2021 was another bizarre year due to the pandemic. As we do each year, we want to remember and honor those #SciFi & #Fantasy artists that the world has lost 2021. In 2020, we lost at least 25 artists. This year we lost at least 20.
The sci-fi & fantasy franchises that were impacted by the deaths that occurred in 2021 are listed below.
- 12 Monkeys
- 20,000 Leagues under the Sea
- The Addams Family
- Babylon 5
- Batman
- Battlestar Galactica
- Beastmaster
- Berserk
- Bewitched
- The Big Bang Theory
- Big Trouble in Little China
- Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
- Darkman
- Dinosaurs
- Dreamscape
- Dune
- Gargoyles
- Fantasy Island
- HR Pufnstuf
- Harry Potter
- Heaven Can Wait
- Highway to Heaven
- Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
- The Incredible Shrinking Woman
- Jonny Quest
- King Kong
- The Last Starfighter
- Lidsville
- Manimal
- Message from Space
- Night Gallery
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Once Bitten
- The Orville
- The Polar Express
- The Powers of Matthew Star
- Pushing Daisies
- Quantum Leap
- Saving Grace
- Space Command
- Spaceballs
- Star Trek
- Star Wars
- Starcrash
- Stargate
- Spider-man
- Superman
- Tabitha
- Touched by an Angel
- The Twilight Zone
- Wonder Woman
- Young Frankenstein
Our condolences to all of the families, friends & fans of the following artists that we lost in 2021.
January
Tanya Roberts died at the age of 65 on Jan. 4, 2021. She played Kiri in #TheBeastmaster, Miss Amanda Parsons in #FantasyIsland, and more, including playing Stacey Sutton in the James Bond spy film #AViewToAKill.
Mira Furlan passed away at the age of 65 on Jan. 21, 2021. She played Ambassador Delenn in #Babylon5, “Babylon 5: #InTheBeginning”, “Babylon 5: #Thirdspace”; the Traveler in #JustAddMagic; Danielle Rousseau in #Lost; Luise in #BunkerPalaceHôtel; Evelyn ‘Vonn’ Odara in #SpaceCommand; & more.
Actress Cloris Leachman passed away at the age of 94 on Jan. 26, 2021. She played Frau Blücher in #YoungFrankenstein, Mrs. Fulton in #NightGallery, Mrs. Fremont / Agnes Fremont in #TheTwilightZone, Griselda The Witch in #HanselAndGretel (1987), Mrs. Tensedge (voice) in #TheIronGiant, Ruth in #TouchedByAnAngel, Kayo (English version, voice) in #Ponyo, & more. She won the Oscar in 1972 for Best Supporting Actress for her role in #TheLastPictureShow (1971); she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical in 1976 for her work in the TV sitcom #Phylis (1975), which was a spinoff of the her role in the TV sitcom #MaryTylerMoore for which she won two Emmy’s: Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series (1975), and Best Supporting Actress in Comedy (1974).
February
Actor Christopher Plummer died on Feb. 5, 2021 at the age of 91. He played General Chang in “#StarTrek VI: #TheUndiscoveredCountry”, the Emperor in #Starcrash, Dr. Goines in #12Monkeys, Metamorphosis (voice) in #Gandahar, Bob Blair in #Dreamscape, & more; including what may be his most famous role as Captain Von Trapp in #TheSoundOfMusic.
March
Actor Cliff Simon passed away at the age of 58 on Mar. 9, 2021. The South African-born actor played Ba’al in #StargateSG1, #StargateContinuum; James LeBarre in #PersonalSpace; & more.
Actor George Segal passed away at the age of 87 on Mar. 23, 2021, due to complications after surgery. He played Tony Delgatto in #2012; Ray ‘Buster’ Bustamante in #PushingDaisies, Harry Benson in the #SciFi/horror film #TheTerminalMan; voiced Inbe no Akita in #TheTaleOfThePrincessKaguya; Dr. Benton C. Quest in #TheRealAdventuresOfJonnyQuest; & more. He was nominated for an Oscar for “Best Supporting Actor” for his role in the 1966 drama “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”.
Actress Jessica Walter passed away on Mar. 24, 2021, at the age of 80. She played Senator Elise Voudreau in #Babylon5, Betty Hanadarko in #SavingGrace, Morgan LeFay in #DrStrange (1978 TV movie), Gloria in #WonderWoman (1975 TV series), Janet Braddock in #TheImmortal (1969 TV series), Fran Sinclair (voice) in #Dinosaurs (1991 TV series), Naomi in #TouchedByAnAngel, Mrs. Latham in #TheBigBangTheory, & much more, including playing Lucille Bluth in the sitcom #ArrestedDevelopment.
April
Costume designer Robert Fletcher passed away at the age of 98 on April 5, 2021. Born on August 23, 1922, he is considered the father of the classic Klingon and Vulcan as they have evolved over the years as part of the #StarTrek film franchise. He designed the costumes for the films, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”, “Star Trek II: #TheWrathOfKahn”, “Star Trek III: #TheSearchForSpock” and “Star Trek IV: #TheVoyageHome.” He also designed the costumes for #TheLastStarfighter and one episode of #ThePowersOfMatthewStar.
Actress Helen McCrory passed away at the age of 52 on April 16, 2021. She played Narcissa Malfoy in “#HarryPotter and the #HalfBloodPrince”, “Harry Potter and the #DeathlyHallows Part 1”, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”; and more, including playing the 2nd whore in the drama/horror film “#InterviewWithTheVampire: #TheVampireChronicles”.
Actor Felix Silla passed away at the age of 84 on April 16, 2021. He played an Ewok in “#StarWars VI: #ReturnOfTheJedi”, Cousin Itt in #TheAddamsFamily, Emperor Penguin in “#Batman Returns”, Dink in #Spaceballs, a Taolisian in “#StarTrek #TOS”, Twiki in #BuckRogersAndThe25thCentury, Lucifer in #BattlestarGalactica, Colonel Poom in #Lidsville, Polka Dotted Horse in #HRPufnstuf & more.
Actor Nathan Jung died at the age of 74 on April 24, 2021. He played Ghengis Kahn in the “#StarTrek: #TOS” episode “The Savage Curtain”; Kendo Killer in #TheAmazingSpiderMan (1977 TV series); Tang in #Manimal; Wing Kong hatchet man in #BigTroubleInLittleChina; Yoji in #HighwayToHeaven; Chinese warrior in #Darkman; Jzuk-Mao in “#LoisAndClark: #TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman”; & more.
Actress Billie Hayes passed away at the age of 96 on April 29, 2021. She played the flamboyant villain Witchiepoo in “H.R. #Pufnstuf” (1969 TV series), Witchiepoo in Pufnstuf (the 1970 movie); Weenie the genie / Witchiepoo in #Lidsville; witch in #Bewitched; witches (voices) / additional voices in #TheNightmareBeforeChristmas; Sister Rosalind in #Tabitha, & more.
May
Manga artist Kentaro Miura (三浦 建太郎) unexpectedly passed away on May 6, 2021 at the age of 54. He is best known for creating the #DarkFantasy manga called #Berserk, which ran for 40 volumes and 363 chapters. The story centers on the characters of Guts (a lone mercenary) and Griffith (the leader of a mercenary band called the “Band of the Hawk”). Publication began in Hakusensha’s “Monthly Animal House” beginning in 1989; then “Monthly Animal House” was renamed Young Animal in 1992. Publication of the Berserk manga began In North America with the first volume published on October 22, 2003 by Dark Horse Comics in conjunction with Digital Manga Publishing. All 40 current volumes were published as of September 25, 2019 in North America.
A novel adaptation that was released on June 23, 2017 and entitled “Berserk: The Flame Dragon Knight” was written by Makoto Fukami and illustrated by Kentaro Miura. It is focused on the new Band of the Hawk’s apostle Grunbeld.
The first Berserk anime TV series ran for 25 episodes from 1997 to 1998; a second Berserk anime TV series ran from 2016 to 2017. Several TV movies were also created:
- “Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I – The Egg of the King” (2012)
- “Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II – The Battle for Doldrey” (2012)
- “Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III – The Advent” (2013)
Three video games were also produced based upon the manga:
- “Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage” (1999)
- “Berserk Millennium Falcon Arc: Chapter of the Holy Demon War” (2004)
- “Berserk and the Band of the Hawk” (2016)
Actor Charles Grodin passed away at the age of 86 on May 18, 2021. He played Tony Abbott in #HeavenCanWait (1978), Vance Kramer in #TheIncredibleShrinkingWoman, Fred Wilson in #KingKong (1976), drummer boy in #20000LeaguesUnderTheSea, & more.
June
Actress Joanne Linville died on June 20, 2021. She played a Romulan Commander in “#StarTrek: #TOS”, Prof. Pat Reed / Angela Smith in #TheInvaders, Lavinia Godwin in #TheTwilightZone, Karen Wadsworth / Aunt Minna Boswell in #OneStepBeyond, & more.
Actress Jackie Lane died on June 23, 2021. She played Dodo Caplet in #DoctorWho, & more.
August
Actor Shin’ichi Chiba (千葉 真一, a.k.a. Sonny Chiba, 1939 – 2021) died on August 19, 2021. He played Hans in #MessageFromSpace (宇宙からのメッセージ), Ken Abe in #TerrorBeneathTheSea (海底大戦争), Tachibana – Scientist / Space Man in #InvasionOfTheNepuneMen (宇宙快速船), & more (including Hattori Hanzo in the #KillBill movies).
September
Norm MacDonald died on Sept. 14, 2021. He played Yaphit in #TheOrville, & more.
October
Actress Camille Saviola died at the age of 71. She played Kai Opaka in “#StarTrek: #DS9”, Concetta in #AddamsFamilyValues, a burn unit nurse in #SavingGrace, and more.
Peter Scolari died on Oct. 22, 2021. He played Commissioner Loeb in #Gotham, Billy – Lonely Boy (voiced) in #ThePolarExpress, Ringmaster in #SabrinaTheTeenageWitch, Tim Albright / Charles Hibbard in #TouchedByAnAngel, Wayne Szalinski / Wayne Wolff / Noodles Oregano / Quark in “#HoneyIShrunkTheKids: The TV Show”, Preston Vogel (voice) in #Gargoyles, Stuart Hofferman in “#LoisAndClark: #TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman”, Leonard Randall / Delos of Atlanatis in #TheTwilightZone, & more.
November
Actor Dean Stockwell passed away at the age of 85. He played John Cavil in #BattlestarGalactica, Brother Cavil in “Battlestar Galactica: #ThePlan” (video); Col. Grat in “#StarTrek: #Enterprise”; Al Calavicci in #QuantumLeap; Doctor Wellington Yueh in #Dune (1984); Lt. Katell / Lt. Yamuri / Martin Decker in #TheTwilightZone; Adm. Doctor Kieran in #StargateSG1; Preston Carpenter in “#LoisAndClark: #TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman”; valet attendant in #OnceBitten; Charlie Evans in #NightGallery; & more.
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