David Del Valle: key obituary facts
Is David Del Valle dead? Yes. David Del Valle died on November 4, 2026, at age 77.
Cause of death: David Del Valle's cause of death was reported as Cancer.
What was David Del Valle known for?
He was an American journalist.
More about David Del Valle
Born: 24 September 1949.
Place of birth: El Paso.
Gender: male.
Occupation: journalist, actor, author.
Nationality: United States.
Occupations: Journalist, columnist, film historian, commentator.
David Del Valle, an American film historian, journalist and commentator on genre films, died of esophageal cancer on November 4, 2026, aged 77.
His professional work spanned journalism, column writing, film history and commentary for radio and television. In those roles, he discussed horror, science-fiction, cult and fantasy films.
Born in El Paso, he attended San Francisco State University. Del Valle traced his interest in horror to early childhood, recalling that he was four, five or six when he first saw Universal horror films, including Lon Chaney Jr. as the Mummy and Bela Lugosi as Dracula. His interest continued through his school years: in high school, he watched Vincent Price films at drive-ins, where, he recalled, triple-feature horror movies were on the bill. The recollection linked his later work in film history and commentary to a longstanding interest in the genre, while identifying the films and performers that first captured his attention. Entertainment Weekly described Del Valle as “something of a cult celebrity himself.” In 2016, he was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards’ Monster Kid Hall of Fame. His career brought together written work, film scholarship and broadcast commentary centered on genres that included horror, science fiction, cult cinema and fantasy.