The Best New Horror 3

by Stephen Jones

  Ronald Allen, best known for his recurring roll in the British TV soap Crossroads and the Comic Strip Presents series, died on June 18th from cancer, aged 56. His film credits include The Projected Man and The Fiend (aka Beware the Brethren).

  American leading actress Jean Arthur (aka Gladys Greene) died on June 19th from heart failure, aged 90. Her movie career spanned three decades and includes The Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu (1929), The Return of Dr Fu Manchu, Mr Deeds Goes to Town, Mr Smith Goes to Washington and Shane.

  Actor and producer Michael Landon (aka Michael Orowitz) died from liver and pancreatic cancer on July 1st, aged 54. The star of the hit TV series Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven, he made his debut in the title role of I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957).

  American leading lady Lee Remick died from cancer on July 2nd. She was 55. Her movie credits include Anatomy of a Murder, Experiment in Terror, No Way to Treat a Lady, The Omen and The Medusa Touch.

  Character actress Mildred Dunnock died on July 5th, aged 90. Among her many film appearances are Kiss of Death, The Trouble With Harry, What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? and d the 1975 remake of The Spiral Staircase.

  Hammer veteran Thorley Walters died on July 6th, aged 78, after a long illness. His credits include The Phantom of the Opera (1962), Dracula Prince of Darkness, Frankenstein Created Woman, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, Vampire Circus, The Man Who Haunted Himself, Trog, The People That Time Forgot and TV’s The Avengers.

  James Franciscus died from emphysema on July 8th, aged 57. He starred in The Valley of Gwangi, Marooned, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Cat O’Nine Tails, Killer Fish, Great White and the TV movie Night Slaves.

  Actor and American quiz show host Bert Convy died from cancer on July 15th, aged 56. His movie credits include the Corman cult classic A Bucket of Blood, Hero At Large, the made-for-TV Man in the Santa Claus Suit and the 1971 remake of Death Takes a Holiday.

  Emmy and Tony Ward-winning actress Collen Dewhurst died from cancer on August 22nd, aged 67. She appeared in When a Stranger Calls, Final Assignment, The Dead Zone and The Boy Who Could Fly, amongst other movies.

  British actor Alan Wheatley, best-known as the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1950s TV series Robin Hood, died from a heart attack on August 30th, aged 84. He portrayed Sherlock Holmes on radio and television, and his movie credits include The Diamond Wizard, Hammer’s Spaceways, Shadow of the Cat and A Jolly Bad Fellow (aka They All Died Laughing).

  Brad Davis died from AIDS on September 9th, aged 41. He starred in such movies as Midnight Express, The Curious Case of the Campus Corpse and Song of Darkness Song of Light, and on TV in Twilight Zone, Hitchhiker and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

  Veteran character actor John Hoyt (aka John Hoystradt) died from cancer on September 15th. He was 87. Hoyt’s many genre roles—often playing a scientist—include When Worlds Collide, Lost Continent, The Black Castle, Attack of the Puppet People, Curse of the Undead, The Man With X-Ray Eyes, Two On a Guillotine, The Time Travellers and Flesh Gordon, as well as numerous TV shows. He was also the Enterprise’s original doctor in the Star Trek pilot, “The Menagerie”.

  Dwarf actor and newspaper seller Angelo Rossito died from complications during surgery on September 21st, aged 83. He was discovered by John Barrymore and featured as a character in Nathanael West’s Day of the Locust. His long career included such films as Seven Footprints to Satan (1929), Freaks, Spooks Run Wild, The Corpse Vanishes, Scared to Death, Mr Wong in Chinatown, Mesa of Lost Women, Carousel, The Magic Sword, Dracula vs. Frankenstein, From a Whisper to a Scream (aka The Offspring), Galaxina and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

  Lady Oona Chaplin died on September 27th, aged 66. She was the widow of Charlie, the daughter of Eugene O’Neill and the mother of Geraldine.

  David Gale, who portrayed the evil Dr Hill in Re-Animator and Bride of Re-Animator, died of a heart attack while working in an Off-Broadway play in early October. Gale, who was becoming something of a cult star, also appeared in The Brain and Syngenor.

  Actor Thalmus Rasulala died from a heart attack/leukaemia on October 9th, aged 55. His movies include Blacula, Dick and Marge Save the World, Friday Foster, The Slams and New Jack City.

  Comedian Redd Foxx died from a heart attack after falling ill at the White House on October 11th. He was 68, and his film credits include Ghost of a Chance.

  Veteran character actor Regis Toomey died on October 12th, aged 93. His numerous films include Murder By the Clock, One Frightened Night, The Phantom Creeps, Murder in the Blue Room, The Bishop’s Wife, Mighty Joe Young, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and TV’s The Phantom of Hollywood.

  British actor Donald Huston died October 13th, aged 67. He played Dr Watson in A Study in Terror, also appeared in Hammer’s Maniac (1963), Tales That Witness Madness, Clash of the Titans and portrayed David Caulder in the 1973 TV series Moonbase 3.

  Knigh Dhiegh, best-known for his role as the evil Wo Fat in Hawaii Five-O, died on October 25th, aged 75. He also appeared on TV in The Girl from UNCLE, Wild Wild West, Fantasy Island, Mission Impossible, Kung Fu, and in such movies as The Manchurian Candidate, Seconds, The Destructors and The Mephisto Waltz.

  Donald Churchill, who portrayed Dr Watson in the 1983 version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, died from an apparent heart attack on October 29, aged 60. He also appeared in the SF movie, Spaceflight IC-1.

  Hollywood leading man Fred MacMurray died from pneumonia on November 5th, aged 83. His many movies include Double Indemnity, Murder He Says, Where Do We Go From Here?, The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, Charlie and the Angel, The Swarm and TV’s Beyond the Bermuda Triangle. He is survived by his second wife, actress June Haver.

  American leading lady Gene Tierney died from emphysema on November 6th, aged 70. Tierney, who suffered a mental breakdown in 1955 and spent several years in and out of hospital, starred in Laura, Heaven Can Wait (1943), The Ghost and Mrs Muir, Leave Her to Heaven, Dragonwyck, Whirlpool and TV’s Daughter of the Mind, amongst others.

  French-Italian actor-singer Yves Montand (aka Ivo Levi), once described by Marilyn Monroe as “the most exciting man in the world”, died from a heart attack on November 9th. He was 70. Married to actress Simone Signoret for 37 years, Montand’s films include The Wages of Fear (1953), The Witches of Salem, Is Paris Burning?, Z, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and Mr Freedom.

  Former teen idol Christopher Hayes died from a heart attack on November 12th. His age was kept secret. He appeared in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, The Dark, Body Double and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

  Distinctive-looking actor Reggie Nalder (aka Alfred Reg Natzler) died on November 19th from bone cancer. He was aged somewhere around 80. He played many menacing roles in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), The Manchurian Candidate, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, Dracula’s Dog, Salem’s Lot (as Barlow, the vampire), Mark of the Devil, Mark of the Devil II, The Dead Don’t Die, Dracula Sucks (under a pseudonym), The Devil and Max Devlin and Fellini’s Casanova, amongst others.

  Polish-born character actor and father of Nastassja, Klaus Kinski (aka Nikolaus Gunthar Nakazynski), died from apparently natural causes on November 23rd. He was 65. Kinski appeared in literally hundreds of movies, including many westerns, Edgar Wallace mysteries and horror thrillers. Just a few titles include The Avenger, Dead Eyes of London (1961), The Door With Seven Locks, Dr Mabuse vs. Scotland Yard, Jules Verne’s Rocket to the Moon, The Million Eyes of Su-Muru, Circus of Fear, Web of the Spider (as Poe), Count Dracula (as Renfield), Justine (as De Sade), The Creature With the Blue Hand, Venom, Nosferatu the Vampyre, Vampire in Venice, Android, Creature, Star Knight, Crawlspace, Timestalkers, Aguirre Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo.

  Eleanor Audley, who supplied the voice of the Wicked Stepmother in Disney’s Cinderella and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty, died on November 25th, aged 86.

  American leading man Ralph Bellamy died on November 29th after a long illness. He was 87. His many credits include Before Midn
ight, The Man Who Lived Twice, The Wolf Man, Ghost of Frankenstein, Rosemary’s Baby, The Immortal, Something Evil, Search For the Gods, Oh God!, The Clone Master, Space, Billion Dollar Threat and Amazon Women on the Moon.

  FILM/TV TECHNICIANS

  Edward A. Blatt, who directed the 1944 fantasy Between Two Worlds, died on his birthday, February 5th, aged 88.

  Bernard Burton, who was associate producer on The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, died on February 26th, aged 92.

  George Sherman, who directed more than 100 westerns—many starring John Wayne—died on March 15th from heart and kidney failure, aged 82. His other credits include The Lady and the Monster, The Crime Doctor’s Courage, The Wizard of Baghdad, The Secret of the Whistler, The Bandit of Sherwood Forest and Panic Button.

  Samuel G. Gallu, who directed Theatre of Death starring Christopher Lee, died on March 27th from prostate cancer. He was 73.

  Producer George J. Morgan, who was an associate of Ray Dennis Steckler, died from cancer on March 28th, aged 77. His credits include such Steckler-related projects as The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?, The Rat Pfink a Boo Boo and The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters.

  Writer and 3-D expert Milton Gunzberg died on April 6th from cancer, aged 81. His credits include Bwana Devil and House of Wax.

  Oscar-winning producer/director David Lean died on April 16th, aged 83. He began his film career as an editor (Secret of the Loch) before directing such classics as Blithe Spirit, Great Expectations (1945) and The Sound Barrier, amongst others. At the time of his death, Lean was working on an adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo.

  Director Don Siegel, aged 78, died on April 20th after a long illness. His films include the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Beguiled and Dirty Harry, amongst others. As an actor, he appeared in the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Play Misty for Me.

  TV producer William Dozier died on April 23rd, aged 83, following a stroke. His many credits include the 1960s Batman series (and movie), The Green Hornet and Twilight Zone.

  Steve Broidy, once described by producer Albert Zugsmith as “the worst man I know in the business”, died April 29th from a heart attack. He was 86. From 1945 to 65, Broidy was President of Monogram/Allied Artists, where he oversaw such series as Charlie Chan, Bomba the Jungle Boy and the Dead End Kids, as well as some of Bela Lugosi’s worst movies.

  Veteran special effects expert, Roy Seawright, died on April 30th, aged 85. His credits include Topper Takes a Trip, Topper Returns and One Million BC

  Director Richard Thorpe died May 1st, aged 95. Among his many films are The Fatal Warning, King of the Kongo (with Karloff), Murder at Dawn, Night Must Fall (1937), Strange People, several of the best Weissmuller Tarzan adventures, and Jailhouse Rock.

  Production executive Dennis Crosby died on May 4th, aged 56. He was the second of Bing’s sons to commit suicide.

  Joy Batchelor, wife of John Halas and partner in the animation company Halas and Batchelor, died on May 14th after a long illness. She wrote and directed the 1954 version of Orwell’s Animal Farm.

  Leading Filippino film-maker Lino Brocka was killed in a car accident on May 22nd. He was 51. Brocka’s career began working with Eddie Romero as a script supervisor on the Blood Island movies.

  Director, art director and special effects wizard Eugene Lourié died on May 26th from heart failure. He was aged 89. Lourié worked with Jean Renoir on such movies as La Bete Humaine, Regle de Jeu and Grande Illusion, before moving to Hollywood for Chaplin’s Limelight, Confessions of an Opium Eater, Shock Corridor, Crack in the World, What’s the Matter With Helen?, Burnt Offerings, and the TV movies Haunts of the Very Rich and Death Takes a Holiday. As a director, he was responsible for The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Gorgo, The Colossus of New York and The Giant Behemoth.

  Low budget writer/director Andy Milligan died from AIDS on June 3rd, aged 62. Milligan’s cult movies include The Naked Witch, The Ghastly Ones, Bloodthirsty Butchers, Torture Dungeon, The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!, The Man With Two Heads, Legacy of Horror, The Body Beneath, Garu the Mad Monk, Blood, Carnage, The Degenerates and The Weirdo.

  Screenwriter/producer Milton Subotsky died June 27th from heart disease. He was 70. After writing the scripts for such TV shows as Lights Out, Danger, Suspense, The Clock and Mr I. Magination, he teamed up with financier Max J. Rosenberg to make Rock, Rock, Rock (1956). The team moved to Britain to make City of the Dead (1960) and the 1964 production Dr Terror’s House of Horrors led to the formation of Amicus Productions. Second only to Hammer during the 1960s and ’70s, Amicus produced a string of successful horror and science fiction films, many also scripted by Subotsky: Dr Who and the Daleks, The Skull, Torture Garden, Scream and Scream Again, The House That Dripped Blood, Tales from the Crypt and The Land That Time Forgot, amongst many others. He also produced The Uncanny, Dominique, The Monster Club and the TV mini-series The Martian Chronicles. Subotsky is credited on several movies based on Stephen King stories, the most recent being The Lawnmower Man (1992).

  Ben Chapman died of heart failure on July 8th, aged 83. He was the associate producer on Donovan’s Brain and also donned the Gill Man costume for the land scenes in The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

  TV director Murray Golden died August 5th following complications from a stroke. He was 79 and his many credits include episodes of Star Trek, Get Smart, The Time Tunnel and The Invaders.

  Academy Award-winning director Frank Capra died on September 3rd, aged 94. His many classic movies include Lost Horizon (1937), Arsenic and Old Lace, It’s A Wonderful Life and his last, Pocketful of Miracles (1961).

  Writer/producer/director Chuck Vincent died September 23rd, aged 51. Best known for his porno movies, such as American Tickler, Hollywood Hot Tubs, Slammer Girls and Sex Crimes 2084, he also made horror films such as Bad Blood and If Looks Could Kill.

  Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, aged 70, died from cardiac arrest caused by a massive bloodclot on October 24th. A pilot for Pan Am and a sergeant with the LA Police Department, he began writing for TV in the 1950s. The pilot for Star Trek was aired in September 1966 and the series ran for 79 episodes. Roddenberry also produced such unsuccessful pilot shows as Spectre, The Questor Tapes, Planet Earth and Genesis II, executive produced Star Trek: The Next Generation, and was creative consultant on the six Star Trek movies. He is survived by his wife, Majel Leigh Hudec, who played Nurse Chapel on Star Trek under the stage name Majel Barrett.

  Film and TV producer Irwin Allen died from a heart attack on November 2nd, aged 75. He created such series as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants and The Time Tunnel, the TV films City Beneath the Sea and Time Travellers, and the mini-series The Amazing Captain Nemo and Alice in Wonderland. His movie credits include The Story of Mankind, the 1960 remake of The Lost World, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Five Weeks in a Balloon, The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, The Swarm, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure and When Time Ran Out.

  British stage and screen director Tony Richardson died from AIDS on November 14th, aged 63. His films include A Taste of Honey, Tom Jones, The Loved One, Hamlet (1969) and the 1990 TV version of The Phantom of the Opera.

  Daniel Mann, who directed Our Man Flint and Willard, died from heart failure on November 21st, aged 79.

  Oscar-winning Batman designer Anton Furst, aged 47, committed suicide on November 24th by jumping from the seventh floor of a Los Angeles building. A pioneer of laser-based special effects, his other credits include Star Wars, Superman, Alien, Moonraker, Outland, Company of Wolves, Full Metal Jacket, High Spirits and the Planet Hollywood restaurant in New York. Furst, who was set to design and direct Midknight starring Michael Jackson, had been under treatment for alcohol problems and was suffering from depression.

  Writer/director/producer and sometimes collaborator with Curtis Harrington, George Edwards, died from cancer on November 26th, aged 67. His film credits include Qu
een of Blood, Games, How Awful About Allan, What’s the Matter with Helen?, Frogs, The Killing Kind, Legend of Hell House, The Attic, Evil Spirits and Ruby.

  Gene Milford, who won an Oscar for editing Lost Horizon (1937), died on December 23rd, aged 89. His other credits include On the Waterfront, Countdown and Wait Until Dark.