MJ
OK, Michael Jackson has been found not guilty. Great news. I'm happy for him. I hope he has learned his lesson. No matter how rough he had it as a kid, no matter how LOST he feels his childhood was, he needs to stay the hell away from the kids. Help them out all you want. Invite the whole group over to ride the llamas for all I care, but when night falls make sure you send them all home. ALL OF THEM! I won't pretend to have heard everything about the case but I think I would have come to the same conclusion the jury had. Three things really stood out to me. First, the witnesses that say they saw Jackson showering with boys and touching them inappropriately my first questions would be: WHY IN THE HELL DIDN'T YOU CALL THE POLICE? NOTIFY THEIR PARENTS? Secondly, if Jackson is such a pedophile, why weren't their kids and parents crawling out of the wood work to testify against him? Third, the accusers mother was just too unbelievable. Just from what I was able to pick up in news stories during the trial, combined with what the jurors said about her, I'm pretty sure that she was just looking for a buck.
PASSING ON
The past 10 days have seen the passing of several of televisions more recognizable character actors:
Lane Smith, who played Perry White on "Lois and Clark," died this week at the age of 69. The Memphis born actor also starred as Richard Nixon in the docudrama "The Final Days," and appeared in over 70 films, including "The Last American Hero," "Network," "Frances," "Red Dawn" and "My Cousin Vinny."
Dana Elcar, who starred with Richard Dean Anderson in "McGyver" passed away from complications of pneumonia on June 6. He was 77. He appeared in 100 television and film roles, including continuing roles in "Baretta" and "Baa, Baa Black Sheep." His film credits included "The Sting," "All of Me" and "2010." While appearing on "McGyver" Elcar went blind from glaucoma. The show's producers had his illness written into the program.
Leon Askin, the Austrian actor best known as General Burkhalter on "Hogan's Heroes" died in Vienna last week at the age of 97. A star before in his native country, Askin appeared in dozens of Austrian films and television programs.
J.D. Cannon, the city cop put in charge of cowboy Sam McCloud on "McCloud" died of natural causes at the age of 83. His film career included one of the convicts in "Cool Hand Luke." After "McCloud" he starred with William Conrad for several seasons on "Cannon."
THE STORY OF JAWS - PART 21
This week we'll look at the work of Richard Dreyfuss and his career after "Jaws." After "Jaws," Dreyfuss re teamed with director Steven Spielberg for "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." That same year, he appeared in Neil Simon's "The Goodbye Girl." For his work in that film, he became the youngest actor, at the age of 28, to win the Best Actor Academy Award, a distinction he would hold until Adrien Brody won 25 years later for "The Pianist." He followed his win up with the comedy "The Big Fix" in 1978 Before the release of "The Big Fix," Dreyfuss was hired, then fired, by director Bob Fosse and replaced by Roy Scheider for "All That Jazz.". The next few years found Dreyfuss in crisis, both personally and professionally. Films such as "The Buddy System" and "The Competition" failed at the box office while he also battled a very public drug problem. His career was resurrected by director Paul Mazursky, who cast him in "Down and Out in Beverly Hills." He continued his comeback with such hits as "Tin Men" and "Stakeout." In 1996 he earned his second Best Actor nomination for his work in "Mr. Holland's Opus." His most recent work has been on television and cable, including his own series, "The Education of Max Bickford." Currently he is working on Wolfgang Petersen's remake of "The Poseidon Adventure," co-starring Kurt Russell and Josh Lucas. Shooting is scheduled to begin next week. This is not to be confused with the upcoming television movie of the same name.
Well, that's all for now. Have a great week. See ya!
"Mike's Rant" is ©2005 by Michael A. Smith. Webpage design and all graphics herein are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2005 by Nolan B. Canova.
