Slainte
01-16-2011, 03:58 AM
Saturday, January 15, 2011
R.I.P.: Susannah York (1939-2011) (http://movingpictureblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/rip-susannah-york-1939-2011.html)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zj2KakUZYyE/TTJtlUGcS8I/AAAAAAAAC-g/d6kebnnQFPc/s320/susannah-york-duffy-1967-425.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zj2KakUZYyE/TTJtlUGcS8I/AAAAAAAAC-g/d6kebnnQFPc/s1600/susannah-york-duffy-1967-425.jpg)
As a hormonally inflamed adolescent during the 1960s, I harbored considerable lust in my heart (and other vital organs) for British actress Susannah York as she appeared as a sprightly, sexy and altogether scrumptious presence in movies as diverse as Tom Jones (http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Jones-Albert-Finney/dp/B00005AUKE?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00005AUKE, Sebastian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_%281968_film%29), Duffy (http://www.amazon.com/Duffy-Widescreen-James-Mason/dp/B004CZRE26?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004CZRE26 – and Kaleidoscope (http://www.amazon.com/Kaleidoscope-Clive-Revill/dp/B002EAYE24?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002EAYE24, the cheeky 1966 comic-thriller in which she played the vivacious romantic interest for an audacious gambler (Warren Beatty) who breaks into a card-printing plant to mark the cards and thereby ensure his winning streak at various European casinos.
Well into the ‘70s, as she shared a bubble bath with Roger Moore in Gold (http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Roger-Moore/dp/B00023XHX2?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00023XHX2 (1974), became Elliott Gould’s partner in crime in The Silent Partner (http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Partner-Elliott-Gould/dp/B000MMMTCS?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000MMMTCS (1978), and ultimately served as the hypotenuse of a romantic triangle with Michael Caine and Elizabeth Taylor in X, Y and Z (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X,Y,_and_Zee) (1972), she continued to impress as a slow-simmering hottie, sassy and sensual but, when she needed to be, endearingly vulnerable.
But, trust me, she was not just another pretty face. In 1969, York – who passed away Saturday at age 72 – earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress with her devastatingly potent performance as a Jean Harlow wanna-be in Sydney Pollack’s metaphorical Depression Era dance-marathon drama, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (http://www.amazon.com/They-Shoot-Horses-Dont/dp/B0002KPHZQ?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0002KPHZQ She richly deserved the Best Actress prize she received at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival for Images (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19741210/REVIEWS/60424003/1023)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00009Y3NA, Robert Altman’s engrossing psychological thriller about a troubled housewife who may or may not be threatened by men from her past.
And, of course, if you’re a comic-book fan of a certain age, you’ll surely have fond memories of York as Lara, the Krypton-born mother of the Man of Steel in Superman: The Movie (http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Movie-Blu-ray-Christopher-Reeve/dp/B000K4X5XA?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000K4X5XA (1978) and Superman II (http://www.amazon.com/Superman-II-Richard-Donner-Blu-ray/dp/B000K4X5XK?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000K4X5XK (1980).
On the other hand: I would be remiss if I did not admit to remembering Susannah York best for a role that, as far as I can tell, isn’t getting much mention in the first wave of her obituaries. You see, way back in the fall of 1968, during my senior year of high school, I dated a slightly “older” woman – 19 to my 16 – who was bisexual with a pronounced preference. How pronounced? Well, let me put it like this: After she asked me to take her not once, not twice, but three times to see Robert Aldrich’s The Killing of Sister George (http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Sister-George-Beryl-Reid/dp/B0009X7BGY?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0009X7BGY – in which York played an elfin beauty who bares her bountiful breasts while being seduced by the conniving rival (Coral Browne) of York’s brazenly butch lover (Beryl Reid) – I kinda-sorta figured that I didn’t have a chance of scoring with this particular switch-hitter.
Funnily enough, York seemed richly amused when I told her about my York-lusting ex-girlfriend during an interview a few years later. And that emboldened me to ask: In the wake of The Killing of Sister George – a movie graphic enough to get an X rating back in the day – did she receive many admiring letters from other women who enjoyed her, ahem, revealing performance?
“Quite a few,” York replied with just a trace of a naughty smile. “Quite a few.”
Yeah, I bet she did.
http://movingpictureblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/rip-susannah-york-1939-2011.html
R.I.P.: Susannah York (1939-2011) (http://movingpictureblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/rip-susannah-york-1939-2011.html)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zj2KakUZYyE/TTJtlUGcS8I/AAAAAAAAC-g/d6kebnnQFPc/s320/susannah-york-duffy-1967-425.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zj2KakUZYyE/TTJtlUGcS8I/AAAAAAAAC-g/d6kebnnQFPc/s1600/susannah-york-duffy-1967-425.jpg)
As a hormonally inflamed adolescent during the 1960s, I harbored considerable lust in my heart (and other vital organs) for British actress Susannah York as she appeared as a sprightly, sexy and altogether scrumptious presence in movies as diverse as Tom Jones (http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Jones-Albert-Finney/dp/B00005AUKE?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00005AUKE, Sebastian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_%281968_film%29), Duffy (http://www.amazon.com/Duffy-Widescreen-James-Mason/dp/B004CZRE26?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004CZRE26 – and Kaleidoscope (http://www.amazon.com/Kaleidoscope-Clive-Revill/dp/B002EAYE24?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002EAYE24, the cheeky 1966 comic-thriller in which she played the vivacious romantic interest for an audacious gambler (Warren Beatty) who breaks into a card-printing plant to mark the cards and thereby ensure his winning streak at various European casinos.
Well into the ‘70s, as she shared a bubble bath with Roger Moore in Gold (http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Roger-Moore/dp/B00023XHX2?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00023XHX2 (1974), became Elliott Gould’s partner in crime in The Silent Partner (http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Partner-Elliott-Gould/dp/B000MMMTCS?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000MMMTCS (1978), and ultimately served as the hypotenuse of a romantic triangle with Michael Caine and Elizabeth Taylor in X, Y and Z (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X,Y,_and_Zee) (1972), she continued to impress as a slow-simmering hottie, sassy and sensual but, when she needed to be, endearingly vulnerable.
But, trust me, she was not just another pretty face. In 1969, York – who passed away Saturday at age 72 – earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress with her devastatingly potent performance as a Jean Harlow wanna-be in Sydney Pollack’s metaphorical Depression Era dance-marathon drama, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (http://www.amazon.com/They-Shoot-Horses-Dont/dp/B0002KPHZQ?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0002KPHZQ She richly deserved the Best Actress prize she received at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival for Images (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19741210/REVIEWS/60424003/1023)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00009Y3NA, Robert Altman’s engrossing psychological thriller about a troubled housewife who may or may not be threatened by men from her past.
And, of course, if you’re a comic-book fan of a certain age, you’ll surely have fond memories of York as Lara, the Krypton-born mother of the Man of Steel in Superman: The Movie (http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Movie-Blu-ray-Christopher-Reeve/dp/B000K4X5XA?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000K4X5XA (1978) and Superman II (http://www.amazon.com/Superman-II-Richard-Donner-Blu-ray/dp/B000K4X5XK?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000K4X5XK (1980).
On the other hand: I would be remiss if I did not admit to remembering Susannah York best for a role that, as far as I can tell, isn’t getting much mention in the first wave of her obituaries. You see, way back in the fall of 1968, during my senior year of high school, I dated a slightly “older” woman – 19 to my 16 – who was bisexual with a pronounced preference. How pronounced? Well, let me put it like this: After she asked me to take her not once, not twice, but three times to see Robert Aldrich’s The Killing of Sister George (http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Sister-George-Beryl-Reid/dp/B0009X7BGY?ie=UTF8&tag=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969)http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=JoeLeydon@yahoo.com&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0009X7BGY – in which York played an elfin beauty who bares her bountiful breasts while being seduced by the conniving rival (Coral Browne) of York’s brazenly butch lover (Beryl Reid) – I kinda-sorta figured that I didn’t have a chance of scoring with this particular switch-hitter.
Funnily enough, York seemed richly amused when I told her about my York-lusting ex-girlfriend during an interview a few years later. And that emboldened me to ask: In the wake of The Killing of Sister George – a movie graphic enough to get an X rating back in the day – did she receive many admiring letters from other women who enjoyed her, ahem, revealing performance?
“Quite a few,” York replied with just a trace of a naughty smile. “Quite a few.”
Yeah, I bet she did.
http://movingpictureblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/rip-susannah-york-1939-2011.html