Rest In Play - 2020 - 2029

Atsuko Tanaka was born on November 14, 1962 and passed away on August 20, 2024. Atsuko was born in Japan and became interested in acting at a young age. She attended Ferris University, and while sh...e studied she also worked as an extra at Shochiku. A few years later, she enrolled in Tokoyo Announcement Academy and jointed the talent agency Mausu Promotion. She also had a passion for dancing, though she ultimately chose acting over dancing. She was best known for her portrayal of Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell film and franchise, and she also voiced Konan in Naruto, Caster in Fate/stay night, Lisa Lisa in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Chun-Li in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Claudette in Queen's Blade, Karura in Utawarerumono, Bayonetta in the Bayonetta franchise, Hanami in Jujutsu Kaisen, and Kyrie Ushiromiya in Umineko no Naku Koro ni, among others.Show more

Today, we are all Luke, and he is our father, because the farm boy born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, later raised by his grandparents on a farm near Wellston, Michigan, is the one who said “I am your ...father.” He said it like he meant it, and we believed it in our bones, because that’s where Jones’ voice rattled and purred as Darth Vader in “The Empire Strikes Back” and other “Star Wars” pictures. Jones, who died Sept. 9 at the age of 93 at his home in Dutchess County, New York, took on Shakespeare, the Greeks, Jean Genet and a hundred comedies, yet it’s the voiceover work that everyone’s talking about today. He is, after all, the man who said “This is CNN” and CNN was instantly and for decades classier, more distinguished for it. Today, or tomorrow, or any day, another hundred or thousand or million people will hear his voice once again, or maybe for the first time, as Mustafa in “The Lion King.”Show more

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Rachael Lillis was born on July 8, 1969 and passed away on August 10, 2024. She was best known as the voice behind Misty and Jessie in the first eight seasons of the English dub of the TV series Pokem...on. Rachael attedned Smith College, where she was a premed student. She also trained in opera before she became a voice actor, and ended up studied voice acting in Boston before moving to NYC in 1996. Rachael was most famous for voicing Misty and Jessie, but she also voiced other Pokemon, including Goldeen, Jigglypuff, Vulpix and Venonat. In total, her voice appeared in 423 Pokemon episodes. She also voices various Pokemon int he Super Smash Bros video games, as well as some other games and shows. Rachael was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2024, which quickly spread to her spine, leaving her unable to walk. She moved into a nursing home to receive care, ultimately passing away in early August at the age of 55.Show more

Leonardo Riggio was born on February 28, 1941 and passed away on August 27, 2024. He was the founder of what we know as Barnes & Noble as well as GameStop. Leonardo attended New York University, a...nd while he was a student, he opened the Student Book Exchange in 1965. He then acquired the Barnes & Noble bookstore in NYC in 1971, adopted the name, and expanded on his network of bookstores by acquiring hundreds of them throughout his career. He is responsible for the B&N Superstore concept—adding cafes and comfy reading nooks to the stores. When Amazon became popular, Leonardo launched BarnesAndNoble.com to compete, and ended up opening a successful video game retail operation, which grew to become GameStop. Outside of his executive career, he also bred and raced horses for Thoroughbred racing. He also was the benefactor of many organizations and charities, including his alma mater and Dia:Beacon art museum in Beacon, New York. He also had his own private collection of art specializing in Minimalist art. He established Project Home Again to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.Show more

Simon Holdsworth was born on June 25, 1949 and passed away on November 14, 2020. He was the managing director at Thos Holdsworth & Sons Ltd.

Marcus King, ICv2 columnist, GAMA officer, and longtime game and comic retailer passed away on March 22, 2022. He passed away after undergoing heart surgery, during which he also had COVID and pneumon...ia. King was a columnist for ICv2 from 2010 to 2017, sharing the lessons he’d learned in his 30+ years as a retailer. King began his retailing career in 1986, when he opened his first store in Anchorage, Alaska. He opened Titan Games in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1994, and a second store in Kalamazoo in 2009. Although he he was best known as a retailer of tabletop games, he also handled (and wrote about) comics, collectible video games, and other products of interest to his customers. In 2011, King sold his Michigan stores and moved to Kentucky, where he continued to retail, including a stint managing a retail store for online retailer Troll and Toad, and most recently at Main Street Games & Comics in London, Kentucky. King was also active in GAMA for many years, including as board member and Vice President beginning in 2005, as a board member in the Retailer Division, and as a speaker at GAMA events.Show more

Mohammad Fahmi, creator of Coffee Talk, passed away in March 2022. In addition to writing Coffee Talk, Mohammad worked on a number of other titles including What Comes After, Afterlove EP, and Cod...e Atma as a game designer, writer, and director. He also spent time at Gameloft as a programmer and designer, lending his talents to games such as Asphalt 6: Adrenaline and The Oregon Trail: American Settler.Show more

Ian Hetherington was born on June 28, 1952 and passed away on December 14, 2021. Ian was the co-founder of Psygnosis, a video game developer. He founded it along with Jonathan Ellis after the coll...apse of Imagine Software, where he was the Financial Director. Together they published games including Shadow of the Beast, Wipeout, and Lemmings. Psygnosis was later acquired by Sony in 1993. While it's not defunct, many sequels to many of Psygnosis's games were released. Ian was also Chariman of Evolution Studios and Realtime Worlds, and enjoyed racing Ferraris in club events in his free time.Show more

Sarah Ross, formerly Zynga's vice president of global communications passed away in November 2021. Sarah had been working for Zynga for almost three years. Prior to Zynga, she was at Jam City, wher...e she held the same vice president of global communications position. Previously, she had worked marketing roles at Backflip Studios, Yahoo, TechCrunch, and Flipagram. At Zynga, Sarah was the driving force behind Zynga's social impact campaign Play Apart Together, which encouraged people to observe social distancing guidelines during the pandemic and stay in touch by playing games with their friends. Other campaigns Ross worked on include the Breast Cancer Awareness Month initiative #WordsWithHope.Show more

Jerry Houle, one of the pioneers of modern brand licensing and merchandising business and one of eight cofounders of Licensing International, passed away on October 27, 2021. Jerry started his care...er at Fisher Price and Milton Bradley before joining Jim Henson’s Muppets in March 1977 as its first marketing person and 25th employee. Jerry founded 7 divisions for the company, including worldwide licensing. In 1984, he ounded his own agency, Bliss House, Inc., whose clients included Curious George, Chaplin, Monty Python, Princess Diana, General Motors, Survivor, Babar, among many others. He also created and taught an MBA-level course on licensing at Babson College, and spoke at licensing events around the world. He leaves behind his wife, Peggy, sons, Jerome, William, and James, as well as six grandchildren. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more