King of SuperMarionation, GERRY ANDERSON, who created The THUNDERBIRDS, SPACE 1999, UFO, CAPTAIN SCARLET & THE MYSTERONS, and more, has had his strings cut by the great puppet master at 83.
His son Jamie Anderson posted the sad news on his blog that the guiding light behind so many classic sci-fi series passed peacefully in his sleep.
Reportedly, Anderson had been battling dementia for the past two years and that he suddenly deteriorated over the past six months, The UK Mail reported.
A film and TV producer for over 40 years his most famous creation was the 1960s TV show Thunderbirds which used a revolutionary type of puppetry dubbed SuperMarionation” – became a worldwide sensation.
U.S. kid auds first became aware of the startling process with “Supercar” on the early 1960s which was imported from the UK and ran in syndication.
Along with his wife Sylvia, the Andersons created hit after hit – including "Stingray", "Fireball XL5", “Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons” as well as the international rescue team that was F.A.B. – Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds were spun into two feature length films – “Thunderbirds are GO!” and “Thunderbird 6”.
Sylvia voiced Lady Penelope aka "FAB 1" for both the TV series and feature films.
The Andersons then branched into live action with the shows “UFO” a super-sleek War of the Worlds update with fan fave Ed Bishop and “Space 1999” which starred then married stars Martin Landau and Barbara Bain.
They also produced the sci-fi epic starring “Journey to the Far Side of the Sun” starring popular “The Invaders” TV star Roy Thinnes.
A recent live-action “Thunderbirds” film was released a few years back directed by "Star Trek: The Next Generation"’s Jonathan Frakes.
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s puppet epic “Team America World Police” was a loving but irreverent homage to the work of Anderson’s Century 21 SuperMarionation epics.
Gerry’s last producing cred was an all-CGI version of “Captain Scarlet”.
With Gerry’s passing, his worldwide legion of admirers are decidedly NOT feeling F.A.B. today.
Adios, amigo.
