Fanderson is saddened to hear of the death of actor John Bluthal. Best known to Anderson fans as the voice of the cantankerous Commander Zero in Fireball XL5, Bluthal reached wider fame with his role as Frank Pickle in The Vicar of Dibley.

He was born in Jezierzany, Galicia, Poland (now Ukraine) before emigrating to Melbourne, Australia with his family in 1938 at the age of nine. He later returned to Europe, where he worked extensively in theatre and radio comedy before moving into TV appearances in shows such as Fireball XL5, The Saint and Q. Bluthal’s long-running film and television career stretched from the 1960s up until a role as philosopher Herbert Marcuse in the Coen Brothers film, Hail Caesar!

A tribute will be appearing in FAB magazine shortly.