Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted February 16, 2013 To complement the venerable British science fiction series thread, let's look at some non-Star bloody Trek American shows. Flash Gordon All of the main actors from the 1930s serials are long gone, the last being Jean Rogers (Dale Arden) back in 1991. Likewise, the actors from the 1950s television show and the much-loved 1979 Filmation animated versions all seem to be gone, which leaves us with the notorious 1980 film... Survivors are: Peter Wyngarde (Klytus) born 1928 Max von Sydow (Ming the Merciless) born 1929 Topol (Dr Zarkov) born 1935 Brian Blessed (Vultan) 1936 Timothy Dalton (Barin) 1944 Sam Jones (Flash) 1954 Melody Anderson (Dale Arden) 1955 Ornella Muti (Princess Aura) 1955 Mariangela Melato (Kara) died back on January 11th this year, it seems. Buck Rogers Likewise no survivor from the 1930s serial, the last main cast member, Constance Moore, dying in 2005. Again, there was apparently a short-lived television show in the 1950s, featuring none other than: Eva Marie Saint (Wilma Deering) born 1924 Of the well-known 1979 series, the following are still alive: Michael Ansara (Kane) born 1922 Tim O'Connor (Dr Heuer) born 1927 Henry Silva (also played Kane) 1928 Felix Silla (Tweekie [and Cousin Itt on the Addams Family!]) 1937 Thom Christopher (Hawk) 1940 Gil Gerard (Buck) 1943 Eric Server (Dr Theopolis) 1944 Erin Gray (Wilma) 1950 Pamela Hensley (Aura) 1950 Battlestar Galactica (the original, not that new-fangled stuff) Lorne Green is obviously long gone but nearly all the rest of the very extensive cast are still alive. I won't list them all here as they were a fairly young cast being nearly all born in the 1950s but the oldest survivor is: Terry Carter (Tigh) 1928 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Death Impends 7,977 Posted February 16, 2013 Flash Gordon All of the main actors from the 1930s serials are long gone, the last being Jean Rogers (Dale Arden) back in 1991. Likewise, the actors from the 1950s television show and the much-loved 1979 Filmation animated versions all seem to be gone, which leaves us with the notorious 1980 film... Double checked myself and it looks like there are three voice actors from the animated version left: Diane Pershing - Dale Arden Melendy Britt - Princess Aura Alan Oppenheimer - Dr. Hans Zarkov Only Oppenheimer has a known YOB though, 1930. Already familiar with him, too, as I played a game he was in last year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted February 16, 2013 Thanks for the correction. That, along with Ulysses 31, was one of my favourite childhood cartoons back in the 1980s. Haven't seen it since those long-ago days so no idea how well it stands up now. UPDATE: On further investigation, it seems that Filmation's co-founder, Lou Scheimer, who is also still alive, narrated the episodes. Born in 1928, he has had a quadruple bypass and suffers from Parkinson's... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lorna doom 18 Posted February 16, 2013 I wonder if there's any survivors from Flesh Gordon? By gum, that were a classic film that were. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted February 16, 2013 I wonder if there's any survivors from Flesh Gordon? By gum, that were a classic film that were. I have heard of that... It sounds... "interesting". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
torbrexbones 717 Posted February 16, 2013 I wonder if there's any survivors from Flesh Gordon? By gum, that were a classic film that were. I have heard of that... It sounds... "interesting". I have a copy of the video buried deep in my collection interesting is not a word that I would use to describe the film Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest American Sports Fan Posted February 17, 2013 Some survivors from 1960s American Sci-Fi television About half the principal cast of "Lost in Space": June Lockhart (Maureen Robinson), b. 1925 Mark Goddard (Major West), b. 1936 Marta Kristen (Judy Robinson), b. 1945 Angela Cartwright (Penny Robinson), b. 1952 Bill Mumy (Will Robinson), b. 1954 Only three regulars from "The Time Tunnel": Robert Colbert (Doug Phillips), b. 1931 Lee Meriwether (Ann McGregor), b. 1935 James Darren (Tony Newman), b. 1936 Just one from the main voice cast of "The Jetsons": Janet Waldo (Judy), b. 1924. Two from "The Invaders": series star Roy Thinnes (David Vincent), b. 1936, and episode narrator William Woodson, b. 1917. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted February 17, 2013 Thanks Sports Fan. We do actually have a thread on Irwin Allen shows as well that I started a while back: http://www.deathlist...?showtopic=8155 Bit sad to see that most of The Jetsons' voice cast has gone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest American Sports Fan Posted February 18, 2013 I always enjoyed The Time Tunnel – I think it was the best of Allen’s TV shows, for whatever that’s worth. Since I inadvertently duplicated so much of what you already had on the other thread, let me offer up another classic show from that era: “The Twilight Zone.” Not the whole show – since it was an anthology series where most actors only appeared once, there are still way too many survivors to list them all. These are just notable survivors from a handful of my favorite episodes who might garner US (and in a few cases UK) obits. “Mirror Image” Vera Miles, b. 1930 (or 1929, there's some conflicting info) Martin Milner, b. 1931 Naomi Stevens, b. 1926 “To Serve Man” Susan Cummings, b. 1930 Richard Kiel, b. 1939 “Living Doll” Tracy Stratford, b. 1955 (if she gets a US obit someday, it’ll be for playing Lucy in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”) June Foray (voice), b. 1917 “A Game of Pool” Jonathan Winters, b. 1925 “Spur of the Moment” Roger Davis, b. 1939 Marsha Hunt, b. 1917 “The Obsolete Man” Fritz Weaver, b. 1926 “Walking Distance” Ron Howard, b. 1954 Richard Matheson, one of the three main scriptwriters for the show, is also still alive and getting ready to celebrate his 87th birthday in just a couple of days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted February 18, 2013 I have never seen the Twilight Zone but I understand Shatner guest-starred in an episode in his pre-Trek days. I have seen Matheson's Incredible Shrinking Man which stands head and shoulders (bad pun intended) above other films of that era. Thought he would have been long dead, so it is cool that he is still alive. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest American Sports Fan Posted February 19, 2013 Shatner actually did two episodes, and both are very good, especially “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” which is another favorite of mine ("Nick of Time" was the other one). I’ve always enjoyed TZ – the two things that really set it apart are the quality of the writing and the quality of the guest stars. It was able to attract its share of established stars, but there's an even more impressive list of up-and-comers who appeared on TZ fairly early in their careers before they went on to bigger things. Some I can think of off the top of my head are Burt Reynolds, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas (with hair!), Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, and Carol Burnett. Whoever did the casting on that show had a real eye for talent. Richard Matheson is an excellent writer - I have two collections of his short stories and some of them pack a hell of a wallop. Steven Spielberg's first movie, "The Duel," was based on one of my favorite of his short stories (no surprise I really liked the movie too). And besides The Incredible Shrinking Man, he also wrote the novels I Am Legend - which was the basis for both the Will Smith movie of the same name a few years ago and "The Omega Man" with Charlton Heston in the early 70s - and Bid Time Return, which was adapted into the movie "Somewhere in Time" with Christopher Reeve. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted February 19, 2013 Okay, I have seen Somewhere in Time too and I rather liked it. Christopher Reeve starred with Jane Seymour, who is also relevant to this thread for her role in the original Battlestar Galactica. Apparently there was a new Flash Gordon show made for American television a few years ago. Wikipedia has this to say about it: The show was generally not well received. Metacritic gave the show an average score of 35/100 based on reviews from 13 critics.[4] UK science fiction magazine SFX described episode 3 as 'possibly the worst episode of anything, ever.',[5] and as part of their 200th issue features, they named the series as the worst they had ever reviewed.[6] The New York Post gave the show 0 stars describing it as "a disgrace to the name of the enduring comic-strip-character-turned-movie-and-TV space hero." [7] Flash in the pan or Flash down the pan? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted February 25, 2013 It turns out that the camp 1980 Flash Gordon film was written by Lorenzo Semple Jr, the same bloke who wrote the camp 1960s Batman television show. He was born in 1923. Amongst his more serious work, he co-wrote the screenplay for Papillon, so he stands some small chance of scoring a UK obit, I suppose. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted February 25, 2013 I found this on Gil Gerrard's Wiki page: "In October 2005, Gerard appeared on the show Action Hero Makeover... which documented his year-long progress after undergoing life-saving mini-gastric bypass surgery. According to the show, he had been struggling with his weight for 40 years, losing weight only to gain it back. By the time of the program's production, his weight had risen to over 350 lb (160 kg) and he had many life-threatening health problems including a severe problem with type 2 diabetes. Within five days of the surgery he had lost 20 lb (9.1 kg), within three months he had lost 80 lb (36 kg), and within ten months he has lost a total of 145 lb (66 kg)." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest American Sports Fan Posted February 26, 2013 It turns out that the camp 1980 Flash Gordon film was written by Lorenzo Semple Jr, the same bloke who wrote the camp 1960s Batman television show. He was born in 1923. Amongst his more serious work, he co-wrote the screenplay for Papillon, so he stands some small chance of scoring a UK obit, I suppose. Well, if we're going to get into scriptwriters for campy science fiction movies, then we can't neglect the last few living writers from the gloriously campy era of 1950s B-movie sci-fi, legendary cheesemakers like 95 year old Ib Melchior (The Angry Red Planet), 88 year old Robert Gurney Jr. (Invasion of the Saucer Men, Terror from the Year 5000), and 90 year old Bert I. Gordon (Attack of the Puppet People, The Amazing Colossal Man). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Death Impends 7,977 Posted February 26, 2013 It turns out that the camp 1980 Flash Gordon film was written by Lorenzo Semple Jr, the same bloke who wrote the camp 1960s Batman television show. He was born in 1923. Amongst his more serious work, he co-wrote the screenplay for Papillon, so he stands some small chance of scoring a UK obit, I suppose. Well, if we're going to get into scriptwriters for campy science fiction movies, then we can't neglect the last few living writers from the gloriously campy era of 1950s B-movie sci-fi, legendary cheesemakers like 95 year old Ib Melchior (The Angry Red Planet), 88 year old Robert Gurney Jr. (Invasion of the Saucer Men, Terror from the Year 5000), and 90 year old Bert I. Gordon (Attack of the Puppet People, The Amazing Colossal Man). I saw a very brief snippet of The Angry Red Planet on TV last year; even without seeing much its cheesiness was still evident by the whole screen being tinted red to signify Mars being the setting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JR976evil 906 Posted February 26, 2013 It turns out that the camp 1980 Flash Gordon film was written by Lorenzo Semple Jr, the same bloke who wrote the camp 1960s Batman television show. He was born in 1923. Amongst his more serious work, he co-wrote the screenplay for Papillon, so he stands some small chance of scoring a UK obit, I suppose. He also wrote the screenplay for The Parralax View, I'd say his UK obit chances were excellent Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted February 26, 2013 It turns out that the camp 1980 Flash Gordon film was written by Lorenzo Semple Jr, the same bloke who wrote the camp 1960s Batman television show. He was born in 1923. Amongst his more serious work, he co-wrote the screenplay for Papillon, so he stands some small chance of scoring a UK obit, I suppose. Well, if we're going to get into scriptwriters for campy science fiction movies, then we can't neglect the last few living writers from the gloriously campy era of 1950s B-movie sci-fi, legendary cheesemakers like 95 year old Ib Melchior (The Angry Red Planet), 88 year old Robert Gurney Jr. (Invasion of the Saucer Men, Terror from the Year 5000), and 90 year old Bert I. Gordon (Attack of the Puppet People, The Amazing Colossal Man). One of my favourites was Roger Corman's It Conquered the World. (In fact, "it" couldn't even conquer a small rural American town in the end.) The only notable cast member was Lee Van Cleef. Besides Corman, the only person still alive from it is one Sally Fraser, born in 1932. According to Wikipedia, "The creature design was an idea of Corman's. He thought that since the creature came from a big planet, it would have been designed to deal with heavy gravity and would be built low to the ground. Corman later admitted this was a mistake, saying the creature would have been more frightening if it was bigger or taller. When Beverley Garland first saw the creature she commented "That conquered the world?" and kicked it over." Also, "The British censor had concerns about the scene where the monster is destroyed by a blowtorch, on the grounds that it depicted cruelty to animals. AIP successfully argued an alien from outer space was not an animal." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted February 26, 2013 Here are a few survivors from some of the (marginally) higher-quality SF films of the 1950s: Charles Evans (Earth versus the Flying Saucers) - born 1900 Kirk Douglas (20 000 Leagues Under the Sea [and Saturn 3]) - born 1916 Alan Young (Time Machine) - born 1919 Peter Hansen (When Worlds Collide)- born 1921 Russell Johnson (It Came from Outer Space and This Island Earth) - born 1924 James Best (Forbidden Planet [and also played Sheriff Rosco Coltrane in Dukes of Hazzard]) - born 1926 Richard Anderson (Forbidden Planet, [and the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman]) - born 1926 Barbara Rush (When Worlds Collide and It Came from Outer Space) - born 1927 Rex Reason (This Island Earth) - born 1928 Earl Holliman (Forbidden Planet) - born 1928 Ann Robinson (War of the Worlds) - born 1929 Rod Taylor (Time Machine) - born 1930 James Drury (Forbidden Planet) - born 1934 Billy Gray (The Day the Earth Stood Still) - born 1938 Yvette Mimieux (Time Machine [and The Black Hole]) - born 1942 Everyone involved in the original version of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers appears to have been body-snatched by now. It would be interesting to know if that Charles Evans bloke really is still alive. Neither Wikipedia nor IMDB have any mention of him dying. He last acted in a film as late as 1991. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Death Impends 7,977 Posted February 26, 2013 He's definitely dead by now, it's moreso that no one knows when he died. There's a lot of IMDb names like that, including ones born decades before Evans. Seems like the Evans active in 1991 was a different one as well in spite of TCM's listing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Octopus of Odstock 2,197 Posted June 24, 2013 Richard Matheson, one of the three main scriptwriters for the show, is also still alive and getting ready to celebrate his 87th birthday in just a couple of days. Twas his last birthday - Matheson is dead. http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/richard-matheson/26143/richard-matheson-dies-aged-87 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Death Impends 7,977 Posted June 24, 2013 Nightmare at -6 Feet 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Guest Posted August 2, 2013 Star Trek fans are mourning the passing of the mighty Khan http://www.hollywood...ang-dies-598786 End of an era Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Zorders 1,271 Posted August 2, 2013 Very sad news for Star Trek fans, but how is it the end of an era? Shatner and a lot of the others are still around, it'll be the end of the "era" when the last one of them pops off, I think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
themaninblack 2,112 Posted August 2, 2013 Star Trek fans are mourning the passing of the mighty Khan http://www.hollywood...ang-dies-598786 End of an era Khan was Ricardo Montalban, you pillock! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
