The obituary column is full this year, and SCIFI.radio Salutes those who have contributed to our musical playlists, the Science Fiction/Fantasy field, and our lives in general. The credits listed may not be their biggest nor most distinguished, but what places them in the Imagination Generation.

  • Sally Fraser, actress, “scream queen” It Conquered The World, War of the Colossal Beast, Earth vs. The Spider. January 13.
  • Carol Channing, actress. Cartoon voices in The Family Guy, The Addams Family [1990s], Chip ‘n Dale’s Rescue Rangers. January 15
  • James Frawley, director, The Muppet Movie. January 22.
  • Dick Miller, actor, Little Shop of Horrors, The Terminator, Gremlins, Star Trek: Deep Space 9. January 30.
  • Julie Adams, actress, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Lost. February 3
  • Albert Finney, actor. Scrooge, Wolfen, Skyfall. February 7.
  • Jan-Michael Vincent, actor, Damnation Alley, February 10
  • Betty Ballantine, publisher, Bantam Books, Ballantine Books. February 12.
  • Peter Tork, Monkee. February 21.
  • Beverly Owen, actress, first Marilyn in The Munsters. February 21.
  • Morgan Woodward, actor, Star Trek TOS, The X-Files. February 22.
  • Katherine Helmond, actress, Soap, Brazil, voiced Lizzie in Disney’s Cars. February 23.
  • Charles Craig, actor, newscaster in Night of the Living Dead. February 24
  • Janet Asimov, author of The Norby Chronicles, widow of Isaac Asimov. February 25.
  • Luke Perry, actor. The Fifth Element, Riverdale. March 4.
  • Susan Harrison, actress. The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. March 5.
  • Sid Sheinberg, studio exec. President and COO of MCA Universal, hired Steven Spielberg, oversaw film production on E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial and Back to the Future. March 7.
  • William J. Creber, production designer, Planet of the Apes and the Irwin Allen television shows. March 7.
  • George Morfogen, actor, V. March 8.
  • Tom K. Ryan, cartoonist, Tumbleweeds. March 15.
  • Tom Hatten, children’s TV host in Los Angeles. March 16.
  • John Carl Buechler, horror director and make up artist, Troll, Friday the 13th Part VII. March 18
  • Clinton Greyn, actor, aliens on Doctor Who. March 19.
  • Larry Cohen, cult filmmaker, The Stuff, The Invaders, It’s Alive. March 23.
  • Michael Lynne, producer, Lord of the Rings, The Golden Compass, A Nightmare on Elm Street. March 24.
  • Joseph Pilato, actor, Day of the Dead. March 24.
  • Wilum Hopfrog Pulmire, horror author. March 26.
  • Valery Bykovsky, cosmonaut, Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, and Soyuz 31. March 27.
  • Maury Laws, television and film composer, Rankin-Bass productions Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Hobbit. March 28.
  • Allan Cole, author, Sten series. March 29.
  • Shane Rimmer, actor, voice of Thunderbird’s Scott Tracy. March 29.
  • Tania Mallet, actress Bond girl Tilly Masterson in Goldfinger. March 30
  • Vonda McIntyre, author, Dreamsnake, The Moon and The Sun, Star Trek film novelizations. April 1.
  • Ron Sweed, “The Ghoul” late night horror host in Cleveland, April 1.
  • John Quarmby, actor. K-9 and Company, Arthur the King, Fawlty Towers. April 5.
  • Seymour Cassel, actor, Dick Tracy, Funny or Die, and a lot of John Cassavetes films. April 7.
  • Viktor Dmitrievich Blagov, designer of the Vostok spacecraft flown by Yuri Gagarin. April 8.
  • Monkey Punch [Kazuhiko Kat?], manga artist, Lupin III. April 11.
  • Georgia Engel, actress. Open Season, Dr. Dolittle 2. April 12.
  • Gene Wolfe, author, The Shadow of the Torturer, The Book of the New Sun. April 14.
  • Owen Garriott, Skylab Astronaut, April 15.
  • Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigator. April 18.
  • Kazuo Koike, manga artist/writer, Lone Wolf and Son. April 19.
  • Greg Theakston, comic book artist. April 22.
  • Edward Kelsey, actor, Archers, voice work on films such as Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. April 23.
  • Terry Rawlings, film editor, Alien, Blade Runner, GoldenEye. April 23.
  • Jean-Pierre Marielle, actor, The DaVinci Code [murdered museum curator]. April 24.
  • Bruce Bickford, independent stop-motion animator, closely associated with Frank Zappa. April 28,
  • Peter Mayhew, actor, Chewbacca in Star Wars. April 30.
  • Riley Howell, Star Wars fan, hero. Died saving others in the UNC Charlotte shooting. Commemorated by naming a Jedi Master for him in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker — The Visual Dictionary. April 30.
  • Chris Reccardi, animation artist, Powerpuff Girls, Lady and the Tramp [“live action”], Ren & Stimpy [for which he also wrote songs]. May 2.
  • Barbara Perry, actress, Trancers, Bewitched. May 5.
  • Peggy Lipton, actress, Twin Peaks, The Postman. May 11.
  • Pua Magasiva, actor, Power Rangers, 30 Days Of Night. May 11.
  • Richard “Uncle Timmy” Bolgeo, the founder and first chairman of LibertyCon, Chattanooga’s literary SF con. May 12.
  • Makiko Futaki, animator, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke. May 13.
  • Jim Michaelson, Disney Imagineer. May 28.
  • Dennis Etchison, horror author. May 29.
  • Paul Darrow, actor, Kerr Avon on Blake’s 7. June 3.
  • Freddie Jones, actor, Thufir Hawat in Dune. June 9.
  • Nobuyuki Ishida, actor, Mirrorman. June 13.
  • Yoshi Kobayashi, SF editor and translator, June 13.
  • Milton Quon, Disney animator, Dumbo, Fantasia. June 18.
  • Peter Allen Fields, TV writer, Star Trek TNG and Deep Space 9 including “The Inner Light.” June 19.
  • Stephanie Niznik, actress, Everwood, Star Trek Insurrection. June 23.
  • Billy Drago, actor, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., The Hills Have Eyes. June 24.
  • Bryan Marshall, actor, The Spy Who Loved Me, Quatermass And The Pit. June 25
  • Tadao Takashima, actor, Godzilla movie series. June 26.
  • Max Wright, actor, ALF. June 26.
  • Glyn Houston. Actor, Peter Wimsey and Dr. Who. June 30.
  • Arte Johnson, actor, Laugh-In, Love At First Bite. Later, cartoon voice actor in Animaniacs, Justice League Unlimited. July 3.
  • Cameron Boyce, actor, Descendants and other Disney Channel projects. July 6.
  • Eddie Jones, actor, Jonathan Kent in Lois & Clark; The Official in the Invisible Man. July 6.
  • Martin Charnin, Broadway producer, Annie. July 7.
  • Rip Torn, actor, Men In Black. July 9.
  • Denise Nickerson, actress, Dark Shadows and Violet Beauregard in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. July 10.
  • Richard Carter, actor, Mad Max: Fury Road, also a voice-over actor in Babe: Pig in the City. July 13.
  • Karl Shiels, actor, Batman Begins, Peaky Blinders. July 15.
  • The 36 staff and artists of Kyoto Animation, in the worst arson attack in Japanese history. July 18.
  • David Hedison, actor, The Fly, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. July 18.
  • Rutger Hauer, actor, Blade Runner, Ladyhawke. July 19.
  • Jeremy Kemp, actor, Jean-Luc Picard’s brother in Star Trek; Top Secret. July 19.
  • Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr., NASA’s first flighti director, original voice of Mission Control. July 22.
  • Gabe Khouth, actor, Big Eyes, IT, Mobile Suit Gundam. July 23.
  • Russi Taylor, Disney Legend, voice of Minnie Mouse. July 26.
  • Barry Hughart, author of Bridge of Birds and its two sequels. August 1.
  • Stuart M. “Stu” Rosen, Creator of Emmy and Peabody award winning children’s program Dusty’s Treehouse; voice actor for Fraggle Rock. August 4.
  • Ernie Colón, comic book artist, Harvey Comics, including Casper the Friendly Ghost. August 8.
  • J. Neil Schulman, SF author, Alongside Night. August 10.
  • Dango Nguyen, actor, The Walking Dead. August 10.
  • Barbara March, actress, Klingon scion Lursa in Star Trek. August 11.
  • Kip Adotta, comedian, songs like Wet Dream (Cruisin’ thru the Gulf Stream) and I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus. August 13.
  • Robert N. Stephenson, author, editor, poet, and publisher. August 14.
  • Richard Williams, voice actor, director, and writer, grandmaster animator, best known for serving as animation director on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. August 16.
  • Anna Quayle, actress, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Casino Royale, A Hard Day’s Night. August 16.
  • Rick Loomis, game designer, Flying Buffalo Games, August 23.
  • Terrence Dicks, Dr. Who writer, August 27
  • Brad Linaweaver, SF author. Moon of Ice, Anarchia, and novelizations for the television shows Sliders and Battlestar Galactica. August 29
  • Gordon Bressack, cartoon scriptwriter for Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs. August 30.
  • Franco Columbu, Body Builder, Former Mr. Olympia. Stunt double of Arnold Schwarzenegger, including Terminator and appeared onscreen as another Terminator. August 30.
  • Katherine MacLean, SF writer, The Missing Man. September 1.
  • Carol Lynley, actress, The Night Stalker, Fantasy Island, Beware The Blob! September 5.
  • Robert Axelrod, actor, Lord Zedd in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. September 7.
  • Brian Turk, actor. Carnivàle, The Lost World: Jurassic Park. September 13.
  • David Hurst , actor, Star Trek, The Boys From Brazil, Dark Shadows. September 15.
  • Jan Merlin, actor, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, later an Emmy-winning soap writer. September 20.
  • Aron Eisenberg, Star Trek actor, September 21.
  • Sid Haig, actor, House of 1000 Corpses, Kill Bill. September 21.
  • Jack Donner, actor, Star Trek, Mission Impossible. September 21.
  • Sigmund Jähn, the first German to fly into space. September 21.
  • J. Michael Mendel, producer, The Simpsons, Rick & Morty. September 23.
  • Linda Porter, actress, Dude Where’s My Car, Twin Peaks, Superstore. September 25.
  • Philip Gips, graphic designer, movie poster for Alien, Rosemary’s Baby. October 3.
  • Diahann Carroll, actress/singer, Star Wars Holiday Special, October 4
  • Stephen Moore, actor, Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy television series, October 4
  • James Schmerer, TV writer, MacGyver, Star Trek TAS. October 4
  • Karen Pendleton, original Mouseketeer. October 6.
  • Ryan Nicholson, makeup artist, Chronicles of Riddick, Predator. October 8.
  • John W. Corso, production designer, Weird Science, Xanadu. October 9
  • Robert Forster, actor, Heroes, Twin Peaks. October 11
  • Alexei Leonov, cosmonaut, first space walker. October 11.
  • Dr. Woodie Flowers, educator, helped found the first robotics competition. October 11
  • Jin Nakayama, actor, Ultraman 80. October 12.
  • Andile Gumbi, actor/singer/dancer, Simba in stage production of The Lion King. October 16
  • Wendy Williams, actress, Doctor Who serial Ark in Space, October 17
  • Josip Elic, actor, Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, Black Rain. October 21.
  • Michael Blumlein, SF writer, The Roberts, Longer. October 24.
  • Robert Evans, producer, Popeye, The Phantom. October 26
  • John Witherspoon, actor, Granddad in The Boondocks October 29
  • Bernard Slade, TV writer, Bewitched, The Flying Nun. October 30
  • Mayumura Taku, SF author, Psychic School Wars (Nerawareta Gakuen). November 3
  • Benjamin Franklin Jones III, engineer who oversaw the development of airplane de-icing systems and the design of the Mercury spacesuits. November 3
  • Virginia Leith, actress, Jan In The Pan in The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, November 4
  • Christopher Dennis, Hollywood Superman. November 5
  • William Wintersole, actor, Star Trek episode Patterns of Force. November 5
  • Maria Perego, Italian puppeteer and the creator of Topo Gigio for The Ed Sullivan Show. November 7
  • Lawrence Paull, production designer and art director, known for Blade Runner, Back To The Future, Romancing The Stone. November 10
  • Phil Hahn, TV writer for top comedy/variety shows, early career with Hanna Barbera kidvid, incl. Fantastic Four, Banana Splits. November 17
  • Tom Lyle, comic book artist for titles incl. Starman, Robin, Scarlet Spider. November 19
  • Michael J. Pollard, actor, Star Trek TOS episode Miri. November 20
  • Gahan Wilson, cartoonist known for hilariously disturbing single frames. November 21
  • Joan Staley, actress, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. November 24
  • Howard Cruse, cartoonist, Gay Comix, Stuck Rubber Baby for DC. November 26
  • Godfrey Gao, actor, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Shanghai Fortress, and the Mandarin language voice of Ken in Toy Story 3. November 27
  • Terry de Havilland, shoe designer, Rocky Horror and more fabulous feet. November 27
  • Lord Burgess, songwriter, Day-O, used in Beetlejuice. November 29
  • Makio Inoue, Animé voice actor, Captain Harlock, Samurai Goemon in Lupin III. November 29
  • Lil Bub, famous internet cat, December 1
  • Dorothy Catherine (D.C.) Fontana, screenwriter and story editor, Star Trek, December 2
  • Andrew Weiner, SF author, Station Gehenna, Again, Dangerous Visions, December 3
  • Leonard Goldberg, producer and studio chief, WarGames, Space Camp, December 4
  • Robert Walker, Jr., actor, Star Trek episode Charlie X (shortly after the author of the same episode). December 5.
  • Michael Lamber, musician, husband of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Marina Sirtis, December 7
  • René Auberjonois, actor, Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space 9, December 8
  • Caroll Spinney, Muppetteer for Children’s Television Workshop (Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch), December 8
  • Randy John Suess, Co-Creator of the BBS. December 10
  • Gershon Kingsley, MOOG synthesizer pioneer, December 10
  • Anna Karina, actress, Alphaville, December 14
  • Emil Richards, percussionist for Jerry Goldsmith (Star Trek) and Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles). December 14
  • Bill Olmesdahl, game writer, Star Wars Galaxy guides for West End Games. December 15
  • Claudine Auger, Bond Girl, Domino in Thunderball, December 18
  • David Foster, film producer, The Thing, Short Circuit December 22
  • Allee Willis, songwriter, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Neutron Dance, December 24.
  • Alan Campbell, a member of the Comic-Con Board of Directors. December 24
  • Lee Mendelson, cartoon producer and lyricist, A Charlie Brown Christmas, December 25.
  • Jack Sheldon, singer/actor, Schoolhouse Rock. December 27.
  • Neil Innes, songwriter, actor, “The Seventh Python” composed songs for Monty Python and the Rutles. December 30.
  • Sydney Jay “Syd” Mead, artist/designer and visual futurist, Blade Runner, Tron. December 30.

While there is cause for sadness, there is also cause for joy. All these people spent their lives bringing light to our world. We honor their contributions, and we shall miss them all – but more rise behind them to shine new, brilliant lights of their own.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for lives well lived and for giving us the best of yourselves.

-30-

DON’T LEAVE JUST YET. WE NEED YOUR HELP.

At any point we are usually no more than six weeks away from closing our doors forever, yet fewer than 1% of our readers and listeners give. Donations from readers and listeners just like you are the only thing between us and oblivion.
Be the 1%. Click this button to go to our Patreon page and become part of something wonderful: the SCIFI.radio family.
SCIFI Radio Staff
SCIFI Radio Staff

SCIFI.radio is listener supported sci-fi geek culture radio, and operates almost exclusively via the generous contributions of our fans via our Patreon campaign. If you like, you can also use our tip jar and send us a little something to help support the many fine creatives that make this station possible.

YouTube