Stephen Jones - Best New Horror #26

68-year-old American children’s author Robert[Daniel] San Soucidied on December 19 after suffering a head injury due to a fall in San Francisco earlier in the week. His retellings of supernatural folktales included Short & Shivery: Thirty Chilling Tales , More Short & Shivery: Thirty Terrifying Tales , Even More Short & Shivery: Thirty Spine-Tingling Tales , A Terrifying Taste of Short & Shivery: Thirty Creepy Tales , Dare to be Scared: Thirteen Stories to Chill and Thrill and Haunted Houses (Are You Scared Yet?) . San Souci also wrote picture books (often illustrated by his brother Daniel), including Young Merlin , N.C. Wyeth’s Pilgrims and Cinderella Skeleton , and he created the original story for Walt Disney’s Mulan , for which he also acted as consultant.

American writer, film historian and teacher Mark A.(Andrew) Millerdied of cancer on December 24, aged 58. His special interest in post-war British cinema led to articles in Filmfax and Shivers magazines and the reference works Christopher Lee and Peter Cusing and Horror Cinema: A Filmography of Their 22 Collaborations and The Christopher Lee Filmography: All Theatrical Releases, 1948-2003 (with Tom Johnson). Miller also wrote “The Druid Legacy” fantasy fiction trilogy.

American alternate history author [Joseph] Robert Conroydied of cancer on December 30, aged 76. His novels include the Sidewise Award-winning 1942 .

Veteran American character actress Juanita Mooredied on January 1, aged 99. She began her film career in 1939 and was cast in uncredited roles in Cabin in the Sky and Tarzan’s Peril before going on to appear in Abby (1974) and Disney’s The Kid (2000), along with episodes of TV’s Ramar of the Jungle , Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour . She was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Imitation of Life (1959).

American character actress Carmen[Margarita] Zapatadied of heart failure on January 5, aged 86. She appeared on TV in episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker , Wonder Woman , The Phoenix , Fantasy Island and Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction .

91-year-old Canadian-born character actor and voice artist Larry D. Manndied on January 6 in Los Angeles. In a prolific career, he appeared in Disney’s The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove and Charlie and the Angel , along with episodes of TV’s The Unforeseen , My Favorite Martian , Get Smart , Captain Nice , The Green Hornet , The Man from U.N.C.L.E. , Bewitched and Night Gallery .

Former “Marlbro man” Eric[Layton] Lawson, who appeared in print and billboard ads for the cigarette brand during the late 1970s and early ‘80s, died of smoking-related respiratory failure due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on January 10. He was 72, and gave up the habit when diagnosed with COPD. Lawson was also a character actor, often playing sheriffs or cowboys, in Rattlers , Skeeter , Tall Tale , Rumplestiltskin (1995), When Time Expires , King Cobra and Invisible Mom II , along with episodes of TV’s Automan and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr .

Dependable British character actor Jerome[Barry] Willisdied on January 11, aged 85. His film credits include The Magus , Doomwatch , Lifeforce , Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady and Incident at Victoria Falls (both as “Mycroft Holmes” opposite Christopher Lee’s Sherlock) and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer . On TV Willis was a regular on Gerry Anderson’s Space Precinct (as “Captain Podly”) and he also appeared in episodes of Out of This World (hosted by Boris Karloff), The Avengers , Out of the Unknown , Adam Adamant Lives! , Doctor Who and Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery & Imagination (hosted by Lee).

Striking British actress Alexandra Bastedo, who starred as “Sharon Macready” in the TV sci-spy series The Champions (1968-69), died after a long battle with cancer on January 12, aged 67. She appeared in William Castle’s 13 Frightened Girls! , the Bond spoof Casino Royale (1967), The Blood Splattered Bride (as “Mircalla Karstein”), The Ghoul (with Peter Cushing), Stigma , La veritat oculta and Batman Begins . The actress was also in episodes of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and The Starlost .

British character actor Roger Lloyd-Pack, the son of Hammer actor Charles Lloyd-Pack, died of pancreatic cancer on January 15, aged 69. His numerous TV credits include episodes of The Avengers , Survivors (1976 and 2010), Archer’s Goon , U.F.O. , Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who . Lloyd-Pack was also in the films The Magus , Hamlet (1969), Fright (1971), Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), Interview with a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles , The Young Poisoner’s Handbook , Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (as “Bartemius ‘Barty’ Crouch”) and The Living and the Dead , while his scenes as a scientist were cut from The Avengers (1998). He later became a popular comedy actor on British TV.

American character actor Russell[David] Johnson, who played “The Professor” in TV’s Gilligan’s Island (1964-67) and several spin-offs, died of kidney failure on January 16, aged 89. He appeared in the movies It Came from Outer Space , This Island Earth , Roger Corman’s Attack of the Crab Monsters , The Space Children , The Horror at 37,000 Feet and The Ghost of Flight 401 . On TV Johnson was in episodes of Adventures of Superman , Alfred Hitchcock Presents , Thriller (‘The Hungry Glass’), Twilight Zone , The Outer Limits , The Invaders , Wonder Woman , Beyond Westworld , ALF , Monsters and Meego .

Another American TV legend, Canadian-born comedy actor Dave Madden(David Joseph Madden) who co-starred in The Partridge Family (1970-74), died of congestive heart and kidney failure the same day, aged 82. Madden was a regular on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1968-69) and appeared in episodes of Bewitched , Fantasy Island and Sabrina the Teenage Witch . He was also in the TV movies Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol and More Wild Wild West , and contributed voice work to the animated Charlotte’s Web (1973).

Ruth Robinson Duccini, the last female member of the diminutive troupe of actors to portray Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz (1939), also died on January 16 after a short illness. She was 95.

British-born actress Sarah[Lynne] Marshalldied in Los Angeles of stomach cancer on January 18, aged 80. She appeared in episodes of Thriller (‘God Grante That She Lye Stille’), Twilight Zone (‘Little Girl Lost’), Alfred Hitchcock Presents , The Alfred Hitchcock Hour , My Favorite Martian , Get Smart , The Wild Wild West , Star Trek (‘The Deadly Years’), Strange Report and Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries . Many years later she turned up in the horror movie Bad Blood and its sequel, Bad Blood: The Hunger .