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British-born actress Kate Woodville (Katherine Woodville, aka “Catherine Woodville”/“Katharine Woodville”) died of cancer in Portland, Oregon, on June 5, aged seventy-five. She starred in the 1960 BBC series of The Mystery of Edwin Drood and played the first character to be killed on TV’s The Avengers, before moving to America and appearing in the TV movie Fear No Evil and episodes of Star Trek, Kung Fu, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Gemini Man, Wonder Woman and Salvage 1. Woodville was married to actors Patrick Macnee from 1965–69 and Edward Albert from 1979 until his death in 2006.
“America’s Mermaid”, Hollywood swimming star Esther [Jane] Williams, died on June 6, aged ninety-one. Amongst her movie credits is the 1943 version of A Guy Named Joe and she swam with cartoon characters Tom & Jerry in Dangerous When Wet. Williams was married to actor Fernando Lamas from 1969 until his death in 1982. She was cremated and her ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
American TV actress Maxine Stuart (Maxine Shlivek), who was under the bandages in the classic “Eye of the Beholder” episode of Twilight Zone, died the same day, aged ninety-four. She also appeared in episodes of The Outer Limits and Get Smart, and the 1994 TV movie The Haunting of Seacliff Inn. Stuart was featured as the author’s sidekick in Helene Hanff’s nonfiction books 84 Charing Cross Road and Underfoot in Show Business.
British character actor Angus MacKay died on June 8, aged eighty-six. He was in Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment, Revenge (aka Terror from Under the House) and Quest for Love (based on a story by John Wyndham), plus episodes of Doomwatch, Tales of the Unexpected and two series of Doctor Who.
Hollywood character actor Harry Lewis died on June 9, aged ninety-three. His movie credits include The Body Disappears, The Unsuspected, Bomba on Panther Island and The Astral Factor. He was also in episodes of Adventures of Superman, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Six Million Dollar Man. In the late 1940s Lewis opened the Hamburger Hamlet restaurant with his wife Marilyn and it later expanded into a successful chain.
American character actor Valentin de Vargas (Albert C. Schubert) died of myelodysplastic syndrome on June 10, aged seventy-eight. He was in Touch of Evil (1958) and episodes of TV’s The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (Ray Bradbury’s “The Life Work of Juan Diaz”), The Wild Wild West, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (“The Mystery of King Tut’s Tomb”), Project U.F.O. and V.
American actress Valerie [Pamela] Allen, who appeared in I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958), died of lung cancer on June 18, aged seventy-seven. Allen was also in What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? and was married to actor Troy Donahue from 1966–68. She retired from the screen at the end of the 1960s and became a soap opera writer and cruise ship social director.
American actor James [Joseph] Gandolfini [Jr] died of a heart attack while on vacation in Rome on June 19. He was fifty-one. The star of the TV series The Sopranos (1999–2007), he made his movie debut in 1987 horror comedy Shock! Shock! Shock!, and his other credits include Crimson Tide, Fallen and 8MM.
British actress Diane Clare (Diane C. O. G. Dirsztay), who starred in Hammer’s The Plague of the Zombies (1966), died on June 21, aged seventy-four. Although her acting career only spanned a decade, Clare’s impressive list of genre credits also includes The Haunting (1963), Witchcraft (with Lon Chaney, Jr), The Vulture, The Hand of Night and an episode of TV’s The Avengers. She was married to author Barry England from 1967 until his death in 2009.
American actor and scriptwriter Elliott “Ted” Reid (Edgeworth Blair Reid) died of heart failure the same day, aged ninety-three. He appeared in A Double Life (1947), The Whip Hand, Disney’s The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber and Blackbeard’s Ghost, and Heaven Can Wait (1978), along with episodes of TV’s Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Munsters, The Wild Wild West and Tales of the Unexpected. Elliott was also a member of Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater and a radio performer on such shows as Suspense.
Seventy-eight-year-old American voice actor Jerry Dexter (Gerald E. Dexter) also died on June 21, of complications from a head injury sustained in a fall at his home. His numerous credits include Shazzan, The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, Aquaman, The Adventures of Gulliver, Josie and the Pussycats, The Funky Phantom, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Sealab 2020, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, Goober and the Ghost Chasers, Fangface, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy Doo, Drak Pack, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show, Super Friends and Challenge of the GoBots.
British comedy actress Pat Ashton died on June 23, aged eighty-two. She was in Bloodbath at the House of Death (with Vincent Price) and an episode of TV’s Metal Mickey.
Super-cool American martial-arts film star Jim Kelly (James Milton Kelly), who starred alongside Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon (1973), died of cancer on June 29, aged sixty-seven. He also appeared in Golden Needles, Death Dimension and an episode of TV’s Highway to Heaven. Kelly later became a professional tennis coach.
American actor and singer Victor Lundin, who portrayed “Friday” in Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964), died the same day, aged eighty-three. He was also in episodes of TV’s The Time Tunnel, Get Smart, Star Trek (as the first Klingon seen on screen), The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Batman and Babylon 5. Lundin played “Abraham Van Helsing” in the TV movie Fatal Kiss, and he also turned up in the horror films Scarred and Revamped.
Robert “Bob” Carter, who portrayed ghoulish TV horror host “Sammy Terry” (get it?) for local Indianapolis station WTTV Channel 4’s Shock Theater and Nightmare Theater during the 1960s and ’70s, died on June 30, aged eighty-three. He would appear on the show with his spider sidekick George (voiced by Bob Glaze).
British character actress Anna Wing MBE (Anna Eva Lydia Catherine Wing), died on July 7, aged ninety-eight. A regular on the BBC soap opera EastEnders in the 1980s, she also appeared in The Ghost Sonata, The Blood on Satan’s Claw, Full Circle (aka The Haunting of Julia, based on the novel by Peter Straub), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978), The Godsend, Xtro and Tooth, along with episodes of TV’s Doctor Who, The Woman in White (1982), The Witches and the Grinnygog, The Invisible Man (1984) and Fungus the Bogeyman.
Egyptian-born British TV writer and presenter Alan [Donald] Whicker CBE, died of bronchial pneumonia on Jersey, in the Channel Islands, on July 12. He was eighty-seven. Best known for his jet-setting documentary and travel programmes, he made cameo appearances as himself in The Magic Christian and Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? In 1957, Whicker attended the World Science Fiction Convention in London to interview fans in costume for the BBC’s Tonight programme.
Canadian actor Cory [Allan Michael] Monteith, who starred in the TV series Kyle XY and Glee, died from an overdose of heroin and alcohol on July 13, aged thirty-one. His body was found in a Vancouver hotel room. Monteith’s other credits include Bloody Mary, Final Destination 3, Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep, Hybrid, White Noise: The Light, The Invisible, Whisper and episodes of Stargate: Atlantis, Supernatural, Smallville, Stargate: SG1, Flash Gordon (2007) and Fear Itself.
Fifty-six-year-old British actress Briony McRoberts committed suicide by jumping in front of a train on July 17. She had been suffering from anorexia. A former child actress (in 1970s sitcom Bachelor Father), she appeared in the 1976 TV film Peter Pan (as “Wendy”), The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Edge of Sanity. McRoberts was married to actor David Robb.
British character actor and director Mel Smith (Melvyn Kenneth Smith), who co-starred with Griff Rhys Jones in the BBC TV comedy series Not the Nine O’Clock News and Alas Smith & Jones, died of a heart attack on July 19. He was sixty. Smith appeared in a number of films, including Morons from Outer Space, The Princess Bride, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, The Riddle and My Angel, and he directed the 1930s whodunnit Radioland Murders from a story by George Lucas.
Ceylonese-born British actor David Spenser (David De Saram) died in Spain on July 20, aged seventy-nine. A child radio star in the 1940s and ’50s, his films include Hammer’s
The Stranglers of Bombay, Disney’s In Search of the Castaways, The Earth Dies Screaming and Battle Beneath the Earth. On TV he appeared in Secret Beneath the Sea and episodes of Adam Adamant Lives! and Doctor Who (“The Abominable Snowmen”). Spenser retired from the screen in the early 1970s to become a radio producer and make TV arts documentaries.
Tough-guy American actor Dennis Farina died of a pulmonary embolism on July 22, aged sixty-nine. A former Chicago police officer, he appeared in the movie Manhunter (based on Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon) and an episode of TV’s Tales from the Crypt (“Werewolf Concerto”).
Scottish-born leading lady Rona Anderson died in London on July 23, aged eighty-six. Her film credits include Scrooge (1951), The Black Rider and Devils of Darkness. She was married to actor Gordon Jackson from 1951 until his death in 1990.
French actor, scriptwriter and director Michel Lemoine (aka “John Armando”/“Michel Leblanc”) died on July 27, aged ninety. He appeared in Planets Against Us (aka Hands of a Killer), Hercules Attacks, War of the Planets, Jess Franco’s Succubus, Sadist Erotica and Kiss Me Monster, Castle of the Creeping Flesh, Run Psycho Run, Seven Women for Satan (which he also wrote and directed), Le syndrome d’Edgar Poe and the 1997 short Marquis de Slime.
Oscar-nominated American actress Eileen Brennan (Verla Eileen Regina Brennan) died of bladder cancer on July 28, aged eighty. Her many credits include the movies The Night That Panicked America, Murder by Death, Pandemonium, Clue, Babes in Toyland (1986), In Search of Dr. Seuss, Freaky Friday (1995), Toothless, Jeepers Creepers and The Hollow, as well as episodes of TV’s The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, McMillan & Wife (“Night of the Wizard”), The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Tales from the Crypt, Touched by an Angel and The Fearing Mind. Brennan was hit by a car and critically injured in 1982.
Syrian-born American actor Michael [George] Ansara died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease on July 31, aged ninety-one. His many movies include Road to Bali, White Witch Doctor, Jupiter’s Darling, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, The Ten Commandments (1956), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Destructors, Dear Dead Delilah, The Doll Squad, It’s Alive (1974), Day of the Animals, The Manitou (based on the novel by Graham Masterton) and Johnny Misto: Boy Wizard. In 1968 he portrayed Klingon commander Kang in the Star Trek episode “Day of the Dove”, and later recreated the role in both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. Ansara also appeared in episodes of Terry and the Pirates, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits (Harlan Ellison’s “Soldier”), The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., Bewitched, The Time Tunnel, Tarzan (1968), Land of the Giants, I Dream of Jeannie, Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century (as “Kane”), Fantasy Island, The Fantastic World of D. C. Collins and Babylon 5. He was the voice of the animated Mister Freeze in Batman: The Animated Series, The New Adventures of Batman, Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, Batman Beyond: The Movie and Batman of the Future, along with the video game Batman: Vengeance. Ansara directed a 1970 episode of I Dream of Jeannie starring his second wife, actress Barbara Eden. He was also married to Jean Byron and Beverly Kushida.
American teen model turned actress and TV presenter Barbara Trentham died of complications from leukaemia on August 2, aged sixty-eight. In the 1970s she appeared in The Possession of Joel Delaney, Rollerball and the TV movie Deathmoon, along with an episode of Star Maidens. Trentham was married to British comedian John Cleese from 1981–90.
Oscar-nominated Hollywood actress Karen Black (Karen Blanche Ziegler) died of ampullary cancer on August 8. She was seventy-four. Her movie credits include The Pyx, Rhinoceros, Airport 1975, Trilogy of Terror (scripted by William F. Nolan and based on three stories by Richard Matheson), The Day of the Locust, Burnt Offerings, Alfred Hitchcock’s Family Plot, The Strange Obsession of Mrs. Oliver, Capricorn One, Killer Fish, The Last Horror Film, Cut and Run, Invaders from Mars (1986), It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive, The Invisible Kid, Out of the Dark, Zapped Again!, Night Angel, Haunting Fear, Mirror Mirror, Evil Spirits, Children of the Night, Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies, Plan 10 from Outer Space, Children of the Corn: The Gathering, Dinosaur Valley Girls, Invisible Dad, Light Speed, Oliver Twisted, Soulkeeper, Teknolust, Curse of the Forty-Niner, House of 1000 Corpses, Dr. Rage (aka Nightmare Hostel) and Repo Chick. On TV Black was in episodes of The Invaders, Circle of Fear, Deadly Nightmares, Worlds Beyond, Faerie Tale Theatre and The Hunger.
Best known for her co-starring role in Russ Meyer’s 1965 cult movie Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Canadian-born Haji (Cerlet Catton) died of an apparent heart attack on August 9, aged sixty-seven. A former exotic dancer, her other exploitation film credits include Motorpsycho!, Confessions of a Sexy Supervixen, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Bigfoot (with John Carradine), Wham! Bam! Thank You Spaceman!, Ilsa Haren Keeper of the Oil Sheiks, Demonoid: Messenger of Death, The DoubleD Avenger and Killer Drag Queens on Dope. She was engaged to actor Frank Gorshin at the time of his death in 2005.
American-born voice actor Cliff Harrington died in Japan the same day, aged eighty-one. He served in the US military and was stationed in that country in the early 1960s, where he became involved in the film industry there. He appeared as “Al” in King Kong vs. Godzilla before becoming a dubbing artist on such films Cyborg 009: Legend of the Super Galaxy and Space Pirate Captain Harlock: Arcadia of My Youth.
American model turned actress Nora Hayden (Naura Helen Hayden), who starred as “Dr Irish Ryan” in The Angry Red Planet (1959), died on August 10, aged eighty-three. She was also an uncredited harem girl in Son of Sinbad.
Twenty-nine-year-old model Gia [Marie] Allemand, who found “fame” as a contestant on reality TV shows The Bachelor and Bachelor Pad, was declared brain-dead on August 14 and removed from life support in a New Orleans hospital after attempting to hang herself two days earlier. As an actress, she appeared in the shorts Ghost Trek: The Kinsey Report and Ghost Trek: Goomba Body Snatchers Mortuary Lockdown.
British stuntman Mark Sutton, who was the James Bond stunt double during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, was killed the same day when a wing-diving stunt from a helicopter went wrong. He was forty-two.
Forty-three-year-old American actress Lisa Robin Kelly died of a drug overdose on August 15, after checking herself into a Californian rehab facility for alcohol addiction. She appeared in Amityville: Dollhouse and The Survivor (1998), along with episodes of Silk Stalkings, The X Files, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Fantasy Island (1998) and Charmed.
Canadian character actor August [Werner] Schellenberg died of lung cancer in Dallas, Texas, the same day, aged seventy-seven. Among his movie credits are DreamKeeper and Tremors 4: The Legend Begins. Schellenberg also appeared in episodes of TV’s The New Avengers, The Hitchhiker (aka Deadly Nightmares), Friday the 13th: The Series (aka Friday’s Curse), So Weird, Mysterious Ways and SGU Stargate Universe.
American actor Lee Thompson Young, a regular on the 2009–10 ABC-TV series FlashForward, committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot on August 19, aged twenty-nine. A coroner’s report confirmed he was suffering from bipolar disorder and depression. Young also appeared in The Hills Have Eyes II (2007) and episodes of Jake 2.0, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Smallville.
Oscar-nominated and five-time Tony Awardwinning American actress Julie [Anne] Harris died of congestive heart failure on August 24. She was eighty-seven. Her movies include The Haunting (1963), Hamlet (1964), How Awful About Allan, Home for the Holidays and The Dark Half (based on the novel by Stephen King). She was also in episodes of TV’s Tarzan, Journey to the Unknown (Robert Bloch’s “The Indian Spirit Guide”), The Evil Touch, Tales of the Unexpected and The Outer Limits (1998). In 1955 Harris co-starred with Boris Karloff in the acclaimed Broadway stage production of The Lark.
American baseball player turned actor Larry Pennell died on August 28, aged eighty-five. He began his career in the mid-1950s, and his movie credits include The Space Children, City Beneath the Sea (aka One Hour to D
oomsday), Superstition, Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, Ghost Chase, The Borrower, Prehysteria! 2, The Fear: Resurrection and Joe R. Lansdale’s Bubba Ho-Tep. Pennell also appeared in episodes of TV’s Thriller, The Outer Limits, Land of the Giants, Salvage 1, Quantum Leap (as “Clark Gable”), Silk Stalkings and Firefly.
Radio and television disc jocky David [Lewis] Jacobs CBE died of Parkinson’s disease and liver cancer on September 2, aged eighty-seven. Best known for hosting the long-running BBC TV quiz show Juke Box Jury (1959–67), he began his career as an actor, starring in the 1953–54 radio drama Journey Into Space (aka Jouney to the Moon/Operation Luna, in which Jacobs reportedly played twenty-two different roles). It was followed by the sequels The Red Planet and The World in Peril, which both featured Jacobs as Frank Morgan and various miscellaneous characters. For a 2008 remake of the original show on Radio 4 he finally portrayed the lead role of “Captain Jet Morgan”, and he also voiced the title character for a 2009 revival entitled The Host. As himself, Jacobs had a cameo in the early Amicus film It’s Trad, Dad! and he narrated the documentary short Haunted England.
American actor Dante DiPaolo (aka “Dane D’Paulo”) died on September 3, aged eighty-seven. In the early 1960s he worked in Italy on such films as Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops (aka Monster from the Unknown World), Riccardo Freda’s Samson and the Seven Miracles (aka Maciste at the Court of the Great Khan), The Son of Hercules vs. Venus, and Mario Bava’s The Evil Eye (aka The Girl Who Knew Too Much) and Blood and Black Lace. DiPaolo was also in an episode of TV’s The Wild Wild West (“The Night of the Screaming Terror”). He was married to singer Rosemary Clooney from 1997 until her death in 2002.