American TV director Paul Krasny died in Las Vegas on November 12th, aged 66. His many credits include episodes of Gemini Man, Logan’s Run, The Powers of Matthew Starr and Wizards and Warriors.
Former actor turned director Gunnar Hellstrom died of a stroke on November 28th, aged 73. His credits includeThe Name of the Game is Kill and episodes of TV’s The Powers of Matthew Starr.
British independent film distributor Charles Cooper, who founded Contemporary Films in the early 1950s as a supplier of high-quality foreign and artistic movies, died the same day, aged 91.
Former matador and maverick director Oscar ‘Budd’ Boetticher, Jr., best known for his ‘B’ Westerns starring Randolph Scott and Audie Murphy, died of multiple organ failure from cancer on November 29th, aged 85. His first wife was actress Debra Paget, and his other film credits include Escape in the Fog and the Boston Blackie entry One Mysterious Night.
Oscar-winning Italian costume and set designer Danilo Donati, who worked with such directors as Luchino Visconti, Franco Zeffirelli, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Federico Fellini, died of heart failure on December 1st, aged 75. His other films include Flash Gordon (1980) and RedSonja, and at the time of his death he was working on the sets for Robert Benigni’s Pinocchio.
Animator Faith Hubley died of cancer on December 14th, aged 77. His films include Moonbird, The Hole and Of Men and Demons.
TV director Alan Crosland, Jr. died on December 18th, aged 83. His many credits include episodes of Men into Space, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Sixth Sense, The Gemini Man, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Cliffhangers: The Secret Empire and Automan.
American director and former editor Paul Landres, whose credits include The Vampire, The Return of Dracula (aka The Fantastic Disappearing Man), The Flame Barrier and TV’s The Veiclass="underline" Destination Nightmare (with Boris Karloff), died of complications from cancer on December 26th, aged 89.
Hollywood producer Jack Grossberg died on December 28th, aged 74. His credits include The Producers, Sleeper, King Kong (1976) and Brainstorm, after which he became a unit production manager on such films as Back to the Future andLittle Monsters.
Animation director Ray Patterson died after a lengthy illness on December 30th, aged 90. After working at Disney on Fantasia and Dumbo he joined Hanna and Barbera at MGM in 1941, directing over sixty Tom and Jerry cartoons and the animated sequences for Anchors Aweigh. In 1967 he produced the animated TV series Spider-Man before moving to Hanna-Barbera, where he co-directed the cartoon feature Charlotte’s Web and helmed The Jetsons, Mr Magoo, Trollkins, The Flinstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, The Addams Family (1992–93) and numerous other shows.
Film and TV director David Swift, who began working at Disney as an assistant animator on such films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Dumbo, Pinocchio andPeter Pan and returned in the early 1960s as a live-action director, died on December 31st, aged 82. In the early 1950s he created the live TV seriesMr Peepers starring Wally Cox.
Hollywood producer Julia Phillips, the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, died of cancer the same day, aged 57. Her many hits include The Sting, Taxi Driver, The Big Bus and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. When Steven Spielberg reportedly ‘kicked her off’ the latter, her career went into decline through drugs and alcohol. In 1990 she published her controversial autobiography You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again.
USEFUL ADDRESSES
The following listing of organizations, publications, dealers and individuals is designed to present readers with further avenues to explore. Although I can personally recommend all those listed on the following pages, neither myself nor the publisher can take any responsibility for the services they offer. Please also note that the information below is subject to change without notice.
The British Fantasy Society<www.britishfantasysociety.org.uk > began in 1971 and publishes the quarterly newsletter Prism, produces other special booklets, and organizes the annual British FantasyCon and semi-regular meetings in London. Yearly membership is £25.00 (UK), £30.00 (Europe) and £35.00 (USA and the rest of the world) made payable in sterling to ‘The British Fantasy Society’ and sent to The BFS Secretary, do 201 Reddish Road, South Reddish, Stockport SK5 7HR, UK. E-maiclass="underline" <syrinx.2112@btinternet.com >.
The Horror Writers Association <www.horror.org > is a worldwide organization of writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of writers of Horror and Dark Fantasy. It was formed in the early 1980s. Interested individuals may apply for Active, Affiliate or Associate membership. Active membership is limited to professional writers. HWA publishes a monthlyNewsletter and organizes the annual Bram Stoker Awards ceremony. Standard membership is $55.00 (USA), £45.00/$65.00 (overseas); Corporate membership is $100.00 (USA), £74.00/$120.00 (overseas), and Family Membership is $75.00 (USA), £52.00/$85.00 (overseas). Apply online or send to HWA Membership, PO Box 50 577, Palo Alto, CA 94 303, USA. If paying by sterling cheque send to HWA,c/o Jo Fletcher, 24 Pearl Road, London El 7 4QZ, UK.
World Fantasy Convention <www.worldfantasy.org/ > is an annual convention held in a different (usually American) city each year, oriented particularly towards serious readers and genre professionals.
Cemetery Dance Magazine<www.cemeterydance.com > is edited by Richard Chizmar and Robert Morrish and includes fiction, interviews, articles and columns by many of the biggest names in horror. Cover price is $4.00 and a one-year subscription (six issues) is $22.00 payable by cheque or credit card to ‘Cemetery Dance Publications’, PO Box 943, Abingdon, MD 21 009, USA. E-maiclass="underline" <Cdancepub@aol.com >.
Now published by Celeste C. Clarke and edited by Dan Persons, Cinefantastique <www.cfq.com > is a bi-monthly SF/ fantasy/horror movie magazine with a ‘Sense of Wonder’. Cover price is $5.95/Cdn$9.50/£4.30 and a 12-issue subscription is $48.00 (USA) or $55.00 (Canada and overseas) to PO Box 270, Oak Park, IL 60 303, USA. E-maiclass="underline" <mail@cfq.com >.
Gothic.Net <www.gothic.net > is the weekly webzine of horror fiction, presenting fifty-two original short stories for an annual subscription of $15.00. Featured authors have included David J. Schow, Richard Matheson, Ramsey Campbell, Poppy Z. Brite, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Nancy Collins and many, many more. E-maiclass="underline" <support@gothic.net >.