Stephen Jones - Best New Horror #26

British character actress Dora BryanOBE (Dora May Broadbent) died on July 23, aged 91. She made her film debut in 1947, and her credits include The Perfect Woman , Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (with Bela Lugosi), Mad About Men , Hammer’s Hands of the Ripper , Screamtime and Dave McKean’s MirrorMask . In 1963 she recorded the hit novelty song, ‘All I Want for Christmas is a Beatle’.

American character actor Jack Walsh(Raymond J. Walsh) died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on July 25, aged 80. He was in John Walters’ Multiple Maniacs , George Lucas’ debut THX 1138 , David Lynch’s Eraserhead , and Insidious: Chapter 2 , along with episodes of TV’s Early Edition (‘Halloween’) and Medium .

American character actor Lew Browndied on July 27, aged 89. His movie credits include Colossus: The Forbin Project , The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler , The Man , Planet Earth and The Clone Master. On TV Brown was a familiar face in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Twilight Zone , Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea , The Alfred Hitchcock Hour , The Invaders , The Wild Wild West , I Dream of Jeannie , Night Gallery , Shazam! , Kolchak: The Night Stalker , The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (‘The Mystery of the Haunted House’ with Richard Kiel) and Project U.F.O.

Hawaiian-born American actor and singer James[Saburo] Shigetadied on July 28, aged 85. His movies include the musical remake of Lost Horizon (1973), The Questor Tapes , Tomorrow’s Child and Space Marines . On TV Shigeta appeared in episodes of The Outer Limits , Matt Helm , Fantasy Island , The Greatest American Hero , The Hitchhiker , SeaQuest 2032 and Babylon 5 , and he contributed voice performances to Disney’s Mulan , The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and Avatar: The Last Airbender .

Maverick American character actor Dennis Lipscombdied on July 30, aged 72. He appeared in WarGames , Eyes of Fire , The Day After , Crossroads , Retribution , Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit , The First Power , The Force , Without Warning and Automatic . On TV he was in episodes of The Greatest American Hero , The Powers of Matthew Star , Amazing Stories , Highway to Heaven , SeaQuest 2032 , The X Files , Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman , Sabrina the Teenage Witch , The Invisible Man (2000) and Roswell .

59-year-old British TV and radio presenter Mike Smith(Michael George Smith) died on August 1 of complications following major heart surgery. Smith was one of the co-presenters of Stephen Volk’s infamous Hallowe’en spoof Ghostwatch , along with his wife Sarah Greene and Michael Parkinson, which the BBC broadcast live in 1992.

Canadian character actor Walter[Edward Hart] Massey, the cousin of veteran actor Raymond Massey, died on August 4, aged 85. A prolific voice actor, his films include Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang , Happy Birthday to Me , Zombie Nightmare , Whispers and Secrets of the Summer House , and he was also in episodes of the TV anthology series The Twilight Zone (1989), The Hidden Room and Are You Afraid of the Dark? .

American actress Marilyn Burns, who survived Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), died on August 5, aged 65. She was also in Hooper’s Eaten Alive plus Helter Skelter (1976), Kiss Daddy Goodbye (with Fabian), Future-Kill , Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation , Butcher Boys , Texas Chainsaw 3D , Sacrament and In a Madman’s World .

Northern Irish character actor J.J. Murphydied on August 8, aged 86. Days earlier he had started work on HBO’s Game of Thrones as “Denys Mallister”, the oldest member of the Night’s Watch. He also had an uncredited role as a village elder in Dracula Untold .

American actor Ed Nelson(Edwin Stafford Nelson), who starred in the TV soap opera Peyton Place (1964-69), died of congestive heart failure on August 9, aged 85. He began his career as a member of Roger Corman’s unofficial stock company in such movies as Swamp Women , Attack of the Crab Monsters (as the crab!), Rock All Night , Teenage Doll , Carnival Rock , Teenage Cave Man , She Gods of Shark Reef , I Mobster and A Bucket of Blood . His other credits include Invasion of the Saucer Men , Night of the Blood Beast , The Brain Eaters , Devil’s Partner , The Screaming Woman (based on a story by Ray Bradbury), The Girl the Gold Watch & Everything , Brenda Starr , Deadly Weapon and The Boneyard , plus episodes of TV’s Thriller (‘The Cheaters’), Twilight Zone , The Alfred Hitchcock Hour , The Outer Limits , Rod Serling’s Night Gallery , The Sixth Sense , The Bionic Woman , Gemini Man , Logan’s Run and Salvage 1 .

Veteran British-born soap opera actor Charles[Patrick] Keatingdied of lung cancer in Connecticut the same day, aged 72. He appeared in episodes of The Mind Beyond (‘Meriel, the Ghost Girl’), Supernatural (‘The Werewolf Reunion’ and ‘Countess Ilona’) and Tales of the Unexpected before moving to America in the mid-1980s, where he was featured in such popular soaps as All My Children , Port Charles and Another World . He also portrayed the god “Zeus” in cross-over episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess .

63-year-old comedic film and TV star Robin[McLaurin] Williamscommitted suicide by hanging on August 11. He had been suffering from severe depression. Williams was an immediate hit as the offbeat alien “Mork” in the TV sitcom Mork & Mindy (1978-82), a spin-off from Happy Days , and he went on to appear in such films as Popeye , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , Dead Again , The Fisher King , Hook , In Search of Dr. Seuss , Jumanji , Hamlet (1996), Flubber (1997), What Dreams May Come (based on the novel by Richard Matheson), Bicentennial Man (based on the novel by Issac Asimov), One Hour Photo , Insomnia , The Final Cut and The Night Listener , and he portrayed “Teddy Roosevelt” in the fantasy trilogy Night at the Museum , Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb . He was presented with an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1998. Williams’ other TV credits include an episode of Faerie Tale Theatre , he was the voice of the “Genie” in Walt Disney’s animated movies Aladdin and Aladdin and the King of Thieves , and he also gave voice performances in A.I. Artificial Intelligence (based on the story by Brian Aldiss), FernGully: The Last Rainforest , Robots , Happy Feet , Happy Feet Two and Absolutely Anything .