George Romero died this week. His most noteworthy film, Night of the Living Dead, combined Afro-Caribbean zombies with Middle Eastern ghouls and his own concepts and invented the modern zombie.
May he Rest in Peace.
Category Archives: Obituary
Joan Lee, R.I.P.
Joan Lee, wife of Marvel mastermind Stan Lee, has died at 93.
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This week we lost Adam West, the actor best-known for his deliberately wooden, comic turn as Batman in the 1960s. While many bat-fans find the series an embarrassment, its runaway success helped revitalize the superhero comic, and demonstrated that superheroes could work in mainstream media. Only Superman, really, had achieved that status beforehand, on radio and television.1
The Harry Potter Festival organized for Goderich, Ontario, has had to move to nearby Blyth. Those who booked accommodations in scenic Goderich will receive shuttlebus service. The festival will see the small town transformed into some Harry Potter-verse equivalent over the three-day festival, which has attracted ticket-buyers from around the world.
Japan’s Softbank is buying Boston Dynamics, Google’s robot company:
SpaceX update and a couple of Cons, below:
RIP Richard Hatch, BSG’s Original Apollo
Richard Hatch, the man who originated the role of Apollo on the 1978 version of Battlestar Galactica, has passed away at age 71. He joined the cast of the 2003 reboot as terrorist/political leader Tom Zarek.
He was no stranger to genre film (particularly the B-grade variety) and had appeared in the legally questionable Prelude to Axnar (and was set to appear in the full version, had that gone through).
In addition to acting, Hatch wrote a number of novels set in BSG universe. In 1999 he attempted his own reboot of the show that made him famous, producing a trailer for Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming.
He is survived by his son, Paul.
Astronaut Eugene Cernan has passed away
Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon (so far) and the second man to walk in space, died January 16 at the age of 82.
Peter Blatty dead at 89, Dick Gautier at 85
Peter Blatty, a writer who was best-known for his comedy work until he penned The Exorcist, died on Thursday, January 12 at the age of 89.
R.I.P.
UPDATE: We have also lost Dick Gautier. The actor, nominated for a Tony as the original “Conrad Birdie” in Bye Bye Birdie, is best known to TV viewers as “Hymie the Robot” from Get Smart. He was 85.
Richard Adams, dead at 96
Richard Adams, best-known as the author of Watership Down, died at the age of 96 on Christmas Eve, 2016. He joins Carrie Fisher and a host of other beloved and celebrated individuals to leave before the end of this problematic year.
John Glenn, 1921-2016
John Glenn, legendary astronaut, military hero, and political figure, died today at the age of 95.
Rest in Peace.
(Video from the Associated Press)
Firefly’s Shepard, Ron Glass, Heads Out Into The Black
Because 2016 hasn’t sucked enough, we lose the man the represented the soul of the Serenity. No details yet, but Ron Glass, famous for a variety of TV roles, including seven years on Barney Miller, has passed away at the age of 71.
As Shepard Book, a wandering preacher, Glass brought dignity to an undignified crew. He would reprise the role in the film sequel, where he uttered one of the most poignant lines of the series, “I don’t care what you believe. Just believe it.”
Joss Whedon took to Twitter with this:
He got there with grace, humor & enormous heart. He was, among so many other things, my Shepherd. Raise, appropriately, a glass. Rest, Ron. pic.twitter.com/yzPly7TmgE
— Joss Whedon (@joss) November 26, 2016
RIP, Mr. Glass.
Jack Chick dead at 92
The comic book world lost a figure of global influence this week. Jack Chick, the prolific creator of those rectangular extremist comics often found in public places, and the deranged conspiracy Crusader Comic Books, died October 23. Chick’s often surreal comic-book rants against everything from evolution to role-playing games created controversy even among evangelical Christians and became ironic must-reads among many hip consumers of comix culture. Over the years, Chick claimed the Catholic Church created Islam and assassinated JFK, warned against the corrupting influence of rock ‘n’ roll, Bewitched and Family Guy (well…), and established much of the groundwork for the 1980s/90s “Satanic Panic.”
Pity he couldn’t have held out a bit and died next Monday. Chick freakin’ hated Halloween.