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Working name of William Bond Warren (1943-2016), sf fan and film buff, author with Allan Rothstein of the Recursive SF murder mystery Fandom Is a Way of Death (1984 chap), set in and distributed at the 1984 Worldcon in Los Angeles, and featuring many fan characters including Forrest J Ackerman. Warren worked with Walt Lee on the latter's monumental, self-published Reference Guide to Fantastic Films: Volume 1 A-F (1972), Volume 2 G-O (1973) and Volume 3 P-Z (1974), containing upwards of 20,000 entries; the credit on each title page is "compiled by Walt Lee, assisted by Bill Warren". Fantasy, occult and horror films feature more largely than pure sf, but the latter is nevertheless dealt with thoroughly. The work remains a useful research tool for anyone dealing with sf Cinema, although commentary on the actual content of the films it covers is very minimal. It received a Special Committee Award from the 1975 Worldcon.
Warren's extraordinarily useful and interesting solo film reference books, the most detailed and accurate available for the period, are Keep Watching the Skies!: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties: Volume I: 1950-57 (1982) and Volume II: 1958-62 (1986), on both of which he was assisted in research by Bill Thomas. They are not, despite the title, restricted to US films, but include many foreign films released in the US (see Cinema). Warren has also written some sf and fantasy, starting with "Death is a Lonely Place" in Worlds of Fantasy (1968 #1). With Elton T Elliott he wrote a short-lived 1979 news column for Galaxy, "Science Fiction Hotline" (two instalments only, June/July and September/October 1979). [PN/DRL]
born North Bend, Oregon: 26 April 1943
died Los Angeles, California: 7 October 2016
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Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 08:51 am on 20 April 2024.
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