Last Call: Science Fiction and Fantasy - April 2008

Charlton Heston, 84. Actor whose roles were frequently cibnematic icons like Moses and Ben Hur, and whose genre work, intended to distance him from his earlier costume dramas, included Soylent Green (1973), The Omega Man (1971), and Planet of the Apes (1968). Heston also appeared in Beneath the Planet of the Apes in a cameo role with the requirement his character be killed off. The franchise managed to bring in a time travel angle to continue the series. He also appeared in the 2001 Planet of the Apes remake. Richard Matheson's novel, I Am Legend, was filmed three times under different titles; Heston's The Omega Man was the second The recent remake, I Am Legend (2007), seems to owe more to the Heston movie than Matheson's book. Also starred in the Bram Stoker-inspired mummy movie The Awakening (1980), as well as In John Carpenter's Lovecraftian In The Mouth of Madness (1995), and the Japanese science fiction film Solar Crisis (1990). April 5, 2008.

Hazel Court, 82. Leading Hammer Horror actress. Starred in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959), and Dr. Blood's Coffin (1961), and the Roger Corman movies The Premature Burial (1962), The Raven (1963), and The Masque of the Red Death (1964). Also starred in Devil Girl from Mars (1954) and appeared in Damien 3: The Final Conflict (1981).Genre TV appearances included Thriller and Twilight Zone. Of a heart attack in Lake Tahoe, California, April 15, 2008.

Julie Ege, 62. Actress, a Hammer Horror star in Creatures the World Forgot (1971) and opposite Peter Cushing in his last vampire movie, Dracula and The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974). She went on to other movies and TV, including a role as one of the sanitarium guests in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, before retiring to her home country, Norway, where she became a nurse. Of cancer April 29, 2008.

Lawson Deming, 94. TV horror movie host in Ohio and Michigan, portrayed Sir Graves Ghastley. Of congestive heart failure, April 24, 2008.