Martin Varno, the son of veteran actor Roland Varno, died of cancer on June 24, aged 77. In 1958 he scripted Night of the Blood Beast for producer Roger Corman, he was make-up supervisor on Nightmare in Wax (1969), and he was a sound effects editor on various TV cartoon series in the 1980s.
American writer, producer, director and actor Paul Mazursky (Irwin Lawrence Mazursky), co-creator of The Monkees, died of pulmonary cardiac arrest on June 30, aged 84. He also wrote and directed Alex in Wonderland (1970), acted in three episodes of TV’s Twilight Zone, and voiced characters in the animated movies Antz and Kung Fu Panda 2.
American-Irish producer and director Noel Black died of bacterial pneumonia on July 5, aged 77. He directed Pretty Poison (1968), Mirrors (1978) and Ray Bradbury’s The Electric Grandmother. His TV credits include episodes of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Twilight Zone (1986-87) and Nightmare Classics (Ambrose Bierce’s ‘The Eyes of the Panther’), along with an unsold pilot for The World Beyond (1978) featuring a golem.
American writer, producer and director John [Michael] Fasano died of heart failure in his sleep on July 19, aged 52. After acting in Blood Sisters and Zombie Nightmare (both 1987), he scripted Universal Soldier: The Return and Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, directed Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare, Black Roses, The Jitters and the TV series Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, and produced The Hunchback (1997), Darkness Falls (which he also scripted), The Lost Episode and the digital zombie show Woke Up Dead for Sony’s Crackle. Fasano was also involved in the development of Alien³, Alien vs. Predator, Hosteclass="underline" Part III and Marvel Comics’ unfilmed Werewolf by Night.
American film director Phillip Marshak died of complications from diabetes, heart disease and leukemia on July 24, aged 80. His credits include the 1978 adult films Dracula Sucks (starring Jamie Gillis as the Count and a pseudonymous Reggie Nalder as “Dr. Van Helsing”) and Space Virgins, and the 1980 horror film Cataclysm (aka The Nightmare Never Ends/Satan’s Supper), which five years later was edited into Night Train to Terror (‘The Case of Claire Hansen’ segment).
Legendary Oscar-winning Hollywood make-up artist Dick Smith (Richard Emerson Smith) died of complications from a broken hip on July 30, aged 92. Although he began his career in movies in the early 1940s, Smith began to develop his own revolutionary make-up techniques for television a decade later. His many credits include Alice in Wonderland (1951), The Flame Barrier, The Alligator People (with Lon Chaney, Jr.), Miracle on 34th Street (1959), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968), Arsenic and Old Lace (1969), House of Dark Shadows, The Exorcist, The Stepford Wives (1975), Exorcist II: The Heretic, Altered States, Scanners, Ghost Story, The Hunger, Spasms, Starman, Poltergeist III, Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, Death Becomes Her and House on Haunted Hill (1999), along with episodes of TV’s Fireside Theatre (‘A Christmas Carol’, 1951), Way Out, Golden Showcase (‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, 1961), Dark Shadows, Monsters and Stephen King’s Golden Years. In 2012 he was presented with an Honorary Academy Award by his protégé, Rick Baker.
Hungarian-born producer Robert Halmi, Sr. died in New York of a brain aneurysm the same day, aged 90. With his son, Robert Halmi, Jr., he produced or executive produced such movies and mini-series as The Phantom of the Opera (1983), Svengali (1983), The Night They Saved Christmas, White Dwarf, Harvey (1996), Gulliver’s Travels (1996), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997), Tidal Wave: No Escape, The Odyssey, Merlin (1998), Alice in Wonderland (1999), Animal Farm (1999), The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns, A Christmas Carol (1999), The 10th Kingdom, Arabian Nights (2000), Jason and the Argonauts (2000), The Land of Oz, Voyage of the Unicorn, The Lost Empire, The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells, Prince Charming, Snow White: The Fairest of Them All, Dinotopia, Mr. St. Nick, Snow Queen (2002), A Christmas Caroclass="underline" The Musical (2004), The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea, Hercules (2005), Merlin’s Apprentice, The Final Days of Planet Earth, Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather and The Color of Magic, Son of the Dragon, Hybrid, Eye of the Beast, Something Beneath, Grizzly Rage, Croc, Tin Man, Black Swarm, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2008), Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), The Hive, Swamp Devil, Vipers, Infected, Knights of Bloodsteel, Rise of the Gargoyles, Hellhounds, High Plains Invaders, Alice, The Phantom (2009), Phillip Jose Farmer’s Riverworld, Killer Wave, Neverland, The Haunting of Radcliffe House (aka Altar) and Olympus, along with the 2007-08 TV series Flash Gordon.