R.I.P. JOANNA PETTET

Lovely and stylish English/Canadian actress Joanna Pettet passed away on July 7, 2026 in Temecula, California at 83 years of age. Over her 30-year career, Miss Pettet became a familiar face in movies and TV. She is known for her roles in the James Bond film, CASINO ROYALE, BLUE with Terence Stamp and THE GROUP with Candice Bergen. Her TV work included roles in KNOT'S LANDING, THE LOVE BOAT, MANNIX and HARRY O. She is best known by monster fans by her appearances in NIGHT GALLERY (especially the episode "The Girl With the Hungry Eyes"), THRILLER and TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED. Miss Pettet also starred in two horror films: WELCOME TO ARROW BEACH (1974) and THE EVIL (1978). She was in two PLAYBOY pictorials in the 1960s, one featuring CASINO ROYALE.

GOODBYE, BÉBÉ.

In the summer of 1969, my Dad took me to see SPIRITS OF THE DEAD. I had been watching the very seductive ads in the local paper that promised "Edgar Allan Poe's Ultimate Orgy of Evil". EAP and an orgy? What was there not to look forward to?

It was playing the Art Theater at Topanga and Ventura boulevards. In those days, there were tons of movie theaters in the San Fernando Valley: The Topanga, Baronet, Holiday, Valley Circle, etc., all gave way to multiplex's in the 1970's.

The Art Theater was scoffed at by us young teens because it was a dingy, tiny thing squeezed between other shops and had the reputation that nothing but "artsy-fartsy" movies played there. After watching it, I thought: it's was no wonder that SPIRITS OF THE DEAD was one of them.

Being the die-hard monster kid that I was, I cajoled my Dad (the same Good Ol' Dad that let me buy my first monster magazine off the newsstand rack outside the Owl Rexall Drug Store on Van Nuys Blvd. just a few years before) to take me to this R-rated movie.

Well, we sat there with our box of popcorn and cup of soda and got through the whole thing. Talk about disappointed! I wanted this to be a good movie, but instead I was bored to tears. Where were the monsters? Where were the spooks? Where was Poe? And, fer chrissakes, where was the friggin' orgy of evil?

I'm sure my Dad wondered why the hell I wanted to see this movie in the first place. Well, with a cast of high-brow actors like Jane and Peter Fonda, Alain Delon, Brigitte Bardot and Terence Stamp, and lensed by directors, Frederico Fellini, Roger Vadim and Louis Malle, SPIRITS OF THE DEAD certainly was a movie that deserved to be played at the "artsy-fartsy" Art Theater! [see the rest of this post HERE.]

What made this film watchable were the two gorgeous actresses that played in it. One was Jane Fonda, who would star as Barbarella the same year, and she never looked better during this period. The other was a French actress named Brigitte Bardot, that left me panting (and maybe even drooling a little, too) she was so strikingly beautiful.

Brigitte Bardot in Spirits of the Dead "William Wilson" segment.

Bardot and co-star Alain Delon on the set of Spirits of the Dead.

The foregoing all came back when I heard the sad news that Brigitte Bébé (a nickname derived from her initials) Bardot had passed away yesterday at the age of 91 from an undisclosed illness in Saint-Tropez, France.

Born Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot on September 28, 1934 in Paris, she originally aspired to be a ballerina, but turned instead to modeling and acting in a possible act of rebellion against her strict and sometimes abusive Catholic parents. Her breakout role was as an 18 year old libertine in AND GOD CREATED WOMAN (1956) directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim. For years, she wowed the public with her seductive charm, sexuality and provocative lifestyle, earning the nickname, "sex kitten".

But all that came at a price; battling depression she attempted to end her life on more than one occasion. She was also convicted and fined five times in France for inciting racial hatred as a result of her very vocal objection to the Muslim method of slaughtering sheep without sedation during religious holidays.

Tiring of living up to the rigors of international fame, relentless media attention and "sick of being beautiful every day", in a move that shocked millions, she retired from acting in 1973 and devoted the rest of her life to her real passion: animal rights. Ultimately, I'm sure that was much more rewarding for her than looking sexy in front of a camera 24/7.

The 60s was the decade of the sex goddess and while there were a lot of candidates, it's hard to name any of them before Brigitte Bardot.

Rest in peace, Bébé.

Brigitte Bardot Gallery:

Brigitte Bardot in the April 1969 issue of PLAYBOY:

R.I.P. CLAUDIA CARDINALE

Taking time out today to mourn the passing of one of the most famous leading actresses in Italian cinema history -- the talented and stunningly-beautiful Claudia Cardinale, who died on September 23 at the age of 87.

Miss Cardinale starred in many prominent films such as Fellini's 8 1/2 (1963), THE PINK PANTHER (1963), THE LEOPARD (1963), THE PROFESSIONALS (1966) and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968). Why she wasn't cast in a James Bond film during this period is beyond my comprehension. And while she could have easily been cast in any number of Italian gothic horror films, she never appeared in one. Nevertheless, she had a very successful career and will be remembered by film fans for everywhere.

R.I.P. OZZY

It was a warm June night in Southern California in 1970 and the Santa Ana wind was blowing dryly through the air. I recall it was a Friday and my sister drove us up to Westwood Village to hang out. We went into a Tower Records store and a large display right when you walked in assaulted my eyes. I was transfixed by the album cover, witchy and inviting.

What was this that stood before me? A figure in black called my name! And the title, Black Sabbath, was the only identifying description of what lurked within the record sleeve.

I bought it and carried it around with me the rest of the night until I got back home and dropped it on my record player spindle, put on my headphones (didn’t want to wake Mom and Dad!) and began to listen. Indescribably, a loathsome, deafening sound met my ears. This was not Led Zeppelin! This was not even Iron Butterfly or Steppenwolf. This was music from the Depths of Hell itself. I loved it and have ever since.

The "Prince of Darkness", the "Blizzard of Oz", has passed. Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath died less than three weeks after his farewell concert, Back to the Beginning, a fitting coda to a career with a band that changed the face of rock music. A great singer and showman, his "crazy train" will ride on the rails into legend.

Thanks for rocking my world, Ozzy.

R.I.P. STEPHEN FABIAN AND GEORGE BARR

Prince Sirki has taken two more very creative artists in the last months: Stephen Fabian and George Barr. What's a little strange is that I didn't find out about either of these until this week's Bud Plant newsletter. There was no word from any of the news feeds and info outlets that I frequent.

Stephen Fabian passed away on May 6 at the age of 95. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed Fabian's work, His comparison to the legendary pulp illustrator Virgil Finlay is rightly claimed.

George Barr passed earlier this year on April 19 at the age of 88. Among other works, Barr painted countless fantasy and science-fiction book covers, many of which I've managed to purchase and collect over the years.

While they both lived long lives, it's still a blow when you lose two artists of the highest caliber.

THE PRINCE SIRKI FILES

Readers of the earlier issues of FM may recall that FJA often used the name used by Fredric March in 1934's DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY, Prince Sirki, when announcing the passing of a horror actor, director or other genre luminary.

I gathered what I could find here at the Mysterious Mansion of the obituaries that I have been collecting over the years. Most of these clippings are from THE SEATTLE TIMES and THE LOS ANGELES TIMES. I thought it would be a good time to digitize them before they started crumbling into so much mummy dust.