Carl Barks, Donald Duck, and others

I think it's time for something on the lighter side dealing with ducks.

Robert Justman, "Star Trek" Producer, dead at 81

Robert Harris Justman (July 13, 1926 – May 28, 2008), who served as Gene Roddenberry's right hand man during the production of the original Star Trek series and was involved with the production of Mission: Impossible, The Adventures of Superman, Search, Then Came Bronson and Star Trek: The Next Generation, died from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was 81. Go here for a BBC interview.

Below are a series of recorded interviews I located on YouTube:


















Robert H. Justman

Producer, Robert Justman, was born in New York City on July 13, 1926. His job titles in the film industry included production assistant, assistant director, associate producer, co-producer, supervising producer, production manager, and he acted in The Outer Limits episode “A Feasibility Study” as the “Elder of Luminos.” His film credits include Joe Palooka in the Squared Circle (1950), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), and Mutiny on the Bounty (1962.) The television series on which he worked include The Adventures of Superman (1953-1958), The Outer Limits (1963-1965), Star Trek (1966-1969) Mission: Impossible (1966 Pilot), Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1988.) Justman and Herbert Solow co-wrote Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, published by Pocket Books in 1996.

At the time Justman was casting for Star Trek: The Next Generation, he saw Patrick Stewart on stage, turned to his wife and said, “I think I’ve found our new captain.” Arranging a meeting between Gene Roddenberry and Stewart, Justman felt that the conversation had gone well when Roddenberry was bidding Stewart goodbye, closed the door, turned to Justman and said, “I won’t have him.” When questioned, Roddenberry would not say why he felt Stewart was wrong for the part, but Justman had his suspicions: Roddenberry had conceived of Jean-Luc Picard as a masculine, virile Frenchman with a lot of hair. “And Patrick didn't fit that at all. Patrick was not so handsome, he was distinctive, and he was quite bald. Quite bald,” said Justman. He would not give up on Stewart, so Justman continued to badger Roddenberry and Roddenberry continued to say no. A new producer, Rick Berman, came on the scene, saw some film of Stewart, and fell in love with the actors work. Roddenberry still resisted, and eventually Justman realized he needed to approach the problem from a different angle. One day in a meeting, Justman announced that he never wanted to hear the name Patrick Stewart ever again. Whenever someone mentioned Stewart’s name, Justman would fain anger, state it was over with Stewart and to move on. One day, the final candidate for the role of Picard came to audition, did his reading, spoke to Roddenberry and Justman, and then left. The room was deadly silent. Roddenberry heaved a great sigh and said, “All right, I’ll go with Patrick.”
Justman died on May 28th, 2008 in Los Angeles, California from complications of Parkinson’s disease.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Justman

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/01/local/me-justman1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0433226/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/clips/clip27.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/interviews/justman/page6.shtml

http://trekmovie.com/2008/05/31/tos-tng-producer-robert-justman-has-passed-away/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/interviews/justman/index.shtml

http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Robert_Justman

http://trekmovie.com/2007/03/18/bob-justman-talks-tos-and-tos-r-with-trekmoviecom/

http://www.trektoday.com/news/010608_01.shtml

A Day in the Life: Weird Al

Joseph Pevney, noted "Star Trek Director dies at 96

Joseph Pevney, a film and television director who directed 14 of the most popular episodes of the original "Star Trek" TV series including "The City on the Edge of Forever," "Amok Time," "The Trouble With Tribbles" and "Journey to Babel.", has died at the age of 96. You can learn more
here.



Joseph Pevney

Director, Joseph Pevney, was born on September 15th, 1911 in New York, New York. Pevney began his career as a boy soprano in 1924, growing into acting roles on stage and screen. In 1950, he began his career as a film director with Shakedown and Undercover Girl. In 1959, Pevney began his television career with the unsold pilot, Destination Space.

While his television directing ranged from Adam-12 to Wagon Train, from Bewitched to Little House on the Prairie, from a CBS Schoolbreak Special to Trapper John, Md, Pevney is best remembered for his work on the series, Star Trek. Pevney directed fourteen episodes, tying with Marc Daniels. Among the fan favorites are Arena, The Devil in the Dark, The City on the Edge of Forever, Amok Time, Journey to Babel, The Deadly Years, Wolf in the Fold, and The Trouble with Tribbles. Joseph Pevney died in Palm Desert, California on May 18th, 2008 at the age of 96.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pevney

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0678928/

http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Joseph_Pevney

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/joseph-pevney-director-of-journeyman-versatility-858292.html

http://wcbstv.com/entertainment/star.trek.Joseph.2.735877.html

http://trekmovie.com/2008/05/25/tos-director-joseph-pevney-dies-at-96/

"Star Trek" composer, Alexander Courage, dead at the age of 88

On May 15th, Star Trek composer Alexander Courage died at the age of 88. He had been in declining health since 2005
See more here.

Below is series of documentary clips including Alexander Courage and John Williams.




Alexander Courage Pt. 2 of 4


Alexander Courage Pt. 3 of 4


Alexander Courage Pt. 4 of 4

Alexander Mair Courage Jr.

Composer, Alexander Courage, was born on December 10th, 1919 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduating from the Eastman School of Music in 1941, Courage served as an Army Air Forces bandleader during World War II. Courage began his 54-year career as a composer in 1946 for CBS Radio, moving to MGM as an arranger and orchestrator in 1948. He worked on or orchestrated a string of musicals over the next twelve years including Annie Get Your Gun, The Band Wagon, Doctor Dolittle, Fiddler on the Roof, Gigi, Hello, Dolly!, My Fair Lady, Show Boat, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. In the ‘60s, Courage brought his prodigious talents to 20th Century Fox, and it was in 1959 when he began his work on what would turn out to be over 350 television episodes.

Courage orchestrated films scored by Adolph Deutsch (Some Like It Hot), Jerry Goldsmith (Mulan), Andre Previn (My Fair Lady), and John Williams (Superman.) Courage later continued his collaboration during John Williams tenure with the Boston Pops Orchestra.
Despite his work on such films and television series as Superman, Lost in Space, and Star Trek, Courage was not a fan of fantasy and science fiction, telling one interviewer, “I think it’s just marvelous malarkey,” he said. “So you write some marvelous malarkey music that goes with it.”

Best known to the public-at-large for writing the Star Trek theme, Courage felt ill used by the series creator, Gene Roddenberry. Courage looked to the song “Beyond the Blue Horizon” as a jumping-off-point, working the fast, train-like pulsating rhythm under the soaring melody. He envisioned using a soprano singer (Loulie Jean Norman), an organ, a flute, and even a vibraphone. Roddenberry wanted to increase the importance of the female voice and the finished product sounded more like a soprano solo. Roddenberry’s “help” did not end there. In order to share in the royalties, Roddenberry wrote lyrics that begin: “Beyond the rim of the star-light/My love is wand’ring in star flight.” The only known commercial recording is by Nichelle “Uhura” Nichols and it appears on her 1991 album, “Out of This World.”

On May 15, 2008 at the age of 88, Alexander “Sandy” Courage died in the Sunrise Assisted Living facility in Pacific Palisades, California from complications following a stroke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Courage

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006021/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/30/AR2008053003013.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/arts/television/31courage-1.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH0aSwFKacw

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-courage30-2008may30,0,5756996.story

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alexander-courage-composer-of-the-star-trek-theme-837440.html

http://www.filmmusicsociety.org/news_events/features/2008/052808.html#

http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/trek.asp

http://www.daisyplanet.com/st/info/Nic_Out.html