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1-7 of 7
- Crime novelist and creator of the private eye Lew Archer, Ross MacDonald is often linked to his predecessors Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler as a master of the "hard-boiled" school of detective fiction, but MacDonald added a psychological depth and a unity of theme which was unique.
MacDonald was born Kenneth Millar in Los Gatos, California. His parents were Canadian, and the family moved back to Canada when Kenneth was three, after which his father abandoned them. For most of his youth Millar was shunted around from relative to relative; at one point his mother even considered putting him in an orphanage but relented right at the orphanage gates, and poverty, rootlessness and the search for family would become major motifs in his work. He attended schools in Ontario, graduating from the University of Western Ontario in 1938, then doing graduate work at the University of Toronto and the University of Michigan.
He had been writing short, light pieces for school newspapers but turned to more serious work during a stint in the US Naval Reserve during World War II. His first books were published under his own name, but in 1949 he brought out "The Moving Target" under the pen name John MacDonald in order to avoid confusion with his wife, Margaret Millar, who also wrote crime fiction. However, John D. MacDonald, creator of the Travis McGee series, complained that John MacDonald was his own real name, and perhaps Millar should get another pen name, so he settled on Ross MacDonald.
"The Moving Target" marked the first appearance of Lew Archer; the name was taken from "Ben-Hur" author Lew Wallace and the name of Sam Spade's murdered partner Miles Archer in Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon." A moderate success, "The Moving Target" was followed by "The Drowning Pool" in 1950 (filmed later as The Drowning Pool (1975)) and 19 more, including "The Barbarous Coast" (1956), "The Galton Case" (1959), "The Wycherly Woman" (1961), "The Goodbye Look" (1969), "The Underground Man" (1971), "Sleeping Beauty" (1973) and his last, "The Blue Hammer" (1976).
During the 1960s and 1970s his critical reputation grew: he was the subject of a Newsweek cover story in 1971, and Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding said that his works were "the finest series of detective novels ever written by an American author." His audience base was widened with film versions of "The Moving Target" (as Harper (1966), with Paul Newman and "The Drowning Pool" (also with Newman, 1975). A film version of an early Kenneth Millar book, "Blue City" (1947, filmed as Blue City (1986)), was less successful.
MacDonald passed away at his home in Santa Barbara, California, after a three-year battle with Alzheimer's Disease. - Jess Rodriguez was born on 10 July 1957 in California, USA. He died on 11 July 1983 in San Francisco, California, USA.
- Roosevelt Sykes was a prolific blues pianist with a lot of mix between ragtime and blues. He was a great entertainer almost always with a cigar in his mouth.
He got to cut a record under the Okeh label around 1929. "44 Blues" became a hit and he moved to Chicago and started a band and played frequently during the thirties and forties.
He left Chicago in the mid-fifties and moved to New Orleans. The electric blues had taken over Chicago and he found it easier to get work in that area. He toured the Europe in the sixties with the blues festival-revival.
Roosevelt Sykes continued to touring nightclubs and festivals until his death in 1983. - Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Art Director
Guy C. Verhille was born on 17 March 1930 in France. Guy C. was a costume designer and art director, known for The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975), Cactus Flower (1969) and Bug (1975). Guy C. died on 11 July 1983 in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Additional Crew
Rosemarie Abelson was born on 17 February 1946 in Manitoba, Canada. She is known for The Greatest American Hero (1981), The A-Team (1983) and Hardcastle and McCormick (1983). She was married to Arthur Abelson. She died on 11 July 1983 in Iceland.- Kazim Yurdakul was born in 1916 in Manisa, Turkey. He was a producer, known for Ates gibi kadin (1965) and Artik düsman degiliz (1965). He died on 11 July 1983 in Istanbul, Turkey.
- Larry Allen Abshier was an actor, known for Unsung Heroes (1978). He died on 11 July 1983 in P'yongyang, North Korea.