Stephen Jones - Best New Horror #26

American supporting actress Marjorie Stapp, who worked as a receptionist for mobster Bugsy Siegel before his murder in 1947, died the same day, aged 92. She had small roles in Port Sinister , Indestructible Man (with Lon Chaney, Jr.), The Werewolf (1956), Kronos , The Monster That Challenged the World , Daughter of Dr. Jekyll and an episode of TV’s Quantum Leap . Stapp retired from acting in 1991.

Romanian-born actress Veronica Lazar died in Rome on June 8, aged 75. She was in Dario Argento’s Inferno and The Stendhal Syndrome , and Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond . She was married to actor Adolfo Celi from 1966 until his death twenty years later.

British actor and comedian Rick Mayall(Richard Michael Mayall), best remembered for his anarchic TV series The Young Ones (1982-84), The Comic Strip Presents… (1983-2012), The New Statesman (1987-94) and Bottom (1991-95), died on June 9, aged 56. The cause may have been an acute cardiac event after Mayall had been for a morning run earlier. He was also in such TV shows as Whoops Apocalypse (and the spin-off movie), Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes and Jonathan Creek . Mayall also appeared in the films An American Werewolf in London , Shock Treatment (1981), Drop Dead Fred , The Canterville Ghost (1997), Merlin: The Return , The Legend of Harrow Woods , Evil Calls , Eldorado (aka Highway to Hell ) and Errors of the Human Body . His role as “Peeves the Poltergeist” in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was cut out before release.

American actress and activist Ruby Dee(Ruby Ann Wallace) died on June 11, aged 91. She was in the remake of Cat People (1982), A Simple Wish and the 1994 TV mini-series of Stephen King’s The Stand (alongside her husband Ossie Davis).

Former ballet dancer Ken Tyllssendied the same day, aged 75. During the 1960s he appeared as various aliens, including a Sensorite, a Mechanoid and a Dalek, in episodes of Doctor Who opposite William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton’s Time Lords.

Carla Laemmle(Rebekah Isabelle Laemmle), the niece of Universal Studios founder Carl Laemmle, died on June 12, aged 104. She appeared in small roles in The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Dracula (1931) and Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935). Decades later, Laemmle had cameos in such direct-to-video titles as The Vampire Hunters Club and Mansion of Blood , tying with Mickey Rooney for the longest career in movie history (eighty-nine years).

Likeable British leading man Francis[Joseph] Matthewsdied on June 14, aged 86. Best known for playing the title character in Paul Temple (1969-71), the first colour series on BBC TV, he also appeared in episodes of The New Adventures of Charlie Chan , The Avengers , Out of the Unknown and Jonathan Creek . Matthews’ film credits include Hammer’s The Revenge of Frankenstein (with Peter Cushing), Dracula Prince of Darkness and Rasputin: The Mad Monk (both with Christopher Lee), Corridors of Blood (with Boris Karloff and Lee), The Hellfire Club (again with Cushing) and Five Women for the Killer . He was also the voice of “Captain Scarlet” (which he based on Cary Grant) in Gerry Anderson’s puppet TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967-68). Matthews was married to actress Angela Browne from 1963 until her death in 2001.

French-born Underground celebrity and artist Ultra Violet(Isabelle Collin Dufresne) died of cancer in New York City the same day, aged 78. Having spent the 1960s hanging out with the likes of Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali, she appeared in a few movies, including Simon King of the Witches , Curse of the Headless Horseman and James Ivory’s Savages . Reportedly exorcised in her early teens by a Catholic priest when she rebelled against her religious upbringing, in the 1980s she rejected her experiences as part of Warhol’s “Factory” and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

British character actor Sam Kelly(Roger Michael Kelly) died of cancer on June 14, aged 70. He appeared in episodes of TV’s Rentaghost , Virtual Murder (‘A Dream of Dracula’) and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (‘Transylvania, January 1918’), along with the films Tiffany Jones and Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (aka Nanny McPhee Returns ). He portrayed “The Wizard” in the London stage production of the musical Wicked from 2009-10, and briefly returned to the role in 2013.

British stuntman and actor Terry Richards(David Terrence Richards), best known for playing the Arab swordsman shot by Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark , died the same day, aged 81. He did stunts in seven James Bond films, starting with From Russia with Love , along with The Empire Strikes Back , Superman II , Krull , Brazil , Red Sonja , Superman IV: The Quest for Peace , The Princess Bride , Willow , Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , Clive Barker’s Nightbreed , Total Recall (1990) and Shadowchaser . Richards also appeared in Flash Gordon (1980), Haunted Summer and episodes of TV’s Adam Adamant Lives! , The Avengers , Blakes 7 , The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Space Precinct .

82-year-old American actor, presenter and radio disc jockey Casey Kasem(Kemal Amen Kasem), the voice of Scooby-Doo’s sidekick “Norville ‘Shaggy’ Rogers” for forty years and Batman’s partner “Robin” for seventeen years, died of complications from Lewy body dementia on June 15. He had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Kasem was in the movies The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant , Doomsday Machine , The Night That Panicked America and The Dark , and episodes of TV’s The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (‘Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom’) and Fantasy Island . A prolific voice actor, he contributed to such animated TV shows as The Batman/Superman Hour , Scooby-Doo Where Are You! , Super-Friends , Yogi’s Space Race , The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone , Battle of the Planets , Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels , The Transformers and Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated . In the late 1960s, Kasem executive produced and appeared in two exploitation biker movies, The Glory Stompers and The Cycle Savages .

French actor Jacques Bergeracdied the same day, aged 87. He starred in the 1960 movie The Hypnotic Eye , and also appeared in episodes of TV’s Alfred Hitchcock Presents , Get Smart and Batman . Bergerac was married (1953-57) to American actresses Ginger Rogers and (1959-64) Dorothy Malone.

82-year-old American comedian Steve Rossi(Joseph Charles Michael Tafarella), one half of a comedy team with Marty Allen, died of cancer of the aesophogus in Las Vegas on June 22. The duo appeared in the sci-spy spoof The Last of the Secret Agents? while Allen and Rossi Meet Dracula and Frankenstein was announced in 1974 but apparently never made. Rossi was also in the low budget comedy The Man from O.R.G.Y.