Notable Passings: Lisa Gaye and Garry Marshall

...Actress Lisa Gaye has passed away at the age of 81.

Gaye, who was born March 6, 1935, was the youngest sibling in an acting family which also included Teala Loring, Frank Griffin (who later became a makeup artist), and the best-known of the foursome, Debra Paget.

Gaye danced in ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK (1956) and SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROCK! (1956).

I think of Gaye primarily as a Westerns actress, so it was interesting when my dad pointed out today that her only Western feature film was DRUMS ACROSS THE RIVER (1954) with Audie Murphy, which I reviewed in 2014.

Most of Gaye's many Western appearances were in TV shows, including my favorite series, MAVERICK ("A State of Siege"), plus ANNIE OAKLEY, ZORRO, HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL (seen below), BLACK SADDLE, TOMBSTONE TERRITORY, WAGON TRAIN, BRONCO, and more, including ten episodes of DEATH VALLEY DAYS. Her last screen appearance was in 1970.

Oldest sibling Loring died in 2007. Gaye is survived by Paget, Griffin, a daughter and grandchildren.

...The multi-talented Garry Marshall, the man behind HAPPY DAYS and MORK AND MINDY, has died at 81.

Marshall did it all: writing, directing, producing, and even acting, in both television and feature films.

Early in his career Marshall wrote many episodes of the classic THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, and I was fortunate to see him speak at the 50th Anniversary tribute to the show at the Egyptian Theatre in 2011; I wrote about it here. He's at the left in this photo with Van Dyke and Reiner (behind the microphone).

I'm not completely certain, but I believe Marshall was also at the HAPPY DAYS filming I attended; as I've related here in the past, I was present for the filming of the studio scenes for the infamous episode which contributed the phrase "jumped the shark" to the American lexicon.

Among Marshall's films, I'm especially appreciative of THE PRINCESS DIARIES (2001), with Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, and Hector Elizondo, which remains wonderfully entertaining after multiple viewings.