Irving appeared in the original Broadway production of 'Oklahoma' and voiced the character of Heat Miser in the animated 'The Year Without a Santa Claus.'

Actor George S. Irving, who won a Tony Award starring with Debbie Reynolds in the musical Irene and appeared in the original Broadway production of Oklahoma, died Monday at age 94.

He died in New York, said actor-director David Staller, Irving's friend.

Irving had several television and film credits, including appearances on All in the Family, Car 54 Where Are You?, Ryan's Hope and The Patty Duke Show. As a voice actor, he narrated the cartoon Underdog and played the Heat Miser in the animated The Year Without a Santa Claus.

He was also a regular in New York theater. Irving was nominated for a Tony for Broadway's Me and My Girl and appeared in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Can-Can and the 1981 revival of The Pirates of Penzance.

Although retired, Irving's last role in 2015 was in the Staller-directed off-Broadway adaptation of Chekhov's short story Swan Song in which he played an aging actor.

"He was one of those Broadway legends who worked all the time," Staller said. "He was never a huge star. But everyone who knew him genuinely loved him." </s> Broadway vet George S. Irving died on December 26. He was 94. Best known for his character roles on the Main Stem, he won a Tony in 1973 for Irene.

 

 The son of Abraham and Rebecca Shelasky, Irving was born George Irving Shelasky in Springfield, Massachusetts on November 1, 1922. A boy soprano in his youth, Irving made his Broadway debut in the original 1943 production of Oklahoma!, before being drafted days later to serve in the second World War.

 

 Along with the Tony for starring opposite Debbie Reynolds in Irene, Irving received a Tony nod for Sir John in 1987’s Me and My Girl. He has a massive 32 Broadway credits, including On Your Toes, The Pirates of Penzance, Once in a Lifetime, Can-Can and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

 

 More recently, he appeared off-Broadway in 2008 in the acclaimed Enter Laughing; that same year he was also honored with the 17th Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.

 

 Married to Maria Karnilova from 1948 until her death in 2001, Irving is survived by their son, Alexander, daughter, Katherine and three grandchildren. </s> George S, Irving, a fearless comic actor whose signature smile could turn into a smirk with the perfectly timed arch of an eyebrow, died December 26. Born George Irving Shelasky in Springfield, Massachusetts, he was 94.

In 1973, Irving co-starred with Debbie Reynolds in a revised version of Irene, a 1919 rags-to-riches musical about a pretty city girl who helps flamboyant “Madame Lucy” (Irving) become a famous couturier. (The show also marked the Broadway debut of Reynolds’ daughter, Carrie Fisher, who died this morning.) The show earned Irving the Tony Award for best performance by a featured actor in a musical; Reynolds was nominated for best actress in a musical.

By 1973 Irving was already established as a veteran character actor, seen on television sitcoms such as Car 54, Where Are You?, The Patty Duke Show and All In The Family; he had a run on the soap opera Ryan’s Hope; and in countless off-Broadway shows along with hit musicals. He appeared in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Can-Can, Bells Are Ringing, Me And My Girl (Tony nomination) and, replacing George Rose, as Major General Stanley in Joseph Papp’s 1981 revival of The Pirates Of Penzance that starred Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt.

Irving was married to the actress Maria Karnilova, who created the role of Golde in Fiddler On The Roof, from 1948 until her death in 2001.

As a voice actor, Irving’s credits on animated shows included King Leonardo and His Short Subjects, Underdog, The Year Without A Santa Claus and A Miser Brothers’ Christmas. In the early 1970s he was familar as the face of White Owl cigars.

Irving performed a solo cabaret show in 2008 and that year received the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre. He is survived by two children and three grandchildren. </s> BroadwayWorld.com is sad to report the death of actor George S. Irving at 94 years old.

During the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mr. Irving was waving a beer mug in the chorus of a touring production of The Student Prince at the National Theatre in Washington. After that close brush with history, he went on to his Broadway debut in the original company of Oklahoma!

There followed a stint among the greatest generation, and when World War II closed he returned to the stage in Call Me Mister, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Tovarich, I Remember Mama, Me and Juliet, An Evening with Richard Nixon (Drama Desk Award), So Long, 174th Street, Irene (Tony Award), On Your Toes and Me and My Girl, among others. At the New York City Opera, he sang in Regina, Street Scene, The Ballad of Baby Doe and a German production of The Threepenny Opera. At Lucille Lortel's White Barn Theatre, he played in a two-person revue, Together at Last, with his late wife, Maria Karnilova, and a one-man show, An Evening with W.S. Gilbert.

In 2008 Irving recreated the three roles he originally played in the ill-fated 1976 Joseph Stein musical So Long, 174th Street, now reworked, revised, and with its original title Enter Laughing at Off-Broadway's York Theatre Company, and received rave reviews for his rendition of "The Butler's Song". On December 8, 2008, aged 86, Irving received the 17th Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.

For an extensive inter view with Irving, timed to celebrations in 2004 of his 60th anniversary in the business, click here.

Irving was married to actress Maria Karnilova from 1948 until her death in 2001. They had a son, Alexander of Oceanside, California, a daughter, Katherine Irving of South Salem, New York, and three grandchildren. </s> John Hurt, the widely-admired Bafta-winning English actor who’s known for his roles in “Alien”, “The Elephant Man” and “Harry Potter” died aged 77, a media report said.

Hurt’s agent, Charles McDonald, confirmed his death on Saturday, the BBC reported.

Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015, the Oscar nominated actor who rose to fame playing flamboyant gay icon Quentin Crisp, died on Friday, McDonald said.

Hurt was given an all-clear in October 2015, but in 2016 he pulled out of play “The Entertainer” due to ill-health.

“Sir John decided not to perform as Billy Rice in Sir Kenneth Branagh’s production on the advice of his doctors,” McDonald said.

No cause of death was, however, immediately known.

“I can’t say I worry about mortality, but it’s impossible to get to my age and not have a little contemplation of it,” Hurt had told the Radio Times after the diagnosis.

Hurt had famously said: “We’re all just passing time, and occupy our chair very briefly.”

Hollywood director Mel Brooks described Sir John as “cinematic immortality”, as tributes poured in for the star.

Brooks paid tribute to Sir John, who had starred in Brooks’ comedy Spaceballs, saying on Twitter: “No one could have played The Elephant Man more memorably.”

Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood said: “It was such an honour to have watched you work, sir.”

British actor Alfred Molina said Sir John was “a gloriously talented actor, one of the best, of this or any era.”

Hurt was born on January 22, 1940, in Chesterfield in Derbyshire. Over six decades, he appeared in more than 120 films as well as numerous stage and television roles. </s> Some well-known people who have died recently
• John Avildsen, 1935-2017

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• Michael Bond, 1926-2017

 Prolific author of children’s stories and creator of Paddington Bear

 Read Kate's post: Of marmalade, memories, and me: A tribute to Paddington Bear
• Peter Sallis, 1921-2017

 English actor best known for appearing in The Last of the Summer Wine and also famous as the voice of Wallace in Wallace and Gromit
• Jeffrey Tate, 1943-2017

 English conductor, born with spina bifida, who had been principal conductor at Covent Garden, Rotterdam Philharmonic, San Carlo in Naples and Hamburg Symphony </s> Sir John Vincent Hurt, legendary actor and star of such classic films as The Elephant Man, Alien, and Midnight Express, has died at the age of 77.

In a Radio Times interview from 2015, the last interview he gave, John Hurt spoke openly about his battle with pancreatic cancer and claimed he was not afraid of death.

“I can’t say I worry about mortality, but it’s impossible to get to my age and not have a little contemplation of it,” Hurt said. “We’re all just passing time, and occupy our chair very briefly. But my treatment is going terrifically well, so I’m optimistic.”

John Hurt was nominated for an Academy Award for best lead actor in 1981 for his portrayal of John Merrick, a severely deformed man in late 19th century London, in David Lynch’s classic film, The Elephant Man.

Other classic John Hurt performances include his roles as Kane in Alien, Professor Broom in Hellboy, Mr. Ollivander in the Harry Potter movies, the War Doctor in Dr. Who, Max in Midnight Express, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor, and countless other TV and movie roles dating back to the early 1960’s. In 2013, John Hurt was given a BAFTA lifetime achievement award for his amazing contribution to cinema.

John Hurt also famously played the lead role of Winton Smith in the screen adaptation of George Orwell’s classic novel, 1984.

According to his page on IMDb, John Hurt was born in the small coal mining village of Shirebrook, England, in 1940. His family later moved to Grimsby where Hurt studied acting at Grimsby Art School. Hurt late enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he often appeared in offbeat plays, such as Infanticide in the House of Fred Ginger in 1962. It was in 1962 when he made his film debut in a film called Young and Willing, thereby launching the career of one of the great character actors of our era. It would be hard to be a person who watches TV or film without having seen Hurt in at least a dozen appearances, often stealing the scenes in which he appears.

John Hurt stayed busy until his death. IMDb lists four films to be released in 2017 in which he appears, including a World War II drama called Darkest Hour in which he was cast as Neville Chamberlain, England’s Prime Minister prior to Winston Churchill.

John Hurt was also a gifted voice actor, lending his voice to numerous animated films and radio plays.

In a 2000 interview with The Guardian, John Hurt discussed what made him want to become an actor and what acting meant to him, saying that he first decided he wanted to act at the age of nine, even before he realized it was something he could possibly do for a career.

“Pretending to be other people is my game and that to me is the essence of the whole business of acting,” Hurt said. “Dame Edith Evans was once being interviewed by a very zealous young man down from Oxford on television and saying: “Tell me, Dame Edith, how do you go about it? What do you do? Do you research it? How do you get into them?” and finally she just said: “I pretend, dear boy.”. It may be a rather simplistic way of putting it! I remember once when I told Lindsay Anderson at a party that acting was just a sophisticated way of playing cowboys and Indians he almost had a fit.”

John Hurt was a beloved actor and friend to many who had the pleasure of working with him. He will be missed dearly, but often remembered by his family, friends, and fans. </s> Veteran actor Sir John Hurt has died at 77 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

The Oscar-nominated star was well known for roles including Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant, the title role in The Elephant Man and wand merchant Mr Ollivander in the Harry Potter films.

His agent, Charles McDonald, confirmed his death to the Press Association on Saturday.

The British actor was nominated for two Academy Awards, for The Elephant Man and Midnight Express, and won four Bafta Awards, including a lifetime achievement recognition for his outstanding contribution to British cinema in 2012.

Hollywood legend Mel Brooks described him as “a truly magnificent talent”.

“No one could have played The Elephant Man more memorably. He carried that film into cinematic immortality. He will be sorely missed,” he added.

Stephen Fry celebrated the “great man” for excelling as an actor, whether he was working in cinema, television or on the stage.

Richard E Grant tweeted: “So so sad to have lost such an extraordinary talent and friend. Sir John Hurt. R. I. P.”

Sir John told the Press Association of his diagnosis in June 2015.

He said : ‘’I have always been open about the way in which I conduct my life and in that spirit I would like to make a statement.

‘’I have recently been diagnosed with early stage pancreatic cancer. I am undergoing treatment and am more than optimistic about a satisfactory outcome, as indeed is the medical team.

‘’I am continuing to focus on my professional commitments and will shortly be recording Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell (one of life’s small ironies!) for BBC Radio 4.’’

He later told the Radio Times: “I can’t say I worry about mortality, but it’s impossible to get to my age and not have a little contemplation of it.

“We’re all just passing time, and occupy our chair very briefly. But my treatment is going terrifically well, so I’m optimistic.”

Sir John enjoyed a big hit with sci-fi horror Alien in 1979 and his character’s final scene has been frequently named as one of the most memorable in cinematic history.

He recently found new fans when he starred as a “forgotten” incarnation of the Doctor, known as the War Doctor, in Doctor Who.

He was knighted by the Queen for services to drama at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle in 2015.

Earlier this year Sir John pulled out of a production of John Osborne’s play The Entertainer on medical advice, as he recovered from an intestinal complaint.

He had been due to play Billy Rice in the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company production, directed by Rob Ashford.

However, he continued to work at a prodigious rate, starring in Jackie Kennedy biopic Jackie, thriller Damascus Cover and the upcoming biopic of boxer Lenny McLean, My Name Is Lenny.

He was also filming Darkest Hour, in which he starred as Neville Chamberlain opposite Gary Oldman’s Winston Churchill.

The film focuses on Churchill’s charge against Adolf Hitler’s army in the early days of the Second World War and is due to be released on December 29.

Sir John, who played Caligula in the celebrated BBC drama I, Claudius, also racked up film hits in V for Vendetta, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Hercules.

Other celebrated roles included his performance as Stephen Ward - a key figure in the Profumo affair - in Scandal and a reprisal of his role as Crisp for An Englishman In New York in 2009, 34 years after his original portrayal of the flamboyant figure.

Sir John’s distinctive voice has been used several times as narrator, and accompanied a chilling Aids awareness advertising campaign in the 1980s.

Born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Sir John went to art college before he studied at Rada (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) and picked up TV and film roles until he had his major breakthrough, appearing in A Man For All Seasons as Richard Rich.

Sir John achieved further prominence in the film 10 Rillington Place as Timothy Evans who was wrongly executed for the crimes of serial killer John Christie, played by Richard Attenborough.

Childline founder and president Dame Esther Rantzen hailed Sir John, who was a fundraiser for the children’s charity, saying he had an “extraordinary career”.

Dame Esther said she approached him after a London theatre performance, some 30 to 40 years after first meeting him when he was a young actor, and he “immediately agreed” to help the organisation.

She said: “He understood it was a unique way for children to seek help.

“There was something in his own past which made him connect with vulnerable children, I believe it happened when he was in school.

“From then on he never turned us down, he spoke at events for us, telling stories of some of the children we had helped, and took part in carol services for us.

“Because he was such a great artist, I remember writing for him and he gave it so much more strength because of the way he told it.

“He will be a great loss to the children in this country.” </s> Veteran character actor John Hurt, star of movies including Alien and Harry Potter, has died at 77 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

The Oscar-nominated star was well known for roles including Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant, the

title role in The Elephant Man and wand merchant Mr Ollivander in the Harry Potter films.

His agent, Charles McDonald, confirmed his death to the Press Association on Saturday.

The British actor was nominated for two Academy Awards, for The Elephant Man and Midnight Express, and won four Bafta Awards, including a lifetime achievement recognition for his outstanding contribution to British cinema in 2012.

Hollywood legend Mel Brooks described him as “a truly magnificent talent”.

“No one could have played The Elephant Man more memorably. He carried that film into cinematic immortality. He will be sorely missed,” he added.

Stephen Fry celebrated the “great man” for excelling as an actor, whether he was working in cinema, television or on the stage.

Richard E Grant tweeted: “So so sad to have lost such an extraordinary talent and friend. Sir John Hurt. R. I. P.”

Sir John told the Press Association of his diagnosis in June 2015.

He said: ‘’I have always been open about the way in which I conduct my life and in that spirit I would like to make a statement.

“I have recently been diagnosed with early stage pancreatic cancer. I am undergoing treatment and am more than optimistic about a satisfactory outcome, as indeed is the medical team.

“I am continuing to focus on my professional commitments and will shortly be recording Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell (one of life’s small ironies!) for BBC Radio 4.’’

“He later told the Radio Times: “I can’t say I worry about mortality, but it’s impossible to get to my age and not have a little contemplation of it.

“We’re all just passing time, and occupy our chair very briefly. But my treatment is going terrifically well, so I’m optimistic.”

Sir John enjoyed a big hit with sci-fi horror Alien in 1979 and his character’s final scene has been frequently named as one of the most memorable in cinematic history.

He recently found new fans when he starred as a “forgotten” incarnation of the Doctor, known as the War Doctor, in Doctor Who.

He was knighted by the Queen for services to drama at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle in 2015.
American Actor George S. Irving, best known for being one of the last members of the original production of Oklahoma! and voicing Heat Miser from The Year Without a Santa Claus, dies at age 94.