In Memoriam: Fallen Stars of 2017

This past weekend, it was announced that actor Martin Landau, best known to readers of this site and children of the Seventies as the humanistic Commander John Koenig of Space: 1999, had passed away at the age of 89. A renowned performer, Landau's screen career began on television in the early 1950s, and included memorable roles on The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. After turning down the role of Spock on Star Trek, the actor became a household name with a three-year stint on the hit spy series Mission: Impossible, on which he co-starred with his then-wife, Barbara Bain. (Ironically, Leonard Nimoy replaced him on M:I when Landau left the show.)

In 1975, he and Bain co-starred on the British science fiction series Space: 1999. His role as the intellectual commander of Moonbase Alpha, an artificial habitat on the surface of the wandering Moon, was iconic. After a career slump in the Eighties, the actor received acclaim and Oscar nods in the 90s, with his  win for his portrayal of legendary horror star Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's Ed Wood being especially notable.

Godspeed, Commander.

As this blog was on hiatus for the last few months, I didn't post notices of the passings of two other Space: 1970 icons (although I did note them on this site's Facebook page.) I want to correct that now.

• On May 24th, Jared Martin, star of the 1977 sci-fi series, The Fantastic Journey, died at age 75. A prolific television actor, Martin not only portrayed the enigmatic, time traveling futurian Varian on Journey, but made guest appearances on The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, Logan's Run and The Six Million Dollar Man. In the late Eighties, he starred as Dr. Harrison Blackwood on the War Of the Worlds television series for two seasons.

I always liked Martin - he possessed an otherworldly quality that served him particularly well in genre roles. He will be missed.

• Back in February, we lost Battlestar Galactica's original Captain Apollo, Richard Hatch. He passed away on February 7th, at the age of 71. As the heroic, responsible fighter pilot, Hatch's Apollo was a genuinely positive role model for 70s Star Kids, and his loss is heavily felt. His connection with the role and the show never faded; in the 90s he produced a "pilot film" for a proposed revival and co-authored several novels continuing the adventures of the Galactica and its multi-generational crew.

When the series was finally rebooted in the early 2000's by the SyFy channel, Hatch joined the cast as Tom Zarek, and provided the voice of Apollo for the 2003 Galactica video game.

I like to think that he has been taken aboard the Ship of Lights for an eternal journey among the stars...

Let's hope that I don't have to write any more obituaries this year.

Obit: Leonard Nimoy R.I.P.

"Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most human."

Actor Leonard Nimoy, who originated the role of half human-half Vulcan Science Officer Spock on the original Star Trek television series, has passed away at age 83, due to end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Nimoy reprised the role of Spock in the 1973 animated Trek series, eight feature films, beginning with 1979's Star Ttrek - The Motion Picture, and a couple of episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1991. (Not to mention countless cameos, videos and even some games.)  In 1973, he starred in the TV movie/pilot Baffled as a race car driver with ESP powers, and in '78 as Dr. David Kibner in Phillip Kaufman's remake of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. From 1977 to 1982, he was the host of the syndicated documentary series, In Search Of....

Obviously, I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Leonard Nimoy. Star Trek is not only my favorite television series of all time, but it has had a huge impact in how I think and perceive the world around me. The character of Spock, as delineated by the talented Mr. Nimoy, represented rationality and scientific curiosity. Logic - tempered with the best qualities of humanity. Loyalty... and sly, sharp wit. Qualities that I aspire to (and, admittedly, rarely achieve).

In the 1990s, I worked tangentially with Mr. Nimoy as the scripter of the comic book series Leonard Nimoy's Primortals. My direct interactions with the man were few - we spoke on the phone a couple of times and only met face-to-face on one occasion - but I have in my files a memo from him praising my writing on the series. Rarely have I been so honored by a compliment.

A fine actor, writer and artist, his legacy will live long... and prosper.

Obit: Glen A. Larson, R.I.P.

Television producer Glen A. Larson, who created the original Battlestar Galactica and developed Buck Rogers for the small screen, passed away Friday night of esophageal cancer at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica. Larson was 77.

An extremely successful producer - although not always a respected one - Larson was responsible for a ton of Seventies and Eighties television, including such hits as Knight Rider, Magnum P.I., B.J. And The Bear, The Fall Guy, Switch, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Alias Smith And Jones, Manimal, Quincy M.E., and more. He produced the second and third Six Million Dollar Man telefilms, and brought the 90's comic book hero NightMan to television.

But for Star Kids, it was Galactica that stands as his shining achievement, an epic-scaled space opera with groundbreaking, theatrical-quality special effects and production design, and themes inspired by Larson's Mormon faith. It debuted in the Fall of 1978 as a Top Ten show, and finished the season as the 25th most popular show on television, only failing to get renewed because of its extravagant million dollar (plus) weekly budget. Despite its abbreviated run, it lived on in novels, comic books and a brief 1980 revival series, eventually being retooled and resurrected in 2004 for the Sci-Fi Channel.

He also worked with Leslie Stevens (The Outer Limits) to update the classic comic strip hero Buck Rogers for Universal and NBC in 1979. The pilot film so pleased the studio that it received a theatrical release in the Summer of 1979, before going on to a two-season run on television.

Although Larson was notorious for ripping off popular movies with his shows (he was even sued by 20th Century Fox and George Lucas over Galactica's similarities to Star Wars), his programs were undeniably entertaining, filled with action, humor and glamor, aimed solidly at family audiences.

I count more than a few of Larson's shows (Magnum P.I., The Fall Guy, Knight Rider) among my all-time favorites, and would rather watch most of them even now than much of what currently airs on TV. If Glen Larson was a hack (as his detractors insist), he was a successful one, and he'll  be missed.

Obit: Lou Scheimer R.I.P.

Sad news - Lou Scheimer, the man who (with his partners Norm Prescott and Hal Sutherland) brought 70s Star Kids such Saturday morning favorites as the Emmy Award-winning Star Trek - The Animated Series, Ark II, Space Academy, Jason Of Star Command, Shazam!, Isis, Blackstar, and the best screen adaptation of Flash Gordon ever, has passed away at age 84.

I can't begin to express how much those Filmation shows impacted me as a kid and influenced the person I've become. It was clear that Scheimer personally loved science fiction and fantasy, and his studio seemed to always have a genre show on the air on one network or another throughout the 70s.

Not only did he produce the shows, but he provided narration and character voices to almost every show he made. Sure, it was partly a cost-saving measure (Filmation was notorious for their low budgets), but there was clearly a lot of enthusiasm in his voice work. You can't listen to his vocal performance as Ark II's chimpanzee Adam, for instance, without hearing the fun he's having in his voice.

One of these days, I'm going to have to write up a Hall Of Fame post for the guy - he was that influential. 

Rest in peace, Lou.

Obit: Michael Ansara R.I.P.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the imposing Michael Ansara, who portrayed Klingon Commander Kang in the classic Star Trek episode "Day Of the Dove" (as well as a couple of Deep Space Nine episodes), has passed away. He was 91.

The deep-voiced actor also appeared in a recurring role as Kane, Princess Ardala's right-hand man on Buck Rogers In The 25th Century (replacing Henry Silva, who had played Kane in the pilot), and also appeared in episodes of Irwin Allen's 60s sci-fi shows including Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Lost In Space, Land Of The Giants and Time Tunnel.

Obit: Mariangela Melato, R.I.P.

More sad news: Italian actress Mariangela Melato, who so memorably portrayed General Kala, Klytus' right-hand woman and head of Mongo's secret police in director Mike Hodges' 1980 film, Flash Gordon, passed away from pancreatic cancer last Friday, January 11. She was 71 years old.

Popular in Europe, Melato starred in a variety of roles in over 60 films and television productions, but is probably best known for her role in 1974's Swept Away.

Rest in peace, Mariangela.

Obit: Gerry Anderson R.I.P.

I've just learned that producer Gerry Anderson, creator of the Space: 1970 television favorites UFO and Space: 1999, has passed away at age 83. Anderson, who also produced the 1969 sci-fi feature, Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun (a/k/a Doppleganger), the TV special, The Day After Tomorrow: Into Infinity, and the 1990's program, Space Precinct, was diagnosed with mixed dementia two years ago, and moved permanently to a care home in October of this year. He leaves behind four children and his widow, Mary.

Of course, in England and elsewhere, he is probably best-known for his "Supermarionation" programs - including Fireball XL-5, Thunderbirds, Supercar, Stingray, Terrahawks and Joe 90 - which combined sophisticated puppetry with extensive miniature effects. Many of these shows aired in the U.S. during the 60s and 70s, but didn't have quite the cultural impact here that they did at home.

Obviously, I am a huge admirer of Anderson's live-action genre efforts. Space: 1999 and UFO are both milestones in the realm of 70s sci-fi, and classics of their kind.

R.I.P. Gerry, and thanks.

Captain's bLog: 1217.12

•   Obit: I begin this Captain's bLog with some sad news. I've learned that actress Dolores Mantez, who portrayed lovely Lieutenant Nina Barry, the purple-wigged moonbase commander on Gerry Anderson's 1970 series UFO, passed away in November.

She appeared in 23 of the series 26 episodes, with probably her most memorable appearance being in "Sub Smash," a tension-filled hour of drama where her character was trapped on a crippled SHADO submarine with Ed Bishop's Commander Straker and very little air.

Although a busy actress on British television during the Sixties, she retired from acting in 1972 to devote her attentions to her family. Rest in peace, Ms. Mantez.

•   Star Wars Graphic Novel Giveaway: While I remain disappointed in how few of the folks who entered actually followed directions - even after I repeated the instructions - I'm otherwise pleased by the overall response to this first Space: 1970 Giveaway. After disqualifying all the entries that didn't follow the rules, I randomly drew the winning name of Star Kid Mark Holmes, from far-off Willingboro, New Jersey.

Sometime in the next few days, I'll be shipping out the Dark Horse Star Wars Omnibus Vol. 2 and the adaptations of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Keep an eye on the mail, Mark!

 •  Press: Last friday, Huffington Post blogger Jason Apuzzo wrote an article about the upcoming Disney Star Wars sequels and 70s science fiction cinema. I enjoyed the article for the most part (especially the parts that seemed to be borrowed from - or at least influenced by - my writings here), but the best part was that he included a link to Space: 1970 at the end of his post. This resulted in a nice uptick in hits from new readers. Hopefully, some of them stuck around!

•  Blatant Cross-Promotion: And here's my usual shameless plug: anyone who enjoys my writing and the DVD reviews on this blog  should check out my DVD Late Show site, where I have been reviewing B-movies, cult films and genre television shows on DVD and Blu-ray disc since 2005. Among the over 700 reviews on the site are plenty of Space: 1970-era favorites, like Battle Beyond The Stars, Damnation Alley, Starcrash, The Starlost, the Space: 1999 Blu-rays, and many more. 

R.I.P. Neil Armstrong. "We Come In Peace For All Mankind."

Captain's bLog: Supplemental

A few quick notes....

•  With a little luck, my new DVD of The Black Hole will arrive in the mail today or tomorrow. With the passing of co-star Ernest Borgnine over the weekend, I'm particularly eager to revisit the film. I've always felt that the cast was one of the genuine joys of the movie, and Borgnine's reporter, Harry Booth, was a somewhat unusual character for a space-based film. I always wondered how he was filing his articles...

•  We also saw the passing of actor Andy Griffith last week, which put me in mind of his Space: 1970-era genre television series, 1979's Salvage 1. Griffith played salvage expert Harry Broderick, who, with the aide of a couple of ex-NASA experts (Joel Higgins and Trish Stewart) built a spaceship (the Vulture) out of junkyard scraps and traveled to the moon to salvage all the equipment left there after the Apollo space missions.

I remember being really excited about the original TV movie/pilot that January, and forcing my cousins to watch it since I was staying over at their house that weekend. Once it went to series (a very short-lived series), I found it much less compelling as the subsequent stories were considerably more Earthbound. Still, it has stuck in my memory, and I probably should have mentioned it here earlier.

As for Griffith, he was as charming and amiable in Salvage 1 as he was in most of the other productions he appeared in. He wasn't the sort of actor generally cast in genre shows, but he did have a memorable role in the first season Bionic Woman episode, "Angel of Mercy."

• Well, a couple of days ago, I went ahead and ordered the Region 2 DVDs of the 1975 British-German series Star Maidens with some early birthday cash I received from my generous mother-in-law. I've only seen one episode - on YouTube - but it was enough to let me know that, aesthetically anyway, the show is right up my alley. Pure. Seventies. Style.

Hopefully, the DVDs will be here in a week or so. I'm looking forward to reviewing it here, too.

• Blu-ray.com has posted an advance review of Warners' forthcoming Outland Blu-ray disc. From the sound of it, it is a quantum leap in quality over the old, and sub-par even for its age, DVD. Apparently, there's a very informative audio commentary track by writer/director Peter Hyams, as well, who reportedly acknowledges the film's debt to Ridley Scott's Alien in its look and feel. I've always said that it didn't take much to pretend that Outland and Alien took place in the same universe...

•  I did recently get my hands on an affordable "previously-viewed" set of the Star Wars "Original Trilogy" Blu-rays. While I - like many first-generation SW fans - am more than a little annoyed at the fact that George Lucas didn't choose to make the original cuts of the films available on the discs alongside the Special Edition versions (and also made additional digital alterations to those!), I have to admit, that it's very nice to see those characters (and spaceships, etc.) in nigh-flawless high definition.

•  Oh, and I finally finished watching The Invisible Man DVDs! Look for a review here later this week.

Obit: Ernest Borgnine, R.I.P.

The familiar character actor Ernest Borgnine, has passed away at age 95. Borgnine's career spanned five decades and countless films and television episodes in every genre imaginable. For aficionados of 70s and 80s sci-fi films, he's remembered for his portrayal of opportunistic journalist Harry Booth in Disney's 1979 space epic, The Black Hole, and his recurring role on the 1976-77 series, Future Cop. Among his many other credits were roles in 1973's The Neptune Factor and 1981's Escape From New York.

R.I.P. Harry.

Obit: Richard Lynch R.I.P.

I've just heard that the great Richard Lynch (or, as my wife called him, "Cat-Man"), the iconic face and voice of villainy in probably a hundred TV shows and movies, including many Space: 1970 favorites, has passed away at age 76. 

Among the many genre shows in which he was featured were Battlestar Galactica (as convict Wolfe in "The Gun On Ice Planet Zero"), Galactica: 1980 (as renegade scientist Xavier), Buck Rogers In The 25th Century (as Morgan Velosi, proprietor of the "Vegas In Space"), The Bionic Woman, and The Phoenix. He also portrayed various villains in films like Deathsport and The Sword And The Sorcerer. It's hard to find a mainstream adventure show in the 70s and 80s that he didn't guest on - he even made several appearances on Star Trek - The Next Generation. I have particularly fond memories of a 1979 TV movie, Vampire, in which he played the titular fiend.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Lynch.

Captain's bLog: 0409.12

•  Wow. I have no idea where the winter went. I have no good excuses for my lack of posting over the last couple of months. For whatever reasons, other things were demanding my attentions, and Space: 1970 was unfortunately neglected. In any case, I'm planning to get back to regular updates immediately, and for those who stuck around during the drought, I appreciate your patience. 

•  Obit: I want to comment on the passing of Ralph McQuarrie last month. As the concept artist for Star Wars, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: Phase 2/Star Trek - The Motion Picture, it could be fairly said, I think, that he defined for many of us the "look" of Seventies sci-fi. Hell, his rejected Viper designs for Galactica ended up being used on Buck Rogers, so his influence even extended directly into that series as well.

R.I.P. Mr. McQuarrie... and thanks.

•  On sale this week in the U.S. is the official DVD release of the 1977 Logan's Run television series. The 3-DVD set, containing all 14 episodes (including the feature-length pilot episode), is priced at $39.98 SRP. No extras have been announced.

Obviously, I'm a big fan of the series, which starred Gregory Harrison, Heather Menzies and Donald Moffat, and am eager to get my hands on this set on Tuesday. Personally, I'm going to try and pick it up at my favorite video dealer, but if you can't find it close to home, Amazon is currently offering it at around $27 bucks. Logan's Run: Complete Series

•   Stats: Even without regular updates, traffic remained reasonably steady here at Space: 1970 over the last two months, and it appears some new Star Kids have joined the Alliance. We're up to nearly 400 followers here on Blogger, and the Facebook Fan Page currently boasts 865 "Likes." I genuinely appreciate the support! I also want to thank every person who has used the Amazon links on this site to make purchases of vintage sci-fi on DVD/Blu-ray (and the few who've made Paypal donations - if you'd like to contribute, there's a link in the right-hand sidebar). Every little bit helps.

•  Shameless Self-Promotion: Anyone who enjoys my writing and reviews on this site should check out my DVD Late Show site, where I have been reviewing B-movies, cult films and genre television shows on DVD and Blu-ray disc since 2005. Among the over 700 reviews are plenty of Space: 1970-era favorites, like Battle Beyond The Stars, Damnation Alley, Starcrash, The Starlost, the Space: 1999 Blu-rays, and many more.

• That's it for now. April's Space Babe will be posted shortly....

Obit: John Barry, R.I.P.

John Barry, the acclaimed film composer who was probably best known for his scores to Born Free, The Ipcress Files, Body Heat, Midnight Cowboy, and the majority of James Bond films between 1963's From Russia With Love and 1987's The Living Daylights, passed away Sunday at age 77.

Among his many memorable musical scores were the themes to Space: 1970 favorites Starcrash (1978):

And The Black Hole (1979):

Barry was a versatile and influential composer, and will be greatly missed.

Obit: Irvin Kershner R.I.P.

The director of the best Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back, has passed away. Veteran filmmaker Irvin Kershner, whose many credits include The Eyes of Laura Mars, A Fine Madness, Robocop 2, Never Say Never Again, and The Return of A Man Called Horse, died at his home in Paris today at age 87.

I watched Empire again on its anniversary last May, and was surprised to see just how well it holds up. Like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Empire is just so well-crafted and expertly paced, that every time I watch it, it's just as exciting and rewarding as the first time. It is the finest of the Star Wars films, and Kershner's experienced hand is a large part of its success.

Rest in peace, Mister Kershner, and may the Force be with you.

Obit: Simon MacCorkindale, RIP

Simon MacCorkindale, star of the 1983 fantasy series Manimal (which just barely falls under the purview of this site) has died at age 58, after a battle with cancer.

The actor died Thursday night surrounded by his family in a private Harley Street clinic. He had been diagnosed with bowel cancer four years ago, which had later spread to his liver. His wife, the actress Susan George, said he had fought valiantly against the ravages of the disease.

"He fought it with such strength, courage and belief. Last night, he lost this battle, and he died peacefully in my arms..to me, he was simply the best of everything, and I loved him with all my heart."

I don't believe I ever actually saw an episode of the short-lived and much-maligned fantasy-adventure series Manimal (which co-starred Flash Gordon's Melody Anderson), but I know it had quite a cult following. Producer Glen Larson (Battlestar Galactica) even brought MacCorkindale's character back in the 90s to guest star on an episode of his syndicated superhero series, Night Man.

MacCorkindale didn't have many other notable genre roles, but I always enjoyed seeing him when he popped up in guest shots on TV.