CDA x 4: Delon, Donahue, Marshall, Rowlands

They're coming fast and furious! My brother Howard told me about the two cinematic icons on the list, Alain Delon and Gena Rowlands - - I found out about Phil Donahue and Peter Marshall on my own.

French actor Alain Delon died the other day at the age of 88. He was the leading man in many European films in the 60s and 70s. The word I keep running into is "smoldering." I think that's pretty apt. Here's a scene from my favorite of his movies, La Piscine. His costar is his real-life girlfriend of the moment, the unbearably gorgeous Romy Schneider. Delon looks pretty fine in his green towel but she takes the prize in her white one-piece. There are no subtitles in this clip, but does it really matter?

Phil Donahue died yesterday, also at the age of 88. His talk show was must-see viewing when I was growing up. He was tough but also charming and didn't shy away from controversy. Here he is being bashful on Letterman:

Howard laughed when I said I was including Peter Marshall in my CDA. He died last week at the age of 98. He hosted Hollywood Squares for fifteen freaking years! That's a lot of yukking it up. Here he is being interviewed about the show, saying it was the easiest job he ever had:

And last but never least, Gena Rowlands died last week at the age of 94. She'll be best remembered for the seven films she made with her husband John Cassavetes. His gritty, probing, warts-and-all style was perfectly suited to Rowlands's talent. I see them as similar to Spielberg and John Williams - - Spielberg's movies would have been good with someone else writing the score but Williams elevated them. You might be able to suggest other actors for the Rowlands roles in Cassavetes's movies, but none would have been as good.

I had a book years ago called The Muse. It was an exploration of male artists and the women who inspired him. I imagine that book don't hold up so good no more. There was a chapter on Rowlands and Cassavetes and it was titled "The Astronaut and the Moon." YES.

Here's Rowlands in maybe her best performance in a Cassavetes movie or any movie, A Woman Under the Influence.