Tag Archives: Obituary

Ray Bradbury passes away at the age of 91

Grand Master of SF Ray Bradbury passed away this morning in Los Angeles, at the age of 91. While Bradbury was best known for the frequently challenged and/or banned novel Fahrenheit 451, he was also known for being a prolific short story writer, with his story The Veldt being reading among many high school textbooks. In addition to Fahrenheit 451, the short story collection The Illustrated Man was adapted to an anthology film, and The Martian Chronicles was adapted to a television miniseries. Several stories where adapted to episodes of the radio series X Minus One and Dimension X, both of which can be found at Archive.org.

The staff of Bureau42.com would like to offer their condolences to Bradbury’s family. He will be missed.

Jean “Moebius” Giraud passes away

We’re a little late getting the article up on this, but Jean “Moebius” Giraud passed away today after a long illness at the age of 73. Moebius was well known for his detailed art style, which inspired (among other things) the mechanical designs for the Nostromo in Alien, as well as influencing artists in the US as well as Japan (including Katsuhiro Otomo, who would write the manga Akira, as well as write and direct the film adaptation). Continue reading →

Actor Michael Gough Dies at Age 94

After a long and very active career, Michael Gough has passed away.

This crowd probably knows him best as Alfred Pennyworth from the Tim Burton era Batman films. Don’t hold that against him, he was probably the single best part of the films, bringing dignity and a little humor to the role.

Gough would go on to star in other Burton productions, including Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride, and last year’s Alice in Wonderland.

In 1979 he won a Tony Award for Best Actor (Feature Role – Play) for “Bedroom Farce.” He was nominated again for the same category in 1988 for his role in “Breaking the Code.”

Leslie Nielsen, Dead at Age 84

Few people can earn the title, “iconic” but Leslie Nielsen is absolutely one of those people.

Renowned for his spoof comedy roles, he actually started as a serious, dramatic actor in the 1950’s. Genre audiences knew him well for his role in the 1959 sci-fi classic, Forbidden Planet. But after his turn to comedy in 1980’s Airplane!, Nielsen became one of the world’s foremost deadpan actors. Not to mention his part in one of the most overused, but never unfunny, bits of dialogue.

Mr. Nielsen, you’ll be missed.

Roy Disney, Dead at 79

Various outlets are reporting it: Roy E.  Disney, nephew of Walt Disney, has passed away from Stomach Cancer. Roy worked for his Uncle and Father’s company as an editor, screenwriter, and producer in the 1950’s and went on to be head of Disney Animation during a period that brought the company back from near extinction with films like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.

He’s also known for several battles within the company. As a major shareholder, he deposed two company Presidents and fought to keep the company’s quality from dropping to, what he thought, were unacceptable levels.

A Double Obituary

We’ve lost two great players from the world of Sci-Fi & Fantasy today: Ricardo Montalban and Patrick McGoohan.

Montalban created his iconic Khan character for the 1967 Star Trek episode “Space Seed.” He would later reinvent that character in 1982 with the second Star Trek film. From 1978-1984 he starred at Mr. Rouke in Fantasy Island and recently found new audiences with the Spy Kids movies and various cartoons including Disney’s Kim Possible

McGoohan starred in, produced, and wrote the cult classic TV series, The Prisoner.

Animator Chuck Jones Passes Away

I was living the Kaczynski life up in a cabin this weekend and missed this sad event.

Chuck Jones, best known as the artist behind most of Warner Bros. iconic characters (including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and others), died of congestive heart failure at his home in the coastal community of Corona del Mar, according to a statement released by his daughter’s company, Linda Jones Enterprises. Jones also produced, directed and wrote the screenplay for the animated television classic “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Full coverage can be found on Yahoo.