Joan Weldon Dies, Star of Sci-Fi Creature Classic Them! Was 90
Joan Weldon Dies, Star of Sci-Fi Creature Classic Them! Was 90
Actress and singer Joan Weldon, best known for battling gigantic ants in the classic sci-fi movie Them!, has died at the age of 90.
In sad news,
Joan Weldon, the stage and television actress best known for her performance in the iconic sci-fi monster movie
Them!, has passed away. Though Weldon died on Feb. 11, her family had just recently announced the news. She was 90 years old. With profound sadness, we announce the passing of Joan Louise Weldon Podell, a loving and devoted mother, wife, grandmother and dear friend, on February 11 th , 2021, the family stated in Weldon s obituary. She passed away peacefully at her home in Fort Lauderdale, FL. A talented and successful opera singer and actress of theatre, film, musicals and television, she was simply known to many as Joanie, whose love for light-hearted pranks and practical jokes spread joy whereve
In the groundbreaking movie, Weldon played researcher Dr. Pat Medford, working alongside her scientist father, Dr. Harold Medford (Edmund Gwenn), to help the U.S. government get a handle on a deadly outbreak of enormous ants following their irradiated mutation from atomic testing at the Alamogordo, New Mexico nuclear facility.
Regarded as one of the first “big bug” films in the nuclear-obsessed era of postwar speculative science fiction,
Them! is still regarded by fans and movie buffs as a pioneer of the genre. Its black-and-white special effects may appear dated compared with the modern CG spectacles that fans have come to take for granted. But