Richard Liberty

Having neatly edited his birth name down from Riccardo Liberatoscioli, Richard Liberty went on to work largely unsung in American film and television productions. His claim to fame is secured, however, by his participation in two classic films by horror maestro George A. Romero, which remain cult favorites and frequent reference points for genre directors. In "The Crazies," Liberty plays Artie, one of many small town residents driven to madness by a virus spread by a leak from a biochemical weapon. Liberty worked with Romero again on "Day of the Dead," part of the director's long-running zombie series; here, he said goodbye to sense and reason once again as Dr Matthew "Frankenstein" Logan, a scientist frantically and fanatically searching for a way to either kill or cure the world's ever-growing population of zombies. The actor conducted his final interview for the DVD release of "Day of the Dead"; therein he refers to the film as the undoubted high point of his acting career, and audiences would probably agree. Liberty also appeared in the much-loved Disney children's sci-fi film "The Flight of the Navigator"; alongside Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen in the 1980 time travel fantasy "The Final Countdown"; and in the TV series "Miami Vice." He died in New York City in 2000, aged 68.