Best New Horror 27

by Stephen Jones

  American actress, singer and dancer Grace Lee Whitney (Mary Ann Chase) died on May 1, aged 85. She is best known for her role as “Yeoman Janice Rand” in eight episodes of the first season (1966) of TV’s Star Trek, the spin-off movies Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and an episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Whitney, who struggled with alcohol and drug problems during her career and once ended up on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, also appeared in a two-part episode of Batman, along with Cimarron Strip (Harlan Ellison’s Jack the Ripper episode, ‘Knife in the Darkness’), The Next Step Beyond and Diagnosis Murder (‘Alienated’). Her 1998 biography was entitled The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy.

  American character actress Ellen Albertini Dow (Ellen Rose Albertini) died on May 4, aged 101. She was an acting coach before making her screen debut when in her seventies, and her credits include Munchies, Christine Cromwell: Things That Go Bump in the Night, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Space Case, Radioland Murders, Carnival of Souls (1998) and The Invited, along with episodes of TV’s revived The Twilight Zone, Highway to Heaven, Beauty and the Beast, Freddy’s Nightmares, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Good vs Evil.

  American actress Elizabeth (Welter) Wilson, who portrayed Dustin Hoffman’s shallow mother in The Graduate (1967), died on May 9, aged 94. She made her uncredited screen debut in Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946), and her movies include the same director’s The Birds, Catch-22, The Day of the Dolphin, Man on a Swing, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, The Believers, The Addams Family and Special Report: Journey to Mars. Wilson also appeared in episodes of TV’s Dark Shadows and Tucker’s Witch.

  American voice actor John (Winfield) Stephenson, who voiced the character of “Count Rockula” in TV’s The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone (1979) and “Frank Frankenstone” in The Flintstones’ New Neighbors (1980) and others specials, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease on May 15, aged 91. The voice of “Mr. Slate” on The Flintstones (1960-66) and spin-offs, he also contributed to numerous other cartoon TV shows, including Jonny Quest (as “Dr. Benton C. Quest”), Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles (as “Professor Conroy”), Birdman, Scooby Doo Where Are You!, Sealab 2020, Goober and the Ghost Chasers, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Inch High Private Eye, Super Friends, Jeannie, Partridge Family 2200 AD, Yogi’s Space Race, The Fantastic Four (1978), Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Galaxy High School, InHumanoids, The Transformers, Bionic Six and What’s New Scooby-Doo?. Stevenson also appeared in Disney’s Herbie Rides Again, plus episodes of Science Fiction Theatre, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart, The Invaders and The Six Million Dollar Man.

  American actress Mary Ellen Trainor, the former wife of producer/director Robert Zemeckis, died of complications from pancreatic cancer on May 20, aged 62. Her credits include The Goonies, The Monster Squad, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II, Back to the Future Part II, Death Becomes Her, Congo and Freaky Friday (2003), along with episodes of TV’s Amazing Stories, Tales from the Crypt (‘And All Through the House’) and Roswell.

  American comedienne and character actress Anne Meara, the wife of actor Jerry Stiller and mother of Ben Stiller, died on May 23, aged 85. She appeared in ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, The Boys from Brazil, Highway to Hell and Night at the Museum. A regular on TV’s ALF (1987-89), she also appeared in episodes of Time Express (with Vincent Price) and Monsters.

  Australian stage and screen actor Bob Hornery (Robert James Hornery), a regular in the soap opera Neighbours for more than a decade, died of cancer on May 26, aged 83. Based in the UK for many years, he appeared in Britannia Hospital, Every Home Should Have One, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Virtual Nightmare. On TV Hornery’s credits also include episodes of Mystery and Imagination (Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Telltale Heart’), Doctor Who, Sapphire and Steel, The Genie from Down Under, Thunderstone and Legacy of the Silver Shadow. In 1965 Hornery appeared on stage in a musical version of Dracula at the Dublin theatre festival.

  American character actor William (MacLeod) Newman died of multi-infarct dementia on May 27, aged 80. His credits include Squirm, Silver Bullet (based on the novella by Stephen King), Wes Craven’s The Serpent and the Rainbow, George A. Romero’s Monkey Shines, Leprechaun, The Stand (another King adaptation), The Craft and Shadow: Dead Riot. Newman was also in episodes of TV’s Star Trek: The Next Generation, Eerie Indiana, VR.5, Angel and The Tick (as “The Cape”).

  Japanese actor and screenwriter Masayuki Imai, who wrote and starred in the 1995 timeslip movie Winds of God, based on his own stage play), died of bowel cancer on May 28, aged 54. He also appeared in and directed the 2006 remake, The Winds of God: Kamikaze.

  American actress Betsy Palmer (Patricia Betsy Hrunek), who played Jason Voorhees’ crazed mother in Friday the 13th and Friday the 13th Part 2, died on May 29, aged 88. A former NBC news reporter in the late 1950s, she also appeared in Goddess of Love, Still Not Quite Human, The Fear: Resurrection, Bell Witch: The Movie and episodes of TV’s Inner Sanctum, Out of This World (1987-91) and FreakyLinks. Palmer lived with James Dean for eight months.

  Japanese actor Hiroshi Koizumi died of pneumonia on May 31, aged 88. A former television announcer, he was in Godzilla Raids Again, Mothra (1961), Matango (aka Attack of the Mushroom People), Atragon, Godzilla vs. The Thing, Dagora the Space Monster, Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, The Last Days of Planet Earth, Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. Koizumi was also an executive producer on Tetsuo II: Body Hammer.

  American actor and former professional wrestler Mike (Michael) Lane, who portrayed the Frankenstein Monster in Frankenstein 1970 (opposite Boris Karloff), the 1976 TV series Monster Squad, and an episode of The Monkees (‘Monstrous Monkee Mash’), died of cancer on June 1, aged 82. He also appeared in Valley of the Dragons, Ulysses Against Hercules, A Name for Evil, Stryker, Grotesque (which he also co-produced) and Demon Keeper, along with episodes of The Outer Limits, Batman, Get Smart, The Sixth Sense, Gemini Man and Knight Rider.

  British leading man Richard (Keith) Johnson died on June 5, aged 87. An MGM contract star and an associate artist at the Royal Shakespeare Company from its inception in 1960, his film credits include The Haunting (1963), The Witch, The Devil Within Her (aka Beyond the Door), The Night Child (aka The Cursed Medallion), The Comeback, Island of Mutations (aka Screamers), Lucio Fulci’s seminal Zombie Flesh Eaters (aka Zombie), The Great Alligator, The Monster Club (based on stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes), The Aerodrome, Secrets of the Phantom Caverns (aka What Waits Below), The Crucifer of Blood (as “Doctor Watson”) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Having appeared (uncredited) in the 1951 film Calling Bulldog Drummond, he later portrayed the title character in the sci-spy spoofs Deadlier Than the Male and Some Girls Do, having reputedly turned down the role of James Bond in Dr. No. On TV Johnson appeared in episodes of Thriller (1973), Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries, Space: 1999, Tales of the Unexpected and Tales from the Crypt. On stage, his roles included “Charles Condomine” in Harold Pinter’s revival of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit at the National Theatre in 1976. In the mid-1960s Johnson was married to actress Kim Novak for a year.

  British actress and scriptwriter Jill Hyem died of cancer the same day, aged 78. Best known for co-writing the World War II drama series Tenko (1981-84), she also appeared in the forgotten ATV serial The Voodoo Factor in 1961.

  French actor Pierre Brice (Pierre Louis Baron de Bris), who portrayed native American warrior chief “Winnetou” in a series of 1960s West German Westerns (usually opposite either Lex Barker’s “Old Shatterhand” or Stewart Granger’s “Old Surehand”), died of pneumonia on June 6, aged 86. He was also in Mill of the Stone Women, Samson and the Slave Queen (as “Zorro”!) and Night of the Damned. On TV he starred as “Adam” in the UK/West German SF series Star Maidens (1976).<
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  The last of the great horror film stars, Sir Christopher (Frank Carandini) Lee, died of heart failure on June 7, aged 93. The public announcement of his death was delayed for four days. He made his film debut in the supernatural mystery Corridor of Mirrors (1948), but achieved stardom in the classic Hammer horrors The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula (and six sequels), The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Mummy, The Gorgon and She, all opposite Peter Cushing. The pair also appeared together in Hamlet (1948), Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, The Skull, Night of the Big Heat (aka Island of the Burning Damned), The House That Dripped Blood, I Monster, Horror Express, Nothing But the Night, The Creeping Flesh and Arabian Adventure. Lee co-starred with Boris Karloff in Corridors of Blood, Curse of the Crimson Altar (aka The Crimson Cult) and an episode of TV’s Colonel March of Scotland Yard, and alongside Vincent Price (with whom he shared a birthday) in The Oblong Box, Scream and Scream Again and House of the Long Shadows. The actor portrayed Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace, Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady and Incident at Victoria Falls; Fu Manchu in The Face of Fu Manchu, The Brides of Fu Manchu, The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, The Blood of Fu Manchu and The Castle of Fu Manchu, and he was James Bond villain “Scaramanga” in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). Later in his career he appeared in the blockbuster Star Wars series (as the duplicitous “Count Dooku”), the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit series (as the evil wizard “Saruman”), and he worked with director Tim Burton on Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows. Lee’s numerous other genre credits include The Man Who Could Cheat Death, Uncle Was a Vampire, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (aka House of Fright), The City of the Dead (aka Horror Hotel), The Hands of Orlac, The Terror of the Tongs, Scream of Fear, Mario Bava’s Hercules in the Haunted World and The Whip and the Body (aka Night is the Phantom), Horror Castle, Crypt of Horror, Castle of the Living Dead, Rasputin the Mad Monk, Circus of Fear (aka Psycho-Circus), Theatre of Death (aka Blood Fiend), The Blood Demon, The Devil Rides Out, Night of the Blood Monster, Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (as “Mycroft Holmes”), Death Line (aka Raw Meat), Dark Places, Poor Devil, The Wicker Man, To the Devil a Daughter, Dracula and Son, The Keeper, Hollywood Meatcleaver Massacre, End of the World, Starship Invasions, Disney’s Return from Witch Mountain, Circle of Iron, Captain America II: Death Too Soon, Once Upon a Spy, Evil Stalks This House (aka Tales of the Haunted), Goliath Awaits, Massarati and the Brain, The Return of Captain Invincible, Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch, Mio in the Land of Faraway, Mask of Murder, Around the World in 80 Days (1989), Gremlins 2: The New Batch, The Rainbow Thief, Curse III: Blood Sacrifice, Jackpot (aka Cyber Eden), Funny Man, The Odyssey (1997), Talos the Mummy, Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse, The Golden Compass, Burke and Hare (2010), Season of the Witch, The Resident, The Wicker Tree, Hugo, Angels in Notting Hill and the animated Edgar Allan Poe anthology Extraordinary Tales. On TV he was in episodes of TV’s One Step Beyond, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (Robert Bloch’s ‘The Sign of Satan’), The Avengers (‘Never Never Say Die’), Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries (Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Leather Funnel’), Space: 1999, Faerie Tale Theater, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, The Tomorrow People (1995), Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery & Imagination (1995), The New Adventures of Robin Hood, Gormenghast, Ghost Stories for Christmas (as M.R. James) and Les redoutables, and he was the voice of “Death” in the Terry Pratchett “Discworld” adaptations Soul Music, Wyrd Sisters and The Colour of Magic. A classically trained singer, Lee also recorded a number of opera/heavy metal albums.

  British actor Ron Moody (Ronald Moodnick) died on June 11, aged 91. Best known for his role as “Fagin” in the 1968 musical Oliver!, he also appeared in The Mouse on the Moon, Legend of the Werewolf (with Peter Cushing), The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It, Dominique (aka Dominique is Dead), Revelation, and Disney’s The Spaceman and King Arthur (aka Unidentified Flying Oddball) and A Kid in King Arthur’s Court (both as “Merlin”). On TV Moody was in episodes of The Avengers, Tales of the Unexpected, Into the Labyrinth and Highway to Heaven, but he turned down the chance to be the third Doctor Who and the role went to Jon Pertwee.

  Canadian comedian Rick Ducommun (Richard Dennis Ducommun) died of complications from advanced diabetes on June 12, aged 62. He started out as an overweight comedian, but slimmed down to appear in supporting roles in Spaceballs, The ‘Burbs, Little Monsters, The Hunt for Red October, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Encino Man, Groundhog Day, Last Action Hero, Ghost in the Machine, Disney’s The Shaggy Dog (1994), Dogmatic and Scary Movie. On TV, Ducommun co-starred as “Officer ‘Raid’ Raider” in the short-lived 1986 series The Last Precinct (‘I Want My Mummy’, ‘Never Cross a Vampire’ etc.), plus he appeared in episodes of Amazing Stories, Max Headroom and Brimstone.

  Former child actor George “Foghorn” Winslow (George Carl Wentzlaff)—best remembered for his role in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)—died of a heart attack on June 13, aged 69. At the time of his death he was looking after twenty-five cats in his home. Winslow poratrayed precious children in Monkey Business and The Rocket Man. He retired from the screen in 1958.

  American actress Carol Shelyne (Carole Stuppler, aka “Carolyne Barry”) died of cancer on June 16, aged 71. She began her career as a bespectacled dancer (1964-65) on the ABC-TV music show Shindig! (recording the novelty song ‘The Girl with the Horn-Rimmed Glasses’ in 1965). Shelyne went on to appear in Universal’s sci-spy spoof Out of Sight and episodes of TV’s Star Trek (‘Arena’), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Star Trek: The Next Generation. In 1976 she co-wrote and appeared in the horror film Dark August starring Kim Hunter and J.J. Barry.

  American comedian, scriptwriter and voice actor Phil Austin (Philip Baine Austin), best known for his work with the Firesign Theater comedy troupe, died of an aneurysm on June 18, aged 74. Austin’s credits include the surreal short films Martian Space Party and Eat or Be Eaten, Nick Danger in the Case of the Missing Yolk, Victims and episodes of the animated TV series The Tick.

  Italian actress Laura Antonelli (Laura Antonaz), who starred opposite Vincent Price in Mario Bava’s Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966), died of a heart attack on June 22, aged 73. Charged with possessing and dealing cocaine and sentenced to house arrest in the early 1990s (the conviction was later overturned), since 2009 she had been a ward of the city of Ladispoli, unable to take care of herself. During the 1960s Antonelli was a longtime companion of actor Jean-Paul Belmondo.

  American comedic actor Dick Van Patten (Richard Vincent Van Patten) died of complications from diabetes on June 23, aged 96. His many movie credits include Charly, Zachariah, Beware! The Blob, Soylent Green, Westworld, High Anxiety, The Midnight Hour, Spaceballs, William Shatner’s Groom Lake, The Santa Trap and the Disney films The Strongest Man in the World, The Shaggy D.A. and Freaky Friday (1976). On TV, Patten starred in the popular sitcom Eight is Enough (1977-81) and spin-off movies, and he also turned up in episodes of I Dream of Jeannie, The Girl with Something Extra, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Six Million Dollar Man, Wonder Woman, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Touched by an Angel.

  British-born actor (Daniel) Patrick Macnee, who starred as dapper secret agent “John Steed” in both TV’s The Avengers (1961-69) and The New Avengers (1976-77), died in California on June 25, aged 93. His film credits include Hamlet (1948), Dick Barton at Bay, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1950), A Christmas Carol (1951), Three Cases of Murder, Incense for the Damned (aka Blood Suckers, with Peter Cushing), Dead of Night (Richard Matheson’s ‘No Such Thing as a Vampire’ segment), The Billion Dollar Threat, King Solomon’s Treasure, The Howling, Comedy of Horrors, Sweet 16, The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair, The Creature Wasn’t Nice, Automan, the Bond movie A View to a Kill, Waxwork, Transformations, Lobster Man from Mars, Around the World in 80 Days (1989), Masque of the Red Death (1989), Waxwork II:
Lost in Time and The Low Budget Time Machine. Macnee portrayed Dr. Watson in the TV movies Sherlock Holmes in New York, Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady and Incident at Victoria Falls, the later two opposite old schoolfriend Christopher Lee’s Holmes. He played the Great Detective himself in the obscure The Hound of London, and a character who thought he was Holmes in an episode of Magnum P.I. The actor also starred in the futuristic TV series Super Force (1990-92) and the short-lived NightMan (1997-98), and he appeared in episodes of The Veil (hosted by Boris Karloff), Suspicion (William Hope Hodgson’s ‘Voice in the Night’), One Step Beyond, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1959 and 1988), The Twilight Zone, The Unforeseen (‘The Tin-Type’), Encounter (‘The Invaders’), Night Gallery (August Derleth’s ‘Lagoda’s Heads’), Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries, War of the Worlds and The Ray Bradbury Theatre (‘Usher II’). Macnee was also the voice of the “Imperious Leader” and narrated over the opening credits of Battlestar Galactica (1978-79), and he voiced an invisible man in the 1998 movie of The Avengers. He recorded the song ‘Kinky Boots’ with his Avengers co-star Honor Blackman in 1964, and he also appeared in two music videos, The Pretenders’ ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’ (as John Steed) and Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’. Despite his on-screen persona as the quintessential British gentleman, Macnee actually became a United States citizen in 1959.

  American character actor and comedian Jack Carter (Jack Chakrin), who hosted the first televised Tony Awards ceremony, died of respiratory failure on July 28, aged 93. He made his debut in the obscure voodoo movie The Devil’s Daughter (1939), and his other credits include The Extraordinary Seaman, The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler, Poor Devil (with Christopher Lee), Human Feelings, Alligator, Heartbeeps, Arena, Bert I. Gordon’s Satan’s Princess, Cyber-C.H.I.C. and Mercy (based on Stephen King’s story ‘Gramma’). On TV, Carter appeared in episodes of Tales of Tomorrow, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Batman (1966), I Dream of Jeannie, The Wild Wild West, Beyond Westworld, Fantasy Island, Darkroom, Amazing Stories, Tales from the Darkside, They Came from Outer Space, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Time Trax, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction and 3rd Rock from the Sun, as well as lending his voice to many cartoon shows.