Devastated: Rod Taylor, 1/11/1930 - 1/7/2015
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Rod Taylor
hobnob53 — 11 years ago(January 08, 2015 11:31 PM)
Well, I thought Rod Taylor deserved another thread on his passing. Along with replies, I hope others also begin new threads.
For the past couple of days he'd been on my mind incessantly. For no reason he and a number of his films kept cropping up in my thoughts. Yesterday I caught the end of
Sunday in New York
and thought how glad I was he was still with us. This evening I went to look up a film and by mistake got one with a similar but different title I'd never seen. Rod Taylor was in it. And again I thought how glad I was he was alive. But by then, he had passed away.
And like many of his fans, I'm shocked and deeply saddened.
How many wonderful films he left us with, first as a supporting actor, then as a star or co-star. Some to remember:
King of the Coral Sea; The Virgin Queen; World Without End; Giant; The Catered Affair; Raintree County; Separate Tables; The Time Machine; 101 Dalmatians; The Birds; The V.I.P.S; Sunday in New York; Fate is the Hunter; 36 Hours; Young Cassidy; The Glass Bottom Boat; The Liquidator; Hotel; Dark of the Sun; Chuka; The Train Robbers; The Picture Show Man; Open Season; Welcome to Woop-Woop; Inglorious Basterds
.
Not to mention his dozens of memorable TV performances, including
Hong Kong, Bearcats, The Oregon Trail, Cry of the Innocent, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Falcon Crest
and guest roles on everything from
The Twilight Zone
to
Murder She Wrote
.
Not all his films were successful, some were uneven or frankly just not very good (
Zabriskie Point, Trader Horn
), but all were made better by Rod's presence. By his own admission he probably hurt his career with some bad choices, taking things he should have passed on and rejecting some roles that would have broadened his appeal. His decision to focus on action films in the late 60s instead of mixing in dramatic parts was an unwise move. The top stardom that was within his grasp in the mid-60s never quite materialized.
All this is to be regretted, because he was a superb actor of enormous versatility and likability. Still, he rose high enough to become a well-known and popular performer, and helped pave the way for later Australian superstars like Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe.
And while he had a sometimes tumultuous private and professional life, he seemed like a hell of a guy, and as he mellowed with age his charm and good humor came to the fore. A shame Hollywood didn't give him more to do, put him in some of the major films that were being made in the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Rod Taylor died after a full life at the age of 84 just four days before he would have turned 85, a minor point also to be regretted. But he had come a long way for a kid from modest means in Sydney to international stardom. There could and by rights1c84 should have been even more to his career, but thankfully, there's a lot we have to watch and savorand remember the terrific talent and one-of-a-kind man that was Rod Taylor.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Taylor, with our thanks and appreciation. Deepest sympathies to his family.
January 11, 1930 - January 7, 2015. -
JaneDough42 — 11 years ago(January 08, 2015 11:49 PM)
I was deeply saddened to hear of his passing, what a wonderful actor he was. I immensely enjoyed watching him for both his acting talent and his good looks. He didn't reach the Hollywood heights that he rightly deserved but he had many fans who knew how good he was, including me. Rest in Peace dear man.
-
MsELLERYqueen2 — 11 years ago(January 09, 2015 12:40 AM)
Mostly I know him from:
an episode of
The Twilight Zone
("And When the Sky Was Opened")
Sunday in New York
(1963)
I did see
101 Dalmations
(he did one of the voices), but that was when I was a kid (theatrical re-release) and I barely remember the film
He was very talented, especially in that
Twilight Zone
episode, which was one terrifying story!
~~
JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen -
julythreeone — 11 years ago(January 09, 2015 04:22 AM)
Loved him in "The Time Machine". However, your heading of "devastated" is a bit much eh? I mean, the name was a few days shy of being 85 and he died peacefully of natural causes. It's not devastating or shocking. It's just sad that film lovers mourn the passing of one of their favorites. Death is quite natural for old people and noone can defy it. Well, unless you're Cher.
-
hobnob53 — 11 years ago(January 09, 2015 09:15 AM)
Michaelnlori, I was trying to think of a way of working a line from one of Mr. Taylor's films into this tribute, and you succeeded. Very lovely and well done!
(I've corrected his date of death to January 7, confirmed this morning.) -
hobnob53 — 11 years ago(January 09, 2015 09:11 AM)
Don't worry about making typos. It goes with the territory here.
I've had to correct the thread title and my OP because we now know Mr. Taylor died Wednesday the 7th. His death simply wasn't announced until the 8th.
But a nice thought about him as a true gentleman, which I think he was.
Anyway, to your previous post, you can still be devastated when someone you've liked almost your whole life, grew up watching, dies suddenly, can't you? Age has nothing to do with it.
And besides the man himself, his death is the loss of another link to the postwar era of Hollywood, just as the death of Luise Rainer last week marked the passing of one of the very last remaining links to pre-war Hollywood. There won't be any more such people. -
hobnob53 — 11 years ago(January 10, 2015 12:53 PM)
You know, InherentlyYours, if you don't like the characterization, then just ignore it. You're in no position to question how others feel.
Your idea that, because someone was 85 (84, actually) and died of natural causes, his death cannot qualify as "sudden" is so asinine as to defy description. Do you even know the meaning of the word? From all reports Rod Taylor appeared to be perfectly fine (sure, for 84) then died quickly and unexpectedly of an apparent heart attack. That constitutes "suddenly".
Yes, you normally expect a person of 84 to have much less time left than someone of 34. But a "sudden" death has
nothing
to do with age. Old people can also die a lingering death of cancer. By your idiotic definition, age alone would render such a death "sudden". -
hobnob53 — 11 years ago(January 10, 2015 01:42 PM)
Actually, I did address the so-called issue about "devastated" in the content of my posts. You just couldn't see it.
The "other poster" didn't "call me" on it. You can't "call" someone on a matter of opinion. She respectfully disagreed, that's all. If you don't like the word, fine, that's your opinion, not some immutable truth. Is that explicit enough a response for you?
And speaking of seeing things, I see you didn't address my point about your inept definition of the word "sudden".
As to your last line, I have no idea what
But don't worry, THOSE WHO ARE "asinine" IS NOT BEYOND DESCRIPTION FOR ME
means, since it is neither a grammatical nor comprehensible English sentence. However, I'll take your advice and not worry about it.
So, you don't like "devastated" or "suddenly" in this context. That's fine, and that's too bad. Your objection is noted. I guess a person like you needs to get in the last word, so have at it. I won't be reading, replying or interested. -
BelleDameSansMerci — 11 years ago(January 10, 2015 05:21 PM)
I didn't know about Taylor's death until a few minutes ago, when I saw it on the NYT website.
Then I come here - and I find out (from your post) that Luise Rainer died too.
What a week.
Anyway, I am very saddened by his passing (especially because 85 isn't what it used to be). But at least his presence in films will continue to give pleasure to millions of people.
(Also, I can't help but think - all the time - about Maggie Smith.
I bet she really is devastated.) -
AaronCapenBanner — 11 years ago(January 09, 2015 03:23 PM)
Sad to hear of his passing, since we are losing too many actors of his caliber as time marches on
The Time Machine
is my favorite of his films that I've seen, but mention should be made about
Dark Of The Sun
, an exciting and hard-hitting adventure film that I finally got to see again from the Warner Archive DVD collection a few years back.
He also did a DVD commentary on his episode of
The Twilight Zone
called 'And When The Sky Was Opened', one of the best from the series.
God speed Mr. Rod Taylor!