Valery Polyakov, record-setting cosmonaut, dies
The cosmonaut who still holds the record for the longest single stay in space, Dr. Valery Polyakov, dies at the age of 80. Born in 1942, Polyakov joined the cosmonaut corps in 1972, and then had to wait sixteen years for his first flight, aboard Soyuz TM-6 to the Mir space station in 1988, where he stayed for 240 days. In January 1994 he returned to Mir aboard the Soyuz TM-18 mission, and remained in orbit for a continuous 437 day stay, still the longest continuous spaceflight undertaken by a human being at the time of his death. He returned to Earth in March 1995 and retired from the active cosmonaut rotation a few months later, remaining with the post-Soviet Russian space program as an advisor in the area of the health effects of long-term spaceflight, as well as having a hand in selecting future cosmonauts. He was awarded both the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Hero of the Russian Federation over the course of his career. Though fellow cosmonaut Sergei Adveyev holds the record for the most time in space, that time was accumulated over the course of three missions; as of 2022, Polyakov’s single-flight record remains unbroken.
Frank Drake, astronomer, dies
Astronomer Dr. Frank Drake, one of the founders of SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligences), dies at the age of 92. His fascinating with searching for life on other worlds began at a young age, and defined much of his life and career. In the 1960s, as part of a lecture, he devised the Drake Equation, a formula for calculating a very rough estimate of the possible number of civilizations capable of communicating across interstellar distances; this equation has been debated and challenged over the years, as well as gaining mainstream recognition after being cited in popular science programming (such as Carl Sagan’s Cosmos) and science fiction as well. In the 1970s, Drake and Sagan joined forces to create the “messages in bottles” affixed to the earliest space probes expected to break free of the solar system, including the Pioneer plaques and the golden records attached to Voyagers 1 and 2.
Don Lind, astronaut, dies
Don Lind, a veteran of the Apollo, Skylab and space shuttle eras at NASA, dies at the age of 92. Born in Midvale, Utah, his service as a U.S. Navy pilot and a degree in nuclear physics brought him to the attention of NASA, and he was a member of the agency’s fifth astronaut class, many of whom went to the moon. Lind was considered for the crew of Apollo 20 until that mission’s cancellation. During the Skylab space station’s tenure, he was assigned to the crew of the Skylab Rescue contingency mission (which ultimately was deemed unnecessary) and then as a potential member of a fourth Skylab crew, whose mission was also cancelled. By the time Lind made his only spaceflight, aboard the shuttle Challenger in 1985, he had been waiting nearly two decades for a flight. He retired from NASA following his flight, and went on to teach at Utah State University.
Richard Clifford, astronaut, dies
Space shuttle astronaut Richard “Rich” Clifford, who flew three shuttle missions in the 1990s, dies at the age of 69 from complications related to Parkinson’s Disease. A Lieutenant Colonel when he retired from the U.S. Army in 1995, Clifford had been working at NASA while still with the Army, beginning his involvement with the space program in 1987. He helped to certify crew escape systems in the wake of the Challenger disaster, before moving on to assist in the design of EVA equipment in the early 90s. He flew as a mission specialist on the STS-53, STS-59, and STS-76 missions, accumulating over 600 hours in space, including an EVA lasting six hours at the Mir space station on his final flight. It was before that third mission that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, but he kept that diagnosis private until after the mission. He retired from NASA in 1997, but joined Boeing as its Flight Operations Manager from the construction of the International Space Station until the final shuttle mission to the ISS in 2011. He also worked with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which funds research into Parkinson’s.
Dean Stockwell, actor, dies
Actor Dean Stockwell, known to many genre fans as Al from the time-travel series Quantum Leap, dies at the age of 85. Beginning his career on the Broadway stage at the age of six, Stockwell quickly made his way to Hollywood, appearing alongside the likes of Errol Flynn, Frank Sinatra, Katherine Hepburn, and Roddy McDowall, among many others. In the early 1980s, while he was contemplating a career change, an appearing in the film Paris, Texas revitalized Stockwell’s profile as an actor, leading to roles in Dune, Blue Velvet, and Married To The Mob, which earned Stockwell an Oscar nomination. Immediately after that, he was cast as Al in Quantum Leap, a show in which he co-starred opposite Scott Bakula for five seasons, racking up nominations for Emmy Awards for four of those years. Later genre TV work included a recurring role on Syfy‘s revival of Battlestar Galactica.
Bob Baker, writer, dies
Writer Bob Baker, a former Doctor Who script writer who, with his frequent 1970s writing partner Dave Martin, created the character of K-9, dies at the age of 82. Born in Bristol, Baker forged a fruitful writing partnership with Martin, with their first Doctor Who story, The Claws Of Axos, transmitted by the BBC in 1971. They continued to be frequent contributors to that series throughout the 1970s, while simultaneously creating children’s fantasy series closer to home at HTV, including Sky and King Of The Castle. A 1977 Doctor Who script, The Invisible Enemy, introduced the enduring character of robot dog K-9, who would continue to appear regularly through 1981, even meriting a pilot for a spinoff series, K-9 & Company, that same year, and eventually making guest appearances in the 21st century revival of Doctor Who and its spinoff, The Sarah Jane Adventures. Baker and Martin stopped working together in the late ’70s, with Baker pursuing one solo Doctor Who writing assignment (1979’s Nightmare Of Eden) before co-creating another HTV fantasy series, Into The Labyrinth, which ran for three seasons starting in 1981. In 2009, after years of pitching the idea, a K-9 spinoff produced in Australia launched, produced by Baker (who also wrote or co-wrote two scripts). Baker was still trying to attract co-production interest in a second season of K-9, or possible a movie spinoff, toward the end of his life. Baker gained wider recognition as co-creator of the Wallace & Gromit animated shorts and movies (as well as their spinoff, Shaun the Sheep), which won both Oscar and BAFTA awards.
Joanna Cameron, actress, dies
Actress Joanna Cameron, perhaps best known for starring in the cult classic 1970s live-action kids’ superhero series Isis (a.k.a. The Secret of Isis), dies at the age of 70s after suffering complications from a stroke. Launching her career in 1969 at the behest of family friend Bob Hope, Cameron at one point held the Guinness World Record for the most commercial appearances for a single actor. Following her two-season stint as Isis, she moved on to TV guest roles in The Amazing Spider-Man, McMillan & Wife, and Switch, with her last TV credit in the appropriately titled 1980 made-for-TV movie Swan Song. After leaving Hollywood, she produced and directed promotional films for the U.S. Navy, and then moved into careers in health care and hotel marketing.
Tony Selby, actor, dies
Actor Tony Selby, known to British sci-fi and fantasy fans both as recurring rogue Sabalon Glitz in Doctor Who and as series regular Sam Maxsted in the first two (now missing) seasons of Ace Of Wands, dies of COVID-19-related complications at the age of 83. With his first credited TV role at the age of 13, Mr. Selby was a frequent fixture in British TV and films. He made numerous appearances in The Wednesday Play, and appeared in The Avengers, Department S, Callan, Special Branch, and Crown Court. He also made movie appearances, in such films as Villain, Adolf Hitler – My Part In His Downfall, and uncredited roles in Alfie and Superman. His 21st century TV appearances included Dream Team, New Tricks, and Doctors.
Jackie Lane, actress, dies
Former actress Jackie Lane, who portrayed the first Doctor’s companion, Dodo Chaplet, in the third season of Doctor Who opposite William Hartnell, dies at the age of 79. One of the actresses originally considered for the role of Susan, the Doctor’s granddaughter, at the beginning the series, Ms. Lane wasn’t offered a role until the show entered its third season. The character of Dodo was rather abruptly introduced at the end of part four of The Massacre, and then is not seen again after the end of part 4 of The War Machines, presumably having decided to stay on Earth in her native time period, though the character’s fate is never specified; in real life, her contract was allowed to expire with no attempt made to keep her in the series. Burned by that experience, she retired from acting and became an agent, representing fellow Doctor Who stars Tom Baker and Janet Fielding during that phase of her career. Though she appeared in a handful of DVD bonus features covering her time on Doctor Who, she chose to stay out of the convention ecosystem, resisting offers to make public appearances.
Michael Collins, astronaut, dies
Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins, who remained in the command module Columbia in orbit of the moon while his crewmates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, landed on the moon, dies at the age of 90 after battling cancer. Upon returning to Earth, Collins opted to retire from NASA and found work within the United States government, leading to his becoming the first director of the National Air & Space Museum, a facility which had yet to open at the time he took charge of it. Collins wrote a memoir, Carrying The Fire, in 1974, one of the earliest astronaut memoirs (and the first from a member of the crew charged with making the first lunar landing). Prior to Apollo 11, he had flown with John Young aboard Gemini 10, and prior to that had distinguished careers as both a fighter pilot and a test pilot. He applied for the second group of NASA astronauts, but didn’t make the cut until NASA was recruiting its third class.
Louis Clark, musician, dies
Orchestral conductor, arranger and composer Louis Clark, best known for the chart-topping early ’80s mash-up Hooked On Classics, dies at the age of 73 after a period of illness. Aside from the Hooked On Classics single and album, Clark was the architect of the orchestral arrangements for Electric Light Orchestra during that band’s 1970s peak years, working in the albums Eldorado (1974), Face The Music (1975), A New World Record (1976), Out Of The Blue (1977), Discovery (1979), and ELO’s contributions to the Xanadu soundtrack (1980). He went on to become a full-time member of Electric Light Orchestra Part II (later renamed The Orchestra), creating that band’s orchestral arrangements as well as performing on stage, often playing the orchestral parts with synthesizers and samples. He also worked on numerous solo projects by members of ELO, including Kelly Groucutt’s Kelly album (1982), Roy Wood’s Starting Up (1987), and collaborating with Jeff Lynne on Roy Orbison’s Mystery Girl (1989). He also did orchestral arrangements for acts such as Asia, Renaissance, America, and Ozzy Osbourne.
Mira Furlan, actress, dies
Yugoslavian-born actress Mira Furlan, best known to genre fans as Ambassador Delenn from Babylon 5 (one of the few characters to appear in both the 1993 pilot movie and the 1998 series finale), and for her recurring role as Rousseau in Lost, dies at the age of 65. With her husband, director Goran Gajić, she escaped the Serbo-Croatian war and emigrated to the United States early in the 1990s, just in time to land the role of Delenn. She also continued film and stage appearances, as well as releasing an album titled Songs From Movies That Have Never Been Made, with lyrics in both her native tongue and English.
Jeremy Bulloch, actor, dies
British actor Jeremy Bulloch, best known internationally for playing the role of Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return Of The Jedi (1983), dies at the age of 75. A child actor who went professional at a young age, Bulloch made two Doctor Who appearances (The Space Museum, 1965 and The Time Warrior, 1973), and made guest appearances in Strange Report, Chocky, and Robin of Sherwood. His initial appearance as Boba Fett was considered a very minor role for him as he was, at the time, starring in the popular UK sitcom Agony, broadcast on London Weekend Television, and his combined appearances in both Star Wars films added up to less than two minutes of screen time. After making a fleeting appearance as an unrelated character in 2005‘s Star Wars Episode III, Bulloch became a regular in the 2009 sci-fi comedy Starhyke, co-starring as the ship’s doctor. Like many of his other masked Star Wars castmates, his helmet afforded him little anonymity and he was a favorite on the sci-fi convention circuit.
David Prowse, actor, dies
British-born actor and bodybuilder David Prowse, a towering figure who gained fame primarily as the physical embodiment of Darth Vader in the first three Star Wars films, dies after a brief illness at the age of 85. Sought after for movie roles – often non-speaking, and frequently in monster suits of one kind or another – Prowse had also played a Minotaur in Doctor Who (The Time Monster, 1972), a space creature in Space: 1999 (The Beta Cloud, 1976), and even after his sudden rise to fame via Star Wars, appeared in such roles as Hotblack Desiato’s bodyguard in the fifth episode of the BBC’s TV adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy in 1981, which offered him a rare speaking part. A favorite on the convention and autograph circuit, Prowse had only retired from a busy schedule of convention appearances a couple of years prior to his death. He was sought by George Lucas to play either Vader or Chewbacca after Lucas saw his brief appearance as a muscular bodyguard in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Prowse had also appeared as a superhero in a series of public safety announcements and films in the UK, which won him much acclaim over the years.
Herbert F. Solow, producer, dies
Hired by Lucille Ball to help turn around the fortunes of Desilu Studios in the 1960s following her divorce from studio co-founder Desi Arnaz, producer and production executive Herbert F. Solow became known as “the man who sold Star Trek” – namely, he pitched the series to the networks, and finally made a sale to NBC, getting the storied science fiction series on the air at last. Solow also sold CBS on the spy-fi series Mission: Impossible at the same time, and later scored another major sale to CBS in the form of the detective series Mannix. He adapted (from a novel) and produced the early 1970s TV movie adaptation Killdozer, and co-created the late ’70s sci-fi series Man From Atlantis. He also went on to add “movie producer” to his resume; in later years, he looked back fondly upon his role in starting the Star Trek franchise with such biographical books as “Inside Star Trek: The Real Story“. Herb Solow died at the age of 89.
Sean Connery, actor, dies
Scottish actor Sean Connery, forever associated with originating the character of super-spy James Bond on film (in 1962’s Dr. No), dies at the age of 90. He played the role of Bond in six films from 1962 through 1971, relinquishing the role to Roger Moore so he could try to expand his career beyond the Bond character and franchise, though he returned to the role for a one-off 1983 film, Never Say Never Again, which was produced outside of the “official” Bond continuity and dared to acknowledge the character’s (and actor’s) advancing age. In the meantime, he had amassed a number of appearances in movies both well-regarded and otherwise, including the bizarre post-apocalyptic sci-fi film Zardoz (1974) and the sci-fi crime drama Outland (1981). In 1986, his appearance in Highlander saw the beginning of a number of films in which he played the mentor of a given movie’s nominal star, including The Untouchables (1987) and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989). His experiences in filming his final live-action film appearance, 2003’s League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, convinced him to retire from acting; family members said that he suffered from dementia in his final years.
John Saxon, actor, dies
Actor John Saxon, a frequent guest star in American TV and movies from the 1960s through the ’90s (and still actively working well into the 2010s), dies at the age of 83. He began appearing in movies in his late teens in the early 1950s, but became a frequent flyer on the small screen, with guest roles in such genre fare as The Time Tunnel, The Sixth Sense, Night Gallery, The Six Million Dollar Man, Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, The Fantastic Journey, Ray Bradbury Theater, and Masters Of Horror, with movie roles in Battle Beyond The Stars and the A Nightmare On Elm Street Series. In the early ’70s, he starred in two iterations of a Gene Roddenberry series pilot, Planet Earth and Strange New World, neither of which went to series.
Grant Imahara, actor, dies
Grant Imahara, who played Lt. Sulu in the fan-made series Star Trek Continues but is probably better known for his part in the popular TV series Mythbusters, dies from a ruptured brain aneurysm at the age of 49. As a member of Mythbusters’ “Build Team”, he used his background in electrical engineering and robotic design to help create real-world proofs of the sometimes outlandish ideas being tested in the show. Prior to that, Imahara worked at Industrial Light & Magic, and had built and operated droids (including R2-D2) for the Star Wars prequel trilogy, as well as doing similar work for movies such as Galaxy Quest, AI, Terminator 3, and the Matrix trilogy. He had roles in Sharknado 3 and episodes of Eureka.
Ennio Morricone, composer, dies
Legendary Italian film composer Ennio Morricone dies at the age of 91. With over 500 film and TV credits to his name, he was one of the most prolific composers by either Hollywood or European standards, and his early partnership with director and college classmate Sergio Leone led to his first international success, the score from the 1966 spaghetti western The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. That brought Morricone to Hollywood’s attention, and he went on to score such films as Once Upon A Time In The West, Two Mules For Sister Sara, Guns For San Sebastian, Duck You Sucker, Exorcist II, La Cage aux Folles, Orca, The Thing, Once Upon A Time In America, Red Sonja, The Untouchables, Bugsy, In The Line Of Fire, Mission To Mars, The Hateful Eight, and many others.
Honor Blackman, actress, dies
Honor Blackman, who rose to fame portraying Cathy Gale in the second and third seasons of The Avengers, dies at the age of 94. Despite her success in The Avengers, she left her starmaking role behind to graduate to big screen spy antics in the James Bond film Goldfinger. Other movie roles included Jason And The Argonauts and Bridget Jones’s Diary, with TV roles in Danger Man, The Saint, Columbo, The Upper Hand, and a guest starring role in parts 9-12 of the 1986 Doctor Who story The Trial Of A Time Lord.
Al Worden, astronaut, dies
Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden dies at the age of 88. As the mission’s command module pilot, he was the only member of Apollo 15’s crew to not walk on the moon, though he does still hold the distinction of performing the furthest spacewalk from Earth, when he retrieved film cannisters from the body of the service module, requiring him to suit up and venture outside the vehicle while it was roughly halfway on its journey from the moon back to Earth. With the other members of the crew, he was embroiled in a seemingly minor scandal involving space-flown postal covers that turned out to almost be a career-ender once the astronauts were back on Earth; he made the jump to NASA’s Ames Research Center rather than returning to the Air Force, where he had been a past instructor at the Aerospace Research Pilot School, reporting directly to Colonel Chuck Yeager. After retiring from NASA, he made an unsuccessful run for Congress in 1982, and continued promoting the space program and science education.
Max Von Sydow, actor, dies
Actor Max Von Sydow, a frequent flyer in the science fiction and fantasy genre (among a legendary and very storied history of work in film and TV), dies at the age of 90. Rising to prominence in Ingmar Bergman’s influential 1957 movie The Seventh Seal, Von Sydow’s other major roles included Christ in 1965‘s The Greatest Story Ever Told, Father Merrin in 1973‘s The Exorcist and 1977‘s Exorcist II. In 1980, Von Sydow became a genre fixture with his near-definitive portrayal of Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon. Later genre entries included King Osric in 1982‘s Conan The Barbarian, roles in Dune and Dreamscape (both in 1984), The Minority Report (2002), episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, The Tudors, and Game Of Thrones (the latter for which he received an Emmy nomination), and a brief but pivotal role in the opening scenes of 2015‘s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Neil Innes, songwriter, dies
Songwriter and occasional actor Neil Innes, best known for his association with Monty Python, The Rutles, and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, dies unexpectedly at the age of 75. The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s hit “I’m The Urban Spaceman” brought him into the orbit of the Beatles, and he contributed a background track to their 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour. His participation in a later parody of the Beatles, the Rutles, led to TV specials and well-received albums, which counted among their fans and participants the former members of the Beatles themselves. Innes contributed material to the shortened final season of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which made him one of only two members outside of the Python troupe to write material for the show (the other was future Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy creator Douglas Adams); his work with the Pythons continued into their feature films in the 1970s and early ’80s; he was also a cast member in the Pythons’ live performances during this period.
Chuck Peddle, microcomputer pioneer, dies
The chief designer of the 6502 microprocessor (a device credited with breaking Intel’s near-monopoly on the market and kick-starting the personal computer revolution), Chuck Peddle dies at the age of 82. Having already gained experience as part of the team that developed Motorola’s 6800 chip, Peddle realized that there was a need for a cheaper alternative. (At over $300 upon its introduction in 1973, the 6800 was still prohibitively expensive.) Motorola showed no interested in developing an inexpensive alternative, so Peddle defected to rival chip maker MOS, where he brought the 6502 chip to market. Within a few years of its introduction, the 6502 was already the heart of the Apple II, the earliest Atari home computers, the Commodore VIC-20, and the BBC Micro. Variants of the 6500 processor family powered the Commodore 64, the Atari VCS, and the Nintendo Entertainment System, among countless others. He was often credited as the father of the personal computer.
Rene Auberjonois, actor, dies
Actor Rene Auberjonois, best known in genre circles for playing security chief Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for seven years, dies of metastatic lung cancer at the age of 79. A Tony-winning stage actor who didn’t break into films until Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H in 1970, he quickly became a familiar face on TV (Night Gallery, Ellery Queen, The Jeffersons, The Bionic Woman, Man From Atlantis, Wonder Woman, Beyond Westworld) and in movies (King Kong, The Big Bus, Eyes Of Laura Mars); the early 80s saw a new focus on voice roles for animation, including Smurfs, Super Friends, Challenge Of The Gobots), as well as the regular role of uptight chief of staff Clayton Endicott III on the political comedy Benson from 1980 through 1986. After Benson’s run, more voice work beckoned, including the role of Louis in Disney’s The Little Mermaid in 1989. 1991 saw his first appearance in the Star Trek universe, as warmongering conspirator Colonel West in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, a role which landed on the cutting room floor until those scenes were reinstated for the home video release. In 1992, he was cast as Odo, a pivotal regular character on Deep Space Nine, winning him a new generation of fans as the series ran through 1999. Other genre roles include guest stints on The Outer Limits, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Stargate SG-1, Warehouse 13, The Librarians, and Star Trek: Enterprise (though in a role unrelated to Odo). From 2004 through 2008, he was a regular on the William Shatner legal dramedy Boston Legal.
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Michael Lamper, musician, dies
L.A. session musician Michael Lamper, who had worked with groups as diverse as The Allman Brothers, Quiet Riot, and Los Lobos, dies at the age of 61. He had also played on solo albums by Tommy Shaw of Styx, Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon, Jack Blades of Night Ranger and Damn Yankees, and numerous others. He was also married (since 1992) to Star Trek: The Next Generation star Marina Sirtis, and had played a non-speaking background role as one of the brutish Gatherers in the third season episode The Vengeance Factor.
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Robert Walker Jr., actor, dies
Actor Robert Walker Jr., perhaps best known as the troubled Charlie Evans from the classic Star Trek episode Charlie X (1966), dies at the age of 79. The son of a Hollywood acting power couple, Walker was expected from an early age to follow in his father’s footsteps; even after his parents divorced, his new stepfather, David O. Selznick, was a guiding force in his career. Early attempts at movie breakout roles proved less than successful, but Walker made a huge impression on TV audiences, with memorable appearances on Star Trek, The Invaders, and The Time Tunnel in rapid succession; movie success did eventually follow in such films as 1969’s Easy Rider and 1972’s Beware! The Blob, but it was television that provided much of his work. Later TV appearances included guest roles on The Six Million Dollar Man, CHiPs, Dallas, In The Heat Of The Night, and L.A. Law.
D.C. Fontana, writer, dies
Dorothy Catherine Fontana, better known by her “indeterminate gender” pen name D.C. Fontana, dies at the age of 80. Originally setting out to be a novelist, she found herself drawn to the business of writing for the then-new medium of television, working her way from secretarial jobs to production assistant and script editor. Some of her earliest work, for TV westerns such as The Tall Man and Ben Casey, went out under her full name; by the time she sold scripts to The Wild Wild West, she found it easier to use a pseudonym (often “Michael Edwards” or “Michael Richards”). As the production secretary for a new series launched in 1963 called The Lieutenant, she was nominally working for executive producer Del Reisman, but often worked alongside the show’s creator, a junior producer named Gene Roddenberry. When The Lieutenant was cancelled after a single season, Roddenberry hired her to work on his next project, a sci-fi series called Star Trek, of which she became the story editor and a frequent scriptwriter, creating several critical points of the series’ backstory, especially involving Spock’s home planet of Vulcan. Work for such shows as Bonanza, Circle Of Fear, The Six Million Dollar Man, Land Of The Lost, and The Fantastic Journey followed; she was effectively the showrunner of the early 1970s animated revival of Star Trek, even though she was credited only as an associate producer. She served as story editor once again on the TV version of Logan’s Run, and, with fellow Star Trek writer David Gerrold, did significant work developing a modern (late 1970s) revival of Buck Rogers for television, only to see much of that work go unused by the eventual showrunner, Glen A. Larson. (She did still write a script for the series, however.) Between 1986 and 1987, she was one of numerous alumni of the original Star Trek to be brought aboard to develop the TV spinoff Star Trek: The Next Generation, but she found the working environment (dominated by Roddenberry’s attorney, Leonard Maizlish) to be stifling, and made no contributions past the first season. (She also had to fight for co-writing credit on the series premiere, Encounter At Farpoint.) Later writing assignments included War Of The Worlds, Babylon 5, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Hypernauts, ReBoot, and the posthumously-produced Roddenberry series Earth: Final Conflict.
Stephen Moore, actor, dies
Actor Stephen Moore, who originated the woeful voice of Marvin the Android in the original 1978 BBC Radio production of Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, dies at the age of 81. Ironically, it was another voice role, in a Czechoslovakian-made production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1959, featuring only puppets, that started Moore’s screen career. He would later go on to play memorable roles in Rock Follies, The New Avengers, Solo, and The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole. In 2010, he appeared as a war-weary Silurian elder opposite Matt Smith in the Doctor Who episode Cold Blood. Having played Marvin’s voice on radio in 1978 and 1979, and reprising the role for the 1981 BBC2 TV adaptation of Hitchhiker’s Guide, Moore returned to play Marvin again in BBC Radio’s early 21st century adaptations of the Hitchhiker’s Guide novels that weren’t directly based on the original radio series.
Robert Forster, actor, dies
Actor Robert Forster, a fixture in films and TV since the 1960s, dies at the age of 78 following a brief battle with brain cancer. Cult sci-fi fans may know him best as Captain Dan Holland in 1979‘s The Black Hole or for his regular role in Heroes, but Forster’s credits spanned over 100 movies, the last of which – the Breaking Bad epilogue film El Camino – debuted on Netflix on the day he died. (An appearance in an episode of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories revival would not premiere until after Forster’s death.) He was the lead in two early 1970s series, Banyon and Nakia, and received an Oscar nomination (and an unexpected resurgence of his career) for his role in Qunetin Tarantino’s 1997 film Jackie Brown. He went on to play regular roles in such series as Karen Sisco, The Grid, Alcatraz, Last Man Standing, and the 2017 revival of Twin Peaks.