Variety is reporting that Chadwick Boseman has died of colon cancer at the age of 43. Most recently he was best known for the role of Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however his earlier film roles including playing the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, and the first African-American man to break the color barrier and play in the MLB, Jackie Robinson, in bio-pics for both people (Marshall and 42, respectively).
Category Archives: Obituary
RIP Grant Imahara, Mythbuster, Engineer, and Geek
Grant Imahara, robot engineer and builder extraordinaire on Mythbusters has passed away at the way-too-young age of 49.
Grant’s resume reads like a geek’s dream. Worked on the Star Wars prequels (operating R2-D2 no less), competed in BattleBots, built countless robots and gadgets for Mythbusters, and even played Sulu on Star Trek Continues.
Dame Vera Lynn, R.I.P.
Vera Lynn died today at the age of 103. She remained active and inspirational until the end, and, against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, her Greatest Hits compilation entered Britain’s top 30, making her the oldest artist to chart.
Freeman Dyson has passed away at the age of 96
It is being reported that Freeman Dyson has passed away at the age of 96. While pop culture will remember him for popularizing the sphere, he worked with subjects in astrophysics, nuclear engineering, and the origins of life. His famous thought experiments are interesting for any sci-fi fan.
“Hidden Figure” Katherine Johnson dead at 101
The pioneering mathematician overcame both gender and racial barriers to help humanity reach the moon in the 1960’s.
Johnson spent 35 years at NASA (and its predecessor NACA) where her calculations of orbital mechanics were critical to the success of the Mercury program and subsequent missions.
Monty Python’s Terry Jones passes away at 77
Terry Jones has passed away at the age of 77, after giving us some of our favorite quotes and most entertaining absurdist comedy. Below the cut is a video to see some of his songs. Rest well, Terry. Continue reading →
René Auberjonois dead at 79
René Auberjonois, whose numerous roles include Odo in Deep Space Nine, has died at the age of 79 from lung cancer.
He will be missed.
Star Trek Pioneer D.C. Fontana Has Passed Away
Dorothy Catherine “D.C.” Fontana has passed away at the age of 80 after a brief illness. She wrote for a variety of TV shows, including four Star Trek series, Babylon 5, and much more. She wrote the Star Trek novel, Vulcan’s Glory, which tells of Spock’s first mission aboard the Enterprise and explored Captain Pike’s “Number One” character (played by Majel Barret in the unaired pilot, “The Cage”).
In a male-dominated industry, she hid her gender using her initials (a common practice in those days for women writers).
Fontana wrote one of (if not the best) episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series, “Yesteryear” as well as the DS9 episode “Dax” which explored the past hosts of Jadzia’s symbiote. She also wrote “Journey to Babel” for TOS, which introduced Spock’s parents, Sarek and Amanda.
Raise a glass of Romulan Ale, “To absent friends.”
RIP, Aron Eisenberg
Aron Eisenberg, best known for playing Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has passed away at the age of 50 from unknown causes. He brought us a fantastic character and, I would argue, one of the best character arcs of any character in any Star Trek. Eisenberg brought a mischievous charm to the character, taking him from juvenile thief to Starfleet Lieutenant. He was also an ardent fan of Star Trek as a whole and ran a podcast, The 7th Rule along side friend and costar Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko). Continue reading →
Rutger Hauer dead at 75
The Dutch actor’s list of genre credits is long, but Hauer is probably best remembered as Roy Batty from Blade Runner.