REEL HOLLYWOOD REMEMBERS

TALK ABOUT A FRESH ONE.
2.18.04
memo menos

I was scanning through the channels the other day and landed upon ANALYZE THAT, the sequel to ANALYZE THIS with BILLY CRYSTAL, ROBERT DENIRO and LISA KUDROW. I was drawn to the mobster/driver for DENIRO, JELLY, played by JOE VITERELLI. All of a sudden the sidesplitting scene from the first one came back to me. JOE is the guy who gets pasted by BILLY CRYSTAL as he tries to convince a room full of Mafioso that he means business. As VITERELLI gets ready to floor him in response, CRYSTAL yells out, “Do you want a fresh one?”

It was the funniest scene in the film, and it still evokes an outburst of laughter just thinking about it.

So it was with considerable sadness that I recently learned of VITERELLI’S passing on January 29, 2004. He died in Valley Hospital in Las Vegas at the young age of 66 while undergoing heart surgery.

VITERELLI starred in more than 40 pictures, in a relatively short film career that got started in 1990, after an acquaintance with LEO PENN, SEAN PENN’S father. The two lived in Malibu, and JOE eventually got a call from SEAN who wanted him to be in a gangster movie, STATE OF GRACE. Badda bing, badda boom, the rest was history.

Some highlights of VITERELLI’S career were BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, THE CROSSING GUARD, ERASER, MICKEY BLUE EYES and SHALLOW HAL. For the most part he played the mobster, but he put his own “fresh” spin on the stereotype. He can be seen currently playing that same role in a STAPLES

Joe & Catherine @ SEE SPOT RUN

commercial.

But JOE was more complex than that. He grew up on Manhattan’s lower east side, and played classical guitar. His family owned several music schools which JOE inherited in his twenties. He used to save his money to pay for tickets to Carnegie Hall and theater on Broadway. He didn’t meet PENN until after moving to California, where he and his wife CATHERINE raised 5 children.

We spoke with him in 2001 at the premiere of SEE SPOT RUN, and when asked whether he was Italian, he replied, “I got a Cadillac with air conditioning and a 3-body trunk, what do you think?”

In addition to the big family, he loved pets, housing 2 horses, 100 rabbits, 16 cats and 3 dogs.

JOHN RITTER
8.12.03
memo menos

It happened on the set of his new sitcom, 8 SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER, while HENRY WINKLER was rehearsing a guest starring role.. JOHN RITTER collapsed on the set. The crew, including WINKLER thought he may have had food poisoning. He was taken to Providence St. Joseph Hospital just 2 blocks from the studio in Burbank, where he died of aortic dissection, or a ripped and bleeding aorta. The condidtion is thought to have been present in Mr. RITTER but undiagnosed.

JOHN RITTER was the son of country singer and television star TEX RITTER, who died in 1973 before JOHN'S rocket to stardom in the #1 hit THREE'S COMPANY. The success of JACK TRIPPER got JOHN dozens of television movies, as well as several other series, but none was nearly as successful as COMPANY, until 8 SIMPLE RULES. The show's second season was to debut next week. JOHN RITTER did some film work including a surprising performance in SLING BLADE in 1996, NOWHERE and HACKS in 1997 and BRIDE OF CHUCKY in 1998. He had completed work on 2 more films, MANHOOD due out in November and BAD SANTA tentatively scheduled for December.

Unlike his father, JOHN got to see his own son become a star as he attended the premiere of FREDDY vs JASON in Hollywood on August 13th, 2003 with his boy and star of the film, JASON RITTER, . The movie opened #1 in its' first week of release. JOHN RITTER is survived by his current wife, actress AMY YASBECK and 3 other children. He was born in Burbank, and died there Thursday at the young age of 54.

For more on JOHN RITTER check out this link http://freespace.virgin.net/avril.bowles/

GREGORY HINES: TAP DANCER PLUS
8.11.03
memo menos

GREGORY HINES died in Los Angeles Saturday at the young age of 57. He had battled cancer quietly, and perished in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Very few people knew of his illness.

His claim to fame was his dancing, which was impressive enough. But he parlayed that talent into a personality that could sing, act and dance in equal accomplishment. He had his own sitcom for 2 years, THE GREGORY HINES SHOW in 1997 and 1998, and could be seen regularly on WILL & GRACE and LOST AT HOME recently.

He won a Tony in 1992 for his performance as “JELLY ROLL” MORTON in JELLY’S LAST JAM. In 1999 he won a daytime Emmy for his reading of the character LITTLE BILL. But it was his tap and other dance routines that won hearts of fans everywhere. He and his brother, with the help of their father accompanying them on percussion performed on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW and THE TONIGHT SHOW, as HINES, HINES and DAD.

He danced with MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV in the 1985 film WHITE NIGHTS, and spoke in interviews thereafter that he sought out roles written for white actors. No doubt the ones written for black actors just weren’t challenging enough for

Gregory and fiance, Negrita @ The Rosa Parks
Story, 2002.

this triple threat. In 2002 he told MANMADE at the premiere of THE ROSA PARKS STORY, “She’s a human being, and I think ultimately what ROSA PARKS stands for is to be a human being.”

That same year HINES received an NAACP Image Award for his work in the 2001 TV movie BOJAMGLES, where he portrayed BILL “BOJANGLES’ ROBINSON. Backstage he told the press, “I feel very fortunate and privileged to be able to do a lot of different things, but I am a tap dancer. That’s my real form of expression.”

At the time of his death he was engaged to NEGRITA JAYDE, having been divorced 2 times previously. He is survived by his former dance team-his father and brother, as well as a son, daughter, stepdaughter and a grandson.

MANMADE MULTIMEDIA, INC.

top