Dependable Hollywood leading man James Farentino (James Ferrantio), who starred in the 1994 TV series Blue Thunder, died of heart failure following complications from a broken hip on January 24, aged 73. His credits include The War Lord, The Possessed (1977), The Final Countdown, Dead and Buried and The Cradle Will Fall, along with episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Night Gallery (Fritz Leiber’s “The Girl with the Hungry Eyes”). He was married four times, to actresses Elizabeth Ashley, Michele Lee, Debrah Farentino and Stella Farentino.
British-born character actor Ian Abercrombie died in Hollywood on January 26, aged 77. He began his film and TV career in the mid-1960s, and appeared in Sole Survivor (1970), The Hound of the Baskerviless (1972, starring Stewart Granger as Sherlock Holmes), Wicked Wicked, The Questor Tapes, Young Frankenstein, The Island at the Top of the World, Blood Beach, The Ice Pirates, Catacombs, Warlock, Repossessed, Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge, Army of Darkness, Addams Family Values, Test Tube Teens from the Year 2000, Rattled, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Mousehunt, Johnny Mysto: Boy Wizard, Wild Wild West, Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman and Garfield 2. He was also in episodes of Get Smart, Search Control, The Six Million Dollar Man, Battle-star Galactica, Voyagers!, Tucker’s Witch, Fantasy Island (as Inspector Lestrade), Otherworld, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1986), Faerie Tale Theatre, Tales from the Crypt, Twin Peaks, The Flash, Babylon 5, Touched by an Angel, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, G vs E, Star Trek: Voyager, Birds of Prey (as Alfred Pennyworth), Charmed and Moonlight, and he was a regular on the Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place. Abercrombie also contributed voice work to numerous video games and cartoon shows, including playing both Darth Sidious and Chancellor Palpatine in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
British stage, screen and radio actor Frederick [William] Treves died on January 30, aged 86. He appeared on TV, often as authority figures, in A for Andromeda and The Andromeda Breakthrough, The Avengers, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Doomwatch, Doctor Who, The Invisible Man (1984) and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Among his small number of film credits are The Elephant Man (based on his great-uncle’s famous medical case) and Afraid of the Dark.
Actor and stage magician Tony Giorgio (Joseph Anthony Giorgio), who (under the name Lu Sifer) appeared as Satan in Night Train to Terror (1985), died of cardiopulmonary failure on February 1, aged 88. He also had small roles in The Wrecking Crew and Disney’s Escape to Witch Mountain, along with episodes of I Dream of Jeannie, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman and Fantasy Island.
Respected American actor and director Ben Gazzara (Biagio Anthony Gazzara) died of pancreatic cancer on February 3, aged 81. Best remembered for his three movie collaborations with director John Cassavetes in the 1970s, Gazzara also appeared in When Michael Calls (based on the novel by John Farris), The Neptune Factor, Maneater, Control and Summer of Sam.
The same day saw the death by cancer of another American actor/director, Zalman King (Zalman King Lefkovitz), at the age of 69. Best known for his erotic movies such as Two Moon Junction, Wild Orchid and Red Shoes Diaries, King also appeared in Some Call It Loving, Blue Sunshine, Galaxy of Terror, Endangered Species (which he also executive produced) and episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Munsters, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Land of the Giants.
Seventy-five-year-old Bill Hinzman (Samuel William Hinzman), who portrayed the graveyard zombie in the opening scenes of George Romero’s seminal Night of the Living Dead (1968), died of cancer on February 5. After working with Romero again on Jack’s Wife and The Crazies, Hinzman traded on his NOLD reputation, often playing other walking dead roles in such films as The Majorettes and FleshEater (aka Zombie Nosh), both of which he also directed, along with Legion of the Night, Santa Claws, Evil Ambitions, The Drunken Dead Guy, Shadow: Dead Riot, The Spook Show, It Came from Trafalgar, Underground Entertainment: The Movie and River of Darkness. As a cinematographer, Hinzman worked on The Crazies, Captured Alive, Santas Claws, Scream Queens’ Naked Christmas, The Dead Walk: Remaking a Classic and Children of the Living Dead.
Josephine Streiner, who also played a zombie in Night of the Living Dead, died the same day, aged 93. She appeared in the documentaries One for the Fire: The Legacy of “Night of the Living Dead” and Zombies: A Living History.
Eighty-two-year-old American leading man [Joseph] Peter Breck, who starred as the middle son of Barbara Stanwyck’s character in the 1960s TV series The Big Valley, died in Canada of complications from advanced dementia on February 6. Discovered by Robert Mitchum and best known for his roles in numerous TV Westerns, he also appeared in The Crawling Hand, Shock Corridor, The Sword and the Sorcerer, I Still Dream of Jeannie and The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter, along with episodes of The Outer Limits (1960s and 1990s), The Six Million Dollar Man, The Incredible Hulk and Fantasy Island.
French actress and novelist Franca Maï (Françoise Baud) died of cancer on February 8, aged 52. She starred in Jean Rollin’s erotic vampire movie Fascination (1979).
Whitney [Elizabeth] Houston, Patrick Bateman’s favourite singer in the novel American Psycho, was found dead in the bathtub at her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 11, aged 48. The official cause of death was given as “accidental drowning combined with effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use”. The singer and actress had been battling drug addiction for many years, and although traces of marijuana, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, the muscle-relaxer Flexeril and the antihistamine Benadryl were also found in her system, they were ruled as not having contributed to her death. Houston appeared in The Preacher’s Wife and the 1997 TV movie Cinderella, which she also executive produced.
Irish character actor David [Blake] Kelly, who played Grandpa Joe in Tim Burton’s version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), died of pneumonia on February 12, aged 82. His other credits include The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982), Merlin of the Crystal Cave (based on the novel by Mary Stewart), Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London and Stardust (based on the book by Neil Gaiman), along with episodes of TV’s Adam Adamant Lives! and Whoops Apocalypse.
Lina Romay (Rosa María Almirall Martínez, aka Candy Coster/Lulu Laverne), Spanish actress, director (mostly porno) wife and muse of director Jess Franco, died of cancer on February 15, aged 57. Among her many film credits, including more than 100 for the prolific Franco, are La maldició de Frankenstein (1972), La fille de Dracula, The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff, El misterio del castillo rojo, Les avaleuses, The Perverse Countess, Les possédées du diable, Die Marquise von Sade, Caged Women, Jack the Ripper (1976), Justine de Sade, Revenge in the House of Usher, La tumba de los muertos vivientes, Faceless, Tender Flesh, Lust for Frankenstein, Vampire Blues, Vampire Junction, Incubus, Killer Barbys vs. Dracula, Snakewoman and numerous porno titles.
The last known leading lady of the silent film era, Romanian-born Pola Illéry (Paula Iliescu), died in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the same day, aged 103. Her final screen appearance was in the 1938 French film, Le tombeau hindou (aka Le tigre du Bengale), based on the novel by Thea von Harbou. She fled to the United States at the outbreak of World War II and became an American citizen in 1946.
1940s Hollywood actress and former fashion model Elyse Knox (Elyse Lillian Konbrath), who starred opposite Lon Chaney, Jr in Universal’s The Mummy’s Tomb (1942), also died on February 15, aged 94. In her 12-year career she also appeared in Arabian Nights (uncredited) and the serial Don Winslow of the Coast Guard. She was the mother of actor Mark Harmon.
British character actor Peter Halliday died on February 18, aged 87. His credits include The Anatomist, Hammer’s Captain Clegg (aka Night Creatures, with Peter Cushing), Virgin Witch and Madhouse (with Vincent Price). On TV he starred as John Fleming in A for Andromeda and The Andromeda Breakthough, and appeared in episodes of The Avengers, Out of the Unknown, UFO, Doomwatch, Beasts, The Tripods and several series of Doctor Who.
Swedish actor, director and author Erland Josephson, best kn
own for his roles in Ingmar Bergman’s films and TV productions, died of complications from Parkinson’s disease on February 25, aged 88. His many credits include The Magician (aka The Face), Hour of the Wolf, The Magic Flute, The House of the Yellow Carpet, The Sacrifice, Control and Prospero’s Books.
British-born Davy Jones (David Thomas Jones), lead singer with the 1960s pop group The Monkees, died following a heart attack in Florida on February 29, aged 66. The Monkees had their own TV show on NBC from 1966–68 and created their own spin-off movie, Head (1968).
Character actor and playwright Hal Borske (aka Haal Borske) died of complications from a stroke in February. He was frequently a member of Andy Milligan’s repertory company in such films as The Naked Witch (1967), The Ghastly Ones, Torture Dungeon and Monstrosity (as Frankie the golem). He also made an uncredited appearance in the gay comedy Dragula (1973).
Welsh-born British character actor Philip Madoc (Phillip Jones) died of cancer on March 5, aged 77. Usually cast as villains, he appeared in Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150AD (with Peter Cushing), Berserk (with Michael Gough), Doppelgänger (aka Journey to the Far Side of the Sun) and Hammer’s Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde, along with episodes of Out of This World (hosted by Boris Karloff), The Monsters (1962), The Avengers, The Champions, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), UFO, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Space: 1999, Survivors (1976), Doctor Who, A Very British Coup and Spine Chillers.
Rudy Ricci (Rudolph J. Ricci), a friend of George R. Romero who helped create Night of the Living Dead (1968), died of complications from a fall on March 8. He was 72. Ricci also turned up as a zombie in that film and as a motorcycle raider in the sequel, Dawn of the Dead (1978). He is also credited with the story for The Return of the Living Dead (1985).
British actress Faith Brook, the daughter of veteran actor Clive Brook, died on March 11, aged 90. Her credits include Jungle Book (1942), The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb, and episodes of TV’s Invisible Man (1959), One Step Beyond, The Adventures of Don Quick, Thriller (1974) and Spooky.
French actor Michel [René Jacques] Duchaussoy, who appeared in Man with the Transplanted Brain (1971), based on the novel by Alain Franck and Victor Vicas, died of a heart attack on March 13, aged 73. Duchaussoy also appeared in the 2006 comedy Poltergay and an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and he was the voice of Archibald in the Arthur animated movies. He was awarded the Légion d’Honneur in 2011.
French actress, film editor, scriptwriter and script supervisor Natalie Perrey died in Paris on March 25, aged 83. Best known for her collaborations with director Jean Rollin, her credits with him include La vampire nue, Le frisson des vampires, Suce moi vampire, Vierges et vampires, La rose de fer, Lèvres de sang, Les deux orphelines vampires, La finacée de Dracula and La nuit des horloges.
American leading man Warren [Albert] Stevens died of chronic lung disease on March 27, aged 92. Best remembered for his role as the ill-fated doctor in Forbidden Planet (1956), he was also in Gorilla at Large, Cyborg 2087 (aka Man from Tomorrow) and The Return of Captain Nemo, along with episodes of TV’s Inner Sanctum, Science Fiction Theatre, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, One Step Beyond, Men Into Space, The Twilight Zone (1962 and 1986), The Outer Limits, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Tarzan, Star Trek, Land of the Giants and Wonder Woman.
American character actor [Francis] Luke Askew, best known for his supporting roles in Cool Hand Luke and Easy Rider, died following a long illness on March 29, aged 80. He also appeared in the movies The Beast Within, The Warrior and the Sorceress and Dune Warriors. Askew’s TV credits include episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man, Fantasy Island, The Greatest American Hero, The Powers of Matthew Star, Knight Rider, Automan and The 4400.
Prolific Japanese voice actor Takeshi Aono died on April 9, aged 75. His numerous anime credits include the Space Crusier Yamato, Fist of the North Star and Dragon Ball Z series.
Canadian-born actor and playwright Ronan O’Casey died in Los Angeles on April 12, aged 89. In England from the late 1940s until the early 1980s, he appeared in the 1956 version of 1984 (as Rutherford), Satellite in the Sky and the BBC TV series The Trollenberg Terror (1956–57). As a literary executive at Commonwealth United, he also associate-produced The Magic Christian (1969).
Canadian actor Jonathan Frid (John Herbert Frid), who portrayed vampire Barnabas Collins in nearly 600 episodes on the daytime soap opera Dark Shadows (1967–71), along with the spin-off movie House of Dark Shadows (1970), died on April 13, aged 87. He also appeared in The Devil’s Daughter and Seizure, and had a blink-and-you’d-miss-him cameo in Tim Burton’s 2012 remake of Dark Shadows. Frid later starred in a 1980s Broadway revival and national tour of Arsenic and Old Lace, and he was featured in the 2010 Dark Shadows audio drama, The Night Whispers.
The same day saw the death of 81-year-old singer, songwriter and actress Marilynn (Marilyn) Lovell after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. Although she appeared in episodes of TV’s The Munsters and Captain Nice, she is best remembered for writing and performing songs in the early 1970s horror films The Return of Count Yorga, Deathmaster, Terror House and Scream Blacula Scream.
Quirky American character actor William Finley (William Franklin Finley III), who starred as doomed songwriter Winslow Leach in Brian De Palma’s horror rock opera Phantom of the Paradise (1974), died of complications following surgery on April 14, aged 71. He also appeared in De Palma’s Sisters (aka Blood Sisters), The Fury and The Black Dahlia, Tobe Hooper’s Eaten Alive (aka Death Trap), The Funhouse and Night Terrors, along with Silent Rage. On TV he appeared in episodes of Tales from the Crypt, Sabrina the Teenage Witch (as an apparently uncredited werewolf) and Masters of Horror.
American character actor Ron Palillo (Ronald Gabriel Paolillo), who played Arnold Horshak on the 1970s sitcom Welcome Back Kotter, died of a heart attack the same day, aged 63. He appeared in the movies The Invisible Woman (1983), Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI, Hellgate and Trees 2: The Root of All Evil.
Twenty-six-year-old Bollywood actress Meenakshi Thapar, who made her debut in the 2011 Indian horror film 404, died on April 19 when she was allegedly kidnapped and later strangled and decapitated by two aspiring actors attempting to extort a 1,500,000-rupee ransom from her family.
British-born Hollywood actress Patricia [Paz Maria] Medina died on April 28 in Los Angeles, aged 92. She appeared in Don’t Take it to Heart, Moss Rose (with Vincent Price and George Zucco), Francis, The Magic Carpet, Aladdin and His Lamp, Siren of Bagdad, Phantom of the Rue Morgue, Mr. Arkadin (aka Confidential Report), The Beast of Hollow Mountain, Snow White and the Three Stooges and Latitude Zero. Medina also appeared on TV in a couple of episodes of Thriller (hosted by Boris Karloff), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (with Price again), before she retired from acting in 1978. She was married to actors Richard Greene and Joseph Cotton.
Busy American character actor George Murdock (George R. Sawaya, Jr), who was often cast as authority figures in movies and on TV, died of cancer on April 30, aged 81. A semi-regular on the original Battlestar Galactica series (1978–79) as Dr Salik, he appeared in Disney’s Blackbeard’s Ghost, the Night Gallery pilot, A Howling in the Woods, Earthquake, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (as God), Timescape, The X Files and Looney Tunes: Back in Action, along with episodes of such TV shows as The Twilight Zone, The Wild Wild West, Tarzan (1966–67), Cimarron Strip (Harlan Ellison’s “Knife in the Darkness”), The Sixth Sense, Search Control, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invisible Man (1975), The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (“The Mystery of the Haunted House”), Struck by Lightning, Knight Rider (1983–84), Nightmare Classics (“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”), Star Trek: The Next Generation, What a Dummy, The New Adventures of Superman, Team Knight Rider, Early Edition, The X Files, Smallville, Eli Stone and Torchwood: Miracle Day.
American-born British actor and stage magician John Forrest (John Forsht, aka John Klox) died in France in April,
aged 80. As a child actor, he appeared in the 1946 Great Expectations (and later the 1967 TV series) and the bodyswap comedy Vice Versa (1948).
British actress Tracy Reed (Claire Tracy Compton Pelissier) died of liver cancer in West Cork, Ireland, on May 2, aged 69. The step-daughter of director Sir Carol Reed and cousin of actor Oliver Reed, she appeared in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Devils of Darkness and Casino Royale (1967), as well as episodes of Hammer’s Journey to the Unknown (Robert Bloch’s “The Indian Spirit Guide”), The Avengers, Out of the Unknown (John Wyndham’s “Random Quest”) and U.F.O., before retiring from the screen in 1975. Reed was considered as a replacement for Diana Rigg in The Avengers, before Linda Thorson got the role, and her first husband was actor Edward Fox.
British character actress, scriptwriter and poet Charlotte Mitchell (Edna Winifred Mitchell) died of pneumonia the same day, aged 85. She had been suffering from breast cancer and myeloma. Mitchell appeared in the movies The Man in the White Suit, Village of the Damned (1960), Blood on Satan’s Claw and Out of the Darkness (1985), and was also in an episode of TV’s Shades of Darkness.
American character actor George Lindsey, who portrayed Gomer Pyle on the CBS sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1964–68) and various spin-offs, died after a lengthy illness on May 6, aged 83. His other credits include episodes of The Twilight Zone, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (including Ray Bradbury’s “The Jar”), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Fantasy Island. For Disney he appeared in Charley and the Angel, Treasure of Matecumbe and an episode of TV’s Herbie the Love Bug, and he voiced animated characters in The AristoCats, Robin Hood and The Rescuers. According to actor Leonard Nimoy, Lindsey was Gene Roddenberry’s first choice to play Mr Spock on Star Trek.
Bee Gees singer and songwriter Robin [Hugh] Gibb died of cancer in London on May 20, aged 62. With his siblings he appeared in the misconceived movie Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978).
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 24 Page 46
