This time we can truly, and with great sadness, announce that Forrest J Ackerman died Thursday 4 December 2008. We had previously, prematurely, copied a report of his death (which was later retracted), but he had been in failing health for a while (see this report).
Born 24 November 1916, Ackerman was an internationally known sf and movie fan and collector, and was the founder and editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland, and was also a sometime actor, author, and agent. He won a Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1997, and a Lifetime Achievement World Fantasy Award in 2002. Variously known in fandom as “Forry”, “4e”, and “4SJ”, he is credited with coining the term “sci-fi” in 1954. Perhaps most widely known for his collection of books and movie memorabilia, it at one time numbered in excess of 300,000 pieces, and filled his 18-room “Ackermansion”. The Associated Press reports that “every Saturday morning that he was home, Ackerman would open up the house to anyone who wanted to view his treasures.” Though he down-sized and moved in 2002, the open-houses continued. Ackerman told the AP, during a tour on his 85th birthday, “My wife used to say, ‘How can you let strangers into our home?’ But what’s the point of having a collection like this if you can’t let people enjoy it?” (The Wikipedia photo, at right, by Alan Light, shows Ackerman with a minuscule portion of his collection in 1990.)
He owned several legendary pieces, including the cape Bela Lugosi wore in the stage version of Dracula, and the ring he wore in the film version. I remember taking a friend, Merrill, to I-Con on Long Island one year. She wasn’t a sf fan, and didn’t recognize most of the big-name authors wandering about, but in a quiet moment, we met Forry taking a break. He showed my friend the ring and her eyes lit up. This was someone she knew, wearing something she knew. He graciously let her try it on.
The Los Angeles Times has a nice write-up of his life and legacy. MSNBC has this report. The SFWA obituary includes commentaries by Joan Marie Knappenberger (President of First Fandom) and Keith Stokes. The New York Times has this obituary. And ComicMix has nice tribute.
At times, his literary agency represented Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Ray Cummings, Hugo Gernsback, H.L. Gold, L. Ron Hubbard, H.P. Lovecraft, and A.E. van Vogt. His film appearances (other than as himself) run from uncredited roles in Hey, Rookie (1944) and The Farmer’s Daughter (1947), credited apperances in The Time Travelers (1964) and Queen of Blood (1966), all the way up to Scarlet Moon (2006) and The Dead Undead (2007). IMDB.com has his filmography on this page. Wikipedia lists more than a dozen known pseudonyms—along with several dozen non-fiction books written, anthologies edited, and short stories written—on this page.
Ackerman’s wife, Wendayne, died in 1990. He leaves no immediate surviving family members, but legions of “family members” through fandom. SFScope is accepting your reminiscences and tributes, and we’ll post them. Use the “Contact Us” link at the top of the page (until we get the comment feature fixed).