Ann Robinson, 1929 – 2025

Actress Ann Robinson, 96, died on Sept. 26 of last year, her family finally announced; Robinson was the female lead in 1953’s The War of the Worlds. She started her career in 1949 as a stunt double and extra; The War of the Worlds was her first major role. She never had as good a showcase, but kept working steadily in films and on TV through the mid-60s (Racket Squad, Bad for Each Other, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Dragnet, The Millionaire, Gun Duel in Durango, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 77 Sunset Strip, Gilligan’s Island). She had cameos in in the 1980s War of the Worlds TV series, and Steven Spielberg’s 2005 movie remake. She was married twice, including to matador Jaime Bravo (their son Jaime, Jr., is an Emmy-winning sports director for ABC). Robinson had a refreshingly diplomatic view of War of the Worlds’ Martians: “I always thought, ‘This guy might have been nice! Maybe we ruined a chance for peace because Gene Barry got overzealous and threw that hatchet,’” she said. “This Martian was just coming up behind me to tap me on the shoulder — he wasn’t aggressive, he wasn’t mean. Of course, the Martians had blown my uncle apart, along with a bunch of other people, but maybe this guy was the nice one who wanted to negotiate.”