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Daughter Reveals Late Jessica Walter’s Greatest Legacy

Published

3 years ago

March 26, 2021

Daughter Reveals Late Jessica Walter's Greatest Legacy

Daughter Reveals Late Jessica Walter’s- Jessica Walter, the sassy actress who excelled at portraying unhinged types, from the obsessed fan of a radio deejay in Clint Eastwood’s Play Misty for Me to nutty matriarchs on Arrested Development and Archer, has died. She was 80.

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Walter died Wednesday night at home in New York, her daughter, Fox Entertainment executive Brooke Bowman, said.

“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of my beloved mom, Jessica,” she said. “A working actor for over six decades, her greatest pleasure was bringing joy to others through her storytelling both on screen and off. While her legacy will live on through her body of work, she will also be remembered by many for her wit, class and overall joie de vivre.”

Walter’s husband of 36 years, Tony-winning actor Ron Leibman, died in December 2019 at age 82.

Early in her career, the New Yorker stood out in a pair of 1966 features as Libby MacAusland, an ambitious, acerbic wit who finds professional success but has trouble expressing her sexuality in Sidney Lumet’s The Group (1966), and as Pat Stoddard, a woman who has romantic entanglements in the Formula One-set Grand Prix, directed by John Frankenheimer.

She won an Emmy in 1975 for portraying San Francisco’s first female chief of detectives in the limited series Amy Prentiss (the character was introduced on Ironside) and was nominated three others times, the last in 2005 for her delicious turn as the manipulative Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development. (She started on the series in 2003.)

Always drinking, always exuding an air of entitlement, the sarcastic Lucille was at the center of an ever-evolving mess of a once-wealthy, now desperate family on the Fox/Netflix sitcom. Her razor-sharp work was a huge reason for the show’s cult appeal, and her lines became catchphrases and her mannerisms memes.

“People have been great, especially in New York, where you are walking around a lot,” Walter noted in an interview with Vanity Fair in 2013. “The one line I get a lot is, ‘I’d like to cry but I can’t spare the moisture.’

“And winks! Actually, I can do that wink, and it is very difficult, with one eye totally closed and one eye totally open. It said in the script that Lucille winks, and since I can do that in real life, I just thought it would be good to do a specific wink for the character. And they liked it so much that they started writing in more winks. I can’t believe my wink has gone viral!”

Her performance helped Walter land her gig as Malory Archer on FX/FXX’s Archer starting in 2009. As the former CEO of the International Secret Intelligence Service, the agency where her son, Archer (H. Jon Benjamin), works, she was ruthless, domineering and critical — and rarely seen without a cocktail.

Archer creator Adam Reed told her that she was the first one cast on the animated show, and the fact that Malory and Lucille were similar in nature was not coincidental.

As she told The Daily Beast in 2017: “They sent out copy for auditions to people that said, ‘Think of the type as Jessica Walter from Arrested Development.’ And my agent who got the copy called me and said, ‘They’re thinking about you. If you like it, I’ll tell them you’re interested in doing it.’ I said, ‘That sounds smart.’ And that’s exactly how it happened.”

Born in Brooklyn on Jan. 31, 1941, Walter was raised in Astoria, Queens. Her father, David, was a world-class violinist who performed with Arturo Toscanini and Pablo Casals, and her mother, Esther, was an immigrant from Russia. Her brother, Richard, would go on to write screenplays and teach the craft to Dustin Lance Black, Alexander Payne and Andrew Bergman, among others, as a longtime UCLA professor.

Walter studied acting at Manhattan’s High School of Performing Arts and the Neighborhood Playhouse, where she was guided by Sydney Pollack and her classmates included James Caan and Brenda Vacarro, who years later would introduce her to Leibman.

In 1960, she made it to Broadway as the secretary Liz in the original production of Advise and Consent, starring Ed Begley and Richard Kiley, and appeared on the CBS medical drama Diagnosis: Unknown.

She popped up frequently on the small screen back then, guest-starring on Naked City, Route 66, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Ben Casey and the pilot for Flipper, working for a couple years on the daytime soap Love of Life and co-starring with William Shatner on For the People.

Walter was honored with the Clarence Derwent Award in 1963 as most promising female performer for her work on Broadway in Peter Ustinov’s Photo Finish, and she would return to the New York stage for productions including 1964’s A Severed Head, 1988’s Rumors and 2011’s Anything Goes.

In 1964, Walter made her movie debut alongside Warren Beatty and Jean Seberg in Robert Rossen’s psychiatric hospital-set drama Lilith. It was Gene Hackman’s first movie, too, and she played his wife.

The Group, based on Mary McCarthy’s best-selling novel and also starring Candice Bergen, Joan Hackett, Elizabeth Hartman and Shirley Knight, followed a circle of women who graduated from an all-girl college during the 1930s and stayed friends as their lives evolved over the next seven years. Walter’s Libby becomes bitter as the movie goes on.

She received a Golden Globe newcomer nomination for Grand Prix for playing the unhappy wife of a race car driver (Brian Bedford) who has a fling with another (James Garner). Two years later, Lumet hired her again for Bye Bye Braverman (1968), where she played the widow of a man mourned by pals played by George Segal, Jack Warden, Sorrell Booke and Joseph Wiseman.

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celebrity radar - gossips

‘Pity men’, Williams Uchemba laments outfits women wear to the gym

Published

2 days ago

April 26, 2024

Sahara Weekly

‘Pity men’, Williams Uchemba laments outfits women wear to the gym

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Nollywood actor Williams Uchemba has lamented over the choice of outfit ladies wear to the gym.

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The movie star, in a video on his official Instagram account, lamented that women now wear revealing outfits to the gym, and the times he goes to the gym, he sees something he didn’t plan to see.

He also revealed that, due to this trend, he stopped going to public gym because of his desire to “make heaven.”

He said, “Ladies how far? Should all the men not come to the gym again? Because it’s getting out of hand and becoming appalling, I don tire. Make una try to dey wear beta cloth come gym nau, what is this?

“There are men that have made up their minds to make the heavenly race and na una dey plenty for gym. Whoever that sells these clothes to you people, their shop go burn down because what is going on? Every single time one comes to the gym, wetin you no plan see you must see am.

“Una don make up una mind say no man in this Nigeria will make heaven but It won’t work because I’ve left the gym for una, I’ve set up a gym in my house because I cannot cope, I want to make heaven. You will have 20 people in the gym, 300 are women, doing exercises.

“Have conscience, men are people’s children too, I’m speaking for all the men and we need to make heaven.”

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Nollywood loses another veteran actor

Published

4 days ago

April 24, 2024

Sahara Weekly

Nollywood loses another veteran actor

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The Nigerian movie industry has again been thrown into mourning after the news of the death of another veteran Nollywood actor, Zulu Adigwe, surfaced on social media on Tuesday.

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Adigwe’s death was announced by a movie producer, Stanley Nwoko, in a post on his Instagram page .

Mourning the actor, Nwoko wrote, “Rest in peace, good actor.”

Adigwe’s death is coming two weeks after Junior Pope and three other Nollywood actors died in a boat accident in Anam River.

The actors were said to be on their way to a location when the incident occurred.

Adigwe gained recognition primarily for portraying fatherly characters in Nollywood films.

His breakthrough role came as Mr. B in the popular sitcom “Basi and Company.”

He also appeared in the highly successful 2019 movie “Living in Bondage: Breaking Free.”

Although born in Enugu State and spent his early years there, he later moved to Austria, where he completed his primary and secondary education.

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ERELU OLAJUMOKE, AN ALLURING CHARMING BEAUTY MAJESTICALLY CLIMBED THE FIFTH FLOOR

Published

1 week ago

April 19, 2024

Sahara Weekly

ERELU OLAJUMOKE, AN ALLURING CHARMING BEAUTY MAJESTICALLY CLIMBED THE FIFTH FLOOR

…Celebrates Golden Jubilee In Glitz and Amazing Glory

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She is a damsel, an embodiment of beauty, brain and brawn, possessing the best of qualities any discerning mind would dream of. She is no one else than Erelu Olajumoke, Erelu of Ifetedo Kingdom and founder/Chief Executive Officer of Erelu Olajumoke Foundation. Very industrious, illustrious and extremely hardworking, Erelu Olajumoke, the Iya Ijo of Bishop Court Chapel in Alagbaka Akure will on Saturday, the 20th of April, 2024 celebrate her 50th birthday, stepping majestically into the fifth floor and marking a golden jubilee that looks every inch, good on her.

The effervescent, glamorous and charismatic Erelu Olajumoke is an enigma, a colossus who has contributed immensely to humanity and the entire global economy. She is graciously blessed with the spirit of giving. Erelu Olajumoke, a magnanimous lady of substance, value and valor has been practically involved in various forms of empowerment, spreading love, passion and absolute generosity to the poor, the needy, the old (elderly), orphans, widows/widowers, the impoverished, the underprivileged and the intimidated members of the society. Endowed with an uncommon traits of great-heartedness, Erelu Olajumoke took it upon herself to alleviate the poverty levels of the people by directly, impacting on their lives.

Oftentimes, this legendary philanthropist, who is very much aware of the fact that health is indeed wealth, has organized various medical outreach programmes that yielded great impact on beneficiaries. Through Erelu Olajumoke Foundation, this amazon of beauty has transformed the lives of many, bringing in, health care professionals from around the globe to give succor to those with health challenges. Her roles in the rejuvenation and revamping of people’s health are awesome and iconic. Those who have benefitted from her tremendous medical contributions would always say lofty tales about her.

As an outstandingly committed child of God, Erelu Olajumoke who is currently basking in the euphoria of clocking 50, has been and still involved in fundraising activities towards her church and evangelism. Her passion and zeal for spreading the good news of God, winning souls into the Kingdom of God and expunging sinners from the gory dungeons of sin are highly recognized and commendable. She is absolutely emotional and animated to the church, the Gospel and everything about her Creator.

An extremely supportive partner, Erelu Olajumoke is simply, the strongest pillar of support to the political and democratic achievements of her beau, the distinguished Senator Oluwole Olubiyi Fadeyi, the dynamic and zestful Senator representing Osun Central Senatorial District at the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, Abuja.

As a matter of fact, Erelu Olajumoke has displayed so much affection for the amiable Senator through unwavering support, unalloyed devotion to his democratic ideologies and strategies coupled with her reciprocating fondness for the people her hubby represents at the Red Chambers. Erelu Olajumoke synergized her benevolent acts with those of her beloved Senator Olubiyi Fadeyi by catering for constituency needs under his Osun Senatorial District covering Osogbo, Ila, Boripe, Odo-Otin, Boluwaduro, Ifedayo, Irepodun, Olorunda and Orolu Local Government Areas.

The ‘birthday girl’, Erelu Olajumoke regularly extends her olive oil of love, passion and care for all widowed women and men in these communities not excluding helpless and hopeless orphans, out of school children, those experiencing excruciating poverty amongst other less-privileged within the Osun Central Senatorial District and beyond. Erelu stands as a rock of Gibraltar, upholding the democratic values of her hubby with in-depth determination, perseverance and tenacity. As the First Lady of Osun Central Senatorial District, Erelu Olajumoke has performed meritoriously contributing immensely to the successful foray and great achievements of her best friend, her best adviser, best confidant and above all best lover, the distinguished Senator Ajagunla Oluwole Olubiyi Fadeyi, the Tayese II of Ifetedo Kingdom.

With the input and advise from Erelu Olajumoke, Senator Olubiyi Fadeyo has brought new hope to the good people of Osun Central Senatorial District, giving our palliatives and economic empowerment equipments like buses, cars, motorcycles, tricycles, hairdressing equipments, barbing gadgets, grinding machines, freezers amongst other vital poverty alleviation to drastically and astronomically reduce poverty from the shores of that senatorial district.

In a nutshell, Erelu Olajumoke, who will be gathering high net-worth dignitaries, top celebrities, society bigwigs, powerful political stalwarts, family, friends and well-wishers come Saturday to celebrate her joining the club of the 50s, could be described as an awesomely delectable queen with an uncommon heart of gold.

Happy birthday to this rare gem, a blessing to humanity and the solid pillar of support behind one of Nigeria’s most reliable Senators, Ajagunla Olubiyi Oluwole Fadeyi.

Barrister Olaitan Ilori