Taylor passed away in Santa Monica on March 4th.
Taylor played storekeeper Milly Scott in THE RIFLEMAN, and she appeared in many Westerns on both the large and small screen. An accomplished dancer, Taylor can be glimpsed as the Indian maiden in this trailer for the MGM musical ROSE MARIE (1954), and she starred in another sci-fi film, 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957).
A multi-talented woman, Taylor wrote the story for the engaging romantic comedy FOOLS RUSH IN (1997), which starred Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek.As Rose Freeman, she oversaw production of the original HAWAII FIVE-O series after the death of her husband, producer Leonard Freeman, in 1974. The current version of the series paid tribute to her at the end of the March 19th episode.
Taylor/Freeman shared memories of her career in a 1997 interview.
...Actor Warren Stevens, whose long career included playing Doc Ostrow in FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956), has died at the age of 92.Stevens passed away on March 27th in Sherman Oaks, California.
Stevens' career began in the theater, including over a year in the cast of DETECTIVE STORY on Broadway from 1949 to 1950.
Stevens' screen career spanned nearly six decades, with over 160 credits from the late '40s to 2007.
I heard about Warren Stevens from a friend on Thursday, and it made me very sad. He was a long-time favorite in my family for all his guest spots on our favorite television shows and, of course, Forbidden Planet.
ReplyDeleteA strange entertainment coincidence occurred last week.
ReplyDeleteI was playing a screencap quiz on the IMDb - giving the correct answer to Joan Taylor in "Earth vs. The Flying Saucers" and the "Hawaii Five-O" started playing on the radio!! Freaked me out in a nice way.
Warren Stevens passing is one that marks someone who has watched way too much tv in her lifetime. I think he made guest appearances on everything I watched. A particular favourite was the role of a veteran cop on "Adam-12".
Thanks to both of you for sharing these nice memories. I don't remember Stevens on ADAM-12 but I'm sure I saw every episode when I was a child, and since my boys have the DVDs I'll have to look for that episode!
ReplyDeleteCaftan Woman, that's a very cool little Joan Taylor coincidence! I've pulled out a recording of EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS to watch soon. I have avoided most sci-fi films for years -- as I wrote in a review of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS last summer, I blame a traumatic childhood experience involving THE BLOB (grin) -- but I'm lately starting to try out a few from the '50s because of the casts. I'm looking forward to seeing Taylor in it.
Best wishes,
Laura
Caftan Woman, my dad was intrigued by your mention of the Warren Stevens episode of ADAM-12 and looked it up...a fun side note is it turns out that the episode was directed by Ozzie Nelson! For those who want to check it out on DVD, it's from Season 4.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Laura