In Memoriam 2009

2009 sucked.

This is always my least favorite post of the year. 2009 has been particularly bad with so many people who’ve been part of my life for as long as I can remember passing on.

Pat Hingle (7/19/24 – 1/3/09)

In his long career, Pat Hingle played Commissioner Gordon in Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin. He also had roles in Muppets from Space, The Six Million Dollar Man, Kung Fu, and many, many more.

Patrick McGoohan (3/19/28 – 1/13/09)

Star of the 1960s series The Prisoner. He also produced the series, and wrote and directed several episodes.

Ricardo Montalban (11/25/20 – 1/14/09)

You kids can have your Romulans and your Borg collective. To me, Khan is the gold standard when it comes to Star Trek villains. I’ve often wondered if that was a prosthetic chest, or if that side of man meat was pure Montalban.

Bob May (9/4/39 – 1/18/09)

A stunt man who found his calling in a robot suit on Lost in Space.

Kim Manners (1/13/51 – 1/25/09)

Producer on Supernatural and the X-Files.

John Updike (3/18/32 – 1/27/08)

Author of The Witches of Eastwick.

Philp Jose Farmer (1/26/18 – 2/25/09)

Prolific science fiction writer, creator of the Riverworld series.

Dom DeLuise (8/1/33 – 5/4/09)

From The Muppet Movie to The Secret of NIMH to An American Tail, Dom DeLuise’s voice was a staple in my childhood viewing habits. He was still a staple when, as a teenager, I discovered Mel Brooks’ movies.

Wayne Allwine (2/7/47 – 5/18/09)

Provided Mickey Mouse’s voice for over 30 years.

Joan Alexander (4/16/15 – 5/21/09)

She was the voice of Lois Lane on the radio drama The Adventures of Superman in the 1940s and early 1950s.

Bea Arthur (5/13/23 – 5/25/09)

I’ve always loved Bea Arthur and wanted her to be my grandma.

David Carradine (12/8/36 – 6/4/09)

I know David Carradine from Kung Fu and Kill Bill, but he has over 200 credits to his name on IMDb. With nine of them in post-production, we’ll still be seeing Carradine into 2010.

Lorena Gale (5/9/58 – 6/21/09)

Lorena Gale was a character actor who appeared in just about every geek show in the past fifteen years: Highlander, M.A.N.T.I.S., The X-Files, Dark Angel, The Dead Zone, Dead Like Me, Smallville, Stargate SG-1, Supernatural, Sanctuary, The 4400, Bionic Woman, and The Middleman. Her longest running role was as the priest Elosha in Battlestar Galactica.

Ed McMahon (3/6/23 – 6/23/09)

As a kid, all my friends and I hoped that Ed McMahon would one day show up at our houses with news that we were now Publisher’s Clearninghouse millionaires. If that didn’t pan out, there was always the chance that Ed would still lead us to riches on Star Search.

Michael Jackson (8/29/58 – 6/25/09)

Farrah Fawcett (2/2/47 – 6/25/09)

The hair that sent many to the salon. Even I tried to emulate it in middle and high school. Farrah was best known for Charlie’s Angels, but she also appeared in Logan’s Run, Saturn 3, and many more.

Dave Arneson (10/1/47 – 7/7/09)

Co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons with Gary Gygax.

John Hughes (2/18/50 – 8/6/09)

There just aren’t words.

Henry Gibson (9/21/35 – 9/14/09)

This character actor left behind a legacy of roles in My Favorite Martian, Bewitched, Wonder Woman, Fantasy Island, The Blues Brothers, The Smurfs, The Twilight Zone, Knight Rider, InnerSpace, The ‘burbs, Star Trek, Stargate, and (my favorite role of them all) Boston Legal.

Patrick Swayze (8/18/52 – 9/14/09)

Even though we knew he was on his way out, it was still upsetting to see him go.

George Tuska (4/26//16 – 10/15/09)

Tuska drew comics in just about every genre from the Golden Age through the 1990s.

Shel Dorf (7/5/33 – 11/3/09)

Founder of San Diego Comicon.

Irving Tripp (6/5/21 – 11/27/09)

Illustrator of Little Lulu

Dan O’Bannon (6/3/046 – 12/17/09)

Writer of Alien, Total Recall, Lifeforce, Invaders from Mars, and Return of the Living Dead.

Brittany Murphy (11/10-77 – 12/20/09)

She never seemed to fit well into the Hollywood starlet mold that she wound up shoved into, instead excelling at creepy, weird roles.  Her passing was all the more shocking because she was so young and it was so sudden.

Zelda Rubinstein (5/28/33 – 12/3/0/09)

“This house is cleeeaan. . .”

I’ve probably missed some in this list, but it’s not intentional or personal.

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