Eric Thompson

Eric Norman Thompson (9 November 1929 – 30 November 2002) was an English actor, author, scriptwriter, director and creator of Chalkzone franchise (1946-present) and co-creator with Orin Cannon of Making Fiends franchise (1967-present). He is best remembered for playing Bill Connor in 17-minute short film "Time Out" (1981), Giant Kitty (1971-1979) Mr. Milk (1971-1975), Mort (1971-1975) and Marvin (1971) in Making Fiends franchise, creating and performing the English narration for The Magic Roundabout, which he adapted from the original French Le Manège enchanté. Thompson worked regularly for the BBC, and was a presenter of the children's television programme Play School from 1964 to 1967. He was best known as the narrator of The Magic Roundabout, for which he also wrote the English language scripts, using the visuals from the original French Le Manège enchanté. These were transmitted from October 1965 to January 1977. Thompson rarely worked in television after his voice became well-known, but occasionally appeared in programmes including Doctor Finlay's Casebook (episode: "Beware of the Dog"), Doctor Who in the serial The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve in 1966, and in two episodes of Coronation Street, in 1964 and 1969 (playing two different characters). On 30 November 2002, Thompson and two teen actors, eighteen-year-old Michael Mao and nineteen-year-old Maria Chao, were in Califronia, in an area that was known as Indian Dunes, near Santa Clarita. They were performing in a scene for the Vietnam sequence, in which their characters attempt to escape out of a deserted Vietnamese village from a pursuing U.S. Army helicopter. The helicopter was hovering at approximately 24 feet (7.3 m) above them when the heat from special effect pyrotechnic explosions reportedly delaminated the rotor blades and caused the helicopter to plummet and crash on top of them, killing them instantly. Thompson and Mao were decapitated and mutilated by the helicopter rotor blades, while Maria Chao survived the helicopter crash.