John Nichols, who wrote more than a dozen novels including The Milagro Beanfield War and The Sterile Cuckoo — both of which were turned into films by top directors — died Wednesday in Taos, Nm. He was 83.
Nichols, whose works often told stories of small-town New Mexico and social injustice, also co-wrote the screenplay for Milagro Beanfield War. Focused on a battle between mostly Latino farmers and local politicians and real estate developers, it became a 1988 film produced and directed by Robert Redford. The pic starring Ruben Blades, Richard Bradford and Sonia Braga won an Oscar for Dave Grusin’s jazzy score. Watch a trailer below.
Nichols’ 1965 debut novel The Sterile Cuckoo was adapted four years later into a film by Alan J. Pakula. It starred Liza Minnelli in her Oscar-nominated role as Pookie, a zany but honest woman who falls for a young man (Wendell Burton) just before he leaves for college.
Nichols, whose works often told stories of small-town New Mexico and social injustice, also co-wrote the screenplay for Milagro Beanfield War. Focused on a battle between mostly Latino farmers and local politicians and real estate developers, it became a 1988 film produced and directed by Robert Redford. The pic starring Ruben Blades, Richard Bradford and Sonia Braga won an Oscar for Dave Grusin’s jazzy score. Watch a trailer below.
Nichols’ 1965 debut novel The Sterile Cuckoo was adapted four years later into a film by Alan J. Pakula. It starred Liza Minnelli in her Oscar-nominated role as Pookie, a zany but honest woman who falls for a young man (Wendell Burton) just before he leaves for college.
- 12/2/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Liza Minnelli celebrates her 73rd birthday on March 12, 2019. The multi-talented performer made only a handful of movies during her long career, but how many of them are classics? In honor of her birthday, let’s take a look back at 10 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
The daughter of actress Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, it seems almost inevitable that Minnelli would chase the spotlight. Much like her famous mother, she started performing at an early age, singing and dancing her way to a Tony win for John Kander and Fred Ebbs‘s “Flora the Red Menace” in 1965 when she was just 19 years old. She quickly recorded a series of highly-successful albums, including “Liza! Liza!” (1964), “It Amazes Me” (1965) and “There Is Time” (1966).
SEEOscar Best Actress Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History
She earned her first Oscar nomination as Best Actress for Alan J. Pakula‘s “The Sterile Cuckoo...
The daughter of actress Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, it seems almost inevitable that Minnelli would chase the spotlight. Much like her famous mother, she started performing at an early age, singing and dancing her way to a Tony win for John Kander and Fred Ebbs‘s “Flora the Red Menace” in 1965 when she was just 19 years old. She quickly recorded a series of highly-successful albums, including “Liza! Liza!” (1964), “It Amazes Me” (1965) and “There Is Time” (1966).
SEEOscar Best Actress Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History
She earned her first Oscar nomination as Best Actress for Alan J. Pakula‘s “The Sterile Cuckoo...
- 3/12/2019
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Liza Minnelli celebrates her 73rd birthday on March 12, 2019. The multi-talented performer made only a handful of movies during her long career, but how many of them are classics? In honor of her birthday, let’s take a look back at 10 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
The daughter of actress Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, it seems almost inevitable that Minnelli would chase the spotlight. Much like her famous mother, she started performing at an early age, singing and dancing her way to a Tony win for John Kander and Fred Ebbs‘s “Flora the Red Menace” in 1965 when she was just 19 years old. She quickly recorded a series of highly-successful albums, including “Liza! Liza!” (1964), “It Amazes Me” (1965) and “There Is Time” (1966).
She earned her first Oscar nomination as Best Actress for Alan J. Pakula‘s “The Sterile Cuckoo” (1969), playing an eccentric college student romancing an uptight...
The daughter of actress Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, it seems almost inevitable that Minnelli would chase the spotlight. Much like her famous mother, she started performing at an early age, singing and dancing her way to a Tony win for John Kander and Fred Ebbs‘s “Flora the Red Menace” in 1965 when she was just 19 years old. She quickly recorded a series of highly-successful albums, including “Liza! Liza!” (1964), “It Amazes Me” (1965) and “There Is Time” (1966).
She earned her first Oscar nomination as Best Actress for Alan J. Pakula‘s “The Sterile Cuckoo” (1969), playing an eccentric college student romancing an uptight...
- 3/12/2019
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Wendell Burton, who made his screen debut opposite Liza Minnelli in 1969’s The Sterile Cuckoo and appeared in touchstone 1970s fare like Go Ask Alice, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown and Fortune and Men’s Eyes, died Tuesday at 69 of brain cancer at home in Houston. Burton largely gave up his Hollywood career in the 1980s, becoming a Christian minister and, in 1997, moving to Houston to work with Joel Osteen and the Lakewood Church, first doing business work and later…...
- 6/1/2017
- Deadline
Wendell Burton, who starred with Liza Minnelli in the 1969 film The Sterile Cuckoo, a tale about two college kids in love, has died. He was 69.
Burton died Tuesday at his home in Houston after a 3 1/2-year battle with brain cancer, his daughter, actress Haven Burton, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Burton also starred as America's lovable loser in the 1973 NBC/Hallmark Hall of Fame special You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. That was adapted from the stage, and Burton had played Charlie in a San Francisco production while he was a college...
Burton died Tuesday at his home in Houston after a 3 1/2-year battle with brain cancer, his daughter, actress Haven Burton, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Burton also starred as America's lovable loser in the 1973 NBC/Hallmark Hall of Fame special You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. That was adapted from the stage, and Burton had played Charlie in a San Francisco production while he was a college...
- 6/1/2017
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Oct. 16, 2012
Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Olive Films
The 1969 film The Sterile Cuckoo, an amalgam of comedy, drama and romance, marks the directorial debut of the late filmmaker Alan J. Pakula (All The President’s Men)
Liza Minnelli and Wendell Burton fall for each other in The Sterile Cuckoo.
Liza Minnelli (Lucky Lady) stars as Pookie Adams, a kooky coed who falls in love with a reserved young college student, Jerry Payne (Wendell Burton, Fortune and Men’s Eyes). The eccentric Pookie actively pursues the shy boyish-man and helps him through the tough first months in school. They both benefit from the relationship, with Jerry gaining self-confidence and Pookie finally coming to grips with her unhappy home life. But it’s through their awkward relationship that Pookie actually prepares Jerry for the world of “weirdos” she doesn’t fit in with.
Based on the novelby John Nichols and written by Alvin Sargent,...
Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Olive Films
The 1969 film The Sterile Cuckoo, an amalgam of comedy, drama and romance, marks the directorial debut of the late filmmaker Alan J. Pakula (All The President’s Men)
Liza Minnelli and Wendell Burton fall for each other in The Sterile Cuckoo.
Liza Minnelli (Lucky Lady) stars as Pookie Adams, a kooky coed who falls in love with a reserved young college student, Jerry Payne (Wendell Burton, Fortune and Men’s Eyes). The eccentric Pookie actively pursues the shy boyish-man and helps him through the tough first months in school. They both benefit from the relationship, with Jerry gaining self-confidence and Pookie finally coming to grips with her unhappy home life. But it’s through their awkward relationship that Pookie actually prepares Jerry for the world of “weirdos” she doesn’t fit in with.
Based on the novelby John Nichols and written by Alvin Sargent,...
- 7/30/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
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