Stephen Jones - The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. Volume 13

French film director Robert Enrico, whose early films include the Oscar-winning 1961 short La Riviere Du Hibou (Incident at Owl Creek), based on the story by Ambrose Bierce, died of cancer in Paris the same day, aged 69. In America, his short film was shown as part of The Twilight Zone TV series.

American producer/director Stanley [Earl] Kramer, whose classic films include High Noon, The Caine Mutiny and Judgment at Nuremberg, died of pneumonia on February 19th, aged 87. His other credits include The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T, On the Beach (1959), Inherit the Wind and It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. During the 1950s he kept Lon Chaney, Jr. in high-profile films, while both Karloff and Lugosi were scrabbling for work.

German-born American cinematographer Ralf D. Bode, whose credits include Dressed to Kill, died of lung cancer on February 27th, aged 59.

The same day saw the death of film and TV producer Stan Marguliesfrom cancer at the age of 80. His credits include Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Former actor, director and cinematographer John A. Alonzodied on March 13th, aged 66. After starring in The Hand of Death (1962), the Mexican-American cinematographer began as James Wong Howe’s camera operator on Seconds (1966) before working with such directors as Martin Ritt, Roger Corman, Roman Polanski, John Frankenheimer and Brian De Palma. He photographed parts of Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby, Blue Thunder, Terror in the Aisles, The Guardian, Meteor Man, Star Trek Generations and the live TV movie remake of Fail Safe (2000).

British film director Ralph Thomas, the older brother of the late Carry On director Gerald Thomas, died after a long illness on March 17th, aged 85. Best known for his series of Doctor comedies (1953–70), based on the novels by Richard Gordon, his other films include Helter Skelter (1948), The 39 Steps (1959), Hot Enough for June, Deadlier Than the Male, Some Girls Do, Percy, Percy’s Progress and Quest for Love (based on a story by John Wyndham). His son is producer Jeremy Thomas.

Motion picture designer and conceptual artist Mentor Huebner, who designed Robby the Robot for MGM’s Forbidden Planet, died on March 19th after several vascular bypass surgeries on his right leg. He was 83, and among his more than 250 other credits are many conceptual drawings for Alfred Hitchcock’s films, The Time Machine (1960), Planet of the Apes (1967), King Kong (1976) , Flash Gordon (1980), Blade Runner, Dune (1984), Cat’s Eye, The Addams Family, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, So I Married an Ax Murderer, Total Recall and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Early in his career he had worked at Disney as an animator, drawing the ‘Heigh-Ho’ sequence for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Cartoon director and producer William [Denby] Hanna, who with partner Joseph Barbera founded Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1957, died on March 22nd, aged 90. He had been in declining health for several years. Among the many TV shows he helped to create were The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest, Captain Caveman and Scooby-Doo, winning eight Emmys for his work. The duo began their collaboration in 1937 at MGM, where they won seven Oscars for Tom and Jerry before the studio closed down its animation department in 1957. They also combined cartoon sequences with live action for such films as Anchors Aweigh, Dangerous When Wet and Invitation to the Dance.

Lawrence M. Lansburgh, who joined Walt Disney in the mid-1940s and directed eighteen features and episodes of TV’s The Wonderful World of Disney, died on March 25th, aged 89.

Polish-born cinematographer Piotr Sobocinskiwas found dead in a Vancouver hotel room on March 26th, soon after completing the Stephen King adaptation Hearts in Atlantis.

67-year-old Larry Tuckerwho, with Paul Mazursky, co-developed, co-produced and scripted The Monkees TV series, died on April 1st of complications from multiple sclerosis and cancer. A former stand-up comedian, he appeared in Samuel Fuller’s Shock Corridor and produced and scripted Mazursky’s Alex in Wonderland.

French film director Jean-Gabriel Albicocco, whose credits include the 1966 international hit Le Grand Meaulnes (The Wanderer), died forgotten and destitute in Brazil on April 10th. He was 65.

French-born Canadian film and TV producer Nicolas Clermont, who as co-founder of Filmline International was responsible for the long-running Highlander series and The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, died of cancer on April 11th, aged 59.

American visual effects artist Sean Deverdied on April 13th, aged 32. His credits include such overblown blockbusters as Red Planet, Thirteen Days, The Sixth Day, Waterworld, Angels in the Outfield, True Lies, The Fifth Element, Flubber, My Favorite Martian, Sphere and Batman and Robin.

American film and television director Michael Ritchiedied of complications from prostate cancer on April 16th, aged 62. His credits include The Island, The Golden Child, A Simple Wish and TV’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Italian director Giacomo Gentilomodied the same day in Rome, aged 92. His films include Goliath and the Vampires and Hercules Against the Moon Men.

Director, producer and writer Jack Haley, Jr.,the son of the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, died on April 21st, aged 67. He created MGM’s That’s Entertainment! series and numerous award-winning TV specials and documentaries based around the Golden Age of Hollywood (The Making of the Wizard of Oz, etc.). He also directed the 1970, 1974 and 1979 Academy Award shows and was once married to Liza Minnelli.

British screenwriter and director Ken Hughesdied of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in a California nursing home on April 28th, aged 79. A former cinema projectionist, his film credits include The Brain Machine, The Atomic Man (aka Time-slip), Joe Macbeth, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Casino Roy ale (both based on books by Ian Fleming), Sextette with an 86-year-old Mae West and the slasher film Night School (aka Terror Eyes).

Veteran animator Maurice J. Nobledied on May 18th, aged 91. Co-director of the Oscar-winning short The Dot and the Line, he worked on such Disney classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, Fantasia and Dumbo , and more than sixty Warner Bros, cartoons (including Duck Dodgers in the 24 y 2Century). With business partner Chuck Jones he also produced many Dr Seuss (Ted Geisel) cartoons, including The Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.

83-year-old Herbert Wise Browar, former vice-president of production at Filmways Television, died of a cerebral haemorrhage on May 19th. He served as an associate producer on such popular TV shows as Mr Ed (1961–65) and The Addams Family (1964–66).

Italian director Alfonso Bresciadied on June 6th, aged 71. He directed more than fifty films (often credited to ‘A1 Bradley’), including The Conqueror of Atlantis, The Super Stooges vs. the Wonder Women, War in Space, Battle of the Stars, Iron Warriors and many more.