Robert Culp: August 16, 1930 - March 24, 2010

I feel like someone kicked me in gut when I glanced at the L.A. Times web page this afternoon. There they reported Robert Culp's death after a fall at his Hollywood home. I'm still having a hard time believing this. Literally, I grew up watching this actor on television and films--and in a large variety of genres. I feel like an old friend has passed away... even though I never met the man (though, I did see him once in person when he came to visit someone at the medical center where I work). If you look at his profile on the Internet Movie Database, you will see a great and varied career than spanned decades, and it's one that started just a year before I was born. Just like so many, I was first introduced to his work through his guest appearances on the seminal sci-fi TV series, The Outer Limits. It's hard not to think of those episodes right now: The Architects of Fear, Corpus Earthling, and his haunting portrayal of the character Trent in the influential Demon with a Glass Hand (written by the legendary Harlan Ellison). Yes, I Spy is where he really came into his own with his iconic pairing with Bill Cosby, but he was really all over television during that era. He had guest appearances in just about everything good in TV at the time. From Naked City to Bonanza, The Rifleman to The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and from Columbo to Police Story. And that's not counting his film work. He played them all, in all types of roles, and he played them with confiction. Quoting a tweet today from my friend Naomi, she said it well about him:

I loved watching him. Not many actors can go from hero to slimeball and back so convincingly.

So true. I remember being at a neighbor's house watching television as a kid, and when Culp appeared in a show, the head of the household would recall how good he was at being the Western villain. How, "he could curl that upper lip of his in just the right kind sneer that would let you know his bad intentions." I never forgot that thought. The man just seemed to be involved in any television program that drew my interest. So much so, I think he influenced what I choose to watch, in fact. Add to this was his underrated skill at writing. His set of 7 screenplays for I Spy were unique to the program and stood out as some of the best in the entire series. Of those, The Tiger, Court of the Lion, The War Lord (where he played a dual role) and Home to Judgment happen to be personal favorites of mine. Even after I grew up, I still managed to catch this actor in a number of things where his just being in it made the program worth watching. The Greatest American Hero, The Key to Rebecca miniseries (where he played Gen. Erwin Rommel), and even The Cosby Show (where he played the character with the in-joke name of Kelly Robinson). He even directed episodes for The Greatest American Hero and I Spy. Robert Culp could do, and did, so much in a career that it's hard to grasp in this day and age. I think I could spend, and probably will, years watching his TV and movie work again on disc. I know I will miss the man when I do because we grew up together. Him on one side of the TV screen, and me on the other. So, I'll end this piece here with a reprise of a post I did from last July of his only theatrical movie he ever directed, and where he co-starred with his famous partner (Bill Cosby) in a highly underrated crime neo noir written by the great Walter Hill.

---

"Yeah, it's about four hundred grand."

Though I had noted it awhile back, I hadn't viewed the very underrated 1972 neo noir film, Hickey & Boggs, in a few years. Even though I have both the VHS and the horrid DVD versions of this Bill Cosby and Robert Culp movie (in nowhere near their I Spy modes), I hadn't played either in awhile. But luckily, Corey at The Drowning Machine spotted (paraphrasing) 'the paean Duane Swierczynski penned to the film at Secret Dead Blog'--I highly recommend their insights on this film. And that led to the free Fancast link for the film from a post commenter (which Corey cited, as well). So yesterday, I finally had a couple of hours to myself to watch this on my laptop via the site stream. The film, with Culp directing a Walter Hill screenplay (both excellent), gets better with each viewing. No kidding. I also pick up new items of note each time I watch it. If I can piggyback onto Duane's and Corey's stream of consciousness, I'd like to mention some of these here (spoiler warning for those of you who haven't seen this gem):

• when the two P.I.'s get to take in a hot dog meal together, it's at the world famous (at least for us Angelenos) Pink's - and I'm pretty sure the last time I was there with the kids I did note Bill Cosby's picture up on their wall of fame (and look what I found on their web site)
  
• the pint of liquor Boggs takes a periodic swig from is Dewar's White Label Scotch blend (not that I was ever a drinker of any note, but I use to be a stock person at a liquor store a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away)
  
• the parking section for the setup and shoot-out at Dodger Stadium was number 32--which is an athlete number of note, especially for L.A. sports fans: Koufax, Magic, Bill Walton (UCLA), Marcus Allen (as a L.A. Raider), and the pre-notorious O.J. But, that was long ago and that parking lot has changed some--that section # no longer exists
  
• the early 60's cars for each of our antihero P.I.'s are a perfect symbol for their down-on-their-luck and out-of-fashion status within the story and this genre in the 70's: Hickey's white Chevy II and Boggs' blue T-Bird (both in beat-to-hell vintage condition)
  
• when Boggs seeks a replacement vehicle (and it's the exact same car), the used sales lot he buys it at is not a actual one: the filmmakers used the same Inglewood Oil Field that's been used in many a movie shoot (i.e., the Victory Motel for L.A. Confidential); even author Robert Crais used the location for the climatic shoot-out in his book, Sunset Express
  
• lastly, the closing title sequence is a perfect one for this film (in the contrastingly somber tradition of film noir): after Boggs (smartly) picks up the fence's untraceable money and trudges after his partner, the camera beautifully tracks right as it follows the survivors into the background of the setting sun--while in the foreground the lens gathers in the juxtaposed deadly wreckage of the story's other principle characters, who are now strewn about the beach
  

I really hope one day the legal tangle that's keeping this great film from a proper DVD release gets straightened out. Film and noir fans should see it on a disc with a remastered picture and the extras it deserves. The free stream of this movie, though it has commercial breaks, is the full theatrical release and is a pretty pristine print. Playing it on full screen mode softened it only a mild bit. What's interesting is Amazon is now offering H & B on their Video on Demand service for rent or purchase. So maybe this film is starting to get the attention it warrants. Either way, I'd like to send a big thank you to Corey for sending me Duane's post and to Terrill Lee Lankford for listing the Fancast link in his keen comment.

Note: a great looking print of Hickey & Boggs is now on

(click to go to it)

BTW, the title of this post is a portion of dialogue - Boggs' earlier answer to his partner Hickey's lament:

It's not about anything.

Oh, yes it is, Hickey. Yes it is.

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That's a quite a playlist, and actor.

When I started this blog, over 18 months ago now, I never really had an idea of what subjects I'd write about. Hence, that's how the word lazy got into the title for this archive. And at first, I struggled to come up with something to put into it. The more I tried, the less that got in. So when I got frustrated enough, I swallowed my pride and went to the wife and asked her what should I scribble about. She took about 10 or 20... milliseconds, before answering with a simple question in response. "What do you like?" Damnit! How does she come up with this! Honestly, I think there must be some sort of double secret, double-X chromosome, married woman by-law which states:

When asked by your lesser-half about something he clearly doesn't conceive of, or understand, always respond with the answer that is, a) straight to the point; b) obvious to everyone, but him; and c) is an answer that makes him feel like a menso.

So, that's what I've been doing ever since. If I like it, it's in--as long as it's greater than 140 characters in length. That, and I learned to stop whatever I'm doing at the moment to write about a subject whenever synchronicity came into play. That's why actor, producer, and author Don Cheadle is pictured and the subject for this post. Jung's concept arose again when, first, blogger J.D. final post of 2009 mentioned 15 of his favorite soundtracks/scores from the past decade. And two of them, Ocean's Eleven and Swordfish, have one thing in common (besides the great music scores)--Cheadle stars in both. Next, I got into a discussion with a friend about last month's post from Mr. Peel highlighting Steven Soderbergh's The Limey in a movie review. My friend asked, "If The Limey is almost your favorite Soderbergh film, then what is?" I said, Out of Sight, for so many reasons. Its Elmore Leonard story and adaptation, the David Holmes soundtrack, cinematography, and an absolutely fantastic cast doing splendid work. None more chilling in the supporting role than Mr. Cheadle as Maurice Miller. And finally, as I was stumbling around the iTunes Music Store today, I found the man's own Celebrity Playlist from September 2008 (recreated below). So here I am again, typing away.

Cover of The Rat Pack

I guess I'm like many that discovered this great talent of an actor with his work in film and cable TV in the mid-90's. His turn as the scary Mouse Alexander from the 1995 adaptation of Walter Mosley's Devil in a Blue Dress was nothing less than stunning (for which he was justly nominated for supporting actor by The Academy). And as good as Denzel was in the film, I found Cheadle's portrayal closer to Mosley's sadistic and trigger-happy character from that Los Angeles-based P.I. book series than Washington's turn as Easy Rawlings (he was still good, though). And from that, I recalled his small roles in Hamburger Hill and Colors from the late-80's. The HBO original movie, Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault, was another of his I couldn't help but notice. His Buck Swope, for me, was the most sympathetic character from Anderson's Boogie Nights. The man is just a human chameleon with his ability to become whatever character on whatever medium he appears on. But when he followed Out of Sight with another HBO movie, The Rat Pack, I was very much blown away. I really wondered if the guy could pull off the Sammy Davis, Jr. role. Would it be caricature or parity? Needless to say, I should have known better by this time to have doubted the man. IMO, he was easily the most believable of all of the actors taking on the rat pack parts, and he deservedly won the Global Globe for his performance (and I reckon that dance number sealed the decision).

Image by marrngtn (Manuel) via Flickr

Nothing this actor does surprises me anymore. I expect nothing but excellence whenever he's on the screen. Even if he's in a bad movie, like After the Sunset, he's remains at the least very good. He never looks like he's 'mailing it in'. I don't think the guy knows how to coast. Crash and Hotel Rwanda in 2004, and Talk To Me in '07... 'nuff said. And for being one of the best things in 2008 for the too little seen, Traitor, the man is already a legend by my thinking. And while I'm already looking forward to his Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes/War Machine action movie role in the upcoming Iron Man 2, I have to ask: why doesn't he have an Oscar as yet? Add to all his actor/producer work, Cheadle has done philanthropic and writing work for those in Darfur. Amazing. The man's acting repertoire can have me be inspired by or sympathizing with his character, love or hate him in a role, or be scared as hell by the guy. How the heck does he do that?!? To me he's one of kind. But, if I was forced to name a comparable, outstanding great actor, he is this generation's Robert Duvall. And when you take into account his all-embracing music tastes in his iPod's playlist, in his own words, I think I've discovered another facet of this man worth exploring [note: iTunes still carries no Beatles tracks, as yet]. What do you think?

Don Cheadle's iTunes Celebrity Playlist:

1. Black Cow - "'On the counter, by your keys, was a book of numbers and your remedies...' Donald Fagan and Walter Becker proved you can have jazz, rock, funk and cool. Love the arrangements, the lyrics, the vibe..."
   
2. Can't Hide Love - "The all time Junior High School grind jam, second only to 'Always and Forever'. Walk off the dance floor and drape your jacket over your lap. How do you pick up one EWF song? Damn you, iTunes."
   
3. I Want to Spend the Night - "All love. What a pure soul. He sounds like he really means every word he's singing. That's pretty rare."
   
4. Spectacular - "The name of the tune says it all. When I got pseudo-serious about my sax, before I got into Charlie Parker, I would spend hours after school transcribing this Cannonball solo to figure out what he was doing. One of my all time favorite musicians."
   
5. Continuum - "A master. He created a style and sound on the bass that changed the game forever. All bass players who followed have been judge against the standard set. A one man paradigm shifter."
   
6. Giant Steps - "The Heavyweight Champion playing one of my favorite solos ever recorded. Sublime, rich, passionate, complete, incomplete, jagged, raw like his un-cut soul is being piped directly form his solar-plexus."
   
7. Misty Mountain Hop - "Like any of the artists I've selected, I could have picked 10 songs for this band alone. Greatest Rock Band ever? Damn close. I especially love the way Robert Plant slides all over this one: 'And baby, baby, bady, do you like it...?'"
   
8. You Got It Bad Girl - "So cool, so smooth, so right. The only person that had me tongue-tied just from being in his general proximity. Always my go to 'desert island' answer. Super-naturally prolific. His music gets into my marrow."
   
9. A Little Priest - "Come on, I had to put a show tune on there. But this one is twisted fun. Great lyrics, music (Stephen Sondheim) and two perfect performances."
   
10. I Will Not Apologize - "This title could be the theme for my (thought I'd better include a song from this decade, though). I love this group, and this beat. Especially how Black's cadence lays behind the track. It's good to nod your head and rattle some thoughts around in there while you're doing it too."
    

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Patrick McGoohan 1928 - 2009

Sadly, another one of my favorite actor/writer/director died yesterday at a local hospital. Patrick McGoohan was 80 years old and created one of the most iconic and influential TV series ever, The Prisoner.  As a child in the 60's, I became a fan of his watching Secret Agent and Disney's The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. He would go on to play a number of characters in television, stage and movies, and in some he would write, produce, and/or direct. Even with him playing various adversary villains in Columbo, Silver Streak, and his gleefully sadistic turn as King Edward "Longshanks" in Braveheart, he'll always be No. 6 to me. May he rest in peace.