American character actor Darrell Zwerling died on April 11, aged 85. He was in Miracle on 34th Street (1973), George Pal’s Doc Savage The Man of Bronze (as “Ham”), The Ultimate Warrior, Capricorn One and High Anxiety, along with an episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (‘Planet of the Amazon Women’).
Exotic-looking British actress and ballet dancer April Olrich (Edith April Oelrichs) was born in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and died after a long illness in London on April 15. She was 80, and had small roles in Macbeth (1960), Amicus’ The Skull, and Supergirl, along with episodes of TV’s The Avengers and She-Wolf of London. She was married to actor Nigel Pegram.
American actor Craig Hill [Fowler] died in Spain on April 21, aged 88. After co-starring with Kenneth Tobey in TV’s Whirlybirds (1957-60), Hill eventually moved to Europe, where he appeared in such films as Assignment Terror (aka Dracula versus Frankenstein), Bloodstained Shadow, Stigma and Anguish. He was married to actress and model Teresa Gimpera.
73-year-old American TV character actor Doug (Douglas) Hale died on April 25. He appeared in episodes of The Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk, Galactica 1980 (aka Conquest of the Earth), The Greatest American Hero, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985), Highway to Heaven, Max Headroom, Misfits of Science, Weird Science and Babylon 5.
British actor Bob Hoskins (Robert William Hoskins) died of pneumonia on April 29, aged 71. His films include Pink Floyd The Wall, Brazil, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Heart Condition, Hook (as “Smee”), Super Mario Bros., Rainbow, The Lost World (2001), Son of the Mask, Hollywoodland, Doomsday, A Christmas Carol (2009), Pinocchio (2010) and Snow White and the Huntsman, before he retired from acting after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. On TV Hoskins starred in the series Pennies from Heaven (1978) and appeared in episodes of Thriller (1976) and Tales from the Crypt (which he also directed), along with the mini-series Neverland (as “Smee” again).
American leading lady Judi Meredith (Judith Clare Boutin) died on April 30, aged 77. Discovered by comedian George Burns, she appeared in Jack the Giant Killer (1962), William Castle’s The Night Walker, Dark Intruder and Queen of Blood, along with an episode of TV’s Shirley Temple’s Storybook. Meredith was married to director Gary Nelson.
American leading man Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., who starred in the TV series 77 Sunset Strip (1958-64) and The F.B.I. (1965-74), died on May 2, aged 95. He appeared in Wait Until Dark, Terror Out of the Sky, Disney’s Beyond Witch Mountain, The Tempest (1983), and episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Fantasy Island, Babylon 5 and The Visitor. For twelve years he was the voice of Bruce Wayne’s butler “Alfred Pennyworth” on the animated TV series of Batman and various spin-offs, and he also voiced “Doctor Octopus” for the 1995-97 Spider-Man cartoon series.
American character actress Pauline [Cynthia] Wagner died the same day, aged 103. A contract player for RKO Radio Pictures and a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild, she was Fay Wray’s stunt double on King Kong (1933) for a re-shoot of the climactic sequence on top of the Empire State Building.
American-born actor Les Carlson (Leslie M. Carlson) died of cancer in Toronto, Canada, on May 3, aged 81. As well as appearing in the David Cronenberg films Videodrome (as “Barry Convex”), The Dead Zone, The Fly (1986) and the short Camera, he was also in The Neptune Factor, Deranged, Black Christmas (1974), Deadly Harvest, The Girl from Mars, The Wishing Tree, Anonymous Rex and Bag of Bones. Carlson’s TV credits include episodes of The New Avengers, War of the Worlds, The Twilight Zone (1988), Friday the 13th: The Series, Highlander, The X Files, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Odyssey 5, Haven, Lost Girl and Murdoch Mysteries (‘The Ghost of Queen’s Park’).
Former American child actress Jacqueline [Devon] Taylor died of Alzheimer’s disease on May 5, aged 88. She was in a number of “Our Gang” comedy shorts in 1934, along with an uncredited role in Laurel and Hardy’s Babes in Toyland.
American actor, producer and bookseller Magoo Gelehrter, who portrayed “Garou”, the werewolf henchman of New England horror host “Penny Dreadful” the witch (his wife Danielle S. Gelehrter) on cable TV show Penny Dreadful’s Shilling Shockers, died after a long battle with cancer on May 16. He was 51.
British leading lady Barbara [Ann] Murray died of a heart attack in Spain on May 20, aged 84. Her credits include A Christmas Carol (1950), Meet Mr. Lucifer, The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb and The Power (1984). On TV she appeared in the 1961 BBC-TV series The Escape of R.D.7, The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling, Strange Report, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Tales from the Crypt and Doctor Who. She was married (1952-64) to actor John Justin.
Hollywood actress Jane Adams (Betty Jean Bierce), who played hunchbacked nurse “Nina” in House of Dracula (1945), died on May 21, aged 94. Her other movies include the Universal serial Lost City of the Jungle, The Brute Man (with Rondo Hatton), Tarzan’s Magic Fountain (uncredited), the Columbia serial Batman and Robin (1949) and Master Minds (with the Dead End Kids). She turned up on TV in a 1953 episode of The Adeventures of Superman before retiring from the screen.
American character actor Matthew [Chandler] Cowles died of congestive heart failure on May 22, aged 69. He appeared in the movies They Might Be Giants, Crawlspace (1972), Brenda Starr, She’s Back, Season of the Hunted, Shutter Island and the American TV series of Life on Mars (2008-09). His second wife was actress Christine Baranski.