He was the first iconic zombie of modern horror cinema, but most people don’t even know his name.

Bill Hinzman, best known to horror fans for playing the “Cemetery Ghoul” in the opening sequence to George Romero’s original zombie movie classic Night of the Living Dead, passed away on Sunday after a long battle with cancer. He was 75 [...]

Woe to You Oh Earth and Sea…

Every metalhead in the world is familiar with that first line from the spoken-word introduction to the Iron Maiden song “The Number Of The Beast.” The man who lent his voice to that iconic intro, Barry Clayton, has died, according to the Islington Tribute. He was 80.

For the title track off their 1982 album, Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden had wanted horror icon Vincent Price to recite the intro for the song, but his fee turned out to be too high. That’s when the band turned to Clayton, a deep-voiced actor who read ghost stories at Capital Radio, to do the 25-second recitation taken from the Bible’s Book of Revelation [...]

Bob Anderson, one of the world’s top sword masters and fencing choreographer for such movies as Lord of the Rings, Highlander, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Princess Bride, has died, according to TheOneRing. He was 89.

Anderson, who was born on September 15, 1922 in Hampshire, England, taught many actors fencing techniques and was a stunt double for David Prowse’s Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He actually also trained actor Errol Flynn, who is known for his iconic swashbuckling roles.

According to TheLordOfTheRings.net, after the master swordsman read J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books, he “developed sparring methods based on Tolkien’s descriptions of each culture.” [...]

Jerry Robinson, comics rights activist and creator of Batman villain The Joker, passed away Wednesday night at the age of 89 years old.

I hate writing articles like this, not only because it means that a creator whose work mattered to me as a reader and not only because he was a man for whom I have the utmost respect, but also because it’s impossible for me to do this man justice with anything I say about him. I cannot stress enough the importance of the creation of a character like The Joker and what kind of influence that has had on the comic book industry [...]

Today marks 20 years since the passing of one of the greatest frontmen in rock history: Freddie Mercury.

Born Farrokh Bulsara on September 5, 1946 in Zanzibar off the east coast of Africa, Mercury was always a keen musician. His family eventually made its way to the UK and in the late 1960s he formed a band with guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor, and eventually bassist John Deacon [...]

Today is the 20th anniversary of the death of Eric Carr, the drummer of KISS who helped keep the band moving forward during the Eighties. Carr, born Paul Caravello, passed away on November 24, 1991 at the age of 41 from complications stemming from his battle with cancer. The loss was colossal to both KISS and their fan base, but he is remembered.

Eric Carr first joined KISS in 1980, when the band decided that it was time for Peter Criss to leave the group. Or perhaps Peter decided it was time to leave… (choose your side of this anecdote). Either way, substance abuse had taken a major toll on original drummer Criss by this stage of the band that it was allegedly affecting his performances both on stage and in the studio [...]

Author Anne McCaffrey, best known for her Dragonriders of Pern series, died on Monday at her home in Ireland after suffering a stroke. She was 85.

McCaffrey, who was born in Cambridge, MA. and moved to Ireland in 1970, was an iconic writer in the science fiction and fantasy fields. She was also one of the first fantasy writers I ever read. Her original Dragonriders of Pern trilogy helped establish my love for the genre [...]

Guitarist for the long-time theatrical metal band GWAR, Cory Smoot aka Flattus Maximus, has been found dead by his band members on their tour bus, after departing a show in Minneapolis before heading to Canada. There is no word as to the cause of death. It is not known how old Smoot is.

The character of Flattus Maximus has been portrayed in GWAR by numerous musicians over the years, and Cory Smoot joined the band in 2002. He has played the character as part of the band for the longest out of all previous musicians who also took on the name [...]

Charles Napier, an iconic character actor who specialized in playing stern authority figures and various tough guy roles in an acting career in film and television that spanned more than four decades, passed away today at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital in Bakersfield, CA. He was 75.

Born in 1936 in Scottsville, Kentucky, Napier served in the U.S. Army in the 11th Airborne Division before becoming an actor in the late 1960′s. One of Napier’s first acting roles was playing a space hippie on the Star Trek original series episode “A Way to Eden.” He later became a favorite actor of director Russ Meyer and appeared in his films Cherry, Harry, and Racquel!, The Seven Minutes, Supervixens, and Meyer’s mind-blowing magnum opus Beyond the Valley of the Dolls [...]

At the end of August, many were stunned when it was revealed that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was stepping down as CEO, and that Tim Cook would be taking his place. It wasn’t the first time that Jobs had stepped away, and many feared the worst given that he had battled numerous health problems, including pancreatic cancer and a liver transplant.

Now those fears have become a reality, as Apple has announced via a short statement on their website that Steve Jobs has passed away at the age of 56.

The statement read:

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple. [...]

Today commemorates 25 years since the death of Metallica bass player, Cliff Burton.

We all know Metallica as the metal behemoth it is today: headlining Big 4 concerts and selling countless albums across the world. All of this is built on the foundation of the band’s early days and the three albums that in the same amount of years turned them from exciting new band to greatest band in the world [...]

I can say in all honesty and with sincerity that the greatest man who ever lived has passed away — Arch West, creator of Doritos, at the age of 97.

West, a former Frito-Lay executive, passed away in Dallas on September 20, 2011, and will be buried with the chips he created. During a graveside service set for October 1, West’s family will be throwing the Doritos onto the grave before the dirt is put in [...]

The comic book world has been rocked, as one of its better known artists has passed. Dutch outlets (via Bleeding Cool) are reporting that artist Minck Oosterveer died on Saturday from a motorcycle accident. He was 50 years old.

Best known for his work on books like Marvel’s Ruse and Boom Studio’s Zombie Tales and The Unknown, Oosterveer was an important name not only in the comic book world, but particularly in the Dutch comic industry, where he produced strips like Zodiac and Nicky Saxx [...]

Sad news tonight out of the TV world as Andy Whitfield, the former star of the hit Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, has died after a battle with cancer. The actor died on September 11, 2011, of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Sydney, Australia, after an 18-month fight. He was 39.

While many may not have known his name going into the show, his turn as the show’s lead was so well received that instead of recasting the character right away, the show halted their production for the second season while he fought his illness. In the meantime, they worked on a prequel while he was in treatment in hopes of his return to the series. Eventually, with Whitfield’s blessing after his cancer returned, the role was recast with Australian actor Liam McIntyre taking over the lead [...]

Cliff Robertson, best known to modern audiences for playing Peter Parker’s beloved Uncle Ben in the first three Spider-Man films and a film and television acting career that spanned more than six decades, died on Saturday of natural causes at New York’s Stony Brook University Medical Center one day after celebrating his 88th birthday.

Throughout his long and storied acting career Robertson has played a variety of authority figures and real-life influential personalities. He’s played astronaut Buzz Aldrin, automobile pioneer Henry Ford, and 19th century outlaw Cole Younger. Most notably Robertson played John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film PT 109, which documented the future President’s heroic leadership as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Twenty years later, Robertson portrayed Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner in Star 80, the Bob Fosse-directed film about the shocking murder of Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratten. He played a devoutly religious U.S. President squaring off against Kurt Russell’s iconic badass antihero Snake Plissken in John Carpenter’s Escape from L.A. and in 1976 played the lead role in Brian DePalma’s psychological thriller Obsession [...]

TMZ is reporting that rocker Jani Lane, former singer of the band Warrant, was found dead this evening at a hotel in Los Angeles. He was 47.

The singer’s body was reportedly discovered at the Comfort Inn hotel in Woodland Hills, CA. So far, no official cause of death has been released or any further details about Lane’s recent activities.

Lane was born John Kennedy Oswald in Akron, Ohio on February 1, 1964. The blond long-haired singer began fronting the hair metal band Warrant in 1986 and wrote some of their biggest hits, like 1990′s “Cherry Pie,” as well as “Heaven” and “Down Boys.” The band enjoyed great success with their first two albums, but eventually their popularity waned and in 1993, Lane left Warrant to pursue a solo career [...]

Bubba Smith, the 6–foot 7–inch tall former NFL star–turned–actor, was found dead by his caretaker at his Baldwin Hills home in Los Angeles, California Wednesday. He was 66 years old.

The cause of death is not yet known, but is assumed to be of natural causes and nothing suspicious is suspected.

Smith was a the first overall pick in the 1967 NFL draft by the Baltimore Colts, and went on to play nine seasons in the league, also playing for the Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers, where he finished his career in 1976. He won Super Bowl V with the Colts in 1970, and was an All–Pro and two–time Pro Bowler.

After football, Smith moved on to acting, as so many professional athletes try to do. He became part of pop culture history when he landed the role of Moses Hightower, the gentle (unless provoked) giant member of the Police Academy movies. He would appear as the character in all but one of the series’ seven films, choosing not to return for Police Academy: Mission to Moscow. [...]

The metal world has suffered another heavy loss, with the sad news that former Motörhead guitarist, Würzel, passed away on July 9, 2011, reportedly from heart disease. He was 61 years old.

Würzel joined Motörhead in 1984, for the timeless album Orgasmatron, and remained with the band through to 1995.

According to Mark Carras at RockMyMonkey.com:

He had acquired the nickname Würzel in the Army because his Scarecrow like hair made him look like a British children’s fictional character Worzel Gummidge. Motörhead leader Lemmy Kilmister is rumored to have had the idea to add the umlaut to the ‘U’ to make it more metal. [...]

After a wonderful career including memorable performances on the stage and screens, big and small, the great Peter Falk passed away at his Beverly Hills home Thursday night at the age of 83. The actor had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease at the time of his passing.

Though he performed in movies and on the stage as well, it is his TV work for which he will be best remembered. Falk starred on the hit crime series, Columbo, which ran sporadically from 1971 to 2003. Only 68 episodes were produced in all—running 2 to 8 episodes per year from ’71 to ’78 before taking over a decade off, and then returning from ’89 to ’03 for a few episodes here and there—and the show was noted for revealing who committed the crimes at the very start of the show, leaving viewers to only wait and see how the crafty Columbo figures out who it is for himself.

Falk was nominated for ten Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Emmys for Columbo, taking home four of those awards. [...]

At around 3:00am Monday morning in Pennsylvania, one of the many stars of MTV’s Jackass, Ryan Dunn, was involved in a car accident that left him and one other dead. He was 34 years of age.

It was reported that Dunn and a companion were in a 2007 Porsche when it went over the guardrail and into some trees before catching fire, leaving almost nothing. Little more details to the crash have been released, but Dunn did post an image on Twitter of himself and some friends drinking. You can see the last image Dunn posted of himself as well as a picture of the horrific remains of his vehicle by heading to TMZ.

In addition to appearing on Jackass, he was also a part of the movies and various spinoffs the show spawned, including Viva La Bam! with co-star and good friend Bam Margera. It was Margera’s mother, April, who confirmed the news. [...]