Two Passings . . .

Two earlier subjects on this blog both died recently, and I need to take this time to note their passings, with the usual declaration that, while their pictures will remain on this blog, as I posted them when both subjects were alive, I will not post any more going forward. :-(

Machiko Kyō, one of Japan's graters actresses, died this past May at the age of 95. Ms. Kyō achieved fame for her role in Akira Kurosawa's classic movie Rashomon, about differing recollections of the killing of a samurai, and she also did comedy in Hollywood as the geisha girl Lotus Blossom in The Teahouse of the August Moon, a film poking fun at American cultural imperialism in Japan after the war.  She was known for many other roles, primarily in Japan where her notoriety was greatest.  I featured her here in August 2018.

Meanwhile, actress Valerie Harper, whom I featured here in April 2012, died today, only eight days after her eightieth birthday.  Best known for playing Mary Richards' wisecracking friend Rhoda Morgenstern on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," Ms. Harper parlayed that role into the spinoff sitcom "Rhoda," which lasted for four seasons.  She also appeared in several TV shows and movies, and she even played Tallulah Bankhead in the 2008 world-premiere production of Looped, a Matthew Lombardo play how Bankhead needed eight hours to overdub a line in what would be her last movie. Valerie Harper was a unique talent who could pull off anything. 

RIP to both of these great actresses.