Mark Damon Dies: ‘Monster’ Film Producer, Sales Executive & Spaghetti Western Actor Was 91

Happy post-conviction day? Yesterday, Donald Trump became the first former American President to be convicted of felony crimes as a jury found him guilty on all 34 charges in his scheme to influence the 2016 election with his hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels who said the two engaged in sex while he was married to his current wife (oh, and he has three more criminal cases to deal with too). Trump has also been in the news for the film, “The Apprentice,” starring Sebastian Stan, which premiered at the recent Cannes Film Festival to solid reviews.

Stephen J. Rivele, the screenwriter whose 1995 collaboration on Nixon with Oliver Stone and longtime writing partner Christopher Wilkinson earned the trio an Oscar nomination, died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Pasadena, California, on May 17. He was 75.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Lisa Valentino, a senior executive at Disney Advertising Sales who had in the past been tasked with several of the unit’s digital initiatives, has left the company, according to people familiar with the matter, even as Disney is in the midst of its “upfront” talks with advertisers. Valentino had been working her second stint at Disney, most recently as executive vice president of category sales and client solutions. In the recent past, she had touted some of Disney’s most critical new ad-tech to clients.

Elizabeth MacRae, known for her recurring roles in General Hospital and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., has died. She was 88.

General Hospital actor Johnny Wactor was protecting his female coworker when he was fatally shot on Saturday (May 25) morning in Los Angeles, his brother has revealed.Grant Wactor, the younger brother of Johnny, spoke to Daily Mail yesterday (May 27) about the tragic incident. He said Johnny had finished his side job as a bartender and left his place of work with a coworker when “he came across [the three men] and he thought his truck was being towed”.“So he said something to the guys, like, ‘Hey, are you towing?’ And then once he turned around, he saw what was happening and he put his coworker behind him,” Grant recounted.

Actor Johnny Wactor had just finished a bartending shift and was walking an unidentified female co-worker to her car when he was shot and killed by thieves apparently attempting to steal a catalytic converter from his car.

Johnny Wactor, a General Hospital actor, has died. He was 37.

Five years ago, Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi broke out internationally with the Oscar-nominated “Border,” a thorny little beast of a fable about love, complicity, and guilt. His latest prods at some of the same themes, although the thorny little beast at the center of “The Apprentice” is far from a fictional creature of fables.

Fundamental Films chairman Mark Gao and his CEO Ivy Hua are in Cannes to reconnect with the international industry as part of the Shanghai-based company’s return to international acquisitions and production. 

Dabney Coleman, an Emmy winner whose six-decade career included a sterling run of hit movies in the ’80s such as 9 to 5, On Golden Pond and Tootsie and whose TV work included ranges from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman to Buffalo Bill to Yellowstone, has died, according to TMZ. He was 92.

EXCLUSIVE: Highland Film Group is launching international sales on the action film Alarum starring Sylvester Stallone, Scott Eastwood, and Willa Fitzgerald, which has just wrapped principal photography. 

she’s on a weight loss drug that isn’t Ozempic while chatting with Whoopi Goldberg on her talk show, “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” on Monday.Clarkson said she realized she was overweight when she watched footage of herself from a never-released birthday show filmed last April at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles. “Seeing yourself … I didn’t see it,” she admitted of her 2023 weight. “I was watching it.

EXCLUSIVE: Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) has signed on to star in My One and Only, a psychological thriller from writer-director Wayne Kramer (The Cooler) that’s being presented for worldwide sales at Cannes by Film Bridge International.

Ed Harris (Appaloosa, Pollock) will direct his own adaptation of Kim Zupan’s 2014 novel The Ploughmen with Owen Teague, Nick Nolte, and Bill Murray signed on to star. 

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Mark Damon, an actor-turned-independent sales executive who was a force in the foreign sales world and at film markets for many decades, died Sunday in Los Angeles, according to his wife. He was 91. Damon won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer for his starring role in 1960’s “House of Usher” for director Roger Corman, who died Thursday, then went on to appear in numerous Spaghetti Westerns and other B-movies shot in Europe, from “Johnny Yuma” to Mario Bava’s “Black Sabbath.” Born Alan Harris in Chicago, Damon earned an MBA at UCLA, then moved to Rome where he established a busy acting career.

Rudy Moreno, a veteran of the Los Angeles comedy circuit and an actor who appeared in numerous TV shows, has died at 66.

James Laurenson, the British actor whose 50-year career included roles in Coronation Street, Midsomer Murders and The Crown, had died. He was 84.

Alex Ritman Filming is now underway on action adventure movie “Afterburn,” starring Dave Bautista (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Dune”) and Samuel L. Jackson (“The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” “Django Unchained”) with Olga Kurylenko (“Quantum of Solace,” “Black Widow”) and Kristofer Hivju (“The Gentlemen,” “Cocaine Bear”) rounding out the cast. The film is directed by J.J.

Following a highly successful collaboration on Hulu’s Pam & Tommy, Sebastian Stan and Lily James are set to reteam on Let the Evil Go West, a psychological horror thriller from director Christian Tafdrup (Speak No Evil).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Indie Sales is re-teaming with rising Belgian filmmaker Laura Wandel on her sophomore feature “In Adam’s Interest,” having previously sold around the world her critically acclaimed feature debut “Playground” which premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. “In Adam’s Interest” also reunites Wandel with producer Stéphane Lhoest at Belgium’s Dragons Films, and is produced by Delphine Tomson at Les Films du Fleuve, the Dardenne’ brothers banner. Co-producers are Jan de Clercq at Lunanime, who will release the film in Benelux under his distribution company Lumière; and Marie-Ange Luciani‘s Les Films de Pierre, the Oscar-nominated outfit behind “Anatomy of a Fall.” Memento will release “In Adam’s Interest” in French theaters.