Actor Peter Duryea (b.1939) died on March 24. Duryea was cast as Lt. Jose Tyler in the original Star Trek pilot, “The Cage,” which which was later used in “The Menagerie.” He also appeared in episodes of The Outer Limit, Bewitched, and the film Blood of the Iron Maiden.
Artist Mitchell Hooks (b.1923) died on March 18. Although Hooks was best known for his non-sf work, including book covers and movie posters, he also provided covers for Daniel Galouye’s Dark Universe, Richard Matheson’s The Shores of Space, Piers Anthony’s Var the Stick, and others. He also painted the movie poster for Dr. No.
Horror author David B. Silva (b.1950) died on March 13. Silva edited the magazine The Horror Show from 1983 through 1990 and began publishing short fiction in 1983 with the story “Beth” in Eldritch Tales. His short story “The Calling” won the Bram Stoker Award and his collection Through Shattered Glass won the International Horror Guild Award. Silva’s novels included The Disappeared and Child of Darkness. With Paul F. Olson, he edited two horror anthologies.
Horror author Rick Hautala (b.1949) died on March 21. He began publishing novels in 1980 and received the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Horror Writers of America in 2012. Hautala teamed up with Christopher Golden to write the Body of Evidence series. In addition, he published as A. J. Matthews as well as screenplays.
British author James Herbert (b.1943) died on March 20 at his home in Sussex. Herbert wrote his first horror novel, The Rats in 10 weeks when he was 28. It was later made into a film, as were three of his other novels. His novels include ’46, The Survivors, and The Secret of Crickley Hall. In 2010, he was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth and a Grand Master by the World Horror Society.
Actor and director Micky Moore (b.1914, Michael Sheffield) died on March 4. Moore was a child actor in silent films from 1919 until 1927 and as an adult continued to work in films as a second unit director. His genre work include the first three Indiana Jones films, When Worlds Collide, the 1953 version of War of the Worlds, Ghostbusters II, Willow, and more. He also worked on Patton, Chaplin, and The Ten Commandments.
Actor Malachi Throne (b.1928) died on March 13. Throne portrayed Senator Pardek on Star Trek: The Next Generation, False Face on Batman, Commodore José Mendez and The Keeper on Star Trek, various roles on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, as well as The Six Million Dollar Man, Babylon 5, various animated Batman television series and the animated video Green Lantern: First Flight. Throne was offered the role of Dr. McCoy on Star Trek, but turned it down because he didn’t want to be cast as third banana to Shatner and Nimoy.
Belgian comics artist Didier Comès (b.1958, Dieter Hermann Comès) died on March 7. Comès debuted the comic strip “Hermann” in 1969 in the newspaper Le Soir. He began publishing the story Ergün l’errant in 1973 in the French magazine Pilote and went on to create Silence, about a mute and deaf boy’s adventures in World War I. He received the Prix Saint-Miche twice.
Anime fan and publisher Toren Smith (b.1960) died on March 5. Smith organized the first major convention anime room at BayCon in California in 1986 and translated The Legend of Kamui, one of the first manga ever translated into English, in 1988. In 1991, he co-founded AnimeCon. In 1986, he founded Studio Proteus, which proceeded to translate manga into English.
Filker Mara Brener (b.1952, Mara Berlin) died on February 27. Brener and her husband, Harry Brener, attended their first convention, LACon II, in 1984. Brener began composing and singing at a young age, but didn’t discover filk until that convention and she and her husband spent the majority of the con in the filk room and their songs were subsequently published in the fanzine Filk Fee-nom-ee-non. Brener was Guest of Honor at Leprecon 30 in 2004 and Contata 2005. In addition to her filk career, she was an artist who worked in oils and stained glass.