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British character actor Bernard [Arthur Gordon] Horsfall died in Scotland on January 28, aged eighty-two. He appeared in Cinderella (1958), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Mr. Horatio Knibbles, Quest for Love (based on a story by John Wyndham) and The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988), along with episodes of Pathfinders to Mars, Out of This World, The Avengers, Out of the Unknown, Doomwatch, Doctor Who (“Planet of the Daleks” etc.), The Changes, Nigel Kneale’s Beasts, Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense, Virtual Murder and Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes. In the 1980s, Horsfall moved with his wife, actress Jane Jordan Rogers, to the Isle of Skye to become a crofter.
Patty (Patricia Marie) Andrews, the last surviving member of the singing Andrews Sisters, died on January 30, aged ninety-four. With her elder sisters LaVerne and Maxene, the trio brightened up a number of wartime movies during the 1940s and their many hits included “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”. The sisters later turned up in the 1947 Bing Crosby and Bob Hope comedy/fantasy Road to Rio. Patty’s first husband, agent Martin Melcher, left her for Doris Day.
British-born actor Robin [David] Sachs, the son of actors Leonard Sachs and Eleanor Summerfield, died of heart failure in Los Angeles on February 1, aged sixty-one. His credits include Hammer’s Vampire Circus, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Ravager, Babylon 5: In the Beginning, Galaxy Quest and the animated Resident Evil: Damnation, along with episodes of Nowhere Man, Baywatch Nights, F/X: The Series, Babylon 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek: Voyager, Alias and Torchwood: Miracle Day. Sachs was also the voice of the Silver Surfer in the 1994 cartoon TV series Fantastic Four.
American leading man John [Grinham] Kerr, who played the young hero in Roger Corman’s Pit and the Pendulum (1961), died of congestive heart failure on February 2, aged eighty-one. His other credits include a 1959 TV movie of Berkeley Square and episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Search Control and The Invisible Man (1975). He all but retired from acting in the late 1970s to become a lawyer.
German-born actor [John] Peter Gilmore, who starred in the BBC TV series The Onedin Line (1971–80), died in London on February 3, also aged eighty-one. Along with many Carry On films, he also appeared in The Abominable Dr Phibes, Warlords of Atlantis, and episodes of TV’s Dead of Night and the 1984 Doctor Who serial “Frontios”. The first of his three wives was actress Una Stubbs.
American drama teacher Sidney Berger died on February 15, aged seventy-seven. He appeared in both the 1962 and 1998 versions of Carnival of Souls. Berger’s acting students included Randy Quaid, Dennis Quaid and Brent Spiner.
British character actor Richard [David] Briers CBE died of emphysema on February 17, aged seventy-nine. Best known as the star of the BBC sitcom The Good Life (1975–78), he also voiced “Fiver” in the animated Watership Down (1978), portrayed the blind Grandfather in Kenneth Branagh’s Frankenstein (1994), and played “Smee” in the 2003 version of Peter Pan. His final film role was in Cockneys vs Zombies (2012). Briers also appeared in the 1987 Doctor Who serial “Paradise Towers” and episodes of Tales of the Unexpected and Torchwood.
Scottish actress Elspet Gray (Elspeth Jean MacGregor-Gray), who was a regular on the 1971 children’s TV series Catweazle, died in London on February 18, aged eighty-three. She also appeared in episodes of Strange Experiences (“Halloween”), Colonel March of Scotland Yard (with Boris Karloff) and the Doctor Who serial “Arc of Infinity”. Gray was married to actor/comedian Lord Brian Rix.
American character actor Lou Myers (Lewis Eddy Myers) died of heart failure on February 19, aged seventy-seven. He appeared in The Passion of Darkly Noon and Volcano.
American leading man Dale Robertson (Dayle Lymoine Robertson), who starred in the TV series Tales of Wells Fargo (1957–62), died of complications from lung cancer and pneumonia on February 27. He was eighty-nine. Robertson appeared in the movies The Boy with Green Hair (uncredited) and Son of Sinbad (with Vincent Price), along with an episode of TV’s Fantasy Island.
American actress and singer Bonnie [Gail] Franklin, who starred in the popular sitcom One Day at a Time (1975–84), died of pancreatic cancer on March 1, aged sixty-nine. A protégé of tap dancer Donald O’Connor, as a child actress she appeared in a 1954 TV version of A Christmas Carol starring Basil Rathbone as Marley’s ghost. Later appearances include episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Munsters and Touched by an Angel. Franklin also starred in the title role of a 1973 stage production of Peter Pan, and she directed twelve episodes of the revival TV series The Munsters Today (1988–90).
American TV character and voice actor Malachi Throne died of lung cancer on March 13, aged eighty-four. He appeared in episodes of The Outer Limits, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Star Trek (he had turned down the role of “Dr McCoy”), The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Batman (as “False Face”), Lost in Space, The Wild Wild West, The Time Tunnel, Tarzan, Land of the Giants, Search Control, The Six Million Dollar Man, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Ark II, Project U.F.O., Star Trek: The Next Generation, M.A.N.T.I.S., Babylon 5 and the 1975 special It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman! Throne narrated the teaser trailer for Star Wars, and he was also in the SF comedy movie Eat and Run.
British character actor Frank Thornton [Ball], who starred in the BBC sitcoms Are You Being Served? (1972–85) and Last of the Summer Wine (1997–2010), died on March 16, aged ninety-two. He also appeared in The TellTale Heart (1960, uncredited), Roger Corman’s The Tomb of Ligeia (with Vincent Price), Gonks Go Beat, Carry on Screaming!, The Bed Sitting Room, The Magic Christian (uncredited), The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Digby the Biggest Dog in the World and Vampira (aka Old Dracula), along with episodes of TV’s The Avengers, The Champions and The New Avengers.
American adult film actor and director Harry Reems (Herbert Streicher, aka “Herb Streicher”/“Peter Long”/“Stan Freemont”/“Herb Stryker”/“Harry Reams”/“Bob Walters”/“Richard Hurt”/“Peter Straight”/“Tim Long”/“Hari Rimusu”/“Bruce Gilchrist”), best known for his role as the doctor in the infamous Deep Throat, died of organ failure on March 19, aged sixty-five. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer. Reems’ numerous credits include Dark Dreams (1971), Penetration (aka So Sweet So Dead/The Slasher is … the Sex Maniac!), The Devil in Miss Jones, Case of the Full Moon Murders (aka The Case of the Smiling Stiffs), The Amazing Dr. Jekyll (as “Dr Charles Jekyll III”), Sherlick Holmes (in the title role, 1975), Demented, Whore of the Worlds, Ten Little Maidens, Love Bites and Lust in Space. A reformed alcoholic, he retired from the screen in 1988 and later became a successful real estate broker.
Derek Watkins, the British trumpet player featured on every James Bond soundtrack from Dr. No to Skyfall, died on March 22, aged sixty-eight.
American actor and teacher David Early died of cancer on March 23, aged seventy-four. He was featured in George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, Knightriders, Creepshow, Monkey Shines and The Dark Half. His other movie credits include The Silence of the Lambs, Innocent Blood and Zombie Mutation.
Rotund British actor Richard Griffiths OBE died of complications following heart surgery on March 28, aged sixty-five. Best known for his portrayal of the dastardly Uncle Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter series, he also appeared in Superman III, Britannia Hospital, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan Lord of the Apes, Sleepy Hollow (1999), A Muppets Christmas, Bedtime Stories, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Hugo and About Time (uncredited), along with TV’s Whoops Apocalypse and the mini-series Gormenghast.
Veteran Irish character actor Milo O’Shea (Milo Donal O’Shea) died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in New York City on April 2, aged eighty-five. Best remembered for playing the villainous Durand-Durand in Barbarella (1968), he also appeared in The Angel Levine, Theatre of Blood (with Vincent Price), Digby the Biggest Dog in the World, Professor Popper’s Problem, Arabian Adventure (with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing) and Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo. O’Shea’s many TV credits include episod
es of Out of This World, Out of the Unknown, Journey to the Unknown (aka Journey Into Darkness), Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries, Beauty and the Beast (1988) and Early Edition.
Mouseketeer turned musical/comedy actress Annette [Joanne] Funicello died of complications from multiple sclerosis on April 8 (the same day as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher). She was seventy. Best remembered for co-starring in a string of iconic 1960s AIP teen movies with Frankie Avalon and various veteran actors – including Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach, Pajama Party, Beach Blanket Bingo, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini and Doctor Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine – her other movie credits include Disney’s The Shaggy Dog (1959), Babes in Toyland (1961), The Misadventures of Merlin Jones and The Monkey’s Uncle, along with The Monkees’ psychedelic Head. Amongst Funicello’s TV credits are several episodes of Fantasy Island. Her one-time boyfriend, singer Paul Anka, wrote the songs “Puppy Love” and “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” based on their relationship.
Sara Montiel (Maria Antonia Alejandra Vicenta Elpidia Isadora Abad Fernández, aka “Sarita Montiel”), one of Spain’s greatest film stars and the first Spanish actress to conquer Hollywood in the 1950s, died the same day, aged eighty-five. She starred in the 1953 Mexican comedy/fantasy Ella, Lucifer y yo opposite Abel Salazar. Her first husband was American director Anthony Mann, and she counted Gary Cooper and James Dean amongst her many lovers.
British-born stuntman/actor and TV director Richard J. Brooker, who played the mindless psycho behind Jason Voorhees’ hockey mask in Friday the 13th Part III, died from a heart attack on April 8, aged fifty-eight. He also appeared in the 1983 movie Deathstalker, on which he was stunt co-ordinator.
American comedy legend Jonathan Winters (Jonathan Harshman Winters, Jr) died on April 11, aged eighty-seven. A prolific voice actor, his movie appearances include The Loved One, More Wild Wild West, Alice in Wonderland (1985), The Flintstones and The Shadow (1994). A regular on Mork & Mindy (1981–82) as “Mearth”, Winters’ numerous TV credits include episodes of Shirley Temple’s Storybook, Twilight Zone (“A Game of Pool”), Disneyland (“Halloween Hall o’ Fame”) and as the voice of “Coach Cadaver” in Gravedale High (1990).
American actress Christine [Lamson] White, who played William Shatner’s wife in the classic Twilight Zone episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”, died on April 14, aged eighty-six. She also appeared in William Castle’s Macabre and episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, One Step Beyond and Thriller. White was James Dean’s girlfriend in New York from 1951–54.
Actor Mike Road, the voice of “Roger T. ‘Race’ Bannon” in the cartoon TV series Jonny Quest (1964–65) died the same day, aged ninety-five. Road also did voice work for The Flintstones, Space Ghost, Birdman, The Herculoids, Fantastic 4, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Valley of the Dinosaurs, The Fantastic Journey, The Fantastic Four and Space Stars. He appeared in the 1966 SF movie Destination Inner Space, plus episodes of I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched and The Wild Wild West.
American actor Richard LeParmentier, who played illfated “Admiral Motti” in Star Wars (1977), died on April 15, aged sixty-six. His other credits include Rollerball (1975), The People That Time Forgot, Superman II, Octopussy and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, along with episodes of TV’s Space: 1999, Hammer House of Mystery and Worlds Beyond. LeParmentier was married to actress Sarah Douglas from 1981–84.
Radio broadcaster William Burchinal, who played a zombie in George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968), died on April 17, aged ninety.
American character actor Allan [Franklin] Arbus died of congestive heart failure on April 19, aged ninety-five. A semiregular on TV’s M*A*S*H, he appeared in episodes of Wonder Woman, Salvage 1 and The Amazing Spider-Man, and his movies include Scream Pretty Peggy and Damien: Omen II.
British stuntman and actor Nosher Powell (George Frederick Bernard Powell) died on April 20, aged eighty-four. A former boxer, he began his film career in the mid-1940s and appeared (often uncredited) in The Road to Hong Kong, Hammer’s She, Circus of Fear, The Magic Christian, One More Time, Venom, Krull, Eat the Rich and Willow, along with episodes of TV’s Adam Adamant Lives!, The Avengers, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Blake’s 7. Additionally, Powell did stuntwork in Hammer’s The Quatermass Xperiment and Dracula, The Day of the Triffids, Goldfinger, Thunderball, Casino Royale (1967), You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, Star Wars, The Spy Who Loved Me, Superman (1978), Moonraker, Flash Gordon (1980), For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy and A View to a Kill.
British character actor Norman Jones died of a heart attack on April 23, aged eighty. He appeared in fifteen episodes of Doctor Who between 1967–76, and his other TV credits include episodes of Out of This World (hosted by Boris Karloff), The Avengers, The Champions, Nigel Kneale’s Beasts and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Jones was also in the films You Only Live Twice, The Mind of Mr. Soames and The Abominable Dr. Phibes (with Vincent Price).
Northern Irish actor Sean Caffrey, who appeared in Hammer’s The Viking Queen and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, died on April 25, aged seventy-three. He was also in episodes of TV’s Survivors (1977), Doctor Who and Galloping Galaxies!
Actress Rossella Falk (Antonia Falzacappa), known as “the Italian Greta Garbo”, died in Rome on May 5, aged eighty-six. She appeared in Fellini’s 8½, Modesty Blaise (1966), Run Psycho Run, Black Belly of the Tarantula and Seven BloodStained Orchids.
British character actor Aubrey [Harold] Woods died on May 7, aged eighty-five. He appeared in The Greed of William Hart (aka Horror Maniacs, with Tod Slaughter), The Queen of Spades (1949), Wuthering Heights (1970), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (with Vincent Price), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Z.P.G., along with episodes of TV’s Doctor Who (“Day of the Daleks”) and Blake’s 7. Woods was also a vice-president of the E. F. Benson Society.
American actress Jeanne Cooper, the mother of actor Corbin Bernsen, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on May 8, aged eighty-four. Best known for her recurring role in the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless (1973–2013), she also appeared in Black Zoo (with Michael Gough) and The Boston Strangler, along with episodes of TV’s Twilight Zone, Thriller, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Cimarron Strip (Harlan Ellison’s Jack the Ripper episode “Knife in the Darkness”), Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Touched by Angel.
American pop psychologist and actress Dr Joyce Brothers (Joyce Diane Bauer) died of respiratory failure on May 13, aged eighty-five. She appeared in More Wild Wild West, Embryo, Oh God! Book II, Love at Stake, Spy Hard and episodes of TV’s Project U.F.O., Hero at Large, ALF, The Munsters Today and Perversions of Science. In 1955, Brothers became the only woman to win the top prize on the quiz show The $64,000 Question. Her subject was “boxing”.
Eighty-year-old American actor [Truman] Linden Chiles died on May 15 of injuries he sustained after falling off the roof of his home. He was in the movies The Wizard of Baghdad, Shock Treatment, Eye of the Cat, Forbidden World and Doctor Mabuse (2013), and featured in episodes of TV’s Twilight Zone, My Favorite Martian, The Munsters, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Time Tunnel, The Green Hornet, The Invaders, Land of the Giants, Shazam!, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Logan’s Run, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Incredible Hulk, Knight Rider, V, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985), Werewolf, The New Adventures of Superman and Silk Stalkings.
Hollywood leading man Steve Forrest (William Forrest Andrews) died on May 18, aged eighty-seven. One of his earliest film roles was as an uncredited sailor in Val Lewton’s The Ghost Ship (1943), and he went on to appear in Phantom of the Rue Morgue, The Living Idol, Maneaters Are Loose!, Captain America (1979) and Amazon Women on the Moon. On TV Forrest starred in such series as The Baron (1966–67) and S.W.A.T. (1975–76), and he featured in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Twilight Zone, The Sixth Sense, Circle of Fear, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, The Six Million Dollar Man, Fantasy Island and T
eam Knight Rider. He was the younger brother of actor Dana Andrews.
Prolific British-born character actor Arthur Malet (Vivian R. Malet) died in Santa Monica, California, the same day. He was eighty-five. Malet moved to America in the mid-1950s, where he appeared (often playing older than he was) in such films as Disney’s Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Munster Go Home!, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1972), Young Frankenstein, Heaven Can Wait (1978), Halloween (1978), Oh God! You Devil, Dick Tracy (1990), Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time, The Runestone and Hook. He was also a prolific TV performer, appearing in episodes of Shirley Temple’s Storybook, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, My Favorite Martian, Captain Nice, Bewitched, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (“The Kooky Spook Affair” etc.), The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Monkees, The Wild Wild West, I Dream of Jeannie, Night Gallery and Wonder Woman, amongst many others.
French actress Françoise Blanchard, who starred in Jean Rollin’s The Living Dead Girl (La morte vivante, 1982), died on May 24, aged fifty-eight. She also appeared in Rollin’s Sidewalks of Bangkok and La nuit des horloges, Amazons in the Temple of Gold (co-directed by an uncredited Jesús Franco) and Franco’s Revenge in the House of Usher (aka Zombie 5).
British comedy actor and author Bill Pertwee MBE (William Desmond Anthony Pertwee), best known for appearing in the TV series Dad’s Army (1968–77) and Carry On films, died on May 27, aged eighty-six. He also appeared in the 1973 horror movie Psychomania (aka The Death Wheelers) and episodes of Worzel Gummidge and Woof! He was the first cousin of actor Jon Pertwee and scriptwriter Michael Pertwee.
American actress Jean Stapleton (Jeanne Murray), who starred in the TV sitcom All in the Family (1968–79), died on May 31, aged ninety. She also appeared in Mother Goose Rock ’n’ Rhyme, Ghost Mum (aka Bury Me in Niagara), and episodes of Faerie Tale Theatre, The Ray Bradbury Theatre and Touched by an Angel. On stage, Stapleton played Abby Brewster in the 1986–87 revival of Arsenic and Old Lace.