Robert Orci, the writer behind the Kelvinverse Star Trek films and a whole lot more has passed away from kidney disease at 51.
I know not all the fans liked him, but credit where credit’s due, he helped bring Star Trek back to theaters and garnered the franchise a whole new generation of fans. I’ve heard for numerous new Trekkies that the 2009 movie was their entry point.
Looking through his filmography, I’ve enjoyed a number of the things he’s written through the years.
Well, this just sucks. The man who voiced one of the greatest villains of all time has left us. James Earl Jones has left us at the age of 93.
To say the man had quite a career is a massive understatement. Picking out a favorite role is insanely difficult.
What was your favorite role?
Acting icon Donald Sutherland has passed away at 88. Sutherland was in over a hundred films, ranging from M*A*S*H to Invasion of the Body Snatchers to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. His performance as President Snow was the highlight (lowlight?) of the Hunger Games films.
He won a Primetime Emmy Award for 1995’s Citizen X.
Author, Hugo-winner, professor, and pioneer writer on the subject of AI and the technological singularity, Vernor Vinge, is dead at 79 from Parkinson’s disease.
The Reuben Award-winning cartoonist, best known for his work with Mad magazine, has died at the age of 102. Jaffee will be remembered for the Mad Fold-ins, ridiculous magic tricks, and Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions– which makes me wonder what he said when someone asked him to what he owed his long life.
Continue reading →
Aline Kominsky Crumb, a major figure in the Underground Comix movement, died November 29, 2022, at the age of 74.
She is survived by her husband, Robert Crumb and their daughter Sophie, also comix artists of note.
Nichelle Nichols, the groundbreaking actress best-known as Lt. Uhura in the original Star Trek series and subsequent films, has died of natural causes. She was 89 years old.
Legendary and influential comics writer Alan Grant has died at the age of 73. He is best-known for his work on Batman and Judge Dredd.
Neal Adams, the influential artist who worked for Marvel and DC (also Archie, Charlton, and Warren), drew some of the most memorable covers in comics history, co-created Manbat, John Stewart, and Ra’s al Ghul, reshaped Batman, and fought for comic creators’ rights, has died at 80.
Below is an interview from 2020.
While Douglas Trumbull might not be a household name, his work certainly was pioneering. He supervised the VFX on classic films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Blade Runner. He even directed one of my personal favorites, Silent Running.
Arguably, he’s the man who invented “Starship Porn”.
He passed away at the age of 79 after fighting cancer, a brain tumor, and a stroke.