Rest In Play - 2020 - 2029

John William Galt, a well-known voice actor, passed away in late January of 2022. John voiced the main character in Shadow Warrier, Lo Wang, and played Grandfather Enisi in Prey. He's also voiced char...acters in Faikatana, Deus Ex, Miracle Dogs Too, The Fanglys, and many more. In film, he's also played the voice of President Lyndon B. Johnson in Forrest Gump and Oliver Stone's conspiracy film JFK. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

Frank Thorne was born on June 16, 1930 and passed away on March 7, 2021. He was best known for his work as a comic book artist, specifically with Marvel Comics. Frank's career started in 1948, when... he was pencilling romance comics for Standard Comics. After college, he drew the Perry Mason newspaper strip for King Features. He made a number of stories for Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, The Green Hornet, Tom Corbett Space Cadet, Tomahawk, Mighty Samson, Enemy Ace and numerous others. He also created the character Red Sonja. Thorne also created a number of erotic fantasy comics and characters. Frank wrote and produced the documentary Two Lords and a Lady about Elizabeth Lee "Aunt Betty" Frazee. He also wrote a number of books: The Barrington Hall Sketchbook, Drawing Sexy Women, The Crystal Ballroom, and The Alizarrian Trilogy: Nymph, all published by Fantagraphics Books. Frank was married to his wife, Marilyn, for 69 years, and the pair died on the same day.Show more

Geoff Hall of Geoff's Toys passed away on February 12, 2021 at the age of 89 after a short illness. Geoff opened toyshops in the early 1970s with the launch of the first branch of Geoff's Toys in ...Coalville, Leicester. He joined Toymaster in 1990s, and became a longstanding and active member of the group, even when the business ceased trading in 2018. Geoff loved buying toys and was well respected by visiting reps and agents. His children took after his passion and took over running the toy shops when Geoff retired. He spent his retirement traveling the world with his wife, Enid. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

Robert A. Altman, co-founder of video game company ZeniMax Media, was born on February 23, 1947 and passed away on February 3, 2021. Robert attended the University of Wisconsin and then George Was...hington University Law School. He practiced law for many years in Washington, DC, eventually opening his own firm, the Law Offices of Robert Altman, representing major companies. In 1999, he co-founded ZeniMax Media with Christopher Weaver. Robert leaves behind his wife, former Wonder Woman actress Lynda Carter, and their two children, Jessica and James. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those who knew and loved him.Show more

Kelvyn Gardner, a well-known figure in the licensing community, passed away on January 26, 2021. Kelvyn entered the toy industry in 1979, marketing Disney products for an Italian company. For 20 ye...ars, he marketed hundreds of licensed products all over the world. In the 1990s, Kelvyn and three of his colleagues founded Merlin Publishing, and in 1989, it became the fasted growing private company in the United Kingdom. Kelvyn was managing director of Licensing International UK for many years, and was an active member of the Light Fund charity. He also started a podcast, Living with Licensing. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

Steve Lightle was born on November 19, 1951 and passed away on January 8, 2021 from COVID-19. Steve was a comics artist best known as the artist of DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes and Doom Patrol... titles. He attended the Johnson County Community College, and his first professional comic book was a five-page story in Black Diamond #4 in 1984. Later that year, Steve followed Keith Giffen as the penciller of Legion of SUper-Heroes, which he described as his "dream assignment." In 1986, he was one of the contributors to the DC Challenge limited series, and drew part of Batman #400. The following year, he was the original penciller of the rivival of Doom Patrol. After that, he worked mostly as a cover artist.Show more

Dennis Watts, founder of Arbon and Watts and Mail Order Express, passed away on December 24, 2020 after a long battle with illness. Dennis entered the toy industry in 1974 when he took over his fat...her's toy shop. In 1978, he acquired another local toy shop, and from the two shop names, formed the Arbon and Watts business. In the 1990s and 2000s, his two store won the Midlands region Toy Shop of the Year award five different times. In the mid 1990s, Dennis created Mail Order Express, with the goal of working with selected supplier partners to carry entire ranges. The company, which launched online in 1990, rode the wave of the initial internet boom and met great success. Dennis retired in 2005 and spend the rest of his years traveling the world and exploring his passion for photography. He leaves behind his wife, Judy, his sons, Clive and Paul, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, all of whom will deeply and dearly miss him.Show more

Kelly Flock was born on August 10, 1953 and passed away on December 30, 2020. He was 67 years old. Kelly was an influential toy industry executive, holding positions at Sony, LucasArts, and THQ. At... Sony, he was CEO of Sony Online Entertainment. At LucasArts, he was the manager of LucasArts Entertainment, and at THQ, he was the executive vice president of worldwide publishing. His colleagues credit him with pulling the trigger that created Sony Santa Monica, greenlighting Twisted Metal 2, Black, and Jet Moto. He will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved him.Show more

Jennell Allyn Jaquays was born on October 14, 1956 and passed away on January 10, 2024 was an American game designer, video game artist, and illustrator of tabletop role-playing games. She was most kn...own for her work on Dungeons & Dragons. Jennell grew up in Michigan and graduated from Spring Arbor College in 1978 with a degree in Fine Art. While in college, she became interested in science fiction and fantasy gaming. She started playing Dungeons & Dragons in 1975, and created the Fantastic Dungeoning Society with several of her college friends, a group of friends that went on to publish one of the earliest periodicals for role-playing games, The Dungeoneer. After graduating, Jennell worked at Judge Guild, where she worked on two stand-alone D&D modules for Dungeons & Dragons, Dark Tower and Caverns of Thracia, which were completed before she left the company in October 1979. In the 1980s, Jennell started working on video games too, with publishers including TSR, Chaosium, West End Games, Flying Buffalo, and Iron Crown Enterprises. She produced illustrations for Game Designers' Workshop (GDW), most notably creating all the starship illustrations in Traveller Supplement 9: Fighting Ships. Outside of her career, Jennell was also an activist, and was the creative director for the Transgender Human Rights Institute in Seattle. She was integral in the petition to create Leelah's Law, which outlawed conversion therapy of LGBT youth. In response to the petition, President Barack Obama called for the banning of conversion therapy for minors in April 2015.Show more

Karen Tenenbaum, founder and owner of Tenenbaum Law, P.C., passed away on December 23, 2023 after a sudden cardiac event. She was 64 years old. Karen was not only a very successful tax attorney for... more than 25 years, she also founded Money Masters, Inc., an organization that provides financial literacy information and tools for both children and parents using an animated character, Walter the Vault. Walter helped teach kids how to be responsible when it comes to money. Karen was an active member of the New York Metro Chapter of Women in Toys, Licensing & Entertainment. She regularly attended WiT events to connect with other inventors and entrepreneurs. Karen graduated from Brooklyn College in 1980 and then attended Brooklyn Law School as well as NYU Law school She founded her own firm in 1996 after working as an accountant for several years. Her company, Tenenbaum Law, P.C. was named among the New York Law Journal’s Largest Women-Owned Law Firms in New York State and as a top tax firm by both the New York Law Journal and Long Island Business News. Karen leaves behind her husband, Larry, daughters, Allison and Stacie, and grandchildren Asher, Jordan, Remi, and Arley. She will be deeply and dearly missed by all those that knew and loved her.Show more