Michael York, born March 27, 1942 in Buckinghamshire, England, has had a lengthy and stellar acting career, including some daring roles. He has appeared as D'Artagnan in several musketeers films as well as the Austin Powers movies. He first appeared in Accident in 1967, but it was his role as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet in 1968 that proved to be his break-out performance. He starred with Angela Lansbury as a bisexual man in Something for Everyone.
He then went on to star as D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers and its sequel, The Four Musketeers. He appeared in Murder on the Orient Express in 1974.
In 2001, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance in The Lot.
I think it is tragic that such an accomplished, versatile actor has not been nominated for more awards, especially an Oscar. He truly is remarkable and seems under-rated. He's one of my favorites.
Sex symbol for the 60s and 70s, beautiful Raquel Welch, born September 5, 1940 in Chicago, passed away yesterday, February 16, 2023. She was 82. She started her acting career by providing sexiness in the background of television shows, such as Bewitched, but she soared to fame when she appeared in One Million Years B.C. in 1966. In 1971, she was a guest on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
She starred in The Three Musketeers and its sequel The Four Musketeers as Constance de Bonacieux, a role for which she won a Golden Globe.
I've always liked Raquel Welch. Though I'm not familiar with much of her work, my favorite movies of hers are The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, which unfortunately her character does not survive.
But the movies let her showcase her talent and it worked. Ms. Welch won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for her work as Constance Bonacieux in The Three Musketeers. She had some stiff competition for the award. Lucille Ball, Helen Hayes, and Cloris Leachman (Young Frankenstein).
The Three Musketeers was nominated for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. I'm a little shocked that these were the only two nominations this movie received. Faye Dunaway was nominated for her work in Chinatown, but got snubbed for her work on The Three Musketeers.
I could not find an image or a clip of her accepting her win, so I settled for a still from the movie and the catfight between her and Faye Dunaway.
Raquel Welch, born September 5, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois, burst onto the scene in a skimpy, furry bikini in the movie One Million Years B.C. in 1966. She became an international sex symbol and every boy's adolescent fantasy.
I enjoyed her in The Three Musketeers, her role in which won her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. I also loved The Four Musketeers, except that her character got killed off.
The dust jacket of Death
of a Musketeer boasts a quote from Margaret Frazer: “A fun read.” I’m not sure I agree with s. Frazer, because
although a good book, I did not find it to be a fun read. I would describe more as ‘put-downable’. It
has a great setting using Alexander Dumas’ characters from his Three Musketeers
to solve a murder.
The story opens just as D’Artagnan has challenged Athos to a
duel.Porthos and Aramis are nearby when
the four of them are attacked by the Cardinal’s men.The musketeers fend off the attackers and
then go off to celebrate.Their drinking
lasts until way into the night.As they
leave the last pub, they encounter another musketeer, who has been murdered,
and they discover it is a woman in disguise.Naturally, the musketeers take it upon themselves to solve the murder of
this woman who has a remarkable resemblance to the Queen.
Most of the antics of the story take place during night
times, and it seems that no one in France sleeps at night.It doesn’t matter what hour it is, everyone
seems to be awake, and the musketeers seem surprised to realize they have
awakened someone.
D’Almeida keeps true to the spirit of the Three Musketeers
but it seems odd to have them try to solve a mystery, using their heads instead
of their swords.The story involves a
plot to discredit the Queen using the Duke of Buckingham, which we’ve seen
before in Dumas’ work. There are times when D’Almeida has a character reminisce
or goes off on a tangent to describe the surroundings.Okay, you’re an expert on 17th
century Paris. We get it.
Other readers might find this one more satisfying than I
did. This is the first one of a series, but I'm not interested in reading anymore.
Author Alexander Dumas came into this world as Dumas Davy de
la Pailleterie, July 24, 1802 in Picardy, France. He is best known for his works, The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron
Mask and The Count of Monte Cristo. He lost his father to cancer when he was only
4 years old. Since his mother could not
provide an education for his son and older sister, Alexander read voraciously.
He moved to Paris at age 20, being advanced by his father’s
distinguished reputation and aristocratic rank, and got a position as a scribe
at the Palais Royal for the Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orleans. He began using his slave grandmother’s
surname of Dumas and found success writing plays. Dumas became successful enough
to write full-time and started writing novels.
He collaborated with many assistants including August
Maquet, who outlined the plot to The
Count of Monte Cristo and contributed to The Three Musketeers and its sequels, published as serials in 1840. Dumas’ novels brought him money but he spent
much of it on women and a lavish lifestyle, oftentimes become insolvent. He is known to have 40 mistresses although
married to actress Ida Ferrier.
In 1851, Dumas fled France after King Louis-Philippe was
ousted by Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, and went to Brussels, Belgium. Another reason to leave France was to escape
his creditors. He moved to Russia in
1859, where his novels in French were extremely popular. Dumas traveled to Italy in 1861 and founded a
newspaper in support of the unification of Italy. He returned to Paris in 1864.
Although a successful author and aristocratic background, he
still faced discrimination related to his being of mixed ancestry. He addressed issues of race in a short novel,
Georges. When insulted about his African
ancestry, Dumas responded:
My father was a mulatto, my grandfather was a Negro, and my great-grandfather a
monkey. You see, Sir, my family starts where yours ends.
Dumas passed away in December 1870, but his last unpublished
novel The Last Cavalier was published
by a Dumas scholar in English in 2006.
The best Three Musketeers movie ever starred Michael York, Faye Dunaway, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Charlton Heston and Raquel Welch.
