Eve's Obits

"People are dying who never died before!"

Yet another British actor gone: Marcus Gilbert , 67, died of cancer on Jan. 11. Gilbert was a founder member of the Odyssey Theatre Company, which toured schools throughout London. He also acted with the Dundee Repertory Theatre and the Library Theatre, in Manchester. He ran the company, Touch the Sky Productions, and was seen in many commercials, most notably for Lee Jeans. The tall, handsome actor appeared in such films and TV shows as Dr. Who, Biggles: Adventures in Time,

Successful but controversial cartoonist Scott Adams  ( Dilbert ) died of cancer on Jan. 13. He was 68. While working as an office drone, Adams created Dilbert  in 1989—the strip was a smart, funny look at the horrors of office work, which most of us could identify with. The strip was carried by some 800 newspapers, released in collection form, and inspired a terrible TV show. He wrote several books, including the best-selling Dilbert Principle , and hosted the online talk sho

Lots of British people dying lately! Today it’s comic actress and singer Sheila Bernette , who died on Jan. 12, age 94. Bernette was a regular on the comedy/sketch shows The Black and White Minstrel Show  (which ran till 1978 and was just as horrifying as you think it was), The Saturday Crowd , the British version of Candid Camera  (never liked that show, it just struck me as mean), and The Good Old Days ; she also had continuing roles in the shows Coronation Street  and Hote

British actor Trevor a Toussaint (sometimes billed as Trevor A. Toussaint ) died on Jan. 11. He was 65. He costarred in the soap Hollyoaks , as the father of two of the leading characters, appearing on the show from 2018-22. Toussaint was also seen in such films and TV shows as Death in Paradise, Nine Nights, Sulfur and White , and Dreaming Whilst Black . His Hollyoaks costar Kéllé Bryan wrote that “He wore his waist-length dreads with pride for over 10 year’s fighting again

Erich von Däniken , author of the chuckle-headed best-seller Chariots of the Gods?,  died on Jan. 10. He was 90. The Swiss-born von Däniken wrote Chariots of the Gods?  while working as a hotel manager in Davos (he served a year in jail for embezzling from the hotel, and wrote his second book, Gods from Outer Space , while in stir). Chariots was rewritten by a former Nazi author, and became a surprise hit amongst the nincompoop crowd. Von Däniken claimed that ancient peoples

British stuntman turned actor Derek Martin , 92, died on Jan. 10. Martin is best known for playing patriarch Charley Slater on EastEnders , till he was axed in 2016, in an attempt to bring more youth to the show (“youthanizing it?”). Born in London and possessing a marketable cockney accent, Martin worked as a stuntman till a broken collarbone convinced him to seque into acting. He appeared in over 100 movies and TV shows, including recurring roles in It’s Square World, Adam

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Bob Weir —a founder of The Grateful Dead—died on Jan. 10. He was 78. He met Jerry Garcia in 1963, and they formed the Dead two years later, along with Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. How to describe the band? Not being a Deadhead, I will leave that to whomever wrote their Wikipedia entry: “Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, and world

Actor Thomas Kent (“T.K.”) Carter , 69, died at his Calif. home on Jan. 9. Carter had good (mostly comic) supporting roles in The Thing, Good Times, Corvette Summer, The Jeffersons, Seems Like Old Times, Southern Comfort, Dr. Detroit, Runaway Train, Amazon Women on the Moon, A Rage in Harlem, Moesha , and The Nanny ; he also had continuing roles on TV’s Punky Brewster, Just Our Luck, Jem, Good Morning Miss Bliss, The Sinbad Show, The Corner, Dave, and The Company You Keep . C

British actress turned director Tina Packer , 87, has died, her family announced on Jan. 10. Packer began her career as an actress, most famously costarring in the 1966 mini-series David Copperfield  (she was Dora to Ian McKellen’s David). She was also seen in films and on TV in Dr. Who, The Avengers, No Hiding Place, Boy Meets Girl, Crime of Passion , and a handful of other vehicles. But she left acting for directing in the 1970s, moving to the US and forming Shakespeare & C

Historian Mark Masek , 68, died on Dec. 31. A former L.A. Times reporter, he was the author of numerous cemetery guidebooks (including Hollywood Remains to Be Seen: A Guide to the Movie Stars' Final Homes ), and wrote and spoke about the kind of stuff I count as a guilty pleasure: celebrity graves and disaster sites (as well as the LAPD End of Watch project, documenting the memorials for officers killed in the line of duty). I’ll let our mutual friend Scott Michaels take it

1960s TV and movie actor Roger Ewing , 83, died on Dec. 18. Ewing is best remembered as Thad Greenwood on Gunsmoke —he was hired to scare James Arness into signing up for more seasons, and after that was summarily dumped from the show (he was seen in 52 episodes, from 1965-67). The tall, blond L.A. native was also seen in the films Ensign Pulver, None but the Brave, Smith!,  and Play It as It Lays , and on TV in The Mothers-in-Law, Bewitched, The Baileys of Balboa, Rawhide ,

Boyishly cute character actor Richard Dimitri , 83, died on Dec. 18. Dimitri is best known as twins Bertram and Renaldo on TV’s When Things Were Rotten , and for Johnny Dangerously . Dimitri (also billed as Dmitri) appeared on Broadway in Zorba, The Guide , and Lysistrata , and also worked as a stand-up comic. In films and on TV, Dimitri played in Th e World’s Greatest Lover , Starsky & Hutch , Welcome Back Kotter , Hawaii Five-O , Tracey Takes On …,  and Hearts Afire . He pr

Broadway actor John Cunningham , 93, died on Jan. 6. Between 1963 and 2002, Cunningham appeared on Broadway in such shows as Hot Spot  (the second veteran of that doomed show to die recently), Cabaret  (as Cliff, replacing Bert Convy), Zorba, 1776, Company  (as Peter, and replacing Dean Jones as Bobby), California Suite, The Sisters Rosensweig, Titanic , and Anything Goes , among others. He also turned up on the big and small screens in Another World, Search for Tomorrow, Mat

Stage, screen and TV actress Marcia Rodd , 87, died on Dec. 27. The Kansas-born Rodd moved to New York in the 1960s, and appeared in such on- and off-Broadway shows as The Mad Show,   Oh, What a Lovely War , Love in E Flat , The Last of the Red Hot Lovers , I’m Not Rappaport , and Shelter . Rodd had Jessica Walter/Elizabeth Ashley sharp, dark good looks, and found much work on TV: she was the original Carol to Bea Arthur’s Maude , also showing up on Medical Center , Phyllis ,

“Little Rascals curse,” my eye and Betty Martin— Sidney Kibrick , who played Woim in 20-some Little Rascals  (aka Our Gang ) shorts, died at the age of 97 on Jan. 3. Kibrick made his debut in 1933’s Out All Night , starring ZaSu Pitts and Slim Summerville; besides his many Little Rascals films, he also appeared in The Bowery, Kid Millions, The Great O’Malley, Nothing Sacred, The Affairs of Annabel, Jesse James , and Little Men . Kibrick told interviewer Nick Thomas, “I was Bu

Bodybuilder and actress Jayne Trcka , 62, died on Dec. 12. No cause of death has yet been determined. Trcka was a competitive bodybuilder and trainer; she also paid the rent by working as a Realtor. She made her film debut as the insultingly named gym teacher Miss Mann in 2000’s Scary Movie  (she turns out to be a trans Nazi—Jesus Christ , people), and from then on pretty much was cast as a human punchline, in such films and TV shows as The Black Magic, Cattle Call, Hot Packa

Playwright Robert Heide , 91, died on Dec. 17.  Beginning in the mid-1960s, he wrote numerous Off-Off-Broadway plays, including Hector, West of the Moon, Why Tuesday Never has a Blue Monday, At War with the Mongols, Suburban Tremens,  and Crisis of Identity ; his The Bed  was filmed by Andy Warhol. As a writer, Heide became the Henri Murger of the new Bohemians of 1960s-70s Greenwich Village, writing books and articles on the playwrights, novelists, artists, performers, and c

Character actor Jon Korkes , 80, died on Jan. 3. Korkes got his start Off-Broadway in Jules Feiffer’s Little Murders , and appeared on the Main Stem in Unlikely Heroes, Conversations with My Father , and The Penny Wars . He was ubiquitous on the big and small screens, in All in the Family, Maude, The Front Page, The Day of the Dolphin, Two-Minute Warning, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Getting Away with Murder, Starsky & Hutch, Riding in Cars with Boys, Catch-22, The Larry Sander

Actor Bret Hanna-Shuford , 46, died of cancer on Jan. 3. He appeared on Broadway in Beauty and the Beast, Wicked, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Little Mermaid , and Amazing Grace , among other shows. His films and TV shows include The Wolf of Wall Street, Law & Order , and Only Murders in the Building . Hanna-Shuford recalled that “I fell in love with movie musicals before I even hit kindergarten. When I was five, my mom took me to our local library to see a performance by The

British actor Gregory de Polnay  (Det. Sgt. Brewer on TV’s Dixon of Dock Green ) died on Jan. 1. He was 82. The son of novelist Peter de Polnay, Gregory was popular onstage as well as in radio, TV and films; he worked as a voice and acting coach, and worked on the West End and with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was Director of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Shakespeare Certificate Scheme, and directed many Jacobean and Restoration plays for RADA. Besides his most famou

Comedian and actor John Mulrooney , 67, died on Dec. 29. The Brooklyn-born Mulrooney started his career as a radio announcer and host, and beginning in the late 1970s was showing up at Comic Strip Live, the Improv, the Laugh Factory, and Dangerfield’s. He guest-hosted several talk shows, and briefly replaced Joan Rivers when she was fired from The Late Show . He also acted in such films and TV shows as Ryder P.I., 1st and Ten, Ellen, Midtown North, The Good Life, Hardball , a

British-born Australian actor Tim Robertson , 81, will die tomorrow (well, the obit notices say he died on Jan. 2, which it already is  in Australia!). Born in Essex, he moved to Australia in 1952, where he taught acting, and directed several shows. Robertson began appearing on TV and in movies in the 1970s, starring in 1976 mini-series Power Without Glory , and Peter Weir’s horror/comedy film The Cars That Ate Paris . His other notable vehicles included the sketch-comedy ser

Australian actress Candy Raymond , 75, died on Jan. 1 in Sydney. Raymond played small roles in films and TV till getting her big break in 1973, in the soap Number 96 , which involved some shocking onscreen nudity on her part. She also had continuing roles in Class of ’74 , the sketch-comedy show The Norman Gunston Show, Prisoner , and Cornflakes for Tea . Her films included Alvin Rides Again, Don's Party, The Getting of Wisdom, Money Movers, The Journalist, Freedom , and Monk

Dancer, choreographer, and actress Carmen de Lavallade , 94, died on Dec. 29. A cousin of ballet dancer Janet Collins, de Lavallade grew up in L.A., and danced with Lester Horton’s and Alvin Ailey’s companies. De Lavallade appeared on Broadway in Hot Spot  (Judy Holliday’s last, doomed show), House of Flowers , and A Streetcar Named Desire , and in numerous Off-Broadway shows. She also acted and/or danced in such movies and TV shows as Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and

Fashion designer and socialite Jacqueline, Comtesse de Ribes , died on Dec. 30. She was 96. Born in Paris to the Comte de Beaumont, she married Édouard, Comte de Ribes, in 1948. She designed clothing beginning in the 1950s, and soon both show-biz royalty and real royalty were her customers (de Ribes signed an exclusive contract with Saks in 1985). She also produced French TV shows, and was manager at the International Ballet of the Marquis de Cuevas, and supported several mus

Actor Isiah Whitlock, Jr.,  who played Senator Davis in The Wire , died “after a short illness” on Dec. 30. He was 71. Whitlock made his debut in 1981 and was continually busy thereafter. He appeared in the Spike Lee films She’s Gotta Have It, Red Hook Summer , She Hate Me, Chi-Rag,  and Da 5 Bloods , as well as the films Goodfellas , Pieces of April , 1408 , Enchanted , Cedar Rapids , Pete’s Dragon , Cars 3,  and The Old Man & the Gun , and on TV in The Good Cop , Veep , Cha

“Artist” Cecilia Giménez , 94, creator of Monkey Jesus, died on Dec. 29. The church volunteer in Borja, Spain, became (in)famous in 2012 when she “restored” a deteriorating 1930 fresco of Jesus (titled Ecce Homo , painted by Elías García Martínez). The result was a fall-down-laughing funny monkey-like painting, which first brought fury and insults, but which quickly became a beloved tourist attraction. "The priest knew it. I've never tried to do anything hidden,” Giménez defe

Melanie Watson , who played Kathy on four episodes of Diff’rent Strokes , died on Dec. 26. She was 57. Watson was born with osteogenesis imperfect, resulting in dwarfism and brittle bones. Diff’rent Strokes  was her only acting role (she played a wheelchair-bound friend of star Gary Coleman, who himself was only 4’ 8”). Watson was the founder and executive director of Train Rite, an organization that trains shelter dogs to serve the disabled.

It never fails—some major celeb always dies at the very end of the year, just in time to screw up the year-end issues and make TCM scramble. This year it’s pouty, tousle-haired French sex kitten Brigitte Bardot , 91, who died on Dec. 28. Promoted by first husband Roger Vadim, she became a star in such films as Le Trou Normand, The Girl in the Bikini, Helen of Troy, Babette Goes to War , and most successfully,  . . . And God Created Woman . Through the 1960s, she appeared in s

Annette , the last of the famous Dionne Quintuplets , died on Dec. 24. She was 91. Born in Canada into a world fraught with the Depression and fascism, the girls (rare surviving quintuplets) became a worldwide craze, and were made wards of the state as a tourism hook, so they could live like little queens. Like queens, though, they lived a regimented life in the glare of publicity, gaped at like zoo animals (the Dionnes had eight other children—I’d like to have heard their s

Marilyn Granas , who was a stand-in for Shirley Temple in several 1930s films, died on Oct. 21. She was 97. Granas was Temple’s stand-in for Baby, Take a Bow, Bright Eyes , Now and Forever , Curly Top , and The Little Colonel . She also acted in Glad Rags to Riches, Kid in Hollywood, The Kid’s Last Fight , and—in 1947— Escape Episode  (directed by the perfectly dreadful Kenneth Anger). In later years, Granas went to UCLA, and worked her way up at CBS and NBC, finally working

Perry Bamonte —guitarist and keyboardist for The Cure—died on Dec. 26. He was 65. The wild-haired Bamonte was born in London and began his career as a roadie for The Cure and Depeche Mode; he joined The Cure in 1990, and stayed with them through four albums, leaving in 2005 (and rejoining the group in 2022). Between gigs, Bamonte worked as an illustrator. Bamonte showed himself a real gentleman after he was kicked out of The Cure in 2005 and replaced with former band member P

Punk filmmaker Amos Poe , 76, died of cancer on Dec. 25. Poe was also called a “No Wave” and “Remodernist” filmmaker, and if you can explain what those mean, I will have you over for tea. Born in Israel, Poe made both concert films and linear stories. His 1976 The Blank Generation  featured Richard Hell, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, and Wayne County; other films he wrote and/or directed included Unmade Beds, The Foreigner, Subway Riders, Alphabet City, Just an American Boy , a

Russian actress Vera Alentova , 83, died on Dec. 25. She was best-known for her starring role in the 1980 film Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears , which won a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Born to show people, Alentova attended the Moscow Art Theater School and acted with the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theater. She married director Vladimir Menshov (who helmed Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears ). Between 1966 and 2023, Alentova appeared in more than 30 movies and TV series (she c

Imani Dia Smith , 26, who played young Nala in The Lion King on Broadway, died on Dec. 21. She was stabbed to death in Edison, NJ, and her boyfriend was arrested and charged in her death. Smith was the daughter of a stage, television, and film hairdresser; The Lion King seems to have been her only acting credit. Her family posted that "Imani had her whole life ahead of her. She was a vivacious, loving and fiercely talented person,” and that her acting “reflected the joy, cr

Ubiquitous sitcom actor Pat Finn , 60, died of cancer on Dec. 23. Finn was a college friend of Chris Farley’s, and joined the improv groups The Second City, Olympic Theater, and Beer Shark Mice. He later taught improv, and formed Improv-Ability, “a company that brings the principles of improvisation into the business world” (me, I agree with Marlene Dietrich that improv is “amateur stuff—you get the scwipt, and you learn the lines”). From the 1990s through this year, Finn was

British singer/songwriter Chris Rea , 74, died on Dec. 22, after years of ill health (Cancer! Stroke! Diabetes!). I was going to call him a “rock star,” but he hated that term: “None of my heroes were rock stars,” he said. “I arrived in Hollywood for the Grammy Awards once and thought I was going to bump into people who mattered, like Ry Cooder or Randy Newman. But I was surrounded by pop stars.” His only big hit in the US was "Fool (If You Think It's Over),” but in England h

Character actress Helen Siff , 88, died on Dec. 18. Since the 1980s, Siff had been ubiquitous on TV, in movies, and commercials (sometimes with her twin sister, Carol). Her family posted, “Those who worked with Helen knew her not just as a talented performer, but as someone who brought professionalism, dedication and genuine kindness to every set. She understood that every role, no matter how large or small, was an opportunity to contribute something meaningful to the story b

I hear from my friend Trav S.D. ( travsd.wordpress.com ) that actress and preservationist Melanie Winter died of lung cancer on Oct. 21. She appeared in the original Broadway production of A Chorus Line  (and in the disappointing movie version); toured with Jerry Lewis in what must have been a hellish revival of Hellzapoppin’ , and was seen in the films Gold of the Amazon Women, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas , and New Year’s Day . But she was best known as a preservatio

Actor James Ransone , 46, died by suicide on Dec. 19. He was best known for playing Ziggy Sobotka in The Wire , Cpl. Josh Ray Person in Generation Kill , the Deputy in Sinister  and Sinister 2 , Chester in Tangerine , Eddie Kaspbrak in It Chapter Two , and Max in The Black Phone . He was born and raised in Baltimore and said that “Baltimore breeds a really specific type of weirdo” (I lived in Baltimore in the ’70s, and he wasn’t kidding—John Waters made documentaries ). Ranso

British actress Lorraine Cheshire , 65, died on Dec. 19. She costarred in the TV series Stanton Blues, Early Doors, Tittybangbang (a sketch-comedy show, not a porno!), Massive, Waterloo Road, In the Club, Trollied , and Ackley Bridge . She also appeared in the horribly-titled film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus . Cheshire didn’t start acting till she was 35, when her husband lost his job; she was already a member of the Manchester Actors Company. Cheshire recalled that “

TCM always gets right what the Oscars, Emmys, and Tonys invariably screw up: the end-of-the-year memorials. “There were a lot of big names this year,” one will think, but there are always  a lot of big names (I am old enough to remember the great movie-star die-offs of 1965 and 1973). As always, the TCM wind-up always makes me tear up. I’m sure, as always, they will re-edit through December 31 to fit in any additional deaths (hi, May Britt!). I was sorry not to see my friends

Swedish movie star May Britt , 91, died on Dec. 11. She was a photographer’s assistant and model when discovered by Carlo Ponti and cast in Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair  (1952). She made a handful of European films before being snapped up by Hollywood and starred in War and Peace, The Young Lions , and the just-about career-killing remake of The Blue Angel  (1959). Britt married Sammy Davis, Jr., in 1960, which pretty much put paid to her career (interracial mar

British actor William Rush , 31, died on Dec. 17. He was 31, and his family did not release a cause of death. The son of Coronation Street  actress Debbie Rush (and brother of actress and singer Poppy Rush), William had a bit part in Shameless , then got a supporting role in TV’s Grange Hill . He went on to appear in Drop Dead Gorgeous, The Street, Casualty, Vera , and Friday on My Mind . He was best known for the school drama Waterloo Road , as gay teen Josh Stevenson. Rush

Pianist and colorful con man Marcel de Sade  (born Jørgen Vase Schmidt in Denmark), 91, died on Dec. 16. De Sade lived la dolce vita  in 1950s and ’60s Copenhagen and Paris, throwing wild parties and kibitzing with Jean Marais, Jean Cocteau, and other cultural heroes. He claimed to make his money trading in jewelry, but in 1963 he was convicted for embezzling from the oil company where he worked, and served three years in prison. Once released, he became even more of a celebr

Porn star Lane Rogers —who usually worked under the pseudonym Blake Mitchell —died in a motorcycle accident near Oxnard, California, on Dec. 22. He was 31. Rogers made his film debut in 2014, and some of his vehicles include Toilet Tramps, The Meatman, Snatch Masters 9  (I could kick myself for missing Snatch Masters 1-8), Slutsville USA, Philmore Butts Hawaiian Anal Adventure  (I think we have a winner!), Electropussy, Babes of Bonerville, and Hunchback of Nasty Dames  (runn

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has signed a deal with YouTube to stream (do I have that right? Probably not) the annual Oscars show (and the pre-show fashion parade, I wonder?) on YouTube, and no longer on TV. Now, I am a big fan of YouTube—the only thing about this stupid century I approve of—but I am damn well not going to watch the Oscars on my computer or phone. (Yes, I know there’s a way to watch YouTube on my Smart TV, but my TV is a lot smarter than I

German filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim , 83, died on Dec. 17. Born Holger Radtke, he took the name Rosa von Praunheim to honor the Pink Triangle victims of the Nazis. He was born in a Latvian prison during Nazi occupation; his mother died in a mental institute in 1947 (his film Two Mothers  examined the trauma). Von Praunheim wrote, directed and produced some 150 films between 1968 and this year. His movies mostly dealt with gay and trans rights, AIDS, and other social issues; t

Bob Burns III , actor and archivist of movie memorabilia, died on Dec. 16. He was 90. Was he the grandson of “Bazooka” Bob Burns, or of western actor Bob Burns? Your guess is as good as mine; the internet is no help (you should only use "III" if your family name is famous, or you are the King of England). This Bob Burns acted in 40-some movies and TV series, often as a gorilla, mummy, or other monster ( Invasion of the Saucer Men, Capt. America vs. the Mutant, The Lucy Show,

Actor Gil Gerard  (TV’s Buck Rogers in the 25th Century ), 82, died of cancer on Dec. 16. The little boy from Little Rock got his start in TV commercials, films ( Some of My Best Friends Are . . ., Airplane ’77 ), and soaps ( The Doctors, Another World ). Stardom came with Buck Rogers  (1979-81), making Gerard a major pre-Selleck sex symbol. He continued working (my favorite late title of his is Psycho Hillbilly Cabin Massacre! —that exclamation mark makes it sound like a Fos