Cheeky British comedy actor Reg [Reginald Alfred] Varney died after a short illness on November 16, aged 92. He was best known for his role as Stan Butler in the later Hammer Film productions On the Buses, Mutiny on the Buses and Holiday on the Buses, based on the hit TV series On the Buses (1969–73). He also starred in the 1972 comedy Go For a Take (aka Double Take), which featured Dennis Price as an actor playing Dracula. In 1967 Varney became the first person to use an ATM machine in Britain.
American comedy actor Paul Benedict, best known for playing English neighbour Harry Bentley in the CBS-TV sitcom The Jeffersons, died on December 1, aged 70. Having suffered from acromegaly as a young man, which resulted in a slightly oversized lower jaw, he appeared in such movies as They Might be Giants, The Electric Grandmother (scripted by Ray Bradbury), The Man with Two Brains, Arthur 2 On the Rocks, Attack of the 50ft Woman (1993), and he had an uncredited role in The Devil’s Advocate. Benedict was also in episodes of Sesame Street (as “The Mad Painter”), The Twilight Zone (1987), Tales from the Crypt and The Addams Family (1991).
American folk singer Odetta (Odetta Holmes), who was an influence on the civil rights movement as well as Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and others, died of heart disease and pulmonary fibrosis on December 2, aged 77.
Dutch-born Hollywood leading lady Nina Foch (Nina Consuelo Maud Fock) died of long-term blood disorder myelodysplasia on December 5, aged 84. She was taken ill while teaching at USC. In 1944 she appeared in The Return of the Vampire (with Bela Lugosi) and played the queen of the lycanthropes in Cry of the Werewolf. Her other film credits include Shadows in the Night (with George Zucco), I Love a Mystery (1945), A Thousand and One Nights, The Ten Commandments (1956), TV versions of Ten Little Indians (1959) and Rebecca (1962), Nomads, Sliver and Alien Nation: Dark Horizon, along with episodes of Lights Out, Tales of Tomorrow, Suspense, Climax!, The Thin Man (“Lady Frankenstein”), Shirley Temple’s Storybook, The Outer Limits, The Wild Wild West, Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Shadow Chasers.
“B” movie star Beverly Garland (Beverly Fessenden, aka “Beverly Campbell”) died after a long cancer-related illness the same day, aged 82. Best remembered for her roles as feisty women in such Roger Corman cult movies as Swamp Women, It Conquered the World and Not of This Earth (1957), her other films include The Neanderthal Man, Curucu Beast of the Amazon, The Alligator People (with Lon Chaney, Jr), Twice Told Tales (with Vincent Price), The Mad Room, Airport 1975 and Hellfire (aka Blood Song). On TV she played Lois Lane’s mother Ellen in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1995–97), was regular Estelle Reese on ABC-TV’s daytime soap Port Charles (2000), and also appeared in episodes of Science Fiction Theatre, The Twilight Zone, Thriller, The Wild Wild West, Planet of the Apes, Switch, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries and Teen Angel.
American character actor Robert Prosky (Robert Joseph Porzuczek), who played Sgt Stan Jablonski on NBC-TV’s Hill Street Blues from 1984–87, died of complications from heart surgery on December 8, aged 77. His movie credits include Christine (based on the novel by Stephen King), The Keep (based on the novel by F. Paul Wilson), The Natural, From the Dead of Night (based on the novel by Gary Brander), Gremlins 2 The New Batch, Last Action Hero, Miracle on 34th Street (1994), The Lake and D-Tox (aka Eye See You), plus episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1986) and Touched by an Angel.
British character actress Kathy Staff died after a long illness on December 10, aged 80. Best known for playing Nora Batty in the BBC comedy series Last of the Summer Wine for twenty-five years, she also appeared in Stephen Frears’ Mary Reilly (1996), a reworking of “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”.
Iconic 1950s pin-up Bettie Page (Betty Mae Page) died in Los Angeles on December 11, aged 85. She had suffered a heart attack nine days earlier following a short battle with pneumonia. Page was a Playboy “Playmate of the Month” for January 1955, and under the influence of photographer Irving Claw she became the “Queen of Bondage”, appearing in more than fifty burlesque films, including Striporama, Varietease and Teaserama. After becoming a born-again Christian and working full-time for evangelist Billy Graham’s ministry, she was diagnosed with acute schizophrenia and disappeared from public view for twenty years, eventually resurfacing in the early 1990s. She was portrayed by Paige Richards in Bettie Page: Dark Angel (2004) and Gretchen Mol in The Notorious Bettie Page (2005). Jennifer Connelly’s heroine Jenny Blake in The Rocketeer (1991) was also inspired by Page.
Transgender voice actor Maddie Blaustein [Adam S. Blaustein], who provided the English voice of Meowth in the various Pokémon cartoons, died the same day, aged 48. After working at both Marvel Comics and DC Comics, she went on to create photos for Weekly World News. Blaustein also did voice work for various Sonic the Hedgehog video games and TV episodes.
Amiable Hollywood leading man [Charles] Van Johnson died on December 12, aged 92. His movie credits include A Guy Named Joe (1943), Brigadoon, The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957), Murder in an Etruscan Cemetery, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Escape from Paradise (aka Flight from Paradise) and Killer Crocodile. On TV he appeared as The Minstrel in Batman, and in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1988), Fantasy Island and Tales of the Unexpected. In 1942, while on his way to a film screening, Johnson was involved in a road accident and sustained injuries that left him with a metal plate in his head. Following rumours about the actor’s sexuality, MGM boss Louis B. Meyer arranged for Johnson to marry the wife of his best friend, actor Keenan Wynn, on the same day the couple’s divorce came through.
West German character actor Horst Tappert died of complications from diabetes on December 13, aged 85. Often cast as a police inspector or doctor, his film credits include The Horror of Blackwood Castle, Gorilla Gang, The Man with the Glass Eye and School of Fear. For Jess Franco he starred in The Devil Came from Akasava, She Killed in Ecstasy and Der Todesrächer von Soho.
American film and TV actor Sam(uel) Bottoms, the brother of actors Timothy, Joseph and Ben, died of a brain tumour on December 16, aged 53. A former teen actor, his credits include Apocalypse Now, Charles B. Griffith’s Up from the Depths, Hunter’s Blood, The Witching of Ben Wagner, Dolly Dearest, Project Shadowchaser III (aka Project Shadowchaser: Beyond the Edge of Darkness) and an episode of The X Files.
Actress Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (Majel Lee Hudec), the widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry (who died in 1991), died of complications from leukaemia on December 18, aged 76. Although she appeared in a number of movies and TV shows in the early 1960s, she will be best remembered as semi-regular Nurse Christine Chapel in the original Star Trek series (1966–69). In fact, she had been cast in the show’s pilot, “The Cage”, as “Number One”, but was subsequently demoted. She recreated the role (now a doctor) for Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Barrett also supplied the voice of Lt. M’Ress for the 1970s animated Star Trek series, and voiced various computers for Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–94), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–99), Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001), Enterprise (2005), Star Trek Generations, Star Trek First Contact, Star Trek Nemesis and J. J. Abrams’ 2009 re-imagining of Star Trek. Her other credits include Westworld, The Man in the Santa Claus Suit, Mommy, Hamlet A.D.D. and episodes of The Next Step Beyond, Babylon 5, the animated Spider-Man (1996–98) and Diagnosis Murder (“Alienated”). She was also in Gene Roddenberry’s TV movie pilots Genesis II, The Questor Tapes, Planet Earth and Spectre, as well as the posthumous Roddenberry series Earth: Final Conflict (1997), which she executive produced along with Andromeda (2000–02).
Singer and actress Eartha Kitt [Eartha Mae Keith] best known for her 1953 hit “Santa Baby”, died of colon cancer on Christmas Day, aged 81. The second person to play Catwoman on ABC-TV’s Batman (1966–68), her other credits include a 1958 adaptation of Heart of Darkness on CBS-TV’s Playhouse 90 (with Boris Karloff), and such movies as The Serpent Warriors, Erik the Viking, Living Doll, Ernest Scared Stupid, The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story, Holes and The Emperor’s New Groove, al
ong with its sequel and spin-off TV series. Orson Welles once described Kitt as “The most exciting woman in the world”.
Hollywood leading lady Ann Savage [Bernice Maxine Lyon] died of complications from a series of strokes the same day, aged 87. Best remembered for appearing as the femme fatale in the cult noir movie Detour (1945), she also appeared in such “B” thrillers as One Dangerous Night, After Midnight with Bostom Blackie, Murder in Times Square, Scared Stiff (aka Treasure of Fear, 1945), Midnight Manhunt (with George Zucco), Apology for Murder, The Spider (1945) and Jungle Jim on Pygmy Island. Although she semi-retired from the screen in the late 1950s, her last film credit was for Canadian director Guy Maddin in 2007.
American character actor and music producer Bernie (Bernard) Hamilton, best known for playing police captain Harold Dobey on ABC-TV’s Starsky & Hutch (1975–79), died of cardiac arrest on December 30, aged 80. His other credits include the serial Mysterious Island (1951), Jungle Man-Eaters, Captain Sinbad and Scream Blacula Scream, plus episodes of TV’s Ramar of the Jungle, Jungle Jim, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Tarzan (1967–68) and Galactica 1980.
The body of 60-year-old American guitarist and songwriter Ron Asheton was found at his home on January 6, 2009. He had apparently died of a heart attack several days earlier. Asheton was an original member of Iggy Pop’s late 1960s protopunk band The Stooges, playing on such hits as “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “No Fun”. One of his songs can be heard over the end credits of the movie Mosquito (1995).
FILM/TV TECHNICIANS
Brice Mack, who painted animation backgrounds for Walt Disney, died on January 2, aged 90. He worked on Fantasia, Song of the South, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp. He later produced Curtis Harrington’s Ruby and directed the 1978 AIP horror film Jennifer.
British TV and film director Claude Whatham died on January 4, aged 80. A former artist and theatrical set designer, he directed episodes of BBC-TV’s Supernatural and Anglia Television’s Tales of the Unexpected, along with the 1985 Tyburn movie Murder Elite.
Costume designer Bill Belew, who created all Elvis Presley’s stage costumes from the singer’s 1968 TV comeback special until his death in 1977, died of complications from diabetes on January 7, aged 76.
American film producer Jerry A. Baerwitz, who also directed the 1962 US version of the Japanese monster movie Varan the Unbelievable, died on January 10, aged 82. His other credits include Fright Night (1985) and the Dean R. Koontz adaptation Hideaway.
Richard Knerr who, with his best friend Arthur “Spud” Melin, founded the Wham-O toy company, died from a stroke on January 14, aged 82. The US company was responsible for such innovative products as the Frisbee, the Superball, the Slip ‘n’ Slide, Silly String and, perhaps most famous of all, the Hula Hoop which, during its heyday in 1958, was being manufactured at the rate of 20,000 per day.
Reverend Lynn Lemon, the Baptist pastor who invested in Edward D. Wood, Jr’s infamous Plan 9 from Outer Space, died of a heart attack on January 15, aged 90. He had bit parts in that film, Invasion of the Bee Girls and Raising Dead, and appeared in the documentary The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood, Jr.
Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Robert Cunniff died after a long illness on January 20. He was 81. From 1972–75 he produced TV’s Sesame Street and created the long-running Mouseterpiece Theater for the Disney Channel in 1983.
Australian film distributor Roc (Roscoe) Kirby, who founded Village Roadshow in 1954, died on January 25, aged 89.
American TV director and producer Dwight [Arlington] Hemion died of renal failure on January 28, aged 81. Hemion was executive producer of CBS’ infamous Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978, featuring Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Harvey Korman and The Jefferson Starship. It was so bad, George Lucas later disowned it, and the show has never officially been released on video.
American TV producer and director Herb(ert) Kenwith died of prostate cancer on January 30, aged 90. He directed episodes of the original Star Trek (“The Lights of Zetar”), the Gothic soap opera Strange Paradise, and Mr Merlin, along with many other shows.
The body of 48-year-old Diane Chenery-Wickens was discovered in woodland in May after the British make-up designer disappeared in January. Her husband, a spiritualist minister, was subsequently found guilty of her murder and jailed for eighteen years. CheneryWickens won an Emmy for her work on the 2000 miniseries Arabian Nights, and her other credits include BBC-TV’s Gormenghast and The League of Gentlemen.
British cinematographer Bryan Langley died on February 1, aged 99. He began working on films in the 1920s and his credits include a couple of early Alfred Hitchcock movies. His many other films include The Limping Man, The Gables Mystery, The Dark Eyes of London (aka The Human Monster, with Bela Lugosi), Miranda (uncredited) and the 1948 version of The Monkey’s Paw. He also worked (uncredited) on The Ghost Train (1941), 1984 (1956) and Night of the Demon (aka Curse of the Demon).
Spanish film director and screenwriter Carlos Aured [Alonso] died of a heart attack on February 3, aged 71. His credits include The Mummy’s Revenge, Curse of the Devil, House of Psychotic Women and Horror Rises from the Tomb, all made in the early 1970s and starring Paul Naschy. After the pair fell out, Aured went on to make films in other genres, returning to horror in the 1980s with El Enigma del yate and Atrapados en el miedo. He was assistant director on Exorcism’s Daughter and The Werewolf vs. Vampire Women (also starring Naschy), and he produced Monster Dog and Alien Predator.
Japanese film director and screenwriter Kon Ichikawa (Giichi Ichikawa) died of pneumonia on February 13, aged 92. Acknowledging the influence of Walt Disney, his varied credits include the fantasies The Firebird and Princess from the Moon, plus an episode of the anthology film Ten Nights of Dreams.
Oscar-winning British cinematographer [Francis] David Watkin died of prostate cancer on February 19, aged 82. His credits include The Beatles’ Help!, Marat/Sade, How I Won the War, The Bed Sitting Room, Catch-22, The Devils, Hammer’s To the Devil a Daughter, Return to Oz, Journey to the Center of the Earth (1999), Murder on the Moon (aka Murder by Moonlight), Hamlet (1990), The Cabinet of Dr Ramirez and Jane Eyre (1996). He also shot the uncredited title sequence for the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger. Watkin invented the “Wendy Light”, a suspended grid that has become standard equipment for lighting exterior night shoots, and he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Society of Cinematographers in 2004.
Italian director, writer, cinematographer and producer Osvaldo Civirani died on February 20, aged 90. His credits include The Most Prohibited Sex (which featured a vampire and a Frankenstein Monster), Kindar the Invulnerable and Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun.
International film distributor Sandy Cobe died after a long illness the same day, aged 79. As chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Releasing Corporation he produced such films as To All a Good Night, Terror on Tour and Access Code.
British cinematographer Larry Pizer, who photographed Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment, died of cancer in New York on February 27. He was 82. Having started his film career at the Alexander Korda Studios in Denham, Pizer’s later credits include Phantom of the Paradise, Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare (with the voice of Vincent Price), The Clairvoyant (1982), Timerider, The Phantom of the Opera (1983), Svengali (1983), Mannequin: On the Move and the Bruce Springsteen music video “Dancing in the Dark” directed by Brian De Palma.
Actor turned director George Tyne (Martin “Buddy” Yarus) died on March 7, aged 91. He began his career as an actor in the early 1940s, appearing (uncredited) in a number of war films. Later he was in The Boston Strangler and an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea before turning to directing with episodes of TV’s The Ghost and Mrs Muir, Tabitha and Space Academy. Blacklisted during the 1950s, Tyne was also assistant director on Albert Band’s 1965 TV pilot Hercules and the Princess of Troy.
Seventy-six-year-old B
ritish-born production designer and art director Trevor Williams, who began his career working on the 1960s TV series Dark Shadows, died of a heart attack on February 14 while on vacation in Devon, England. His many other credits include The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1968), House of Dark Shadows, Night of Dark Shadows, To Kill a Clown, The Night Stalker, The Night Strangler, Dracula (1973), The Norliss Tapes, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973), The Turn of the Screw (1974), Futureworld, The Changeling, Mazes and Monsters, Endangered Species, Murder in Space, Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold, The Hunchback (1997) and the Police Academy films, along with episodes of Out of the Unknown, the Dead of Night pilot, and the 2000–01 series The Immortal, starring Lorenzo Lamas.
American film producer William Hayward (William Leland Hay-ward III) died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the heart on March 9. He was 66. The son of agent Leland Hayward and actress Margaret Sullavan, his mother and sister Bridget both died of barbiturate overdoses in 1960. Hayward, who in 1969 teamed up with Peter Fonda and Bert Schneider to produce the counter-culture classic Easy Rider, had a serious motorcycle accident in 2003 that left him severely disabled. His other film credits include the cult SF movie Idaho Transfer (1973), which was directed by Fonda.
Oscar-winning British director and scriptwriter Anthony Minghella CBE died on March 18, aged 54. He suffered a fatal haemorrhage in a London hospital after undergoing surgery for throat cancer. He began his career at the BBC in the early 1980s, and his credits include Truly Madly Deeply and The Talented Mr Ripley. He also scripted episodes of Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, The Storyteller: Greek Myths and the children’s TV drama Living with Dinosaurs. In 2000 he entered into a producing partnership with Sydney Pollack, who himself died two months after Minghella.
Welsh-born Neil Aspinall, often referred to as the “fifth Beatle”, died of lung cancer in New York on March 24, aged 66. A boyhood friend of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon, he rose from the band’s roadie, personal assistant and confidant to running their London-based Apple Corporation. Aspinall had minor musical roles on such hits as “Yellow Submarine” (background vocals), “Within You Without You” (playing an Indian tamboura), “Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite” (harmonica) and “Magical Mystery Tour” (percussion). He was also an extra in the film How I Won the War starring Lennon.
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 20 Page 68
