Stephen (ed.) - The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 18

American SF author Jayge Carr(Margery Ruth Krueger), whose books include Leviathan’s Deep , died on December 20th, aged 66. A contributor to Omni, Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and Amazing , she also wrote the “Rabelais” series of novels: Navigator’s Sindrome, The Treasure in the Heart of the Maze and Rabelaisian Reprise .

86-year-old British children’s author [Ann] Philippa Pearce,whose Carnegie medal-winning time-slip novel Tom’s Midnight Garden was published in 1958, died of a stroke on December 21st while visiting an exhibition of her work at the Seven Stories children’s book museum in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Her other books include What the Neighbours Did and Other Stories and Who’s Afraid? and Other Strange Stories , and she edited Dread and Delight: A Century of Children’s Ghost Stories .

American SF fan Dick(Richard Harris) Eneydied of a stroke on December 22nd, aged 74. He published the Fancychpedia II in 1959 and was Fan Guest of Honor at the 1984 World Science Fiction Convention.

PERFORMERS/PERSONALITIES

49-year-old Bryan Harvey,the former singer and guitarist with folk/ rock duo House of Freaks, was found dead with his family in the basement of his burning home in Richmond, Virginia, on New Year’s Day. Along with his wife and two young daughters, he had been bound with tape and had his throat cut before the house was set ablaze. With drummer Johnny Hott, Harvey released five acclaimed albums between 1987 and 1995, including Tantilla (1989), Cakewalk (1991) and Invisible Jewel (1994).

Stuntman and actor Jerry Summersdied the same day, aged 74. The movies he worked on include Surf Party, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, The Phynx, Diamonds Are Forever, 99 & 44/100% Dead, Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen, D.A.R.Y.L., The Monster Squad and Alien Nation .

Danish-born actress Osa Massendied in Santa Monica on January 2nd, aged 91. She went to Hollywood in the late 1930s, where she appeared in such films as Cry of the Werewolf, Night Unto Night and Rocketship X-M . She was also in a 1955 episode of TV’s Science Fiction Theatre . After retiring from acting, she served on the foreign film selection committee for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Puerto Rican-born actor and television producer Raul Davila,who played a voodoo priest in The Believers (1987), died of a heart attack in New Jersey the same day, aged 74.

British character actor John Woodnuttdied on January 3rd, aged 81. His film credits include The Scarlet Blade, All Neat in Black Stockings, Lifeforce and Dragonhead: A New Beginning . On TV Woodnutt appeared in Children of the Stones , as “Merlin” in Knightmare (1987–90) and in episodes of Suspense, The Saint, Sherlock Holmes, The Avengers, Adam Adamant Lives!, Out of the Unknown, The Tomorrow People, Doctor Who and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes .

Phyllis[Lucille] Gates,the former wife of Rock Hudson (who died of AIDS in 1985), died of complications from lung cancer on January 4th, aged 80. She met Hudson in 1954 while working as a secretary for his agent. They married a year later but divorced in 1958. She later discovered that the romance had been arranged to dispel rumours that the actor was gay. Gates became an interior designer and never saw Hudson again.

Soul singer Lou Rawlsdied of lung and brain cancer on January 5th, aged 72. During a forty-year career, Rawls released more than sixty albums and won three Grammy Awards. His biggest hit was “You’ll Never Find (Another Love Like Mine)” in 1976. During the 1960s he branched into acting, appearing in such films as Angel Angel Down We Go (aka Cult of the Damned), Morella, Blues Brothers 2000 and episodes of Fantasy Island, The Fall Guy, Early Edition and Baywatch Nights (as regular “Lou Raymond”). As a voice artist he also contributed to Garfield and The Rugrats Movie .

Stage and screen actress Anne Meachamdied on January 12th, aged 80. After earning an Obie Award for creating the role of “Catherine Holly” in the 1958 Off Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer , she appeared in such films as Lilith, Dear Dead Delilah, Seizure and Seeds of Evil (aka The Gardener ).

Two-time Academy Award-winning Hollywood star Shelley Winters(Shirley Schrift) died of heart failure on January 14th, aged 85. She had been in poor health since suffering a massive heart attack the previous October. After working as a chorus girl on Broadway, Winters moved to Los Angeles in the early 1940s where she shared an apartment with a then unknown Marilyn Monroe. Initially cast for her curvaceous 37–26–36 figure, she later reinvented herself as a capable character actress with more than 130 films to her credit, including A Thousand and One Nights, A Double Life (she also appeared in the TV remake), The Night of the Hunter, Wild in the Streets, The Mad Room , Roger Corman’s Bloody Mama, What’s the Matter with Helen?, Whoever Slew Auntie Roof (aka Who Slew Auntie Roof), Revenge, The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Devil’s Daughter (1972), Cleopatra Jones, The Tenant, Pete’s Dragon, Tentacles, The Initiation of Sarah, The Visitor, Witchfire, Déjà Vu, Alice in Wonderland (1985), The Purple People Eater and Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July . The actress also played “Ma Barker” on the 1960s Batman TV show. She was married and divorced three times, including to actors Vittorio Gassman and Anthony Franciosa, and in two biographies (1981 and 1989) claimed romances with Burt Lancaster, Erroll Flynn, Clark Gable, William Holden, Marlon Brando and Elvis Presley.

American leading man Anthony(Tony) Franciosa(Anthony Papaleo) died of a massive stroke on January 19th, less than a week after the death of his former wife (1957–60), actress Shelley Winters. He was 77. The actor, who went to Hollywood in the mid-1950s, had a reputation for being “difficult” on movie sets. His credits include Antonio Margheriti’s Web of the Spider, Earth II, Curse of the Black Widow , Dario Argento’s Tenebrae (aka Unsane), Daughter of Death, Ghost Writer, La Morte e di Moda and a TV remake of The Night of the Hunter (1991). In 1957 he served ten days in the Los Angeles County jail for punching a press photographer, and two years later went to prison for thirty days for possession of marijuana. Universal fired him from the 1968–71 TV series The Name of the Game , accusing of him of “erratic behaviour”. He also co-starred in the 1972–73 series Search (as “Nick Bianco”), but his sci-spy show Matt Helm was cancelled after half a season in 1976.

American soul singer “Wicked” Wilson Pickettdied of a heart attack on January 20th, aged 64. His 1960s hits include “Mustang Sally” and “The Midnight Hour”. His career enjoyed a renaissance in 1991 with the release of the film The Commitments , about a Dublin band that idolised him, and his last album, the Grammy-nominated It’s Harder Now , was released in 1999.

43-year-old American character actor Chris(Christopher) Penn,the burly younger brother of actor Sean and son of director Leo (who died in 1998), was found dead on January 24th in his Santa Monica apartment. According to the coroner’s office, the main cause of death was an oversized heart and the effects of multiple medication intake. Best remembered for his role as “Nice Guy Eddie Cabot” in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs , his other credits include Pale Rider, Future Kick and Fist of the North Star .