Offscreen Notes
Daria Nicolodi: 1950-2020
Hard to believe. Women usually don’t die that young, 70. When I look at Daria as an older lady, and hear her speak in her gruff voice, it reminds me a some of my Italian aunts. Full of life, wisdom, charm, humor, and class. Daria was also one who spoke her mind. A muse to her ex-husband Dario Argento and one of the creative forces behind the greatest horror film to ever blast its luminous aura onto a screen, Suspiria. Her role in Deep Red, the giallo masterpiece, touched that perfect balance between feminism and vulnerability. Her scenes with David Hemmings are to be treasured. As as her turns in lesser films such as Paginini Horror, where she adds a measure of sanity in an otherwise wildly eccentric film. One of her biggest and defining roles came in Mario Bava’s last film, Shock, where she set the template for the emotionally unstable woman who may or may not be going crazy, or just possessed by a malevolent spirit. Rest in peace Daria.
Other people we lost in the year 2020…
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, lawyer and judge (1933 – 2020)
Salome Bey, singer (1939 – 2020)
Honor Blackman, actress (1925 – 2020)
Chadwick Boseman, actor (1976 – 2020)
Kobe Bryant, basketball player (1978 – 2020)
Edd Byrnes, actor (1932 – 2020)
Pierre Cardin, clothes designer (1922 – 2020)
Sean Connery, actor (1930 – 2020)
Robert Conrad, actor (1935 – 2020)
Brian Dennehy (1938 – 2020)
Kirk Douglas, actor (1916 – 2020)
Allan Fotheringham, journalist (1932 – 2020)
Bob Gibson, baseball player (1935 – 2020)
Dale Hawerchuk, hockey player (1963 – 2020)
Olivia de Havilland, actress (1916 – 2020)
Buck Henry, writer-director (1930 – 2020)
Ian Holm, actor (1931 – 2020)
Irrfan Khan, actor (1967 – 2020)
Katherine Johnson, mathematician (1918 – 2020)
John Lewis, legislator and civil rights activist (1940 -2020)
Diego Maradona, soccer player (1960 – 2020)
Terrence McNally, playwright (1938 -2020)
Neil Peart, musician (1952 – 2020)
Charley Pride, musician (1934 – 2020)
Max von Sydow, actor (1929 – 2020)
Eddie Van Halen, musician (1955 – 2020)
Bill Withers, singer-songwriter (1938 – 2020)
