Obituary: Patrick McGoohan

Sad news: actor Patrick McGoohan – who produced and starred in the esoteric cult show THE PRISONER in the 1960s – has died. From the Associated Press obituary by Andrew Dalton: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Patrick McGoohan, an Emmy-winning actor who created and starred in the cult classic television show “The Prisoner,” has died. He …

Obituary: Pin-Up Legend Bettie Page

Bettie Page, the pin-up model whose scantily clad (and sometimes unclad) poses helped ignite a storm of controversy in the 1950s, has died at the age of 85. Although her fame is not specifically tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror, many young boys first became aware of her through ads for her posters that …

Obituary: Nina Foch

Variety reports actress 84-year-old actress and acting teacher Nina Foch has died. Though never a star, before turning to teaching at the University of Southern California, Foch had a long Hollywood career, including two early roles in black-and-white horror films from the classic era: THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE with Bela Lugosi; CRY OF THE WEREWOLF …

Obituary: Beverly Garland

Actress Beverly Garland, who starred in numerous low-budget sci-fi and horror films, died on Friday in her Hollywood Hills home, at the age of 82. Garland had a lengthy and varied resume, including roles in films and television, but she will always be fondly remembered by fans for playing strong, gutsy women in 1950s efforts like …

Obituary: Famous Monsters Founder Forest J. Ackerman

92-year-old science-fiction fan Forest J. Ackerman – founder of Famous Monsters of Filmland– died last night, just before midnight. Ackerman became famous as the world’s number one fan of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror films; at a time when the genre was considered beneath contempt by the mainstream media, he started the very first magazine devoted …

The Score: Remember Irving Gertz

Film composer Irving Gertz, a significant contributor to the music of the Universal science fiction film boom of the 1950s whose music was heard in dozens of the studios classic sf and horror films of the decade, died on Nov. 14 in Los Angeles, at the age of 93. The youngest of eight children, Gertz …

Science fiction author Michael Crichton dies

Michael Crichton – who wrote such popular science-fiction novels as Prey and Sphere – has passed away. According to this Reuter’s article, the author died ‘died “unexpectedly” on Tuesday in Los Angeles after a private battle with cancer.’ He was 66. Crichton was a huge influence on cinefantastique. Not only were his books turned into …

Obituary: Stan Winston

Stan Winston – who built up a company that became one of Hollywood’s top suppliers of high-tech makeup and effects – died on Sunday evening of multiple myeloma. He was 62. Stan Winston Studios contributed Oscar-winning prosthetic make-up and animatronic effects to such blockbusters as ALIENS, TEMINATOR 2, and JURASSIC PARK. When computer-generated imagery revolutionized the field of …

Obituary: Julie Ege

Esplatter.com alerts us to the sad news that Hammer horror heroine Julie Ege died from breast cancer on April 29. Ege starred in two of the British company’s less well received films, CREATURES THE WORLD FORGOT and LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES. CREATURES was an attempt to do another prehistoric movie in the vein …

Obituary: Bebe Barron

The Los Angeles Times brings us the sad news that pioneering electronic composer Bebe Barron has died, at the age of 82. Along with her then-husband Louis Barron, Bebe scored the 1956 science-fiction classic FORBIDDEN PLANET. Before the modern synthesizer, the duo created music using tubes and circuits that emitted tones, which they would record …