Scottish-born leading man Derek [William Douglas] Bond died on October 15th, aged 86. His film credits include Uncle Silas (aka The Inheritance) based on the novel by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, The Hour of 13, Stranger from Venus (aka Immediate Disaster), Svengali (1954) and Visions. He was one of the first reputable actors to appear in sexploitation films in the 1960s. Bond made his TV debut as a robot in a 1938 adaptation of Karel Capek’s R.U.R., and also appeared in episodes of The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, Invisible Man (1959), Thriller (1974) and Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.
American actor Jack DeLeon died on October 16th. As well as appearing in such films as Linda Lovelace for President and Train Ride to Hollywood, as a TV voice performer he contributed to Halloween is Grinch Night, The Hobbit, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo and Spider-Man (1981).
Tuba player Tommy Johnson, who played the opening notes of the ominous shark theme in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, died of complications from cancer and kidney failure the same day, aged 71. Johnson also played on the soundtracks for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Lion King and various Star Trek movies.
Distinctive French character actor Daniel Emilfork [Berenstein] died on October 17th, aged 82. Born in Chile of Ukrainian parents, his film credits include The Hunchback ofNotre-Dame (1956), OSS 117, The Devil’s Nightmare (as the Devil), The Thief of Baghdad (1978) and The City of Lost Children.
Hollywood actress and former model Phyllis Kirk (Phyllis Kirkegaard) who co-starred with Vincent Price in the 1953 3-D movie House of Wax, died of a post-cerebral aneurysm on October 19th, aged 79. On TV she appeared in episodes of Tales of Tomorrow, Suspense (“The Moonstone”), Climax! and The Twilight Zone, and she played Nora Charles in the 1959 TV series The Thin Man, opposite Peter Lawford. She eventually became a publicist for CBS-TV and retired in 1992.
Emmy Award-winning actress Jane [Waddington] Wyatt, who co-starred with Ronald Coleman in Lost Horizon (1937), died on October 20th, aged 95. Her other film credits include Great Expectations (1934) and Amityville: The Evil Escapes. On TV she appeared in episodes of Lights Out, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (“The Monkey’s Paw – A Retelling”), Fantasy Island, Starman and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. She played Mr. Spock’s mother Amanda in an episode of the original Star Trek series (“Journey to Babel”), and the actress later recreated the role in the 1986 film Star Trek IV The Voyage Home. She was blacklisted for several years for participating in communist-friendly cultural activities.
77-year-old British character actor Peter Barkworth died of broncho-pneumonia following a stroke on October 21st. A mainstay of British television during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, he appeared in episodes of Doctor Who (“The Ice Warriors”), The Avengers, Shadows of Fear, Out of the Unknown, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Dead of Night, Tales of the Unexpected and The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
Sandy West, drummer with the all-female band The Runaways, died of lung cancer the same day, aged 47. She was only sixteen years old in 1975 when she founded the group with singer and guitarist Joan Jett. Their hits include “Cherry Bomb” and “Born to Be Bad”.
84-year-old Canadian-born actor Arthur Hill died in a Los Angeles care facility on October 22nd after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He made his uncredited film debut in 1949, and went on to appear in Mr Drake’s Duck, The Chairman (aka The Most Dangerous Man in the World), The Andromeda Strain, Futureworld, Revenge of the Stepford Wives, Disney’s Something Wicked This Way Comes (as the Narrator), Prototype, The Murder of Sherlock Holmes, Murder in Space and One Magic Christmas, along with episodes of TV’s Colonel March of Scotland Yard (with Boris Karloff), Dow Hour of Great Mysteries (“The Woman in White”), Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Great Ghost Tales, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Invaders and Tales of the Unexpected.
Acknowledged as the world’s smallest actor, two-feet, four-inch tall Nelson de la Rosa died of a heart attack the same day, aged 38. As well as being the good-luck charm for the Boston Redsox during the baseball team’s victorious 2004 World Series run, the Dominican Republic national, who was born with the genetic syndrome microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II, was the eponymous creature in Ratman (Quella villa in fondo alparco), portrayed a demon in Fuoco incrociato and appeared alongside Marlon Brando in the 1996 version of The Island of Dr. Moreau (a role that reportedly became the inspiration for the “Mini-Me” character in the Austin Powers films). He subsequently became a circus performer.
Freddie Marsden, the drummer for Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemakers, which he co-founded with his younger brother in the early 1960s, died on October 23rd, aged 66. He played on such hits as “How Do You Do It”, “I Like It”, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “I’m the One”.
French actress Tina Aumont (Maria Christina Aumont), the daughter of actors Jean-Pierre Aumont and Maria Montez, died of a pulmonary embolism on October 26th, aged 60. After making her screen debut under the name “Tina Marquand” in the 1966 version of Modesty Blaise, her credits include Fellini’s Satyricon, Necropolis, Torso, Dinosaur from the Deep and Jean Rollin’s Two Orphan Vampires. She married director Christian Marquand in 1963.
66-year-old professional American footballer turned actor Marlin McKeever died of complications from injuries received at his home on October 27th. For thirteen years he played with the Los Angeles Rams, the Minnesota Vikings, the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles. McKeever and his twin brother Mike (who died in 1967) played the Siamese Cyclops’ Ajax and Argo in The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962). He also appeared in Disney’s The Absent Minded Professor (1961).
Smooth-voiced British actor William Franklyn died of prostate cancer on Halloween, aged 81. His films include Roman Polanski’s Cul-de-sac, plus Hammer’s Quatermass 2, The Snorkel and The Satanic Rites of Dracula (aka Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride). On TV, Franklyn appeared in episodes of The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, The Avengers, The Champions and The New Avengers, and he took over the role of the Book from the late Peter Jones for the 2004 Radio 4 presentation of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.