Emmy Award-winning American actor and environmental activist Dennis Weaver died of complications from cancer the same day, also aged 81. Best remembered for his roles as limping sidekick Chester Goode in the CBS-TV Western Gunsmoke (1955–63) and later as fish-out-of-water Marshall Sam McCloud in a long-running series of 1970s NBC Mystery Movies (including McCloud Meets Dracula in 1977), his other credits include Touch of Evil, Way . . . Way Out, What’s the Matter With Helen?, Steven Spielberg’s Duel, Don’t Go to Sleep and episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Twilight Zone and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (“The Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom”).
American actor Darren McGavin, who starred as investigative reporter Carl Kolchak in the TV movies The Night Stalker (1971) and The Night Strangler (1972), as well as the spin-off series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974–75), died on February 25th, aged 83. His many other credits include Mission Mars, The Challenge, Steven Spielberg’s Something Evil, The Six Million Dollar Man pilot, The Martian Chronicles mini-series, Hangar 18, Firebird 2015, The Natural, Dead Heat (with Vincent Price), Captain America and By Dawn’s Early Light. On TV he played private eye Mike Hammer in the 1950s TV series of the same name, and appeared in episodes of Suspense, Tales of Tomorrow, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Evil Touch, Fantasy Island, Tales from the Darkside, Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, Highway to Heaven and Monsters. He also made two guest appearances on The X Files, a show that acknowledged its debt to the Kolchak series.
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 Wild died 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 Cutler died 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 Junkin died 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 Stapleton died 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 Lomond died 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 Burton died 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 Rialson died 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 Pitney died 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.