Probably O'Bannon's biggest contribution to science-fiction movies is his work on the screenplay of Alien, which started life as his script Star Beast. According to Empire Magazine, O'Bannon's script was the movie's first draft, although others later worked on the screenplay. And Empire says he brought over several of his colleagues from Alejandro Jodorowsky's abortive film Dune to Alien.

But prior to Alien, O'Bannon was co-writer and visual effects supervisor on John Carpenter's loopy Dark Star. And he also played Sgt. Pinback, as seen in the clip above. And O'Bannon worked on the original Star Wars, helping to craft those great computer graphics of the Death Star plans and the attack run — and according to this poster at IMDB, he's also in the movie, as one of the technicians in the Rebel Base during the Battle of Yavin.

After Alien, he wrote the great helicopter movie Blue Thunder plus two episodes of the spin-off TV series, and he wrote Lifeforce, "one of the movies that I still make people sit down and watch against their will," according to novelist Richard Kadrey on Twitter. O'Bannon also wrote two Philip K. Dick adaptations, Screamers and Total Recall. He wrote and directed the Romero-inspired zombie comedy, Return Of The Living Dead. And he worked on both the Heavy Metal comic as well as the movie, writing the "Soft Landing" and "B17" segments of the film. Some claim his work on the Heavy Metal comic influenced the visual style of Blade Runner.

O'Bannon changed science-fiction on film forever, and he'll be missed. [Empire via Ain't It Cool News]

Letts' involvement with the series continued for the rest of his life, including stepping back in as executive producer during the end of Baker's era, and producing audio plays starring Jon Pertwee in the 1990s. He will be missed. [Doctor Who News Page]

According to CBC News, Gotlieb, the "mother of Canadian science fiction," won an Aurora Award for the best Canadian science fiction and fantasy novel, for 1980's A Judgment Of Dragons. Robert J. Sawyer called her "a poet with a cosmic perspective who elevates space opera to high art."

She told an interviewer that as soon as she started writing science fiction, the inspiration for her poetry came back. CBC says her novels explored topics like telepathy and mutation:

Sunburst was about a community with telepathic powers and the problems it faces, a theme that would frequently resurface in her fiction and short fiction.

O Master Caliban! treats themes of genetic mutation. Flesh and Gold looks at a world with more than one sentient race and an unequal balance of power.

Her Starcats trilogy features two cats as protagonists. Written in the 1980s, it includes A Judgment of Dragons (1980), Emperor, Swords, Pentacles (1982) and The Kingdom of the Cats (1985).

Her final novel, Birthstones, came out in 2007. She died the other day, aged 83, but she left a rich legacy behind.

Hallett, whose singing demon was one of the best things about the latter years of the Buffy spin-off, died with his father at his side, reports E! Online. The actor had a history of heart problems over the last few years, and had been hospitalized more than once during that period. A funeral service for friends and family is said to be being planned for this weekend.

Hallett was 33 years old.

Angel Star Andy Hallet Dies Of Heart Failure [E! Online]

Manners got his start working on Charlie's Angels before going on to direct episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and other shows. But it was as a regular director of X-Files and Supernatural that he became indispensible. He directed the series finale of X-Files, and directed every Supernatural season finale.

Here's Manners taking a hands-on approach on the set of Supernatural, photographed by PrincessFaerie:

Writes TV Guy:

I first met Manners during The X-Files' fifth season, the series' final year in Vancouver as it would turn out. He was directing a short, inconsequential night scene in a parking garage involving Mitch Pileggi, "Skinner" from the show, and Vancouver acting teacher William B. (Bill) Davis, aka "CSM" or Cigarette-Smoking Man. It was a nothing scene, really, just filler — the kind of scene TV scripts use to "bridge" one key scene with another.

Manners, always one to take a weird angle on the obvious, had decided to shoot the scene at shoelace level — literally. He lied down in a puddle of cold, dank water on the cold, hard cement floor of the parking garage floor and arranged the camera dolly track so that the camera would tilt up from Davis' shoes as the Cigarette-Smoking Man dropped a lit cigarette down toward the camera and then angrily stubbed it out of his toe. Manners laughed easily, and he could curse a blue streak that would put Gordon Ramsay to shame.

In an interview with DGA Magazine, Manners talked about his influences and his approach to filming X-Files:

The movies Manners saw as a boy were those of Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Jr. and Vincent Price — "This is my niche," he said. The director recalled one of his X-Files shows, "Home," written by Glen Morgan and Jim Wong, which featured three mutant brothers and their armless and legless mother, who lived in a cart under a bed, and with whom they had an incestuous relationship. "The picture opened with this woman giving birth on a kitchen table during a thunderstorm. You never saw the baby, but these three brothers carried it outside and buried it alive, because they didn't want this terrible genealogy to continue. I read it, and I went, 'Now this is a classic horror script.' There are episodes that, when you read them — bang! — the images just leap into your head."

Believability is the key goal for The X-Files, and that, said Manners, is the result of a combination of good scripts, good acting and good directing.

"This is a very difficult show. If you don't do this show right, it would be the most ridiculous show on television. I mean, I directed an episode, 'Leonard Betts,' where a guy had his head cut off in the teaser, and he grew a new one."

The lawsuit over Norton's work was filed back in July. When Norton passed, her nurse and caretaker Sue Stewart lost out on the right to control to fan Victor Horadam. She appealed to a Tennessee court and the unique settlement will let Stewart control royalties over Norton's extant work, while Horadam retains rights to all the unpublished work.

In the case, Horadam claimed to receive some 500 letters from Norton during her lifetime. Stewart fired back at Horadam's claims in her appeal and on the web, saying that he was one of many. To be honest, the fact is that Norton gave Stewart power of attorney in a video will, and we're surprised Horadam ever prevailed in the first place. As Norton intended, he'll still have rights over unpublished work, though there isn't much of it — extensive diaries and story outlines for books never written might prove valuable down the road.

Norton was one of the more prolific authors in the genre: her signature Witch World series would eventually grow to number some fourteen books. Her writing generally skews young, but Norton brought Arthurian legend head-to-head with alien technology in a trendsetting fantasy-sci fi mix, Merlin's Mirror, and for that we thank her. Arguably the best novel from her vast collection and a good starting point for new readers is Star Born, availably freely from Project Gutenberg.

Star Born [Project Gutenberg]

SG-1's producer, Joe Mallozzi shared that his favorite memory of Davis' was watching him work the conventions with fans. Many fans approached the General with trepidation (because of his character) but Davis was always incredibly charming with the fans and won them over immediately. Mallozzi also added that Davis was a true friend and, "had a bigger heart than his character that he played... and will be missed not just by the fans but by everyone who worked with him."

Davis' last Stargate appearance will be in the DVD movie Stargate: Continuum. We'll miss you always setting the crew straight, Don.

Davis' representatives have asked those wishing to make a charitable donation in Davis' name to donate to the American Heart Association.