‘Thirty’ for Murray, others in 2021
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Greetings to everyone at the end of yet another baffling year. I hope you and yours are handling things the best that you can. Myself, I can’t complain except for when I do. And when I do, I have been practicing the art of quieting down and better understanding why I’m upset, why I’m confused, why this life isn’t functioning the way I’d like it to. Inevitably, I wind up being grateful for having the life I do on the edge of an American small town, even though it mostly removes me from the one I led previously down in Champaign, and I have to wake up every day believing it will improve for myself and Momkoke. I try to make it palatable for the both of us even though we feel constantly thwarted when we want to be doing better. Wednesday was her birthday, so I took her gifts and cupcakes to celebrate. Yesterday was my birthday, and we visited long-time family friends for a luncheon. They were a necessary calm for I wanted to make sure we didn’t get lost in the holiday crunch. May 2022 be more friend than foe for us.
By a similar token, I realized how C-U Blogfidential is possibly doing a disservice to those in our film culture ranks whom we’ve lost. The protocol I’ve been following is to give birthday shout-outs to our friends every year, yet we only note deaths after they occur and before the memories fade. A single phrasing in the weekly Calendar doesn’t really give us context as to why they’re included, either, unless you’re adept enough to search for the connections on your own. I think I’m going to give these folks a moment at the end of every year that I continue to publish . Of course, I may miss when certain individuals pass and you’re always welcome to let us know by writing cuconfidential [at] gmail [dot] com, but I’ll proceed by bringing together the ones we’ve acknowledged and talking briefly about their contributions. You’ll see those who left us in 2021 mentioned below with links to articles and obituaries so you can learn more. May they rest in peace along with those you may have lost as well in your own lives.
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I should now explain the pictures here. I don’t go out of my way to meet well-known or famous people, or even those who are held in high regard in certain circles, but I can’t help but pause when a familiar name rings a bell in the most unlikely of places. Due to prior research, I’ve known for years the Florida producer and importer of schlock cinema, K. Gordon Murray, is buried in nearby Ottawa along with his wife, Irene. Once I began spending most of my time in Starved Rock country, I had a few months where I was traveling to Ottawa every week or two to handle paperwork and veteran’s benefits for my parents. I then decided to locate Oakwood Memorial Park after I finished my rounds so that I could pay respect to the Murrays, assuming I could find them. It took me a while to do just that on a rather brisk spring afternoon, even though I looked up in advance the general location of the grounds where they lay.
I went to see the Murrays again earlier this month since I had to stop in Ottawa, and I decided to bear gifts this time. Murray, who found inspiration from the traveling carnivals that regularly visited Bloomington-Normal in his youth, was an exploiter of folk tales and horror films that his company licensed from other countries. Their niche became the Saturday afternoon matinee at theaters where he could directly reach kids with cheap thrills, dubbed quickly into English and promoted with the gaudiest of advertising. The first big Murray hit was SANTA CLAUS, a 1959 color fantasy from Mexico, so I thought it appropriate that Santa himself would come along to deliver good cheer and the newest issue of Champaign’s very own Bachelor Pad Magazine, featuring Will “The Thrill” Viharo’s column on Mexican genre films with a Murray citation. I think he liked it, and Irene was probably not surprised.
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My point here is that we can always be respectful and creative in remembering those whose stories we’d like to share, especially if we can add to what is already known. Since the first time I seriously read up on Murray, for instance, I learned the reason for their internment at Oakwood is most likely because Irene is a native of this region. I also can’t help but mention that Murray died on my ninth birthday, December 30, 1979. Earlier this year, I found out the Santa’s Village amusement park in the Chicago suburb of West Dundee is still open – my parents took us to an earlier incarnation in the Seventies – and finally made the connection that Murray had cranked out three (admittedly bad) promotional films for the brand, at least partly filmed in this location. And, just this month, Atlanta-based producer Daniel Griffith dropped a big hint on Facebook that his stalled Murray documentary, which I discussed with him in 2008 not long after the launch of CUBlog, could finally be on tap. May K.’s “Wonder World” never cease to amaze!
With that tangent explored, we turn back to the present and those who recently passed. “-30-” or “###30###” is a type mark parlance that has been used for decades by journalists, reporters, and public relations firms to note the end of their articles or announcements. I think it’s clear that on something like C-U Blogfidential, the conclusion of the life of a person, place, or thing does not automatically mean that we stop thinking about them, considering them, bringing them back into focus when need be. I will do what I can to give our former friends, neighbors, and collaborators their due – keep in mind that my Murray deep dive is thanks to decades of casually paying attention to what goes on in the vast world of strange cinema – even if I don’t have the breadth of resources to memorialize them at length.
~ Jason Pankoke
p.s. Santa Claus is now living with Momkoke. I did not leave him to battle the Illinois elements.
p.s.2 The news broke while I was finishing this piece that Betty White passed away earlier today at age 99. I’ll mention her even without an apparent tie to the C-U because she’s legendary. RIP to a great comedienne and all-around Hollywood talent as well as a steadfast animal rights activist. And, yes, she was Golden.
p.s.3 Many of us are still feeling down as we head into 2022, yours truly included. There’s only one way to go from here, though, lest we return to the aggravating mire of 2020. Look for the answer below…
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Please click on the links for further reading about these individuals who passed away in 2021.
Edward Asner, 91, Aug. 29
The prolific Hollywood actor was best known for THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW and LOU GRANT on television, and memorably voiced the grandfather in UP from Pixar and Disney. He also appeared in two features from local producer Robin Christian and Dreamscape Cinema, SHEEBA and the upcoming A FARGO CHRISTMAS STORY, and had recorded dialogue for a third, AUTOMOUSE.
Floyd C. Reed, Sr., 88, Nov. 26
With an office in Danville and a practice track in Cayuga, Indiana, the Reed family developed a traveling stunt show and rode the crest of the impending “car and trucker craze” in the Seventies as the Death Riders Motorcycle Thrill Show. Their popularity led to several guest appearances on television, screen work in a fictional film, DEATH DRIVER, and a documentary on their touring lives, DEATH RIDERS.
Jacob Thomas Evans, 32, Oct. 28
Jacob appeared in the community access comedy program, THE ANDY DUE SHOW, often as an on-screen foil to series creator and writer Andy Due. Some of his work played at the New Art Film Festival. Outside of reel life, he was an educator at the Regional Office of Education #11 in Charleston.
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James “Crash” Moreau, 73, Sept. 14
A career stunt driver who performed to grandstands full of spectators for decades, “Crash” joined the Death Riders Motorcycle Thrill Show based in Danville for a spell during the Seventies. He and his work appear in the full-length documentary, DEATH RIDERS, released to the drive-in circuit in 1976.
Jason Hitch, 45, Dec. 14
An east central Illinois native, Hitch attended Illinois State University in Normal and Parkland College in Champaign, all the while launching start-ups that catered to families and pet owners. After moving to Florida and joining the Army Reserves, he and eventual wife (and ex-wife) Cássia Tavares were featured in the second season of 90 DAY FIANCÉ on TLC. He also pursued e-commerce and eBay sales.
Lesli Putman, 42, Oct. 17
Lesli formerly lived in Champaign-Urbana and attended the University of Illinois. She also was a reliable assistant to event director Grace Giorgio during the four-year run of the C-U Freaky Film Festival in the late Nineties. More recently, she resided and worked in Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin.
Michael Laughlin, 82, Oct. 27
A prolific producer of independent films in the Seventies including Monte Hellman’s car culture classic, TWO-LANE BLACKTOP, Laughlin began the Eighties by writing and directing a pair of wry science fiction features that took cues from his upbringing in the Bloomington-Normal area. STRANGE BEHAVIOR and STRANGE INVADERS play out in backdrops loosely defined as Illinois – a college town and a farm community, respectively – even though both were photographed on locations outside the United States.
Rodney Woodworth, 67, Aug. 31
A favorite performer on Champaign-Urbana stages and frequent Santa Claus for the holidays, Woodworth appeared in a handful of projects from writer/director Jennifer Heaton and Hot Diggity Productions. They included the Pens to Lens short film LATTÉ FEELINGS and feature-length drama SCARY NORMAL.
Samuel B. Davis, 68, Sept. 20
Steeped in the arts scene of the Springfield area, Sam (or SamB, as his byline sometimes read) served as a cohost of The Flyover Zone radio show on community radio station WQNA-FM with Lana Wildman and the late Hugh Moore. He also volunteered for the city’s long-running Route 66 Film Festival.
We’ll make it tradition to suggest that you also watch Turner Classic Movies’ “TCM Remembers” video and take a moment for those lost to the entertainment world at large. Here is the 2021 edition.
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