Deaths 2022

Deaths 2021

Deaths 2020

Deaths 2019

Deaths 2018

Deaths 2017

Deaths 2016

Deaths 2015

Deaths 2014

Deaths 2013

Deaths 2012

Deaths 2011

Deaths 2010

Deaths 2009


Full list by date of death

Jimmy Sangster

Writer-director

Born - 2 December 1924, Kinmel Bay, Rhyl, North Wales
Died - 19 August 2011

The man whose screenplays strengthened many of Hammer Films' classic horror films, bespectacled Sangster regarded himself as a 'pen for hire' rather than the master craftsman he was. He entered the film industry at 18 in 1943, gradually making his way up from clapper boy to production manager and assistant director, working for Hammer (then Exclusive Films) from 1948. After assistant director credits on more than 20 of the studio's films, including The Man in Black (1949), Stolen Face (1952) and The House Across the Lake (1954), he embarked on the screenwriting career that made both his name and that of Hammer: X the Unknown (1955), The Curse of Frankenstein (1956), Dracula (1958), Jack the Ripper (1959), Brides of Dracula (1961), Taste of Fear (1961), Paranoiac (1962), Nightmare (1964), The Nanny (1965) and The Anniversary (1968) were just a few. Unfortunately, the three titles he directed, The Horror of Frankenstein (1970), Lust for a Vampire (1971) and Fear in the Night (1972) were not among the studio's best, although Lust has some striking visuals. Later he worked worked prolifically for TV, his last film screenplay being for Flashback in 2000.