Jane Birkin has passed away

Retired actress and singer Jane Birkin passed away on July 16, 2023. She was 76 years old. In here memory, here's a gallery of photos she posed for at her height of fame during the 1960s and 1970s.

Rumor has it that Jane Birkin didn't wear shoes until she was 27 years old. After taking a walk in the snow on her 27th birthday, she discovered the usefulness of footwear!
 

 Jane Birkin was the subject of quarterly posts here at Shades of Gray in 2021. You can enjoy those pictures by clicking on her name underneath this post.
 
 
 

This Day in History...

 

Annie Wersching passes away at 45

Annie Wersching, an extremely talented character actress who's had recurring roles on several of my recent favorite television series--such as "Bosch", "The Rookie" and "Timeless"--has lost battle with cancer. She passed away, entirely too young, on January 29, 2023.

She began her career as a stage actress, but turned to television in the early 2000s and found great success. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2020, but kept her health condition private and continued to work until she completed her scenes and the story arc of the serial killer Rosalind Dyer on "The Rookie" in 2021.

We mark Wersching's passing with sadness and a small gallery of photos in her memory.

Julia Roberts is dead...

... dead tired that is. Dead tired of being declared dead.

Actress Julia Roberts was recently the subject of another Internet Death Hoax--the third such one in as many years. As I type these words, she is very much alive and probably looking forward to receiving a lot of praise for her upcoming film, "Ticket to Paradise" (2022), in which she co-stars with George Clooney.

Or she will be looking forward to the praise, once she's done mourning her own tragic passing.

Fantastic Friday

On Thursday, June 16, 2022, artist Tim Sale (perhaps best known for his work on "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory" from DC Comics) passed away after being briefly hospitalized. We're dedicating this Fantastic Friday to the memory of Mr. Sale by presenting a trio of portraits that arose from direct commissions from Dr. Victor Von Doom, King of Latveria.

In memory of George Perez

After a lengthy illness, legendary comic book artist and writer George Perez passed away on May 6, 2022. He is best remembered for helping to reshape the DC Universe in the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" mini-series in the mid-1980s--a work so full of impactful imagery that it resonates across the comic book genre to this very day; for reinventing Wonder Woman during the late 1980s and into the 1990s; and for his ability to cram dozens and dozens of heroes and fierce action to pages... and yet it was always crystal clear what was going on.

Perez's career spanned four decades, and, although his style matured and changed over the years, his art remained consistently beautiful and the figures in it always epic in appearance and stature. Today, we present a gallery of his work, in his honor and memory.

You can enjoy some of Perez's portraits of more famous female superheroes by clicking here, and some grand imagery of the Batman Family by clicking here. His portraits of Wonder Woman have also been featured on many Wonder Woman Wednesdays.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

The legendary, trailblazing artist Neal Adams, who influenced an entire generation of comic book artists and who was a tireless advocate for creator rights, passed away at the age of 80 on April 28, 2022. In his memory and honor, we are featuring Wonder Woman sketches and portraits that Adams drew.

Adams is remembered mostly for his work for DC Comics, on Batman and Deadman stories in various titles, on the "Green Lantern & Green Arrow" series, as well as dozens of amazing covers for titles such as "House of Mystery" and "The Phantom Stranger". He was also responsible for interesting characters such as Toyboy and Valaria for his own company, Continuity Comics. We'll be presenting a gallery or two of Adams' more iconic work at some point in the future.

Yvette Mimieux has passed away

Actress Yvette Mimieux passed away on January 18, 2022, ten days after her 80th birthday. She is perhaps best remembered for her roles in "The Time Machine" (1960), "Where the Boys Are" (1960), "Monkeys Go Home!" (1967), her starring turn in the shortlived detective television series "The Most Deadly Game" (1970 - 1971), "Bell, Book, and Candle" (the 1976 television version), and the criminally underappreciated sci-fi flick "The Black Hole" (1979). Along the way, she also appeared in numerous disaster movies.

Here are some photos in her memory.

Sidney Poitier dead at 94

Celebrated actor and director Sidney Poitier passed away on January 6, 2022.

Sidney Poitier was born in 1927 and spent his early childhood in the Bahamas. At 15, he was sent to live with his brother in Miami, as his parents tried to head off a growing tendency toward criminality. There, he encountered racism for the first time in his life, and it shaped many of his attitudes as he grew into adulthood.

After a brief stint in the U.S. Army (joining after lying about his age) and a series of menial jobs, Poitier decided to try his hand at acting. His initial audition at the American Negro Theatre was such a disaster that he spent six months focusing on eliminating his Bahama accent and improving his acting skills. His next attempt was far more fruitful, and he was soon performing on Broadway.

Poitier's first major film role was in "No Way Out" (1950) in which he played a doctor who had to treat a bigoted racist. He immediately attracted the attention of Hollywood, but, in an approach that would mark his stance for his entire career, he turned down most offers because he thought they were demeaning toward him as a black man.

Poitier starred in many great movies, among these being "Blackboard Jungle" (1955), "Edge of the City" (1957), "The Defiant Ones" (1958), "A Raisin in the Sun" (1961), "The Long Ships" (1964), "The Bedford Incident" (1965), "To Sir, With Love" (1967), "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967), "In the Heat of the Night" (1967) [and he played a slightly revised version of his character from "In the Heat of the Night", Virgil Tibbs, in two kinda-sorta sequels, "The Call Me Mister Tibbs!" (1970) and "The Organization" (1972)], "A Piece of the Action" (1977), "Shoot to Kill" (1988), "Sneakers" (1992), and "Mandela and DeKlerk" (1997). He appeared in a total of 55 movies, and on many of his projects, Poitier had contracts that stated he received a percentage of earnings from the very first dollar that was taken in.

During the 1970s, Poitier turned to directing and producing. He also remained active on stage. He retired from acting in 2001, He spent his remaining years in the Bahamas where he also passed away.

Betty White has passed away

This is a post that's been revised from one we had planned for January 17, Betty White's 100th birthday. Sadly, we're making it now, on the final day of 2021... the day on which Ms. White moved onto even bigger and better things.

 

Comedienne and actress Betty White is best known for her roles on "Mary Tyler Moore" (1970-1977) and "Golden Girls" (1985-1992), White had been a star on both radio and television long before then--including starring in her own self-titled series. Her television career began in 1952, and by the mid-1950s, she was already well-deserving of her nickname the Queen of Television. Among her pioneering achievements during the 1950s was having complete creative control of, and an ownership stakes in several of the series she headlined, whether they were for networks or syndicated.

White passed away at her Beverly Hills home on December 31, 2021, a little over two weeks shy of her 100th birthday. She leaves the world richer for her being it, with over 100 characters portrayed on television (including starring as the ditzy Rose Nylund on two different series, and as a recurring guest-starring as her on two others). We celebrate with some photos of her from the early 1950s when her star became permanently affixed to the firmament of TV!