"doubt"

For those who only think of Drew when they hear the name Barrymore, here’s some news: a glimpse back into history will reveal that it was not she but her ancestors who first made the name famous.

Reading about Jane Fonda, you quickly recognize that there’s enough incident and achievement in her 78 years to fill three lives. She was in fact famous for three things: acting, activism, and launching the fitness craze that’s helped countless baby boomers stay fit and healthy into their senior years.

It's sad that many people today think of the late actor Rock Hudson only as an early symbol of the AIDS crisis. That of course he was, being the first truly famous person to be stricken with the disease back in 1985. But he was also a lot more than that.

The old quip goes that we and our English cousins are separated by a common language, but there's little doubt that the movies have actually brought us together.

Judy Garland, born Frances Gumm in 1922, once quipped, “Behind every cloud is a cloud.”

Ever have a bad hair day? Sure you have. You do everything you can to make things right, but nothing seems to work. “Oh, well,” you think. “At least it’ll be better tomorrow.”

Why, one has to ask, is it not pure megalomania whenever directors direct themselves? Simply put, this is a breed of actor (and director) who understands the vision so completely that the need to control every element, even their own performances, overrides all doubt. Of course, this could look quite a lot like megalomania, or it could simply be pure genius. Or perhaps a bit of both.  For many auteurs, it feels perfectly natural. Orson Welles started out with the Big Bang of "Citizen Kane," his first feature film — with credits for directing, producing, co-writing, and starring — crafting what many critics agree is the best movie of all time.  

The lunacy had to end sometime. We just didn't think it would be this week. Robin Williams is dead at 63.     He was best known for his manic comedy work, the sort that moved critics to describe him as a “comic supernova,” but he proved equally adept at tackling dramatic roles. Already Oscar-nominated three times, he finally won a statuette for his warm, nuanced performance in “Good Will Hunting.” As time went on, he seemed to relish appearing in even darker films, such as “One Hour Photo” and “Insomnia.” Many of us got our first glimpse of him in the 1970s ABC sitcom “Mork and Mindy.” Williams played the lovable alien Mork so well that it took years for him to be taken seriously as an actor. His rise on the big screen began in the late 1980s with films like “Good Morning Vietnam” and “Dead Poets Society.” There was no turning back. He became known for playing funny characters who displayed a sensitive side, but he could still unleash the raw improvisational madness for which he was known, such as when he provided the voice of the genie in “Aladdin” or appeared in drag for “Mrs. Doubtfire.”

It seems Peter Lorre was born to be sinister. Though small in stature (just under 5'4"), his oversized, sleepy eyes seemed to pierce right into your soul. His soft, eerie voice, though imitated countless times by comedians, never failed to chill. Lorre sometimes belittled his own talent, describing himself as "a face maker." But what a face! Lorre's creepy presence was surprisingly flexible, allowing him to appear in everything from horror films, to comedies, to film noir.