Offline
New thread to note the passing of notable pop culture people. I see this thread as being just for recent deaths. When announcing deaths please post a link to the story. EDIT: Originally I was going to do once of these for each genre but then I realized that a number of people cross genres. And I don't want this site to become too morbid.
Starting this thread with Victor Gorelink, Archie's Editor in Chief. Notably, Archie Meets the Punisher aka The Punisher Meets Archie arose from a conversation between him and writer Batton Lash. Sadly Lash, as well as pencillers John Buscema and Stan Goldberg have all passed away as well.
Link: to his death announcement
Last edited by Andy E. Nystrom (2/11/2020 1:14 pm)
Offline
Offline
Frank McLaughlin, co-creator of the Charlton turned DC superhero Judomaster.
Offline
Actor Max Von Sydow (Ming in Flash Gordon, among numerous other pop culture roles).
Offline
One of the greatest comic book artists of all time has passed away: RIP Albert Uderzo (Asterix)
Offline
David Collings, who played Silver in Sapphire and Steel, various roles in Doctor Who, and even the Doctor himself in one of Big Finish's Doctor Who Unbound, has sadly passed away too.
Offline
Writer/Director Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, plus various Full Moon productions such as Castle Freak):
Offline
RIP Curly Neal. While we don't cover athletes here too often, the Harlem Globetrotters are very much entertainers of sorts.
Online!
Andy E. Nystrom wrote:
RIP Curly Neal. While we don't cover athletes here too often, the Harlem Globetrotters are very much entertainers of sorts.
I don't think it's off-topic.
Offline
True, they had the comic and cartoons, and made other appearances such as that Gilligan's Island special. Still I knew him best from Wide World of Sports.
Offline
Logan Williams, young Barry Allen on The Flash, age 16
Offline
Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore in Goldfinger).
Offline
Mort Drucker, legendary Mad TV/movie satire artist.
Offline
Dieter Laser, who played the mad scientist in the first Human Centipede movie
Offline
Joel M. Reed, director of horror-comedy Bloodsucking Freaks; coronavirus
Offline
Tim Brooke Taylor, one third of the Goodies, a victim of the coronavirus.
To those outside the UK or under forty, it's hard to be clear just how important he and the Goodies were to UK humour. The Goodies in their time were as significant as Monty Python, who were their friends and contemporaries; the individuals who went on to form both the Pythons and the Goodies were members of Cambridge University "Footlights" at the same time as each other. Here's Tim in a photo alongside future Pythons John Cleese and Graham Chapman, as well as Marty Chapman (possibly best remembered now as Igor in Young Frankenstein):
The Goodies ran for over a decade, outliving Python's TV run, and to my mind the only reason they aren't as widely remembered is because the BBC decided to never do any repeat showings; their humour was just as insane as anything the Pythons did. How funny was the show? It literally killed one viewer from making him laugh so hard.
The Goodies have actually had a small impact on the Marvel universe - minor character Len Arkwright
from the Marvel UK series Super Soldiers is a practitioner of Ecky Thump, a comedic martial arts form originating in an episode of The Goodies.
I was lucky enough to get to meet Tim briefly back in the mid-2000s. He was a genuinely lovely guy, and it's sad to hear that he's gone now.
Offline
This page is getting posts too quickly these days:
RIP Brian Dennehy, probably best known as Teasle, the evil sheriff in First Blood
Offline
RIP Michael Mantlo, brother of Bill Mantlo. As most of you probably know, Bill suffered permanent brain damage after being hit by a car decades ago, and Mike had been his primary caregiver since.
Offline
RIP Marty Pasko (comics/cartoons writer: Private Life of Clark Kent, Batman: TAS, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm)
Offline
Fred Willard (Real People, This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show, etc.)
Offline
Andy E. Nystrom wrote:
Logan Williams, young Barry Allen on The Flash, age 16
It's now been revealed that cause of death was opioid overdose.
Offline
RIP Richard Herd (All the President's Men, V, TJ Hooker, Planes Trains & Automobiles)
Offline
RIP Mel Winkler, voice of Lucius Fox on The New Batman Adventures
And this next one is really going to hurt:
RIP Denny O'Neil. I don't think I need to explain his importance to the world of comics on this forum.
Last edited by Andy E. Nystrom (6/12/2020 4:32 pm)
Offline
RIP Joel Schumacher. While not all his movies were winners (Batman & Robin is one of the worst superhero movies ever made), he also did some really good movies such as A Time to Kill, Flatliners, Falling Down, and Phone Booth.
Offline
RIP Joe Sinnott, inker who complemented Kirby's pencils perfectly on Fantastic Four. With two juggernauts like Lee & Kirby, it's easy to overlook how much Sinnott also contributed to the success of the FF. He excelled in enhancing the larger than life aspects of Kirby's artwork.
Last edited by Andy E. Nystrom (6/25/2020 6:18 pm)
Offline
RIP Milton Glaser, graphics designer who created the DC bullet (in my mind still the best DC logo)
Offline
RIP Galyn Görg, Lt. Leora Maxwell on MANTIS
Offline
Too tired to hunt down links but RIP:
Olivia de Havilland (Gone with the Wind, Adventures of Robin Hood)
John Saxon (Enter the Dragon, Nightmare on Elm Street)
Regis Philbin (Live!, Who Wants to be a Millionaire)
Online!
Andy E. Nystrom wrote:
Too tired to hunt down links but RIP:
Olivia de Havilland (Gone with the Wind, Adventures of Robin Hood)
104!
Offline
RIP director Alan Parker (Angel Heart, Mississippi Burning, etc.)