End Credits #54: Cinema's 2016 Lost Treasures Fritz Weaver

These are some of Cinema's sad departures of 2016 taken from my personal notes soon after the events took place: 

More depressing news: Still another stalwart member of our beloved cinema community has passed away, Fritz Weaver at age 90. His performances brought enormous conviction to the characters he portrayed, remaining vivid in our memories long after their presentations ended. He commanded one's attention in television shows such as Studio One, Playhouse 90, two distinctive episodes of The Twilight Zone: (The Obsolete Man and Third from the Sun), Mission Impossible, Murder She Wrote, narrating the History Channel specials, and perhaps most notably, his Emmy-nominated performance as Dr. Joseph Weiss in the mini-series Holocaust. Weaver consistently demonstrated his unique capability to enthrall movie-goers by projecting a dominating authority (helped by standing 6'3" with a deep baritone voice) in roles such as the increasingly unstable Air Force Colonel in 1963's Fail-Safe, a villainous executive in 1973's Day of the Dolphin, a highly respected University Professor in 1976's Marathon Man, a resourceful F.B.I. agent in 1977's Black Sunday, a brilliant scientist in 1977's Demon Seed, and a Professor in 1982's Creepshow, among others. On stage, Weaver won a Tony in 1970 for his role as a tough disciplinarian teacher in Child's Play. He received acclaim (and a Tony nomination) for his 1955 Broadway debut in The Chalk Garden, and went on to portray Shakespeare's Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, the latter roles he relished stating: “The old boy — he’s the one who makes the maximum challenge to the actor’’. “That high charge on all the lines that he writes — you’ve got to measure up. You can’t just saunter into that stuff; you’ve got to bring your whole life into it.”... something Fritz Weaver did in all of his magnificent performances. Fritz Weaver (January 19, 1926 - November 26, 2016) R.I.P.