IRWIN ALLEN NEWS NETWORK
A warm welcome to the Irwin Allen News Network (IANN). Established in 1994 by Giants Log, with the late Paul Zastupnevich as president, IANN has focussed on bringing the wonderful worlds of Academy Award winning producer Irwin Allen to a wider audience. Working with fans, cast and crew around the world, IANN has published dozens of newsletters, specials and web sites to promote the television shows, movies, performers, and the production crew working so hard behind the scenes.
We hope you will enjoy browsing around the site and that you will find new material of interest. We welcome your ideas and input to help us to continue to bring the work of Irwin Allen to new generations.
If you would like to contribute research, personal memories of working on the productions, articles, photos, artwork and other creative ideas, please do contact us. We are continually developing the site whenever we have a spare moment, and the extent to which we can do this depends on everyone who has fond memories of these shows and movies.
If you hover the mouse pointer over the picture above, you can identify and visit the pages dedicated to each of the Irwin Allen productions.
LATEST NEWS
IN LOVING MEMORY - DEANNA LUND
Our Valerie in Giantland
It is heartbreaking to have to write the following words and to let you know that on Friday 22nd June 2018, our dear and beautiful friend Deanna Lund passed away. Our hearts go out to all her family and friends at this very sad time. We have promised that we will help to preserve her legacy through her website and beyond and friends and fans around the world are welcome to contribute through the Irwin Allen News Network (IANN) site.
The Land of the Giants cast have all been like family for everyone who has travelled in time with them over the past 50 years. In this 50th Anniversary year of Land of the Giants, this is an even greater loss as we all try to commemorate the show which brought us this inspiring actress, Deanna Lund.
Deanna's long term fan organisation Friends of Deanna Lund, run by Dr. Fred Eichelman, has prepared a special obituary in Deanna's memory for her website.
Hollywood Reporter tribute to Land of the Giants star Deanna Lund
Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Volume 1
Now available is the first of two volumes by Marc Cushman and Mark Alfred covering the making of Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
NETFLIX LOST IN SPACE PREMIERE
Angela Cartwright, Bill Mumy, and Marta Kristen at the Netflix 'Lost In Space' Los Angeles premiere on April 9, 2018.
The two Don Wests Ignacio Serricchio and Mark Goddard.
NETFLIX LOST IN SPACE OFFICIAL TRAILER
NETFLIX LOST IN SPACE TEASER AND RELEASE DATE
Netflix's new version of Lost in Space (10 episodes) will be available to view on the Netflix platform from Friday 13th April 2018. The trailer video is exciting to see and looks of cinematic quality.
VALERIE IN GIANTLAND
Deanna Lund's fan organisation Friends of Deanna Lund has just updated her 1992 novel Valerie in Giantland: Valerie Ames Scott's Diary as part of the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Land of the Giants. The revised book features a new colour cover and an epilogue chapter. Copies are available through Friends of Deanna Lund at signings and through Amazon.
Robert Dowdell
A very, very sad start to the new year with the passing on Tuesday 23rd January 2018 of one of the most popular stars of Irwin Allen's television productions, Robert Dowdell, who was best known for his role of Lt. Commander Chip Morton in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Much loved around the globe, Chip was often the straight guy to several other comedic characters in the show, and he played the role superbly. Irwin Allen also featured Robert in two of his made for television movies, City Beneath the Sea (1971) and Outrage (1986). He will be sorely missed by his legion of fans and will live on through his work and the love that engendered. Our thoughts at this time are with all of his family, friends, and fans.
Facebook notice from Robert's cousin
BRADFORD DILLMAN
Bradford Dillman, star of Irwin Allen's The Swarm, passed away on 16th January 2018 at the age of 87. He was so much fun in the role of Major Baker in The Swarm, and it is worth giving the movie another view to enjoy his performance. He also appeared in two of Irwin Allen's television movies, namely Adventures of the Queen and The Memory of Eva Ryker. For sci-fi fans, he is also fondly remembered for his role in the movie Escape from the Planet of the Apes. Bradford had a long and illustrious acting career, winning a Golden Globe and two Emmy awards.
RARE LAND OF THE GIANTS ZIPPO LIGHTER
A rare Land of the Giants promotional lighter manufactured by Zippo is up for auction on eBay.com (eBay reference 182853932004). These lighters were given to cast and crew during early production of the series. The base is stamped with the official Zippo logo, and features the vertical line 4/3 date code stamp which corresponds with 1967, the first year of the show's production.
CHILLER THEATRE EXPO
The Chiller Theatre Expo in October 2017 features a Land of the Giants reunion with guests including Deanna Lund, Gary Conway, and Stefan Arngrim. The event is being held on 27-29 October 2017 in New Jersey. Code Red star Willie Aames is also due to attend.
Chiller Theatre Expo October Guest List
INFINITY 2 JUNE 2017 - LAND OF THE GIANTS ARTICLE
Available in newsagents such as WH Smith is the latest issue 2 of the Infinity sci-fi magazine. This issue features a six page article on Land of the Giants "Good Things Come in Small Packages" by author Jon Abbott.
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, SEAVIEW'S FINEST HOUR
Here is a new video from Shaun Dale featuring his DeBour Hulls 57" Seaview model build.
18" DIAMETER JUPITER 2 FROM LOST IN SPACE LAUNCH TRIBUTE
New video from Mark at THE THIRD MODELS
PLANET LIFT OFF EFFECTS FOR 1/35 MOEBIUS JUPITER 2 BUILD
New videos from Mark at THE THIRD MODELS
DERELICT TRIBUTE
HOLLYWOOD SHOW 28-30 APRIL 2017
Deanna Lund, Lee Meriwether, and David Hedison attended the Hollywood Show at The Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel (5400 West Century Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA) over the weekend of 28-30 April 2017. Other Irwin Allen related guests included Barbara Bouchet (guest on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), Sandra Lee Gimpel (Bill Mumy's stunt double in Lost in Space), Sherry Jackson (guest on Lost in Space and child star in Where Danger Lives), and Tom Reese (guest on Land of the Giants). Shared above is a portrait photo of David Hedison courtesy of the Hollywood Show.
EAST COAST COMICON 29-30 APRIL 2017
Lost in Space stars Bill Mumy, Angela Cartwright, Marta Kristen, and Mark Goddard attended the East Coast ComiCon at Meadowlands Expo Center, Secaucus, New Jersey over the weekend of 29-30 April 2017. Featured at the event was a full size Robot and the Chariot.
COMIC BOOK CENTRAL LOST IN SPACE INTERVIEWS
Comic Book Central have been chatting with producer Kevin Burns and four of the Lost in Space cast, namely Bill Mumy, Angela Cartwright, Mark Goddard, and Marta Kristen. You can listen to and download each interview at the Comic Book Central Website.
Angela Cartwright - 22nd April 2017
Mark Goddard - 27th April 2017
Marta Kristen - 29th April 2017
RODGER E. MAUS
We have learned the very sad news that Emmy award winning and Oscar nominated Art Director and Production Designer Rodger E. Maus, who worked for many of Irwin Allen's productions, passed away last month (16th March 2017) at the age of 84. You only have to browse around our site to see the results of his work, be it the design of the Lost in Space Space Pod or the sub-orbital spaceship, the Spindrift, from Land of the Giants.
We were honoured to meet with Rodger Maus in 1992 in Los Angeles and he was a charming gentleman. Below is a photograph of Rodger reading our Land of the Giants 25th Anniversary Special.
JAPANESE COLLECTIBLES AUCTION
Several Irwin Allen related Japanese Collectibles are being auctioned on eBay on 26th and 28th April 2017 including this very rare Marusan Judy Robinson doll. Thanks to Hideyuki for sharing these pictures with us.
Japanese Collectibles Auction Items
16" SCRATCH BUILT SPINDRIFT MODEL
Mark Dorais has scratch built a new Spindrift model, this time a little over 16 inches long and made of cast resin, styrene plastic, metal and a vacuum formed dome.
Mark Dorais Model Build Gallery
francine york memorial CELEBRATION 23 APRIL 2017
A memorial to celebrate the life of actress Francine York (who passed away in January) is being held on Sunday 23rd April 2017 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood LA. If you would like to attend, please click the image below for a PDF flyer containing details of the event.
Click here or on image above for PDF of Francine's Memorial Flyer
Francine York Memorial Celebration
THREE VOLUME SET OF BOOKS BY MARC CUSHMAN
All three volumes of Marc Cushman's Irwin Allen's Lost in Space: The Authorized Biography of a Classic Sci-Fi Series are now available. This trilogy explores the history of Lost in Space through research and interviews and includes many never seen before photographs. Reading through the chapters will give you a greater understanding on how television classics like this were produced.
This will be the ultimate reference source for anyone studying the series. Marc has kindly provided a chapter for you to read here at IANN covering the pilot episode The Reluctant Stowaway.
IRWIN ALLEN'S LOST IN SPACE, VOLUME 1, Chapter 10 (PDF 2.5MB)
Marc Cushman has also written a three volume series of books researching Star Trek.
All three volumes are available direct from the publishers Jacobs Brown Press or on Amazon.com.
LOST IN SPACE VOLUME 1 KINDLE EDITION
Marc Cushman's Irwin Allen's Lost in Space: The Authorized Biography of a Classic Sci-Fi Series, Vol. 1, is now available as a Kindle ebook at the US Amazon store:
JON ABBOTT - NAKED PULP ZINE
British author Jon Abbott has produced the first of a new print-on-demand zine called Naked Pulp and the first issue includes a feature on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. The zine is available through the UK Amazon.
Jon Abbott will also have articles in future issues of the returning sci-fi magazine Infinity including a feature on Land of the Giants in the second issue, due out in June.
LEE MERIWETHER
Lee Meriwether has long supported the charity AbilityFirst to help children and adults with disabilities. Details below of their latest event:
Stroll & Roll Set to Raise More Than $920,000 in Support of Children and Adults with Disabilities
Lawrence Montaigne
Lawrence Montaigne, a guest in several Irwin Allen TV episodes, passed away on 17th March 2017 at the age of 86. Irwin Allen fans will know him from The Time Tunnel episodes Massacre (as Yellow Elk, 1966) and Idol of Death (as Captain Alvarado, 1967) as well as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episode Man-Beast (as Dr. Braddock, 1968) . He also appeared as Dr. Aguila in the City Beneath the Sea presentation reel in 1969. We understand that he has recently been working on revising his autobiography for Jacobs Brown Press based upon his book "A Vulcan Odyssey."
LAND OF THE GIANTS RETURNS AGAIN TO THE UK
Land of the Giants returns to the UK Horror Channel on Monday 20th February 2017 at 3pm (Freeview 70, Sky 319, Virgin Media 149). Horror Channel website has yet to be updated with this information.
WILLIE AAMES AT THE HOLLYWOOD SHOW
Actor Willie Aames, star of Irwin Allen's The Swiss Family Robinson, was a guest at the January 2017 Hollywood Show.
FRANCINE YORK
The Irwin Allen world lost one of its most active guest stars, Francine York, on 6th January 2017. She was a special guest in so many Irwin Allen productions including Lost in Space and Land of the Giants. In our January 2017 archive, we take you down an Irwin Allen memory lane of some of Francine's appearances.
DON MARSHALL
We have just learned through Celeste Yarnall that Don Marshall (Dan Erickson in Land of the Giants), passed away on Sunday 30th October 2016 at Cedars Sinai Hospital at the age of 80. For more news, please visit the Land of the Giants section.
RED EYE SCI-FI
Land of the Giants, The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea are all now being broadcast on US television after midnight on Sunday mornings on the MeTV network. Enjoy the MeTV trailer above.
MeTV Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
COMMEMORATING IRWIN ALLEN'S 100TH BIRTHDAY
12th June 2016 marks the 100th birthday of Irwin Allen, the "Master of Disaster", and all round king of science fiction and movie making. It's amazing to think that he was already in his fifties when busy making his quartet of science fiction shows in the mid to late sixties and this shows us all how much can be achieved even in our later years. He has inspired many movie makers who followed in the decades since, and his name and productions are often referred to and compared with when critiquing current day producers' work. That influence shows no sign of abating as we commemorate Irwin Allen's 100th birthday. We are working on a number of projects in the coming months and years to help keep his body of work in the public eye well into his second hundred years and beyond. Your input to these projects is a vital and a most welcome contribution to ensuring his legacy for the future. Please feel free to share your Irwin Allen creations, collections, and research any time via our contact page.
IRWIN ALLEN 100TH BIRTHDAY ART
The above artwork has been designed by A. Dutto to commemorate the 100th birthday of Irwin Allen.
SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR IRWIN'S 100th BIRTHDAY
Restoring the Gemini 12 video featuring Paul Lubliner, Andre Dhont, and Mark Myers, and produced and edited by Mike Clark.
FULL SCALE CHARIOT REPLICA
The video above is courtesy of Chris Pappas and shows John Antonellis' amazing replica build of the Chariot from Lost in Space. Chris Pappas was a consultant on the project and provided considerable materials.
SEAVIEW MODEL VIDEO
This is a video of Shaun Dale's 57" DeBoer Seaview model build.
30 Greatest Disaster Movies
Channel 5's 30 Greatest Disaster Movies (UK Channel 5, 10-11.30pm, Sunday 20th September 2015) featured three Irwin Allen disaster movies, namely The Swarm, The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. During the broadcast, Irwin Allen was referred to as "the daddy of disaster movies in the 1970s" and of course "the Master of Disaster".
Surprisingly, the list also featured several zombie and science fiction movies, possibly due to the fact that it was broadcast during an "End of the World" weekend on Channel 5 (even Celebrity Big Brother got involved in the theme). By including such movies in the genre, some older classic disaster features were omitted from the list including more vintage movies like The Rains Came and San Francisco. Hopefully, some day a list of the greatest "possible" disaster movies will be compiled, limited to real-world disasters (albeit with some added drama that all good movies need).
The list was compiled by a number of film critics and based upon US Box Office success (adjusted for inflation). In current day monetary terms, both The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno receipts exceed $500,000,000.
JUPITER 2 WITH LAUNCH GANTRY AND BASE
David Holderbaum has built this stunning model using the Moebius Models Jupiter 2 kit with a custom built launch gantry and base. Click here to view all of David's latest builds.
METALUNA MODELS SPINDRIFT CRASH SITE DIORAMA KIT
A new resin diorama kit by Metaluna Models for displaying the Moebius Models Spindrift is now available at FabGearUSA.
Paint, glue and Moebius Models #255 Spindrift not included. The Moebius Models Spindrift kit is available separately at fabgearusa.com.
Please also note that the Moebius Models 1/350 Seaview model kit is going to be back in stock soon and FabGearUSA.com are now taking pre-orders.
BACKLOT SPACEPORT TOUR OF THE SEAVIEW
Kyle Allen shares a new creative and fun tour of the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Seaview, in Back Lot Space Port Episode 6 "S.S.R.N. Seaview". The Seaview tour can also be viewed in the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea media section.
THE SEAVIEW BY JEFF SUMMERS
Jeff Summers has created this stunning composite artwork using his build of the 57" DeBoer Hulls Seaview kit.
DAVID HOLDERBAUM MODEL BUILD GALLERY
View David Holderbaum Model Gallery
LOST IN SPACE - BLAST OFF INTO SPACE
Visit the David Holderbaum Art Gallery
TOUR OF THE SPINDRIFT
SCRATCH BUILT LOST IN SPACE CHARIOT
MOEBIUS MODELS PRE-ASSEMBLED SPACE POD
Moebius Models Assembled Space Pod Gallery
HELP NEEDED WITH RESEARCH
The main focus of our efforts at the Irwin Allen News Network is to document the history of all of the Irwin Allen movies and television shows and this implies extensive levels of research. We are particularly trying to credit actors and crew who didn't receive on-screen credits in the productions.
We are also studying the movies, trying to identify as many people as possible who appeared on screen and this is proving to be a never-ending challenge. We have recently added a gallery of faces from The Poseidon Adventure and The Time Travelers amongst others and have several faces we cannot yet identify. If you can help with any of these missing names with corroborating pictures of the unnamed actors, please contact us.
POSEIDON ADVENTURE STARS AT JULY 2011 SHOW
Carol Lynley, Ernie F. Orsatti, Stella Stevens, Ernest Borgnine, Pamela Sue Martin, and Eric Shea
STEVE CAUSEY - MOEBIUS MODELS SPINDRIFT BUILD
Moebius Models 1/128 Spindrift Kit Build
CONVENTIONS
Convention Reports and Galleries
LAND OF THE GIANTS COMMENTARY
On Friday 8th April 2011, the cast of Land of the Giants gathered together in LA to create a very special treat exclusively for the UK Second Season DVD release which is due out in June. Stefan Arngrim, Don Marshall, Deanna Lund, Gary Conway, Heather Young and Don Matheson have recorded a really outstanding audio commentary which will appear on the second season DVD extras. This unique event showcases the delightful camaraderie between the cast members and is something we are very keen to extend to a convention in the UK.
SCIENCE FICTION MUSEUM
Visit the Spindrift and Robot at the Seattle Science Fiction Museum
THE SPINDRIFT
Visit the Spindrift "Hero" Miniature Gallery
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Every so often we will showcase something from different creative fans on this main page. The image above shows several pieces of original artwork and model building from fans around the world. Click on each image to see more of this wonderful work. You can also see more outstanding work from other artists, animators, and model builders by visiting the creativity showcase and models pages on this site.
IRWIN ALLEN BLOG
We have set up a new blog for general chat, all the little bits of information we come across, and to highlight the latest news in the Irwin Allen worlds.
IRWIN ALLEN GALLERY
We have built a new structured and searchable Irwin Allen Gallery with lots of different bits and pieces on anything and everything related to the Irwin Allen productions. It includes new showcases of the work of the talented and creative fans, without whom there would not be many new things in the Irwin Allen universe to enjoy. If you would like your work and collections showcased here, you are welcome to send material via the Email link in the IANN contact page.
PAUL ZASTUPNEVICH ART GALLERY
A new gallery called The Production Art Gallery has opened online and is the "world's first art gallery dedicated solely to original film and TV art". Included in their immense portfolio are many pieces of original Paul Zastupnevich costume art, which are available for sale. Click on the image or link below to visit the Paul Zastupnevich Production Art Gallery.
Visit the Paul Zastupnevich Production Art Gallery
IRWIN ALLEN NEWS ON TWITTER
Small or urgent items of Irwin Allen related news will be sent out via Twitter. If you have any upcoming events featuring Irwin Allen stars that you would like us to mention, please send us details.
