Dan O'Bannon, 1946-2009.

American screenwriter and film director Daniel O'Bannon has passed away. Perhaps best known for authoring the script for Alien, O'Bannon also wrote the short story comic The Long Tomorrow, illustrated by Jean "Mœbius" Giraud, which became a source of inspiration for the scenography of Blade Runner.

Joseph Wiseman, 1918-2009.

Canadian actor Joseph Wiseman has passed away. Best known for portraying James Bond's first nemesis, Dr. No, Wiseman had a long career in theater - having arrived on Broadway in the 1930s - in addition to his many film and television appearances. He was predeceased in February by his wife of 45 years, American dancer, choreographer and teacher Pearl Lang (1921-2009). Of his most famous role, Wiseman claimed he had no inkling of what he was letting himself in for, saying "I thought it might be just another Grade-B Charlie Chan mystery."

Irving Penn, 1917-2009.

A grandmaster of American photography has passed away. Renown for his fashion photography, Irving Penn begun his career in 1943 with Vogue magazine. He was also a master of still life and portraiture, and though exceptionally skilled with studio flash, preferred natural light for his portraits. In 1950 Penn married Lisa Fonssagrives (1911-1992), his muse and frequent subject of his photographs for Vogue.

Born in Udevalla, Sweden, Fonssagrives was dubbed "the first supermodel", though she tended to describe herself as "a good coat hanger" (while pursuing careers in ballet, photography, sculpting, and fashion design). Characterised by skillful use of light, careful composition, great attention to detail, and pioneering use of simple, stark backdrops, examples of Penn's work can be seen here.

Willy Ronis, 1910-2009.

French photographer Willy Ronis has passed away. A member of the Rapho photo agency, he was the first French photographer to work for LIFE magazine. Famous for never leaving his camera at home - "not even to buy bread" - Ronis stopped taking photos in 2001, when the cane he required for walking got in his way. Examples of his work, which among other accolades earned him the epithet "photographer of Paris par excellence," can be seen here.

Julius Shulman, 1910-2009.

American architectural photographer Julius Shulman has passed away. Known as one-shot Shulman - because he seldom had to take more - his images defined the postwar architecture of southern California, making its modernist structures famous around the world.

Phyllis Gotlieb, 1926-2009.

Novelist and poet Phyllis Fay Gotlieb, one of the first published writers of contemporary Canadian science fiction, has passed away. A quintessential Canadian writer, preoccupied with what constitutes identity and communication between peoples, Gotlieb first came to prominence as a poet before trying her hand at SF to cure a bout of writer's block. Following years of rejections, Gotlieb broke through in 1964 with her first SF novel, Sunburst, for which the annual Canadian prize for SF literature is named.

Arthur Erickson, 1924-2009.

Arthur Charles Erickson, one of Canada's foremost modernist architects and urban planners, has passed away.  Examples of his work - which include Simon Fraser University, the University of Lethbridge, and Roy Thomson Hall - can be seen here.

David Mellor, 1930-2009.

David Rogerson Mellor, one of Britain 's most prominent industrial designers has passed away.  Trained as a silversmith in Sheffield, Newcastle, London, and Rome - and visiting scholar in Denmark and Sweden - Mellor became known as "the cutlery king," though his designs also included street furniture, traffic lights, and tools - examples of which can be seen here.

Ernie Barnes, 1938-2009.

The American painter and former professional (American) football player Ernest Eugene Barnes Jr. has passed away.  His energetic, ebullient artworks - known from sleeve adaptations for albums by Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, and others - often combined artistry with athleticism, as can be seen here. 

J. G. Ballard, 1930-2009.

British authour James Graham Ballard has passed away.  Best known for dystopian novels like The Drowned World (1962), the controversial The Atrocity Exhibition (1970) and Crash (1973), and the autobiographical Empire of the Sun (1984), Ballard wrote his first SF-story, Passport to Eternity, in 1953 while stationed at RCAF Station Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan, where he'd first encountered science fiction.

Dave Arneson, 1947-2009.

The American game designer David Arneson has passed away.  Though devising many of the role-playing devices now considered archetypes, Arneson is probably best remembered for co-creating Dungeons & Dragons.

Helen Levitt, 1913-2009.

American photographer Helen Levitt has passed away.  Reclusive and discreet, she's best known for her candid images of New York City tenements, examples of which can be seen here.

Tuulikki Pietilä, 1917-2009.

The Finnish graphic artist Tuulikki Tooti Pietilä has passed away. Born in Seattle, Pietilä studied art in Turku, Helsinki, Stockholm, and Paris. Though an established artist and professor in her own right, she is perhaps best remembered for inspiring the feisty character Tooticky in her life partner Tove Jansson's series of Moomin books and comic strip.

Lux Interior, 1946-2009.

Garage punk band The Cramps' vocalist and founding member Erick Lux Interior Purkhiser has passed away. The Cramps pioneering fusion of rockabilly and surf rock with their penchant for 1950s taboo's, horror, science fiction, and Satanism not only inspired the psychobilly genre, but was lethal stuff loaded with fun.

Hans Beck, 1929-2009.

The German cabinetmaker Hans Beck, who created the Playmobil toys, has passed away. Learn more about the colourful plastic dolls, of which more than 2.2 billion have found devoted homes in over 70 countries, here.

Dušan Džamonja, 1928-2009.

The Croatian sculptor Dušan Džamonja has passed away. Some of his less monumental works can be seen here.

Patrick McGoohan, 1928-2009.

The Irish actor, director, writer, and producer Patrick McGoohan, perhaps best known for creating the cult television series The Prisoner, has passed away. "Be seeing you!"