I don't know how this one got past me, but I am guessing it isn't very well known that cult film icon, Vonetta McGee, passed away on July 9th at the age of 65. I'm (not really) surprised it hasn't been a slightly bigger deal with some of the cinematic work she has done, and I might have all but missed the news if not for Ivan's post about her passing over at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear. As a fan of many of the films she has worked in, as well as a fan of cult cinema in general, I feel she more than deserves a little love here at CNAMB.
Here are a few trailers for some of her most notable films:
The Great Silence (Review)
Hammer
Blacula
The Eiger Sanction
Repo Man
On an interesting side note, director Alex Cox is a Spaghetti Western guru, even writing a book on the subject. He does an interview on the DVD release for The Great Silence where he cites that film as where he would be first introduced to McGee, enjoying her so much that he would later use her in a small yet awesome role in Repo Man. I quite enjoy The Great Silence, and consider Repo Man one of the greatest cult films of all time, so it's pretty interesting how things like that come together.
It's sad that she had to go at such a young age, but she has left behind a solid batch of classic cult films for many to enjoy for years to come.
In Klaus Kinski's amazingly pornographic (putting it mildly) autobiography, he says he had an affair with McGee while shooting THE GREAT SILENCE. I always thought she had some hypnotizing eyes. Very sad to hear this news. So many have passed lately.
ReplyDeleteHer eyes are quite intense and maybe some of the most memorable I have seen on screen. Well, outside of Edwige Fenech, of course. And as for Kinski, I put nothing past that man!
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