Last surviving CITIZEN KANE actor is dead

[Harvey Chartrand]

From Entertainment Insiders obituary column:
http://www.einsiders.com/features/colum ... uaries.php

SONNY BUPP Died Nov. 1, 2007

Former child actor Sonny Bupp died at age 79. Mr. Bupp appeared in over 60 films during his career. He played Orson Welles son in the classic "Citizen Kane." Mr. Bupp was one of the last surviving cast member of that film. He also appeared in Ronald Reagan's first film "Love is in the Air." The photo at right is of Mr. Bupp with William 'Hopalong Cassidy' Boyd in the 1939 film "The Renegade Trail." Among Mr. Bupp's other credits "Annie Oakley" with Barbara Stanwyck, "Kid Millions," the classic Ronald Coleman version of "Lost Horizon," "Angels With Dirty Faces," "Tennessee Johnson" and "The Devil and Daniel Webster." I spoke with his widow Theresa Bupp. She stated that she appreciated the outpouring from his fans, but she was a bit overwhelmed at the moment and wasn't sure when she would be able to respond to all the cards and letters. She would appreciate your patience in her time of transition. Mr. Bupp served his country in the US Army during WWII. As an adult, Mr. Bupp worked as an auto industry exec. Thanks for the service to your country.

[Harvey Chartrand]

Doesn't anybody here give a damn that Sonny Bupp is dead? The old man who just passed away was once the boy who asked his Mom if his Dad Charles Foster Kane would be president – 67 long years ago. That warrants a few tributes and words of sympathy at Wellesnet, wouldn't you say? Glenn, where are you?

[Glenn Anders]

Crikey! Harvey: I noted that he was the last surviving member of the cast, and provided all this information (except for his death), some months ago.

Obviously, we have closed a circle, or . . . "Wound the charm up."

The Old Man, Citizen Kane, as played by Orson Welles, has died again, at last, in the person of Sonny Bupp, who played him as a child in 1941, when he was relatively happy, before he became famous.

Sonny almost died that same year, not in a car accident, but in a run-away buggy on the set of William Dieterle's THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER, but he survived quietly, to die suddenly and briefly famous again, the other week.

That is one of the messages of, CITIZEN KANE, the Greatest of American Movies.

His widow may indeed be overwhelmed by so much sudden, fleeting attention, after so many decades.

Indeed, Harvey, who will remember us?

Condolences to all.

Glenn

[Jeff Wilson]

Glenn, you're referring to Buddy Swan's role, but the sentiment remains the same. RIP Sonny Bupp.

[Glenn Anders]

Thanks, Jeff, for the correction. Just proves that quick reactions are generally not the best.

Speaking of quick reactions, it may be that Harvey and I were jumping the gun, as it were. When I checked the cast list of CITIZEN KANE at the IMDb just now, I discovered that Richard Baer, Welles' factotum after John Houseman departed, is also listed as "Hillman (uncredited)," and is, as far as I can see, still alive. Not the Nazi war criminal nor the psychiatrist of the same name, he is said to have worked on revisions of Welles' Danton's Death production, and gone on to a long career writing TV scripts for top series.

If true, this is curious because, if born in 1928, he would have been just a boy when he started writing, and turned in his single acting performance on film.

He recently published a memoir as a kind of E-book, I Don't Drop Names Like Marilyn Monroe Just Sell Books, but seemingly makes no mention of Welles.

Can there be yet another Richard Baer in Hollywood, does anyone know? Have they become confused?

And is it possible that any of those healthy young (and generally long-lived) dancers at Kane's celebration are still alive? Most of them never worked in pictures again, and so are in oblivion.

Glenn

[Harvey Chartrand]

By the saints, Glenn, the heading for that thread wasn't LAST SURVIVING CITIZEN KANE EXTRA DIES.
If there are any surviving bit players, be nice if they stepped forward and shared some memories with us Wellesnetters.

[Glenn Anders]

You may be right, Harvey, but my guess is that a number of these survivors, should they exist, did have a line or two in CITIZEN KANE, at least some of them sang.

"Is there anyone out there? . . . Anyone?"

Glenn

[François Thomas]

Glenn:

Producer Richard Barr (formerly, Baer) worked on Broadway. He died in 1989 at the age of 71.

His credits on ibdb:

http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=14117

He gave at least one interview about Welles: he can be seen in a French documentary called Citizen Welles first shown in 1974.

François

[Glenn Anders]

Thank you, Francois.

I knew that a Richard Barr had died, but since I had seen both names mentioned in books or articles, I thought they might be two people. I should have checked it out.

Another doppelganger in the woodwork!

Glenn