RIP - Rest in Play - Remembering Those that have Passed

If you know of a colleague's passing, please send us information so we may share with our readers. Archives can be found HERE

Britt Allcroft, the producer behind the beloved Thomas the Tank Engine TV series Thomas And Friends, has died. 

Allcroft began her career in British television and was introduced to Thomas the Tank Engine when she met the author, Reverend Wilbert Awdry, while making a documentary about the Bluebell Railway. According to The Independent, multiple producers were interested in adapting Thomas, but she successfully convinced Awdry that she was the right person for the job. After securing the rights, she and her husband, fellow TV producer Angus Wright, spent four years securing funding for their program. 

The result was Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends (later shortened to Thomas & Friends), which first aired on ITV in October 1984 with narration from former Beatle Ringo Starr. The series became a huge success, eventually running for 24 seasons and 584 episodes over 37 years. It spawned several spin-offs, including the U.S. show Shining Time Station (George Carlin and Alec Baldwin served as narrators for the U.S. series) and Mr. Conductor’s Thomas Tales. Allcroft went on to write and direct the 2000 feature film, Thomas And The Magic Railroad, starring Baldwin, Peter Fonda, and Mara Wilson. 

In the wake of a poor box office performance for the film, Allcroft resigned from her production company The Britt Alcroft Company, per The Guardian. The company was eventually sold to HiT Entertainment, which itself was later acquired by Mattel. In 2021, Mattel rebooted the show as the 2D animated series Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go.

Former Lt Governor Mary Anne Krupsak, a trailblazing figure in the fight for women's rights, and the first woman ever elected Lieutenant Governor of New York State, passed away peacefully on December 28th at her home on Seneca Lake. She was 92. 

She also served on the Board of Directors for several corporations, including toy manufacturer Coleco, whom during her tenure introduced the worldwide phenomenon of Cabbage Patch Kids, generating over $2 billion in sales in 1983-1984. Alongside her friend Dr. Konstatine Frank, her committed efforts played a significant role in the development of the Finger Lakes wine industry as we know it today.
She loved life, and she lived it well.
She loved her friends and her family; the Wytrwals, the Krupsaks, and the Cohens. She exemplified a life of purpose, and of dedication to public service and others.

Martyn Brown, Team17 co-founder Martyn Brown has passed away. Brown helped establish the UK studio in 1990 and spent 20 years at the company. He worked on over 50 titles during that time, including the ever-popular Worms franchise. After departing Team17 in 2010, Brown was tapped by Activision to build frontline mobile game development studio The Blast Furnace. He also supported other studios including Double Eleven, New Start Games, Exient, and Bithead through independent consultancy firm Insight For Hire.

Rickie Einstein Paley, 91, formerly of New York and San Juan, Puerto Rico died peacefully at home on December 30, 2024.
In the late 1950s, Rickie found a new opportunity at the intersection of fashion and the toy industry when Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel, asked her to join the company to market a new kind of girl's toy, the Barbie Doll. Rickie leapt at the chance and became Mattel's first marketer of the new doll which was not an initial success. She realized to make Barbie a financial hit, you only had to sell the doll once, but you needed to create a wardrobe and accessories which would be continually updated and changed. Rickie's work with Mattel led Barbie to iconic status.
When Rickie met Sid Paley, the love of her life at a Borscht Belt Hotel on July 4th Weekend 1960, it was as if they were simultaneously struck by the same lightning bolt. Sid, a confirmed bachelor and real estate developer, whisked her off in a whirlwind and told her that if she could sell dollhouses, she could certainly sell real homes. One of Rickie's proudest accomplishments was selling 372 starter homes in a neighborhood Sid was developing in Puerto Rico. Rickie and Sid were partners in every way.   Along the route of her nine-decade life, Rickie became a beacon of fashion...

George Delaney - George passed away this December. I have not been able to find a link for more information. If you have information, please share with us.

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We were just notiified that Charles Burchell Phillips, 78, of Walpole, peacefully passed away at home on Nov. 7, 2022, after a long illness.

Charles was born in Kingston, Jamaica, the son of Dr. Charles B. Phillips Sr. and Rose Sutherland Phillips. At the age of 13, he and his brother moved to live with their grandfather, Mortimer Sutherland, in Montclair, N.J., where he attended middle school. He moved back to Jamaica, attended and graduated from Calabar College (high school) in Kingston, Jamaica, and subsequently received a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1966. From 1966 to 1968, Charles worked in Ford Motor Company’s “Experimental Garage” in Dearborn, Mich., where new car styling and features were explored. He was very creative, helping to develop start-up businesses until 1970 when he went to work for the Ideal Toy Company. Following that, he developed new games, consulted with other game inventors and received several patents. Charles’ games, produced and sold by Hasbro and Parker Brothers, include “Advance to Boardwalk,” “Free Parking,” “M.A.G.S.,” “I Vant to Bite Your Finger” and “Clue Jr.” to name only a few. He also created and independently produced the game BUX.​​​​​​