Roger Moore, RIP

Actor Roger Moore, who played James Bond in seven films, succumbed to cancer in Switzerland at the age of 89. His family made announcement was via Twitter. Besides acting, Moore was a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and an advocate for children’s causes and animal rights. In 1999, he was given title Commander of the British …

RIP: Keith Emerson

Keith Emerson – the keyboard genius and composer – has died. According to Rolling Stone, the 71-year-old musician was found at his home in Santa Monica, with a single gunshot wound in his head – an apparent suicide (though that has not been confirmed yet). Emerson was known mostly for his virtuoso keyboard work in …

PETER CUSHING: A Tribute to Christopher Lee

The ninth issue of Cinefantastique featured a career article devoted to Christopher Lee, way back in the fall of 1973. Peter Cushing wrote this heartfelt introduction for his good friend, although they were only to make three more films together. Luckily Ted Newsome brought them together one last time for his documentary on Hammer films, …

RIP: Godzilla FX director Koichi Kawakita

* Koichi Kawakita, the special effects director who updated Godzilla for the ’90s, helping to spur interest in an American remake, has passed away. Kawakita died on his 72 birthday anniversary, December 5, 2014; the cause of death was liver failure. You can read an obituary by August Ragone here. Kawakita took over the special …

Podcast 5-5-2: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Maximillian Schell, Gordon Hessler

A sad installment of the Cinefantastique Black Hole Ultra-Lounge Podcast, as Dan Persons, Lawrence French, and Steve Biodrowski note the passing of Philip Seymour Hoffman (THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE), Maximillian Schell (THE BLACK HOLE), and Gordon Hessler (SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN). Also, Dan Persons weighs in on his first exposure to THE CURSE OF …

Richard Matheson: He Was Legend

Influential author and screenwriter passes away. Works included I AM LEGEND and WHAT DREAMS MAY COME. Multiple sources (including io9 and the Guardian Express) are reporting that author Richard Matheson – the man Stephen King cited as the greatest influence on his work – has passed away at the age of 87. The news originated …

Ray Harryhausen has passed on to "the land beyond beyond"

Ray Harryhausen, the special effects genius who used stop-motion effects to enchant a generation of film-goers, has passed away. According to The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation Facebook page, Harryhausen died in London today, May 7 (less than two months short of what would have been his 93rd birthday). Harryhausen caught the filmmaking bug after …