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Although he sounded very British, Leo McKern was an Australian. By the time he was 15 years old, he had endured an accident that left him without his left eye. A glass eye replaced it - one might conjecture for the better, as far as making McKern a one-day actor of singular focus (no pun intended; his face had that extremely focused look). He failed to complete Sydney Technical High School, though his interest in engineering prompted him to transfer into the role of engineering apprentice (1935 to 1937). He expanded his horizons in a different direction with a two-year stint (1937-1940) at a commercial art college. By then World War II was escalating toward Australia, and he volunteered for service with the Engineering Corp of the Australian Army (1940 to 1942). But yet one more career move was needed, and that while the war moved northward away from Australia when America joined the fight. He studied acting and debuted on stage in 1944. He also met an Australian stage actress (Jane Holland), and mutual attraction took its course. In 1946 she had acting opportunities in England, and McKern decided that, along with the wish to propose to her, his own future as an actor lay there also.

McKern was short and stout with a great bulbous nose upon an impish face--all the ingredients for great character. His voice was a sharp and vociferous grind upon the back teeth--also perfect for character. After some touring (which included a trip to post-war Germany), he began to appear with regularity on London's premiere stages, particularly the Old Vic (1949-52 and then again 1962-63). These roles meshed with classic English work when he moved on to the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) at Stratford-upon-Avon and the Shakespeare Memorial Theater (later reconstituted as the now Royal Shakespeare Theater) from 1952 to 1954. He also spent a season at the New Nottingham Playhouse. He had weaned himself off his Australian accent long before this with his bid for film roles, the first being as one of the four murderous barons in the Thomas a' Becket story Murder in the Cathedral (1951). And he kept his medieval tights on for his next screen appearances (though the small screen of TV) in some roles for the popular Richard Greene series The Adventures of Robin Hood in 1955, while he continued stage work.

From then on, McKern had roles in two to three movies a year--busy but not too busy--gradually mixing progressively more and more TV work in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The films were as varied as a good stage actor could justify moving into a popular medium. Though he was usually police officials, doctors, and authoritative figures, he always made these early parts stand out. Drama comes in various packages; he was not averse to the rise of sci-fi as a vehicle for it. He graced two British sci-fi classics: X the Unknown (1956) and the better The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961). And there was also TV fantasy work, one of the best known examples being multiple outings as interrogator and chain-yanker Number Two in The Prisoner series. In the late '70s, he condescended to add some weight to two of the Omen movies, as did Gregory Peck and William Holden, putting him in good company. Great drama was McKern's meat. And doing some historically significant on a great scale was an opportunity for a Shakespearean not to miss. He was cast in the screen version of the Robert Bolt hit play A Man for All Seasons (1966). And his visage was perhaps part of the allure. Cast as ruthless political climber and fated chancellor of England Thomas Cromwell, McKern looked like the Hans Holbein court painting of the man who rather nefariously succeeded to Sir Thomas More's position. More was played by McKern's fellow RSC resident Paul Scofield. McKern gave flesh to the commoner Cromwell, making him loud and abrasive with a delightful verve. Later he and Scofield shared another film role, in the sense that the latter turned down the part of Thomas Ryan in the David Lean epic of Ireland Ryan's Daughter (1970), while McKern accepted it and made the role work. (Scofield would have been a miscast, something he probably wisely foresaw.)

McKern, from his early screen roles, could do comedy. He had a fair share of outrageous characters, and he could play them with a glint in his eye and a bit of extra cheek in his performance to show that he must have had fun in the role. In this regard, he showed his stuff supporting Peter Sellers in the endearing The Mouse That Roared (1959) and had the lead in the outlandish They All Died Laughing (1964) as a college professor who decides to snuff out humanity with poison laughing gas. He was a broad country fellow with a Shakespearean twist as Squint in The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965). In one of his later comedies, he is rather overlooked because of its clever script; in fact, it is an over-the-top tour de force for McKern. As the infamous nemesis Professor Moriarty in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), McKern manages to steal the show from funny man and director/writer Gene Wilder along with Marty Feldman and Roy Kinnear. McKern's Moriarty is devilish but tongue-in-cheek with a vengeance, especially with his nervous tic of suddenly, at any time and out of nowhere, yelling, "YAAA, YAAA!"

Yet McKern's chief legacy has been and probably will continue to be his long-running TV role in more mystery (he had done his fair share in film and TV already) as Horace Rumpole in "Rumpole of the Bailey" (1978-1992), a role originally introduced by him in the teleplay "Rumpole of the Bailey" in 1975. The role had been specifically created for him by writer John Mortimer, and though every actor can appreciate the security of a long-running role, McKern feared that it was subsuming his more than considerable body of work. Along with that, McKern became increasingly self-conscious of his acting, and mixed in was the idea that his physical appearance was not appealing to the public. As a result, he had to deal with a progressively increasing stage fright. He need not have worried; he was working in diverse TV and movie roles nearly to the time of his passing, and he was beloved by movie and TV fans alike. Along with receiving the award of Officer of the Order of Australia from his home country, in 1983 McKern's memoir "Just Resting" was published.

William L. Pierce was born on 11 September 1933 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He was a writer, known for The Turner Film Diaries (2012), Blood in the Face (1991) and 60 Minutes (1968). He died on 23 July 2002 in Hillsboro, West Virginia, USA.

Katya Paskaleva played in 46 pictures in less than four decades. Her name turned into a synonym of the Bulgarian cinema. Her female characters are not glossy beauties, they win us over through the melancholic grace of Madonnas. She broke up the relief of Bulgarian cinema femininity and recreated the most arduous epitome filmed in Bulgaria ever - the one of Maria-the-mother and Maria-the-daughter in The Goat Horn (1972, director Metodi Andonov).

Born in New York City but raised in Philadelphia, Chaim Potok ("Chaim Tzvi") was raised in a Hasidic family. His father immigrated from Poland in 1921 where he married and had two sons (both rabbis) and two daughters (both of whom married rabbis). Chaim balanced his interest in traditional Jewish studies, which pleased his father, with his personal interest in American and European literature. He also had an interest in painting.

Chaim rebelled from his Hasidic youth and following graduation from Yeshiva University where he received a BA in English, attended the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary in New York where he earned his Master's of Hebrew Literature and rabbinical ordination. In 1965 he earned his PhD in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania.

Chaim served as a Chaplain (lieutenant) in the US army in Korea from 1955-57. From 1965-74 he was Editor-in-chief, Jewish Publication Society of America, for which he continued to serve as special projects editor. Chaim was an accomplished author, playright, biographer, and theologian, who has won numerous literary awards for his written works. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2000, and died at his home in Merion, in July, 2002.

Composer, songwriter and author, educated at Princeton University (Bachelor of Arts). He wrote three Triangle shows, and songs for the Julius Monk revues "Baker's Dozen" and "Bits and Pieces". Joining ASCAP in 1962, his popular-song compositions included "14 Hours and 37 Minutes", "A Funny Way to Spend the Day", "The Peanut Butter Affair", "Societus Magnificat" and "Ode to a Park" (New York Park Association award).

When Ned Martin was named to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000, he was treated to thunderous applause and a standing ovation at the awards ceremony in Boston. It was a moment that crystallized everything he had meant to people all across New England in the 32 years he had broadcast Red Sox baseball.

Equal parts poet, literary scholar, and baseball play-by-play announcer, Edwin Roland "Ned" Martin was a fixture in New England starting in 1961. Humble and dignified, he was known as much for his quoting of Shakespeare and Hemingway during games as he was for his succinct and honest play calling. A Duke University graduate and World War II veteran (he fought at Iwo Jima), Martin joined the Red Sox during Carl Yastrzemski's rookie season and stayed until 1992. Upon his death in 2002, the Red Sox observed a moment of silence before their next game and replayed Martin's best-remembered calls on the center field screen.

Alberto Castillo was born on 7 December 1914 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor and composer, known for Vivir así (1988), Alma de bohemio (1949) and Un tropezón cualquiera da en la vida (1949). He was married to Ofelia Onetto. He died on 23 July 2002 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Hamlin Hill was born on 6 November 1931 in Houston, Texas, USA. He died on 23 July 2002 in Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA.

Dieter Flimm was born on 9 April 1939 in Bonn, Germany. He was a production designer and art director, known for Das Amt (1997), Dies rigorose Leben (1983) and Stammheim - The Baader-Meinhof Gang on Trial (1986). He died on 23 July 2002 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Mike Clark was born on 7 November 1940 in Marshall, Texas, USA. He died on 23 July 2002 in Grapevine, Texas, USA.

Eugene Poinc was born on 20 April 1930 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Eugene was a writer, known for Olly, Olly, Oxen Free (1978), The Legend of Jesse James (1965) and The Boy and the Turtle (1971). Eugene died on 23 July 2002 in the USA.