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

Jackson 5 drummer Johnny Jackson, Jr(no relation) was stabbed to death on March 1st. He was 55 . A woman was arrested for his murder.

Former British child actor Jack Wilddied after a long illness on March 2nd, aged 53. After receiving an Academy Award nomination for his debut as the Artful Dodger in the 1968 musical Oliver! , his career never really took off. He starred in the American TV series H R. Pufnstuff ( 1969 ) and the 1970 spin-off movie, but other film roles were sparse. He appeared in The Pied Piper (1971) opposite singer Donovan, and made a belated return to the screen twenty years later in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. A heavy smoker and alcoholic since the age of twenty-one, he was diagnosed with oral cancer in 2000 and had an operation three years later to remove part of his tongue and vocal cords. Although he lost his voice, following the surgery he appeared on stage in a pantomime miming his role. When Daniel Radcliffe got the role of Harry Potter, Wild wrote an open letter to the teenage actor warning him of the dangers of becoming a child star.

Scottish writer and singer Ivor Cutlerdied on March 3rd, aged 83. He played Buster Bloodvessel in the Beatles TV movie Magical Mystery Tour .

44-year-old singer and former actress Dana Reeve,the widow of Superman actor Christopher Reeve (who died in 2004), died of lung cancer on March 6th, despite being a non-smoker.

British character actor, comedian, and radio and TV scriptwriter John Junkindied of lung cancer, emphysema and asthma on March 7th, aged 76. He appeared with the Beatles in A Hard Day’s Night , and his other credits include Vengeance (aka The Brain), How I Won the War, Wombling Free, Licensed to Love and Kill (aka The Man from S.E.X .), plus episodes of The Avengers (“Never, Never Say Die” with Christopher Lee) and Catweazle .

Character actor Kort Falkenberg,who was featured as Cadet Farren in the 1950s TV series Tom Corbett, Space Cadet , died on March 13th, aged 88. He also appeared in episodes of Men Into Space, One Step Beyond, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Quantum Leap and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr .

Oscar-winning American character actress Maureen Stapletondied of chronic pulmonary disease on March 14th, aged 80. Her many credits include The Fan, Cocoon and Cocoon: The Return, Made in Heaven and Doin’ Time on Planet Earth . She also appeared as the eponymous character in a 1982 TV adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s The Electric Grandmother .

80-year-old American actor and fencing expert Britt Lomonddied after a long illness on March 22nd. Best remembered as the villainous Captain Monastario on the 1957 Walt Disney TV series Zorro and the spin-off feature The Sign of Zorro , he later worked behind the camera on such films as Somewhere in Time . In 2004, his Monastario character was featured on a US postage stamp.

Country music singer and guitarist “Buck” Owens[Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr] died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on March 25th, aged 76. A pioneer of the “Bakersfield Sound”, he co-hosted (1969–86) TV’s Hee-Haw with Roy Clark. The Beatles covered his song “Act Naturally” in 1965. Owens’ first wife, country singer Bonnie Owens,died on April 24th, also aged 76.

American character actor Julian Burtondied on March 27th, aged 73. He appeared in Roger Corman’s Bucket of Blood and The Masque of the Red Death , as well as episodes of TV’s Science Fiction Theatre, Thriller, The Outer Limits and Get Smart .

55-year-old cult 1970s drive-in actress Candice Rialsondied of liver disease on March 31st, although her death was not announced for another five months. She appeared in Pets, Candy Stripe Nurses, Logan’s Run, Hollywood Boulevard (as “Candy Hope”), Chatterbox and Winter Kills .

Child actor Gary Gray, who appeared in MGM’s final “Lassie” movie, The Painted Hills , died of cancer on April 4th, aged 69. Gray also appeared in The Next Yoke You Hear as the son of Nancy Davis and James Whitmore.

65-year-old American singer/songwriter Gene Pitneydied on April 5th, following a concert in Wales. The writer of such classic pop songs as “Hello, Mary Lou”, “Rubber Ball” and “He’s a Rebel”, Pitney launched his own singing career in 1961. His distinctive falsetto voice could be heard on such hits as “Town Without Pity”, “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance”, “Only Love Can Break a Heart”, “24 Hours from Tulsa”, “I’m Gonna Be Strong” and “Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart”.

American actress Amanda Duff[Dunne] died of cancer on April 6th, aged 92. Married to screenwriter and film director Philip Dunne (who died in 1992), she appeared in Mr Moto in Danger Island with Peter Lorre and The Devil Commands with Boris Karloff. Duff retired from acting in the early 1940s and became a successful photographer.

American country musician Gordon Terry,who appeared in Ron Ormond’s 1968 movie The Monster and the Stripper (aka The Exotic Ones ), died after a long illness on April 9th, aged 74.

Singer June Pointer,the youngest member of the Grammy-winning Pointer Sisters, died of cancer on April 11th, aged 52. With her sisters Ruth and Anita, she sang on such 1970s and ’80s hits as “I’m So Excited”, “Slow Hand” and “Jump (For My Love)”. June Pointer was arrested for cocaine possession two years before her death and was sentenced to a rehabilitation centre.

German actress Christiane Maybach,who played the disembodied head in the 1959 horror film The Head ( Die Nackte und der Satan ), died of cancer on April 12th, aged 74. She also appeared in The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse, A Study in Terror (as “Polly Nichols”), Satan’s Brew and Just a Gigolo .

Indian producer, singer and mega-star Rajkumer(Muthuraj Singanalluru Puttaswamayya) died the same day, aged 76. A champion of Kannada language films, he made more than 200 mostly historical and mythological movies and was worshipped by millions. Five people died in demonstrations following his death. In July 2000 Rajkumer and four relatives were kidnapped by the Tamil bandit, Veerappan. He was eventually released 108 days later, after a secret deal was negotiated with the authorities.

American character actor Henderson Forsythe,who portrayed Dr David Stewart on the daytime soap opera As the World Turns for more than thirty years, died on April 17th, aged 88. He also appeared in the films Dead of Night (aka Deathdream), The Cabinet ofDr Ramirez and Species II .

Italian actress Alida Valli(Baroness Alida Maria Laura Altenbur-ger von Marckenstein Freunberg), whose career spanned more than sixty years, died in Rome on April 22nd, aged 84. Born in Pula, Italy (in what is now Croatia), she began her film career at the age of nine and made her Hollywood debut in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Paradine Case (1947 ). Her other credits include Eyes Without a Face (aka The Horror Chamber ofDr Faustus), Antichristo, Tender Dracula (with Peter Cushing), Mario Bava’s Lisa and the Devil (aka House of Exorcism ), and Dario Argento’s Suspiria and Inferno .