Sunday, June 3, 2012

RIP Richard Dawson

Man – more and more of my Childhood memories are dying off.

This morning Richard Dawson passed away.

As a youngster, I loved him in Hogan’s Heroes.  Then there was family feud (where he has allegedly kissed over 20000 women) , and then finally my favorite – Damon Killian from the Running Man.

Running Man

Long before Reality TV (and the movie The Truman Show), Stephen King captured a creepiness unheard of at the time – even though the movie was nothing like the book.

As for Richard Dawson’s Character, Film Critic Roger Ebert summed it up best -

"Playing a character who always seems three-quarters drunk, Dawson chain-smokes his way through backstage planning sessions and then pops up in front of the cameras as a cauldron of false jollity. Working the audience, milking the laughs and the tears, he is not really much different than most genuine game show hosts—and that's the film's private joke”

To me, Damon Killian was evil incarnate, and I loved every minute on screen.

RIP Mr. Dawson.  I hope you know, you did something very few actors did – you transcended different entertainment medias and came out on top.

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