2020 - In Memoriam

Happy New Year! Before we leave 2020 firmly behind us, Susan Omand spares a thought for just a few of the film, book, gaming and TV people that we lost last year...

I’ve written In Memoriam lists at the start of a new year for several years now. Some of these names will be more familiar than others but, when you consider their work, you realise what an impact they had in their own specific field and on the work of others. This is by no means an exhaustive list - every year there seem to be always far too many, so these are just a few that I thought were worth a mention. [if you want to find out more about them, they all have a wiki page - Ed]

In Memoriam...

• Christopher Beeny, 78, English actor (Upstairs, Downstairs, In Loving Memory, Last of the Summer Wine) 
• Buck Henry, 89, American actor, screenwriter (The Graduate, Get Smart) and director (Heaven Can Wait)
• William Bogert, 83, American actor (WarGames, Small Wonder, The Greatest American Hero) 
• Alan Pattillo, 90, British television director (Supercar, Thunderbirds), writer and editor (All Quiet on the Western Front) 
• Christopher Tolkien, 95, British academic and editor (The Silmarillion, The History of Middle-earth) 
• Derek Fowlds, 82, British actor (Yes Minister, Heartbeat, East of Sudan)
• Charles Alverson, 84, American screenwriter (Jabberwocky) 
• Terry Jones, 77, Welsh comic actor, screenwriter and film director (Monty Python)
• Nicholas Parsons, 96, British actor (Four Feather Falls), radio and television presenter (Just a Minute, Sale of the Century)
• Gene Reynolds, 96, television producer (M*A*S*H, Lou Grant)
• Kirk Douglas, 103, American actor (Spartacus, Paths of Glory, Seven Days in May)
• Cheryl Wheeler-Dixon, 59, American stuntwoman (Back to the Future Part II, Thor, They Live) 
• Lynn Cohen, 86, American actress (Sex and the City, Munich, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) 
• Caroline Flack, 40, English television and radio presenter (The X Factor, Love Island, I'm a Celebrity: Extra Camp)
• Kellye Nakahara, 72, American actress (M*A*S*H, Clue, 3 Ninjas Kick Back) and artist
• Heather Couper, 70, British astronomer and broadcaste
• Clive Cussler, 88, American adventure novelist (Raise the Titanic!, Sahara)
• Kazuhisa Hashimoto, 61, Japanese video game programmer, creator of the Konami Code 
• James Lipton, 93, American television host (Inside the Actors Studio), actor (Arrested Development) and writer (Guiding Light) 
• David Wise, 65, American television writer (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Transformers, Defenders of the Earth) 
• Max von Sydow, 90, Swedish-born French actor (The Seventh Seal, The Exorcist)
• Allen Bellman, 95, American comic book artist (Captain America). 
• Roy Hudd, 83, English actor and comedian. 
• Lyle Waggoner, 84, American actor (The Carol Burnett Show, Wonder Woman, Love Me Deadly)
• Mark Blum, 69, American actor (Crocodile Dundee, Desperately Seeking Susan) 
• Garret T. Sato, 55, American actor (Hawaii Five-0, The Wolverine, Midway) 
• Andrew Jack, 76, British dialect coach (The Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes) and actor (Star Wars)
• Juan Giménez, 76, Argentine comic book artist (Heavy Metal, Métal hurlant) 
• Eddie Large, 78, British comedian (Little and Large) 
• Jay Benedict, 68, American actor (Foyle's War, Double Team, The Dark Knight Rises) 
• Honor Blackman, 94, English actress (The Avengers, Goldfinger, Jason and the Argonauts) 
• Malcolm Dixon, 66, English actor (Time Bandits, Return of the Jedi, Flash Gordon) 
• Tim Brooke-Taylor, 79, English comedian (The Goodies) and panellist (I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue) 
• Danny Goldman, 80, American actor (The Smurfs, M*A*S*H, Young Frankenstein) 
• Pip Baker, 91, British screenwriter (Doctor Who) 
• Sean Arnold, 79, English actor (Grange Hill, Bergerac) 
• Brian Dennehy, 81, American actor (First Blood, Tommy Boy, Cocoon)
• Lynn Faulds Wood, 72, Scottish television presenter (Watchdog) and journalist 
• Jill Gascoine, 83, British actress (The Gentle Touch, C.A.T.S. Eyes, The Onedin Line)
• Matty Simmons, 93, American magazine publisher (National Lampoon) and film producer (Animal House, National Lampoon's Vacation) 
• Sam Lloyd, 56, American actor (Scrubs, Galaxy Quest) 
• Leslie Pope, 65, American set decorator (Seabiscuit, Django Unchained, Avengers: Endgame) 
• Martin Pasko, 65, Canadian-born American comic book writer (Superman, E-Man) and screenwriter (Batman: Mask of the Phantasm) 
• Nigel, 11, British television dog (Gardeners' World). 
• Jerry Stiller, 92, American actor (Seinfeld, The King of Queens) and comedian (Stiller and Meara). 
• Ken Nightingall, 92, British film sound engineer (For Your Eyes Only, A View to a Kill, Octopussy)
• Denise Cronenberg, 81, Canadian costume designer (The Fly, A History of Violence, Crash) 
• Richard Herd, 87, American actor (T. J. Hooker, All the President's Men, The China Syndrome, Star Trek: Voyager) 
• Anthony James, 77, American actor (In the Heat of the Night, High Plains Drifter, Gunsmoke) 
• Tony Scannell, 74, Irish actor (Flash Gordon, The Bill) 
• Larry Kramer, 84, American playwright (The Normal Heart) and LGBT rights activist
• Michael Angelis, 76, British actor (Boys from the Blackstuff, The Liver Birds, Thomas & Friends)
• Kristin Linklater, 84, Scottish actress, acting and vocal coach 
• Dan Danglo, 95, American cartoonist (Felix the Cat) 
• Malcolm Terris, 79, English actor (When the Boat Comes In, Coronation Street, The Plague Dogs) 
• Dennis O'Neil, 81, American comic book writer (Batman, Iron Man) and editor (Marvel Comics) 
• Mel Winkler, 78, American voice actor (Crash Bandicoot, Oswald) and actor (Devil in a Blue Dress) 
• John Benfield, 68, British actor (Prime Suspect, Speed Racer, Cassandra's Dream) 
• Charles Webb, 81, American novelist (The Graduate) 
• Sir Ian Holm, 88, English actor (Alien, Chariots of Fire, The Lord of the Rings)
• Philip Latham, 91, British actor (The Troubleshooters, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Ring of Spies) 
• Joel Schumacher, 80, American film director (The Lost Boys, Falling Down, Batman Forever) 
• Joe Sinnott, 93, American Hall of Fame comic book artist (The Avengers, Thor, Fantastic Four) 
• Stuart Cornfeld, 67, American film producer (Zoolander, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Tropic Thunder) 
• Linda Cristal, 89, Argentine actress (The Perfect Furlough, The High Chaparral, Mr. Majestyk) 
• Carl Reiner, 98, American actor, film director and writer (The Dick Van Dyke Show, Ocean's Eleven, The Jerk) 
• Dan Hicks, 68, American actor (Evil Dead II, Darkman, Intruder) 
• Johnny Beattie, 93, Scottish actor (River City) and comedian (Scotch & Wry, Rab C. Nesbitt) 
• Kelly Preston, 57, American actress (Jerry Maguire, Twins, Sky High) 
• Grant Imahara, 49, American electrical engineer (Star Wars, The Matrix) and television personality (MythBusters) 
• Tony Elliott, 73, English publisher, founder of Time Out Group 
• Dean Ing, 89, American author 
• Dame Olivia de Havilland, 104, French-British-American actress (Gone with the Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood, To Each His Own
• Bill English, 91, American computer engineer, co-developer of the computer mouse
• Sydney Lotterby, 93, British television producer (Last of the Summer Wine, Yes Minister, Open All Hours) 
• Sir Alan Parker, 76, English film director (Midnight Express, Pink Floyd – The Wall, Mississippi Burning)
• Wilford Brimley, 85, American actor (The Natural, The Thing, Cocoon) 
• Brent Carver, 68, Canadian actor (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Parade, The Event
• Russell Kirsch, 91, American computer scientist, inventor of the pixel and developer of the image scanner
• Ben Cross, 72, English actor (Chariots of Fire, Star Trek, First Knight)
• Joe Ruby, 87, American animator and television producer (Scooby-Doo, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, Alvin and the Chipmunks), co-founder of Ruby-Spears
• Martin Short, 76, British documentary producer and author
• Peter Sova, 75, Czech-born American cinematographer (Donnie Brasco, Good Morning, Vietnam, Lucky Number Slevin)
• Chadwick Boseman, 43, American actor (Black Panther, 42, Get on Up
• Shiro Kishibe, 71, Japanese actor (Monkey)
• François Lalande, 89, Algerian-born French actor (Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, French Postcards, Dangerous Liaisons)
• Sir Ronald Harwood, 85, South African-born British dramatist and screenwriter (The Pianist, The Dresser, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
• Dame Diana Rigg, 82, English actress (The Avengers, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Game of Thrones)
• Keith Short, 79, English sculptor and visual effects technician (Batman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Dark Crystal)
• Terry Goodkind, 72, American author (The Sword of Truth, The Law of Nines)
• Winston Groom, 77, American novelist (Forrest Gump)
• Michael Chapman, 84, American cinematographer (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Fugitive) and film director
• Alan Tomkins, 81, British art director (The Empire Strikes Back, Saving Private Ryan, Batman Begins)
• Ron Cobb, 83, American-Australian editorial cartoonist and prop and set designer (Star Wars, Back to the Future, Conan the Barbarian)
• Michael Lonsdale, 89, British-French actor (The Day of the Jackal, Moonraker, The Remains of the Day)
• Jackie Stallone, 98, American astrologer and Sly’s mother
• Ronald Forfar, 81, English actor (Bread)
• Frank Windsor, 92, English actor (Z-Cars, Softly, Softly, EastEnders)
• Conchata Ferrell, 77, American actress (Two and a Half Men, Edward Scissorhands, Network
• Tom Maschler, 87, British publisher, co-founder of the Booker Prize
• Marge Champion, 101, American actress (Show Boat, Give a Girl a Break), choreographer and model for the Disney character of Snow White 
• William Blinn, 83, American television producer (Starsky & Hutch) and screenwriter (Purple Rain)
• Bobby Ball, 76, English comedian (Cannon and Ball), actor (Mount Pleasant, Not Going Out), and television host
• Sir Sean Connery, 90, Scottish actor (Dr. No, The Untouchables, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)
• Elsa Raven, 91, American actress (Back to the Future, Amen, Titanic)
• John Sessions, 67, British actor and comedian (Stella Street, Spitting Image, Whose Line Is It Anyway?) 
• Geoffrey Palmer, 93, British actor (As Time Goes By, Butterflies, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin) 
• Luke Rhinehart, 87, American author (The Dice Man)
• Des O'Connor, 88, English television presenter (The Des O'Connor Show, Des O'Connor Tonight), comedian and singer ("I Pretend") 
• Art Wolff, 82, American television director (Seinfeld, The Tracey Ullman Show, Grand) and acting coach
• Malcolm Marmorstein, 92, American screenwriter and film director (Pete's Dragon, Love Bites, Dark Shadows)
• Daria Nicolodi, 70, Italian actress (Deep Red, Shock) and screenwriter (Suspiria)
• Basil Moss, 85, British actor (Emergency Ward 10, First Among Equals, David Copperfield) 
• David Prowse, 85, English actor (Star Wars, A Clockwork Orange, Jabberwocky)  
• Ben Bova, 88, American science fiction writer.
• Adele Rose, 87, English television writer (Coronation Street, Z-Cars, Byker Grove)
• William Link, 87, American television writer (Murder, She Wrote, Columbo, Mannix)
• Lin Qi, 39, Chinese video game producer and developer (Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming), founder of Yoozoo Games
• Kay Purcell, 57, English actress (Emmerdale, Tracy Beaker Returns, Waterloo Road)
• Lee Wallace, 90, American actor (Batman, Private Benjamin, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three)
• Eileen Pollock, 73, Northern Irish actress (Bread, Far and Away, Angela's Ashes)
• Peter Lamont, 91, British art director and production designer (Goldfinger, Aliens, Titanic)
• Jeremy Bulloch, 75, English actor (Star Wars, The Spy Who Loved Me, Mary, Queen of Scots) 
• Doug Crane, 85, American animator (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, The Smurfs, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America) 
• John le Carré, 89, British author (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Night Manager, The Little Drummer Girl) 
• Dame Barbara Windsor, 83, English actress (EastEnders, Carry On, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• David Lander, 73, American actor (Laverne & Shirley, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down
• Hugh Keays-Byrne, 73, English-Australian actor (Mad Max: Fury Road, Stone, Farscape)