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Actor Paul Darrow, Blake’s 7, 1941-2019

by on Jun.03, 2019, under Obituaries, Television

Just got work that actor Paul Darrow, best known for the role of Kerr Avon in BBC sci-fi series Blake’s 7, passed away after a short illness.

The actor made many appearances on British TV over 5 decades, including most recently a recurring role on Law & Order: UK, as well as many stage appearances, but the role he is most associated with is the computer expert and thief who became the reluctant rebel in Roj Blake’s resistance against the oppressive Federation. He was always looking to score some quick money, but would always do the right thing in the end.

Darrow was always a big proponent of the show and worked hard to try and bring the show back, going as far as to purchasing the rights to the show back in 2003 from the estate of creator Terry Nation. While any sort of reboot remains in the depths of Development Hell, the loss of such a champion of the show is certainly a blow, but perhaps might finally provide the impetus to get a new version off the ground.

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HotShot Trailers: Spider-Man: Far From Home official trailer

by on May.06, 2019, under Movies

Warning…as Tom Holland says at the beginning, there is a major spoiler if you haven’t yet watched Avengers: Endgame, so go watch that first…but the irony of Tom Holland warning of spoilers…

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Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca from Star Wars, 1944-2019

by on May.02, 2019, under Movies, Obituaries

It is with great sadness that we learned a few minutes ago that actor Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars saga, passed away in April 30th at home in Texas surrounded by his family.

His family released a statement on Facebook and Twitter:

The family of Peter Mayhew, with deep love and sadness, regrets to share the news that Peter has passed away. He left us the evening of April 30, 2019 with his family by his side in his North Texas home.
Peter was the man behind the mask of Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy, episode 3 of the prequels, and the New Trilogy. He fought his way back from being wheelchair-bound to stand tall and portray Chewbacca once more in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He also consulted on The Last Jedi in an attempt to teach his successor. He put his heart and soul into the role of Chewbacca and it showed in every frame of the films from his knock kneed running, firing his bowcaster from the hip, his bright blue eyes, down to each subtle movement of his head and mouth. But, to him, the Star Wars family meant so much more to him than a role in a film.
The relationships that began then grew into the friends and family that he would love for decades to come. As the films released and became more well-known he had his eyes opened to the possibilities of what he could achieve with his role in the Star Wars universe. For more than 30 years Peter traveled all over the world spending time with his fans and friends. Peter developed lifelong friendships with the other cast members and his fans while on the convention circuit touching the lives of millions. As he realized over the years the impact he could have, he became heavily involved with the 501st legion, Wounded Warriors, Make-a-Wish, and other non-profit organizations.
To this end, he established the Peter Mayhew Foundation, supporting everything from individuals and families in crisis situations to food and supplies for children of Venezuela during their recent road to freedom. He not only provided funds but became personally involved with each individual, family and cause he supported.
As he grew older he continued to “soldier on” as he put it and was completely in his element around his fans and supporters. He grew great strength from the energy of his family, friends and the fans he knew and loved.
He is survived by his wife Angie and three children. His kindness, generosity and care will live on in the Peter Mayhew Foundation with Angie taking the helm as his voice.
There will be a memorial service for friends and family held on June 29th and in early December in Los Angeles there will be a memorial for fans set up with his family in attendance, personal effects, and collection at EmpireConLA.


For additional information, information on the memorials or to offer condolences email ryan@ReelAppearances.com
Rather than gifts and flowers the family asks that you consider donating to the foundation so that they can continue his efforts to help the community. You can donate at http://petermayhewfoundation.org/make-a-donation.php

I met Peter briefly back in 2014, and he was as always gracious and thankful for the fans. He had just a couple weeks ago met up with fans at Star Wars Celebration in Chicago.

Suffering from physical issues owing to his immense frame – he needed knee replacements but had to wait until they built a machine large enough to create the parts large enough – he was often wheelchair bound but managed to stand tall again for scenes in The Force Awakens, but worked as a consultant on The Last Jedi to help train his replacement.

May the Force be with you, Peter…always.

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Respect is Coming to Game of Thrones – from an unlikely red friend

by on Apr.18, 2019, under Fun Stuff, Television

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HotShot Trailer: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker teaser

by on Apr.12, 2019, under Movies

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2019 Hugo Award nominees

by on Apr.02, 2019, under Awards, Conventions

The list of nominees for the 2019 Hugo Awards are out…rather than list them all out here, you can read the entire list here or watch the announcements below.

The 2019 Hugo Awards will be given out at Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon in Dublin, Ireland, August 15-19.

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Author Vonda N. McIntyre, 1948-2019

by on Apr.02, 2019, under Books, Obituaries

Award-winning Science Fiction author Vonda N. McIntyre, perhaps best known for her work in Star Trek including giving the characters of Sulu and Uhura first names as well as being just the third woman to win a Hugo Award, passed away yesterday at the age of 70 from pancreatic cancer.

McIntyre wrote the first original Star Trek novel (and second overall, after the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture), “The Entropy Effect”, in which she gave first names to a couple of the original characters, Hikaru Sulu and Nyota Uhura. The former became canon after fellow author Peter David visited the set of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and convinced the director, Nicholas Meyer, to use the name. The latter didn’t become canon until 2009’s Star Trek movie reboot.

She also won the Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards for Best Novel in 1979 for Dreamsnake.

You can read her official obituary here.

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Supernatural to end after 15th season

by on Mar.24, 2019, under Television

The Earth just shifted slightly on its axis…the CW’s longest running series ever (it started before the WB and UPN merger), Supernatural, will end after the upcoming 15th and final season. Stars Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and Misha Collins announced the end on Instagram and Twitter:

The show is currently in the top 20 scripted primetime series on U.S. TV, and with its 15th season I believe will tie for 9th on the list, assuming Grey’s Anatomy gets renewed for a 16th season.

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James Gunn reinstated by Disney for Guardians of the Galaxy 3

by on Mar.15, 2019, under Movies

This was a jaw-dropping moment today…Disney did an about-face and reinstated James Gunn as director for Guardians of the Galaxy 3, after having fired him back in July when old inappropriate tweets regarding rape and pedophilia of his surfaced. Gunn was immediately apologetic over his “poor judgement” at bad humor.

Today, Gunn was grateful for Disney’s letting him back in:

The reaction in social media seems relatively positive, but bears close monitoring.

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