Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Val Kilmer - ©Theda Bara

The name I introduce to you in this post is Val Kilmer, an American actor of German, Swedish, Irish and Cherokee descent, who passed away yesterday (April 1), in California). 

Kilmer was originally a stage actor, who became popular in the mid-1980s after starring in several comedy films, starting with “Top Secret!” (1984), playing the character: “Nick Rivers” and “Real Genius” (1985), playing the character: “Chris Knight”. He also starred in action films, including a supporting role in “Top Gun” (1986) and “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022) as “Tom Kazanski” (his final film, as his voice was weakened by cancer), and a larger role in “Willow” (1988), playing the character: “Madmartigan”. During the 1990s, Kilmer gained critical acclaim after starring in several box office hits, including his roles as “Jim Morrison” in “The Doors” (1991); “Doc Holliday” in the Western “Tombstone” (1993); “Batman” in “Batman Forever” (1995); “Chris Shiherlis” in “Heat” (1995); “Colonel John Henry Patterson” in “The Ghost and the Darkness” (1996); “Simon Templar” in “The Saint” (1997); and in the animated musical film, he voiced “Moses and God”, in “The Prince of Egypt” (1998).

In 2020, Val Kilmer released his memoir: “I’m Your Huckleberry”, in which he goes into detail about his battle with throat cancer and his failed relationships with famous actresses.

A philanthropist, Kilmer helped NGOs whose causes he considered just, such as Habitat for Humanity, AmeriCares and Wildlife Center, which earned him the Humanitarian Award in 2022.

Val Kilmer was born, lived and died in Los Angeles and inexplicably does not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, nor any relevant awards in film, TV or theater.

Born Val Edward Kilmer, in Los Angeles, California, on December 31, 1959 - died due to pneumonia, on April 1, 2025, Los Angeles, California, at the age of 65.

In his marriage to British actress Joanne Whalley (1961-) from 1988 to 1996, the actor had two children: actress Mercedes Kilmer (1991-) and actor Jack Kilmer (1995-).

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Haiku: April Fools’ Day - ©Theda Bara

Haiku and Art by ©Theda Bara — 2025
Today is April 1st

April Fools’ Day

But it’s so sad to live deceiving others!

Saturday, March 29, 2025

Matt Damon - ©Theda Bara

The name I present to you in this post is Matt Damon, a talented American actor, producer and screenwriter, whose career was launched after the success of the drama film “Good Will Hunting”, in which he acted and co-wrote the script.

“Good Will Hunting” (1997) is, without a doubt, his best interaction with the cinematic universe, because, if he did not win the Oscar for Best Actor in 1998, character “Will Hunting”, he acted alongside American actors Ben Affleck (1972-) character “Chuckie Sullivan” and the iconic Robin Williams (1951-2014) character “Sean Maguire”; and won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, which he co-wrote with his friend and actor Ben Affleck. This film also earned him the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay. The other Golden Globe he won was for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for “The Martian” (2015). That same year, Matt Damon was again nominated for Best Actor for “The Martian”, playing the character “Astronaut Mark Watney” and in 2010 for Best Supporting Actor for “Invictus” (2009), playing the South African rugby player “François Pienaar”, a film directed by Clint Eastwood (1930-) and with Morgan Freeman (1937-) playing the then President of South Africa Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), but did not win any of these Oscars. Damon also received an award outside the United States, an MTV Australia Movie Star Award in 2008.

Matt Damon has a star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in the motion picture category.

Born Matthew Paige Damon on October 8, 1970, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, he is now 54 years old.

Matt Damon is married to Argentine Luciana Bozán Barroso (1976-), his wife since 2005. They met in 2003, while Damon was filming “Stuck on You” in Miami, United States, and Damon went for a drink with his crew. Together they have three daughters: Isabella Damon (2006-); Gia Zavala Damon (2008-) and Stella Damon (2011-). The actor adopted Barroso’s first daughter, Alexia (1999-), from acto previous relationship. Alexia ended up following her stepfather’s career.

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Haiku: Spring - ©Theda Bara

Haiku and Art by ©Theda Bara — 2025
The flowers reveal themselves

Life becomes more flowery


The beloved spring has arrived so beautifully!

Sunday, March 23, 2025

Marlon Brando - ©Theda Bara

The name I present to you in this post is that of the iconic American film and theater actor and director Marlon Brando, who had a realistic and emotional style in the films he acted in, and is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential actors of all time in Hollywood.

Marlon Brando was one of only three professional actors, along with Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) and Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962), to be included in Time magazine’s 1999 list of the 100 Most Important People of the Century. Brando was also an activist, supporting a number of causes, most notably the civil rights movement for blacks in the United States and various movements in defense of American Indians.

Marlon Brando is best known for his roles as the gay Army officer “Weldon Penderton” in “Reflections in a Golden Eye” (1967). This role was one of his most acclaimed. He also played “Stanley Kowalski” in “A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951); “Emiliano Zapata” in “Viva Zapata!” (1952); “Mark Antony” in MGM’s Shakespeare (1564–1616) adaptation: “Julius Caesar” (1953); and boxer “Terry Malloy” in “On the Waterfront” (1954), During the 1970s, he gained notoriety for his Academy Award-winning performance as “Don Vito Corleone” in “The Godfather” (1972); and his role as “Colonel Walter Kurtz” in “Apocalypse Now” (1979), both directed by Francis Ford Coppola (1939–). Brando also received an Oscar nomination for his controversial performance as “Paul” in “Last Tango in Paris” (1972), but did not win the award.

The cult western “One-Eyed Jacks” (1961), in which he played bank robber “Rio”, was a critical and commercial failure, after which he had a series of notable box office failures, beginning with “Mutiny on the Bounty” (1962), playing the character “Fletcher Christian”.

Brando earned a reputation as a “bad boy” for his public outbursts. “The Godfather” is one such controversial moment for the actor, as he refused to accept his second Academy Award for Best Actor. At the 1973 ceremony, indigenous American actress and model Marie Louise Cruz, better known as Sacheen Little Feather (1946–2022) represented him. She appeared in full Apache garb and declared that: “Due to the poor treatment of Native Americans in the motion picture industry, Brando would not accept the award”. This Oscar statuette for Best Actor was eventually stolen. Days later, it turned up at an auction house in London, England, which contacted the actor and informed him of its whereabouts.

In addition to the 2 Academy Awards for Best Actor, Brando won 5 Golden Globe Awards, Henrietta Awards: 1956, 1973, and 1974; Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama: 1955 and 1973; 3 BAFTA Film Awards: Best Foreign Actor: 1953, 1954, and 1955 and 1 Primetime Emmy Award: Best Supporting Actor: 1979.

Marlon Brando has a star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame at 1765 Vine Street in the motion picture category.

Marlon Brando Jr. was born on April 3, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, and died on July 1, 2004, in Los Angeles, California, United States, at the age of 80.

Homosexuality and love life: Brando was known for his tumultuous personal life and his large number of partners and children. He fathered more than 11 children, three of whom were (allegedly) adopted. In a 1976 interview with a French journalist, he said: “Homosexuality is so fashionable that it is no longer news. Like many men, I have had homosexual experiences and I am not ashamed. I have never paid much attention to what people think of me. But if there are people who are convinced that Jack Nicholson (1937–) and I are lovers, and who continue to maintain that relationship, I find it funny”. In 2018, Quincy Jones (1933–2024) and American journalist Jennifer Lee (1971–) alleged that Brando had a homosexual relationship with comedian and “Superman III”, co-star Richard Franklin Lenox Thomas Pryor (1940–2005). Pryor’s daughter, actress Rain Pryor (1969–), disputes this claim.

In his autobiography “Songs My Mother Taught Me” (1994), Brando wrote that he met Marilyn Monroe at a party where she was playing the piano unnoticed. Brando and Monroe had an on-and-off relationship for many years, and that he received a phone call from her a few days before Hollywood’s most famous blonde died. He also claimed to have had several other affairs, although he did not name many of them or give many details about his marriages and children in this autobiography. What is known is that Brando met Japanese actress and dancer Reiko Sato (1931–1981) in the early 1950s; they had a relationship for several years. Although the relationship cooled, they remained friends for the rest of Sato’s life. Brando later fell in love with Mexican actress Katy Jurado (1924–2002) after seeing her in the film “High Noon” (1952). They met while Brando was filming Viva Zapata!” in Mexico (that same year). The relationship lasted for years after they worked together on One-Eyed Jacks, a film directed by Brando. After this relationship, in 1954, Brando met Puerto Rican actress, singer, and dancer Rita Moreno (1931–) and began a torrid relationship. Moreno revealed in her memoirs that when she became pregnant with Brando, he arranged an abortion for her. After the abortion, she attempted suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills mixed with whiskey. Years after their breakup, Rita played a romantic lead with Brando in the film “The Night of the Following Day” (1969). In 1957, Brando married British actress Anna Kashfi (1934–2015). Kashfi, who was born in Calcutta, moved from India to Wales in 1947. In 1960, Brando married Movita Castaneda (1916–2015), a Mexican-American actress eight years his senior; the marriage was annulled in 1968 after it was discovered that the actor’s previous marriage was still active. Castaneda starred with Marlon in “Mutiny on the Bounty” (1935), some 27 years before the remake of (1962) with Brando as “Fletcher Christian”. They had two children together: Miko Castaneda Brando (1961–) and Rebecca Brando (1966–). French actress Tarita Teriipaia (1941–), who played the leading lady “Maimiti” opposite Brando in “Mutiny on the Bounty” (1962), became his third wife on August 10, 1962. She was 20 years younger than Brando, and the actor was reportedly charmed by her naivety. As Teriipaia was a native French speaker, Brando became fluent in the language and gave numerous interviews in French. Teriipaia became the mother of two of his children: Simon Teihotu Brando (1963–) and Tarita Cheyenne Brando (1970–). Brando also adopted Teriipaia’s daughter Maimiti Brando (1977–) and niece Raiatua Brando (1982–). Brando and Teriipaia divorced in July 1972. After Brando’s death, actress Cynthia Lynn’s (1937–2014) daughter Lisa Brando (1964–) alleged that the actor had a short-lived affair with her mother, who starred as the character “Frieda” opposite Brando in “Bedtime Story” (1964), and that this affair resulted in her birth. In the late 1960s and early 1980s, he had a tempestuous and long-term relationship with the beautiful American actress Jill Banner (1946–1982). Brando also had a long-term relationship with his housekeeper Maria Cristina Ruiz (1949–), with whom he had three children: Ninna Priscilla Brando (1989–), Myles Jonathan Brando (1992–), and Timothy Gahan Brando (1994–). Brando also adopted Petra Brando-Corval (1972–), the daughter of his assistant Caroline Barrett (1942–) and Australian novelist James Clavell (1921–1994). Many biographers of Marlon Brando believe that Petra is another legitimate daughter of the actor. American actor Stephen Blackehart (1967–) is considered another of Brando’s children, but Blackehart disputes this claim.

· 🎥 If you like movies and Haiku, comment. If there are any questions, I will answer. Thanks!

· 🎥 If you like movies and Haiku, comment. If there are any questions, I will answer. Thanks!