The body of 50-year-old British actor, wrestler and cage fighter Dave Legeno was discovered at Zabriskie Point, in California’s remote Death Valley, on July 6. He had apparently died of heat exhaustion while hiking. Best known for playing werewolf “Fenrir Greyback” in the films and video games Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Part 2, he was also in Batman Begins, Stormbreaker, The Cottage, Dead Cert, Asylum Blackout, The Raven (2012) and Snow White and the Huntsman.
Former child actor Dickie Jones (Richard Percy Jones), who was the uncredited voice of the wooden puppet in Walt Disney’s Pinnocchio (1940), died on July 7, aged 87. He appeared in Babes in Toyland (1934), Life Returns, Queen of the Jungle, On Borrowed Time and Beware Spooks! before retiring from acting in the mid-1960s.
Italian-born actress, writer, poet and inventor Vanna [Marie] Bonta died in Los Angeles on July 8, aged 56. She had a small role as Zed’s mother in The Beastmaster (1982), and her other credits include Time Walker and voice work for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, An American Taiclass="underline" Fievel Goes West, Demolition Man and the TV series Revelations. Bonta also made two uncredited appearances in the 2002 series of The Twilight Zone, and she wrote the controversial 1995 book Flight: A Quantum Fiction Novel.
American actor James Mathers died of cancer on July 11, aged 77. He starred as “Dr. Henry Jekyll” in Dr. Jekyll’s Dungeon of Death (1979), which he also scripted, and he was in an episode of TV’s SeaQuest 2032.
British TV actor Ray Lonnen (Raymond Stanley Lonnen) died of cancer the same day, aged 74. He was in episodes of TV’s Menace, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who, Hammer House of Horror (‘The Guardian of the Abyss’), Tales of the Unexpected, Johnny and the Dead (based on the book by Terry Pratchett), Crime Traveller and Starhunter.
American stage and screen actress Elaine Stritch died of stomach cancer on July 17, aged 89. She began her acting career in the late 1940s, and her credits include the movies The Spiral Staircase (1975), Christmas Spirits, Cocoon: The Return and ParaNorman, along with episodes of Tales of the Unexpected and 3rd Rock from the Sun.
American leading man James Garner (James Scott Bumgarner), who starred in the TV series Maverick (1957-62) and The Rockford Files (1974-80), died of acute myocardial infarction on July 19, aged 86. Garner also appeared in the movies The Fan, Fire in the Sky and Space Cowboys, and he was a voice performer in Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration and Battle for Terra, as well as such TV shows as God the Devil and Bob (as “God”) and DC Showcase (as “Shazam”).
21-year-old American actress Skye McCole Bartusiak died the same day of an accidental drug overdose. She had recently been suffering from epileptic seizures. Bartusiak made her acting debut in the 1999 mini-series of Stephen King’s Storm of the Century, and her other credits include the movies The Darkling, Firestarter 2: Rekindled, Boogeyman and Sick Boy, plus episodes of TV’s Touched by an Angel and Lost.
Spanish comedian Álex Angulo (Alejandro Angulo León) was killed in a car accident on July 20, aged 61. He had roles in Acción mutante and Pan’s Labyrinth.
British character actress Dora Bryan OBE (Dora May Broadbent) died on July 23, aged 91. She made her film debut in 1947, and her credits include The Perfect Woman, Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (with Bela Lugosi), Mad About Men, Hammer’s Hands of the Ripper, Screamtime and Dave McKean’s MirrorMask. In 1963 she recorded the hit novelty song, ‘All I Want for Christmas is a Beatle’.
American character actor Jack Walsh (Raymond J. Walsh) died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on July 25, aged 80. He was in John Walters’ Multiple Maniacs, George Lucas’ debut THX 1138, David Lynch’s Eraserhead, and Insidious: Chapter 2, along with episodes of TV’s Early Edition (‘Halloween’) and Medium.
American character actor Lew Brown died on July 27, aged 89. His movie credits include Colossus: The Forbin Project, The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler, The Man, Planet Earth and The Clone Master. On TV Brown was a familiar face in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Twilight Zone, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Invaders, The Wild Wild West, I Dream of Jeannie, Night Gallery, Shazam!, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (‘The Mystery of the Haunted House’ with Richard Kiel) and Project U.F.O.
Hawaiian-born American actor and singer James [Saburo] Shigeta died on July 28, aged 85. His movies include the musical remake of Lost Horizon (1973), The Questor Tapes, Tomorrow’s Child and Space Marines. On TV Shigeta appeared in episodes of The Outer Limits, Matt Helm, Fantasy Island, The Greatest American Hero, The Hitchhiker, SeaQuest 2032 and Babylon 5, and he contributed voice performances to Disney’s Mulan, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Maverick American character actor Dennis Lipscomb died on July 30, aged 72. He appeared in WarGames, Eyes of Fire, The Day After, Crossroads, Retribution, Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit, The First Power, The Force, Without Warning and Automatic. On TV he was in episodes of The Greatest American Hero, The Powers of Matthew Star, Amazing Stories, Highway to Heaven, SeaQuest 2032, The X Files, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Invisible Man (2000) and Roswell.