Saturday, January 15, 2011

RIP Susannah York (1939– 2011)

Another alum of  Richard Donner's Superman The Movie has left us...

York With STM Producer Ilya Salkind


Brando And York In STM

British actress Susannah York, one of the most memorable film faces of the 1960s, has died from cancer aged 72, British media reported late today Called an English rose with her blonde hair, blue eyes and fresh-faced complexion.York was best known for her role in Sydney Pollack's 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don't They?  for which she was nominated for an Oscar.

Other notable films include--Tom Jones The 7th Dawn, Sands of the Kalahari, Kaleidoscope, A Man For All Seasons, Battle of Britain and the provocative lesbian drama The Killing of Sister George.

"She was an absolutely fantastic mother, who was very down to earth," her son, actor  Orlando Wells, told the Sunday Telegraph."She was as happy in a pub theater in Islington as she was in Hollywood," Wells said. She added in a 2001 interview that the theater was her real love. "This is where I belong," she said.

"She loved nothing more than cooking a good Sunday roast and sitting around a fire of a winter's evening. In some sense, she was quite a home girl."

But for me of course it's her role as 'Lara' wife to Marlon Brando's Jor-El, mother of Superman-to-be Kal-El in the Christopher Reeve era of movies between 1978 and 1987 that I cherish-despite limited screen time. I will never forget her impact on the mythos... She famously filled in for an over priced Brando in the theatrical release of 1980's Superman II, and lent her voice in  Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

York will be missed by me... A sad time indeed...

For more on York's life...click here

No comments: