Of course engraved in our memories will always be the perfect legs and the exceptional talent, but also we’ll miss a very classy lady…

She only made around 20 films, but Norwegian Julie Ege still left a mark on movie audiences. She was a former Bond Girl and Hammer Glamour Girl, as well as a player in some sexy comedies. She was memorably seen in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (as The Scandinavian Girl), in the prehistoric adventure Creatures the World Forgot (my favorite role of hers, as Nala), in the sci-fi cult classic The Finale Programme and of course in the bizarre kung-fu Dracula film The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. Also a former Miss Norway (in 1962) and Miss Universe contestant, Julie became a sought out pin-up model and former Penthouse Pet, got married two times and had two daughters. After retiring from the public eye, she worked as a nurse, successfully battling breast cancer around 1986 or so. Sadly, that same illness got the better of her last April 29, when she passed on at the age of 64. Another Siren gone to soon.

Nobody lasts forever, they say, but some legends will never die. The memory of Scream Queen Hazel Court will stay with us as long as there are movie fans. She was a unique performer, who could effortlessly mix elegance and sexiness in a single scene.

Court passed away after a heart attack at her home near Lake Tahoe, California, last Tuesday.

Learning about the death of comic book writer Steve Gerber last week was something that gave me the impression of being hit with a hammer between the eyes. I had no clue that he was not physically well and the fact that he’s gone at the age of 60 seems like a cruel twist of fate. He made a last entry on his blog on February 4th… and he was gone by the 10th.

Of course, his main claim to fame is the creation of Howard the Duck, a Marvel Comics character that debuted as a mere one-panel joke. But the joke caught on and I’m old enough to remember that Howard was a third-party presidential candidate in the 1976 bicentennial race in the USA! Get down America! Steve Gerber also was one of the first creators to speak about character ownership, and he had a lengthy battle with Marvel concerning his rights towards Howard. I remembered a strong interview in an old Métal Hurlant magazine (the French Heavy Metal) where Steve admitted that Marvel was scared shitless of Disney Studios’ lawyers, who took an interest in a short-tempered talking duck wearing a blue jacket.

One of Howard the Duck’s colorful nemesis, Phelch the Space Turnip, was also the inspiration for me to co-create in my teens a character named Blundering Man, who has been my alter-ego on the web at least since the past twelve years. This shows you how Steve Gerber was important in my life.

Steve also wrote The Defenders in one of my favorite run in comics history. His stories concerning serious social matters impressed me to no end, and greatly influenced my own way to see the world, mainly concerning racial intolerance and women empowerment. The character of The Valkyrie is surely one of the main reasons why I always admired kick-ass strong female heroines, in any entertainment media.

What has this got anything to do with Cult Sirens, you might ask? Well, Steve Gerber was one of many who helped in shaping me to become the man I am today. The quality of his writing, his amazing sense of humor and his own personal views in countless observations of our society are still part of my personal heritage. It took me quite a few days to decide in writing this, but even if I did it with tears in my eyes, I couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear for the good memories.

One of the very first American actress that caught my eye as a youth (and I mean when I was around four or five years old!) was Suzanne Pleshette in her movie debut, The Geisha Boy, a Jerry Lewis comedy that I probably saw on TV dubbed in French. Even as an infant, I was astounded by her eyes, her voice and her perfectly shaped face. A born New-Yorker, Suzanne Pleshette left her mark on television work and the stage, more than on any movie project, even if her fate in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds gave me nightmares. She’ll be principally remembered for her part in The Bob Newhart Show… and of course that amazing husky voice. Another highlight was the replacement of Anne Bancroft in the Broadway version of The Miracle Worker, where Suzanne got great reviews. And she almost got to be the first Catwoman on the Batman TV series, before the part went to Julie Newmar.

It has been known since August 2006 that she was suffering from lung cancer. She arrived in a wheelchair at a Bob Newhart Show cast reunion in September 2007, where she announced that a part of one of her lungs had been removed for treatment. But she finally passed away on January 19, 2008, from respiratory failure.

Horror icon Vampira (Maila Nurmi) has passed away in her sleep last Thursday. The irony of losing this legendary personality so soon after her birthday last December has not be lost on me. Actually, this is the first time that a Cult Siren is lost since the site’s creation. It’s not a feeling that I particularly enjoy.

I hope that Vampira will join James Dean (who has been waiting for more than fifty years!) and Tor Johnson and all the underground gang in the cult icons to celebrate up in the sky (or is that down in the furnace?).

Hollywood actress Laraine Day passed away last November 10, at quite a venerable age. I have seen a grand total of two of her pictures, these being Tarzan Finds a Son! (playing Boy’s natural mother) and Alfred Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent. Coming from a Mormon background, she debuted in motion pictures in 1937 in bit parts (mostly in low-budget westerns), but soon found a role that would make her greatly popular, that of Nurse Mary Lamont, in the Dr. Kildare hit series. Laraine Day would be part of seven episodes between 1939 and 1941. As early as 1951, she had her own TV show Daydreaming with Laraine or The Laraine Day Show, that consisted of 15-minutes vignettes. Television work was destined to be the place for her upcoming acting career from then on, appearing sporadically in motherly parts until the mid-80s. She also fulfilled many duties for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

She never quite became a top star, or got to work with Hollywood’s best directors, so the Hitchcock movie is the closest to a classic project that she ever came close to. There were some box-offices hits, but nothing ground-shaking. Still, she was a pleasant and more than capable performer.

Married three times, her second wedding was the most colorful, being united with baseball player and manager Leo Durocher. Laraine Day leaves behind her tons of children, grand-children, grand-grand-children, etc. And, of course, fans.

Yes, the English Rose herself has passed away on October 16, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. She has been nominated six times for an Academy Award as Best Actress, to finally receive an Honorary Oscar in 1993. Her glory mostly came from her ’50s work in Hollywood, being part of first-class productions like The King and I, An Affair to Remember and Separate Tables. A Grande Dame of the movies, for sure, but I never really connected with her characters, finding them a little on the boring side, I’m afraid. Still, my favorite performance from her remains Miss Giddens in The Innocents (they don’t make that kind of film anymore, whoever “they” are). I’ve been wanting for years to see Black Narcissus, though, which is considered by many to be her best work. Most memorable moment? What else but the love scene on the beach for From Here to Eternity, with then-current paramour Burt Lancaster? Deborah Kerr was also a Bond Girl (well, kind of) in the 1967 spoof Casino Royale.

I’ve always found strange that Jane Wyman was often billed in later years as “Miss Jane Wyman” (!?!?!). This venerable actress passed away on September 10 and I was surprised to find out that I had only seen four of her movies. Of these, I remember her memorable performance in The Lost Weekend, a film that gave me nightmares (yes, the scene when Ray Milland sees the bats coming out of the wall…).

I also moderately enjoyed Alfred Hitchcock’s Stage Fright, that I saw as a teen, but frankly being more intrigued in Marlene Dietrich’s presence than any one else’s. There’s also Pollyanna, which made my sisters weep and myself bored to tears. Finally on my short list stands Bad Men of Missouri, of which I remember exactly nothing. So my interest to the world of Miss Jane Wyman remains minimal. But her own contribution should be saluted by movie fans.

Here’s the sexiest photo I came across of her, which I think must have been taken early in her career:

The first ever female Asian performer to be nominated for an Academy Award… actually won it! It was in 1958 that Miyoshi Ukemi won as Best Supporting Actress for the movie Sayonara, starring Marlon Brando. It was announced recently that Ms. Umeki passed away on August 28 at the age of 78 from cancer complications.

She was born in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan, on May 8, 1929, and was raised in the United States. She became popular at first as a singer, for some time known as Nancy Umeki, releasing material in Japan and the U.S. Her first movie appearance was in the Japanese musical Youthful Jazz Daughter in 1953. Soon after, Miyoshi made her television debut in North America, appearing as a regular guest on Arthur Godfrey and His Friends.

In 1957, Sayonara came to the big screen, telling tales of U.S. officers in Korea getting romantically involved with Japanese women. Miyoshi played the role of Katsumi, a character starting a tragic affair with an American serviceman. Despite winning an Oscar, she never got to participate in many movies, as she can be seen only in Cry for Happy and Flower Drum Song (both 1961), The Horizontal Lieutenant and A Girl Named Tamiko (both 1962), and… that’s it.

Still, she was a regular in the TV series The Courtship of Eddie’s Father from 1969 to 1972, and could also be seen on Broadway, as she won in 1959 a Tony Award for the stage production of Flower Drum Song.

With her first husband (television director Wynn Opie), Miyoshi had adopted a son. She remarried with another director (Randall Hood) in 1968 and became a widow in 1976. At that point, she had already retired, living in Hawaii for some time. Just before her death, she had been living near her son in Missouri.

Amazing smile, amazing cheekbones, amazing talent.