* Ron Graham - born 17th December 1926, died 2nd April 2020, aged 93. Graham was an English born Australian Actor of stage, film and television who amassed 52 screen acting credits throughout his career which launched in single episode of the Australian filmed western series 'Whiplash' in 1961. He next starred in the TV movie 'The Merchant of Venice' that same year, and following this came the likes of 1969's 'The Intruder', 1970's 'The Curious Female', then 'Gallipoli' in 1981, 'Silver City' in 1984 and then made for TV movies '13 Gantry Row', 'Time and Tide', 'Portrait of a Suspect' and 'BlackJack' in 2003. Meanwhile he enjoyed 24 episodes on 'Dynasty' from 1969 until 1971, nine episodes of 'A Taste for Blue Ribbons', multiple episodes on 'Matlock Police', 'Homicide' and 'Division 4', before 97 episodes on 'Certain Women' from 1973 until 1976, six episodes on 'Glenview High', ten episodes on 'A Country Practice' then 'Heartbreak High', 'Blue Murder', 'Home and Away', and 'Snobs' in 2003 being his last screen role before announcing his retirement.
* Hans Meyer - born 21st July 1925, died 3rd April 2020, aged 94. Meyer was a South African born German film and television Actor who had 110 screen acting credits to his name in a career that spanned seven decades, kicking off in an uncredited role in 1961's 'The President'. Throughout the '60's he had numerous roles in largely French and German productions, whilst appearing in a single episode of 'Department S' in 1969, and its spin off series 'Jason King' in 1971. He then starred as Hauptmann Franz Ullman in 23 episodes of TV's 'Colditz' from 1972 to 1974, before 'Barry Lyndon' in 1975 for Director Stanley Kubrick, followed by the likes of 'The Riddle of the Sands', 'Red Sonja', 'Double Team', 'Brotherhood of the Wolf' with French crime horror offering 'Cruel' in 2014 being his last screen appearance. In the meantime he worked on English and US series including 'Minder', 'A Fine Romance', on 72 episodes of 'Crossbow', 'The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes', 'The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles' and 'The New Statesman'.
* Forrest Compton - born 15th September 1925, died 4th April 2020, aged 94. Compton was an American Actor most notably of television with some small parts in films. His career launched in 1954 on a single episode of 'The Brighter Day' followed up over the ensuing years with roles including on '77 Sunset Strip', 'The Fugitive', 'Invaders', on 41 episodes of 'Gomer Pyle', on six episodes of 'Hogan's Heroes', on ten episodes of 'The F.B.I.', on 471 episodes of 'The Edge of Night' from 1971 through until 1984, then 'Loving' and 'Ed' in 2002 being his final screen appearance. He portrayed the President of the US in the Christoper Walken action thriller 'McBain' in 1991. Compton died of COVID-19.
* Jay Benedict - born 11th April 1951, died 4th April 2020, aged 68. Benedict was an American Actor of stage, television and film who amassed 125 screen acting credits during his career which kicked off at the age of eleven in the French comedy film 'La band a Bobo' in 1963. From the early '60's Benedict lived and worked in Europe initially playing in many English theatres in stage productions, as well a working in French and Spanish languages which meant he could spread his talents widely across mainland Europe. Over the years his big screen roles included 'Winterspelt 1944', 'Hanover Street', 'Victor Victoria', 'Where Is Parsifal?', 'Aliens', 'Diamond Skulls', 'The Russia House', 'Double Team', 'Saving Grace', 'Vatel', 'Carmen', 'The Dark Knight Rises', 'The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed out of The Window and Disappeared', 'Moonwalkers', 'I.T.', 'Two is a Family', 'Madame', 'Hostile' and 'Scarefest' currently in post-production. His TV appearances took in the likes of six episodes on 'Yanks Go Home' in 1977, followed by 'Bergerac', 'The Bill', 'Maigret', 'Emmerdale Farm', 'Jonathan Creek', 'Casualty', 'Foyle's War', 'Lilyhammer', as well as lending his voice talents to numerous video games, and animated TV series. He died of complications arising from COVID-19.
* George Ogilvie - born 5th March 1931, died 5th April 2020, aged 89. Ogilvie was an Australian theatre Director first and foremost, but with the occasional film and television acting and Directing work over the years. In 1965 he returned to Australia from working in England where he trained, taught and acted to take up a position with the Melbourne Theatre Company, before moving to the South Australian Theatre Company. In 1988 he became a freelance Director working often with the Australian Opera and the Australian Ballet. Among his screen Directing credits were three episodes of the acclaimed TV miniseries 'Bodyline' which he also wrote the story for, he Co-Directed 'Mad Max : Beyond Thunderdome' with George Miller, then 'Short Changed', 'The Place at the Coast', 'The Crossing' in 1990 starring Russell Crowe in his first big screen appearance, and eleven episodes of 'Blue Heelers' between 2002 and 2006. He also had a bit-part in Russell Crowe's Directed and starring 'The Water Diviner' in 2014. He frequently taught and Directed at Sydney's NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art), in 1983 was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, and in 2006 he released his autobiography 'Simple Gifts : A Life in Theatre'.
* Lee Fierro - born 13th February 1929, died 5th April 2020, aged 91. Fierro was an American occasional Actress and theatre promoter who lived for many years on Martha's Vineyard where from 1974 to 2017 she was the Artistic Director of the Island Theatre Workshop and mentored hundreds of aspiring Actors. Fierro had just three screen acting credits to her name - with two of those being the 'Jaws' franchise in which, as Mrs. Kintner, she famously slapped the face of the Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Schneider) in the original 'Jaws' film in 1975. She reprised her role in 1987's 'Jaws : The Revenge' and her next big screen outing and her last was in 2016's 'The Mistover'. Since 2002 she has also appeared as herself in four 'Jaws' movie documentaries. She died of COVID-19.
* Shirley Douglas - born 2nd April 1934, died 5th April 2020, aged 86. Douglas was a Canadian film, television and stage Actress who accumulated 41 acting credits through her career over six decades beginning in 1953 in the made for TV movie 'Half Seas Over'. Her next big screen role was in Stanley Kubrick's 'Lolita' in 1962, and this was to be her last screen role until 1978 when she starred in the title role of 'Nellie McClung' the famed Canadian feminist activist. She then starred in 'The Wars' in 1983, 'Dead Ringers' and 'Shadow Dancing' both in 1988 and then 'The Shower', 'Passage of the Heart', 'Mesmer', 'Barney's Great Adventure', 'Woman Wanted' and 'The Law of Enclosures' in 2000 being her last big screen appearance. Meanwhile there were single and multiple episodes on the likes of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', 'Street Legal', 'Flash Gordon' to which she lent her voice work to 25 episodes, as the Narrator on all 22 episodes of 'Franklin', on 65 episodes of 'Wind at My Back', and on 'Robson Arms', 'The Path to 9/11', and 'Corner Gas' being her final screen role. During the late '60's she became involved in the American Civil Rights Movement, the campaign against the Vietnam War, and later on behalf of immigrants and women. She helped establish the fundraising group 'Friends of the Black Panthers', and she also co-founded the first chapter in Canada of the Performing Artists for Nuclear Disarmament. Douglas was married to acclaimed Actor Donald Sutherland from 1966 to 1970 and was the mother of Actor, Producer, Director, Singer/Songwriter Kiefer Sutherland. For her contributions to the performing arts, she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2003.
* Honor Blackman - born 22nd August 1925, died 5th April 2020, aged 94. Blackman was an English Actress of stage, screen and television who amassed 115 screen acting credits to her name in a career spanning eight decades, which launched with the 1947 film 'Fame is the Spur' in an uncredited role. Her first credited role came a year later in 'Daughter of Darkness' and from this point she never looked back. The following year she shared top billing in 'A Boy, a Girl and a Bike' and then 'Conspirator' in 1949 with Elizabeth Taylor and 'Diamond City' that same year. In the decades that came after there were the likes of 'A Night to Remember' in 1958 about the sinking of HMS Titanic, 'Jason and the Argonauts' in 1963, as Pussy Galore (perhaps her most renowned film acting role) in 1964's third James Bond outing 'Goldfinger' with Sean Connery, 'Moment to Moment' with Jean Seberg, 'Shalako' with Sean Connery again, 'The Last Greande' with Stanley Baker in 1970, 'To the Devil a Daughter' with Richard Widmark in 1976, 'The Cat and the Canary' in 1978, as Joy Adamson in 1999's 'To Walk with Lions' opposite Richard Harris, 'Bridget Jones Diary' in 2001, 'Colour Me Kubrick' with John Malkovich in 2005, 'I, Anna' in 2012 with Charlotte Rampling and 'Cockneys vs Zombies' in 2012 being her last big screen appearance. In the intervening years there were also numerous roles in TV shows including 'The Three Musketeers' in 1956, nine episodes on 1959's 'Probation Officer', ten episodes on 'The Four Just Men' in 1960, on 43 episodes of 'The Avengers' as Cathy Gale (perhaps her other most famed role after Pussy Galore), 'Columbo', 'Robin's Nest', 'Never the Twain', 'Doctor Who', on 95 episodes of 'The Upper Hand' between 1990 and 1996, 'Coronation Street', 'New Tricks', 'Casualty' and 'You, Me & Them' in 2015 being her final screen role. She also maintained her stage acting presence during this time in such plays as 'The Sound of Music', 'My Fair Lady', 'Cabaret' and her one woman stand up show 'Word of Honor'.
* James Drury - born James Child Drury Jnr. on 18th April 1934, died 6th April 2020, aged 85. Drury was an American actor of cinema and television who notched up 74 screen acting roles throughout his career which began with an uncredited role in 1955's 'The Blackboard Jungle'. His first big screen credited role was opposite Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds in 1955's 'The Tender Trap', and then 'The Forbidden Planet' in 1956 with 'The Last Wagon' and 'Love Me Tender' with Elvis Presley that same year. 'Good Day for a Hanging' came in 1959, then Sam Peckinpah's 'Ride the High Country' in 1962, 'The Young Warriors' in 1967, an uncredited role in 1994's 'Maverick', 'Hell to Pay' in 2005 and then made for TV movie 'Billy and the Bandit' currently in post-production. His small screen appearances over the years included many Westerns which were to become his trademark roles - 'The Texan', 'Bronco', 'Have Gun - Will Travel', 'Trackdown', 'Lawman', 'Black Saddle', 'Cheyenne', 'Death Valley Days', 'Gunsmoke', 'The Rifleman', 'Stagecoach West', 'Rawhide', 'Wagon Train', 'Alias Smith and Jones', and then his role for which he'll best be remembered as 'The Virginian' across 249 episodes from 1962 until 1971. He also appeared in thirteen episodes of 'Firehouse', then 'The Fall Guy', 'Walker, Texas Ranger', 'Kung Fu : The Legend Continues', and 'Tales of the Cap Gun Kid' in 2012. In 1991, Drury was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, and at the turn of the 21st Century Drury was in the oil and natural gas business in Houston, Texas.
* Allen Garfield - born Allen Goorwitz on 22nd November 1939, died 7th April 2020, aged 80. Garfield was an American Actor of film and television who accumulated 119 screen acting credits throughout his career, with only four film's where he played the lead character and gained top billing -'Skateboard' and 'Sketches of a Strangler' both in 1978, 'Chief Zabu' filmed in 1986 and released in 2016, and 'Jack and His Friends' in 1992. However, he did appear in many notable films including 1970's 'The Owl and the Pussycat', Woody Allen's 'Bananas' in 1971, 'The Candidate' in 1972, Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Conversation' and Billy Wilder's 'The Front Page' both in 1974, Robert Altman's 'Nashville' in 1975, William Friedkin's 'The Brink's Job' in 1978, 'The Stunt Man' in 1980, Michael Apted's 'Continental Divide' in 1981, 'Irreconcilable Differences' and 'The Cotton Club' both in 1984, Tony Scott's 'Beverly Hills Cop II' in 1987, Warren Beatty's 'Dick Tracy' in 1990, Wim Wenders 'Until the End of the World' in 1991, 'Wild Side' in 1995, 'Diabolique' in 1996, Roman Polanski's 'The Ninth Gate' in 1999, Frank Darabont's 'The Majestic' in 2001 and 'White Boy' in 2002 being his final screen role. He attended The Actors Studio in New York City, studying with both Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan, and worked on stage before acting in film. Garfield suffered a massive stroke in 2004 and thereafter was a long-term nursing care resident at The Motion Picture Home in Los Angeles, where he died from COVID-19.
* Malcolm Dixon - born 1st September 1953, died 9th April 2020, aged 66. Dixon was an English Actor of film, television and theatre who amassed just fourteen screen acting credits to his name, starting off with his role as Sleepy in the 1966 made for TV film of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. He then had an uncredited role as an Oompa Loompa in 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' in 1971, before 'Black Jack', 'Flash Gordon' in 1980, 'Time Bandits' in 1981 as Strutter, 'The Dark Crystal' in 1982, as an Ewok Warrior in 'Star Wars : Episode VI - The Return of the Jedi', 'Labyrinth' in 1986, as Diddy in 1987's 'Snow White', 'Willow' in 1988 and his final screen role in 'A Witch's Way of Love' in 1997. He was also featured in many music videos for artists such as David Bowie, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet. His many roles took advantage of his dwarfism, as Dixon measured just 4feet 1inch in height, including Ewoks and dwarfs.
* Diane Rodriguez - born 22nd June 1951, died 10th April 2020, aged 68. Rodriguez was an American theatre performer, Director and Writer first and foremost, but who also racked up seventeen screen acting credits throughout her career. She was perhaps especially known for using comedy to confront various forms of oppression, often with special attention to issues of gender and sexuality. Her screen acting career launched in the Richard Pryor film from 1977 'Which Way Is Up', followed by the Anthony Perkins Directed and starring 'Psycho III' in 1986, 'La Bamba' in 1987 and 'Terminator 2 : Judgement Day' in 1991 for Director James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton. In the intervening years there were single appearances on such TV shows as 'Falcon Crest', 'Hill Street Blues', 'L.A. Doctors', 'Dragnet' and 'ER'. She had a number of published writings, wrote and co-wrote a number of stage plays, was awarded an OBIE (Off Broadway Award) in 2007, and in early 2015 it was announced that US President Obama nominated Rodriguez to the National Council on the Arts.
* Bruce Baillie - born 24th September 1931, died 10th April 2020, aged 88. Baillie was an American experimental film maker who amassed 33 Directing credits, five as Cinematographer, four as Editor and two as an Actor during his career which launched in 1961 with the short film 'The Gymnasts'. His filmography took in short films only - the shortest of which ran for just one minute and the longest of which there were a few, ran for just shy of an hour. Perhaps his most noteworthy film is the ten minutes long 'Castro Street' from 1966 - a visual non story documentary film using the sights and sounds of a city street. In 1992, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'. The Academy Film Archive preserved 'Castro Street' in 2000. His other works include 'Quick Billy', 'To Parsifal', 'Mass for the Dakota Sioux', 'Valentin de las Sierras', 'Roslyn Romance', 'Quixote' and 'Tung'. Baillie founded Canyon Cinema in San Francisco in 1961, and also that same year, along with friend and fellow cinematic artist Chick Strand, founded San Francisco Cinematheque.
* Tim Brooke-Taylor - born 17th July 1940, died 12th April 2020, aged 79. Brooke-Taylor was an English comedian, Actor of film, stage and screen and radio and television personality. He became widely known to the public for his work on BBC Radio with 'I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again', before moving into television with 'At Last the 1948 Show' which aired from 1967 to 1968 and which he starred as various characters and also wrote for. That led to 'How to Irritate People', 'Marty' and 'Broaden Your Mind', all comedy sketch shows in which he again starred and co-wrote, between 1967 and 1969. This gave way to his most famed TV collaboration with Graham Garden and Bill Oddie as 'The Goodies' which aired from 1970 though until 1982, and still remains a comedy classic to this day, and which was hugely popular in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. From 1976 to 1979 he also starred in the comedy sketch series 'Hello Cheeky'. Thereafter he took assorted roles in TV series including 'You Must Be the Husband' in which he took the lead role over its thirteen episode run, then 'Me and My Girl', 'The Upper Hand', 'One Foot in the Grave', 'Absolute Power', 'Heartbeat', 'Agatha Christie's Marple' and 'Doctors' in 2015 being his last screen role. In the meantime there were several big screen outings including 'The Thirteen Chairs' in 1969, 'The Statue' and 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' both in 1971, 'The Secret Policeman's Ball' in 1976 and 'The Secret Policeman's Other Ball' in 1981 and lending his voice to overdub the French/German animated film 'Asterix and the Big Fight' into English in 1989. He was also a panellist on the BBC Radio comedy panel game 'I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue' for almost fifty years from 1972 right up until the present day. In 2011 Brooke-Taylor was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to light entertainment. He died of complications arising from COVID-19.
* Joel M. Reed - born 20th December 1933, died 12th April 2020, aged 86. Reed was an American film Director, Writer and Actor whose work was for the most part in the low budget slasher/horror genre. His career launched in 1968 with 'Sex by Advertisement' which was followed up in 1969 with 'Career Bed', then 'G.I. Executioner' in 1971 which he Directed, wrote and starred in all three. He then Directed and wrote 'Blood Bath' in 1975 and perhaps his best known work was for Directing the controversial 'Blood Sucking Freaks' in 1976, a notorious horror comedy that was the subject of protests upon its initial release and has since achieved cult status. In 1981 he Directed, wrote and once again starred in 'Night of the Zombies'. He then went into a thirty year hiatus, returning to acting in a string of low budget horror offerings taking in 'Dead Eye' in 2011, 'I Spill Your Guts' in 2012, 'Catch of the Day' in 2014, 'The Fappening' in 2015, 'Killer Waves' in 2016, 'Freak in the Basement' in 2018 with 'Catch of the Day : You Die at Dawn!' in 2019, and 'The Dysfunctional Mob' that was still in production at the time of his death. Reed died after contracting COVID-19.
* Danny Goldman - born 30th October 1939, died 12th April 2020, aged 80. Goldman was an American Actor, voice Actor and Casting Director who amassed 86 screen acting roles and fourteen as Casting Director throughout his career which kicked off with two episodes on TV series 'That Girl' in 1969. In 1970 he appeared in the films 'M*A*S*H', 'The Strawberry Statement' and 'The Tribe' before going on to appear in fifteen episodes of 'The Good Life' between 1971 and 1972. From here he had small roles in 'Beware! The Blob', 'The World's Greatest Athlete', 'Why', 'Busting', 'Win, Place or Steal', 'Young Frankenstein', 'Linda Lovelace for President', 'Tunnel Vision', 'The Missouri Breaks', 'Where the Buffalo Roam', 'Wholly Moses!', 'My Man Adam' and 'Free' his final feature film role in 2001. In the meantime, he had roles on 'Happy Days', 'Hawaii Five-O', 'Kojak', on nineteen episodes of 'Busting Loose', 'CHiPs', 'Trapper John, M.D.', 'The Love Boat', 'Cagney & Lacey', on sixteen episodes of 'The New Mike Hammer' and 'Criminal Minds' most recently in 2011 and 2012. He was however, perhaps most noted for his voice work as Brainy Smurf on 225 episodes of 'The Smurfs' from 1981 through 1989 plus a number of Smurf TV shorts and TV movies beginning in 1982.
* Bruce Myers - born sometime in 1942, died 15th April 2020, aged 78. Myers was an English Actor and Director of stage, television and screen who accumulated fifty screen acting credits during his career which began in 1965 in two episodes of TV series 'Broad and Narrow'. In 1970 he scored his first feature film role in the drama Sci-Fi 'No Blade of Grass' whose tagline was 'A Virus of Doom Envelopes Earth' (how appropriate for these modern times). He went on to star in 'Meetings with Remarkable Men' Directed by Peter Brook who Myers would go on to have a long theatre association with. He followed this up with 'The Awakening' for Director Mike Newell in 1980, 'Deep Water', 'Prime Risk', 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' and then Peter Brooks acclaimed mini-series 'The Mahabharata' in 1989. 'Henry & June' followed in 1990, with 'The Browning Version' for Mike Figgis in 1994, 'Nostradamus' that same year, 'The Governess' in 1998 with 2011's 'Page Eight' being his final screen appearance. In the meantime there were numerous French films and TV series in which he appeared as well as stage productions most notably in France for Peter Brook, which he subsequently travelled far and wide with. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and a founding member of Peter Brooks International Centre for Theatre Research in Paris in 1976.
* Brian Dennehy - born July 9th 1938, died 15th April 2020, aged 81. Dennehy was an American Actor of film, television and theatre who notched up 183 screen acting credits together with a Golden Globe win, five Primetime Emmy nominations and another four wins and ten nods from around the awards and festivals circuit. He also racked up ten credits as Producer, seven as Director and five as Writer in a career that launched in 1977 on a single episode of 'Kojak'. That same year he also appeared in thirteen productions including episodes on 'Serpico', 'Police Woman', 'M*A*S*H', 'Lou Grant' plus two feature films 'Looking for Mr. Goodbar' and 'Semi-Tough'. Over the ensuing five decades he starred in numerous notable movies taking in the likes of 'F.I.S.T.', 'Butch and Sundance : The Early Days', '10', his breakthrough role as the overzealous Sheriff Will Teasle in 'First Blood', 'Gorky Park', 'Cocoon', 'Silverado', 'F/X', 'Legal Eagles', 'The Man from Snowy River II', 'Presumed Innocent', 'F/X 2', 'Best Seller', The Belly of an Architect', 'Romeo + Juliet', 'Assault on Precinct 13', 'Righteous Kill', 'The Next Three Days', 'Knight of Cups', 'The Seagull', with 'Son of the South' and 'Long Day Journey' currently in post production and 'The Adventures of Buddy Thunder' in pre-production at the time of his passing. In the intervening years there were numerous TV series appearance either as one off's or on multiple episodes, including 'Dallas', 'Knots Landing', 'Dynasty', on all ten episodes of 'Star of the Family', 'Miami Vice', on all seven episodes of 'Birdland', on ten episodes of 'The Fighting Fitzgeralds', 'Just Shoot Me!', 'The West Wing', 'The Good Wife', on eight episodes of 'Public Morals', and on eight episodes of 'The Blacklist' right up until 2019. He also wrote, Executive Produced, Directed and starred in a series of 'Jack Reed' made for TV movies during the mid-'90's. Dennehy also won two Tony Awards, both times for Best Lead Actor in a Play. His first win was for 'Death of a Salesman' in 1999, and the second was for 'Long Day's Journey into Night' in 2003. He frequently starred in plays by Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett and maintained a stage presence right up until 2015.
* Allen Daviau - born 14th June 1942, died 15th April 2020, aged 77. Daviau was an American Cinematographer who racked up 54 cinematography and Director of Photography credits during his career which launched in 1967 with his work on Roger Corman's 'The Trip', Steven Spielberg's short film 'Slipstream' and short film 'Laudate'. In 1968 he worked for Spielberg again on his short film 'Amblin''. He lensed his first feature film in 1973 with 'The Brothers O'Toole' before working on the 1980 special edition release of Spielberg's 1977 classic 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. Over the years that followed he would regularly work with Spielberg on 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial', 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom', 'Twilight Zone : The Movie', 'The Color Purple' and 'Empire of the Sun'. In the meantime he also worked on 'Harry Tracy : The Last of the Wild Bunch', 'The Falcon and the Snowman' for Director John Schlesinger, 'Harry and the Hendersons', 'Avalon' and 'Bugsy' both for Director Barry Levinson, 'Defending Your Life' for Albert Brooks, 'Fearless' for Peter Weir, 'Congo' for Frank Marshall, 'The Astronaut's Wife' and 'Van Helsing' for Stephen Sommers in 2004 which was to be his film feature film. Daviau was nominated for five Academy Awards, won one BAFTA for 'Empire of the Sun' and was nominated for one other, plus six further wins and another six nods from around the awards circuit. He received lifetime achievement awards from the Art Directors Guild in 1997 and the American Society of Cinematographers in 2007, and throughout his career, Daviau shot thousands of commercials, documentaries, industrial and educational films. He died from complications arising out of COVID-19.
* Sean Arnold - born 30th April 1941, died 15th April 2020, aged 78. Arnold was an English Actor of film, television and theatre who notched up forty acting credits to his name, in a career than began in 1966 on a single episode of 'King of the River'. From here he appeared in a number of other TV shows in both single and multiple episodes including 'Softly Softly', 'The Caesars', 'Colditz', on thirteen episode of 'Grange Hill', 'Shoestring', 'Great Expectations', on 72 episodes of 'Bergerac', 'The Bill', on fourteen episodes of 'Wing and a Prayer', 'Merseybeat' and on eighteen episodes of 'Doctors'. In the meantime there were a handful of feature films including 1980's 'North Sea Hijack' with an all star cast, 'Remembrance', 'Haunters of the Deep', 'Speaking of the Devil', 'The Visual Bible : The Gospel of John', 'Red Rose' and 'Fuel' in 2008 which was to be his last screen role.
* Jack Wallace - born 10th August 1933, died 16th April 2020, aged 86. Wallace was an American Actor of cinema and television who accumulated 108 screen acting credits throughout his career which kicked off in the Charles Bronson actioner 'Death Wish' in 1974. He gained top billing in his next movie 'The Last Affair' in 1976, before going onto the likes of 'Above the Law' in 1988 with Steven Seagal, 'Things Change', 'State of Grace' with Sean Penn, 'Homicide' for Director David Mamet, 'Liebestraum' for Mike Figgis, 'Mad Dog and Glory', 'Steal Big Steal Little', 'Nixon' for Oliver Stone, 'Levitation', 'The Spanish Prisoner' for David Mamet again, 'Boogie Nights' for Paul Thomas Anderson, 'Twilight' with Paul Newman, 'Lakeboat', 'Jacks or Better', 'State and Main' for David Mamet once more, 'American Pie 2', 'Edmond', 'Redbelt' for David Mamet again, 'Faster' with Dwayne Johnson, 'An Old Man's Gold', 'The Boy Next Door', 'Nocturnal Animals', 'Extortion' with 'Senior Moment' in post-production at the time of Wallace's death. There were also appearances on TV shows taking in over the years eleven episodes on 'Ohara' then 'Frasier', Chicago Hope', 'Public Morals', 'NYPD Blue', 'ER', 'Becker', 'Cold Case', 'The Unit', 'General Hospital', fourteen episodes on 'Eagleheart', 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Shameless'.
* Joel Rogosin - 30th October 1932, died 21st April 2020, aged 87. Rogosin was an American Television Producer and Screenwriter active mostly throughout the '60's, '70's and '80's. His writing carer launched in 1959 with him scripting a single episode of 'Pony Express', followed up also with single episodes of 'Troubleshooters', 'Surfisde 6', 'Hawaiian Eye' and '77 Sunset Strip'. His Producer credits, of which there were twenty-four included three episodes of 'Hawaiian Eye' in 1961, six episodes of '77 Sunset Strip', thirty-three episodes of 'Surfside 6', followed by fifty-one episodes of 'The Virginian', fourteen episodes of 'The Bold Ones : The New Doctors', twenty-three episodes of 'Longstreet', twenty-two episodes on 'Ghost Story', twenty-nine episodes of 'Ironside', twenty-five on 'The Blue Knight', twelve on 'Mr. Merlin', eleven on 'Magnum P.I.', thirty on 'Knight Rider' and five on 'The New Lassie'. He also scribed a number of episodes on the TV series he Produced over the years too. There were a number of made for TV movies in the meantime also. Rogosin was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards over the years for 'Ironside', twice in 1970 and 1971, and for 'Magnum P.I.' in 1983. He died from COVID-19.
* Dimitri Diatchenko - born 11th April 1968, died 21st April 2020, aged 52. Diatchenko was a first generation American (of Ukrainian descent) Actor and musician. He trained in classical guitar and competed in several high profile guitar competitions, released four solo guitar CD's and taught private guitar lessons in Los Angeles. He began his acting career of 82 screen credits in 1997 after being chosen to play a small role in Ridley Scott's 'G.I. Jane'. From there his big screen credits took in the likes of 'The Settlement', 'The Genius Club', 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull', 'Get Smart', 'Burning Palms', Chernobyl Diaries', 'Company of Heroes' and 'They're Watching'. In the ensuing years, there were appearances on TV shows including 'Diagnosis Murder', 'Walker, Texas Ranger', 'Pensacola : Wings of Gold', 'Alias', 'Criminal Minds', 'Burn Notice', 'CSI : Miami', 'General Hospital', 'Sons of Anarchy', 'Bones' and 'Murder in the First'. Diatchenko was often typecast as a Russian heavy, and he also lent his voice talents to numerous video games including 'Medal of Honor : European Assault', 'From Russia with Love', 'Iron Man', 'Call of Duty : World at War', 'Wolfenstein', 'Iron Man 2', 'Crackdown 2', 'Call of Duty : Black Ops', 'Ghost Recon : Future Soldier', 'Tomb Raider', 'Call of Duty : Heroes', 'Fallout 4' and 'Call of Duty : Infinite Warfare' amongst others. As well as acting, voice acting and being an accomplished classical guitar player, Diatchenko also had black belts in both Tae Kwon Do and Kenpo Karate and studied boxing and arnis (the national martial art of the Philippines). During the early 1990's he competed as a heavyweight in several national championships, winning many medals in full contact fighting.
* Shirley Knight - born on 5th July 1936, died 22nd April 2020, aged 83. Knight was an American Actress who accumulated 183 screen acting credits and Broadway and Off-Broadway productions in her career, playing leading and character roles. She was also a member of the Actors Studio. Her seven decade spanning career launched in 1955 on two episodes of 'Playbill' before her first big screen outing in 'Five Gates to Hell' in 1959, then 'Ice Palace' in 1960 with Richard Burton. That same year she followed this up with 'The Dark at the Top of the Stairs' for which Knight was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. In 1962's 'Sweet Bird of Youth' with Paul Newman, Knight was once again nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and this was followed up by her top billing in 'House of Women' also in 1962. Then came the likes of 'Flight from Ashiya' with Yul Brynner, 'The Group' for Sidney Lumet, 'The Counterfeit Killer' with Jack Lord, 'Petulia' with Julie Christie, 'The Rain People' for Francis Ford Coppola, 'Juggernaut' for Richard Lester with an all star cast, 'Beyond the Poseidon Adventure' for Irwin Allen and again featuring an all star cast, 'Endless Love' for Franco Zeffirelli, 'Color of Night' with Bruce Willis, 'Diabolique' with Sharon Stone, 'As Good as it Gets' with Jack Nicholson, 'Angel Eyes' with Jennifer Lopez, 'The Salton Sea' with Val Kilmer, 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood' with Sandra Bullock, 'Paul Blart : Mall Cop' and its sequel 'Paul Blart : Mall Cop 2', 'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee' with Robin Wright, 'Redwood Highway', 'Mercy' and 'Periphery' in 2018 with Rebecca De Mornay being her final screen role. In the meantime there were numerous made for TV films and appearances in TV series taking in seven episodes on 'Buckskin' in 1958, 'Rawhide', 'The Texan', 'Bronco', 'Maverick', 'Lawman', 'The Virginian', 'Alias Smith and Jones', 'Tales of the Unexpected', 'The Equalizer', 'Murder, She Wrote', on sixteen episodes of 'Maggie Winters', and on five episodes of 'Desperate Housewives'. Aside from her two Academy Award and Golden Globe nods, she was also nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards winning two, plus four other award wins and a further eight nominations.
* Bruce Allpress - born 25th August 1930, died 23rd April 2020, aged 89. Allpress was a New Zealand Actor who notched up forty-four screen acting roles throughout his career which began in 1977 with seven episodes on the single season of 'Hunter's Gold'. From here his film credits took in 'Beyond Reasonable Doubt' in 1981, then Mike Newell's 'Bad Blood' also in 1981, 'The Scarecrow' the following year, 'Savage Islands' in 1983 with Tommy Lee Jones, 'Came a Hot Friday', 'The Shrimp on the Barbie', Jane Campion's acclaimed 'The Piano' in 1993, and 'The Rainbow Warrior' that same year, Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers', 'The Water Horse' with 'Rest for the Wicked' in 2013 being his final big screen appearance. Meanwhile there were roles on several single and multiple episodes of TV series taking in nine episodes on 'Mortimer's Patch', the mini-series 'Erebus : The Aftermath', 'Riding High', six episodes on 'Hercules : The Legendary Journeys', 'Shortland Street', on seven episodes of 'Power Rangers Jungle Fury', 'The Cult' and 'Go Girls' most recently in 2013.
* Peter H. Hunt - born 19th December 1938, died 26th April 2020, aged 81. Hunt was an American theatre, film and television Director who amassed forty-four screen Directing credits throughout his career which launched in 1972 with the feature film of his Tony Award winning stage play '1776' and he followed this up in 1975 with 'Give 'em Hell, Harry!', and then in 1978 with his final feature film 'Bully : An Adventure with Teddy Roosevelt'. He turned his attention almost exclusively to TV series and made for television movies in the meantime and in the ensuing years right up until 2003. His TV series included ten episodes of 'Adam's Rib' in 1973, four episodes of 'When Things Were Rotten' in 1975, ten episodes of 'The Wizard' in 1986/87, thirteen on 'Grand' in 1990, six on 'One West Waikiki' in 1995/96, on two episodes of 'Baywatch' in 1989 and 1996, and on 37 episodes of 'Touched by an Angel' from 1996 until 2003, which was to be his final Directing credit. His made for TV movies over the years took in 'Hello Mother, Goodbye' in 1974, 'When She Was Bad . . . ' in 1979, 'The Private History of a Campaign That Failed' in 1981, 'Bus Stop' and 'The Mysterious Stranger' both in 1982, 'The Parade' and 'Sins of the Past' both in 1984, 'Secrets' in 1992, and 'Sworn to Vengeance' in 1993. Hunt was the uncle of award winning Actress Helen Hunt.
* Jill Gascoine - was born 11th April 1937, died 28th April 2020, aged 83. Gascoine was an English Actress and novelist who amassed forty-two screen acting credits during her career which launched with uncredited roles in the 1959 film 'The White Trap' and 1960's 'The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's'. From there here other feature films took in 'Confessions of a Pop Performer' in 1975, 'King of the Wind' in 1990, 'Red Hot' in 1993, 'BASEketball' in 1998 and 'TV Virus' in 2007. In the meantime, she garnered far greater success in British TV series, most notably as Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes on fifty-six episodes of 'The Gentle Touch' between 1980 and 1984, and its follow on series playing the same character on 'C.A.T.S. Eyes' across thirty episodes between 1985 and 1987. Meanwhile, there were forty-five episodes on 'Rooms' in 1977, and thirty-three on 'The Onedin Line' from 1976 until 1979. 'Home to Roost', 'Taggart', 'El C.I.D.', 'Boon', 'Northern Exposure' and 'Touched by an Angel' were among the cross section of TV series in which she appeared in one-off roles since. Gascoine also penned three novels - 'Addicted' in 1994, 'Lilian' in 1995, and 'Just Like a Woman' in 1997. 'Lilian' was in pre-production for a screen adaptation to be Directed by her real life husband and Actor Alfred Molina, and 'Just Like a Woman' was adapted into a TV movie in 2000 titled 'Love Lessons'.
* Irrfan Khan - born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan on 7th January 1967, died 29th April 2020, aged 53. Khan was an Indian Actor, known for his work mainly in Hindi cinema, as well as British and American films. Cited in the media as one of the finest actors in Indian cinema, Khan's career spanned more than thirty years earning him many accolades, including a National Film Award, an Asian Film Award, and four Filmfare Awards. In 2011, he was awarded the Padma Shri, by the Government of India - its fourth highest civilian honour. All up Khan garnered 32 award wins and a further 28 nominations from his 149 screen acting credits, two as Director and three as Producer. His feature film career began in 1988's 'Hello Bombay!' and from there went on to roles in numerous Indian movies, television series and made for TV films. Among his feature film roles there were 'Such a Long Journey', 'The Warrior', 'Rog', 'The Killer', 'The Namesake', 'Partition', 'A Mighty Heart' for Director Michael Winterbottom, 'The Darjeeling Limited' for Wes Anderson, 'Slumdog Millionaire' for Danny Boyle, 'The Amazing Spider-Man' for Marc Webb, 'Life of Pi' for Ang Lee, 'The Lunchbox', 'Jurassic World' for Colin Trevorrow, 'Inferno' for Ron Howard, 'Hindi Medium', 'Tokyo Trial', 'Puzzle' for Marc Turtletaub, with 'Angrezi Medium' being his final screen acting role this year. In the meantime he Directed 291 episodes and starred in 312 episodes of 'Banegi Apni Baat' in 1994, as well as 47 episodes of 'The Great Maratha', 178 episodes on 'Jai Hanuman' from 1997 through 2000, seven on 'In Treatment' in 2010, four on the mini-series 'Tokyo Trial' in 2016 which was made into a feature film the following year, plus numerous one-off appearances in the meantime. In 2012, he changed his first name from 'Irfan' to 'Irrfan', because, he said, he liked the sound of the extra 'r' in his name. He later dropped 'Khan' from his name because, according to a 2016 interview, he wanted his work to define him, not his family heritage.
* B. J. Hogg - born William Henry Brian Hogg on 30th April 1955, and died on his 65th birthday on 30th April 2020. Hogg was a Northern Irish Actor of stage, film, and television who notched up sixty-two screen acting roles during his career which began in the made for TV movie Directed by Mike Leigh in 1984 'Four Days in July'. Amongst his other feature film roles over the years that followed were 'Eat the Peach' in 1986, 'Nothing Personal' in 1995, 'The Second Jungle Book : Mowgli & Baloo', 'The Informant' and 'A Further Gesture' all in 1997, 'Titanic Town' and 'Divorcing Jack' both in 1998, 'Puckoon' in 2002, 'Closing the Ring' in 2007 for Director Richard Attenborough, 'Hunger' for Director Steve McQueen in 2008 and 'City of Ember' that same year, 'Your Highness' in 2011, 'Property of the State' in 2016 and 'The Windemere Children' in 2020, with 'Ringsend' announced before his passing. In the meantime there were various made for television films, short films and TV series appearances including the mini-series 'Hanging Gale', the fourteen minute short film 'Dance Lexie Dance' which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1998 for Best Live Action Short Film, the mini-series 'Rebel Heart', on two episodes of 'Rough Diamond', on a single episodes of 'Game of Thrones', on 'Holby City' for two appearances, on four episodes of 'The Fall', and finally on all seventy-three episodes of 'Give My Head Peace' right up to the present day.A staggering thirty-two screen celebrities have passed away in April 2020 of which nine were from the COVID-19 pandemic - representing more than 28%! A shocking statistic, and the world of screen entertainment is worse off because of it. Stay safe, and follow what your Government is advocating until such time as the all clear is given - it's important, we're all in this together!
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
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