Sci-Fi Storm

According to his official web site, SF author Philip José Farmer passed away this morning peacefully in his sleep. He was 91.

Ricardo Montalban, best known as Mr. Rourke on Fantasy Island and perhaps some Chrysler commercials but better known among genre fans in perhaps his best role as Khan Noonian Singh in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan and also won an Emmy for role in How The West Was Won and the SAG Lifetime Achievement award in 1994, passed away this morning at the age of 88.

The Thunder Child writes “Practically every news outlet is sharing the sad news that Patrick McGoohan passed away today at the age of 80, after a short illness.

Despite over 60 years of work, his classic series The Prisoner remains his most enduring legacy, and if you visit my blog entry today on Mr. McGoohan, you can view a 9-minute video of him being interviewed by Warner Troyan in 1977, in front of a live studio audience (posted at YouTube).

I’ll be having a Prisoner marathon tonight…

http://dailyspace.blogspot.com/2009/01/patrick-mcgoohan-has-died.html“ I changed the title of the article to reflect the news, which I was about to post. Aside from his well known role in The Prisoner, McGoohan’s most recent major role was as King Edward Longshanks in Braveheart, also the evil Roger Devereau in Silver Streak, but also guest starred several times on Columbo, for which he won two Emmys.

Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry who also played several roles in the various incarnations of Star Trek (from Number One in the original pilot, Nurse/Doctor Christine Chapel in the original series and movies, Lwaxana Troi in The Next Generation, and the computer voice in ALL series and movies, including the upcoming J.J. Abrams film, passed away today at the age of 76 from Leukemia.

Following up on a previous story, Forrest J. “Forry” Ackerman passed away last night peacefully. He was 92.

SF author, director and producer Michael Crichton, who wrote Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park and more, and created the long running TV drama ER, passed away at the age of 66 after battling cancer.

Charlton Heston, who has uttered some of the most memorable lines in some of the greatest movies (and occasionally at press conferences), has passed away at the age of 84. In case anyone doesn’t know him, he starred in several biblical epic films (like Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments), and of course Planet of the Apes. He also starred in The Omega Man, based on the same story that was recently done as I Am Legend.