Obituaries
Obituary: John Schlesinger, filmmaker, 1926-2003
By Paul Bond, August 8, 2003
When news was announced of the death of John Schlesinger, at the age of 77, I confess to ambivalence. One of the four major British film directors of the early 1960s, his output was huge and uneven. W...
Obituary: Joe Strummer of The Clash, dead at 50
By Paul Bond, January 13, 2003
Joe Strummer, one of the most articulate voices of the British punk scene of the late 1970s, died of a heart attack on December 22, 2002, aged 50. With his band The Clash, he helped forge a lasting le...
Actor Richard Harris: a great talent only occasionally fulfilled
By Paul Bond, October 30, 2002
The actor Richard Harris, who died October 25 aged 72, was one of a number of his contemporaries who more often than was seemly traded their talent for a dubious celebrity. In some cases it is difficu...
Issues raised by the career of US filmmaker John Frankenheimer
By David Walsh, July 19, 2002
The American film director John Frankenheimer died in Los Angeles of a stroke July 6 after complications from surgery. He was 72. Frankenheimer is best known for works he directed in the 1960s, The Ma...
Ray Brown, jazz bass virtuoso, dies
By John Andrews, July 10, 2002
After an extraordinary 55-year career, bassist Ray Brown died suddenly while napping before a performance scheduled in Indianapolis for the evening of July 2. Brown was 75.
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (1932-2002)
Pioneer of contemporary Aboriginal art dies
By Susan Allan, July 4, 2002
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, one of the acknowledged pioneers of the contemporary Australian Aboriginal art movement which emerged at Papunya settlement in central Australia in the early 1970s, died ...
Billy Wilder, filmmaker and satirist, dead at 95
By David Walsh, April 3, 2002
Director Billy Wilder, whose films were renowned for their wit, cynicism and satirical edge, died March 27 in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 95. Wilder, Austrian-born, but in the US since 193...
Leading Australian documentary filmmaker dies
Robin Anderson (1950-2002)
By Richard Phillips, March 18, 2002
Robin Anderson, rightly regarded as one of Australia’s best documentary filmmakers, died on March 8, aged 51, after a nine-month struggle with cancer. Anderson was diagnosed with a rare form of ...
"I told you I was ill," Spike Milligan (1918-2002)
By Paul Bond, March 7, 2002
Spike Milligan, who died February 27 aged 83, was the single most important figure of post-war British comedy. His radio scripts for The Goon Show, his television series Q, his novels and war memoirs ...
Dave Van Ronk, folk and blues artist, dead at 65
By Fred Mazelis, February 14, 2002
Dave Van Ronk, the acclaimed blues and folk singer, guitarist, songwriter and teacher, died February 10 at the age of 65. His death came three months after surgery for colon cancer.
