Rest In Play - 2020 - 2029

John Cassaday was born on December 14, 1971 and passed away on December 9, 2024. He was a comic book artist, writer, and television director. John was a self-taught illustrator and actually studied... film in school. He broke into the comic book industry in 1994 with an illustration for Boneyard Press. At the 1996 Comic-Con in San Diego, he showed his portfolio to Mark Waid, who sent him to Jeff Mariotte. John and Jeff would go on to create the series Desperadoes together. In 1997, John was hired by DC and Marvel as an artist on Teen Titans, Flash, X-Mem/Alpha Flight, and Union Jack. In 1999, John and Warren Ellis created Planetary for WildStorm Productions. Afterwards, he worked on other titles for various publishers, including Gen13, Superman/Batman, The Hulk, and The Avengers. He worked on multiple Captain America projects, including an issue of Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America written by Jeph Loeb. John won three different Eisner Awards, the Wizard World Fan Award, an Eagle Award, and a Spike TV Scream Award. John's partner was Tara A. Martinez. John passed away from cardiac arrest at the age of 52.Show more

James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931 and passed away on September 9, 2024. He was a pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, and is one of few performers to have earned an EGOT.... Jones was born in Mississippi and had a stutter since childhood. He credits his English teacher for discovering he had a gift for poetry, which helped him overcome his fear of speaking. He attended the University of Michigan, where he was a pre-med major, and after graduating, served as an officer in the Army during the Korean War. Jones' Broadway debut was in 1957 with the play Sunrise at Campobello. He won two different Tony Awards over the next few years before making his film debut in 1964 with Dr. Strangelove. Jones rose to international fame in 1974 when he began voicing Darth Vader. His other notable films include Field of Dreams, The Sandlot, and The Lion King, to name a few. He also voiced various characters on The Simpsons in three different season. Over the course of his career, Jones earned two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and a Grammy Award. He also was the recipient of a Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. In 2011, he received an Academy Honorary Award. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985. Jones married Julienne Marie in 1968, though they divorced in 1972. He then married Cecilia Hart in 1982, and together they had a son, Flynn. Hart died in 2016 from ovarian cancer.Show more

Fujiko Fujio was a manga writing duo consisting of artists Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko. Hiroshi was born on December 1, 1933, and passed away on September 23, 1996. Motoo was born on March 10, 19...34 and passed away on April 6, 2022. Their professional debut came in 1951, individually. They used the Fujiko Fujio name from 1953 until 1987, when they dissolved their partnership after Hiroshi fell ill. Some of their best known works include Obake no Q-Tarō, Ninja Hattori-kun, Kaibutsu-kun, Perman, Kiteretsu Daihyakka, and Doraemon, which is officially recognized as a cultural icon of modern Japan. Their partnership ended in 1987 after Hiroshi was diagnosed with stomach cancer. They both continued writing individually after separating, Hiroshi under the name Fujiko F. Fujio and Motoo under the name Fujiko Fujio A. Both separately and together, they've won a number of awards. Together, they earned the Shogakukan Manga Award, Japan Cartoonists Association Award, and many more.Show more

John Madden was born on April 10, 1936 and passed away on December 28, 2021. He was an American professional football coach and sports commentator. He holds the highest winning percentage among NFL he...ad coaches who coached at least 100 games, and is the inspiration behind the Madden NFL video game series. John played football in college at the University of Oregon, Grays Harbor College, and Cal Poly, all while earning a bachelor's degree in education. In 1961, he earned his Master of Arts in education. John was drafted to the Philadelphia Eagles, but do to an injury during training camp, his playing career ended before he even had the opportunity to play in a regulation game professionally. In 1960, John got his first coaching job as an assistant coach at Allan Hancock College and was promoted to head coach two years later. At the collegiate level, he also coached at San Diego State before going professional. His first and only professional coaching job was with the Oakland Raiders, and he was wildly successful, never having a losing season and winning the Super Bowl once. John retired from coaching in 1979 and moved into the sports commentary space. Over the years, he joined CBS Sports, Fox Sports, ABC Sports, and NBC Sports. He won fourteen Emmy Awards for standing Sports Event Analyst. In 1984, he created the All-Madden team, a group of players who Madden thought represented football and played the game the way he thought it should be played. He continued to pick this team every year through the 2001 season. Beginning in 1988, John lent his name, voice, and creative input to the John Madden Football series of football video games, later called Madden NFL, which was published by EA Sports/Electronic Arts. Madden NFL is the best-selling American football video game franchise of all time. John married Virginia Fields on December 26, 1959 and together they had two sons, Joseph and Michael, who were both college football players. John and Virginia celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary 2 days before John passed away. His cause of death was never disclosed.Show more

Ken Spears was born on March 12, 1938 and passed away on November 6, 2020. He was most famously known as the co-creator of Scooby-Doo. Ken began his career with Hanna-Barbera, where he was a sound ...editor. It was also where he met Joe Ruby, who he created Scooby-Doo with. The pair came up with the idea for the Scooby-Doo franchise while at Hanna-Barbera. The original series premiered on September 13, 1969. Ken worked at a few different companies, including DePatie-Frelang Enterprises and Sid & Marty Krofft before he and Joe Ruby joined together to create Ruby-Spears Productions with ABC, who wanted to create competition for Hanna-Barbera. Ken passed away three months after Joe Ruby did. The pair continued their working relationship up until Ruby's death.Show more

Michael Gambon was born on October 19, 1940 and passed away on September 27, 2023. He was a widely celebrated actor, perhaps known most widely for his role as Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter. Mich...ael was born in Ireland but his family moved to England when he was 6 years old. After leaving school, he became an apprentice for toolmaker Vickers-Armstrongs, and over the course of five years became a qualified engineering technician. It was through this experience that he developed a lifelong passion for collecting antique guns, clocks, watches, and classic cars. At 24 years old, Michael decided he wanted to get into acting, and drafted a completely fake resume that indicated he had years of experience. This resume got him hired by Gate Theatre, and in 1962, Michael made his acting debut as "Second Gentleman" in Othello. He then moved to the National Theatre Company and acted in a number of plays, but it wasn't until 195 that he made his film debut. His film debut was actually also Othello, and he acted alongside Maggie Smith, who would become Professor Minerva McGonagall in Harry Potter. Through 1974 he continued to act and continued to gain noteriety. In 1980, he found a lot of fame after his role in The Life of Galileo, both from fans and critics and from fellow actors. For the next nearly 25 years, Michael continued acting and gathering professional acclaim. In 2004, Michael took on the role of Hogwarts' headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, after the previous actor, Richard Harris, passed away in 2002. He was Dumbledore for all of the movies excluding the first and second, and famously said that when playing Dumbledore did did not "have to play anyone really. I just stick on a beard and play me, so it's no great feat." While continuing his role as Dumbledore, he appeared in many other movies, television shows, and theatre productions. However in 2015, he announced that he would be giving up stagework, as it was taking him increasingly longer to memorize his lines. His final film role was in 2019: Cordelia. Michael married Anne Miller in 1962, but very famously kept his personal life private. They had one son together, Fergus, who later became a ceramics expert on Antiques Roadshow. In 2001, Gambon brought a woman named Philippa Hart to the set while filming and introduced her as his girlfriend. Their affair was publicly revealed in 2022, and he moved out of his home he shared with Anne, though they later reconciled. He was with Hart from 2000 to 2007, and the pair had two sons together. Michael was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his service to drama. He was also a qualified private pilot and also raced cars. He passed away with his wife, Anne, and son, Fergus, at his bedside after a bout of pneumonia. He made headlines a few months later when it was revealed that he left nothing to Philippa Hart, his long-term girlfriend and the mother of two of his sons. Almost all of his fortune was left to Lady Gambon. Throughout his career, Michael received 3 Oliver Awards and 4 BAFTA TV Awards.Show more

Charles Marx was born on March 17, 1936 and passed away on April 1, 2022. Charles Marx was born to Charlene and David Marx, and was the nephew of Louis Marx, famous for founding (along with David!...) Louis Marx & Co. Charles attended the Lawrenceville School and then Rutgers University before joining the family business at Louis Marx & Co. He loved his job as a buyer, forming relationships and friendships with his connections at Sears, Woolwoeth, JC Penny, and many more. Later, he became director of marketing, even creating the Magic Marxie logo. Charles married Doree Lee Meeker, and the pair spent a wonderful 58 years together.Show more

Bernie Tenenbaum, long-serving toy industry executive, passed away on September 13, 2020. Bernie was the Managing Partner of China Cat Capital and Lodestone Global, President of Children’s Leisur...e Products Group. He previously was the President of the Toy Group and a member of the Vision Board of ToysRUs.com and served on the Board of Directors for The Franklin Mint, a leader in the collectibles industry.Show more

Gordon Otis was born on may 11, 1946 and passed away on December 22, 2021. Gordon graduated from SUNY at Alfred, where he met his wife of almost 52 years, Janet. During a career that spanned nearl...y 4 decades, Gordon bought and sold toys for Twin Fair, a chain in Buffalo, NY, and a a Buffalo based catalog showroom chain called Century Housewares. One of his career highlights was buying Trvial Pursuit from Selchow & Righter. Gordon then became an independent New England rep with a NYC agency, Ray Larson Associates. After RL he started his own agency under the name Playtime Ventures.Show more

Sir Clive Sinclair was born on July 30, 1940 and passed away on September 16, 2021. He was best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry and the founder of several companies that developed ...consumer electronics in the 1970s and 1980s. One of his companies was Sinclair Radionics Ltd. Through this venture, he produced the world's first slimline electronic pocket calculator (1972). By 1980, he had moved into the production of home computers with Sinclair Research Ltd. Sinclair Research is widely known throughout England and the rest of Europe in the computer industry and the British video game industry. Clive became Sir Clive in 1983 when he was appointed Knight Bachelor for his contributions to the personal computer industry. Clive has several Honorary Degrees: from University of Bath, Heriot-Watt University, and University of Warwick. He was honored and made a fellow by Imperial College London, and London's National Portrait Gallery purchased a portrait of him by a photographer for its permanent collection. Outside of his passion for electronics, Clive was an avid poker player, even appearing in the first three series of the Late Night Poker on Channel 4. He was a member of British Mensa, and ran several marathons, including a few New York City Marathons. In 2010, he said that he did not use computers himself, saying it distracts from the process of invention. In 2014, he famously said, "Once you start to make machines that are rivalling and surpassing humans with intelligence, it's going to be very difficult for us to survive. It's just an inevitability."Show more