MADELINE LEE GILFORD Died Apr. 14, 2008

Mrs. Gilford's parents were both active socialists. Born in the Bronx in 1923, she was a child actress beginning at the age of three. She performed on radio and shared the stage with Ethel Barrymore in the 1944 play Embezzled Heaven. She also assisted lyricist E.Y. (Yip) Harburg during many productions, including the Lena Horne vehicle Jamaica. Her sister, Thelma Lee, was also a stage actress.
Both Gilfords were blacklisted for much of the 1950s. Mrs. Gilford's name was one of the names mentioned by Jerome Robbins in his testimony before the HUAC. Thereafter, the couple had difficulty finding work. They relied on loans from friends and government checks for much of their income. "We raised three children on unemployment insurance," she once said.
"The F.B.I. followed me the first Tuesday of every month," she told the New York Times. "How did I know it? The superintendent had a son in jail for armed robbery and she hated the F.B.I. So she considered us in trouble the same way she was. She would tell us that they would come on the first Tuesday: 'They've been here. They wanted to look in your garbage. They wanted to look at the mail that has been thrown out.'"
One afternoon, she decided to string the FBI agents along. She had heard that Alger Hiss had recently moved to Washington Square Park. While being followed as she walked her daughter to school, she swung by Hiss' address and - not knowing him - knocked on his door.
"I went up to him - they couldn't hear what I was saying - and I said: 'Mr. Hiss, I'm Madeline Lee Gilford. I'm Jack Gilford's wife.' Oh, yes, he knew him. And he was tall and thin and handsome in the cold. And I wanted to chat with him long enough so that they would think that I had a date to meet him in the park away from phone taps. And I said, 'I want to welcome you back to the Village, and may I kiss you?' So I kissed Alger Hiss in Washington Square Park."
In the 1980s, she turned to producing. She co-produced the play The World of Sholom Aleichim, starring her husband, and the musical Rags. Neither were hits, though the latter, a musical, has developed a following over the years.
She co-authored a memoir with Kate Mostel, actor Zero Mostel's wife, called "170 Years in Show Business." It chronicled the lives of the two couples, who were friendly with one another; Jack and Zero appeared on stage several times.
Mrs. Gilford remained busy throughout her last decade, playing roles on "Law & Order" and taking small roles in films such as "The Old Feeling," "Cocoon: The Return," "The Savages" and the yet-to-be-released "Uncertainty" and "Sex and the City."
In 2007, she was presented with the first annual Madeline Gilford Award "for her dedication and tireless contributions to the theatre" by Musical Mondays Theatre Lab.

OLLIE JOHNSON
Died Apr. 14, 2008

Walt Disney called them his Nine Old Men. In the 1930s Walt Disney built his animation department around the talents of these men. While the 1920s New York Yankees had Ruth and Gehrig, Disney had his own stellar lineup or artists. For nearly five decades the Nine Old Men kept Walt Disney Studios in the forefront of the animation field. The Nine Old Men were only in their 30s and 40s when they began with Disney. Far from Old, but talented like no other group of animators around.
They were John Lounsbery (died 1976), Les Clark(died 1979), Wolfgang Reitherman (died 1985), Milt Kahl (died 1987), Eric Larsen (died 1988), Marc Davis (died 20000), Ward Kimball (died 2002), Frank Thomas (died 2004) and Ollie Johnson.
Ollie Johnson, the last of Disney's Nine Old Men died at age 95. Ollie Johnson and future fellow 'Old Man' Frank Thomas became friends in college attending Stanford. They joined Disney within a year of each other: Frank in 1934 and Ollie in 1935. The two men co-authored the classic book on animation "The Illusion of Life."
During his 43-year career with Disney, Ollie Johnson helped create some of the most magical moments in film history. He worked on both short films and features. Ollie Johnson worked as an assistant Animator on Disney's first feature length film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves." During the 1930s Ollie Johnson worked on nine Disney shorts including "Two-Gun Mickey" and "The Brave Little Tailor."
In 1940, Mr. Johnson was an animator on "Pinocchio." That same year he was the animation supervisor for the Pastoral Symphony segment of "Fantasia." Ollie Johnson was the animation supervisor of one of Disney's most beloved characters: Thumper in "Bambi." He was the directing animator on the wrongly maligned "Song of the South" in 1946. Other notable credits from the 1940s include "The Three Caballeros," "Victory Through Air Power" and "Peter and the Wolf." His last project for the 1940s was the double feature "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad." The film was composed of two short films: "The Wind and the Willows" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Ollie and Frank Thomas collaborated on creating the gawky character Ichabod Crane.
The 1950s were a very busy time for Ollie Johnson. He was directing animator on the feature films "Cinderella," "Alice in Wonderland," "Peter Pan," "Lady and the Tramp" and "Sleeping Beauty." Some of the characters he created include Mr. Smee in "Peter Pan" and the ugly step-sisters in "Cinderella." Ollie Johnson also worked as an animator on the short classics "Ben and Me" and "Little Toot."
Mr. Johnson animated the mother dog character Perdita in the 1961 feature "One Hundred and One Dalmatians." He was directing animator on 1963's "The Sword and the Stone." Ollie Johnson next worked as an animator on the Oscar-winner "Mary Poppins." He was directing animator on "The Jungle Book" and animated the characters of Mowgli and Baloo. Walt Disney died during the production of the Oscar-winning short "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day." This was Mr. Johnson's final credit for the 1960s.
Before he retired in 1978, Mr. Johnson continued to forge ahead working on Disney's classic features of the 1970s. He was directing animator on "The Aristocats," "Robin Hood" and "The Rescuers." Mr. Johnson created the character of Prince John for "Robin Hood." Though he retired in 1978, Mr. Johnson came back as supervising animator for the 1981 film "The Fox and the Hound." It was his final Disney animation credit.
Ollie Johnson made vocal cameos in the animated films "The Iron Giant" and "The Incredibles." In 1995, Frank Thomas' son Theodore produced and directed the wonderful documentary film "Frank and Ollie." The film is a document to the long professional collaboration between the two old friends. It is well-worth looking for if you are a fan of Disney animation.
Ollie Johnson was married to Disney Ink and Paint artist Marie Worthy. They married in 1943. Mrs. Johnson died in 2005. Mr. Johnson was honored by his fellow animators with the Winsor McCay Award in 1980. President George W. Bush presented Mr. Johnson with the National Medal of Arts in 2005.

HAZEL COURT
Died Apr. 15, 2008

Scream queen Hazel Court died of a heart attack at age 82. The British actress was the object of desire for myself and millions of other baby boomer horror movie fans. Ms. Court appeared in over 80 feature films, TV shows and documentaries during her life. Hazel Court was the widow of director Don Taylor. She had previously been married to actor Dermot Walsh.
Hazel Court became a scream queen of the first magnitude in the 1957 Hammer horror film "The Curse of Frankenstein." Ms. Court played Elizabeth opposite Peter Cushing's Baron Frankenstein. She was menaced by the Creature played by Christopher Lee. This was the first and among the best of the gothic horror films made by Hammer. In 1959 Ms. Court reteamed with actor Christopher Lee and director Terence Fisher for Hammer's "The Man Who Could Cheat Death." In 1961 Ms. Court starred opposite Kieron Moore in "Dr. Blood's Coffin." Though the film doesn't stand up to her Hammer films, Ms. Court delivered a fine performance.
Hazel Court had played horror movie heroines in her British films. American director/producer Roger Corman would cement Ms. Court's status as a scream queen by casting her in three of his Edgar Allan Poe films. Hazel Court starred opposite Ray Milland in "The Premature Burial." This was a mediocre entry in the Poe series. Next came "The Raven." "The Raven" is a mixed bag for horror movie fans. It is a horror comedy that starred Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and a young Jack Nicholson. Ms. Court is great fun in a bad girl role. Roger Corman's masterpiece "The Masque of the Red Death" was the director's best film. It also gave Ms. Court the best role of her career. Ms. Court's orgasmic dream sequence with the devil drew the ire of censors in England.
Hazel Court's many film and TV credits include "Devil Girl From Mars," "Playhouse 90," "Thriller," The Twilight Zone," "Bonanza," "Rawhide," "The Wild Wild West," "Mission Impossible," "Mannix" and "McMillan & Wife." Ms. Court made her final screen appearance in a cameo in "Damien 3: The Final Conflict." The "Omen" sequel was directed by her second husband Don Taylor. The pair met when Mr. Taylor directed Ms. Court in a 1958 episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." Mr. Taylor also directed Ms. Court in a 1960 episode of "Alcoa Theater" in which he also acted. Ms. Court made five films and a TV series with her first husband Dermot Walsh. Their credits include "Ghost Ship" and "A Woman of Mystery." Ms. Court's autobiography "Hazel Court-Horror Queen" is set to be released this summer from Tomahawk Press.