Free Republic

It wouldn't be Christmas without 'A Christmas Story,' the 1983 movie that became an instant holiday classic thanks to its winning cast and quotable scenes. The film is as time-honored a tradition as getting your tongue stuck to a pole in freezing weather. Here's a then-and-now look at the gang from fictional Hohman, Indiana, who brought the 'original, traditional, one-hundred-percent, red-blooded, two-fisted, all-American Christmas' tale to life ...

Darren McGavin, the husky, tough-talking actor who starred in several TV series, played a grouchy dad in the holiday classic “A Christmas Story” and had other strong roles in such films as “The Man with the Golden Arm” and “The Natural,” died Saturday. He was 83. McGavin died of natural causes at a Los Angeles-area hospital with his family at his side, said his son Bogart McGavin. He starred in five series, including cult favorite “Kolchak: The Night Stalker,” and became a prolific actor in TV movies. Despite his busy career in television, McGavin was awarded only one Emmy: in...

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Darren McGavin at approximately 7:10 A.M. Pacific time today, Saturday 25, 2006. Darren was just three months short of his 84th birthday. While we suspect none of us can imagine a world without the beloved, feisty little red-head, it is time to reflect, give thanks for his life and hold in reverence his memory. Darren is gone, but in many respects he will always be with us: as Carl Kolchak, fighting authority and battling monsters; the grumpy Old Man sending curses over Lake Michigan; as David Ross, the outsider,...

Stuart Townsend, previously seen as Anne Rice's vampire protagonist in Queen of the Damned and as Dorian Gray in the film adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, has been tapped to play Jeff Rice's intrepid reporter that faces the supernatural, Carl Kolchak. The new pilot for The Night Stalker is being produced by former X-Files Executive producer, Frank Spotnitz, and was commissioned by ABC, who is eager to find the next big supernatural franchise. The evidence of tinkering with the concept is evident just by the casting notices: Kolchak has been given a "partner" to be played in the...