Big Picture
Kate Upton Takes Cover Plus, Nicole Kidman hangs out with her family and Bradley Cooper is a grizzly guy. The latest pics!
MORE PHOTOS +Most Commented
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: Vote in the Final Round! (2036)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (974)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (694)
- Afternoon Mail! Are Gleeks Having More Sex Than Vamps? (586)
- TV's Top Couple Tournament: And the Winner Is... (493)
- Whitney Houston Dead at 48 (394)
- Beyoncé and Jay-Z Share First Photos of Baby Blue Ivy! (391)
- New Ask Ted Video! Should Kristen Stewart Play Elizabeth Taylor? (297)
- Morning Mail! Is Lea Michele Ready to Walk Like an Egyptian? (286)
- Twilight Director Talks Kristen Stewart and Ex Michael Angarano: "They Were Such a Great Couple" (261)
Top 10 Stories
- Playmate Claire Sinclair Describes Scene of Alleged Domestic Dispute With Marston Hefner
- Glee-Dux: Guess Who's Back?! V-Day Episode Delivers Romance, Smooches and Shockers!
- Blake Lively Gets Restraining Order Against Man Who Wanted to "Guide" Her
- 19 Kids and Counting Alleged Extortion Plot: Singer Laughs Off "Intimate Photos"
- Rumer Willis' Hollywood Hills Home Burglarized
- Whitney Houston and Other Divas Who Died Too Soon
- Chris Brown Tweets to Haters After Grammy Win
- Whitney Houston Tribute: Watch LeAnn Rimes' Emotional Performance of "I Will Always Love You"
- Oprah Twitter Scandal! Winfrey Apologizes After Soliciting Nielsen Viewers to Watch OWN
- Glee Scoop: There's a New Love Triangle Going Down!
Fashion Police
Angelina: Going Grey! Plus, Christina Hendricks, Vanessa Hudgens, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Michelle Williams and Kristen Wiig. Rate the highs and lows!
MORE PHOTOS +
Our Partners
"Murphy Brown" Barkeep Dies
Drinks are on the house this week in honor of Phil.
Veteran character actor Pat Corley, best known for playing Phil the barkeep on Murphy Brown, died Monday of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 76.
According to his son Jerry, Corley had undergone surgery to insert stents to increase bloodflow in his coronary artery.
Corley's regular role as the proprietor of Phil's--Central Perk-ish watering hole where the FYI newsmagazine team played by Candice Bergen, Faith Ford, Charles Kimbrough and Joe Regalbuto gathered to socialize--lasted from 1988 until 1996. To Murphy and the others, Phil not only doled out drinks but also advice, laughs and a healthy dose of blue collar wisdom.
Other TV shows Corley left his imprint on include Hill Street Blues, on which he played chief coroner Wally Nydorf, and the early-'80s series Bay City Blues, a drama that followed a minor league baseball team on the road. Corley played the team's owner, Ray Holtz.
"Laurence Olivier called him up and said, 'That's the finest television acting I have ever witnessed,' " Jerry Corley told the Associated Press regarding his father's Hill Street Blues days. "My dad's not starstruck, but he was, 'Oh, man.' "
The coroner's role "was meaty," Jerry Corley said. "He got to really do work, and on television it's usually just small pieces."
But a lot of small pieces add up over the years. Corley appeared on series ranging from Kojak and the miniseries Roots in the 1970s to what reads like every landmark show from the 1980s, including Murder, She Wrote, St. Elsewhere, Moonlighting, L.A. Law, Night Court and Cagney & Lacey.
Most recently Corley had a small role in Joey Lauren Adams' feature directing debut, Come Early Morning, starring Ashley Judd, Diane Ladd and Tim Blake Nelson. He also showed up in the films Mr. Destiny, Night Shift, Coming Home and Against All Odds.
The Dallas native started off dancing ballet as a teenager in Stockton, California, where he also attended college on the G.I. Bill after serving in the U.S. Army. During school he met his future wife, actress Iris Carter, and then the two moved to New York and performed summer stock theater in Indiana and New Jersey. Corley first hit Broadway in Blues for Mr. Charlie, after which he and Iris headed out to Hollywood.
In addition to his son Jerry, Corley is survived by his son Kevin; two daughters, Troy Corley and Christina Pratt; and 12 grandchildren. Iris died last year and they had another daughter, Michelle, who died 10 years ago.
0 Comments
Now loading...