Gregory Peck, 87

[Morlock]

A sad day. Gregory Peck, one of the few survivers of the Hollywood golden age of leading men, passed away in his sleep.

He was known for his decency, on screen and off.

Probably his most famous role (and oscar winning) is as Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird". I've actualy never seen the movie, so I can't comment on it, but I will always remember him in "Guns of Navarone", which was my favorite movie when I was a kid, and now is still one of them.
He said that the role he was most proud of was in "A Gentlemen's Agreement", the Elia Kazan movie which was really the first major hollywood movie to deal with Anti-Semitism.

He has played many memorable characters, including Captain Ahab, Abraham Lincoln, General Douglas McArthur and Josef Mengele- a very rare villain, and one which seemed a bit too much unlike Peck for him to pull off.

He was with out a doubt one of the greatest actors in history, and one of the last of a generation.
He will be missed.

Here are his Filmography and Bio.

[fable]

Quote:

Originally posted by Morlock He was with out a doubt one of the greatest actors in history...

You think so? I always thought of him as a reasonably good actor gifted with a extremely fine, resonant voice. Nothing he ever did gave me the impression of greatness, whatever that may be. But I could be wrong. Sweeping adjectives like the "greatest" are pretty subjective, when you come right down to it.

[Morlock]

Although a lot of it may be my nostalgia for Navarone, I still think he is a great actor.

When faced with a ridicules plot, he is one of the few actors that actualy made those movies enjoyable, even where Cary Grany or Jimmy Stewart would fail. I'm always amazed at how good Peck was in 'The Omen'. I would have thought he's show in his performance the stupidity of some of the plot and dialogue, but he gave one of his best performances there.
He even gave a great cameo in Martin Scorsese's ramake of Cape Fear. He was the star of the original, and in this one he had a bit part as the lawyer of the villain, in which you could tell he was having a lot of fun with the character.

Coincidentaly, I was listening to one of my random WinAmp playlists and got Dimitri Tiomkin's Guns of Navarone, Miklos Rozsa's Spellbound, Elmer Bernstein's To Kill a Mokingbird and Bernard Herrmann's Cape Fear, within the same 20 minutes- this out of a playlist of 175. (All themes from Peck movies)

[Tybaltus]

Aye, his portrayal of Atticus Finch was remarkable, and in that role alone, he became a hero in the cinematic business. He had plenty of other roles and lasted to 1991 before he called it quits in the acting business. I havent seen too many of his movies, I know he did a nice job as Ahab, but Atticus Finch will always stand out, because it was such a remarkable role.

He played Atticus to a tee, and while his career was solid and admirable, that role to me, made him special.

[Ned Flanders]

Could he be considered one of the greatest because of his role as the father of Damien in the Omen. Saw the omen again recently and found it funny that also in the movie is your friend and mine, Jon Irenicus (David Werner).

Not trying to get off topic Morlock. I remember him well from Mockingbird and as I mentioned, The Omen.

[James Mason]

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the best movies ever made. It is on AFI's list of 100 greatest movies and Atticus Finch is the number 1 hero on AFI's list of 100 greatest heros and villians.

[C Elegans]

My mother used to adore him when she was young, he was her "ideal" man so to speak

I think he was a fine actor, I wouldn't personally call him one of the greatest in history, but no doubt very good. When I use an expression such as "greatest in history" I would probably refer to a very small group of people...maybe 10-20, no more. What a pity we cannot assess the likes of Richard Burbage and Edward Alleyn, the men who were considered to be the greatest actors of their time! (They were both stars of the Renaissance theatre, contemprary with Shakespeare, Thomas Nashe wrote about Alleyn: "Not Roscius nor Aesope, those admyred tragedians that have liued ever since before Christ was borne, could euer performe more in action than famous Ned Allen").

[Nightmare]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tybaltus Aye, his portrayal of Atticus Finch was remarkable, and in that role alone, he became a hero in the cinematic business. He had plenty of other roles and lasted to 1991 before he called it quits in the acting business. I havent seen too many of his movies, I know he did a nice job as Ahab, but Atticus Finch will always stand out, because it was such a remarkable role. He played Atticus to a tee, and while his career was solid and admirable, that role to me, made him special.

Completely agree.

Its sad to see him go. He was a good actor.

[fable]

Quote:

Originally posted by C Elegans My mother used to adore him when she was young, he was her "ideal" man so to speak I think he was a fine actor, I wouldn't personally call him one of the greatest in history, but no doubt very good. When I use an expression such as "greatest in history" I would probably refer to a very small group of people...maybe 10-20, no more.

I think a great actor has to be one who does more than portray variations of themselves. Peck could play good and evil variations, and do them all very well, but I always felt I was watching him. Just my POV.

Sometimes the best actors aren't the ones who are featured in the leading roles. An actor like Peter Lorre, for example, played everything from Hamlet to childkillers to murdering snitches to Japense detectives to...well, for me, he did just about everything I saw him in with consummate artistry. And another actor of similar skill was Lawrence Olivier; a third was Alec Guinness. They were chameleons, never hampered by trying to do themselves.

Interestingly, Peck starred opposite Olivier in one film, The Boys from Brazil. I thought Peck was good, but Olivier was rivetting. This is just my personal reaction; others no doubt would disagree.

[fable]

Just FYI: This Monday, Turner Classic Movies is devoting an entire day to films with Gregory Peck.