Veteran American character actress Juanita Moore died on January 1, aged 99. She began her film career in 1939 and was cast in uncredited roles in Cabin in the Sky and Tarzan’s Peril before going on to appear in Abby (1974) and Disney’s The Kid (2000), along with episodes of TV’s Ramar of the Jungle, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Imitation of Life (1959).
American character actress Carmen [Margarita] Zapata died of heart failure on January 5, aged 86. She appeared on TV in episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Wonder Woman, The Phoenix, Fantasy Island and Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.
91-year-old Canadian-born character actor and voice artist Larry D. Mann died on January 6 in Los Angeles. In a prolific career, he appeared in Disney’s The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove and Charlie and the Angel, along with episodes of TV’s The Unforeseen, My Favorite Martian, Get Smart, Captain Nice, The Green Hornet, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Bewitched and Night Gallery.
Former “Marlbro man” Eric [Layton] Lawson, who appeared in print and billboard ads for the cigarette brand during the late 1970s and early ‘80s, died of smoking-related respiratory failure due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on January 10. He was 72, and gave up the habit when diagnosed with COPD. Lawson was also a character actor, often playing sheriffs or cowboys, in Rattlers, Skeeter, Tall Tale, Rumplestiltskin (1995), When Time Expires, King Cobra and Invisible Mom II, along with episodes of TV’s Automan and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
Dependable British character actor Jerome [Barry] Willis died on January 11, aged 85. His film credits include The Magus, Doomwatch, Lifeforce, Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady and Incident at Victoria Falls (both as “Mycroft Holmes” opposite Christopher Lee’s Sherlock) and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. On TV Willis was a regular on Gerry Anderson’s Space Precinct (as “Captain Podly”) and he also appeared in episodes of Out of This World (hosted by Boris Karloff), The Avengers, Out of the Unknown, Adam Adamant Lives!, Doctor Who and Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery & Imagination (hosted by Lee).
Striking British actress Alexandra Bastedo, who starred as “Sharon Macready” in the TV sci-spy series The Champions (1968-69), died after a long battle with cancer on January 12, aged 67. She appeared in William Castle’s 13 Frightened Girls!, the Bond spoof Casino Royale (1967), The Blood Splattered Bride (as “Mircalla Karstein”), The Ghoul (with Peter Cushing), Stigma, La veritat oculta and Batman Begins. The actress was also in episodes of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and The Starlost.
British character actor Roger Lloyd-Pack, the son of Hammer actor Charles Lloyd-Pack, died of pancreatic cancer on January 15, aged 69. His numerous TV credits include episodes of The Avengers, Survivors (1976 and 2010), Archer’s Goon, U.F.O., Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who. Lloyd-Pack was also in the films The Magus, Hamlet (1969), Fright (1971), Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), Interview with a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, The Young Poisoner’s Handbook, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (as “Bartemius ‘Barty’ Crouch”) and The Living and the Dead, while his scenes as a scientist were cut from The Avengers (1998). He later became a popular comedy actor on British TV.
American character actor Russell [David] Johnson, who played “The Professor” in TV’s Gilligan’s Island (1964-67) and several spin-offs, died of kidney failure on January 16, aged 89. He appeared in the movies It Came from Outer Space, This Island Earth, Roger Corman’s Attack of the Crab Monsters, The Space Children, The Horror at 37,000 Feet and The Ghost of Flight 401. On TV Johnson was in episodes of Adventures of Superman, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller (‘The Hungry Glass’), Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The Invaders, Wonder Woman, Beyond Westworld, ALF, Monsters and Meego.
Another American TV legend, Canadian-born comedy actor Dave Madden (David Joseph Madden) who co-starred in The Partridge Family (1970-74), died of congestive heart and kidney failure the same day, aged 82. Madden was a regular on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1968-69) and appeared in episodes of Bewitched, Fantasy Island and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. He was also in the TV movies Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol and More Wild Wild West, and contributed voice work to the animated Charlotte’s Web (1973).
Ruth Robinson Duccini, the last female member of the diminutive troupe of actors to portray Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz (1939), also died on January 16 after a short illness. She was 95.
British-born actress Sarah [Lynne] Marshall died in Los Angeles of stomach cancer on January 18, aged 80. She appeared in episodes of Thriller (‘God Grante That She Lye Stille’), Twilight Zone (‘Little Girl Lost’), Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, My Favorite Martian, Get Smart, The Wild Wild West, Star Trek (‘The Deadly Years’), Strange Report and Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries. Many years later she turned up in the horror movie Bad Blood and its sequel, Bad Blood: The Hunger.
Cuban-born character actor Luis Ávalos died in California on January 22, aged 67. He had recently suffered a heart attack. Between 1972-77 Ávalos played “Igor” on PBS’ The Electric Company, and his other TV credits include episodes of Highcliffe Manor and The Incredible Hulk. He was also in The Ghost of Flight 401, Ghost Fever, The Butcher’s Wife and Wishcraft.