Courtesy of CBS News
February 2, 2021
Hal Holbrook, the award-winning character actor who toured the world for more than 50 years as Mark Twain in a one-man show and uttered the immortal advice “Follow the money” in the classic political thriller “All the President’s Men,” has died. He was 95.
Holbrook died on January 23 in Beverly Hills, California, his representative, Steve Rohr, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Actors across the spectrum mourned Holbrook’s passing, including Bradley Whitford, who called him an “incredible actor,” and Viola Davis, who wrote “RIP to the always wonderful Hal Holbrook.”
Read More HERE
RIP Sir,
Hal Holbrook was one fine actor, from an era where we could admire great actors. I liked him in a number of movies but two roles stand out for me.
1: As The Police Commander in Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, BTW an excellent movie.
2: The intel Captain in the movie Midway. another very good movie that told the story of the WWII Pacific Naval battle well.
+1 on Les’ comments
RIP Hal,great actor in everything he did,class act.
Les, you admired great actors from the 50s and 60s? They are only human, no better or worse than you and I. They made it to the small screen or big screen or both. They didnt invent a cure for anything, end racism, or save thousands of lives. Yes, Hal was very good at his craft.
Christine,
One doesn’t have to save lives or such to be admired. Unlike all too many half baked, screwball looney hypocrites and trashy actors and actresses all so full of themselves out of Hollyweird in recent times, many of the great and or notable actors and actresses, btw not just the 50’s and 60’s, but you will see many even into the 70’s and 80’s as well contributed a form of class and entertainment that was more honest to our great western world way of life.
No not all, certainly there were scuzzy actors and actresses back then too, but fewer and the better to great actors knew how to act and how to hold a scene and thus a viewer’s attention. They knew how to hold a positive public image as well.
But as for greatness many of the more golden past Hollywood actors and actresses did many good to great things to be admired outside of just acting. Many served in the military and some during war. Jimmy Stewart for one left acting to fight in WWII putting his life on the line as a bomber pilot over Europe. He stayed as an active USAF Reservist through his storied acting career as an accomplished pilot and eventual Lieutenant General,
Bob Hope gave decades of USO show tours often near active front lines, others of his peers did similar. Many classic actors and actresses gave back to their nations and the public.
But one can admire accomplished and skilled artisan actors and actresses, Hal Holbrook was just one of them.
I hope you see my points made.
-1 on Christine’s comments.
My point to Les and George is the following, its very quick to look back with rose-colored glasses on. Yes, there was a World War then, and it brings out the best and worst in a ll of us when there is a real crisis occurring. Look at celebrities like Kirk Douglas and heads of studios and what they got away with because of who they were. Their feet are held to the fire today and rightly so. Its like you are saying those days produced better citizens, and I say bs to that.
I never saw it, but my parents very much liked The Senator episodes of The Bold Ones, starring Hal Holbrook.
Again Christine, I never included nor excused all in Hollywood of the golden past. But one thing for sure YES ! those days did produce many more better citizens. Society notably western was more hopeful and more proud of it’s greatness. It did not apologize for itself. There were fewer people wanting to vilify it and to tear it down.
No, the society I speak of was NOT PERFECT! No man made society is nor ever will be. But especially out of the ashes of WWII and the Depression that helped get the world into WWII, we saw a great building of western society. Backwards nations such as the Communist ones and the religious theocratic dictatorships were crap before WWII and remained crap after WWII, many are still backwards and crappy today.
The SOFTNESS though of western society in recent times, in its woke ideology of self-hate and self-righteousness HAS NOT AND IS NOT PRODUCING BETTER CITIZENS! But fuelling a culture (pathetic at which it is) of its own demise. I see it all around me.:-(
I use to be in and around a part of such ideological stupidity and self righteousness as well as virtue signalling and self-loathing. But much of breath of fresh air change happened, or began so when one day asked myself as I looked around me, “Is my life and that of my family, friends and society better off today with my ‘progressive” or liberal stance on things in my society?” The ‘rose coloured glasses’ that progressivism, liberalism social activism and wokeism, in all those nonsense words, flew of my eyes when chose to see the real picture. It kind of shook me to the point of taking my first of a series of red pills so to speak.
So yes, again, Christine, society back then did produce more, better citizens. People lived more to achieve and not just whine and expect especially their government to be their crutch or benefactor.
Do I expect you to agree with me? NOPE! But I hope you may think more about what said
and just maybe begin to question some of your now built in thoughts and ideals… I did that myself now oh about 7-8 years ago, it changed me profusely.
+1 to Les’ response
@Christine. Actually, you bring up a good point about rose coloured glasses with regards to looking in hindsight. If today’s generation would read actual reports and history of what life was like under Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, Ceausescu, Honecker, Che and Castro, then maybe we would not be getting this big push for “equality of outcome” or “what’s yours is mine, now” or “I want the government to fix everything and keep me safe, from myself” or “you don’t think like I do, you need to be locked up and re-educated” or “Don’t worry folks, we are asking for only two weeks to flatten the curve”.
Rose-coloured glasses were issued to airmen during the second world war because the light filtration allowed better contrast (some migrain sufferers benefit also). It helped them see things in the clouds that they otherwise would not. My rose coloured glasses tell me that there was much more optimism then. We left the keys in the car overnight. During the summer, it was be home by dark. Out of high school, I was deciding if I wanted to work for BC Hydro or Okanagan Telephone right off the bat. I have kids now at the very age I was trying to figure out if I wanted to have a future with BCH or OT as they wanted me and anyone with some intelligence back then. Well, my two high school graduates, even with a college degree have diddly-squat to look forward to today. They don’t even have to wear $hit-coloured glasses to see that things are headed south, waaaay south. They are open-eyed enought to contrast the stories that I have told with old friends coming to visit and when they hear us complaining about Old Fly Phil Galardi or Wacky Bennett, they say, “well, at least those guys built stuff and made you rich, look at the a-holes we got stuck with”
“The a-holes we got stuck with” I cannot think of a more apt phrase for Horgan, Dix, Trudeau and all the trough-feeders associated with those who are in all levels of governance and authority.
@ Jack Morrow Yes, the Bold Ones. Great series. Burl Ives, John Saxon, James Farantino, Joseph Campenella, E. G. Marshall and Leslie Nielsen. What a line up.
I have noticed on this site pugetsoundradio.com, that it appeals to the old and very old guard, those who hate Corus Entertainment, and the lovers of rose-colored glasses. Think it was a better time when they were young and white people ruled the airwaves.
So Christine, you want to make it about race? Why am I not surprised? Nobody talked of race, except you. You attach a bit of ageism as well. This tells me a lot of how you likely think, and it’s probably a good does of liberal wokeism, self righteousness and by your own words racist and ageist.
That said, given that North America has been an ethnic Caucasian majority through its history, one would understand that white euro based culture would have a firm foot print in media and in life here. Why does that seem so bad to you? Why do you woke, virtue signallers have an issue with the centuries long ethnic Euro based white culture having pride in itself, not just in North America, but wherever it has flourished globally for centuries?
Why are you seemingly so racist? Surely you are fine with any non Caucasian cultures having a footprint in our society? I don’t likely see others here at this website that would likely be against non-white persons living life and to the supposed desired values of the western developed world, for why would non-whites come here if not for wanted embracing of our certain foundation of European Caucasian western world values?
You see most of us NOT WOKE, NON SOCIAL JUSTICE, NON LIBERALIST, NON VIRTUE SIGNALLER TYPE PERSONS could not give much a hoot over a person’s race or ethnicity, just as long as they accept and support the now 153+ year values and built, fought for western culture, flavoured to CANADA here and similar the near 250 year RED WHITE AND BLUE American culture down South of us.
You see Christine many of us have been lulled to sleep for decades allowing self loathing socialists and Marxists to try to make us feel guilty for what our nations have built. But we are waking up and no longer are going to apologize for the GREATNESS OF WESTERN SOCIETY!
The western developed world to which Canada is apart of, is the only great society in recorded history, flawed and all it may be, no other society has achieved nor eclipsed what the western developed world has achieved. FOR THAT YOU WILL NEVER HEAR ME APOLOGIZE FOR IT NOR SEEK TO TEAR IT DOWN! I’m certain many others will agree with me.
If you and any others don’t like it, if you despise our western world (Canadian) values in as such it being majority Caucasian based but not only of though, YOU AND ANY OTHERS WHO MAY THINK LIKE YOU, ARE WELCOME TO PACK UP AND LEAVE TO ANY NON WESTERN WORLD NATIONS THAT WILL HAVE YOU ALL! It is really that simple Christine.
Canadian/Western World kindness, welcoming, money, values have allowed all types of people to come here. But we are tired of being told to change our ways and that we are somehow bad or racist for our ways. This falsehood is demonstrated by people of even many non-white societies coming here (into the western world).
Stop demanding special privileges, entitlements and such. Get on with your lives is my suggestion. Stop looking for villains that really do not exist here in Canada or any western world nation. There are ample numbers of terrible villains, bad ideas, terrible and unjust cultures/ religions and such in much of the non-western ‘backwards’ parts of our world. Places with real travesties, injustice, crimes and inhumanity. GO FIX THEM IF YOU WANT SOMETHING TO DO!