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      in Music

      Bill Hayes, Longtime Star of ‘Days of Our Lives,’ Dies at 98

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      He logged more than 2,000 episodes on the enduring soap opera. He also rode the Davy Crockett craze to a hit single in 1955.Bill Hayes, an actor and singer whose 2,141 episodes of “Days of Our Lives” over five and a half decades constituted the daytime drama version of an ultramarathon, and whose top-selling 1955 single, “The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” remains seared into the memories of the baby boom generation, died on Jan. 12 at his home in Studio City, Calif. He was 98.His wife and longtime co-star, Susan Seaforth Hayes, confirmed his death.To soap opera fans, Mr. Hayes was a staple of weekday afternoons from the days of rabbit-ear antennas into the streaming era.He began his tenure on the long-running NBC show in 1970. His character, Doug Williams, was a suave and slippery con artist who, after leaving prison, found himself padding through the maze of the plot twists, double-crosses and big reveals that day after day drew viewers back to the fictional Midwestern town of Salem.In 1976, two years after Mr. Hayes married Susan Seaforth in real life, their characters wed on “Days of Our Lives” in an episode that drew 16 million viewers.NBC, via Getty ImagesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

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      Glen Powell at the Sundance Film Festival

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      The star and co-writer of “Hit Man” heard that his film had wowed audiences, but because of the actors’ strike, he couldn’t see for himself until now.Glen Powell doesn’t want for much these days, after co-starring in “Top Gun: Maverick” and watching his new film, the romantic comedy “Anyone but You,” cross $100 million at the worldwide box office. Still, for the past few months, there was one little thing he felt he had missed out on.It has to do with “Hit Man,” a comedy Powell co-wrote with the director Richard Linklater that casts him as a hapless teacher who must pose as an assassin for hire. I first saw it at the Venice Film Festival in September, where it proved so crowd-pleasing that the audience broke into applause midway through the movie. A week later at the Toronto International Film Festival, the response was also through the roof.But for months, Powell had only heard about all that secondhand. Since the Screen Actors Guild strike was still going strong during the fall tests, Powell wasn’t able to attend a premiere of “Hit Man” until it played Monday night at the Sundance Film Festival. Afterward, he called me from a car that was speeding him toward celebratory drinks.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

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      Hillary Clinton on ‘Barbie’ Snubs: You’re ‘More Than Kenough’

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      The former presidential candidate joined the chorus of disappointment in the omission of Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie from the best director and best actress Oscar categories.It was hard for fans of last year’s blockbuster film “Barbie” to ignore the twist of fate on Tuesday when Greta Gerwig, the movie’s director, and Margot Robbie, its titular star, were shut out of the best director and best actress Oscar categories. It could have quite literally been a plot point in the movie, which serves as a lesson on the patriarchal structures that shape our institutions and our ways of thinking.On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton joined the conversation by posting a message to Gerwig and Robbie on social media. “Greta & Margot, while it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you,” Clinton wrote. “You’re both so much more than Kenough,” she added, referencing a phrase that shows up on Ken’s sweatshirt in the film.Perhaps the message couldn’t have come from a more appropriate public figure than Clinton, a former secretary of state who, of course, lost the presidential election in 2016 to Donald Trump despite winning the popular vote.She was just one of many to share their dismay about Gerwig and Robbie being snubbed while the film itself earned eight nominations — including for best picture; for best actor, for Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken; and for best supporting actress, for America Ferrera.On Tuesday, after the nominations were read, Gosling issued a lengthy statement expressing his disappointment: “No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius,” he wrote. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ferrera called their work “phenomenal” and said that they both “deserve to be acknowledged for the history they made, for the ground they broke, for the beautiful artistry.”Billie Jean King, the tennis champion who won equal pay for women at the 1973 U.S. Open, posted on Wednesday that she was “really upset about #Barbie being snubbed, especially in the Best Director category.”“The movie is absolutely brilliant,” King wrote, “and Greta Gerwig is a genius.” More

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      in Television

      This ‘Expats’ Star Can’t Believe She’s Actually in It

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      Watching scenes of herself with Nicole Kidman, Ji-young Yoo said that “it still feels like I was Photoshopped in.” The Amazon series is one of three big coming projects for the 24-year-old.In “Expats,” the actress Ji-young Yoo, a relative newcomer to Hollywood, shares the screen with Nicole Kidman, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress and producer. Yoo plays Mercy, a Columbia grad and would-be babysitter for the young son of Kidman’s Margaret, a former landscape architect and a mother of three living, none too happily, in Hong Kong. When Mercy loses her charge in a moment of distraction (yes, she was texting), it sends Margaret into — well, just imagine how Nicole Kidman might react if, say, you were texting and you lost her child.Yoo, 24, and a film student only a few years ago — “I used to watch ‘Moulin Rouge’ with my mom constantly,” she said — finds all of it difficult to believe even now, two years after shooting wrapped on the six-episode miniseries.“When I watch the scenes with me and Nicole, it still feels like I was Photoshopped in,” she said in an interview last month.Premiering on Friday, the Amazon series tells the story of three women, all of them expatriates, living in Hong Kong amid the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests. It is Yoo’s first starring role in a series — she is one of three leads, with Kidman and Sarayu Blue (“To All the Boys”) — and also the director Lulu Wang’s first project since her critically acclaimed 2019 sleeper hit “The Farewell.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

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      Gary Graham, ‘Alien Nation’ and ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ Actor, Dies at 73

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      In a 50-year acting career, Mr. Graham appeared in several shows, including “Starsky and Hutch” and “The Incredible Hulk.” But it was in science fiction where he made his biggest mark.Gary Graham, a veteran actor best known for portraying Ambassador Soval on the television show “Star Trek: Enterprise” and the detective Matthew Sikes in the “Alien Nation” franchise, died on Monday at his home in Spokane Valley, Wash. He was 73.His death was confirmed by his wife, Becky Graham, who said the cause was cardiac arrest.After studying pre-med at the University of California, Irvine, Mr. Graham’s first credited role came in 1976, when he appeared in an episode of “The Quest,” a western series starring Kurt Russell and Tim Matheson. That role led to appearances in “Starsky and Hutch,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “The Dukes of Hazzard” and other television series.His first regular role in a series was in the “Alien Nation” franchise, which began as a 1988 film starring Terence Stamp, Mandy Patinkin and James Caan. In 1989, Fox adapted it as a television show about extraterrestrials adjusting to life in Los Angeles and trying to blend in. Mr. Graham was cast as Matthew Sikes, the human detective whom Mr. Caan had played in the film. He was paired with Eric Pierpoint as George Francisco, a “Newcomer,” as members of the alien species were called.The show ran for only one season, but it was rebooted for multiple television movies, including “Alien Nation: Dark Horizon” in 1994 and “Alien Nation: Body and Soul” in 1995.Mr. Graham, right, with Eric Pierpoint in “Alien Nation.”AlamyMr. Graham also played Soval, a Vulcan ambassador to Earth, in 12 episodes of “Star Trek: Enterprise,” which served as a prequel to the original series. It wasn’t Mr. Graham’s first experience with the “Star Trek” franchise. He had also played Tanis, a member of the Ocampa species, in an episode of “Star Trek: Voyager.”As with other notable portrayals of Vulcans, such as Leonard Nimoy’s Spock, Mr. Graham skillfully depicted a race practiced in suppressing emotion and employing logic as a primary driver of life.After “Enterprise,” Mr. Graham took part in unofficial “Star Trek” fan-produced projects, including the 2007 film “Star Trek: Of Gods And Men.”Gary Rand Graham was born in Long Beach, Calif., on June 7, 1950, and grew up in Anaheim, Calif. His father, Ralph Graham, was a surgeon, and his mother, Rosemary (Taggert), was a homemaker.Mr. Graham’s marriages to Susan Lavelle and Diane Graham ended in divorce. In addition to his wife, Mr. Graham is survived by a daughter from his marriage to Ms. Lavelle, Haylee Graham; his sisters, Colleen Bertucci and Jeannine Michele Graham; and two stepchildren from his marriage to Ms. Graham, Scott and Steve Deer. More

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      in Movies

      Jeffrey Wright on His Oscar Nomination for ‘American Fiction’

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      Jeffrey Wright had taken precautionary measures as he awaited news of the Oscar nominations for best actor on Tuesday morning in Brooklyn.“I didn’t have screens on beyond my phone, which I kept an eye on,” the “American Fiction” star said. “I was afraid that I might do damage to one of the screens if the news were different. So I just let the phone tell me what had happened and it started to light up and it seemed that the news was good.”Indeed, Wright received his first best actor nomination for his portrayal of Thelonious Ellison, an author whose works no one reads until, in a moment of fury, he composes a story overflowing with Black clichés under a pseudonym, and it becomes a best seller. The performance has already earned him Critics Choice, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations.Did he really think he might not hear his name?“One never knows,” he said. Still, “I’m really proud of this film and the work that all of us put into it. We thought while we were making it that we might be onto something good and something interesting and topical, but also buoyant. We thought we might be making a special film, and it seems that audiences who have taken it in have appreciated the story in the ways that we did.”In a video interview, Wright spoke about his character, known as Monk, as a dream role, and why the film’s Oscar nominations — including best picture; adapted screenplay for its director, Cord Jefferson; supporting actor for Sterling K. Brown; and original score for Laura Karpman — matter.Will he do anything special to mark this milestone?“Yeah, I’m going to celebrate by driving my daughter back to college in a few hours,” he said, chuckling. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

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      Paul Giamatti on His Oscar Nomination

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      For the second time now, an Alexander Payne movie has changed Paul Giamatti’s life.The first, “Sideways” (2004), established the actor as a leading man with a distinctly compelling screen presence. The second, “The Holdovers,” released last fall, earned him his first Academy Award nomination in the best actor category, announced early Tuesday morning.For Giamatti, 56, the news caps a busy awards season in which he has already received nominations from the BAFTAs and the Screen Actors Guild and won a Golden Globe. In a phone interview from his home in Brooklyn hours after it was announced, the actor shared how he was processing the news. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.Giamatti opposite Dominic Sessa in “The Holdovers.”Focus FeaturesHow do you feel?I don’t know! I’m not quite sure what to think. It’s a strange thing. It’s very, very nice. I’m very happy, but I’m also just sort of flabbergasted.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

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      Oscar Snubs and Surprises: Greta Gerwig, Leonardo DiCaprio and More

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      Though “Oppenheimer” made an explosive showing when the Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday morning, plenty of other would-be contenders failed to launch. As your Projectionist, here’s my analysis of the morning’s biggest surprises and omissions.Greta Gerwig misses a directing nomination.With her billion-dollar blockbuster, “Barbie,” Greta Gerwig set a Hollywood record for the highest-grossing movie ever directed by a woman. Still, even that major milestone wasn’t enough to earn her a spot in the Oscars’ best director lineup: Though “Barbie” managed eight nominations, including best picture, Gerwig was snubbed by the directors branch that nominated her six years ago for “Lady Bird.” It was a mixed showing overall for the hit comedy, which missed some other hoped-for nominations for cinematography, editing and best actress for Margot Robbie. But it did at least pull off a dark-horse supporting actress nod for America Ferrera alongside an expected supporting-actor nomination for Ryan Gosling.An otherwise strong showing for female filmmakers.For the first time in Oscar history, three of the best-picture nominees were directed by women: “Barbie,” Celine Song’s “Past Lives” and Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall.” Still, that landmark moment could have been lost in the furor if the directors branch had put forth a lineup made up entirely of men, as many pundits feared it might. Though Gerwig and Song were both snubbed for best director, at least the category found room for Triet, who’d previously won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for her twisty legal drama.Young male actors still can’t break through.The academy has never had a problem nominating young actresses: In fact, seven of the 10 actresses recognized this year are 40 or under. That same interest in ingénues does not apply to the male categories, however. Despite worthy contenders in the mix like Charles Melton (“May December”) and Dominic Sessa (“The Holdovers”), all 10 of the actors nominated were over 40, further proof that the Oscars prefer their men more grizzled if they’re meant to be taken seriously.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More