Actors who died with various diseases Part-V

Ken Hughes - (March 30th, 2002)

Ken Hughes, the veteran screenwriter and director of the popular movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang died at 79. He had been ill for some time with Alzheimer's disease.

Hughes also directed The Trials of Oscar Wilde, which starred Peter Finchand and made a version of Of Human Bondage, with Kim Novak and Laurence Harvey. He directed Mae West in Sextette - the last film she made and he was one of several directors to work on the James Bond spoof Casino Royale. His 1980 drama Cromwell, starring Sir Alec Guinness and Richard Harris, was highly acclaimed.



Barry Took - (March 31st, 2002)

Barry Took, one of Britain's most famous comedians and comic writers who helped produce such shows as "Monty Python's Flying Circus," died at the age of 73 after a battle with cancer.

He was responsible for celebrated radio series like "The Army Game," "Educating Archie" and "Bootsie and Snudge," and co-wrote the hugely popular 1960s radio comedy "Round the Horne" with well-known funnyman Marty Feldman.The shows were a vital part of British life in the austere decades after World War II, when food rationing lasted for years and the country struggled to adjust to its diminished role in the world. Took also worked on the U.S. television show, "Laugh In" and wrote the television show "Bootsie and Snudge."


John Agar - (April 7th, 2002)


Western, Horror and War film actor John Agar died of complications from emphysema at the age of 81.

Agar was best remembered for his marriage to child star Shirley Temple. The pair appeared together in two films, "Fort Apache" and "Adventure in Baltimore," and she gave birth to a daughter, Susan, in 1948. Troubled by Agar's excessive drinking and many flirtations, Shirley filed for divorce in 1949. Agar continued acting in Westerns such as "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and "Along the Great Divide," and war movies "Sands of Iwo Jima" and "Breakthrough." His divorce from Temple and his alcoholism, which led to arrests for drunk driving, lowered his appeal. He later made schlock horror movies with titles such as "Revenge of the Creature," "Tarantula," "The Mole People," "Daughter of Dr. Jekyll" and "Journey to the Seventh Planet." John Wayne had appeared with him in "Fort Apache" and "Sands of Iwo Jima," and tried to revive Agar's career by casting him in "The Undefeated," "Chisum" and "Big Jake." Agar's last major film was the 1976 remake of "King Kong."