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Joan Blackman Dead: Elvis Co-Star ‘Blue Hawaii,’ ‘Kid Galahad,’ Was 87

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Joan Blackman, who played women that Elvis Presley ultimately could not resist in Blue Hawaii and Kid Galahad, has died. She was 87.

Blackman died March 16 at a hospital in Santa Rose, California, her son, Ngai Tarkington, told The Hollywood Reporter. She was a longtime resident of nearby Calistoga.

The San Francisco native also portrayed the first wife of a struggling actor (Anthony Franciosa) in the Hall Wallis-produced, Dean Martin-starring Career (1959) and recurred on the ABC primetime soap Peyton Place during its second season (1965-66) as Marion Fowler, wife of district attorney John Fowler (John Kerr).

The raven-haired Blackman had appeared as a member of a family visited by a goofy alien played by Jerry Lewis in Visit to a Small Planet (1960), directed by Norman Taurog. She then reunited with Wallis and Taurog as the tour guide Maile Duval in Blue Hawaii (1961), the first of three Presley films to shoot in the 50th state. (Maile and Elvis’ Chad Gates marry at the end of the movie.)

That same year, she began filming on Kid Galahad (1962) in which she portrayed Rose Grogan, the younger sister of Gig Young’s character, the owner of a boxing camp. She got her man Elvis, who plays mechanic turned boxer Walter Gulick, in that picture as well. (Watch her and Presley from that film here.)

Joan Blackman with Elvis Presley on the set on 1961’s ‘Blue Hawaii.’

Courtesy Everett Collection

An only child, Joan May Blackman was born in San Francisco on May 17, 1938. Her father, Frank, was a musician, and her mother, Ivy, a homemaker. She took singing and dancing lessons and as a youngster performed on television, at military camps and hospitals and with Ernie Heckscher’s big band at the Fairmont Hotel.

After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1956, she came to Los Angeles that December and rented a room at the Hollywood Studio Club, where Barbara Eden also was staying at the time.

She wound up inking a contract with Hecht-Hill-Lancaster (she was the Burt Lancaster-led production company’s fourth-ever signing) and made her big-screen debut in Good Day for a Hanging (1959), starring Fred MacMurray.

She said she read twice for the role of Maria in West Side Story (1961) and “really thought I was going to get it,” she told FilmFan magazine last year. (Natalie Wood, of course, was hired.)

Her résumé included the films The Great Impostor (1961), the Richard Chamberlain-starring Twilight of Honor (1963), Intimacy (1966), Daring Game (1968), Pets (1974), Macon County Line (1974) and Moonrunners (1975) and TV appearances on Perry Mason, Bonanza, I Spy, Gunsmoke and Run for Your Life.

Blackman was married to actors Joby Baker (Good Morning World) from 1959 until their 1961 divorce and to Rockne Tarkington (Black Samson) from 1968 until their 1970 divorce. She spent her years away from Hollywood gardening and singing in local spots around town, her son said.

Her other son, Rockne Tarkington Jr., died in 2019.

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Morgan Freeman Will Accept Mediocre Script If They ‘Pay You Enough’

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Even if a script isn’t that good, Morgan Freeman said he’ll still say yes if “they’re going to pay you enough.”

During a recent interview with The New York Times, the legendary actor got candid about how he chooses the projects he wants to take on, especially six decades into his career.

“If somebody offers you a job, it’s very nice if they’re offering you also an exciting script, but in reality, two or three things come into play,” Freeman shared. “What are they going to pay you? If they’re going to pay you enough, then you overlook some of the glitches in the script that happen to be there.”

“Sometimes you can mention things that are in the script that don’t quite work out for you and by and large, that gets worked out,” he added.

Freeman already has a long list of accomplishments, most notably his Academy Award win for best supporting actor for Million Dollar Baby, in addition to four other Oscar nominations across his career. He’s also known for his roles in InvictusThe Dark KnightSe7en and Driving Miss Daisy, among many others.

But even at 89, Freeman has no plans of retiring from the industry or slowing down. “I’m like Clint Eastwood on that: Don’t let the old man in,” he said. “So, keep working. If you can get out of bed and don’t fall down when you do it, then you just count your blessings and keep moving. So, I’ll work as long as I can — as long as somebody says, ‘Do you want to do this part?’”

As for whether he has any other dream roles that he has yet to take on, Freeman quipped, “No. I’m pushing 90 now. So, the roles that I wished I had been able to play, Denzel Washington will play.”

Freeman most recently returned for Lioness season three, which premiered on Paramount+ earlier this week.

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‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Box Office: Biggest First Week Ever

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Spider-Man: Brand New Day is still catching new records as the Tom Holland-led movie continues its impressive start at the box office.

Sony Pictures announced Thursday that director Destin Daniel Cretton‘s film has landed the highest-grossing first week in domestic box office history. It has surpassed $500 million in North America in its first seven days, becoming the fastest film to reach that half-billion milestone by supplanting Avengers: Endgame, which hit the threshold in eight days after opening in April 2019.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has notched records at a head-spinning pace, which includes scoring the best-ever domestic box office sums for a Monday and a Tuesday. Brand New Day became the second-fastest feature to cross the billion-dollar mark globally when Sony announced Tuesday morning that it reached the threshold in six days, bested only by Endgame.

Over the weekend, Brand New Day was in a neck-and-neck battle with Endgame for the biggest domestic opening weekend ever. On Monday morning, Sony confirmed that Spidey had indeed prevailed to claim the crown with $360 million, surpassing Endgame’s $357.1 million domestic start, although the latter’s $1.2 billion global launch still held the record for its worldwide opening weekend. 

Spider-Man: Brand New Day also set records for the biggest Thursday previews and top Friday domestic sum, along with giving Sony its best-ever opening weekend. Hailing from producers Marvel Studios and Amy Pascal, it carries a $225 million production budget.

Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal and Mark Ruffalo also star in the new movie from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings filmmaker Cretton. It sees Marvel Comics’ signature hero enduring a lonely existence without his loved ones before an invisible enemy tracks him down.

During a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman noted that audience interest in stars Holland and Zendaya does not appear to be a passing trend.

“They’re not popular because they’re popular,” the exec emphasized. “They’re popular because they’re talented, and they deserve their popularity. They’re lovely, decent, grounded, good-valued people, and they work really hard. So they’ve earned every ounce of their success.”

Sony projects that Brand New Day will continue attracting audiences in the coming weeks as the summer starts winding down. Its second weekend will encounter fresh competition from such wide releases as One Night OnlySuper Troopers 3 and Ice Cream Man.

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Joan Jett Cancels Tour Dates Amid Surgery Recovery

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Joan Jett is taking a break from the road as she heals from a recent orthopedic surgery for a fractured vertebrae.

On Wednesday, the Blackhearts frontwoman’s team announced that Jett will not be able to perform her upcoming September tour dates in Costa Mesa, California and Louisville, Kentucky.

“Following a recent injury, Joan Jett has undergone orthopedic surgery on a fractured vertebrae and will begin the necessary healing process,” said Jett’s team in a statement, according to People. “In close consultation with her doctors, Joan will not be able to perform at her forthcoming September scheduled shows in Costa Mesa, CA on September 5th and in Louisville, KY on September 24th.

“While Joan hates to disappoint fans, she will be taking this time to focus on physical therapy and healing. She’s looking forward to delivering tremendous concerts for many years to come,” the statement added.

Last month, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts wrapped up their first headlining U.K. tour in 16 years, before returning to the states for their scheduled stops next month at the Orange County Fair in California and the Bourbon & Beyond Festival in Kentucky.

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