worth the risk. I've always hated the romance of heroism, the futile gesture of protest and defiance, particularly of the individual. It reeks of what Lenin hated about intellectuals, who 'undertake everything under the sun without finishing anything'. He called that a kind of 'slovenliness', incidentally. But I can see the underside of my dislike. It can make you leery of being that only person out there, and sometimes that may be what other people desperately need: just to see you, anyone, out there. Corey Robin is the author of The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump and a contributing editor at Jacobin. This piece originally appeared on
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sian Barbara Allen, Former Actress and Star of 'The Waltons', Dies at 78
Sian Barbara Allen, the beloved star of The Waltons, has died. She was 78. The actress died of Alzheimer's in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Monday, March 31, an online obituary announced. 'She lived her final year of life in North Carolina, surrounded by all of her favorite things, new friends, and more time with [her daughter] Emily than she'd had in 35 years,' the obituary stated. Allen is survived by her daughter Emily Fonseca, two sisters, Hannah Davie and Meg Pokrass, nephew, Miles Bond, ex-husband, Peter Gelblum and grandson, Arlo Fonseca, who, per the obituary, "made her laugh more than anyone could dream." Allen's sister Pokrass confirmed the news on Facebook, writing, 'My wonderful sister, actress Sian Barbara Allen died peacefully today after a long illness … This loss is too hard.' Allen starred in several 1970s and 1980s TV shows, including The Waltons, The Incredible Hulk, Hawaii Five-0, Columbo, The Rockford Files and Gunsmoke. She also appeared in films such as Billy Two Hats (1974), Love American Style, Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973) and The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976). Allen was born in Reading, Penn., and attended the Pasadena Playhouse on a scholarship after graduating high school. She went on to star in several theater productions including Our Town in 1976, playing one her favorite roles, Emily Webb — and later naming her daughter after the character. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The late star earned her first Golden Globe nomination for her role in the 1972 film You'll Like My Mother and became the first woman to pen a script for the TV series Baretta in 1978. She withdrew from acting and public life to focus on politics in 1990, according to the obituary. 'Along with then-husband, Peter, and daughter, Emily, they volunteered for Jackie Goldberg's 1993 city council campaign in Los Angeles. Sian was a staunch supporter of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers and never crossed a picket line in her entire life,' the obituary further noted. Allen's daughter asked that her mother be honored with donations to the AuthoraCare collective hospice of Burlington or a local organization combating oppression. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Beyond Paradise's Kris Marshall issued stern warning by BBC bosses
Beyond Paradise star Kris Marshall says he was issued a stern warning by BBC bosses after attempting his own stunts. The 51-year-old actor, who plays DI Humphrey Goodman on the popular programme, dreamed of doing his own stunts and was set to skydive for the upcoming series. However, bosses shot this idea down, telling the actor that this would pose a major insurance issue. The Beyond Paradise actor told The Mirror: 'I was really up for it, though there was a small matter of insurance. 'They said, 'no chance.' If it was the last day of filming, they would probably let me do it. But there's an adage that says to never do a dangerous stunt on your last day of filming.' Beyond his character's many stunts, the show has been full of ups and downs. BBC fans were left reeling last season when Humphrey and Martha decided against marrying. Despite this, their relationship is stronger than ever with the pair being "in a really good spot together". The show is set to make a triumphant return later this month with fans across the UK eager to sink their teeth into another gripping storyline. The wait is almost over! #BeyondParadise returns to BBC iPlayer and BBC One on Friday 28 March. 🦆 — Beyond Paradise (@BeyondPOfficial) March 12, 2025 Ahead of the new series, Kris Marshall explained that his character is "gleaned from a love of all the detectives I grew up with'. He added: 'Columbo, Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files, there's a bit of Harold Lloyd in there. 'There's Barnaby Jones and I put in little homages to them all the time. Marple even, Miss Marple.'
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Beyond Paradise's Kris Marshall reveals DI Humphrey inspiration after 10 years
Beyond Paradise favourite Kris Marshall has revealed the inspiration behind his character of the hit BBC series - recognise any of these big names? Marshall has been playing the role of DI Humphrey Goodman for the last decade but has admitted he still hasn't worked out what exactly makes the character a great detective. However, Beyond Paradise fans might not know that the Shipton Abbott resident is inspired by some of the detectives Marshall grew up watching on television. Settling down to work on Monday morning like... #DeathInParadise — Death in Paradise (@deathinparadise) March 17, 2025 Ahead of the Death in Paradise spin-off returning later this month, the 51-year-old told PA news agency that DI Humphrey is 'gleaned from a love of all the detectives I grew up with'. He added: 'Columbo, Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files, there's a bit of Harold Lloyd in there. 'There's Barnaby Jones and I put in little homages to them all the time. Marple even, Miss Marple.' Also speaking about his character, Marshall explained: 'I think, well, his M.O. really is that he's morally quite a good guy. So that's a good foundation for him to start from. He's not without his foibles, but I think what I particularly love about him and find intriguing, is that he is both disarming whilst being armed. 'I still haven't worked out – since the time I've been on Death in Paradise – whether it's an affectation or whether it's something he just does. So whether it's something he does on purpose or not, I don't know. I still haven't worked it out. And I've been playing the character for 10 years.' The actor, known for playing Nick Harper in the BBC sitcom My Family continued: 'But he comes in and basically presents himself as a bit of an idiot, or someone who doesn't really know what he's doing, and that's obvious in the first episode (of the new series), with Hugh Dennis' character as well. 'He just presents himself as someone who just obviously doesn't have a clue about what's going on, and then he goes straight for the jugular. The whole time there's this binary code going on behind his eyes, he's on a different level and yet he's dyspraxic. 'I'd like to think that this is something that just happens because I think it would be cynical if it was an affectation. But I kind of almost like not solving that in my own head. I like to sort of leave it out there a bit and see.' Recommended reading: What is Death in Paradise star Ben Miller's net worth? Beyond Paradise full cast including guest stars revealed for BBC series 3 EastEnders axe star from BBC soap after 3 years but fans demand 'keep him in' Series three of Beyond Paradise begins on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Friday, March 28. Just some of the guest stars set to appear alongside Marshall and Sally Bretton as Martha Lloyd include Hugh Dennis and Caroline Quentin. Are you looking forward to the new series of Beyond Paradise? Let us know in the comments below.
