July 1 Events in SF & Fantasy

Births

Well...according to somebody at the IMDB, Robby the Robot was "born" on July 1, 1955.
Also according to the IMDB: Robby was the brainchild of, and designed by Robert Kinoshita, and built in mid-1955 by the MGM prop department, at a reported cost of $125,000.00 from blueprint plans provided by industrial designer, Japanese-American engineer Robert Kinoshita, to 'star' in the epic science fiction classic Forbidden Planet (1956) and its B-movie followup The Invisible Boy (1957) a year later. Robby the Robot has become one of the most popular robot icons in the history of movies and media, as recognizable as George Lucas' erstwhile comedy team of R2-D2 and C-3PO who 'co-starred' in his epic sci-fi fantasy Star Wars (1977).

Robby's voice in Forbidden Planet was supplied by Marvin Miller.

Dan Ackroyd
1 July 1952, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Most famous as a comedian from Saturday Night Live, he portrayed Beldar Conehead on Saturday Night Live and later in the movie of the same name. (1993).

He also played Dr. Raymond Stantz in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II.

Genevieve Bujold
was born on July 1, 1942, Montréal, Québec, Canada. She actually has no science fiction credits, but I include her because she was to have been the original Captain Janeway. But she withdrew from the project after 1 day of filming and Kate Mulgrew accepted the role in Star Trek: Voyager (1995).

Jean Marsh
was born on July 1, 1934 in Stoke Newington, London, England, UK.
--The Twilight ZOne (1959) played Alicia (the robot) in "Only the Lonely" with Jack Warden
--Unearthly Stranger (1963) - Miss Ballard
--Adam Adamant Lives! - Lady Lydia in "Face in a Mirror" (1967)
--UFO - Janna Wade in "Exposed" (1970)
--Goliath Awaits (1981) (TV) - Dr. Goldman
--Return to Oz Nurse Wilson / Mombi - (1985)
--Doctor Who - played Sara Kingdom in Destruction of Time in 1966 (William Hartnell as the Doctor)
played Morgaine in Battlefield in 1986 (Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor)
--The Tomorrow People - Doctor Culex in "The Culex Experiment" (1994)
--Willow -- Queen Bavmorda (1988)
and, of course, the first wife of Jon Pertwee, from 1955-1960.

Deaths
Thea Von Harbou
Born: 27 December 1888, Tauperlitz, Germany, Died July 1 1954, West Berlin, Germany

Married to Fritz Lang before he left Germany, screenwriter for Metropolis, and Frau im Mond, among many other films.