Two Die in Coronavirus Outbreak at Motion Picture Retirement Home

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – UPDATE — Two male residents at the Motion Picture Television Fund’s skilled nursing facility in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills have died of complications from COVID-19.

The first death occurred on Monday and the second took place on Tuesday, according to Bob Beitcher, president and CEO of the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Beitcher identified one of the victims as John Breier, 64, a longtime member of IATSE Local 174.

MPTF resident Allen Garfield , an actor who appeared in movies like “Nashville” and “The Stunt Man,” also died of coronavirus, according to his “Nashville” co-star Ronee Blakely.

Both had compromised immune systems. Breier had been living with multiple sclerosis for the past 25 years. Beitcher said the two had been in MPTF’s  long-term care unit for many years.

Beitcher also said Tuesday that four staffers had tested positive for the virus and were self-isolating. He also said that six other patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 are receiving care in the facilities’ isolation unit.

The MPTF reported the first case on March 31 . About 250 entertainment industry retirees live on the MPTF’s Wasserman Campus in Woodland Hills, Calif. The first seven residents who tested postive were residents of either the Mary Pickford House long-term care facility or Harry’s Haven, its Alzheimer’s unit.

The MPTF was created in 1921 by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith, Conrad Nagel, Milton Sills and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., to offer assistance and care to those of limited means in the motion picture industry.

Deadline first reported the news.

(The initial report did not include the identities of John Breier and Allen Garfield)