December 4
2008 – Forry Ackerman passed away at the age of 94. Just about every person in the genre today was influenced by this man and his “creation” “Famous Monsters of Filmland.” Besides his numerous written and physical contributions to the world of horror and sci-fi (a term he coined himself) he had parts in various films over the years including “Dracula vs Frankenstein,” “The Queen of Blood,” “Amazon Women on the Moon” (where he was the President of the United States”) and “The Howling.”
2005 – “Saw” film producer Gregg Hoffman, passed away at the age of 42.
1993 – Multi talented muscian Frank Zappa, passed away at the age of 52.
1987 – Rouben Mamoulian, who directed Fredric March in the 1931 version of “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde,” passed away at the age of 90.
1967 – Bert Lahr, who played “The Cowardly Lion” in “The Wizard of Oz,” passed away at the age of 72.