FAREWELL, DIANE MCBAIN...

We only just became friends, and it hurts that you're now gone, out of my reach. 

I know that others feel the same way, the same pain, for you touched so many lives with so many of your performances, topped by an enviable stretch on the popular Surfside 6. 

Among your movies, you gave us Thunder Alley; The Mini-Skirt Mob; Maryjane; Five the Hard Way; I Sailed to Tahti with an All Girl Crew; Black Gold; Invisible Mom II; Puppet Master 5; The Delta Factor, Wicked Wicked; and Spinout, one of my top-five Elvis Presley flicks. 

On television (in addition to the aforementioned Surfside 6), you guest starred on Batman (in Mad Hatter and Green Hornet installments); Land of the Giants; The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams; Police Story; Barbary Coast; Sugarfoot; The Lawman; The Alaskans; The Young and the Restless; Hawaii Five-O; Charlie's Angels; Airwolf; Sabrina, the Teenage Witch; Matt Houston; 77 Sunset Strip; Mod Squad; Jake and the Fatman; Mannix; Love, American Style; Dr. Welby, M.D.; and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. 

To crown these abundant achievements, you toured with Tippi Hedren and Joey Bishop in Vietnam, bringing great joy to young men otherwise in great danger and under great duress.  

Without question, you were one heck of a big-hearted lady, and though my exchange with you was brief, what surfaced meant much. Trust me, Ms. McBain, you are missed and treasured all within the same, respectful breath. 

FAREWELL, OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN...

Your voice enchanted me when I first heard you sing, and I can't tell you how many times my brother and I played your hit, 45-single, "Please Mr. Please": a sweet sad one if ever there was.

Xanadu was your big, fantasy contribution, with Grease your catchy-tune, blockbuster triumph. A Mom for Christmas and A Christmas Romance couldn't help but warm our hearts; and you kept charming right to the very end with the endearing Very Excellent Mister Dundee and the fun-as-heck Sharknado 5. 

You struck me as an Earth angel, Ms. Newton-John, so gosh-darn pretty that I couldn't help but pin you on my wall; and now, in Paradise you'll join your winged sisters in a chorus of heavenly song. Thank you for your magic, talent and most of all, a perpetual courage that taught us to never stop fighting the good fight. 

FAREWELL, MAY WYNN...

Most know you from the engaging Caine Mutiny, but you also starred in an array of other significant melodramas.

There's Tony Sutton's Gal; Hong Kong Affair; and They Rode West, in which you teamed with your spouse, Jack (Maverick) Kelly. In addition, there's the Man is Armed; the Violent Men; the White Sparrow; Dreamboat; the Farmer Take a Wife; O'Henry's Full House; Treasure of the Golden Condor; and the ghastly, cave-based chiller, Unknown Terror (one of the few films ever to scare the heck outta me).  

On television you guest starred on the Bob Cummings Show; Perry Mason; Man with a Camera; State Trooper; the Millionaire; Shotgun Slade; the Restless Gun; and held a recurring role as Liz Clark on Jack Webb's Noah's Ark.

You were also a heartthrob who more than matched any top-echelon pin-up, Ms. Wynn: glamorous, graceful and eternal, an angel not only of the cinema but now and forever of Heaven.

FAREWELL, RUBEN MERIGGI...

With action, adventure, weirdness and lust, you stirred the soul--and the libido--Mr. Meriggi.

Gazing upon any of your works, whether found in the startling pages of "Hiras"; "Dago", "Mermaids" and "Coven" or among your many barbarous bouts for Conan, Wolf and Crazy Jack, one had no choice but to fall under your spell.

You were a veritable master, praised, respected but still too often underrated. 

For those who knew you--knew the absolute grandeur of your artistry--you'll remain regarded among the creme de la creme: a creator that others will aspire to match, but one who'll always exist in a special, revered niche all his own. 

FAREWELL, JACQUELINE PEARCE...

You possessed an inimitable, brooding beauty, laced by mesmerizing refinement, which shaped your performances in the classic Hammer films, "Plague of the Zombies" and (especially) "The Reptile", where you gave us one of the deadliest, most exotic creatures ever to enliven the silver screen.

Your roles in such television series as "The Avengers"; "Secret Agent"; "Doctor Who"; "The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes"; "Haunted"; and "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" were undeniable standouts, but you hit an incomparable, seductive high with your portrayal of the sinister Supreme Commander Servalan on the popular space opera, "Blake's 7".

You've inspired the collective consciousness of your fans for decades, Ms. Pearce and will henceforth bless the annals of Heaven with your contagious charms: an uncontested goddess among the angels. 

FAREWELL, TAB HUNTER...

Your work was grand and epic, risky and unique.

Among the more colorful entries, you delighted us with "War-Gods of the Deep" (aka "City Under the Sea"); "The Golden Arrow"; "Out of the Dark"; "Pandemonium"; "Polyester", "Lust in the Dust"; "Cameron's Closet"; "Grotesque"; "Portrait of a Murderer" (for "Playhouse 90"); "Sweet Kill" (aka "The Arousers"); "Ride the Wild Surf"; "Operation Bikini"; "Grease 2"; "The Girl He Left Behind", "The Burning Hills"; (the latter two with pal, Natalie Wood); the devilish "Damn Yankees"; and "Birds Do It" with silly ol' Soupy Sales.

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You also headlined one of my favorite westerns, "Gunman's Walk"; plus the popular "Climax!" episodes, "Mask for the Devil" and "Fear Strikes Out": the latter of which you portrayed baseball legend, Jimmy Piersall (a role seized by your confidant, Anthony Perkins two years later). There's also "The Tab Hunter Show": cut unjustly short during its '60s prime.

You could sure croon a fine tune, too, as you proved in your cover version of Sonny James' "Young Love".

Above all, Mr. Hunter, your boldness, honesty and kindness will be what most fans remember, and for that, you'll always hold our deepest respect...our utmost, loving devotion. 

FAREWELL, PATRICIA MORISON...

You were, in so many respects, the queen of the eclectic, covering musicals, film noir, action/adventure and horror, with entries that include "Tarzan and the Huntress"; "Queen of the Amazons"; "Beyond the Blue Horizon"; "Calling Dr. Death"; "Hitler's Madman"; "Lady on a Train"; "Persons in Hiding"; "Song of the Thin Man"; and "Dressed to Kill" (aka, "Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Code").

Your beauty existed on a celestial level, Ms. Morison, radiating each and every film in which you appeared. May your starring role in the Great Beyond be as illustrious as it has been in so many of your wonderful pictures.