VJBrendan.com: 2011-11-27

Prolific character actor Harry Morgan, who appeared in more than 100 films but was best known for television roles including Colonel Sherman Potter in the popular series "M*A*S*H," died on Wednesday at his Los Angeles home, age 96.

A representative for his son, producer Christopher Morgan, confirmed the actor's death.

Morgan in 1980 won an Emmy award, honoring the best in U.S. TV, for his work on the anti-war comedy series "M*A*S*H" playing the upstanding commanding officer of a U.S. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. Morgan appeared in "M*A*S*H" from 1975 to 1983.

He also appeared as Officer Bill Gannon on television crime series "Dragnet" from 1967 to 1970, alongside Jack Webb.

From NOLA.COM:

It's not as if more star power is actually needed to make the first quarter of 2012 a historically busy stretch for the local film industry, but it's getting it anyway,

in the form of one Tom Cruise.

The "Mission Impossible" actor is slated to be in town this spring to shoot his next big-budget film for Universal Pictures. The as-yet untitled project - which while in development has gone by the names "Oblivion" and "Horizons" - is a sci-fi actioner that reportedly will co-star current Hollywood "it" girl Jessica Chastain ("The Help," "Tree of Life," "The Debt").

The unofficial blurb: "A court martial sends a veteran soldier to a distant planet, where he is to destroy the remains of an alien race. The arrival of an unexpected traveler causes him to question what he knows about the planet, his mission, and himself."

Directed by "TRON: Legacy" helmer Joseph Kosinski and produced by Peter Chernin ( "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," "Terra Nova"), it is scheduled to shoot in New Orleans and Baton Rouge from March 12 to Aug. 12, according to the state film office.

Kosinksi wrote the script with Oscar-winning screenwriter William Monahan ("The Departed"), based on comic books by Arvid Nelson.

A Universal representative had no further details on the project.

Cruise joins an already-impressive list of names - including Quentin Tarantino, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Tom Hanks, Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis - expected to be in town for various projects in what continues to shape up to be a remarkably busy start to 2012 for the local film industry.