Tuesday Reads and Obituaries

Obituary:  Actor Bradford Dillman,  a man who was seen everywhere on television in the 1950s and 1960s, and instantly recognizable by yours truly, has died at the age of 87.

Among his movie credits was the 1959 film Compulsion, a film I have not seen.  I am more familiar with his television work.

Dillman was a solid actor.  He never became a huge star, but he was one of those actors who was rarely if ever out of work.

Dillman also considered himself the luckiest man in the world when, in 1963, he married supermodel and actress Suzy Parker.  He hit the jackpot with her.  She quit her career to dote on him and raise six (one from her previous marriage, three they had together, and two from Dillman's previous marriage)  children.  Unfortunately, she died in 2003.

He still remained happy, since acting had been an ambition since his schooldays. He was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Dean Dillman, a stockbroker, and his wife, Josephine (nee Moore). Bradford took part in amateur theatrics at school and studied English literature at Yale University. After service in the Marine Corps, he set himself a five-year time limit to achieve credibility as an actor. Within a year, he had progressed from menial jobs and a crowd scene in a production of Inherit the Wind, to a New York debut in Scarecrow and three summer seasons at the Playhouse in Connecticut. Theatre took a back seat following a lead role in The Fun Couple (1957), which lasted for only two performances in New York.

Cinema took over and three busy years later he found himself in London for Circle of Deception, playing a spy tortured into betrayal by the Gestapo. His co-star was the fashion model turned actor, Suzy Parker. Within months she and Dillman were married and she later abandoned acting for family life. She had one child by a former marriage and Dillman had two. They also had three children together and Dillman referred to them as his “six Oscars”.

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Another obituary:  Fantasy author Ursula  K. Le Guin, 88, has reportedly died.  She lived for many years in Portland, Oregon:

Fantasy novelist Ursula K. Le Guin died Monday afternoon in her Portland, Oregon, home, her son Theo Downes-Le Guin said. She was 88.

"It was unexpected at that moment," Downes-Le Guin said. "Her health had not been great."

The acclaimed author penned everything from short stories to children's books, but was best known for her work in the science fiction and fantasy realm.

She won numerous Hugo awards, science fiction's most prestigious honor, for titles including "The Left Hand of Darkness," "The Dispossessed," and "The Word for World is Forest."

She had lived in Portland for almost 60 years and had lived in the same house for the past 36 years.

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Another obit:  Actress Connie Sawyer, known as Hollywood's oldest working actress, has died at the age of 102.

Sawyer was born Rosie Cohen on November 27, 1912, in Pueblo, Colorado. Legendary entertainer Sophie Tucker took her under her wing. Sawyer went on to Broadway where she played Miss Wexler in “A Hole in the Head.” She repeated the role in the movie version that starred Frank Sinatra. 

Other movie credits include “Ada” and “The Way West.” 

She appeared on television for over six decades. She had roles on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Dynasty,” “Will and Grace” and “How I Met Your Mother.” 

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Another:  Naomi Parker Fraley, known as the inspiration of  "Rosie the Riveter" of World War II, has died.  She was 96 and lived in Washington state at the time of her death:

Multiple women have been identified over the years as possible models for Rosie, but a Seton Hall University professor in 2016 focused on Fraley as the true inspiration.

James J. Kimble published his findings in the journal Rhetoric & Public Affairs, saying a photo of Fraley at work was the basis for a widely seen poster of a woman flexing with the caption, "We can do it!"

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