Ralph Bakshi: Last News

Baretta actor Ron Thompson has died at the age of 83.The actor famously played the role of Detective Nopke in the 1970s series, and was also known for playing the roles of Tony and Pete Belinsky in the 1981 Ralph Bakshi film American Pop.The news of Thompson’s passing was announced by his friend Professor Rel Dowdell of Hampton University, with confirmation that he died on Saturday (April 13) in Los Angeles – though no cause of death was revealed.“Mr. Ron Thompson was a very versatile and talented character actor in all genres as well as a true and diligent student of the comprehensive craft of acting and all of its nuances,” Dowell said (via Deadline).“He was a very congenial man with a warm and giving spirit, and was well-respected by many luminaries in the film and television industries.”We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Ron Thompson.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Long before Peter Jackson took a swing at “The Lord of the Rings,” audiences got a glimpse into the fantasy realm of J.R.R. Tolkien via a trio of late-’70s animated projects: two animated TV specials produced by Rankin/Bass (of which “The Hobbit” remains fairly well-liked) and a dark and ominous big-screen feature from Ralph Bakshi (director of sci-fi psych-out “Wizards”).

Amazon Prime since 2022 has been doing its own attempt to capture the magic of J.R.R. Tolkein’s wildly popular “Lord Of The Rings” universe with The Rings Of Power, setting it apart from Peter Jackson‘s LOTR and Hobbit trilogies, but still suggesting it is a distant cousin of those films. Now however Jackson himself is behind another incarnation, along with key LOTR contributors Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens who all won a boatload of Oscars and film immortality in the early part of this century with the Lord Of The Rings trilogy of films, each nominated for Best Picture, and finally sweeping it all in 2003 with 11 Academy Awards for LOTR: The Return Of The King. This was followed by a Hobbit trilogy. and that appeared to be it for the Middle Earth adventures of Jackson and company, but now they have found a way back in for producing partner New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Animation by turning Japanese as it were, at least in turning to the world of Japanese Anime and one of its singular current talents, director Kenji Kamiyama (Blade Runner: Black Lotus; Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV Series).

Ron Thompson, a veteran character actor best known for his role in Ralph Bakshi’s rotoscope film American Pop and his 1970s TV series portrayal of Detective Nopke in Baretta, died Saturday at age 83 in Los Angeles. No cause was given by Professor Rel Dowdell of Hampton University, who confirmed the death.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticWhat Westerners don’t know about Noh — the classical Japanese theater form in which masked dancers gracefully interpret supernatural tales — could easily fill a 12-hour PBS documentary. But who wants to watch that? Certainly not the audience renegade anime director Masaaki Yuasa is after with “Inu-oh,” a rowdy punk alternative focusing on two social rejects whose defiantly original performance style broke all the rules and elevated them to rock-star status, only to be (all but) forgotten by history.Among the most unpredictable artists of his medium, Yuasa specializes in trippy, off-the-wall anime features such as “Mind Game” and “Night Is Short, Walk On Girl” that recall the work of psychedelic toonsmith Ralph Bakshi at his anti-establishment extreme (“Coonskin,” “Wizards”).

Wilson Chapman editorIn DreamWorks’ “The Bad Guys,” Marc Maron voices Mr. Snake, the second-in-command of a group of criminal animals attempting to pull off a major heist. However, Maron admitted to Variety at the film’s premiere on Tuesday in Los Angeles that he doesn’t like animated movies.“I’m not a big animated movie guy, my sense of animation goes back to when I was in high school and Ralph Bakshi’s ‘Wizards’ came out,” Maron said, referencing the 1977 sci-fi film.

While fans of of J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary excursions to Middle Earth are anticipating Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming “Lord of the Rings” series, they’re no doubt aware of Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy, which spanned from 2001 until 2003.

By Erik Pedersen, Tom Tapp