Ever watch a movie and comment, "He's gone," or "She passed." I've been known to watch credits after a movie (sometimes before, depending how old the movie is) and count the names of actors I know are gone. There were a couple films where all the main characters are gone. Somehow, that's kind of creepy.
More than that, it slowly draws the curtain on an era of big name stars and the way movies were made. Those were the kind of movies where you didn't have to worry about taking your kids because you knew there wouldn't be any sexy bedroom scenes or gratuitous violence. Then again, you probably didn't take kids to the movies unless it was to see a Disney feature or something like Black Beauty, National Velvet, Heidi, or The Prince and the Pauper. That's when the classics were popular, the way Marvel Comic heroes are popular today.
I'm no fan of comedy. I don't particularly care for the innuendos that pass as humor but I did enjoy Robin Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire. He was also good playing Peter Pan. I personally think his straight roles did him and his talent more credit than the comedy. But that's my opinion.
Then there's Lauren Bacall. Ms Bacall, who passed away a couple days after Robin Williams, was sexy, sultry and she didn't have to work at it. "If you need me, all you have to do is whistle. You do know how to whistle. You just put your lips together and blow." Those words were said to Humphrey Bogart who, in real life, became the love of her life. Her husband of twenty-five years, Bogart was another one who played many roles. His best known were The African Queen and the never to be forgotten Casablanca. Over fifty years later and that one is still unforgettable.
Shirley Temple was quite young when her star rose to great heights. Little Miss Marker, Heidi, Goodship Lollipop, just to name a few. She could sing and dance with the best of them, Bo Jangles, Ray Bolger. Her acting career may not have survived into adulthood but she went on to become an ambassador.
The further away we get from the forties and fifties, the fewer celebrities are left from that time. Mickey Rooney, Sid Caesar, Ralph Waite, Ann B. Davis, James Garner. Each of these stars, this year, has left the stage a little dimmer.
That's not to say we haven't had some great names from our own generation. Sigorney Weaver, Cate Blanchette, Halle Berry, DiCaprio, Affleck, Damon, Cruise. They've all done well. There are others, up and coming who just might fill in those spaces left by dimming stars.
The type of entertainment has changed over the years, calling for more diversified talent. Their young luminescence may become bright and they might fill some of those empty spots but they will never replace those older stars that go out.
