Vid Picks: Sydney Pollack and Other People You Didn’t Know Were Dead

It was an eclectic week for Hollywood deaths — no one earth-shaking, necessarily, but a few surprises, a few “really, he made that?”s. It began on Monday with the death of Sydney Pollack, one of the great elder statesmen of the industry both behind and in front of the camera. Lots of Pollack clips got passed around this week, but my favorite is definitely this short scene from Tootsie:

And Thursday, Harvey Korman’s passing was announced. While the man won four Emmys for his second-banana-ing on The Carol Burnett Show, he’s probably better known to modern audiences as Hedley Lamarr from Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles:

But there were a few even lesser known men who passed on recently, but whose contributions to American culture have continued resonance. For one thing, the deaths of two men instrumental to the original Star Trek series were made public. Joseph Pevney directed an alarmingly high percentage of the show’s greatest episodes, including “The City on the Edge of Forever” and my personal favorite, “The Trouble With Tribbles”.

And Alexander Courage, who died May 15, was responsible for writing the original theme song, which I think anyone would agree is one of the most classic themes of all time.

To cap it off, another TV theme song writer died this week, one who was a much bigger name in the TV theme song writing world. Earle H. Hagen penned opening tunes for countless classic shows, including, most memorably, The Andy Griffith Show.

There’s very rarely ever any good news on an obituary page, but a week like this week gives you a chance to appreciate the talents and accomplishments of those previously unknown.