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Weekend In Memoriam: R.I.P. Peter O'Toole, Joan Fontaine, Billy Jack, and Audrey Totter

By Dustin Rowles | Miscellaneous | December 16, 2013 |

By Dustin Rowles | Miscellaneous | December 16, 2013 |


It was a sad weekend for the friends, family, and fans of several veteran Hollywood actors and legends, as we saw the passing of four acclaimed members of the entertainment industry.

Peter O’Toole, best known for playing the lead in David Lean’s masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia, passed away at the age of 81. The eight-time Oscar nominee had been suffering from a long illness, and passed away in a London hospital.

Ninety-six year old Joan Fontaine also passed away this weekend. The Oscar winning actress was best known for playing naive wives in Alfred Hitchock’s Rebecca and Suspicion, for which she won the Oscar. She had been nominated two other times, as well. Not for nothing, but I also found it amusing that she won the Golden Apple in 1943 for “the least cooperative actress,” and in 1947, she won another Golden Apple for “the most cooperative actress.” The Golden Apple was awarded Hollywood Women’s Press Club in recognition of an actor’s behavior. Fontaine is also the sister of actress and two-time Oscar winner, Olivia de Havilland, who is 97 now.

A B-actress for most of his career, Audrey Totter, best known for femme fatale rolls in classic noirs like Lady in the Lake, The Set-Up and a supporting turn in The Postman Always Rings Twice also passed away. She died of a stroke. Totter was 95.

Finally, Tom Laughlin — the actor who wrote and starred in the Billy Jack films of the 1970s — died last Thursday. Laughlin was 82.