Image courtesy of What's on Magazine

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Simon MacCorkindale reached the cusp of Hollywood stardom only to, as so many do, not quite make it. Nevertheless, he enjoyed leading roles in film, theatre and above all television, in the UK, the US and Canada, as well success away from the screen, until his death from bowel cancer on October 14, 2010, aged 58.

MacCorkindale, the son of Mary and RAF Group Captain Peter, was born in 1952 in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. His father’s post entailed a childhood of movement; his lack of settled location curtailed much hope of friends and led to what MacCorkindale termed an “independent” childhood.

They eventually settled, which allowed MacCorkindale to attend Haileybury and Imperial Service College in Hertfordshire from 1965–1970. He was Head Boy. A career following his father beckoned, but his eyesight was not good enough for the air force. His next move was obvious: theatre direction.

A fan of the theatre since his early years – he wrote a play aged eight which despite “requir[ing] an enormous cast and a considerable amount of rum drinking” was never produced – MacCorkindale had worked both on and off stage throughout his education. He attended Studio 68 drama school at the Theatre of Arts in London and there decided to take acting classes as well, so that he would have a better appreciation of the thespians he hoped to direct. Developing a taste for walking the boards himself, it was this path he chose to follow “until [he] felt confident enough to” direct “a seasoned performer”.

His parents were less than keen on this career choice, but they softened their opposition once he introduced them to Sir John Mills, who certainly had made a success of it. MacCorkindale promised to get a more secure job if neither acting nor direction was sustaining him.

The roles soon came however. Starting out in theatre, his first professional stage role arrived in a 1973 run of A Bequest to the Nation at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. His West End debut was a 1974 production of Pygmalion in which he played the minor role of “Sarcastic Bystander”. As theatre roles continued, it was television which would provide him the greatest visibility. Roles in Hawkeye The Pathfinder, Within These Walls and Sutherland’s Law, were followed by parts in two of the most acclaimed miniseries of all-time. In I, Claudius, MacCorkindale played Augustus’ grandson Lucius Caesar and played the similarly named Lucius in Franco Zeffierlli’s Jesus of Nazareth in 1977.

As his profile began to rise, his big break came aged 25 with the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Poirot classic Death on the Nile. Starring alongside such luminaries as Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow, Maggie Smith and Bette Davis, MacCorkindale played Simon Doyle, husband of the story’s primary murder victim. The role won him the London Evening Standard Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer.

“There was a feeling of being in awe of these people but I had a certain amount of pioneer courage, so I didn’t let it get to me,” he commented of the part. “But there were days when I thought, ‘I’m about to do a scene with this cinema legend, am I up to it?’ But people were very gracious. I was never the whipping boy because I was less experienced.”

The role of Arthur Davies in The Riddle of the Sands came the following year, as did his performance as Joe Knapp, the astronomer in Nigel Kneale’s fourth Quatermass serial. Although MacCorkindale enjoyed the latter as a break from romantic roles, Kneale didn’t rate the serial or MacCorkindale’s performance very highly. “We had him in Beasts“, a previous Kneale series, “playing an idiot, and he was very good at that.”

Nevertheless, America beckoned and in 1980 he moved stateside. But with his English accent and cumbersome surname, each of whom he refused to drop, the top parts were beyond his reach. MacCorkindale was told by ABC that “they didn’t want viewers watching someone who sounded intellectual or who had an accent that was alien to their ears and, therefore, hard work when it came to listening.”

Roles did slowly arrive, but they were often minor, or playing largely to his Britishness. This was shown none more so than the role of Gaylord Duke, the Dukes’ snooty English cousin, in The Dukes of Hazzard. This was followed by the mini-series Manions of America, and roles on Fantasy Island, Hart to Hart and Dynasty. In film he appeared alongside Charles Bronson in Cobablanco (1980) and played Prince Mikah, one of the leading roles in the panned and now largely forgotten fantasy film The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982).

His chance to direct those seasoned stage performers also came, with productions of The Merchant of Venice and Sleuth, the latter featuring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Howard Keel and James Whitmore.

1983 marked the high point of his American career. In Jaws 3 he played aristocratic hunter Philip FitzRoyce, 16th Earl of Haddenfield. The film bombed at the box office and with critics and proved to be MacCorkindale’s last major big screen role. Talk of succeeding both Sean Connery and Roger Moore as James Bond came to nothing.

But television saw more fruitful endeavours. MacCorkindale eventually secured the lead role in a pilot: NBC’s sci-fi fantasy series Manimal. He played Professor Jonathan Chase, your everyday English professor who aided the police with his ability to transform in any animal you can imagine. It may not have been the most high-brow show, but MacCorkindale broke new ground as one the first English actors to land a starring role on American television. With use of expensive prosthetics and inevitable ratings defeat to Dallas, Manimal was axed after just eight episodes. It does, however, retain a global cult following.

His longest running US role came in the legendary soap opera Falcon Crest, between 1984 and 1986. As Greg Reardon, Angela Channing’s (Jane Wyman) womanizing lawyer, he appeared in 59 episodes. The role was written for him and he also directed one episode. Although the producers were keen to extend MacCorkindale’s stay on the show, he opted to leave in 1986. “The work I was doing was fun and lucrative but not as stretching as I felt I wanted or needed,” he said. “I also was finding fault with much of the work, not only Falcon Crest, but everything. I was actually ready to quit acting and try producing so I could put myself on the line.”

True to his word he returned to England to try his hand at producing. His first marriage, to actress Fiona Fullerton, had lasted from 1976-1982, but in 1984 he married Straw Dogs star Susan George. With George he founded Amy International and Anglo Films International, producing a number of projects out of love, not financial viability. These included the 1988 Abelard and Heloise film Stealing Heaven and 1989′s The Summer of White Roses.

MacCorkindale did not abandon acting for long. He moved to Canada and starred alongside Christopher Plummer in Robert Lantos’ crime series Counterstrike, from 1990 to 1993. He played ex-Scotland Yard inspector Peter Sinclair in 65 episodes and also wrote for the series. His role of Maxwell Harding in the finale of the series E.N.G.  in 1994 was destined for a spin-off with the show’s lead Sara Botsford, but the project was cancelled. The same fate also befell MacCorkindale’s planned biopic of disappeared peer Lord Lucan.

Acting and production roles continued in Canada over the 1990s and early 2000s. These included TV films such as The Girl Next Door (1999) and roles in the series Earth: Final Conflict and Poltergeist: The Legacy. He co-wrote and directed The House That Mary Bought (1995) and produced the Genie Award nominated Such a Long Journey (1998). He co-produced and appeared in cult series Relic Hunter and Queen of Swords as well as producing Adventure Inc. He also reprised his role as Jonathan Chase in an episode of Night Man.

MacCorkindale rejected what could well have been the biggest role of his career and accepted what became his longest-running and for many his most memorable. He turned down the lead role of Captain Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise, in favour of returning to the UK in 2002 and playing clinical lead Dr. Harry Harper in the long-running medical drama Casualty. He commented: “I can’t do sci-fi., it just drives me up the wall, it’s all rubbish and spouting that gibberish every day, was no thank you very much. The thing I loved about Casualty was although there was a lot of gobbledygook at least it was all about real life and people and medical situations and that became the challenge.”

The decision was probably a wise one, as Enterprise largely failed, but Casualty continued on. MacCorkindale appeared in 229 episodes of the show, as well as spin-offs Holby City and Casualty@Holby City, before leaving in 2008. Controller of BBC Drama, John Yorke, praised MacCorkindale: “As the star and male lead of Casualty for over six years we owe Simon a massive debt. Not only was he a fabulously iconic consultant, he was also an inspirational team leader. One of the reasons so many people have loved working with him on Casualty is because of the tone he established on the shop floor—always welcoming, always disciplined, always quietly the leader.”

MacCorkindale continued to run his Arabian stud farm in Exmoor with his wife, and returned to the stage. He starred in performances of The Unexpected Guest, Sleuth and played Captain von Trapp in a London Palladium run of The Sound of Music. He enjoyed small roles in the films A Closed Book (as Andrew Boles) and 13Hrs (as Duncan Moore) before playing civil servant Sir David Bryant in a 2010 episode of the BBC series New Tricks.

The latter proved, sadly, to be his final role. Although he continued to act as he fought the disease, in October 2010, MacCorkindale succumbed to the bowel and lung cancer he had suffered from since 2006.

He enjoyed a varied and broadly successful career, one that he certainly enjoyed. “I had an enormous amount of fun. I was very lucky. I got to work in a lot of popular shows, got to know a lot of well-known people and as a result I got into that whole A-list circle. I went to some extraordinary parties, made a name for myself and managed to make it last for 30 years. I’m a lucky bunny.”

He is survived by his wife Susan George. The two had no children.

Simon Charles Pendered MacCorkindale – Born: February 12, 1952, Ely Cambridgeshire, England; Died: October 14, 2010, London, England

Hartman as Chick Hazard, circa 1978, courtesy of his brother John

The first obituary I decided to write wasn’t a particularly difficult choice. As a huge fan of The Simpsons, Phil has long been one of my favourite actors. He has stolen the show in everything I have ever seen him in. The trouble with that, though, is that The Simpsons is pretty much the only thing I have seen (well, heard) him in that I haven’t looked up on YouTube first. I’m British, so bar The Simpsons and a few of his more prominent films (Small Soldiers and Jingle All the Way in particular) it is pretty hard to find any of his work on TV here. They have recently started showing NewsRadio, way, way down the listings on SonyTV, but Saturday Night Live is nowhere to be seen. Nevertheless, I have watched and read everything about Phil that I can and managed to cobble together his Wikipedia page, which is probably why this is so long.

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Phil Hartman was one of the most recognizable and talented faces and voices on US television. As Ken Tucker wrote “he could momentarily fool audiences into thinking he was the straight man, but then he’d cock an eyebrow and give his voice an ironic lilt that delivered a punchline like a fast slider—you barely saw it coming until you started laughing.” His sudden, tragic death at the age of 49 on May 28, 1998, stunned Hollywood, but his performances will never be forgotten.

Hartman, who chopped a second ‘n’ from his surname, was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada in 1948. One of eight children, Hartman strived for attention and frequently found an outlet in comedy. This was a trait he furthered when his family moved to California, acting as the class clown at Westchester High School.

As well as comedy, Hartman had a talent for art and it was the latter he initially focused on. A brief diversion as a roadie for a rock group saw him abandon study at Santa Monica City College, but in 1972 he began a graphic arts degree at California State University, Northridge. He single-handedly ran his own graphic arts business, to great success, producing many iconic album covers including Poco’s Legend and America’s History as well as the Crosby, Stills and Nash logo.

As successful as this venture was, Hartman still pined for the simple joy of making people laugh. He enrolled in a series of evening comedy classes staged by the Californian improv group The Groundlings. After several years of training and impromptu stage appearances, Hartman became a permanent member of the troupe and quickly became one of their most popular stars, with characters such as Chick Hazard, Private Eye.

Although his first appearance on TV was a partially victorious appearance on The Dating Game – Hartman won, but was stood up – what followed were the beginnings of his screen acting career. After voice-overs, adverts and a film debut as the ‘man with gun at airport’ in The Gong Show Movie (1980), it was the child-like eccentric Pee-wee Herman who proved the most successful venture.

Pee-wee was the result of Hartman’s friendship with comedian Paul Reubens at the Groundlings. The two developed the character, which Reubens played, and it quickly became one of the group’s most popular pieces. The two developed The Pee-wee Herman Show for HBO in 1981 which was followed by the Tim Burton directed film Pee-wee’s Big Adventure in 1985, which Hartman co-wrote. The duo’s final collaboration came when the character was adapted for the children’s series Pee-wee’s Playhouse in 1986, in which Hartman played Captain Carl. Creative differences led Hartman to pursue other roles away from Pee-wee Herman.

Nevertheless, the character’s success persuaded Hartman to abandon plans for retirement. Film roles in Last Resort, Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Three Amigos! were followed later in 1986 by the biggest break of his career, when he successfully auditioned for the cast of NBC variety mainstay Saturday Night Live.

Nothing perhaps highlighted Hartman’s madcap comic brilliance than his audition for SNL. He performed not only pitch perfect impressions of people such as Jack Benny and Jack Nicholson, but did the entire routine in German. He joined the cast and writing staff. In the show’s competitive off-screen atmosphere, he nevertheless shone as a utility player, capable of playing a variety of roles in the majority of sketches. Away from the camera he was equally revered. Considered “the glue” by Adam Sandler he, in the words of the show’s creator Lorne Michaels, “kind of held the show together. He gave to everybody and demanded very little. He was very low-maintenance.” He offered guidance towards younger cast members and aided Jan Hooks in overcoming her stage fright.

Hooks noted of Hartman: “Phil never had an ounce of competition. He was a team player. It was a privilege for him, I believe, to play support and do it very well. He was never insulted, no matter how small the role may have been.” A disciplined performer, he “knew how to listen. And he knew how to look you in the eye, and he knew the power of being able to lay back and let somebody else be funny, and then do the reactions.” He was “more of an actor than a comedian.”

Some of those roles included characters like Anal-Retentive Chef and Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, but it was his impressions that really made his name. Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Swaggert, Barbara Bush, Frank Sinatra, Ed McMahon, and above all the then-president Bill Clinton were amongst his best known. A womanizing, fast-food obsessed Clinton starred in numerous sketches, most notably a visit to “mingle with the American people” at McDonald’s, where the ‘mingling’ consisted of stealing their food in between questions about Somali warlords.

Alongside Dennis Miller, Victoria Jackson and close friends Dana Carvey, John Lovitz and Hooks, Hartman was credited with restoring the show to its former glory. He was nominated for three Emmys for the show, winning one.

While many of his co-players left and enjoyed breakout success in films, Hartman stayed on, largely at the request of Michaels and the network. After eight years and a then record 153 shows, he left in 1994, returning to host the show twice. After declining Jay Leno’s offer of the sidekick position on The Tonight Show and abandoning plans for his own variety series, Hartman joined the ensemble sitcom NewsRadio.

NewsRadio, which ran for four seasons and a fifth after his death, saw Hartman excel as the selfish, lovingly repulsive radio news anchor Bill McNeal. The show was subject to frequent timeslot shifts which hampered its ratings and Hartman sparred with the network over its possible cancelation. But nevertheless it was critically acclaimed, with Hartman’s performances in the episodes “Smoking”, “The Cane” and “Pure Evil” particular gems. He was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1998, losing to David Hyde Pierce.

Hartman was prominent in adverts, for products such as Slice, McDonald’s, Pot Noodle and the Atari 2600′s Ice Hockey. Likewise, voice-overs provided him much work, with roles on Dennis the Menace (as the original Mr Mitchell and Mr Wilson), Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, The Critic, DuckTales and the lead character in the video game Blasto.

However, it was his performances on The Simpsons which were the biggest success and arguably his most globally famous role. As the regular characters Troy McClure, the washed-up B-movie star, and ultimate shyster “law-talking guy” Lionel Hutz, alongside countless other one-time characters, he entertained millions in over 50 episodes between 1991 and 1998. With vocal intonation alone, he was able to turn a mediocre line into one of an episode’s most memorable, with his performances in the classic episodes “Marge in Chains” and “A Fish Called Selma” showing just the tip of his comic prowess. His performance as smooth-talking monorail conman Lyle Lanley in “Marge vs. the Monorail” was probably his best performance:

Lanley: Hello little girl. Wondering if your dolly can ride the Monorail for free?
Lisa: Hardly. I’d like you to explain why we should build a mass-transit system in a small town with a centralised population.
Lanley: Ha ha…young lady, that’s the most intelligent question I’ve ever been asked.
Lisa: Really?
Lanley: Oh, I could give you an answer, but the only ones who would understand it would be you and me…and that includes your teacher.
Lisa: <giggles>
Lanley: Next question…You there, eating the paste.

After small roles in many films including Blind Date (1987), Quick Change (1990), Coneheads, So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), Greedy and The Pagemaster (1994) his first starring role came as lawyer Gary Young opposite Sinbad in 1995′s Houseguest. This was followed with the major role of Major Colin Thorn in Steve Martin’s adaptation of Sgt. Bilko (1996). Although none of his entries on the silver screen were themselves especially acclaimed, Hartman’s performance was often considered a stand-out. In Jingle All the Way (1996) he excelled as sleazy wife-coveting super-dad divorcee Ted Maltin, despite a muddled script and other cast members including Arnold Schwarzenegger and a pre-Anakin Skywalker Jake Lloyd. It was a role that epitomized his tendency to play the selfish “jerky guy” character, as he called it, a trait influenced by Bill Murray.

As much as his characters were jerks, this couldn’t have been further from his own personality. An incredibly down-to-earth, modest, private, family man who enjoyed nothing more than sailing, flying and drawing with his children. In 1996, Hartman described himself in an interview with the Orange Coast Magazine as “an everyday person who’s been thrust into this world and this lifestyle and this level of income, way beyond my wildest imagination.” In interviews and talk-show appearances, he came across as a shy man, who in the words of his NewsRadio co-star Stephen Root as “one of those people who never seemed to come out of character.”

Hartman was married three times, firstly to Gretchen Lewis in 1970. They divorced sometime later and Hartman married estate agent Lisa Strain in 1982. Three years later they divorced and in 1987, Hartman married the model and aspiring actress Brynn Omdahl. They had two children, Sean and Birgen.

Hartman’s death has been well documented elsewhere. Leaving speculation to a minimum, it seems evident that his marriage with Brynn became increasingly fractured, largely due to her increasing envy of her husband’s success and return to substance abuse. After the pair argued, in the early hours of May 28, 1998, Brynn shot and killed her husband. An unhealthy mix of alcohol, cocaine and anti-depressants was the likely trigger. Several hours later, Brynn committed suicide.

Tributes to Hartman swept Hollywood, and over a decade on he is still mourned deeply. NewsRadio returned for a fifth and final season, with Lovitz replacing Hartman but inevitably without the same spark. The role of Shatner-esque, incompetent ship captain Zapp Brannigan in the upcoming series Futurama was recast to Billy West. His final major works, the voice of the cat Jiji in the English dub of Kiki’s Delivery Service and tech-obsessed neighbour Phil Fimple in Small Soldiers, were released posthumously. He also left numerous unproduced screenplays and undeveloped ideas, ranging from proposed comedy horror Mr. Fix-It, to live-action Chick Hazard and Troy McClure films.

Philip Edward Hartman (né Hartmann) – Born: September 24, 1948, Brantford, Ontario, Canada; Died: May 28, 1998, Encino, Los Angeles, California, United States

At this point I have to quickly clarify that it’s not that somebody has died that I take pleasure in, rather that this unfortunate event allows me to learn about their life. The old cliché is that death is the most natural part of life. Whatever the case, for many notable names both life and, indeed, death is very interesting.

So, what’s the point of these ramblings? My aim with this blog is to simply write some obituaries of people both long (hence the name) and recently deceased. An obituary is not a eulogy, but nevertheless I aim to add touches of the latter into my posts, especially when I was a fan of the person I am writing about. I profess no great originality or knowledge in this field. I have written several biographies on Wikipedia (the subjects of whom will be the subjects of the first few posts here) and briefly wrote at the site ‘Famous Dead Database’, but have never really attempted anything like this before. As an arts student in an increasingly narrowing world of employment, who knows, perhaps this blog will aid me in my entirely non-mainstream career choice of obituary writer.

I hope you find some of these posts interesting. Or, at least, nothing mortally offends you.