IRWIN ALLEN, 75, celebrated producer of 1960s TV science fiction and 1970s disaster films, died Nov. 2. He broke into pictures in 1950 as a producer and later a director, winning the 1953 documentary-feature Oscar for “The Sea Around Us.” He moved into fantasy and SF with “The Story of Mankind” in 1957 and “The Lost World” in 1960.

     In 1961 Allen produced and directed the popular “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” for 20th Century-Fox. It was the basis for his first TV series (1964-68), and was quickly followed by Lost In Space (1965-68), The Time Tunnel (1966-67), and Land of the Giants (1968-70). Switching back to features, he produced the first “disaster” film, “The Poseidon Adventure,” in 1972, followed by “The Towering Inferno” in 1974. Allen squeezed out “The Swarm” (1978), “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure” (1979), and “When Time Ran Out” (1980), then brought his disaster formula to TV with titles like “Fire!”, “Flood!” and “Cave-In!” finishing

off the genre.

FRED MacMURRAY, 83, popular and versatile movie and TV star, died Nov. 5. His diverse roles ranged from “The Caine Mutiny” to “The Shaggy Dog,” to his 12-year run as beloved TV dad Steve Douglas on My Three Sons. Acclaimed for his role as Barbara Stanwyck’s patsy in “Double Indemnity,” MacMurray starred in light comedies (“The Egg and I,” “Father Was a Fullback”), westerns (“Good Day for a Hanging,” “The Oregon Trail”), dramas (“The Rains of Ranchipur,” “The Apartment”), and Disney family fare (“The Absent-Minded Professor,” “Follow Me, Boys”). His last part was in Irwin Allen’s “The Swarm.”

GENE TIERNEY, 70, star of “Laura” and other popular 1940s films, died Nov. 6. Following her screen debut in “The Return of Frank James” (1940), she appeared in “Tobacco Road,” “Heaven Can Wait,” “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,” “The Razor’s Edge,” “Dragonwyck,” “Night and the City” and many others. Her last feature roles were in “Advise and Consent” (1962) and “The Pleasure Seekers” (1964). In 1969 she appeared in “Daughter of the Mind,” one of ABC’s first Movie of the Week films. Her final role was in the 1980 TV mini-series, “Scruples.”

RALPH BELLAMY, 87, veteran stage, film and TV actor, died Nov. 29. In the 1930s he played bemused socialites and cloddish millionaires in films like “Carefree,” “The Awful Truth” and “His Girl Friday.” In the early ’40s he starred in Columbia’s short-lived series of Ellery Queen programmers. Later he was a television fixture, starring in one of the medium’s earliest hits, Man Against Crime (1949-54). He was also a regular on The Eleventh Hour, The Survivors, The Most Deadly Game and Hunter (the 1977 spy show, not the 1980s cop show) and had guest shots on many other series. He was so well-known for portraying Franklin D. Roosevelt in the stage and screen versions of “Sunrise at Campobello” that he reprised the role for the colossal TV production of “The Winds of War.” His later film roles included “The Professionals,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Oh, God” and “Trading Places.”

     

KHIGH DHIEGH, 81, actor best known as Steve McGarrett’s nemesis Wo Fat on Hawaii Five-0, died Oct. 25. He was appearing on Broadway when he was cast as the wily Red Chinese spy in the 1968 Five-0 pilot. As played by Dhiegh, the character made such an impression that Wo Fat escaped his originally scripted death to return throughout the series, always eluding McGarrett until he was finally captured in the show’s final episode in 1981.

     Dhiegh played villains in other popular adventure shows, including Mission: Impossible, The Wild Wild West, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. and It Takes a Thief. He starred as a San Francisco detective in Khan, a CBS series that ran just four episodes in 1975, when the networks were starting to cancel low-rated shows in only a few weeks.

     Though he was invariably cast as an Oriental villain, Dhiegh was not Asian at all. He was born in New Jersey to Anglo-Egyptian parents.

JOHN HOYT, 86, long-time character actor, died Sept. 15. His five-decade career began with Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater and included some 80 film roles, ranging from “The Blackboard Jungle,” “Spartacus” and “Cleopatra” to such genre entries as “When Worlds Collide,” “Attack of the Puppet People” and the softcore comedy “Flesh Gordon.” Countless TV roles included appearances on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, Mission: Impossible, The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, The Wild Wild West, Hogan’s Heroes, It Takes a Thief and Kolchak: The Night Stalker. He may be best remembered as Dr. Philip “Bones” Boyce in the first Star Trek pilot with Jeffrey Hunter.

REGIS TOOMEY, 93, veteran actor in films and television, died Oct. 12. Best known as Sgt. Les Hart on ABC’s popular Burke’s Law, he was also a regular on David Janssen’s Richard Diamond series. His supporting roles in more than 200 movies beginning in 1925 included “Meet John Doe,” “Spellbound,” “His Girl Friday,” “The Big Sleep,” “Mighty Joe Young,” “The High and the Mighty,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,” “Gunn” and “The Carey Treatment.” Toomey was credited with giving Jane Wyman the longest kiss in movie history in 1941’s “You’re in the Army Now.”

ALAN WHEATLEY, 84, English actor who played the Sheriff of Nottingham in the British-made Robin Hood series that aired on CBS from 1955 to 1958 and in reruns for years after, died Aug. 30 in London. Though most of his career was spent on the British stage, he was seen occasionally in television imports such as Doctor Who and The Avengers.

ALEX NORTH, 81, renowned film composer, died Sept. 8. His first score, for “A Streetcar Named Desire” in 1951, brought him the first of 15 Oscar nominations (others included “Viva Zapata,” “Death of a Salesman,” “Spartacus,” “Cleopatra,” “Dragonslayer” and the song “Unchained Melody” from 1955’s “Unchained,” a hit again in 1990’s “Ghost”). His television work ranged from Your Show of Shows to Playhouse 90 and 77 Sunset Strip. He won an Emmy for Rich Man, Poor Man in 1976. Other film scores included “The Misfits,” “Bachelor Party,” “The Devil’s Brigade,” “Prizzi’s Honor,” and “Good Morning, Vietnam.”

JACQUES AUBUCHON, 67, TV, film and Broadway actor, died Dec. 28. Probably best known as the unscrupulous South Pacific islands chief Urulu on McHale’s Navy, he also played a French detective on the short-lived Paris 7000 series. His television career included some 300 appearances in shows such as Studio One, Kraft Theatre, The Twilight Zone, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Columbo, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Ironside and Hawaii Five-O, as well as countless commercials.

REGGIE NALDER, 80, Austrian-born character actor, died Nov. 19. He played the wraith-like assassin in the 1956 version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” and appeared in many similar TV roles in episodes of It Takes A Thief, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, T.H.E. Cat, 77 Sunset Strip and many others.

FREDDIE BARTHOLOMEW, 67, famed child actor of the 1930s, died Jan. 23. Born in England, he became a Hollywood star at age 10 playing the title role in MGM’s “David Copperfield” (1934). Parts in “Anna Karenina,” “Captains Courageous,” “Little Lord Fauntleroy,” “Lloyds of London,” “Swiss Family Robinson” and “Kidnapped” made him one of the most popular stars of the era, but his popularity waned as he grew up. He appeared in a few movies during World War II, such as “Cadets on Parade” and “A Yank at Eton,” and served in the Army as a maintenance worker on B-17 bombers. After his last film role in 1951’s “St. Benny the Dip” and a stint as a daytime TV host, he joined the Benton & Bowles advertising agency.