Entertainment
Bruce Willis is not alone: Other celebrities diagnosed with aphasia
The household of Bruce Willis introduced Wednesday that the actor has been recognized with aphasia, a neurological situation that impacts an individual’s skill to know and talk with others.
In consequence, the “Sixth Sense” and “Die Laborious” star is “stepping away” from performing, his family members mentioned in a heartfelt assertion. Based on the Nationwide Aphasia Assn., the situation is an acquired communication dysfunction that impairs the flexibility to course of language, however doesn’t have an effect on intelligence.
“It is a actually difficult time for our household and we’re so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and assist,” the Willis household mentioned Wednesday.
“We’re transferring by way of this as a powerful household unit, and needed to carry his followers in as a result of we all know how a lot he means to you, as you do to him. As Bruce all the time says, ‘Reside it up’ and collectively we plan to just do that.”
In his aphasia battle, Willis just isn’t alone. A number of entertainers have beforehand spoken about their experiences with the dysfunction, which is usually seen in stroke victims.
Under are different actors and musicians who’ve skilled aphasia.
Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell on tour in 2012.
(Danny Johnston / Related Press)
In 2011, country-pop singer and guitarist Campbell introduced he had been recognized with Alzheimer’s illness, telling Individuals journal that he nonetheless beloved making music and performing.
In an August 2017 interview with USA In the present day, Campbell’s spouse, Kimberly Woolen, mentioned the musician was additionally battling aphasia and had misplaced most of his language, in addition to his skill to understand phrases. Generally he tried to sing and succeeded in making sounds.
“However he nonetheless has his essence,” she mentioned.
Campbell died that month at age 81.
Dick Clark
Dick Clark in 1987.
(Related Press)
After struggling a stroke in 2004, leisure icon Clark needed to relearn the way to stroll and discuss. Signs of the stroke included slurred, slowed speech and partial paralysis, however Clark “refused to stop,” mentioned Dr. Larry Goldstein, a professor of drugs and director of the stroke middle at Duke College and spokesman for the American Stroke Assn.
“I watched him yr by yr on the [‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’] countdown present, and I might see small however regular enchancment yr after yr,” Goldstein advised The Instances in 2012.
“That’s essential to sufferers who marvel if they will get better, or wonder if all of the remedy and laborious work is value it. Restoration is available in levels, and he confirmed that.”
Clark died in 2012 at age 82.
Emilia Clarke
Emilia Clarke in 2020.
(Vianney Le Caer / Invision / AP)
In 2019, “Sport of Thrones” star Clarke revealed she had suffered two life-threatening mind aneurysms. After filming the primary season of the hit fantasy collection, the actor grew to become “violently, voluminously unwell” and felt “taking pictures, stabbing, constricting ache” in her head that landed her in an English hospital.
At age 24, she underwent surgical procedure to seal off the aneurysm. She additionally skilled aphasia and at her “worst moments,” needed to die on the hospital.
By March 2019, the Emmy nominee had absolutely recovered.
“I do know from private expertise that the impression of mind harm is shattering,” Clarke mentioned in a press release for her brain-injury charity SameYou.
“Restoration is long run, and rehabilitation could be troublesome to entry. Mind harm could be an invisible sickness, and the topic is usually taboo. We should assist younger adults take management of their restoration and permit them to open up with out concern of stigma or disgrace.”
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas in 1982.
(Related Press )
In 1996, display legend Douglas suffered a stroke that impaired his speech. The Oscar-nominated actor was vocal about how the occasion affected him emotionally, telling The Instances in 1999 that he “would pull down the blinds, crawl into mattress and cry” whereas experiencing melancholy.
He later performed a stroke survivor within the 1999 comedy-adventure “Diamonds” and appeared in just a few different film and TV initiatives earlier than his demise in 2020 at age 103.
“After a stroke, I made two movies with impaired speech,” Douglas wrote in his 2002 memoir “My Stroke of Luck.”
“Now I’m ready for one more half to play earlier than the solar sinks beneath the horizon. You possibly can’t cease an actor.”
Based on the Nationwide Aphasia Assn., Douglas as soon as mentioned he “realized that we take too many issues as a right on this world — even speech.”
“When you’ve a stroke your thoughts thinks shortly however your speech reacts very slowly,” he continued.
“It’s a must to learn to use your tongue, your lips, your enamel. … In fact, I do my speech workout routines every single day. Once I requested my speech therapist how lengthy would I’ve to do my workout routines, her reply was, ‘Till you die.’”
Julie Harris
Julie Harris in 1994.
(Jim Cooper / Related Press )
Earlier than dying of congestive coronary heart failure in 2013 at age 87, Broadway star Harris suffered two strokes: in 2001 and 2010.
Based on the Nationwide Aphasia Assn., the Tony winner initially handled her stroke-induced aphasia with speech remedy, and the American Stroke Assn. reported that the remedy helped enhance her vocabulary however not her fluency.
By means of the College of Michigan Aphasia Program, Harris discovered new methods to dwell with the situation and converse with others after enrolling in 23 hours of speech remedy per week for six weeks, the Nationwide Aphasia Assn. states.
Terry Jones
Terry Jones in 2010.
(Chris Pizzello / Related Press)
Proper earlier than Jones was set to obtain a particular award from the British Academy of Movie and Tv Arts in 2010 for his contributions to movie and TV, a consultant for the Monty Python star revealed he had “been recognized with main progressive aphasia, a variant of frontotemporal dementia.”
“This sickness impacts his skill to speak and he’s not capable of give interviews,” the assertion continued. “Terry is proud and honoured to be recognised on this means and is wanting ahead to the celebrations.”
Jones died in January 2020 at his dwelling in London. He was 77.
Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal in 2008.
(Mark Humphrey / Related Press)
Shortly after finishing her first day of manufacturing on the 1966 drama “Seven Girls,” actor Neal suffered three consecutive strokes whereas pregnant together with her fifth little one.
When she awoke from a coma, the Oscar winner was partially blind and paralyzed on the correct facet of her physique. She couldn’t converse or bear in mind something.
Three months later, Neal had recovered considerably from the paralysis and was capable of joke with reporters about her problem talking.
In a 2016 essay for the Guardian, a health care provider and buddy of Neal’s husband — the late creator Roald Dahl — mentioned the performer “struggled with the names of objects and other people” and “invented new” phrases to speak.
This progressive means of talking finally influenced the titular character in Dahl’s basic novel “The BFG.” Within the e book, the Huge Pleasant Large explains, “I can’t be serving to it if I typically is saying issues slightly squiggly … Phrases is oh such a twitch tickling downside to me all my life.”
In 2010, Neal died of lung most cancers at her dwelling in Massachusetts. She was 84.
Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone in 2021.
(Evan Agostini / Invision/AP)
In 2001, actor Stone suffered a stroke she as soon as described to The Instances as a “huge nine-day mind bleed.” Afterward, she mentioned, “studying to learn and write once more … was a humbling expertise.”
Based on the Nationwide Aphasia Assn., the 64-year-old “Fundamental Intuition” star additionally skilled speech impediments, together with a stutter and aphasia, because of the aneurysm.
“I grew to become extra emotionally clever” after the stroke, Stone advised Harper’s Bazaar in 2015.
“I selected to work very laborious to open up different components of my thoughts. Now I’m stronger. And I could be abrasively direct. That scares individuals, however I believe that’s not my downside. … It’s like, I’ve mind injury; you’ll simply need to cope with it.”
The medical occasion affected Stone’s performing profession as nicely: “I took smaller components and constructed up a physique of labor utterly totally different from the factor I obtained caught into by the half the place I wasn’t taken critically,” she advised The Instances in 2018. She has since used her platform to lift consciousness for stroke victims.
Randy Travis
Randy Travis performs on the 2013 CMA Music Competition in Nashville.
(Amy Harris / Invision/AP)
Whereas present process surgical procedure for congestive coronary heart failure, nation singer Travis suffered a stroke at a Texas hospital in 2013. 4 years later, the musician’s spouse, Mary Davis Travis, advised Individuals journal his reminiscence was “as sharp because it ever was.”
“Every little thing’s up there,” she mentioned. “It’s simply the aphasia [loss of speech] and getting it out that’s the irritating half.”
She spoke out once more in 2021 at a digital occasion for the Houston Aphasia Restoration Heart, saying, that she and her husband had by no means heard the time period aphasia earlier than going to the primary rehab hospital after his stroke.
The time period is one “that individuals are not acquainted with till they need to cross that highway,” Mary Travis mentioned, noting that a big majority of Individuals don’t know what aphasia is or have by no means heard of it.
“That being attention-grabbing,” she mentioned, “as a result of it’s extra widespread than Parkinson’s, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, but individuals aren’t acquainted with it. There’s 800,000 strokes a yr, and as much as a 3rd to 40% of these individuals are left with the aphasia.”
Instances employees author Nardine Saad contributed to this report.
Miss You, a romantic comedy film starring Siddharth and Ashika Ranganath, is directed by Rajasekhar. The movie, released in theaters on December 13 last year, is now streaming on Amazon Prime from January 10. It weaves a mix of humor, emotions, and romance, appealing to family audiences.
Plot Summary:
The tale begins in Chennai, where Vasu (Siddharth) resides with his family. Aspiring to become a film director, Vasu is determined and passionate about his goals. However, his honesty and short temper often land him in trouble. One such incident involves him filing a police complaint against the son of a powerful minister, Chinarayudu (Sharath Lohithaswa), in connection with a murder case. Enraged, the minister orchestrates an accident to harm Vasu.
The accident leaves Vasu with amnesia, erasing all memories of the past two years. Since Vasu no longer remembers the incident, Chinarayudu decides to leave him alone. As Vasu recovers, he befriends Bobby (Karunakaran), who later takes him to Bangalore. Bobby owns a large coffee shop there, where Vasu starts working casually. During this time, he meets Subbalakshmi (Ashika Ranganath).
The moment Vasu sees Subbalakshmi, he falls deeply in love with her. When he confesses his feelings, she bluntly rejects him. Undeterred, Vasu decides to win her over with the help of his parents and returns to Chennai. He shows her photo to his family and expresses his love for her. However, his parents and friends are taken aback and strongly oppose the idea of their marriage, stating that it is impossible.
Why do they oppose the match? Who is Subbalakshmi, and what is her connection to Vasu’s forgotten past? The answers to these questions form the crux of the story.
Analysis:
Director Rajasekhar blends love, comedy, and family emotions into Miss You. The narrative is divided into two distinct halves: the first half builds the premise and mystery, while the second half focuses on uncovering the truth. The story’s unpredictability keeps the audience engaged.
The interactions between the hero and heroine, particularly a few key scenes, are impactful and relatable. The antagonist’s character is well-written and only appears when essential, maintaining the suspense. The emotional depth between the heroine and her father is another standout element.
While the narrative starts slowly, the screenplay gains momentum with each scene, making it compelling. The film offers fresh storytelling elements and relatable content for family audiences. However, the title, Miss You, may have failed to resonate with theatregoers, potentially impacting its box office performance.
Performances:
- Siddharth: Delivers a commendable performance, portraying Vasu’s emotional struggles with finesse. His depiction of a character caught between a confusing past and a chaotic present is impressive.
- Ashika Ranganath: Captivates with her glamorous appearance and expressive performance. Her emotional depth and chemistry with Siddharth are noteworthy.
- Karunakaran: Provides comic relief and serves as a reliable support to Siddharth’s character.
Technical Aspects:
- Direction: Rajasekhar’s ability to blend humour, romance, and drama works well for the narrative, making it appealing for a wide audience.
- Cinematography: Venkatesh’s visuals are striking, especially in key emotional and romantic scenes. The use of traditional attire, particularly Ashika’s saree sequences, adds elegance.
- Music: Ghibran’s songs are average, but his background score elevates the emotional impact of the film.
- Editing: Dinesh ensures a neat and concise narrative flow, keeping the film engaging despite its slow start.
Final Verdict:
While Miss You features heartfelt drama and family-friendly content, its title may have misled the audience into perceiving it as a dubbing film. Nevertheless, it offers a good mix of emotions and humor, making it a watchable family entertainer.
Entertainment
Pasadena Playhouse cancels 'Anything Goes,' 'Follies' concerts as fires threaten L.A. theater scene
Pasadena Playhouse producing artistic director Danny Feldman first had the idea years ago: concert stagings of classic American musicals, each featuring an all-star cast and a full orchestra.
The Tony-winning regional theater scheduled the shows for back-to-back weekends, three performances each, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium: Cole Porter’s 1934 comedy “Anything Goes,” starring Jinkx Monsoon, Wayne Brady and J. Harrison Ghee and directed by Annie Tippe, on Jan. 25 and 26; and Stephen Sondheim’s 1971 composition “Follies,” led by Rachel Bay Jones, Stephanie J. Block, Derrick Baskin and Aaron Lazar and directed by Leigh Silverman, on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
But on Tuesday, multiple fires began to spread throughout areas of Los Angeles, killing 10 people and destroying thousands of homes, businesses and cultural institutions. The Eaton fire, which has burned 13,956 acres and structures in Altadena and Pasadena, spurred mandatory evacuations and official warnings about not consuming the region’s smoke-filled air and contaminated tap water supply.
With numerous Playhouse staff, board members and artists evacuated from their homes — some of which have been lost in the fires — as well as the ongoing hazardous conditions in the Pasadena area, Feldman made the decision on Friday to cancel all six performances.
“Everyone was trying their absolute hardest to keep going, but at a certain point, it just became clear that this wasn’t the best thing to move forward with,” Feldman said Friday afternoon. “We know how many people were looking forward to it, and we all were too. But my tiny heartbreak of all the work all of us have put into it pales in comparison to the loss everyone is dealing with, which is vast and overwhelming and deeply hitting.”
Rehearsals for “Anything Goes” began at the nonprofit theater on Tuesday but were canceled starting Wednesday. (“Follies” was scheduled to start rehearsals next week). The performances at the 3,000-seat Pasadena Civic Auditorium — a first-time expansion of the Playhouse’s commitment to put on regional revivals of classic American musicals — were well on track to hit sales goals, with a final marketing push set to unfold in the coming weeks. The theater will be contacting ticket holders for both shows about refunds and other ticket options.
“It’s a huge unknown, but two to three weeks from now, people might be ready to smile again and enjoy, and we’d have to put in the work now to make that happen,” Feldman said.
“But it just hit a point where it stopped making sense to ask folks to come together in smoky conditions to make a thing, as much as we’d be doing so in service of the community. It’s going to be a financial hit, but there are just bigger things at hand. We have to care for our people and our community and make sure we can get everyone through this moment together.”
The Eaton fire torched Altadena Community Church.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
The Playhouse’s cancellations are among many throughout L.A.’s live performance scene. The Hollywood Pantages Theatre canceled three performances of “Wicked” this week and is aiming to resume on Saturday afternoon. The Wallis rescheduled its weekend Jeremy Jordan concerts and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra performance; Los Angeles Philharmonic postponed its shows with Igor Levit and Cody Fry, among others. The Actors’ Gang Theater canceled the opening weekend of its 10-minute play festival “Night Miracles,” now starting on Jan. 16 and runs through Feb. 8.
Additionally, many other companies that were readying to open full productions also saw their plans thwarted by the fires. The world premiere of Laura Shamas’ “Four Women in Red” was set to begin this weekend at Victory Theatre Center and is now scheduled to begin Jan. 17. Moving Arts Theatre’s world premiere of Lisa Kenner Grissom’s “here comes the night,” initially scheduled to start shows Jan. 16, has delayed its first performance by a week.
Colony Theatre canceled its first weekend of performances of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” and is aiming to begin its run on Jan. 14. The production is offering free tickets to firefighters and first responders on Jan. 14, 15, 21, 22 and 25 (with code LAFF) and is doubling as a donation center for nonperishable foods, clothing and pet supplies.
Rogue Machine Theatre’s West Coast premiere of Will Arbery’s “Evanston Salt Costs Climbing,” set to begin performances at the Matrix Theatre on Jan. 18, lost power during Wednesday’s rehearsal but continued its preparations with lanterns in the parking lot and later canceled two rehearsals. Center Theatre Group’s world premiere of Larissa Fasthorse’s “Fake It ‘Til You Make It,” scheduled to start performances at the Mark Taper Forum on Jan. 29, initially canceled rehearsals and has since resumed.
And both the Fountain Theatre’s production of Audrey Cefaly’s “Alabaster” (beginning Feb. 5) and A Noise Within’s staging of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” (starting Feb. 9) have moved their rehearsals to Zoom this week.
These theaters are monitoring the situation as it develops, and preparing to potentially cancel more rehearsals and performances — a tough decision, said Feldman. But given the circumstances, it’s one that needs to be made.
“That phrase of ‘The show must go on’ is widely mistaken,” he said. “That’s for when you’re going onstage and your prop is missing, so you make it up. But when people are in pain and trauma the way our community is right now, I don’t think the show has to go on.”
Movie Reviews
‘Flow’ Movie Review: If You See One Animated Latvian Movie This Year, Make it This One
One of the more agreeable outcomes at this past weekend’s Golden Globes was Flow winning for Best Animated Feature. As of this writing, it’s still playing here in the Valley, at Pollack Cinemas in Tempe and at AMC Ahwatukee 24.
If you see only one Latvian animated movie about a cat this year, make it this one. Directed by young Gints Zilbalodis from a script he wrote with Matiss Kaza, this wordless, dreamlike, almost free-associational feature is possibly the most visually beautiful movie of the year, and it has one of the year’s most vividly drawn heroes, too.
The main character – the title character? I couldn’t be sure; the title (Straume in Latvian) may just refer to the flow of the waters that sweep the characters along – is a small, dark, short-haired cat with wide, perpetually alarmed eyes. The creature wanders an idyllic wooded area alongside a body of water, reflection-gazing and hoping to score a fish from some stray dogs.
Then an enormous flash flood rages through the area. The cat barely makes it to high ground, and eventually takes refuge, as the waters continue to rise, aboard a derelict boat which gathers an inexplicably diverse assortment of other animal refugees from different continents or islands: a patient capybara, a ring-tailed lemur with hoarder tendencies, a stern but protective secretary-bird, a playful, irksomely guileless retriever.
It may be a postapocalyptic world through which the craft carries this oddball crew; human habitations appear to be deserted, and a colossal whale that surfaces nearby from time to time seems to be a multi-flippered mutant. Gradually the animals learn to steer the boat a little; they also learn to care and even sacrifice for each other.
If this sounds sentimental and annoyingly anthropomorphic, I can only say that it didn’t feel that way to me. The animal behavior comes across believably, as does their capacity for growth and empathy. If it’s anthropomorphic, it’s about as low-key as anthropomorphism can be, and the subtle yet insistent sense of allegory for the human experience is moving.
Zilbalodis takes Flow into pretty epic and mystical realms in the later acts, yet on another level the movie works as an animal odyssey adventure in the genre of the Incredible Journey films, or Milo & Otis. At the core of it is the sympathetic and admirable pussycat, meowing indignantly at the perils all around, yet facing them with heart and pluck. It’s not to be missed.
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