Today's Blind Items
I've heard this before, and allegedly Very Bad Things is loosely based on it to some extent. However, I always thought of it as a Hollywood legend until I recently met someone in the producer's family. When I say family, there is one widow and one child. No other family. None.
A fairly minor producer died within the past month or so. It wasn't really noteworthy for the most part, but there were three or four very happy actors to see him pass. All of the actors are aging, but not George Burns old or anything. In fact, they are still A list at least by reputation. Could they carry a movie OR television show on their own anymore? Probably not. Are they regularly in movies AND television? Yes. See, back in the day there was a party like you could only have in Hollywood's glory days. Martinis, cigars and lots of beautiful women. Well it turns out that one of the beautiful women didn't go home at the end of the night. There was some incident involving either five or six actors. Two have died. Not knowing what to do, these actors got a studio gofer, now our dead producer and told him to get rid of the body and not tell anyone about it or tell anyone where the body was buried. Throughout the remainder of the producer's life, these actors took care of him, but were always afraid he would spill the secret because he was the only one who knew where the body was buried. No body, no case. Now, they are just worried that something will show up in the estate sale and some person will stumble onto a letter or some other evidence hidden in a desk drawer which will come back to haunt them. Maybe that's why one of the actors offered to buy the house with everything in it at a price that is twice what the place is worth. Still waiting to see if it will be accepted, but there won't be an estate sale yet for sure. The actors think they are being careful and that their true motives are unknown. Not at all the case, but the producer's widow is happy to take their money and be done with it. One hint is they have all been in at least one western. Although it could be on television OR in a movie.

288 comments:
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Holy shit, for once a BI about something serious!
I guess that poor woman's friends and/or family never found out what happened to her. How sad.
mike shhhhh! this is insane!
Okay, I'm thinking Donald Sutherland types for age group. Any takers?
There was an Ed Friendly who died a couple of days ago - he produced Rowan & Martin's Laugh In as well as Little House on the Prairie - but I haven't found if he's got a widow or anything else...
wow! Now this is a blind item! I'm furiously searching google news for dead producers who fit this bill. Had a cople of leads, but their families are too big! Will keep looking! Again, wow!
Sorry can't be Ed - two kids
Westerns. Clint Eastwood. Movies AND TV...
Syndey Rose...worked with the brat pack....
Hey 12:58--
Friendly is one that I looked at. He had a son and a daughter, though. And three grandchildren. Plus, is the death too recent for the offer from the actor?
Plus, could Little House be considered a western? If it is, Micheal Landon is dead? Don't want to think he would be involved, but, as I've learned, you can never tell about anyone. I think the minor producer may have died a few weeks back judging from the BI. But, I've read them wrong before! Also, I'm not as interested in learning the ID of the producer as I am of the actors! Wow. I do feel for the family of that poor girl. If I get some time, I may go to the missing person's site for California--I'm assuming the party was there. I'm sure there are a lot of young women who have gone missing in CA that have never been reported, though.
This is juicy. I keep having to remind myself that this is real (yeah, I know it could be made-up) and a woman died.
..errr, rat pack..doh!
Rat packers are all dead or wearing diapers.
Young Guns!
I'm thinking along the lines of the Magnificent 7. You're looking at Yul Brenner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Steve McQueen and Eli Wallach.
I know that Steve and Yul are dead. Not sure on the rest.
A producer just died a few weeks ago...hmmm...who was it???
Sonny, I knew it was you.
Stan Daniels
Ed Friendly
Beau Vandenecker
Jo Durden-Smith
all producers who have died in the last couple of weeks.
Going back earlier, there is Julian Ludwig, who worked with Eastwood:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117963173.html?categoryId=25&cs=1
Daniels as four children.
Jo Durden-Smith has one child.
The others I can't find info on.
Doesn't this person have only one child?
Peter R. Simpson
For some reason, Paul Newman popped into my head... for one of the actors obviously.
Did you see that DListed gave us the answer to an old Blind Item? The one about a young actress dating her TV dad. It's Hayden P!!!!!
What about these guys:
Young Guns is a 1988 action/western film:
Its stars include Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, and Dermot Mulroney.
Another thought is Tommy Lee Jones.
~Lohan
AWESOME blind!!!! I have no clue who it is, but.....AWESOME!
It's the Young Guns crew. Now figure out the producer and we're in business.
Silverado was a big western when it came out in the 80s. Lots of A-lister types in that...
Or how about Lonesome Dove??? Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones...
Checking IMDb for a fit, but so far nothing.
I don't think they have to all have been in the same western. It could just be a big hint--plus, older actors have a better chance of being in a western because so many were made (both movies and tv) a while back.
Also, the way I read the BI doesn't mean that the producer we are looking for directed the western. Actually, the way the BI is written, we could figure out the producer and never find the link to the actors.
"Taking care of him" doesn't mean being in his movies--it could just mean calling in favors.
still no proof that DS is really ZX.
How many of these guys are A-listers?
Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, and Dermot Mulroney
Ok, another thought is Burt Reynolds.
Still working with my original idea of Young Guns as well.
~Lohan
I think the actors have to be older. if they were having parties in Hollywood's "glory days" and the died was only a gofer then? Also, 2 of the actors involved hace died.
it says the actors probably cannot carry a movie or tv show anymore, which rules out Kiefer Sutherland.
I think we have to think older and not all in the same movie, tv show.
I wonder who the widow & the child are - ent had to have met them....I was thinking maybe the child is connected to the movie in some way if it's loosley based on the story - but Peter Berg has an older sister. lol Just chucking ideas out there.
Burt Reynolds is close with Charlton heston and Clint Eastwood--as per his wiki page. Jon Voight was also a former co star. What do we think of Burt?
~Lohan
How would Peter Berg have this information so that he could loosely base the movie, "Very Bad Things" on this story? I think we should look for a connection there, no?
The producer and the western are probably not related.... it doesn't read that way in the blind. I think that it's likely that the western hint is a way to help us figure out the actors, but I doubt there will be an obvious link to the dead producer, if we can find a match for the producer, and then some options for the group of actors, we could probably search for some general stuff about the producer and maybe find some mention or some link to one or more of the actors....
sorry, its the college student in me getting all research-y.
Nicole
I went to wikipedia and typed in Westerns. A lot of info popped up, including a list of actors who were commonly in westerns.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westerns
I agree that I'm getting an older vibe and think the young guns guys are too young. I am thinking this happened in the late 50's, 60's, or early 70's.
Definitely the cast of Young Guns....good call.
I can't find who produced VBT....not that I think it may be the deceased but it may be a link/clue.
Im going to second stinky on this one and guess that they are probably an older crowd... Im thinking our actors are in the age range of tommy lee jones ect.
I think Peter Berg probably just heard the "hollywood legend" as Ent calls it and wrote a screenplay based on it. Sounds like the story has been around a while.
Definitely the cast of Young Guns....good call.
----------------------
No, nowhere does it say that the actors involved all appeared in a western together. They were all at a party together and all have apeared in westerns in either TV or movies.
George Burns died in 1996 at the age of 101. So when Ent says "not George Burns old," he is referring to actors who are much older than the guys who were in Young Guns...like twice their ages. We need to look at aguys who are in their 70s/80s.
That makes sense, stinky.
This one is gonna drive us nuts for DAYS!
burt renyolds and the deliverence cast are the right age, some of them have died, and they where around in the cigar and martini era. they have all done westerns.
Yeah, the 80's were definitely NOT considered the glory days of Hollywood, in fact, at the time there was a lot a lot a lot of grumbling about how Hollywood was going to seed, so definitely probably thinking more in the late 50's or the early 70's for the event to have occurred and the actors were probably fairly young at the time, making them 60's or 70's now. I know it would make sense to think of the Young Guns guys, but it is DEFINITLY NOT them, way wrong time period. I agree that they were probably not all in the same movie, otherwise the TV clue wouldn't be there.
I would say that the producer who just died has to be younger than the actors since the BI says the producer was just a gopher at the time of the 'crime'.
Kim
Okay, the phrase "Hollywood glory days" implies the period where the studios controlled every aspect of their actors lives, covering up anything that might offer the slightest whiff of scandal.
Why else would a "studio gofer" be employed on such a mission?
Another clue is the use of the phrase "martinis, cigars and beautiful women"... typically this leads one to think of the era of the late 50's early 60's, albeit near the end of the almighty studio influence, however still applicable.
IMHO, these two items definitely narrow the era down to a specific time period, ie late 50's to early 60's - anything later doesn't fit those particular clues.
I'm also thinking something that might help would be to check career paths of the recently deceased producers, seeing who fits the bill family-wise, and also started as a gofer but then managed a rapid but not neccesarily meteoric rise to producer - unless I'm completely misreading the BI, his silence was apparently paid for by said career path.
We need to think along the lines of someone like James Garner.
He was in several westerns on TV and in the movies, and is still working.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001258/
What about jack nickolson's crowd?
Jack was in Goin South a western with Jon Belushi, christopher lloyd and Ed Begley jr.
Jack owns quite a bit of real estate in Hollywood.
norman frank and ed friendly both are producers that died in either may or june of this year
Charles Evans (produced Tootsie) founded Evan-Picone, Brother: Robert Evans; one living son; sister: Alice Shure
I have googled my fingers off and can't find a recent death that fits! ARRGGHH!
I've been going through Variety's recent deaths - if it's an obscure producer they might have had record but all I've found so far is Charles Evans (guessed above) and Julian Ludwig (but he isn't recorded to have had a child)
not a single one of you are offering up clues that are worth while.
You're right, 2:26 - so have at it! Seriously, if that's all you have to offer, you're just adding to the heap.
Charles Evans was never a gofer at a studio. He was too busy working in the rag trade.