This is my 2009 in memorium page post. Here, I will list a sample of celbrities and public figures who died in 2009, and you can say whatever words come to mind to memorialize that person. I felt guilty about not doing a 2008 list, so I will atone here. I ask that you keep all comments respectful. In 2009, we lost the following public figures.
Pat Hingle (July 19, 1924-January 3, 2009)
Pat Hingle, a veteran character actor best known for his role as Commissioner Gordon in four Batman films, has died after battling blood cancer. He was 84.
Hingle, who was diagnosed with myelodysplasia, a blood disease similar to leukemia, in November 2006, died just after 10 p.m. Saturday in his North Carolina home, according to The Associated Press.
Born Martin Patterson Hingle, the actor's career spanned six decades, including work in theater, television and film. He earned his big break when Elia Kazan, who cast him in an uncredited role in On the Waterfront selected Hingle to play "Gooper" in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1955. Hingle was admitted into the prestigious Actors Studio in New York in 1952 and nominated for a Tony Award in 1958 for his work in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.
Though he never became a huge film star, Hingle worked alongside many of Hollywood's finest, including Clint Eastwood (Hang 'Em High), Sally Field (Norma Rae), Warren Beatty (Splendor in the Grass) and Marlon Brando (Waterfront). Most recently he was seen in his recurring Batman roles and in 2006's Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Hingle suffered a serious accident in 1960 when he fell 54 feet down an elevator shaft, and fractured his skull, wrist, hip and leg, and several ribs. He also lost his little finger on his left hand. The accident forced Hingle to pass up the lead in Elmer Gantry, but the actor said years later he didn't mind.
"I know that if I had done Elmer Gantry, I would have been more of a movie name," Hingle told the New York Times in 1997. "But I'm sure I would not have done as many plays as I've done. I've had exactly the kind of career I hoped for."
Patrick McGoohan (March 19, 1928-January 13, 2009)
Two-time Emmy-award winning actor Patrick McGoohan, the star of TV hits Secret Agent and The Prisoner, has died. He was 80, and passed away in Santa Monica, Calif. after a brief illness, his family told the L.A. Times.
McGoohan was born in New York to Irish parents who returned to Ireland when he was several months old, and later settled in England.
His rise to fame in American pop culture began in 1961, when he starred as John Drake in CBS' British-produced Danger Man. In 1965, he reprised the role in Secret Agent, an expansion of the show about a spy working for the English government.
It was the actor's next role, in 1968's The Prisoner, that helped him achieved cult status. The British-made show starred McGoohan as a retired secret agent who's abducted and taken to a prison resort known as the Village.
In addition to acting in the show — which has been described as "an espionage tale as crafted by [Franz] Kafka" — as a character known as No. 6, McGoohan co-created and co-produced, plus wrote and directed several of the episodes.
He went on to appear in movies and TV, including a guest role on Columbo, for which he won Emmys in 1975 and 1990.
"There are many very, very talented people in this business, but there are only a handful of genuinely original people," Columbo star Peter Falk said of McGoohan in 2004. "I think Patrick McGoohan belongs in that small select group of truly original people."
On the big screen, the actor appeared in a diverse array of films, such as Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), Escape from Alcatraz (1979) and Braveheart (1995).
Ricardo Montalbán (November 25, 1920-Jaunary 14, 2009)
Ricardo Montalban, a Mexican-born actor who starred in MGM films, and later in ABC's Fantasy Island, has died.
He was 88, and no cause of death was released, the Associated Press reports.
Montalban arrived in the U.S. in 1946, making a transition from Mexican cinema to Hollywood. His first stateside role was in Fiesta, opposite Esther Williams. He appeared with her again in On an Island with You in 1948 and Neptune's Daughter a year later.
It was in 1978, however, when Montalban became known as Island's magnanimous Mr. Rourke, who invited guests to his private isle and helped their fantasies come true. Sporting a white-on-white, three-piece suit, Montalban's character was accompanied by Tattoo (Hervé Villechaize), who became known for his opening catchphrase "The plane! The plane!" when guests arrived.
"What is appealing is the idea of attaining the unattainable and learning from it," Montalban said of the show in 1978. "Once you obtain a fantasy it becomes a reality, and that reality is not as exciting as your fantasy. Through the fantasies you learn to appreciate your own realities."
Fantasy Island concluded its run on ABC in 1984, but Montalban also continued to appear in movies through 2006, with credits including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) — in which he reprised a character from the TV series — The Naked Gun (1988), Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002) and a voice role in Ant Bully (2006).
The actor married in 1944 and is survived by four children.
Bob May (September 4, 1939-January 18, 2009)
Bob May, best known as The Robot on the 1960s television series Lost in Space, has died. He was 69.
May passed away Sunday of congestive heart failure at a Lancaster, Calif., hospital, his daughter, Deborah May, said.
A veteran actor and stuntman, May was the grandson of vaudeville comedian Chic Johnson, who recruited a 2-year-old May to appear in his comedy revue Hellzapoppin.
After following in his grandfather's vaudeville footsteps, May eventually broke out in numerous television series, including The Time Tunnel, McHale's Navy and The Red Skelton Show. In the 1950s and '60s, he worked as a stuntman on Cheyenne, Surfside 6, Hawaiian Eye, The Roaring 20s and Stagecoach.
In 1965, May was tapped to portray the loyal sidekick Robot on Irwin Allen's Lost in Space, where the legendary catchphrase "Danger, Will Robinson" originated.
May is survived by his wife, Judith; a daughter, Deborah; a son, Martin; and four grandchildren.
Kim Manners (January 13, 1951-January 25, 2009)
Supernatural executive producer and director Kim Manners passed away Sunday night in Los Angeles, following a battle with cancer.
"Everyone at Supernatural is walking around in a daze, shocked and absolutely devastated," series creator Eric Kripke says in a statement. "Kim was a brilliant director; more than that, he was a mentor and friend. He was one of the patriarchs of the family, and we miss him desperately. He gave so much to Supernatural, and everything we do on the show, now and forever, is in memory of him."
Likewise, cast member Jim Beaver (who plays Bobby) remembers Manners as "one of the best friends and best directors" he has ever known.
In addition to his work on the CW show, Manners produced and directed The X-Files (where he was part of a four-time Emmy-nominated directing staff) and directed episodes of series such as 21 Jump Street, Simon & Simon and Charlie's Angels.
On Supernatural, Manners most recently directed this season's premiere, "Lazarus Rising," as well as "Metamorphosis."
John Updike (March 18, 1932-January 27, 2009)
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Updike, a literary legend whose novel The Witches of Eastwick was adapted into a hit 1987 film starring Jack Nicholson, has died. He was 76.
Updike was most celebrated for his five Rabbit novels, which chronicled the life and death of a former high school basketball player. He won the Pulitzer for two of his Rabbit books, Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest, and his Rabbit, Run became a 1970 film starring James Caan.
His latest novel, The Widows of Eastwick, was released last year. Earlier this week, ABC ordered a pilot based on the original Eastwick book and the film, which also starred Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer.
The third time may be the charm: the book and film inspired unsuccessful TV pilots in 1992 and 2002.
Updike died in hospice care in Massachusetts, his publisher said. He had suffered from lung cancer.
Clint Ritchie (August 9, 1938-January 31, 2009)
Clint Ritchie, best known for his work as cowboy Clint Buchanan on One Life to Live, has died after a brief illness, according to the actor's website. He was 70.
Ritchie died Saturday in Roseville, Calif., and details were not released. He retired in 1998 from the role he had played more than 20 years on the ABC soap, but he also made occasional guest appearances up until 2004.
"We are deeply saddened by the death of our dear friend Clint Ritchie," the show's executive producer Frank Valentini said in a statement."He will always have a special place in our hearts and One Life to Live's legacy. With his creation of the role of Clint Buchanan, he helped to bring to life one of the most memorable families in the show's history. The OLTL family will always hold dear the memories of the man we fondly referred to as 'Bucky.' Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends."
Erika Slezak, who played Ritchie's on-screen wife, Viki, offered similar condolences on her website. "I was incredibly sad to learn that my colleague and friend, Clint Ritchie, passed away on January 31," she said. "Clint and I worked together for nearly twenty years, and shared some wonderful stories together. Clint will be missed by me and his family here at One Life to Live.
Ritchie also starred in TV westerns during 1950s and '60s and films, including The St. Valentine Day's Massacre, Patton, and A Force of One.
Ritchie, who never married or had children, lived on Happy Horse Ranch in Grass Valley, Calif., near Sacramento.
James Whitmore (October 1, 1921-February 6, 2009)
James Whitmore, an award-winning actor in film, television and on the stage, died on Friday of lung cancer, his son Steve tells the Associated Press. He was 87.
The character actor's colorful career included numerous one-man stage shows, such films as Black Like Me and The Shawshank Redemption, and TV's The Practice (for which he won a guest-star Emmy).
Among other accolades, Whitmore earned an Academy Award nod for his turn as President Truman in a 1975 adaptation of his long-running stage play Give 'Em Hell, Harry! It's the only time in Oscar history that an actor has been nominated for a film in which there was the only cast member.
Whitmore won a Golden Globe (and collected another Oscar nom) as a supporting actor in the 1949 war pic Battleground.
His other big-screen credits include Oklahoma!, The Asphalt Jungle and Planet of the Apes, while for the smaller screen he starred in such series as The Law and Mr. Jones and Temperatures Rising. Most recently, he guest-starred on a 2007 episode of CSI.
Philip Carey (July 15, 1925-February 6, 2009)
Phil Carey, who was well-known to daytime television fans for playing One Life to Live's Asa Buchanan, died on February 6, following a battle with lung cancer. He was 83.
Carey took a medical leave from OLTL to undergo treatment after he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2006. He returned to the role later that year. Though the character of Asa died in his sleep in August 2007, Carey made three subsequent appearances, most recently on December 29, 2008 (when a video addendum to Asa's will was revealed).
"In a week where we said goodbye to Clint Ritchie (ex-Clint, who passed away on Jan. 31), the overwhelming news of Phil Carey's death was truly a profound loss to the One Life to Live family," executive producer Frank Valentini said in a statement. "Like Asa, [Phil] possessed an undeniable quality that drew you to him, whether he was amusing you with a story or he was just plain ornery. We can only imagine that he and Clint Ritchie are sitting back and having a drink together."
Cast members fondly recalled Carey as a large presence backstage as well as on-camera.
"He has been like a father to me," says Robert S. Woods (Bo). "I don't know if I could love him more if he was my [own] dad."
Adds Erika Slezak (Viki): "I was incredibly fond of Phil .... I loved that man very much. He will be sorely missed. I was so honored to have the privilege to work with him one final time for our 40th anniversary show."
Carey was a retired U.S. Marine was served in World War II and the Korean War.
On the big screen, he starred opposite John Wayne (in Operation Pacific), Gary Cooper (Springfield Rifle), Henry Fonda (Mister Roberts), Peter Fonda (Fighting Mad) and Tyrone Power (The Long Gray Line). His other TV credits include Philip Marlowe, All in the Family (memorably playing a gay man who hits on Archie) and Gunsmoke.
Paul Harvey (September 4, 1918-February 28, 2009)
Paul Harvey, the distinctly voiced news commentator whose radio career spanned nearly 60 years, died on Saturday in Arizona, a spokesman for ABC Radio Networks tells the Associated Press. He was 90.
A cause of death was not immediately available. Harvey's passing comes less than a year after that of his wife and longtime producer, Lynne.
"My father and mother created from thin air what one day became radio and television news," Paul Harvey Jr. said in a statement. "So in the past year, an industry has lost its godparents and ... millions have lost a friend."
Known for his staccato voice and trademark delivery of "The Rest of the Story" (a feature through which he anecdotally recalled the lives of famous folk), Harvey's career as a nationally broadcast radio man begin 1951, when he launched his "News and Comment" program on ABC Radio Networks.
In 1970, Harvey famously reversed his stance on the Vietnam War, broadcasting this message to Richard M. Nixon: "Mr. President, I love you ... but you're wrong [to expand the war]." Harvey's urging of the president to pull out of Vietnam elicited an onslaught of letters and phone calls, including one from the White House.
At the peak of his career, Harvey reached more than 24 million listeners on more than 1,200 radio stations, and his syndicated column was carried by 300 newspapers. In 2000, he signed a new 10-year contract with ABC Radio Networks. He was forced off the airwaves briefly in 2001 by a virally weakened vocal cord.
"Paul Harvey was one of the most gifted and beloved broadcasters in our nation's history," ABC Radio Networks President Jim Robinson said in a statement. "[We] were so fortunate to have known him."
Among many accolades, Harvey received the presidential Medal of Freedom and was an inductee in the Radio Hall of Fame.
And now, we sadly know the rest of Tulsa, Oklahoma-born Paul Harvey Aurandt's story. Good day, sir.
Ron Silver (July 2, 1946-March 15, 2009)
Tony-award winning actor Ron Silver, who went from endorsing liberal causes to becoming one of Hollywood's few advocates for the Bush administration, has died. He was 62.
"Ron Silver died peacefully in his sleep with his family around him early Sunday morning," said Robin Bronk, executive director of the Creative Coalition. Bronk said Silver had been fighting esophageal cancer for two years.
Silver, who was Emmy-nominated for his role as a political strategist on The West Wing, also had recurring roles on Veronica's Closet, Chicago Hope and Wiseguy. He earned his first Emmy nomination for the 1987 NBC miniseries Billionaire Boys Club.
Film credits included Reversal of Fortune, Enemies: A Love Story, Silkwood, and Ali. He won his Tony for David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow, in 1988.
In 1989, Silver co-founded the Creative Coalition, an arts-oriented activist group, alongside such prominent Hollywood liberals as Alec Baldwin and Susan Sarandon. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he switched his political affiliation from Democrat to independent and sometimes called himself a "9/11 Republican."
Speaking at the 2004 Republican National Convention, he praised Bush's leadership in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He told The Associated Press that his support for the administration cost him acting jobs. But at least one director who disagreed with him politically said Silver was a "mensch" until the end.
"As the years progressed and our politics differed he was always engaging and good-natured about our differences," Robert Greenwald, who directed Silver twice, wrote in The Huffington Post Monday. "No matter how intense the political disagreement he was never a name caller or shouter."
Natasha Richardson (May 11, 1963-March 18, 2009)
Tony-award winning actress Natasha Richardson, an heir of the Redgrave acting dynasty who started a theatrical family of her own with her marriage to Liam Neeson, has died after suffering a head injury from a skiing accident. She was 45.
"Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha," Neeson's publicist, Alan Nierob, said in a written statement. "They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time."
Richardson, a mother to two sons — Micheal, 13, and Daniel Jack, 12 — suffered head injuries at Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec, Canada. She showed no signs of injury after falling on training slopes Monday, but soon felt ill and was hospitalized, a resort spokeswoman said.
The daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson, she was born into a family of actors, including her sister, Nip/Tuck star Joely Richardson, and her aunt, Lynn Redgrave, who starred in Tom Jones (1963) and Georgy Girl (1966), among other films. Richardson won a Tony award in 1998 for starring in Sam Mendes' Broadway production of Cabaret.
Her long love affair with Neeson began when they starred on Broadway in Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie, about a sultry liaison between the title character and an Irish sailor. Their chemistry was obvious from the start, and her four-year marriage to producer Robert Fox ended about a month after closing night.
"It was not an easy time when I met Liam," she later told the Daily News of New York. "Working with him, what happened between us, and that becoming public knowledge in conjunction with my marriage falling apart, was kind of bad timing. So what can I say? Obviously I fell very much in love with him."
She didn't mind that Neeson, then 40, was known at the time as ladies man who had dated Julia Roberts, Helen Mirren, and Brooke Shields.
"I'm pleased that women fall in love with him," she said, "because I know why."
They starred together the next year in the film Nell, with Jodie Foster.
Born in London, Richardson made her uncredited film debut at the age of four in Charge of the Light Brigade, which was directed by her father and starred her mother.
She later appeared in British regional theater and made her credited film debut in 1984's Every Picture Tells a Story. She had breakthrough roles in the 1988 biopic Patty Hearst and the 1990 film The Handmaid's Tale. Other films included Gothic (1987), The Parent Trap (1998) and Maid in Manhattan (2002).
Jade Goody (June 5, 1981-March 22, 2009)
British reality star Jade Goody has died following a seven-month battle with cervical cancer. She was 27.
Goody died in her sleep Sunday morning, which was Mother's Day in the U.K., with her mother, Jackiey Budden, and her husband, Jack Tweed, at her side.
A former dental assistant, Goody rose to fame in 2002 on the British version of Big Brother. In 2007, she sparked controversy when she mocked Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty's accent on Celebrity Big Brother.
To apologize, Goody appeared on the Indian version of Big Brother. During filming last summer, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, which was captured on film. In February, she learned the disease had spread to her liver, bowel and groin, and that she only had weeks to live.
Making the most of her final days, Goody wed Tweed, and held a baptism in her hospital room for herself and her sons, Bobby, 5, and Freddy, 4, whom she had with ex-boyfriend Jeff Brazier.
Andy Hallett (August 4, 1975-March 29, 2009)
Andy Hallett, who played suave demon Lorne on Angel, has died after a five-year battle with heart disease, according to his agent. He was 33.
The actor died of heart failure at Cedars Sinai Medical Center Monday, Hallett's agent and friend Pat Brady told E! Online. Hallett's father, Dave, was by his side when he died.
Hallett was from the Cape Cod village of Osterville, Mass., and appeared in more than 70 episodes of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off Angel as Lorne, a friendly demon who hosted and performed karaoke at a demon bar. Angel castmate Charisma Carpenter tells TVGuide.com, "Andy was a beacon of love and laughter."
Also a musician, Hallett contributed two songs — "Lady Marmalade" and "It's Not Easy Being Green" — to the Angel: Live Fast, Die Never soundtrack in 2005.
Hallett spent his post-Angel career working on his music and touring the country before being admitted to the hospital three or four times over the last few years. A private funeral will be held in Cape Cod, most likely over the weekend.
Marilyn Chambers (April 22, 1952-April 12, 2009)
Marilyn Chambers, an adult film star who also once modeled for Ivory Snow detergent, has died. She was 56.
Chambers' 17-year-old daughter found her dead at her home in northern Los Angeles County on Sunday night, a friend of the actress told the Associated Press.
Chambers was best known for Behind the Green Door, a 1972 film that was central to the "porn chic" movement, in which upper-middle-class adults developed an interest in hardcore pornography. The movie's success also reportedly prompted a surge in sales of Ivory Snow (slogan: 99 44/100% pure) when Procter & Gamble attempted to yank boxes featuring Chambers' picture from the shelf.
In addition to adult films, Chambers also appeared in 1970's The Owl and the Pussycat, which starred Barbra Streisand and George Segal.
Police have not yet released a cause of death.
Beatrice Arthur (May 13, 1922-April 25, 2009)
Beatrice Arthur, the star of the hit shows Maude and The Golden Girls, died Saturday at age 86.
Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home early Saturday with her family at her side, a family spokesperson tells the Associated Press. The actress, who had cancer, would have turned 87 on May 13.
Arthur first portrayed the outspoken and liberal Maude Finley in the Norman Lear comedy series All in the Family. So much did she impress CBS executives that they soon fast-tracked Maude, a spin-off for her brassy character.
Maude debuted in 1972; Arthur won an Emmy for the role five years later. During the show's run, Maude famously underwent an abortion, creating a firestorm of controversy and making the character a symbol of the feminist movement.
In 1985, seven years after Maude signed off, Arthur resurfaced as one of the Golden Girls in an NBC comedy that would go on to earn 10 Emmys, including two for best comedy series and individual kudos for Arthur and costars Estelle Getty (who passed away last July), Betty White and Rue McClanahan.
Arthur's accolades also include a Tony Award in 1966, for her portrayal of Vera Charles opposite Angela Lansbury's Mame.
Danny Gans (October 25, 1956-May 1, 2009)
Singer-impressionist Danny Gans has died, according to CNN. He was 52.
Since February, Gans performed at the Encore Theater at the Encore and Wynn Las Vegas hotels. For the nine years before that, he was the in-house entertainer for the Mirage Hotel.
During his 13-year residency in Las Vegas, he was voted the city's Entertainer of the Year 11 times. Gans' popular stage show centered on his dozens of celebrity impressions, including those of George Burns, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Regis Philbin, Johnny Carson, Sylvester Stallone, Al Pacino and even — d'oh! — Homer and Marge Simpson. (You might also remember him as Deke in Bull Durham.)
Gans' official website posted a statement Friday: "We are all deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Danny Gans on May 1, 2009. He was an extraordinary performer and a part of our family. We'll continue to honor him by never forgetting the way in which he's touched so many lives."
No cause of death has been released. Gans is survived by his wife and three children.
Dom DeLuise (August 1, 1933-May 4, 2009)
Dom DeLuise, the jovial comic who enlivened such madcap films as Cannonball Run, Blazing Saddles, and Spaceballs, has died. He was 75.
Often working with Burt Reynolds or Mel Brooks, the bearded, roly-poly actor was known for a sharp, distinctive, almost howling laugh that fills the outtakes reel of Cannonball Run — a testament to the joyous time he had with Reynolds.
"I was thinking about this the other day," Reynolds said in a statement released to TVGuide.com. "As you get older, and start to lose people you love, you think about it more, and I was dreading this moment. Dom always made you feel better when he was around and there will never be another like him. I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. I will miss him very much."
DeLuise's death was confirmed Tuesday by a representative for his son, David DeLuise. No details were immediately available.
"It's easy to mourn his death," his family said in a statement, "but easier to remember a time when he made you laugh."
He hosted Candid Camera from 1991-92, and starred in two incarnations of The Dom DeLuise Show in 1968 and 1987. He shared his love of food, especially Italian cooking, through his show Cooking with Dom DeLuise and by authoring several cookbooks.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1933, he broke out as a performer on Dean Martin's show, playing a disastrous magician named Dominick the Great. His on-screen partnership with Reynolds included The Cannonball Run and The Cannonball Run II, Smokey and the Bandit II, The End, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and All Dogs Go to Heaven.
DeLuise invoked everything from fussy mannerisms to broad ethnic caricatures to get laughs, but seemed especially happy to make fun of himself, as he did as Pizza the Hutt in Brooks' 1987 film Spaceballs. Other DeLuise collaborations included The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World, Part I, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
He also appeared in the Orpheus in the Underworld at the Los Angeles Opera Company in 1989, and the next year performed with New York's Metropolitan Opera as Frosch, the jailer, in the comic production Die Fledermaus. He ad-libbed his role in English while the singers performed in German.
DeLuise also directed the film Hot Stuff and directed at the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre in Jupiter, Fla.
Married to actress Carol Arthur, he was the patriarch of a show business family that also included his sons Peter, Michael, and David DeLuise. Peter DeLuise is best known for co-starring with Johnny Depp on 21 Jump Street, which also featured Michael DeLuise. The two brothers also appeared together on SeaQuest DSV, on which Dom and David DeLuise also appeared.
Memorial services will be private. In lieu of flowers, DeLuise's family asked that donations be made to The Elixir Fund, The Lily Sanctuary, the Hydrocephalus Foundation, Inc., or Pearl S. Buck International.
Mark Landon (October 1, 1948-May 11, 2009)
Mark Landon, the eldest son of Little House on the Prairie star Michael Landon, was found dead at his home on Monday. He was 60.
The cause of death has not been determined, but the Los Angeles Police Department does not suspect foul play, according to the Associated Press.
Mark Landon acted in three movies, including the 1991 TV movie Us, which was written and directed by his father. Michael Landon adopted Mark in 1956 after marrying his mother, Dodie Levy-Fraser.
The elder Landon passed away at the age of 54 from cancer, before Us aired.
Mark Landon's other credits include a role in 1986's Double Edge and 1997's Goodbye America.
David Carradine (December 8, 1936-June 3, 2009)
Kill Bill and Kung Fu star David Carradine, a seemingly tireless actor who moved easily between serious drama, action thrillers, and somber martial arts roles, was found dead in a hotel room in Bangkok, his manager's office said Thursday. Carradine was 72.
The cause of death was under investigation, according to the office of his manager, Chuck Binder. A Thai police official told CNN the actor was found in a closet, hanging by a nylon rope that was possibly taken from the hotel room's curtains. There was no sign of forced entry, the official told CNN. The actor was reportedly working on a film in Bangkok.
Carradine's famous family included father John Carradine, brother Bruce Carradine, and half brothers Keith and Robert Carradine. He was the uncle of actresses Ever Carradine and Martha Plimpton.
A Carradine family spokeswoman issued a statement that said the family "is devastated by the news of David's passing."
"Circumstances surrounding his death are still unknown, and there will be no further comment until more information can be confirmed," the statement said. "The family appreciates the many expressions of condolence, and asks for privacy at this time."
Though he became best known for martial arts roles, Carradine rose to fame in Westerns. He was featured in the 1964 film Taggart, and then in the 1966 series Shane.
Kung Fu, which ran from 1972 to 1975, combined both genres. Carradine's character, Kwai Chang Caine, was the son of an American man and Chinese woman who roamed the Old West in search of his brother. Carradine shared the role with his own younger brother, Keith Carradine, who played Caine in his younger years. David Carradine was nominated for an Emmy and Golden Globe for the role, to which he returned in two TV movies and a mid '90s series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.
Although he appeared in more than his share of pulpy action thrillers, from 1975's Death Race 2000 to this year's Crank: High Voltage, he also appeared in the 1970s in several critically lauded films: Martin Scorsese's Box Car Bertha, Ingmar Bergman's The Serpent's Egg, and Bound for Glory, in which he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his portrayal of folk icon Woody Guthrie.
The role that best unified the threads of his career was the one in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and 2, in which Carradine played the titular character, the brilliant and introspective leader of a team of assassins. The wide-ranging films detail the long quest by The Bride (Uma Thurman) to kill her one-time mentor.
Carradine married five times, with his first four marriages ending in divorce. He married his fifth wife, Annie, in 2004, in a private beach wedding behind the home of his Kill Bill co-star, Michael Madsen. Carradine had two daughters, Calista Miranda and Kansas.
Ed McMahon (March 6, 1923-June 23, 2009)
Television legend Ed McMahon, who's booming "Heeeere's Johnny" was a fixture of late-night TV for three decades and who thrived as a Tonight Show sidekick and jolly host of his own shows, has died. He was 86.
McMahon's longtime friend and publicist, Howard Bragman, confirmed the death Tuesday. The actor had been plagued with health problems for years, and in February was hospitalized with pneumonia. Bragman declined to confirm reports at the time that McMahon was also battling bone cancer.
Much of his skill was in making other people look good. In an interview with TVGuide.com in October, he recalled how Johnny Carson was known for shyness when they started working together on the Tonight Show in 1962 — a partnership that would last 30 years. But McMahon successfully drew him out.
"He had a privacy, and with the right group around him, he was fine," McMahon said. "As he said to me, he said, 'I'm great in front of 10 million, I'm lousy in front of ten."
McMahon's "Heeeere's Johnny" introduction became one of the most imitated in America — most notably by Jack Nicholson's character in the1980 horror film The Shining. But McMahon himself cheerfully obliged requests that he repeat or alter the phrase, even amending it to "Heeeere's Money" for an ad in which he and MC Hammer invited people to sell their gold for cash.
Ever a congenial pitchman, he lent his name to many a commercial — most strikingly in late 2008, when he delivered a rap for a credit-card agency after several months in which he fought to recover from a broken neck, and to protect his Beverly Hills home from foreclosure.
His health and money troubles were just more reflection of his neighborly, everyman personae. He laughed at Carson's jokes much more than he told his own, and was always happy to join in a gag at his own expense.
But when pressed he could deliver long, cheery anecdotes about show businesses years, service in World War II and the Korean War, and even his colorful family history: In his interview with TVGuide.com, he said mayonnaise was named for a famous ancestor.
Born in Detroit, Mich., in1923, he honed his famous voice as a carnival barker and caller for bingo games. He became a top Philadelphia TV personality in the early 1950s, and was paired with Carson in 1958 to announce Who Do You Trust?
McMahon later hosted several shows of his own, including the game shows Snap Judgment and Concentration, and later Star Search. He also co-hosted, with Dick Clark, the long-running TV Bloopers and Practical Jokes.
He is survived by his wife, Pam, and his children Claudia, Katherine, Linda, Jeffrey and Lex.
Farrah Fawcett (February 2, 1947-June 25, 2009)
Farrah Fawcett, a three-time Emmy-nominated actress, sex symbol, and star of perhaps the most famous poster of all time, has died. She was 62.
Fawcett died Thursday morning at St. John's Heath Center in Santa Monica, Calif, her longtime companion, Ryan O'Neal, said in a statement. The Charlie's Angels star announced in 2006 that she had anal cancer, the start of an agonizing battle that included the cancer going into remission, only to return and spread to her liver.
In her final days, O'Neal said he and Fawcett had hoped to marry. In the statement, however, he is identified as her companion, not her husband.
In April, Fawcett's son, Redmond O'Neal, who is jailed on drug-related charges, was allowed to visit her. The emotional reunion was included in Farrah's Story, Fawcett's documentary about her fight with the disease, which aired on NBC on May 15.
The documentary would be her last public appearance. It concluded with Fawcett saying, in a voiceover, that the hardest question for her to answer as she battled the disease was simply, "How are you?"
"Today, I've got cancer," she answered, continuing the voiceover. "But on the other hand, I'm alive. So I guess I'm great. Yeah. Right now, I am great. My life goes on and so does my fight." She concluded with a question for viewers: "And oh, by the way: How are you? What are you fighting for?"
A 20/20 special about Fawcett, which had been planned for Friday, was moved to Thursday at 10 pm. The network rescheduled shortly before Fawcett died.
Fawcett spent the late 1960s and early 1970s modeling and appearing in small film and television roles. In 1973, she married Lee Majors, and went on to appear repeatedly on his show The Six Million Dollar Man. She was known throughout their marriage as Farrah Fawcett-Majors. They divorced in 1982, the same year she became romantically involved with O'Neal.
Her celebrity was cemented by two events in 1976: She appeared on Charlie's Angels, and posed in a red swimsuit for a poster that would eventually cover millions of walls and inspire women worldwide to emulate her "Farrah 'do."
The owners of the poster company reportedly sought out Fawcett because her ads for Wella Balsam shampoo were so popular with college men that they bought women's magazines just for her picture. The shot of her beaming, with one hand in her tousled hair — one urban legend holds that her curls spell out the word "sex" — is one of the iconic images of the 1970s.
Fawcett quit Charlie's Angels after a year, returning to the show six times to resolve a legal dispute over her departure. Though she left her hit series to appear in films — and had a significant role in the 1976 sci-fi classic Logan's Run — her movie career didn't take off until the 1980s, when she appeared in the hit Cannonball Run and won acclaim for dramatic performances in such films as Extremities. She also earned strong reviews for her turn in the 2000 film Dr. T and the Women. She received Emmy nominations for her performances in The Burning Bed, Small Sacrifices, and the series The Guardian.
Though she resisted appearing nude at the height of her popularity, she posed in 1995 for Playboy in an issue that became the best-seller of the decade. She posed again for the magazine two years later at the age of 50 — an appearance that expanded the standards of beauty she had helped set decades before.
Michael Jackson (August 29, 1958-June 25, 2009)
Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop" who rose from poverty to stardom alongside his brothers in The Jackson 5 and solo success to become the most influential entertainer of his era, has died. He was 50.
Jackson suffered cardiac arrest and was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital on Thursday. One of his brothers, Jermaine, said at a news conference that Jackson's personal doctor as well as paramedics and a team at UCLA Medical Center tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him.
Jermaine Jackson said cardiac arrest was the likely cause of death, but that it wouldn't be certain until an autopsy. Police said the body was with the coroner's office, and that robbery-homicide detectives would investigate, which is customary in high-profile deaths.
For all Jackson's accomplishments in music and humanitarian endeavors, his entire adult life was one attempt after another to recapture a childhood he felt he'd never known. The oddity of his fixation came to a dramatic climax in a criminal trial that led to his acquittal on child molestation charges.
Quincy Jones, producer of Jackson's most successful albums, said he was "absolutely devastated" by the news that Jackson was "taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age."
"To this day, the music we created together on Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad is played in every corner of the world and the reason for that is because he had it all ... talent, grace, professionalism and dedication," said Jones. "He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I've lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him."
Jackson, responsible for 13 No. 1 songs, was preparing for a series of London comeback concerts he hoped would alleviate his massive debts and return him to the glory days of such hits as "Thriller," "Beat It," "Bad," and "Billie Jean." His singing and dancing abilities and iconic look — from his lone silver glove to his multi-zippered jackets — made him one of the most recognizable and celebrated human beings of all time.
Jackson's fame slipped in the 1990s as his chain of hits broke and he reached a legal settlement with the family of a boy who had accused him of molestation. Jackson was acquitted of separate molestation allegations in 2005 after a five-month trial that resulted in a unanimous not-guilty verdict.
He came from the most humble of backgrounds in Gary, Ind. His family's raw talent and the fierce will of his father, Joe Jackson, helped the Jackson Five achieve stunning early fame with Motown Records. Their hits included "ABC" and "I Want You Back." Jackson also yielded such solo hits at the time as "Rockin' Robin."
Jackson would later say that his early success robbed him of his childhood. He said his father would beat him and his brothers for missing steps in their dance routines, and that he never had a chance to live a normal life.
Jackson broke free from his Motown roots — and began his adult career — with 1979's Off the Wall. Recorded with Jones, whom Jackson had befriended while filming The Wiz, the album highlighted Jackson's gifts as a funk, soul, disco and pop artist and spawned the hits "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough," "Rock With You," and the title track.
But Jackson's biggest album — and the most successful album of all time — was his next collaboration with Jones. Thriller included some of his most-loved hits, including the title track, "Beat It," "Billie Jean," "Pretty Young Thing," and "Human Nature." It won a record-breaking eight Grammys, and helped usher in the music video era.
Jackson was one of the first African-American artists to thrive on MTV, and his success and the network's complemented one another. His video for "Thriller," a special-effects laden short film directed by John Landis, was by far the most audacious of its time and expanded the possibilities for music videos. It routinely tops lists of the best videos of all time.
He revolutionized dance as well — he debuted the moonwalk, his apparently gravity-defying signature move — at Motown's 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever celebration in 1983 to worldwide awe. He later said he had learned the move from ordinary children he had seen performing it.
His exploits seemed like too many for one life: He co-wrote "We Are the World" to aid African famine relief. He married and divorced Elvis Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. He formed famous friendships with such icons as Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor and Liza Minelli, and inspired two generations of young performers, from New Edition to Justin Timberlake. His bizarre exploits included dangling his baby from a hotel balcony, and dramatically changing his face through plastic surgery.
He created a circuslike home called Neverland, based on his hero, Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. He once told an interviewer who asked if he emulated Peter Pan, "I am Peter Pan."
As his fame grew, any chance of normalcy evaporated. By the peak of his fame he was the subject of wild rumors both true and false, including at least one that he helped plant himself. Michael Levine, a prominent Hollywood publicist, confirmed that he helped Jackson and his manager Frank Dileo plant a story that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric chamber to help promote his film Captain Eo.
He also spent much of his time with children, including Macaulay Culkin and three boys who would later accuse him of molestation. (The case in which Jackson was acquitted was the only one that went to trial.) He lavished attention on a chimp named Bubbles. And he sang about the life he felt he'd lost in songs like "Childhood":
Have you seen my Childhood?
I'm searching for that wonder in my youth...
Before you judge me, try hard to love me.
The painful youth I've had
Have you seen my Childhood?
Jackson is survived by his three children: sons Prince Michael, 7, and Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., 12, and daughter Paris Michael Katherine, 11.
Billy Mays (July 20, 1958-June 28, 1958)
Billy Mays, who sold such products as OxiClean and Orange Glo in late-night infomercials and demonstrated his techniques in his Discovery series Pitchmen, has died. He was 50.
Mays was found dead at his home Sunday morning and no foul play was suspected, Tampa police told news outlets. Autopsy results were expected Monday.
"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days," Mays' wife, Deborah, said in a statement Sunday. "Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."
The Discovery Channel issued a statement as well: "Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth," the statement read. "Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family at this time of incredible loss."
Mays had appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien just last week with his Pitchmen partner, Anthony Sullivan.
His ads spawned a series of Internet remixes and parodies, and Mays himself lampooned his ads for ESPN 360.
Mays was on board a US Airways flight that blew out its front tires while landing at a Tampa airport on Saturday, MyFOXTampaBay.com reported.
Fred Travalena (October 6, 1942-June 28, 2009)
Fred Travalena, a famed impressionist and entertainer nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," has died. He was 66.
Travalena died Sunday in Los Angeles from a recurrence of an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, his publicist, Roger Neal, told the Associated Press. Travalena was first diagnosed in 2002 with the disease, which went into remission the following year before re-surfacing last July. Travalena was also diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2003, but Neal said the disease had been in remission since then.
Also dubbed "Mr. Everybody," Travalena boasted a wide repertoire of celebrity and political impersonations, which included impressions of Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Clint Eastwood, Henry Kissinger, Donald Rumsfeld and Tom Cruise.
Born in the Bronx, N.Y., and raised on Long Island, Travalena found national success in the 1970s when he became a fixture on the popular late-night shows of the decade: The ABC Comedy Hour and Dean Martin Roasts. Travalena continued to be a late-night staple throughout the 1980s and '90s, dropping by The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Late Show with David Letterman.
In addition to hosting the game show Anything For Money in the 1980s, Travalena guest-starred on such series as Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Murphy Brown, Walker, Texas Ranger and Good Sports, the short-lived CBS series starring Ryan O'Neal and the late Farrah Fawcett.
Travalena also loaned his voice to numerous cartoons and children's programs.
Travalena is survived by his wife of 39 years, Lois; two sons, Fred IV and Cory; a daughter-in-law; and a granddaughter.
Harve Presnell (Spetember 14, 1933-June 30, 2009)
Harve Presnell, the Golden Globe-winning actor best known for his role as William H. Macy's father-in-law in Fargo and who starred in Broadway musicals The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Annie, has died. He was 75.
The actor died Tuesday at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., after a battle with pancreatic cancer, Presnell's agent told the Associated Press.
Born, George Harvey Presnell on Sept. 14, 1933, he was known for his booming baritone voice. The 6-foot-4 actor first gained attention in 1960 as mining prospector "Leadville" Johnny Brown in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. He later reprised the role in the 1964 film version opposite Debbie Reynolds in the title role.
Presnell became a leading man when he was cast as wealthy, bald Daddy Warbucks in a tour of Annie. He continued to play the role in various productions of the musical, including a run on Broadway from 1981-1983. He also played the character in the ill-fated, off-Broadway sequel, Annie Warbucks.
Outside of theater, Presnell was best known on the big screen for his role in the Coen Brothers' 1996 film Fargo, in which he played Macy's father-in-law. Some of his other notable film appearances include When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965), The Glory Guys (1965) and Paint Your Wagon (1969). The Fargo role helped revive his career, leading to roles in Saving Private Ryan and most recently Evan Almighty.
Presnell was also no stranger to the small screen. He was recurring character Mr. Parker on NBC's The Pretender and starred in the short-lived Andy Barker, P.I. He also had a brief arc on Dawson's Creek as A.I. Brooks, an old-Hollywood director and mentor to Dawson.
In 1965, he won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Male Newcomer alongside George Segal and Topol.
He is survived by his second wife, Veeva, six children and several grandchildren.
Karl Malden (March 22, 1912-July 1, 2009)
Academy Award winner Karl Malden, who starred alongside friend Marlon Brando in such classic films at A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront, and won another generation of fans with the TV show The Streets of San Francisco, has died. He was 97.
Malden died of natural causes, his daughter Mila Doerner told the Los Angeles Times.
Born in Chicago as Mladen Sekulovich, Malden was the son of a Czech seamstress and a Serbian steel worker. He first pursued acting in 1934, by enrolling in the Goodman School at DePaul University, and went on to a career spanning seven decades and more than 50 films.
Malden, whose round nose and thick cheeks made him look more like a street-savvy tough-guy than a typical leading man, once told the Times that he was "incredibly lucky" to enjoy the on-camera career that he did.
Malden made his film debut in 1940's They Knew What They Wanted. Following a World War II stint in the Air Force, Malden went on to star in such films as Birdman of Alcatraz, Baby Doll and Patton.
In 1951, Malden won an Academy Award for his turn as A Streetcar Named Desire's Mitch, a role he had previously played on Broadway. Three years after the film he reteamed with Brando, who played Stanley Kowalski in Streetcar, in On the Waterfront. Malden played Father Barry, the bruising, courageous priest who becomes the conscience of Brando's Terry Malloy.
All told, Malden and Brando did three films together. "Marlon made me work harder, dig deeper than any other actor I have ever worked with," Malden wrote in his memoir, When Do I Start?
It was through a role in the Arthur Miller play All My Sons that Malden first met Elia Kazan, who later would direct him in Waterfront. Malden stood by Kazan even after the filmmaker fell out of favor with Hollywood by cooperating with the House Un-American Activities Committee investigating reputed communists in 1952.
Though he was at first reluctant to do TV, Malden ultimately signed on to star opposite a young Michael Douglas in The Streets of San Francisco, playing Lt. Mike Stone. Last month during an AFI tribute to Douglas, Malden appeared via videotape, saying: "I wish Michael could have been my son. I'm so proud of him."
Streets ran for five seasons, during which Malden earned four consecutive Emmy nominations. Malden did not win his first Emmy, however, until 1984, for his role in the TV-movie Fatal Vision.
Beginning in 1974, Malden starred in a series of commercials for American Express travelers cheques, where he made "Don't leave home without it" a household phrase. The campaign ran for more than 20 years.
While Malden found it "kind of frustrating in a way" to be known as a pitchman, he said the ads gave him the financial independence to pick and choose his acting roles.
Malden was an original member of the Actors Studio, which was formed in 1948. In 1988, he was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a position he held for five years.
Malden is survived by his wife of 70 years, Mona, and two daughters, Mila and Carla.
Walter Cronkite (November 4, 1916-July 17, 2009)
Walter Cronkite, the legendary CBS Evening News anchor once celebrated as "the most trusted man in America," has died. He was 92.
"My father, Walter Cronkite, died," The New York Times quoted his son, Chip, as saying. The newsman's family said last month he was seriously ill with cerebrovascular disease.
CBS interrupted its programming to run his obituary.
Cronkite, known for his gravelly voice and tell-it-like-it-is reporting, anchored CBS' nightly newscast for 19 years, signing off each broadcast with his now-famous catchphrase, "And that's the way it is." He was the voice America turned to for reports on some of the nation's most memorable moments, including the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal.
During an era when many more Americans tuned into the evening news, "Uncle Walter's" steadiness steered viewers through turbulent times. Yet Cronkite was also endeared to the public for famously tearing up when reporting the death of President Kennedy.
His reach and influence were profound. After Cronkite returned from Vietnam and reported in an editorial that the war was unwinnable, President Lyndon B. Johnson famously said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."
Cronkite was born in St. Joseph, Mo. in 1916 and dropped out of the University of Texas during his junior year to cover news and sports for local newspapers. He joined United Press in 1937 and served as a battlefield correspondent during World War II, covering battles in North Africa and Europe. After the war, he covered the Nuremburg trials and opened UP bureaus in Amsterdam and Brussels.
He joined CBS in 1950 as a Washington correspondent after being recruited by Edward R. Murrow. Twelve years later he was named anchor of the network's 15-minute newscast, which became the first 30-minute network news broadcast in 1963. He led the program to No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings. He retired in 1981 and was succeeded by Dan Rather.
Cronkite's work received a Peabody Award, an Emmy and a George Polk Journalism Award. In 1985, Arizona State University named its journalism school in Cronkite's honor.
An avid sailor, Cronkite wrote the text for two books — South by Southeast and North by Northeast — based on his impressions of sailing the waterways from Chesapeake Bay to Key West. His 1996 autobiography, A Reporter's Life, was a bestseller.
In 2006, Cronkite remarked about his own mortality. "When you get to be 89, you have to think about it a little bit," he said. "It doesn't prey on me, and it doesn't keep me awake nights. Occasionally, when I'm upset about something else, I think, 'My gosh, I don't know if I should do this or that because I'm not sure I'll be here that long to enjoy it.'"
Frank McCourt (August 19, 1930-July 19, 2009)
Frank McCourt, a teacher who in his sixties wrote a memoir of his desperately poor Irish childhood that became the Pulitzer Prize-winning Angela's Ashes, has died. He was 78.
McCourt, whose novel was adapted into a 1999 film of the same name, died of metastatic melanoma, said his brother, actor and writer Malachy McCourt. Frank McCourt, who lived in New York City and Roxbury, Conn., died Sunday, The New York Times reported.
Angela's Ashes won the Pulitzer Prize in 1997 and sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. The film, directed by Alan Parker, starred Emily Watson as McCourt's mother, the Angela of the title.
McCourt used the fame he gained from the book and movie to celebrate reading and writing. Last year he surprised a college fiction class on MTVU's Stand-In, telling the students he never expected a big reception.
"I thought when I was writing it, I'd be lucky to get a publisher, I'd be lucky to get an agent. Right away it went on the best-seller list of The New York Times," he said. "I was even on with Conan O'Brien three times. That's reaching the height of fame."
McCourt, who also wrote the memoirs 'Tis and Teacher Man, is survived by his wife, Ellen Frey McCourt, a daughter, three grandchildren, and three brothers. His brother Alphie is also a writer.
Taco Bell chihuahua (1994-July 21, 2009)
With her oversized ears and pointy little snout, Gidget, the adorable Taco Bell Chihuahua, used her feminine wiles for much of the late '90s to make an entire nation of sophisticated palates eat cheap Mexican food. Sadly, Gidget suffered a stroke and died Tuesday at the age of 15.
"She made so many people happy," Gidget's trainer, Sue Chipperton told People.
Though the pocket-sized pooch, famous for the ad's catchphrase, "¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!", had long retired at the time of her death, she made a cameo in a 2002 GEICO gecko commercial and played the mother of Reese Witherspoon's Chihuahua, Bruiser, in 2003's Legally Blonde 2: Red White & Blonde.
According to Chipperton, Gidget enjoyed going on hikes and relaxing under the sun. She'd happily sleep "for 23 hours and 45 minutes a day" or "lay outside when it's 105 degrees," she said.
But when it was go-time on set, Gidget came alive. "One time, I kid you not, she actually pushed her stand-in out of the way because he was still there when she arrived on set," Chipperton recalled. "Gidget always knew where the camera was."
John Hughes (February 18, 1950-August 6, 2009)
John Hughes, the director of classic 1980s comedies such as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Sixteen Candles, has died. He was 59.
The director suffered a heart attack Thursday while taking a morning walk in New York City, where he was visiting family, a spokeswoman for Hughes told TVGuide.com.
Born on Feb. 18, 1950, in Michigan, Hughes began his career as an advertising copywriter in Chicago. He got his start in Hollywood with the screenplay for the 1983 Chevy Chase comedy National Lampoon's Vacation. He followed with Mr. Mom, which starred Michael Keaton.
Hughes made his directorial debut in 1984 with Sixteen Candles, which starred Molly Ringwald as Samantha Baker, a young woman whose 16th birthday goes horribly wrong.
"I was stunned and incredibly sad to hear about the death of John Hughes," Ringwald said in a statement. "He was and will always be such an important part of my life. He will be missed — by me and by everyone that he has touched. My heart and all my thoughts are with his family now."
He re-teamed with Ringwald the following year for The Breakfast Club, which focused on five high school stereotypes who bond one day during detention, and again in Pretty in Pink, which he wrote and produced.
Jon Cryer, who played Duckie in Pink, called Hughes' death "a horrible tragedy." "He was an amazing man to work for and with," Cryer said in a statement. "He respected young actors in a way that made you realize you had to step up your game because you were playing in the big leagues now. That's why he got such great performances out of his actors. My heart goes out to his wife Nancy and their children."
Hughes continued his streak of high school-based films with Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which starred Matthew Broderick, who said he was "shocked and saddened" by the news of his death. "He was a wonderful, very talented guy and my heart goes out to his family," Broderick said in a statement.
His other directing achievements in the '80s included Weird Science, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Uncle Buck. Steve Martin, who starred in Planes, said in a statement that Hughes' gift was in screenwriting, noting that he "created deep and complex characters, rich in humanity and humor."
Though he stepped away from directing in the early '90s, Hughes wrote such films as Beethoven, 101 Dalmatians, Flubber and Home Alone, which made a star out of Macaulay Culkin. "I was a fan of both his work and a fan of him as a person," Culkin said in a statement. "The world has lost not only a quintessential filmmaker whose influence will be felt for generations, but a great and decent man."
He spent his time out of the spotlight with his family and maintained a farm in northern Illinois. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Nancy, two sons and four grandchildren.
Robert Novak (February 26, 1931-August 18, 2009)
Robert Novak, the conservative political columnist and CNN commentator who played a key role in the Valerie Plame CIA case, has died. He was 78.
Novak succumbed to brain cancer at his Washington home on Tuesday, his wife, Geraldine, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "He was someone who loved being a journalist, loved journalism and loved his country and loved his family," Geraldine said. Novak had worked for the Sun-Times since 1966. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor last summer, less than a week after he hit a pedestrian with his Corvette. He announced his retirement days later.
Best known as the host of CNN's Crossfire, Novak's journalism career spanned half a century. Born in 1931 in Joliet, Ill., Novak started as a sports writer in his native state. He crossed over to political journalism when he became a political correspondent for the Associated Press after the Korean War.
He rose to fame in 1963 when he teamed with his lifelong writing partner Rowland Evans Jr. to write a column titled Inside Report, which gave inside scoop on Washington happenings, for The Wall Street Journal. The column was syndicated in hundreds of papers. Novak continued it after Evans retired in 1993. Evans died in 2001. The pair also edited the Evans-Novak Political Report for the Sun-Times.
Novak and Evans joined CNN in 1980 as analysts. Soon afterward, Novak started co-hosting Crossfire, the political debate show on which he represented the right wing. He retired in 2005 and started working at Fox News as a contributor. Novak has also appeared on numerous other talk shows, including Inside Politics and Meet the Press.
In July 2003, Novak was the first to identify Valerie Plame as a CIA operative in a column that sparked a three-year federal investigation into the leak that resulted in the conviction of Bush administration official I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby for perjury. Bush never pardoned Libby, but he commuted his 30-month sentence so Libby was spared jail time. The column and its consequences took a toll on Novak, who endured criticism for it, calling it a "long and difficult episode'' in his career.
"I had a terrific time fulfilling all my youthful dreams and at the same time making life miserable for hypocritical, posturing politicians and, I hope, performing a service for my country," Novak wrote in his memoir, The Prince of Darkness.
Novak is survived by Geraldine, his wife of 47 years, two children and eight grandchildren.
Don Hewitt (December 14, 1922-August 19, 2009)
Don Hewitt, the CBS News legend who created many of the hallmarks of television news, including its most successful show, 60 Minutes, has died, CBS News reported Tuesday. He was 86.
Over a career lasting more than six decades, Hewitt directed Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, the most influential newsmen of their era, and helped shape coverage of moments historic both for television and the country, including the first presidential debate, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, in 1960.
Hewitt's death followed Cronkite's by just over a month. No cause of death was immediately released.
Hewitt directed the first network television newscast, featuring Douglas Edwards, in 1948, and executive produced the first half-hour network newscast — CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite — in 1963. His innovations, according to CBS, included the first use of "supers" (the now ubiquitous type at the bottom of a television screen) and cutting back and forth between two projectors. He also introduced the practice of anchors using cue cards — which have now been replaced by the TelePrompTer.
His most visible accomplishment, 60 Minutes, debuted on Sept. 24, 1968. Hewitt took the title of executive producer when he stepped down from the show in 2004.
Among the many historic moments in which he played a behind-the-scenes role was the Kennedy-Nixon debate — one that emphasized the relatively new power of television and image. Hewitt recalled in his autobiography, Tell Me a Story: Fifty Years and Sixty Minutes in Television, that he offered makeup to Kennedy, who refused it. Nixon then refused as well. But Kennedy, who was tanned from campaigning in California, needed it less, Hewitt wrote.
"Nixon, who needed some to cover up a sallow complexion and a growth of beard, also said "No thanks,'" Hewitt wrote. "I think he thought it wouldn't be good for his image if the public knew he was made-up and Kennedy wasn't. At any rate, his handlers did a dumb thing... Nixon's guys smeared him with a slapdash layer of something called "shavestick" that looked so terrible that, after looking at him on camera, I called the CBS president, Frank Stanton, into the control room to take a look."
Stanton asked one of Nixon's television advisor if he was satisfied with the candidate's appearance, and the advisor said he was.
"Kennedy won hands down (but not on the radio, where looks don't count)," Hewitt wrote.
Hewitt is survived by his wife of 30 years, Marilyn Berger, his sons Steven and Jeffrey by his first wife, Mary Weaver, who predeceased him; a daughter Lisa Cassara, by his second wife, Frankie Hewitt, who died in 2003; and Jilian Childers Hewitt, Frankie Hewitt's daughter by her first husband Bob Childers. Hewitt adopted her, CBS News said.
Ted Kennedy (February 22, 1932-August 25, 2009)
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal icon who carried on his family name and fight for the poor and working class after his brothers' assassinations, has died at 77.
The Massachusetts Democrat died Tuesday at his home in Hyannis Port after battling a brain tumor with which he was first diagnosed in May 2008, his family said in a statement. He had served in the Senate since 1962, two years after his brother, John F. Kennedy, was elected president, and was the third longest-serving senator in history. In a statement Wednesday, President Barack Obama called him "the greatest United States senator of our time."
Aftter the deaths of President Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, he became the patriarch of a famous family that included John F. Kennedy Jr.., Caroline Kennedy, Maria Shriver, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics who died earlier this month.
Kennedy became a symbol of liberalism for supporters and critics alike, pushing for health care, civil rights, and better education at every turn. He challenged a sitting Democratic president in 1980, but his presidential ambitions were hampered by a personal scandal: a 1969 auto accident that resulted in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. The tragedy became known as the Chappaquiddick incident.
He ended his 1980 run with a speech that became a regular rallying cry of his supporters and a far larger body of Americans who consider themselves champions of social justice: "For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."
Kennedy is survived by his second wife, Victoria, and his three children: Kara, Edward Kennedy Jr., and Patrick Kennedy, who is a member of the House of Representatives.
CBS News will air "Ted Kennedy: The Last Brother," anchored by Katie Couric, Wednesday at 8/7c.
Dominick Dunne (October 29, 1925-August 26, 2009)
Dominick Dunne, the novelist and investigative journalist who wrote about crimes among the rich and famous, including in the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial, has died. He was 83.
The author's death in his Manhattan home came after a battle with bladder cancer, Dunne's son, actor-director Griffin Dunne, told Vanity Fair, the magazine for which Dunne covered the Simpson trial.
Born in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 29, 1925, Dunne earned the Bronze star for his service in World War II. Dunne started his career as a stage manager in New York City before moving to Hollywood, where he eventually became vice president of a production company.
Battling addictions, Dunne left Hollywood and moved to Oregon, where he sobered up and wrote his first novel, The Winners. It was published in 1982. Dunne went on to write bestsellers such as The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1985), Fatal Charms (1987), People Like Us (1988), An Inconvenient Woman (1990) and A Season in Purgatory (1993).
Dunne first wrote for Vanity Fair in 1984, when he published his account of the trial of the man who strangled his daughter, actress Dominique, to death. He became a contributing editor for the magazine, and in 1993 was named special correspondent.
In addition to his coverage of the Simpson trial, Dunne covered the trials of the Menendez brothers, William Kennedy Smith, and Phil Spector. He also covered President Bill Clinton's impeachment. Against doctor's orders, Dunne traveled to Las Vegas to cover Simpson's 2008 kidnap-robbery trial.
Dunne also hosted a documentary series for TruTv called Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege and Justice. The show premiered in 2002.
Dunne discontinued his Vanity Fair column to write another novel, Too Much Money, which will be released in December, according to The Associated Press.
Dunne was part of a famous family that also included his brother, novelist and screenwriter John Gregory Dunne, and his sister-in-law, author Joan Didion.
Adam Goldstein (March 30, 1973-August 28, 2009)
DJ AM, the celebrity DJ who narrowly escaped a deadly plane crash with musical collaborator Travis Barker last year, has died. He was 36.
"Adam 'DJ AM' Goldstein was found deceased this afternoon in his New York City apartment," his rep said in a statement Friday. "The circumstances surrounding his death are unclear. Out of respect for his family and loved ones, please respect their privacy at this time."
In September 2008, Goldstein was on a plane with Barker after a performance in South Carolina when it overshot the runway. He suffered serious burns, and four were killed in the crash.
Besides Barker, he also collaborated with Papa Roach and Will Smith, among others. He was also a member of Crazy Town. A fixture of celebrity parties, he dated Mandy Moore and Nicole Richie.
Barker's ex-wife, Shanna Moakler, tweeted of AM: "My deepest condolences for DJ AM, you were a great artist and will be severely missed. My thoughts and prayers to his family and friends."
Goldstein had struggled with drugs and food addiction, telling Glamour he started freebasing cocaine at 20.
"For the next four years, that's about all I did — with the exception of deejaying, which I'd been obsessed with ever since I saw Herbie Hancock do the song 'Rockit' at the Grammy Awards," he said.
He was to host MTV's Gone Too Far, a reality show about saving young people from drug addiction. An MTV rep told TVGuide.com that no decision has been made about the future of the show, which was slated to begin airing in October.
AM remained active in his last days, tweeting on Aug. 25, "Just wrapped filming GTF in CT. Back to Dusk in AC to DJ tonight with Jesse Marco."
Larry Gelbart (February 25, 1928-September 11, 2009)
Larry Gelbart, the writer who made M*A*S*H a TV hit, died Friday in his Beverly Hills home, after a battle with cancer. He was 81.
In 1971, TV execs approached Gelbart about adapting Robert Altman's M*A*S*H for the small screen. The show ran for 11 seasons and picked up countless awards, including the Best Comedy Series Emmy for its debut season.
Gelbart also received Oscar nominations for his screenplays for the George Burns comedy Oh, God! (1977) and Tootsie (1982). Gelbart's other writing credits include Bedazzled (2000) and the HBO movies Barbarians at the Gate (1993), Weapons of Mass Distraction (1997) and And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003).
Gelbart's memoir, Laughing Matters: On Writing M*A*S*H, Tootsie, Oh, God! and a Few Other Funny Things, was published in 1997.
He is survived by his wife, Patricia Marshall, two children, two stepchildren, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Patrick Swayze (August 18, 1952-September 14, 2009)
Patrick Swayze, who seamlessly blended sensitivity and brawn in roles as diverse as a dance instructor in Dirty Dancing and a surfing bank robber in Point Break, has died after playing a role that demanded more of his courage and determination than any other: cancer patient.
The 57-year-old star of Ghost and The Outsiders, who was nominated three times for an acting Golden Globe, endured a nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Swayze's publicist said he died Monday with family at his side, according to the Associated Press.
He fought until the end, even performing grueling stunts while filming his A&E drama series, The Beast. Co-star Travis Fimmel said in January that the strain of fighting the disease rarely showed during filming.
"You can hardly tell with the guy," he told TVGuide.com. "He's such a man. The sickest thing about him on set is probably his jokes."
Swayze's mother, the head of the Houston Jazz Ballet Company, taught him dance at a young age. His love of ballet exposed him to teasing from classmates, and he turned to sports in high school, including gymnastics, swimming and football. He graduated with scholarship offers in football and dance.
The actor and his wife, Lisa Niemi — whom he met when she was a student at his mother's school — trained with the Harkness and Joffrey Ballet companies. He became a principal dancer with the Eliot Feld Ballet Company, but switched to theater when he had to undergo surgery for an old football injury.
He achieved early success on Broadway, and in 1978 won the lead of Danny Zuko in the Broadway production of Grease. He next moved on to film, first in 1979's Skatetown, U.S.A., and later in 1983's The Outsiders, where he appeared alongside Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, and Emilio Estevez.
He soon established a pattern of switching between romantic roles and grittier action fare.
In the 1984 cult classic, Red Dawn, he starred alongside Jennifer Grey in the violent story of a Soviet invasion in Michigan. But in the 1987 surprise hit Dirty Dancing, he played a dance instructor Johnny Castle who taught Baby Houseman (Grey) about dance and love. The film earned Swayze his first Golden Globe nomination.
Notable 1980s television appearances included the miniseries North and South and its sequel.
In 1990's Ghost, one of his biggest films, he played a murdered man who communicates with his lover (Demi Moore) through a medium (Whoopi Goldberg). The role earned him his second Golden Globe nomination.
Also in 1990, Swayze lampooned his beefcake image by competing with Chris Farley for a job at Chippendale's in one of the best-loved sketches in the history of Saturday Night Live.
In 1991 he returned to action, starring opposite Keanu Reeves in Point Break.
But Swayze became disillusioned with Hollywood, and began spending more time on his ranches in California and New Mexico, raising horses. He also checked into a rehab facility to deal with a growing alcohol problem that began after his father's death in 1982.
Another turning point was the death of his sister, Vicky, in 1994. She died from an overdose of painkillers after a lifelong battle with depression.
Swayze continued to act through the 1990s, earning his third Golden Globe nod for To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, a role in which he dressed in drag. He later took another surprising turn in Donnie Darko, playing a motivational speaker with a kiddie porn dungeon.
Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2008 and began undergoing chemotherapy. He had already been cast in The Beast, but consulted with the producers, who decided he should remain with the show.
Despite his courage at the time, he told Barbara Walters in an interview this year he was "going through hell."
"I've never been one to run from a challenge," he said.
Henry Gibson (September 21, 1935-September 14, 2009)
Veteran character actor Henry Gibson died Monday. His son, Jon, told The New York Times the cause was cancer. He was 73.
Gibson was born James Bateman and went to college with Jon Voight, with whom he created a comedy team. Voight claims to have given Gibson his stage name as a tribute to Norwegian poet Henrik Ibsen (say it out loud with a Southern accent).
He was definitely one of those "oh, that guy" actors that you know, but can't place. Allow us to assist you.
Among countless other roles:
-He had a recurring gig as a Southern poet on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
-He was the obsequious country star Haven Hamilton in Robert Altman's Nashville.
-He played Thurston Howell, the creepy guy who hits on William H. Macy in the bar in Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia.
-He was the not-so-easily offended Father O'Neill in Wedding Crashers.
-He played a judge on Boston Legal for the last four seasons of the show's run.
Right, that guy. R.I.P.
Lou Albano (July 29, 1933-October 14, 2009)
Captain Lou Albano, the legendary wrestling icon who bridged World Wrestling Entertainment and rock music after starring in Cyndi Lauper's music videos, has died. He was 76.
Albano was "one of the company's most popular and charismatic legends," read a statement on the WWE website. "WWE extends its deepest condolences to the Albano family."
"Today I found out that Capt. Lou had passed away at home with his family beside him. I am sad for his family and I'm just sad. But I know he's at peace now, he had been ill for a while. My heart goes out to his family," Lauper said in a statement. "I love ya Lou and I can picture you up there somewhere explaining that PEG principle to someone. Or maybe you're having a good laugh with Freddie Blassie. But wherever you are, I am sure you are causing a hilarious rucuss. And I will be sad to miss out on that."
A cause of death has not been disclosed. Earlier Wednesday, the Miami Herald reported that Albano was at home with his family under hospice care and was not suffering from cancer.
Known for his animated personality, Hawaiian shirts, untamed beard usually bound by rubber bands and his motto, "Often imitated, never duplicated," Albano was a staple in the ring for nearly half a century. The Mount Vernon, N.Y., native made his professional wrestling debut in 1953 after a brief stint in the Army. He then paired with Tony Altimore to become the tag team "The Sicilians," winning the World Wide Wrestling Federation — the WWE precursor — United States Tag Team Championship in 1967.
By the 1970s, Albano became a manager — and a villainous one at that when he made it his goal to end Bruno Sammartino's seven-year reign as WWE champion. His protégé, Ivan Koloff, accomplished the mission in 1971. Albano would go on to guide 15 tag teams to WWE championship glory.
Albano achieved new celebrity status and transformed his bad-guy persona in the 1980s when he starred in Lauper's music videos, including "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," in which he played her father. The two also made WWE appearances together. The "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" catapulted wrestling into mainstream pop culture.
"Capt. Lou and I became famous together. He always made me laugh. He made all of that promotion we did so much fun. He graced me with a lot of video performances that I will always treasure," Lauper added. "He was a great, gregarious, hilarious fellow who had this lovable presence. I was lucky to work by his side. I will always look back on the absolutely hilarious times and the magical world of wrestling he introduced me to and shared for that brief time."
Albano and Lauper remained close over the years, and the singer wrote the foreword in his 2008 autobiography, Often Imitated, Never Duplicated.
As his fame grew, Albano left the WWE in 1986 and segued into acting. He guest-starred on 227 and Miami Vice, and appeared in Wiseguys and the wrestling film Body Slam. In 1989, he became the voice of Mario on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
Albano retired from wrestling in 1995 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame a year later.
Collin Wilcox (February 4, 1935-October 14, 2009)
Collin Wilcox-Paxton, who portrayed the false accuser in the classic 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, has died of brain cancer, according to The Associated Press.
Wilcox-Paxton died Oct. 14 in her hometown, Highlands, N.C., at age 74. She had been diagnosed with three brain tumors two months earlier. Her husband, Scott Paxton, said there was no funeral but that the family held a memorial service before her death.
"It's pretty special being at your own memorial," her husband of more than 30 years was quoted as saying.
In the movie that won three Oscars including best actor for Gregory Peck's performance as defense lawyer Atticus Finch, Wilcox-Paxton's role as Mayella Violet Ewell — the white woman who accuses a black man of beating and raping her — was brief but pivotal. She angrily breaks down as Finch suggests she lied to avoid being abused by her racist father.
Besides her role in the big screen adaptation of Harper Lee's acclaimed novel, Wilcox-Paxton steadily appeared in TV and film projects for four decades, including shows such as The Twilight Zone and Gunsmoke and films like Jaws 2 and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
Wilcox-Paxton is survived by her husband, three children and three grandchildren.
Soupy Sales (January 8, 1926-October 22, 2009)
Soupy Sales, the boundary-breaking comedian who good-naturedly endured, by his count, more than 20,000 pies to the face, has died. He was 83.
The comic's anything-for-a-laugh pie-throwing shtick became his trademark, and stars including Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis and Shirley MacLaine took one in the face on the comedian's television show in the early 1960s.
His nerdy cool paved the way for such later comedians as Pee Wee Herman and Andy Kauffman. Intentionally or not, Kauffman's famous Mighty Mouse routine plays like an ironic homage to Sales' own lip-synced performance of his hit "The Mouse." His humor sometimes sprung from his supposed surprise at recognizing, for the first time, a joke's corniness.
Sales died Thursday night at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, New York, according to The Associated Press. His former manager and longtime friend, Dave Usher said Sales suffered from many health problems and entered the hospice last week.
Milton Supman was born on Jan. 8, 1926, in Franklinton, N.C. His family was the only Jewish one in town, and owned a dry-goods store that sold sheets to the Ku Klux Klan, the AP reported. The family later moved to Huntington, W.Va.
Sales became a $20-a-week reporter at a West Virginia radio station after returning from the Navy after World War II and changed his name to Soupy Heinz after taking on a DJ gig and heading to Ohio.
He took his first pie to the face in 1951 while hosting a children's show in Cleveland. Sales' show in Detroit earned national recognition for his act, which included sketches, gags and intentionally bad puns.
Sales' greatest success came after the 1964 debut of The Soupy Sales Show in New York, which was geared toward children but attracted adults with a mix of spontaneity and self-awareness. Sales was once breifly suspended after telling his young audience to empty their parents' wallets and purses and mail him all the pieces of green paper bearing pictures of presidents.
By the time Sales' New York run ended two years later, he had appeared in 5,370 live television programs and released a pair of albums that made the Billboard Top 10 in 1965.
Sales continued to appear on television from 1968-75 on the game show What's My Line? and later guest-starred on shows including The Mike Douglas Show and The Love Boat. Sales also appeared as himself in the 1998 Eddie Murphy film Holy Man.
Sales is survived by his wife, Trudy, and two sons, musicians Hunt and Tony, who backed David Bowie in the band Tin Machine.
Ken Ober (July 3, 1957-November 15, 2009)
Ken Ober, host of MTV's Remote Control, has died at the age of 52, TVGuide.com has confirmed.
"His body was discovered in his home on Sunday," Mark Measures, Ober's talent agent, said. "The last person to have spoken to him was on Saturday morning. No foul play is suspected, no suicide, it looks like natural causes, just no one knows the exact cause yet."
Ober began his career on Star Search, trying his hand in the talent competition. In 1987, Ober became the host of MTV's pop-culture game show Remote Control, which was one of the network's first endeavors into non-music video programming. Both Adam Sandler and Denis Leary worked as writers on the show, while Sandler played a few recurring roles, including a character called Stud Boy.
After five years on Remote Control, Ober hosted the game shows Smush and Make Me Laugh. More recently, Ober worked as a writer and producer on shows like Mind of Mencia and The New Adventures of Old Christine.
Edward Woodward (June 1, 1930-November 16, 2009)
Edward Woodward, who had a long career on stage and in movies but is probably best remembered for the TV series The Equalizer, died Monday at 79.
His agent, Janet Glass, said he had been ill for several months and died in a hospital in Truro, England, with family members around him.
In a statement, Glass said he sustained a "brave spirit and wonderful humor" throughout his illness.
Woodward won a Golden Globe and received five Emmy nominations for his star turn in The Equalizer, which ran on CBS from 1985 to '89. The British actor, who had a heart attack during the series, played an ex-spy who helped regular people even the odds against anyone with whom they had a problem.
Earlier, he forged a career as a Shakespearean actor and showed his on-stage range by performing musical comedy so well that Noel Coward praised his work.
In films, he starred in 1973's occult thriller The Wicker Man (remade by Neil LaBute in 2006, starring Nicolas Cage) and quite memorably filled the title role in 1980's Breaker Morant, playing a soldier who's made a scapegoat and court-martialed during the Boer War.
Simon Pegg, a big fan who cast him in his 2007 film Hot Fuzz, said on Twitter: "So sorry to hear we have lost the great Edward Woodward. Feel lucky to have worked with him."
While The Equalizer made Woodward a star in the United States, he had been a longtime stalwart of British television. His appearances included a turn in the Evelyn Waugh trilogy Sword of Honour in the 1960s and a role earlier this year in the BBC soap EastEnders.
He told The Associated Press in 1987 he had appeared in "over 2,000, could be 3,000 now, television productions." He added: "I love television. To me it's the most exciting medium."
Woodward had three children with first wife Venetia. After they divorced, he wed actress Michele Dotrice, and they had a daughter. Survivors include his children and Dotrice.
Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918-December 15, 2009)
Pioneering televangelist Oral Roberts has died after suffering a fall near his Newport Beach, Calif., home. He was 91.
The charismatic minister led a healing evangelism movement in the 1940s and '50s and — like Billy Graham — pioneered radio and television ministry, making his a household name to Americans.
He founded the university that bears his name and the Tulsa, Okla.-based evangelistic association now headed by his son, Richard Roberts.
His son and daughter, Roberta, sent out a release about his death, saying they were at his side when he died.
"Oral Roberts was the greatest man of God I've ever known," Richard Roberts told Tulsa TV station KTUL. "A modern-day apostle of the healing ministry, an author, educator, evangelist, prophet, and innovator, he was the only man of his generation to build a worldwide ministry, an accredited university, and a medical school."
In the late 1960s, Roberts started quarterly prime-time TV specials; eventually, he got a weekly show. By 1975, his program had a weekly audience of nearly 4 million and was carried on 350 stations in the United States and Canada.
At one time, according to the Tulsa World, it was rated the No. 1 syndicated Sunday morning religious program. The quarterly specials were aired on more than 525 stations, including in every state, in Canada, and in several other foreign countries.
These specials often drew nearly 64 million people, according to the ratings.
In his evangelistic efforts, Roberts developed a few trademark phrases, including "Something good is going to happen to you!" "God is a good God" and "Expect a miracle."
Though his enthusiasm won him many faithful followers, his more eye-opening exploits also led to skepticism of his and other televangelists' ministries. He announced on television early in 1987 that if he did not raise $8 million for medical students' scholarships so they could become missionaries, he would die by the end of March.
After the announcement, some TV stations refused to air the broadcasts. Roberts received the money, including $1.3 million from a dog track owner in Florida, before the March 31 deadline.
Time magazine once quoted him as saying: "I've had to stop a sermon, go back and raise a dead person." He provided no details, however, and later hedged when a doctor from his own university's medical school later asked about the claim, according to Time.
Roy E. Disney (January 10, 1930-December 16, 2009)
Roy Edward Disney, a nephew of Walt Disney who restored his uncle's legendary animation company, died after a battle with cancer Wednesday morning, according to The Los Angeles Times. Disney was 79.
Roy Edward, the son of Roy O. Disney, Walt's brother who ran the business side of the company, Disney spent the first 20 years of his career making nature films, including the Oscar-nominated short subject Mysteries of the Deep.
Following the death of his uncle in 1966 and his father in 1971, Disney was denied a larger role in the company and quit in 1977. He did, however, remain on the board of directors until 1984,when he quit the board, frustrated that the company had lost its toehold in the feature-film business.
When Michael Eisner took over as chief executive that same year, Disney advised the CEO on reviving the company's animation unit, which included investing millions in computer animation equipment. Within a few years, the Walt Disney Co. studio released a slew of critically acclaimed animated hits, including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King.
"It was Roy who was the protector. It was Roy who was the godfather, the champion and believer in it," said Peter Schneider, the former president of Walt Disney Feature Animation. "Animation doesn't work without someone who believed, and Roy believed."
In 2005, current CEO Robert Iger offered Disney an office at the company's Burbank studios, a consultancy and the title "director emeritus."
Chris Henry (May 17, 1983-December 17, 2009)
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry died Thursday from injuries sustained in a Wednesday fall from the back of a pickup truck. He was 26.
Henry died at 6:36 a.m., Charlotte-Mecklenburg police in North Carolina told the Associated Press.
Henry was hospitalized Wednesday after he was found on a residential road with "life-threatening injuries," police said.
According to authorities, Henry was involved in a "domestic situation" with his fiancée, Loleini Tonga, at a residence. As she drove off in a pickup truck, Henry jumped onto the bed of the truck, police said. At some point, Henry "came out of the back of the vehicle."
No charges have been immediately filed.
A fifth-year veteran of the Bengals, Henry caught 119 passes for 1,826 yard and 21 touchdowns during his tenure. He had been sidelined since Nov. 8 due to a broken arm.
Alaina Reed Hall (November 10, 1946-December 17, 2009)
Alaina Reed Hall, who portrayed Olivia Robinson on Sesame Street for 12 years, has died.
Reed Hall was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and succumbed Thursday at a Santa Monica, Calif., hospital, her husband, Tamim Amini, told the Los Angeles Times.
The actress, who turned 63 last month, also starred on Broadway and was one of the original cast members in the off-Broadway production of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road. She also appeared in Hair, Chicago and Eubie!
In 1976, she took on the role of Sesame Street's Olivia, a professional photographer and the kid sister to the character Gordon. Reed Hall left the Street in 1988 because of her conflicting schedule with the NBC sitcom 227 — in which she played the best friend of Marla Gibbs' character.
Reed Hall appeared in movies such as Death Becomes Her, Cruel Intentions and Scrambled. She also guest-starred on TV shows, including ER, Friends, Blossom and Ally McBeal.
She was married three times, the first ending in divorce. She wed 227 co-star Kevin Peter Hall in 1988 — and their characters got married in the final season of the show, which ran from 1985 to '90. Hall died in 1991. She married Amini last year.
Brittany Murphy (November 10, 1977-December 20, 2009)
Brittany Murphy died early Sunday, TVGuide.com has confirmed. She was 32.
A 911 call came from her home about 8 a.m., according to TMZ.com, which first reported the news. Murphy was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after going into full cardiac arrest.
She was pronounced dead on arrival at 10:04 a.m., a spokesperson for the hospital told TVGuide.com.
"In this time of sadness, the family thanks you for your love and support," a rep for Murphy said.
The actress was 14 when she nabbed her first gig in Hollywood, starring as Brenda Drexell in the series Drexell's Class. Her breakout role came in 1995, when she starred opposite Alicia Silverstone in Clueless. The next several years brought Girl, Interrupted (1999), Don't Say a Word (2001), 8 Mile (2002) and Sin City (2005).
Murphy also lent her voice to the show King of the Hill for 12 years as Luanne Platter. Additionally, she had small roles in various TV series, including Sister, Sister, Party of Five, Blossom, Boy Meets World and Frasier.
In 2006, Murphy and English DJ Paul Oakenfold released the single "Faster Kill Pussycat," which reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart. The actress also contributed songs to the 2006 film Happy Feet.
One-time boyfriend and co-star, Ashton Kutcher, tweeted: "2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine. My deepest condolences go out 2 Brittany's family, her husband, & her amazing mother Sharon ... see you on the other side kid."
Kutcher weighed in early, then others also followed with expressions of shock and sadness.
"I am in shock that Britney [sic] Murphy has died! Clueless is my all time favorite movie. My prayers go out to her family & husband," Kim Kardashian tweeted.
Eliza Dushku said, "My heart aches having just learned of Brittany Murphy's death. We were friends ... I always admired her pure spirit."
Lindsay Lohan tweeted: "My deepest condolences go out to all of Brittany Murphy's loved ones & may she rest in peace ... She was a great talent w/a beautiful soul xo."
Murphy married screenwriter Simon Monjack in 2007.
