British character actress Lisa Daniely (Mary Elizabeth Bodington), who co-starred in the TV series H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man (1958-60), died on January 24, aged 83. She was in the film Curse of the Voodoo (aka Curse of Simba) and episodes of TV’s The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, Out of the Unknown, Doctor Who (‘The Space Pirates’), Strange Report, Menace and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In her late seventies she recorded some audio shows of Sapphire and Steel with David Warner and Susannah Harker.
Former child actress Ann Carter, who appeared in Val Lewton’s production The Curse of the Cat People (1944), died after a long battle with ovarian cancer on January 27, aged 77. She also appeared in I Married a Witch, The Two Mrs. Carrolls, The Boy with Green Hair and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949). She retired from acting in the early 1950s after contracting polio in her early teens.
American cult star Christopher Jones (William Franklin Jones), who starred as the rebel rock star in Wild in the Streets (1968), died of cancer on January 31, aged 72. He also appeared in 3 in the Attic and an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. before suffering a nervous breakdown following Sharon Tate’s murder and retiring from acting in 1970. In later years Jones was described as “reclusive and eccentric”. He was married to actress Susan Strasberg between 1965-68.
Oscar-winning Austrian actor and director Maximilian Schell died of pneumonia on February 1, aged 83. His film credits include Hamlet (1960), The Castle, Disney’s The Black Hole, The Phantom of the Opera (1983, as the “Phantom”), The Eighteenth Angel, John Carpenter’s Vampires, Deep Impact and Darkness (aka T.M.A.).
46-year-old American actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead with a hypodermic needle in his arm in the bathroom of his New York apartment on February 2. He died from acute mixed drug intoxication, with heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines and amphetamines all found in his system. The Oscar-winning Hoffman appeared in My Boyfriend’s Back, Red Dragon, The Invention of Lying, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2 (as “Plutarch Heavensbee”). In the 2012 movie The Master he basically played L. Ron Hubbard.
American actor Richard Bull, who was often cast as doctors, died of pneumonia on February 3, aged 89. Best known for his recurring roles on TV’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Little House on the Prairie, he also appeared in Hammer’s failed pilot Tales of Frankenstein, The Satan Bug, In Like Flint, The Andromeda Strain (1971), Sweet Sweet Rachel, Heatwave!, Mr. Sycamore and The Golden Gate Murders, along with episodes of Men Into Space, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Bewitched, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Herbie the Love Bug, Amazing Stories and Highway to Heaven.
Chinese actor and director Wu Ma (Hung-Yuan Feng) died on February 4, aged 71. His many films include The Demons in the Flame Mountain, Spooky Encounters, Mr. Vampire, Xiao sheng meng jing hun, A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) and Mr. Vampire Saga.
Former Hollywood child star Shirley [Jane] Temple, who received a special Academy Award when she was six, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on February 10, aged 85. She made her movie debut in 1932 and appeared in The Bluebird (instead of The Wizard of Oz) and the TV series Shirley Temple’s Storybook (1958-61) before retiring from acting in the early 1960s. Her signature song, ‘On the Good Ship Lollipop’, sold 500,000 sheet music copies. A staunch Republican and vocal supporter of the Vietnam War, she became an American ambassador to Ghana and later, Czechoslovakia. Temple’s first husband (1945-50) was actor John Agar.
Pioneering American comedian and actor Sid Caesar (Isaac Sidney Caesar) died on February 12, aged 91. In a long show business career he appeared in William Castle’s The Busy Body and The Spirit is Willing, Curse of the Black Widow, America 2100, The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu, The Munsters’ Revenge, Alice in Wonderland (1985), The Wonderful Ice Cream Suite (based on the story and play by Ray Bradbury) and Mark Hamill’s Comic Book: The Movie, along with episodes of TV’s General Electric Theatre (‘The Devil You Say’) and Amazing Stories.
American actor and director Ralph [Harold] Waite, who starred as the patriarch on The Waltons (1972-81), died on February 13, aged 85. He was also in the movies Red Alert, Crash and Burn, Timequest and Spirit, along with episodes of Time Trax, the revived The Outer Limits and Carnivàle.
British character actor Ken Jones died of bowel cancer the same day, aged 83. He had small roles in the films Murder by Decree, Whoops Apocalypse and Stanley’s Dragon, and appeared in episodes of TV’s The Guardians, Thriller (1974), Dead Ernest, Mr. Majeika and Goodnight Sweetheart.
48-year-old John [Paul] Henson, the son of Muppets creator Jim Henson, died of a heart attack while building a snow igloo with one of his daughters on February 14. As a Muppet performer and the voice of “Sweetums” he contributed to Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie and The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz.
American character actress Mary Grace Canfield died of lung cancer on February 15, aged 89. Best known for her recurring role on TV’s Green Acres (1965-71), she also appeared in the 1983 movie of Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes and episodes of Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bewitched and Tabitha.
Scottish-born character actor Christopher Malcolm, who portrayed one of the rebel pilots in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, died of cancer the same day, aged 67. His other credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1968), The Spiral Staircase (1975), Shock Treatment (1981), Superman III, Highlander, Labyrinth, Eat the Rich, and episodes of Strange Report, Thriller (1975) and Whoops Apocalypse. Malcolm played the first “Brad Majors” in the original 1973 stage production of The Rocky Horror Show, and he was artistic director for the Rocky Horror Company from 1989-2004, responsible for world-wide licensing and production rights of the cult stage musical.