Death is a natural part of life, but sadly it takes a death before we celebrate someone's life and contributions.

We lost a lot of people who made serious contributions to the science-fiction, fantasy and horror genres on television and the big screen over the past year.

Join us in celebrating these lives of those lost.

Corey Allen
June 29, 1934-June 27, 2010
Best known for his work in "Rebel Without a Cause," Mr. Allen made a name for himself later as a popular television director, including the series premiere of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and four other episodes, including "Journey's End." He also directed four episodes of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." He died of Parkinson's disease.

Eddie Barth
Sept. 29, 1931-May 28, 2010
The raspy voice actor appeared in shows such as "The Incredible Hulk," "The Bionic Woman" and a 1963 episode of "The Twilight Zone." Mr. Barth died of heart failure.

Gary Brockette
Sept. 13, 1947-Jan. 1, 2010
Mr. Brockette was a character actor who made brief appearances in films such as "The Philadelphia Experiment" and "The Ice Pirates" in 1984. He died of cancer.

John Crawford
Sept. 13, 1920-Sept. 21, 2010
Made two appearances as Sheriff Moore in "Knight Rider." Mr. Crawford also appeared in "The Amazing Spider-Man," "The Incredible Hulk" and "The Bionic Woman" in the 1970s. He died in Malibu, Calif.

Dino De Laurentiis
Aug. 8, 1919-Nov. 10, 2010
Famed producer of a number of projects including "Flash Gordon," "Halloween II," "Firestarter," "Dune" and more. Mr. De Laurentiis died at his residence, with attendees at the funeral asked to wear red, his favorite color.

Richard Devon
Dec. 11, 1926-Feb. 26, 2010
Appeared in "Twilight Zone," "Get Smart" and "Planet of the Apes." Mr. Devon died of vascular disease.

David E. Durston
Sept. 10, 1921-May 6, 2010
A cult horror exploitation director of the 1970 film "I Drink Your Blood." Mr. Durston died of pneumonia.

David Froman
Dec. 31, 1938-Feb. 8, 2010
He would've turned 72 today. Mr. Froman appeared as Capt. K'Nera in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Heart of Glory." Mr. Froman died of cancer.

Jimmy Gardner
Aug. 24, 1921-May 3, 2010
The Knight Bus driver Ernie Prang in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Mr. Gardner died in London.

Jackson Gillis
Aug. 21, 1916-Aug. 19, 2010
Mr. Gillis wrote episodes of "Knight Rider," "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman," "Lost In Space," and the 1950s series "The Adventures of Superman."

Peter Graves
March 18, 1926-March 14, 2010
The star of "Mission: Impossible" had some genre credits to his name. Mr. Graves appeared in "Fantasy Island," "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" and "Killers From Space." Mr. Graves died of a heart attack.

Corey Haim
Dec. 23, 1971-March 10, 2010
The actor known for roles such as "The Goonies" had other genre credits to his name like "The Lost Boys," "Prayer of the Rollerboys," and others. Mr. Haim died of flu-like symptoms.

Peter Haskell
Oct. 15, 1934-April 12, 2010
Played the CEO of Good Guy Toys in "Child's Play 2" and "Child's Play 3." Mr. Haskell also appeared in "The Bionic Woman," "The Green Hornet" and "The Outer Limits." Haskell died in Northridge, Calif.

Robert Hoy
April 3, 1927-Feb. 8, 2010
A popular actor and stuntman in westerns, Mr. Hoy had an uncredited role as the Horta in the original "Star Trek" episode "The Devil in the Dark." He died of cancer.

Lamont Johnson
Sept. 30, 1922-Oct. 24, 2010
Directed eight episodes of the 1960s version of "The Twilight Zone" including "Kick the Can," which was featured in the 1980s film. Mr. Johnson died in Monterey, Calif.

Bernard Kates
Dec. 26, 1922-Feb. 2, 2010
Appeared as Dr. Sigmund Freud in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Phantasms." Also played Dr. Whorf in the 1963 "Outer Limits" episode "Nightmare." Mr. Kates died in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

Irvin Kershner
April 29, 1923-Nov. 27, 2010
Director of "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back." Also directed an episode of "SeaQuest 2032" in 1993. Mr. Kershner died of lung cancer.

Donald Leifert
Feb. 27, 1951-Oct. 23, 2010
Mr. Leifert was the star of Don Dohler films including "The Alien Factor," "Fiend" and others. He died in Parkville, Md.

Simon MacCorkindale
Feb. 12, 1952-Oct. 14, 2010
Actor who appeared in various shows like "Poltergeist: The Legacy," "Earth: Final Conflict," "Fantasy Island," and movies like "Wing Commander." Mr. MacCorkindale died of cancer.

Tom Mankiewicz
June 1, 1942-July 31, 2010
Mr. Mankiewicz was a creative consultant for "Superman" and "Superman II." He died from pancreatic cancer.

Joe Mantell
Dec. 21, 1915-Sept. 29, 2010
Mr. Mantell had a bit role in Alfred Hitchcock's classic "The Birds," but also appeared in two episodes of "The Twilight Zone" -- "Nervous Man In A Four Dollar Room" and "Steel." He died in Tarzana, Callif.

Louis Marks
March 23, 1928-Sept. 17, 2010
A writer for the original "Doctor Who" series whose credits include "The Masque of Mandragora" and "Planet of Evil."

Noel Marshall
April 18, 1931-June 30, 2010
The executive producer of "The Exorcist," Mr. Marshall died of brain cancer.

Kevin McCarthy
Feb. 15, 1914-Sept. 11, 2010
Mr. McCarthy starred in the 1950s cult film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." He also played Uncle Walt in the "Twilight Zone" movie and appeared in the original "Twilight Zone" series. He died of pneumonia.

Grant McCune
March 27, 1943-Dec. 27, 2010
Mr. McCune created the shark in "Jaws" (uncredited, sadly) and was nominated for an Oscar for his special effects work in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." Other movies included "Batman Forever," "Ghostbusters II" and "Spaceballs." He died of pancreatic cancer.

John P. McGarr
Sept. 25, 1964-March 25, 2010
Supervising executive producer "House of Wolf Man" and others, Mr. McGarr was killed when he was struck by a drunken driver while filming a documentary at an Indianapolis horror convention.

Leslie Nielsen
Feb. 11, 1926-Nov. 28, 2010
More famous as a comedy actor, Mr. Nielsen had some strong early genre credits like "Tales of Tomorrow," "The Wild Wild West," and others. Mr. Nielsen died in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Michael Pataki
Jan. 16, 1938-April 15, 2010
Character actor who played Karnas in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Too Short a Season." Mr. Pataki also played Capt. Barbera in "The Amazing Spider-Man" and Korax in the classic "Star Trek" series "The Trouble With Tribbles." Mr. Pataki also was an uncredited jeep driver in the "Twilight Zone" episode "A Quality of Mercy." He died from cancer.

Charles B. Pierce
June 16, 1938-March 5, 2010
Film director and screenwriter credited with the line, "Go ahead, make my day." Also was a set decorator for projects like "The Twilight Zone." Mr. Pierce died of natural causes.

Gene Polito
Dec. 13, 1918-Nov. 28, 2010
Director of photography for the 1960s series "Lost In Space." Also a cinematographer for the 1976 film "Futureworld." Mr. Polito died of esophageal cancer.

Addison Powell
Feb. 23, 1921-Nov. 8, 2010
Mr. Powell played Dr. Eric Lang in the late 1960s series "Dark Shadows." He died in Vermont.

Zelda Rubinstein
May 28, 1933-Jan. 27, 2010
Became famous as medium Tangina Barrons in the Poltergeist films. Ms. Rubinstein died in Los Angeles.

Nathan Scott
May 11, 1915-Feb. 27, 2010
A composer and orchestrator whose work spanned "The Twilight Zone," the original "Battlestar Galactica" and "Knight Rider." Mr. Scott died of natural causes.

William Edwin Self
June 21, 1921-Nov. 15, 2010
Production manager for "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," the 1960s "Batman" series, "Lost In Space," "The Green Hornet" and "Dick Tracy" among others. Mr. Self died from a heart attack.

Ted Sorel
Nov. 14, 1936-Nov. 30, 2010
Character actor who played Kaval in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode "Duet" in 1993. Mr. Sorel died of complications from Lyme disease.

David J. Steinberg
1964-March 15, 2010
The popular actor from the 1988 film "Willow" who had dwarfism, Mr. Steinberg also appeared in an episode of "Charmed." He had moved to Los Angeles in 2004.

Bunny Summers
Feb. 23, 1924-Sept. 9, 2010
Ms. Summers played Mrs. Boone in the 1984 film "The Last Starfighter." She died at Woodland Hills in Los Angeles.

Gareth Wigan
Dec. 2, 1931-Feb. 13, 2010
Mr. Wigan was a lead executive at Twentieth Century Fox that helped secured "Star Wars" from George Lucas. Also helped bring other projects to the screen like "Alien" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula."