The Ghoul Pool: Television

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Friday, July 3, 2020

Deaths of the Rich and Famous - July, 2020

Arts & Letters –– Business –– Miscellaneous

Movies, Stage, & Television –– Politics & Government –– Music –– Sports

Irwin Molasky (age 93) - Molasky dropped out of college to work in construction in California before moving to Vegas in 1951. That's where he and three other men founded a real-estate development company. The Molasky group developed commercial and resort properties throughout the Southwest an built the first hospital in Las Vegas. Molasky was also co-founder of Lorimar Productions and was instrumental in the development of UNLV. He died July 4, 2020.

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Miscellaneous

Scott Erskine (age 57 - Erskine was sentenced to death in 2003 for the killing of two boys aged nine and 13. He had already spent four years in prison during his late teens and twenties for rape and attempted rape. Court records say that, at age 10, Eskine had attempted to sodomize his six-year-old sister. He died in San Quentin prison July 3, 2020, of the COVID-19 virus.

Mary Kay Letournea (age 58) - Letourneau, a former schoolteacher, was convicted in 1997 of molesting a former student, 13-year-old Samoan-born Vili Fulaau. After serving a 3-month prison sentence and being paroled, she was caught with Fulaau again. Two daughters resulted from their... mating, the second of whom was born in prison. After her release in 2005, she married Fulaau. Letournau died of colon cancer July 6, 2020.

Reckful (age 31) - Byron Bernstein, aka "Reckful," was a Twitch streamer and a professional eSports player best known as a master of World of Warcraft. He was also a low-level professional poker player. Like his older brother before him, the Israeli-American Bernstein committed suicide, dying July 2, 2020.

Rubble (age 32) - Rubble, a resident of Exeter in England, was born May 5, 1988. That wouldn't be so interesting if he were human, but Rubble was a domestic feline; certified by Guinness as the oldest living cat. The Maine coon cat's death was announced July 3, 2020.

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Movies, Television, and Stage

Hugh Downs (age 99) - Downs began his career so long ago that he started in radio, an announcer at a staion in Lima, Ohio (home of the "Glee" kids). His first TV appearance was in - get this - 1945. He hosted the game show "Concentration, announced from a variety of shows, and hosted "Good Morning America for almost a decade. At one time he held the record for most hours appearing on television. Downs died July 1, 2020.

Brndis Kemp (76) - Kemp was a character actress in films and television in addition to her stage appearances. Her longest-running roles were the part of Alma on "AfterMASH" and as a member of the ensemble cast on ABC's version of SNL, "Fridays." She made multiple guest appearances as well, and had small parts in many films. Kemp succumbed to COVID-19 and brain cancer on July 4, 2020.

Kevin Rafferty (age 73) - Rafferty was a cinematographer and director of documentary films, among them The Atomic Cafe (1992) and Blood in the Face (1991). Michael Moore credits Rafferty with teaching him the art of documentary during the filming of Roger and Me, for which Rafferty was cinematographer. Strangely enough, he was a cousin of President George W. Bush. Rafferty died of cancer July 2, 2020.

Naya Rivera (age 33) - Rivera was an actress and singer, best-known for her role as snarky cheerleader Santana Lopez in the television series "Glee," although she also had a role in the show "The Royal Family" as a pre-teen. After the show closed, she had a brief career as a singer. Rivera was reported missing from a boat in Ventura County, California, on July 8, 2020. Her body was located July 13; her death ruled an accidental drowning.

Music

Charlie Daniels (age 83) - Daniels was an Country and Western artist whose blockbuster crossover hit, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," made him a household name in 1979 and won him a Grammy Award. He made multiple appearances in films as himself, and also appears on a number of record albums from the 1960s and 70s as a sideman. Daniels was a member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame. He died July 6, 2020, after a stroke.

Ennio Morricone (age 91) - Morricone was a composer and conductor, best known in the US for his film and television scores. He collaborated with director Sergio Leonoe on a fistful of "spaghetti westerns" before he was picked up by Hollywood. Among his dozens of American film scores are those for Brian De Palma's The Untouchables and Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds. His works collected Oscar and Grammy nomnations like kids collect rocks. He died after a fall on July 6, 2020.

Joe Porcaro (age 90) - Porcaro, a jazz drummer, compiled a long list of appearances as a sideman with such acts as Rosemary Clooney, Gerry Mullligan, Richard Marx, and Harry Connick Jr. He may have been most proud of his appearances with the band Toto, founded by his sons Jeff, Mike, and Steve. His work appears on the soundtrack of Enter the Dragon due to collaboration with Lalo Schifrin. Porcaro died July 5, 2020.

Politics

Amadou Gon Coulibaly (age 61) - Coulibaly was the sitting Prime Minister of Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) at the time of his death, a position he had held since being chosen in 2017. At the time of his death, he was front-runner in his country's 2020 presidential election. He had previously served as secretary general in the administration of the previous President, Alassane Ouattara. Coulibaly, who had undergone heart surgery in 2012, became ill and died July 8, 2020.

Jay Severin (age 69) - Severin parlayed a twenty-year career as a Republican political consultant into a gig as a conservative AM radio talk-show host on Boston and New York stations. He was fired in Boston for a history racist statements about Muslims and Latinos and sexual innuendo about co-workers. He later spent four years as a commentator on Glenn Beck's "The Blaze" network. Severin died July 7, 2020, after a massive stroke.

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Sports

Mike Ryan (age 78) - Ryan was a light-hitting (lifetime .193) catcher who spent eleven seasons in the bigs with Boston, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. He is distinguished mainly for having the second-lowest career batting average in MLB history, hanging on on the strength of his defensive skill. After retiring in 1974, he coached at the minor league level and spent fifteen years as a coach with the Phillies. Ryan died July 7, 2020.

Tommy Vaughan (age 77) - Vaughan spent seven seasons in the NFL, all of them with the Detroit Lions. He was drafted in 1965 and retired in 1971 after a head injury. Vaughan started more than sixty games at free safety and was a punt and kickoff returner. After retiring, he was an assistant coach for several colleges. Vaughan died July 4, 2020,

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Deaths in June, 2020 ---

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Deaths of the RIch and Famous - May, 2020

Arts & Letters –– Business –– Miscellaneous

Movies, Stage, & Television –– Politics & Government –– Music –– Sports

Arts and Letters

Peter Alexander (age 81) - Alexander was a sculptor, part of Southern California's "Light and Space" movement during the 1960s. His early medium was resin, often translucent. His sculptures have appeared in several films. Alexander stopped sculpting with resin for more than thirty years, during which he painted. His work is shown in galleries and one of his murals is on display at teh Walt Disney Concert Hall. Alexander died May 26, 2020.

Stanley Bing (age 68) - Bing, real name Gil Schwartz, split his time between two careers, that of an executive for CBS (VP of corporate communications) and a writer and humorist. In that latter vocation, Bing wrote for Esquire and Fortune magazines for a total of thirty years, chiefly business writing and satire of the business and political worlds. He published thirteen books. Bing died of a heart attack on May 2, 2020.

Larry Kramer (age 84) - Kramer was a playwright and public health advocate, known mainly for founding the gay-rights organization Act Up in the 1980s to focus attention on the AIDS epidemic. He was a two-time Obie Award winner and a finalist for the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for drama. Kramer died of pneumonia May 27, 2020.

Michael McClure (age 87) - McClure was a multi-talented wordsmith; writing reportage, poetry, plays, novels, and song lyrics. He first became famous as a Beat Generation poet who hung around with Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. He also appeared in a handful of films. McClure passed away after a stroke on May 4, 2020.

Business

S. David Freeman (age 94) - Freeman, an electrical engineer by trade, picked up a law degree in his late 20s and became an attorney for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). He eventually headed that agency, as well as the LCRA in Texas and the public utilities of NYC, Sacramento, and LA. He also served as an energy policy advisor to presidents Johnson and Carter, especially on renewables. Freeman suffered a heart attack and died May 12, 2020.

Samuel Horchow (age 91) - Horchow founded the mail-order business that still bears his name in 1971, a luxury mail-order business that was the first of its kind without a brick-and-mortar store. He sold the company to Nieman-Marcus seventeen years later. He then turned to theatre, becoming a Broadway producer, winning a Tony his first time out for Crazy for You base on George Gershwin's musical Girl Crazy. Horchow died of Cancer May 2, 2020.

Carolyn Reidy (age 71) - Reidy's career in publishing lasted from her first days at Random House in the early '70s until her death. During her years at Random House, she headed up the Vintage Books and Avon Books imprints. She joined Simon and Schuster in 1992, eventually becoming CEO in 2008. Reidy died of a heart attack on May 12, 2020.

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Miscellaneous

Gregg Bemis (age 91) Bemis was a marine explorer and diver who, through a series of purchases and court battles, became the sole owner of the wreck of the RMS Lusitania. The wreck lies off the Irish coast near Kinsale Head. Bemis died of cancer on May 21, 2020.

David Owen Brooks (age 65) - Brooks, a native of Houston, was convicted of murder in 1975 as an accomplice of two other men. In all the three were alleged to have killed at least 28 men and boys in 1970-73. Brooks was sentenced to life in prison and died May 28, 2020.

Barry Farber (age 90) - Farber was a nationally-syndicated radio talk-show host, the capstone to a career in radio that stretched across the second half of the twentieth century. He was still contributing to CRN Digital Talk Radio at his death. Farber was also adjunct professor of linguistics (he studied 25 different languages) at St. Johns and a one-time candidate for mayor of New York. Farber died May 6, 2020.

Wilson Roosevelt Jerman (age 91) - With a name combining the surnames of two presidents, Jerman was almost type-cast for the job he held over a 45-year career, a staffer in the White House. In that time, he served in various roles from cleaner to butler under eleven presidents, from Eisenhower to Obama. Jerman died of COVID-19 on May 16, 2020.

Darrin Patrick (age 49) - Patrick founded The Journey, a St. Louis-based megachurch, in 2002; and was its lead pastor until he was removed from the ministry in 2016. After a "restoration process," he re-entered the ministry as an associate of Seacoast Church in 2017. Patrick died of what appears to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound on May 7, 2020.

Saturn (age 83?) - Saturn, an American-born alligator, was a resident of the Berlin Zoological Garden and a favorite of Adolf Hitler. Although the zoo was destroyed by Allied bombing, Saturn survived and was moved to Moscow. He died of old age May 22, 2020.

Ronald Shurer (age 41) - Shurer was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2018 for his actions during a battle in Afghanistan in 2008. The former Special Forces medic became a Secret Service agent after leaving the army. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017 and succumbed to the disease on May 14, 2020.

Robert Weighton (age 112) - At his death on May 28, 2020. the Englishman was the oldest living person. He was born in 1908 and lived through two world wars and the Spanish Influenza. He died of cancer.

Oliver E. Williamson (age 87) - Williamson was Professor Emeritus of economics in the Edgar F. Kaiser chair at Cal Berkeley. He had previously taught at University of Pennsylvania and Yale. He shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics with Elinor Ostrom. Williamson died of pneumonia on May 21, 2020.

Greg Zanis (age 69) - Zanis, by trade a carpenter, began building and installing crosses in memory of the victims of gunshot deaths. He is said to have built, delivered, and installed more than 26,000 crosses; recording his work in a handwritten ledger. Zanis succumbed to bladder cancer May 4, 2020, after arranging for a Lutheran charity to continue his mission.

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Movies, Television, and Stage

Phyllis George (age 70) George's chief claim to fame is probably being one of the first female sport hosts on a national television show, an honor bestowed on the former Miss America (1971) when she began co-hostint the GBS pregame show for NFL football in 1975. She also hosted the SBS Morning News for three years and was the First Lady of Kentucky when her husband, John Y. Brown, was elected. George died of complications of a blood disease on May 14, 2020.

Richard Herd (age 87) - Herd's face is familiar to both film and television viewers from more than forty years in show business. Among his many film appearances were roles in All the President's Men and Dog Days of Summer. On the small screen, Herd played a police captain in "T. J. Hooker" and made multiple appearances in "Seinfeld" and "Star Trek Voyager." Herd died of cancer on May 26, 2020.

Jerry Stiller (age 92) - Stiller's fame is cross-generational, as he is best known to those of his generation as half of the comedy duo Stiller and Meara, but is far more familiar to later generations as a character on the television comedies "Seinfeld" and "King of Queens." A quintessentially Jewish comedian from the 1950s, Stiller parlayed an obnoxious stage personality into roles beloved of a certain demographic. The three-time Emmy nominee was also the father of "comedic actor" Ben Stiller, and shares a Hollywood Walk of Fame star with his late wife, Anne Meara. Stiller died May 11, 2020.

Fred Willard (age 86) - Willard had a long and funny career as an actor, mostly on the small screen; however his most enduring roles came in Christopher Guest's "mocumentaries" such as This Is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind. On television, he appeared in "Fernwood 2 Night" and multiple episodes of "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Roseanne," among hundreds of roles. Willard was nominated for an Emmy four times and won an American Comedy Award (2001). He died May 15, 2020.

Music

Sweet Pea Atkinson (age 74) - Hillard Atkinson was an R&B vocalist, perhaps best known as a member of the 1970's band Was (Not Was). He also had a brief solo career, and sang backup on a wide range of artists' albums including Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, and Iggy Pop. He was a founding member of the little-known band The Boneshakers. Atkinson succumbed to a heart attack on May 5, 2020.

Bucky Baxter (age 65) - Baxter was a multi-instrumentalist on strings, mainly the guitar and pedal steel guitar. He was a founding member of the backup band for Steve Earle and appeared on four of Earle's albums. He played pedal steel in Bob Dylan's touring band in the 1990s, also appearing on Dylan's Grammy-winning "Time Out of Mind" in 1996. Baxter died May 25, 2020.

Jimmy Cobb (age 91) - Cobb was a respected jazz drummer with a long career. He may be best known for his work on the iconic Miles Davis album, "Kind of Blue." He played with dozens of jazz musicians afterwards, including such legends as Wes Montgomery, Stan Getz, and Richie Cole. Cobb succumbed to lung cancer on May 24, 2020.

Richie Cole (age 72) - Cole was a jazz musician, primarily an alto saxophonist. He also composed and arranged music for a number of jazz groups. Over the years, Cole was associated with such bad leaders as Lionel Hampton, Doc Severinsen, and Buddy Rich. His discography stretches to nearly a hundred performances as both a leader and a sideman. Cole died May 2, 2020, of natural causes.

Cady Groves (age 30) - The Kansas native Groves was a singer-songwriter who released a handful of singles and EPs of pop music. Her best-known work is probably "This Little Girl," which she released at the age of 21. Groves died May 2, 2020, of unstated causes, apparently natural.

Little Richard (age 87) - Born Richard Penniman, "Little Richard" was considered a pop icon for much of the past seventy years. His earliest work dates to the 1950s, although his influence reaches across pop to rook to blues to hip-hop. He received a lifetime achievement Grammy Award in 1993, and is a member of the Songwriters, R&B, Blues, and Rock and Roll halls of fame; as well as having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Little Richard died of bone cancer on May 9, 2020.

Frederick Tillis (age 90) - Tillis composed and taught jazz music, as well as performing on saxophone and writing poetry. He retired from teaching but remained a professor emeritus at U. Mass, Amherst. He published a dozen or so books of poetry and authored a textbook on jazz theory. Tillis died May 4, 2020.

Betty Wright (age 66) - Wright was a singer, songwriter, and background singer in soul and R&B. Her biggest hit came in 1971, when she released "Clean Up Woman," though she had already been a recording since she was thirteen. Wright picked up a Grammy in 1974 for "Where Is the Love?" She released dozens of singles over a fifty-year career and appeared as a background vocalist on many more. She died of cancer on May 10, 2020.

Politics

Sam Johnson (age 89) - Johnson spent almost thirty years in the U. S. House as a Republican congressman from the Dallas area in Texas. He had been an Air Force pilot in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. IN the second, he was captured by the North Vietnamese and held in the notorious Hanoi Hilton. Johnson retired after being re-elected in 2018. He died May 27, 2020.

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Sports

Ashley Cooper (age 83) - Cooper was a professional tennis player from Australia who competed in the 1950s and 1960s. He collected four each singles and doubles wins in the Grand Slam Series from 1957 to 1958. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991. He died May 22, 2020.

Ernie Gonzalez (age 59) - Gonzalez, a native Californian, was a professional golfer who played on PGA tour during the 1980s. His one tour win was the 1986 Pensacola Open, making him only the third lefty to win a tour event. He taught in Nevada after leaving the tour. He dies of early-onset Alzheimer's disease on May 15, 2020.

Matt Keough (age 64) - Keough pitched all or part of ten seasons in the majors, the first six with the Oakland Athletics from 1977-1983. A "legacy" player, Matt was the son of outfielder Marty Keough. He started 175 of his 215 games, finishing with a 58-84 W-L record and seven shutouts with a 4.17 ERA and 590 Ks. He made the AL All-Star team in 1978. Keough passed away May 1, 2020.

Johnny McCarthy (age 86) - McCarthy played six seasons in the NBA for such teams as Rochester / Cincinnati, St Louis, Pittsburgh, and the Celtics. His chief claim to fame is having recorded a triple-double in his first game, against the Lakers in 1960. He finished his career with 2450 points and 1184 assists. McCarthy died May 9,2020, after a fall.

Biff Pocoroba (age 66) - Yes, his birth name was "Biff." Go figure... Podoroba spend all or part of ten seasons in the majors as a back-up catcher, all of them with the Atlanta Braves. He was an All-Star in 1978, mainly for his defensive skills. After retiring in 1984, he and two brothers operated Sausage World, a meat business in the Atlanta area. He died May 24, 2020.

Mary Pratt (age 101) - Pratt was a pitcher on three different teams in the celebrated All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, as chronicled in A League of their Own. She finished her career with a 28-51 record, including a no-hitter while pitching for Kenosha in 1944. After retiring, Pratt became a teacher. She died May 6, 2020.

Don Shula (age 90) - Shula spent six seasons as an NFL defensive back (Browns, Colts, Redskins) before retiring to the college coaching ranks in 1958. By 1960 he was back in the NFL as a defensive backs coach for the Lions, finally taking over as head coach of the Colts in 1963. After six seasons with Baltimore, he moved to Miami where he remained until 1995. He was a 2-time Super Bowl champ and a 4-time coach of the year, including the Dolphins' perfect-season year, 1972. Shula was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1997. He died May 4, 2020.

Jerry Sloan (age 78) - Sloan played eleven seasons in the NBA, primarily with the Chicago Bulls. After retiring in 1976, he became an NBA coach, spending three seasons with his old team before moving to the Utah Jazz in 1985. As a player he was a two-time All-Stat, collecint more than 10,000 points and 5,000 rebounds. As a coach, he had a career 1221-803 record, earning him a berth in the NBA Hall of Fame as a coach. Sloan died of complications of Parkinson's Disease on May 22, 2020.

Mike Storen (age 84) - Storen joined the NBA Chicago Zephyrs straight out of college, and stayed in pro basketball for the remainder of his career. He was general manager of the ABA Indiana Pacers and then part-owner of the Kentucky Colonels before becoming the league commissioner in 1973. He was, at one time, general manager of the Hawks, commissioner of the CBA, and commissioner of the IPFL before retiring in 2002. Storen died of cancer on May 7, 2020.

Roosevelt Taylor (age 82) - Rosey Taylor spend 12 seasons as a safety in pro football, the bulk of it with the Chicago Bears. He was twice a Pro Bowler and a three-time ALl-Pro, while never missing a game in nine seasons with the Bears. He finished his career with the Redskins in their 1972 Superbowl season. Taylor died May 29, 2020.

John Teerlinck (age 69) - Teerlinck had a brief, injury-shortened NFL career with the Chargers in the mid-'70s. After his playing career ended, Teerlinck spent several seasons as a college coach before being tapped by the Browns as a Defensive line coach. He held that position with six different NFL teams, including two Super Bowl-winning seasons with the Broncos and one with the Colts. He was fired by the Colts in 2011, and retired. Teerlinck died May 10, 2020.

Ryan Wetnight (age 49) - Wetnight plpayed eight NFL seasons as a tight end, the first seven with the Bears. He accounted for 175 receptions for 1542 yards, including 9 TDs. He retired in 2000, returning to his native California where he became a realtor. Wetnight succumbed to stomach cancer on May 1, 2020.

Deaths in April, 2020 --- Deaths in June, 2020

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

2020 Deaths in Movies, Stage, & Television

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

— B —
Bobbie Batista (age 67) - Battista began her career in radio, quickly moving to television with a Raleight (NC) station, where her team won a 1981 Peabody Award. She was one of the original anchors pn CNN's Headline News, moving to the network's main channel in 1988. Her career with CNN ended soon after the merger of the parent company, Time-Warner, with AOL. Battista died of cervical cancer March 3, 2020.

Orson Bean(age 91) - Bean was best known as a comedian and actor with a long career in film and televsion. He had small parts in several films plus an Oscar nomination for Subways are for Sleeping (1962), and made many television appearances as a comedic guest. He was a favorite of late-night elevision hosts, and held down a slot in long-running syndicated game shows such as "To Tell the Truth." Bean was struck by a hit-and-run driver on February 7, 2020, and killed by a second collision.

Honor Blackman (age 94) - Although the British know Blackman for her starring role in their version of "The Avengers," any man who came of age in the early 1960s will remember her as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger opposite Sean Connery in the role of James Bond. Blackman was also a singer who released several records in the UK. She died April 5, 2020.

Mark Blum (age 69) - Blum acted in all three media, especially in film and television. His face is familiar to television viewers for a wide variety of guest appearances, as well as a recurring part in "Mozart in the Jungle." On the big screen, he appeared in Desperately Seeking Susan and Crocodile Dundee. He was well-known for acting off-Broadway for decades. Blum died of COVID-19 on March 26, 2020.

Timothy Brown (age 82) - Brown was an NFL running back for the Eagles and Colts, three times a Pro-Bowler After retirement, he embarked on an acting career, where he held such roles as "Spearchucker" Jones in the film and television version of M*A*S*H and Nashville. He also recorded several record albums under the nickname Timmy Brown. He succumbed to dementia on April 4, 2020.

Jack Burns (age 86) - An actor, writer, and director; Burns began his career as part of a comedy duo with George Carlin and later with Avery Schreiber. On television, he was cast as the equally bumbling replacement for Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show." He made guest appearances on a number of television shows, hosted an early "SNL," and received Emmy nominations for his work as writer for "The Muppet Show." Burns died January 28, 2020.

Edd Byrnes (age 87) - Byrnes was the essence of beat-era hipster in his role as "Kookie" Kookson, sidekick to Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., in "77 Sunset Strip." Byrnes himself invented the character's trademark greasy pompadour and frequent applications of his comb. After the show's six-year run, he went on the guest-appearance circuit, appearing in such shows as "Love, American Style" and "Mannix." Byrnes died January 8, 2019.

Diana Serra Cary (age 101) - Cary was the last surviving star from the silent film era, when she appeared in more than 20 films as "Baby Peggy" or "The Million-Dollar Baby." As a toddler, Cary sometimes worked fifty-hour weeks on the stage and performed her own stunts. She was the victim of a "stage father," which essentially black-listed her at the age of seven, She made few film appearances afterwards, and spent most of her ensuing career in vaudeville before leaving show business. Cary died February 24, 2020.

Lynn Cohen (age 86) - Cohen began her career on the stage in the 1970s, and transitioned to film and television two decades later. She made many guest appearances and had a recurring role in the televisions series and movie Sex and the City. One recurring role was that of a judge in the "Law & Order" home franchise. She also appeared in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Cohen died February 14, 2020.

Robert Conrad (age 84) - Conrad, a lead actor in a number of television shows, may have been best known for almost being killed during a stunt on the set of "The Wild Wild West" in 1969. IN addition to his role as Jim West, he also starred in "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Hawaiian Eye." He was also a musician, producer, and director; collecting a People's Choice Award as favorite male performer in 1977. Conrad died of heart failure on February 8, 2020.

Mart Crowley (age 84) - Crowley was a playwright whose best-known work was 1968's The Boys in the Band, which ran off-Broadway for some three years and was adapted for film in 1970. He ealso worked in television, scripting the series "Hart to Hart" and writing the plays People Like Us and adapting the book There Must be a Pony. Crowley passed away March 7, 2020, after a heart attack.

Jason Davis (age 35) - Davis was a child actor who had a small number of roles as an adult. He may be best known as the voice of the recurring character Mikey Blumberg in the animated film series Recess. Davis was the grandson of millionaire Marvin Davis, who at one time owned 20th Century Fox. He died February 16, 2020.

Brian Dennehy (age 81) - Dennehy was a star of both the large and smaall screens and the stage as well in a career that spanned 40 years. He was twice a Tony Award Winner, a SAG Award winner, and a Golden Globe winner; along with multiple Emmy nominations. Among his best-known roles are Harrison in The Man from Snowy River and guest roles on numerous television dramas and comedies. Dennehy died April 15, 2020, from sepsis after a heart attack.

Malcolm Dixon (age 66) - The four-foot-one Dixon carved out a career as an actor, appearing in many films and televisions shows. He once appeared as one of Snow White's dwarfs (Sleepy, if you're interested) and more recently played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi. He appeared in other Steve Lucas films as well, including Labyrinth and Willow. For three years, he played the role of Bilbo in a stage production of The Hobbit. Dixon's death was announced on April 9, 2020.

Kirk Douglas (age 103) - Ever identifiable by his cleft chin, Kirk Douglas was a Hollywood icon with a career that stretched across seven decades. Douglas earned his first of three Oscar nominations in 1950, finally picking up a lifetime award in 1996. He was a Kennedy Center honoree (1994) and received a Presidential Medal of Freedom (1981). His son Michael followed him into the business. Douglas also published several novels and directed multiple films. He passed away February 5, 2020.

Shirley Douglas (age 86) - Douglas was an actor and a political activist in the United States and her native Canada. She appeared in more then ten films between 1955 and 2000, and made many television appearances, in particular as a voice actor. DOuglas was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. The mother of Kiefer Sutherland died April 5, 2020, of pneumonia.

James Drury (age 85) - The handsome Irish-American Drury is probably best known for his lead role in "The Virginian," which ran from 1962-1971. He appeared as a guest in many television shows of the '60s and '70s, as well as making appearances in films. He was the 1995 winner of The Golden Boot Award. Drury died April 6, 2020.

Ja'net DuBois (age 82?) - Born Jeannette Dubois some time between 1932 and 1945 and somewhere on the U. S. east coast, DuBois was a stage actress before being approached by Norman Lear to play the role of Mama Evans' best friend on the television show "Good Times." She had several other telvision and film roles, and played Janet Jackson's mother in a music video and Momma Bosley in Charlie's Angels:Full Throttle. She also is credited with writing and performing the theme song for "The Jeffersons." DuBois won two Emmy Awards and a TVLand Image Award. She died February 17, 2020.

William Dufris (age 62) - Dufris made a name for himself as a voice actor and narrator of audio books. He was nominated a dozen times for an Audie Award, winning once in 2012 for his reading of Paul Collins' The Murder of the Century. Dufris also voiced the title character of "Bob the Builder" dubbed to American English. Dufris died of cancer March 24, 2020.

Marj Dusay (age 83) - Dusay broke into film in 1967 with a walk-on in an Elvis Presley movie, and spent most of the next 40 years in and out of soap operas, especially "The Guiding Light." She made many guest appearances in television and played the wife of the title character in MacArthur. Dusay passed away January 28, 2020.

Harriet Frank (age 97) - Frank and her husband, Irving Ravetch, were a screenwriting team who brought many projects to the silver screen. One of their earliest successes was the Paul Newman vehicle Hud (1963), for which they collaborated with director Martin Ritt. The trio met success with other films, including Norma Rae and Murphy's Romance; gaining Oscar nominations for two of the films. Frank died January 28, 2020.

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— G —
Allen Garfield (age 80) - Garfield's IMDB credits run to more than 100 film and television roles, often typecast as villain, sometimes reluctant and sometimes evil. He played police chief Harold Lutz in Beverly Hills Cop II, for instance. Garfield had been confined to a treatment home since having a massive stroke in 2004. He succumbed to COVID-19 infection on April 7, 2020.

Phyllis George (age 70) George's chief claim to fame is probably being one of the first female sport hosts on a national television show, an honor bestowed on the former Miss America (1971) when she began co-hostint the GBS pregame show for NFL football in 1975. She also hosted the SBS Morning News for three years and was the First Lady of Kentucky when her husband, John Y. Brown, was elected. George died of complications of a blood disease on May 14, 2020.

Wendell Goler (age 70) - Goler had a fourteen-year career with the Fox News Channel beginning with day one of its broadcasting. He began as a White House correspondent, much as he had acted for AP in his previous job, moving to a supervisory position in the Washington bureau in 2011. He retired in 2014. Goler died March 3,2020.

Stuart Gordon (age 72) - Gordon was a screenwriter and director, primarily of horror films. He and several different co-writers adapted a number of H. P. Lovecrafts's works for both the large and small screens. He may be best known for his 1985 work, Re-Animator, and a "Masters of Horror" installment titled "Dreams in the Witch House"; both based on Lovecraft. Gordon died March 25, 2020.

Buck Henry (age 89) - Henry's career in television comedy spanned six decades, both as a writer-producer and an actor. He Developed and wrote for "Get Smart" and was a regular host of "Saturday Night Live" in the late 1970s (when it was funny). On the big screen he appeared in The Graduate as well as received an Oscar nomination for co-writing the script, and was also nominated for a directing Oscar for Heaven Can Wait. Henry died January 8, 2019.

Dan Hicks (age 68) - Primarily known for his appearances in horror films, Hicks spent thirty years in Hollywood. He broke into the biz in 1987's Evil Dead II and speared in thirty-plus other films up to 2019's The Blood Hunter. Hicks revealed that he had stage 4 cancer on June 5, 2020, and died on June 30, 2020.

Sir Ian Holm (age 88) - Holm was a Tony-winning (1967, The Homecoming) British actor who also made numerous film appearances. He was a BAFTA winner and an Oscar nominee for his role in Chariots of Fire. More recently, be played the role of "older" Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Holm died June 19, 2020, of complications of Parkinson's Disease.

Silvio Horta (age 45) - The Miami-born Horta was a screenwriter and television producer, including the development of three television series. The best-known of the three was Horta's adaptation of the Colombian telenovela Betty la Fea, which ran four seasons as "Ugly Betty." Horta received a Golden Globe in 2007. He wasfound dead in a hotel room on January 7, 2020, of an apparent suicide.

Paula Kelly (age 76) - Kelly had a long career in both film and television, especially appearances that used her training as a dancer. She sometimes doubled as a choreographer for television specials in which she appeared. Most of her television appearances were as guest stars, but she was a regular on the first season of "Night Court" and in the soap opera "Santa Barbara." Kelly died February 9, 2020.

Stan Kirsch (age 51) - Best-known for his role of Richie Ryan, Duncan McLeod's buddy and semi-apprentice in "Highlander: The Series," Kirsch also made guest appearances in a wide variety of television shows and films. He also wrote and produced screenplays with his own company, Stan Kirsch Studios. Kirsch was found dead of suicide on January 11, 2019.

Shirley Knight (age 83) - Knight was a triple-threat actress, appearing on noth the large and small screens and on the Broadway stage. She was a two-time Oscar nominee in the early 1960s, picked up a Tony in 1976, and accumulated a number of Emmy awards for guest stints on television. Her career stretched from the mid-1950s to 2018. She passed away April 22, 2020.

Jim Lehrer (age 85) - Lehrer's career began in Dallas, where he covered the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 for the Dallas Morning News. He moved to television, where he soon became a correspondent for the "Robert MacNeil Report," eventually joining MacNeil as co-anchor of the "MacNeil/Lehrer Report" on PBS. His public television career lasted until 2011, when he stepped down as anchor of the "PBS News Hour," although he still contributed pieces. He won multiple Emmy awards and a Peabody award, and is a member of the Television Hall of Fame. Lehrer passed away January 23, 2020.

Tom Lester (age 81) - Forever typecast as the hayseed sidekick, Lester's career stalled after he played Eb Dawson in "Green Acres" and two other shows of the era. He had occasional guest appearances up until 2009, but concentrated on farming in his native Mississippi and Christian motivational speaking. Lester died of Parkinson's Disease on April 20,2020.

Margo Lion (age 75) - Lion was a producer of on- and off-Broadway plays. Her best-known production is probably Hairspray, which collected eight Tony Awards in 2003. In all, her productions won more than twenty Tonys and a Pulitzer Prize. Lion suffered a brain aneurysm and died on January 24, 2020.

James Lipton (age 93) - Lipton wore many hats in the entertainment business — writer, actor, producer, lyricist, acting teacher — but he will be remembered most for his long-running Bravo series, "Inside the Actor's Studio." He was nominated for an Emmy 20 times, winning in 2013 for his Bravo show. He wrote for television, beginning in 1952 as head writer on the daytime soap opera "The Guiding Light," and published a novel (Mirrors) and a non-fiction book about collective nouns (An Exaltation of Larks). Lipton passed away March 2, 2020, of bladder cancer.

Sam Lloyd (age 56) - Lloyd's acting career was capped by a recurring role as the lawyer Ted Buckland in the sitcom "Scrubs," but he had dozens of other credits on the small screen as well as appearances on the silver screen in films like Flubber and Galaxy Quest. Lloyd, the nephew of Christopher Lloyd, also played in a Beatles cover band called the Blanks. Lloyd died of metastatic lung cancer on April 30, 2020.

Terrence McNally (age 81) - McNally was a playwright and screenwriter, and a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame. His best-known works include Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime, both of which won him Tony Awards. He also received the Emmy and Obie Awards in his long career. McNally died after contracting COVID-19 on March 24, 2020.

Thomas L. Miller (age 79) - Along with his partner Robert Boyett, Miller was a principal partner in the prolific Miller-Boyett Production company, which he founded in 1969 as Miller-Milkis. The company produced dozens of televisions shows, mainly sitcoms, as well as theatrical releases. Among its products were such comedies as "Good Times," "Bosom Buddies" (which launched Tom Hanks' career) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. The company ceased operation in 1999. Miller died April 5, 2020, of heart disease.

Jane Millmore (age 64) - Wyoming native Jane Millmore was an actor, producer, and writer. In addition to producing such shows as "Newhart" and "Anything but Love," Millmore published more than twenty plays with frequent partner Billy Van Zandt. She was nominated for an Emmy for a special about Lucille Ball. Millmore died of pancreatic cancer February 4, 2020.

Kellye Nakahara (age 73) - Nakahara's most familiar acting role was that of Nurse Kellye, for which she appeared in more than 150 episodes of "M*A*S*H." She had a few other roles in television and film, eventually retiring after an appearance in 2000 to return to art, her original field of study. She was a successful watercolorist under her married name, Kellye Wallett. Nakahara died February 16, 2020, of cancer.

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Earl Pomerantz (age 75) - Pomerantz was a comedy writer with a long list of credits on television sitcoms. Among his many writing credits are episodes of such standards and "Cheers," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Cosby Show," and televisions specials. Pomerantz collected two Primetime Emmy awards and a Humanitas Award for his work over a forty-year career. He died March 7, 2020.

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Carl Reiner (age 98) - Reiner was a fixture in television and movies from the '50s up to his last years. He is known for his many comedy roles, including Dick van Dyke's boss, Alan Brady, on his eponymous show. He made hundreds of other appearances in television and films. His late wife, Estelle, had a cameo appearance in When Harry Met Sally, directed by their son, Rob, in which she delivered the iconic line, "I'll have what she's having." Reiner died June 29, 2020.

Gene Reynolds (age 96) - Reynolds was first an actor in film and, later, on television; before turning to directing and producing in the late 1950s. His most successful efforts were the TCV series "M*A*S*H" and "Lou Grant," both considered exampled of the "golden age of television." He was nominated for prime time Emmy awards more than twenty times and won six. Reynolds died of heart failure on February 3, 2020.

David Schramm (age 73) - Kentucky native Schramm is perhaps best known as curmudgeonly airline owner Roy Biggins on the sitcom "Wings," but also made other appearances both in comedy and drama. When "Wings" was canceled, Schramm returned to the stage and appeared in such plays as Finian's Rainbow and Waiting for Godot. Schramm died March 28, 2020.

Esther Scott (age 66) - Scott was an actress and voice actress with a long list of film credits as well as some television work. She played the housekeeper, Gladys, in the one-season "Geena Davis Show," phad a recurring rols in Hart of Dixie," and voiced an Ewok in the animated "Star Wars: Ewoks." On the big screen, Scott appeared in Boyz 'n' the Hood and Transformers, among other roles. She passed away February 14, 2020.

Lynn Shelton (age 54) - Shelton came late to her career as a film director after a decade or more of other jobs in the industry, including editor. After her first feature film, We Go Way Back, won critical acclaim, Shelton directed a number of independent and art house films including Sword of Trust (2109) and Outside In (2017). She also directed episode of TV shows. Shelton died of a blood disorder on May 16, 2020.

Fred Silverman (age 82) - Silverman spent his entire career in television, beginning with an MA thesis that analyzed ABC's programming. He rose to a VP at CBS, then vaulted to head of programming. He introduced such shows as "All in the Family" and the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" before jumping to ABC, where he greenlighted "Three's Company" and "Charlie's Angels," earning the ire of those opposed to jiggle TV. Beginning in 1978, he headed NBC, where he introduced "Hill Street Blues" and "Cheers." Silverman died of cancer January 30, 2020.

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Jack Van Impe (age 88) - Van Impe broadcast a Christian evangelical program from his home base in the Detroit area every week for decades. Sometimes known as "The Walking Bible," Van Impe had memorized great swathes of scripture. He and his wife, Rexella, once received the "Ig Nobel Prize in Astrophysics" for their revelation that black holes are the likely location of Hell. Van Impe died January 18, 2020.

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Lyle Waggoner (age 84) - The hunky Waggoner carved out a career in light television and comedy, most famously on the TV version of "Wonder Woman" and as third (or fourth) banana on "THe Carol Burnett Show." He is also known for having been the nude centerfold in the first issue of Playgirl in 1973. Waggoner died March 17, 2020.

Cheryl Wheeler-Dixon (age 59) - Wheeler-Dixon spent more then thirty years in the film industry as a stunt double and martial-arts trainer, appearing in films including Back to the Future and Charlie's Angels. She trained actors for action movies, including Rene Russo for the Lethal Weapons franchises. Wheeler-Dixon and her husband were killed in a shootout with her ex-husband on February 12, 2020.

Stuart Whitman (age 92) - After leaving the Army, Whitman studied acting and picked up small roles in Hollywood. He began picking up leading roles in the late 1950s, and starred in such films as The Comancheros and Cimarron Strip. On the small screen, he played Johnathan Kent on "Superboy." He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, won a Golden Boot Award, and was nominated for an Oscar. Whitman succumbed to skin cancer on March 16, 2020.

Logan Williams (age 16) - The Canadian-born Williams was a child actor who began acting at age ten. He made appearances in several television series, including "Supernatural," "When Calls the Heart," and "The Flash." In that last he played the title character as a young child. Williams died of unknown causes April 2, 2020.

David Wise (age 65) - Considered a child prodigy for his pre-teen experiments with animation, Wise segued into writing beginning with the animated "Star Trek" series at age 16. He wrote SF stories for anthologies and television scripts for such series as "Wonder Woman." In later life, he developed and/or wrote several animated series, most notably the animated versions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers. Wise died of lung cancer March 3, 2020.