L.A. BANKS - Novelist Creator of "The Vampire Hunter Legend" series

Novelist Leslie Esdaile Banks, who was best known for "The Vampire Huntress Legend" series of dark fantasy, died of cancer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 2, 2011. She was 51.  Banks was born in Philadelphia on December 11, 1959. She began her career writing columns for local newspapers and magazines. She was penning romance novels from the mid-1990s, with such titles as "Sundance" (2996), "River of Souls" (2001), "Still Waters Run Deep" (2002), "Sisters Got Game" (2004), "Take Me There"  (2006), and "Better Than" (2008).  She also wrote the crime novels "Betrayal of the Trust" (2004), "Blind Trust" (2005), "Shattered Trust" (2006), and "No Trust" (2007). Writing as LA Banks, she began "The Vampire Huntress Legend" series with "Minion" in 2003, and continued with "The Awakening" (2004), "The Hunted" (2004), "The Bitten" (2005), "The Forbidden" (2005), "The Damned" (2006), "The Forsaken" (2006), "The Wicked" (2007), "The Cursed" (2007), "The Darkness" (2008), "The Shadows" (2008), and "The Thirteenth" (2009). The early novels were optioned for a film version, and were adapted by Dynamite for a comic book series. She also wrote the "Crimson Moon" series, which included the novels "Bad Blood" (2008), "Bite the Bullet" (2008), "Undead on Arrival" (2009), "Cursed to Death" (2009), "Never Cry Werewolf" (2010), and "Left for Undead" (2010), and the "Dark Avengers" ebooks, "Finders Keepers" (2008) and "Loser's Weepers" (2008).



EVE BRENT - Starred as Jane to Gordon Scott's Tarzan in the 1950s

Actress Eve Brent, who starred as Jane in two Tarzan films in the 1950s, died in a Sun Valley, California, hospital on August 27, 2011.  She was 82.  She was born Jean Ann Ewers in Houston, Texas, in 1930. She began her career in radio and local television, before moving to Hollywood in the early 1950s. She was originally billed as Lean Lewis, and appeared in such films as "Female Jungle" (1955), "The Storm Rider" (1957), "The Garment Jungle" (1957), "Journey to Freedon" (1957), "Gun Girls" (1957), the cult classic "The Bride and the Beast" (1958) with a script by Ed Wood, and "The Sad Horse" (1959). She starred as Jane to Gordon Scott’s Tarzan in the films "Tarzan’s Fight For Life" and "Tarzan and the Trappers" in 1958.  The latter was three episodes of a proposed Tarzan television series edited together for a film release.  She was also a prolific television performer from the mid-1950s appearing in episodes of "Death Valley Days", "Annie Oakley", "Adventures of Superman", Boris Karloff’s "The Veil", "The Case of the Dangerous Robin", "Checkmate", "Burke’s Law", "Emergency!", "Finder of Lost Loves", "Tales from the Crypt", "Twin Peaks", "Weird Science", "Roswell", and "JAG".  She continued to appeare often in films throughout her career, with roles in "Cage of Evil" (1960), "Mara of the Wilderness" (1965), "Coogan’s Bluff" (1968), "Airport" (1970), "The Barefoot Executive" (1971), "The Todd Killings" (1971), "The White Buffalo" (1977), "Fade to Black" (1980) as Aunt Stella, "BrianWaves" (1983), "Going Berserk" (1983), "Date with an Angel" (1987), "The Green Mile" (1999), "Garfield" (2004), "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008), and "Hit List" (2011). She was married to Michael Ashe, her fifth husband, from the early 1980s until his death in 2008, and was frequently billed as Eve Brent Ashe later in her career.

MARC HANNIBAL - Actor and singer

Actor and singer Marc Hannibal died in Salem, Oregon, on July 23, 2011.  He was 80.  He was born Frank Charles Hannibal, Jr. in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1931.  He joined the Harlem Globetrotters in 1954, and toured with them for two years.  He began performing as a singer in the 1960s, recording two albums and headlining nightclubs across the country.  He also guest starred in episodes of such television series as "Ironside", "The Name of the Game", "Mission: Impossible", "Columbo", "McMillan & Wife", "McCloud", "Switch", and "Kojak".  He appeared in the tele-films "The Brotherhood of the Bell" (1970), "A Death of Innocents" (1971), and "The Strangers in 7A" (1972). Hannibal was featured in several films during his career including "The Grasshopper" (1969), "Airport" (1970), "The Man From O.R.G.Y." (1970), "Fools" (1970), "Three Fantastic Supermen" (aka "Super Stooges vs. The Wonder Women") (1975) as Moog, the African Superhero, and "Deliver Us From Evil" (1977).

　

YEKATERINA GOLUBEVA - Russo-French Actress

Russian actress Yekaterina Golubeva died in Paris, France, on August 14, 2011.  She was 44.  Golubeva was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, on October 9, 1966.  She began her film career in the mid-1980s, and was originally billed as Katia Golubeva.  She was married to Lithuanian film director Sharunas Bartas, who directed her in "Three Days" (1991) and "Few of Us" (1996).  She moved to Paris after her divorce from Bartas in the 1990s, where she appeared in Claire Denis' "I Can't Sleep" (1994), Leos Carax's "Pola X' (1999) with Guillaume Depardieu, "Twentynine Palms" (2002), and "The Intruder" (2004).

LEONARD HARRIS - "Taxi Driver"'s Senator Palantine

Drama critic Leonard Harris, who was featured in the 1976 film "Taxi Driver", died of complications from pneumona in Hartford, Connecticut, on August 28, 2011. He was 81.  Harris was born in the Bronx, New York, on September 27, 1929. He graduated from City College, and began his career writing obituaries and book reviews for "The Hartford Courant" in 1955. He began working for the CBS television affliate in New York as a drama and culture critic in 1966. Harris was cast as Senator Charles Palantine in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 film "Taxi Driver" - whose Presidential campaign indirectly inspired Robert DeNiro's Travis Bickle on his violent urban rampage. He was also featured as the Mayor in the 1980 film "Hero At Large" starring John Ritter. Harris was the author of several books including the thriller "The Masada Plan".

 

JUNPEI TAKIGUCHI - Japanese Anime Voice Actor

 

 

Uranai Baba from Dragon Ball

Japanese voice actor Junpei Takiguchi died of stomach cancer in Japan on August 29, 2011. He was 80.  He was born Kohei Takiguchi in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, on April 17, 1931. He was a leading voice actor from the early 1960s, working on such anime productions as "Goku no Daiboken" (1967), "Mazinger Z" (1972), "Gatchaman" (1973), "Time Bokan" (1975), "Treasure Island" (1978), "Unico: Black Cloud White Feather" (1979), "Lupin the 3rd" (1977), "The Ultraman" (1979), "Tomb of Dracula" (1980), "Fumoon" (1980), "Space Cruiser Yamato III" (1980), "Lucy of the Southern Rainbows" (1982), "Urusei Yatsura" (1982), "Don Dracula" (1982), "Cat's Eye" (1983), "Fist of the North Star" (1986), "Dragon Ball" as Uranai Baba, Saichourou and others from 1987, "Genji Tsushin Agedama", "One Piece" (2001) as Commodore Nelson, "Lupin III: Alcatraz Commection" (2001), "Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier" (2002), ".hack//Roots" (2006) as Phyllo, "Princess Resurrection" (2007), "D. Gray-Man" (2006) as Millennium Earl, and "Yatterman" (2008) as Dokurobee. He also narrated the railroad travel program "Burari Tochu Gesha no Tabi" fron 1992 to 2011.

GUALTIERO JACOPETTI - Italian Shockumentary Pioneer Director of "Mondo Cane"

Italian filmmaker Gualtiero Jacopetti, who co-directed the 1962 shockumentary classic "Mondo Cane", died at his home in Rome on August 17, 2011.  He was 91.  Jacopetti was born in Barga, Italy, on September 4, 1919. He worked as a journalist and magazine editor from the 1940s, and made newsreels before moving to feature films. He teamed with Paolo Cavara and Franco Prosperi to create "Mondo Cane" ("A Dog’s World") which depicted shocking customs and activities from around the globe. Similar productions soon followed, including "Women of the World" (1963) and "Mondo Cane 2" (1963). Jacopetti also made the 1966 film "Africa Addio" ("Goodbye, Africa"). He reteamed with Prosperi to make 1971’s "Goodbye Uncle Tom", which featured the two filmmakers travelling back in time to chronicle slavery in the United States.