Notable Passings

...Screenwriter Irving Ravetch has passed away at the age of 89.

Ravetch wrote the screenplays for many classic films, including THE LONG HOT SUMMER (1958), HOME FROM THE HILL (1960), HUD (1963), THE COWBOYS (1972), NORMA RAE (1979), and one of James Garner's best films, the wonderful MURPHY'S ROMANCE (1985).

Ravetch often worked with his wife, screenwriter Harriet Frank Jr.

...Animator Bill Littlejohn, whose credits include countless PEANUTS cartoons, has died at 96.

Littlejohn's earliest work included working on the TOM AND JERRY series at MGM.

Littlejohn's credits also include THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH (1970), YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS (1974), and several GARFIELD cartoons.

...Sax player Buddy Collette has passed on at the age of 89. The L.A. Times has a good article on his career, and there's a bit more at NPR.

Collette can be seen onscreen as a clarinet player in the jailhouse scene of Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth's YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH (1941).

My dad has a great memory of being a 19-year-old jazz fan who went to see Collette's band at a club, and Collette spent an entire intermission chatting at my dad's table.