Character actor and songwriter Gerrit Graham, 76, died on Sept. 15. Graham was a favorite of director Brian De Palma, who cast him in The Phantom of the Paradise, Hi, Mom!, Greetings, and Home Movie; his other movies included Tunnel Vision, Pretty Baby, Demon Seed, Used Cars, Old Boyfriends, The Man with One Red Shoe, TerrorVision, Frozen Assets, and Sidekicks. He was a regular on TV from the 1970s-2010s; though he never starred in a series, he turned up in Laverne & Shirley,

Singer, songwriter, and composer Duncan Sheik, 56, died of heart failure on Sept. 17. Sheik won a Tony for Broadway’s Spring Awakening in 2007, also writing the music for American Psycho in 2016. He had his first hit song with “Barely Breathing” in 1996, and went on to compose and record nine albums between 1996 and 2022. Sheik also composed the music for such films and TV series as Through the Fire, Brother’s Shadow, Limp, Dare, Harvest, and Lost Generation. He was more comf

So many great British actresses dying off lately! Penelope Keith, Jean Marsh, Pauline Collins—and now Stephanie Cole, who died on Sept. 18, age 84. It’s shocking that she was only 84, as she went gray and played old early—I remember her best from the wonderful Britcom Waiting for God, in which she played an elderly retirement-home resident, at only 49. Cole got her start in theater (she played Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, and I bet she was perfect). On TV, she costarred in

Nigerian-born actor Olu Jacobs, 84, died on Sept. 16. A RADA graduate, he worked in British theater, films and TV, including the series The Goodies, Rumpole of the Bailey, Till Death Us Do Part, Barlow at Large, The Venturers, Angels, 1990, The Tomorrow People, and The Professionals. On film Jacobs was seen in The Dogs of War, Pirates, and Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend. But mostly he was known as one of Nigeria’s top actors (“Nollywood” films, I just learned they are called

Singer Rosalind Ashford, of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, 83, died on Sept. 15. The Detroit native sang with such groups as The Del-Phis and The Vels till Motown’s Berry Gordy teamed the soprano Ashford with Martha Reeves (alto) and Annette Beard (contralto) in 1962. The group had such huge hits as “(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave,” “Quicksand,” "Dancing in the Street,” "Nowhere to Run,” "I'm Ready for Love,” and "Jimmy Mack.” Beard left the group in 1964, and Ashford in 1969.

Groovy illustrator Peter Max, 88, died on Sept. 14. Born in Berlin, his (Jewish) family fled the Nazis and moved to Israel, Paris, and New York, where Max opened an art studio with friends, and got his start designing posters and ads for hippie events. Soon his style caught on, and became ubiquitous. I kind of like his bubbly, faux-art nouveau style, but from the late ‘60s through 1980, everyone was copying it—you couldn’t swing a cat without hitting some Peter Max ads, poste

I just learned from my friend Trav S.D. of the death of downtown NY actress, writer, and producer Lissa Moira. I will turn the mike over to him now, and this is a good chance for you to bookmark his website! https://travsd.wordpress.com/2026/09/16/r-i-p-lissa-moira/

Presidential dog Sunny Obama, the Portuguese Water Dog who lived in the White House from 2013-17, died on Sept. 15. She was 14. Following in the paw prints of such famous White House pets as Fala, Socks, and Checkers, Sunny provided a nice break in politics for White House reporters. “She leapt over the hedges on the South Lawn like they weren’t even there, chasing squirrels, birds and anything else that moved,” said Barack Obama. “But as far as our family was concerned, she

Pop and country singer Ronnie Dove, 91, died on Sept. 15. Dove recorded 13 albums, and had such 1960s/70s hits as “Party Doll,” Say You,” "Right or Wrong,” “Hello Pretty Girl,” "One Kiss for Old Times' Sake,” and “Happy Summer Days” (which was recently heard on an an Amazon commercial). He appeared on countless TV variety shows, and hosted his own The Ronnie Dove Show in 1966. Of his shift in genres, Dove said, “I thought I was always a pop singer, but the people would tell m

Boxer and occasional actor George Chuvalo, 89, died on Sept. 12. Chuvalo was a five-time national heavyweight champ, and fought such people even I have heard of, as Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman. But I would look a right prat if I pretended to know anything about boxing, so I will jump right to his acting career: like so many other boxers, he played supporting roles, usually as a boxer or some other hulking character. He was seen in both films (Stone Cold Dead

Australian actress Sheila Kennelly, 89, died on Sept. 15. She was born in Britain but raised in Australia, where most of her career took place. Kennelly started acting in radio, and did a great deal of theater (appearing in such varied shows as A View from the Bridge, Under Milk Wood, Cox and Box, The Visit, Steaming, and An Evening of Grand Guignol). But it was for her TV roles that she was best known: she played barmaid Norma Whittaker on Number 96, Rosa Berluccio on Kingsw

Costumer extraordinaire Bob Mackie, 87, died on Sept. 14. Known as "The Sultan of Sequins" and "The Rajah of Rhinestones," Mackie most famously designed both high-glam and high-comedy costumes for Carol Burnett’s and Cher’s variety shows (his “Went with the Wind” costume for Burnett caused one of the longest laughs in her show’s history). Mackie started his career working for Edith Head and Jean Louis, and was soon designing for Vegas shows, Mitzi Gaynor, The Supremes, Ann-Ma

Actor Bain Boehlke, 87, died on Sept. 11. Boehlke was mostly known for Minneapolis-based theater; he founded the Children’s Theater Company and the Jungle Theater, also appearing in such theatrical productions as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Hamlet, The House of Blue Leaves, and A Life in the Theater. Onscreen, he played small supporting roles in Fargo, Four Boxes, and Influencer. Actress Michelle Barber said of Boehlke, “He led with his passion, and he didn’t care what y

Actress Nina Shipman, 88, died on Sept. 6. Shipman was from a show-business family: her parents, Barry and Gwynne Shipman, were a screenwriter and actress, respectively, her grandfather Ernest Shipman was a Shakespearean actor, and her grandmother, Nell Shipman, was a silent movie actress. Nina started her career as a model and beauty queen (queen of the 33rd annual Great Western Livestock Rodeo!). From the 1950s through her retirement in the 1980s, Shipman was a regular pres

British pop star Craig Douglas, 85, died on Sept. 4. Douglas started his career as a milkman, thus being dubbed “The Singing Milkman” when he was discovered in the late 1950s. He had hits with the British covers of such American songs as “Only Sixteen,” “A Teenager in Love,” “Pretty Blue Eyes,” “A Hundred Pounds of Clay,” and "Oh, Lonesome Me,” till The Beatles and their fellow ‘60s rockers put an end to his ascent. Craig starred in the 1962 rock film It's Trad, Dad! (release

British child actor turned TV star Richard O'Sullivan, 82, died on Sept. 4. O’Sullivan was best known for playing Robin Tripp in the ‘70s Britcoms Man About the House and Robin’s Nest (later translated in the US to the John Ritter vehicles Three’s Company and Three’s a Crowd). He started his career as a child, in such movies and TV shows as The Stranger’s Hand, It’s Great to Be Young, Little Lord Fauntleroy, Dangerous Exile (as the French Dauphin), Carry On Teacher, Cleopatra

Mexican keyboardist and vocalist for the group Camilo Séptimo, Jonathan Meléndez, 38, was shot and killed on Sept. 1, along with his pregnant wife, their 3-year-old daughter, and their nanny, along with their dog. A 6-year-old boy was found unharmed on the scene. Two suspects have been taken into custody. Meléndez played keyboards for the trio Camilo Séptimo, a group that mixed jazz, pop and rock; they have performed throughout Mexico and Europe, and released four studio albu

British writer, actor, comic and convicted sex creep Chris Langham, 77, died on June 24. The son of director Michael Langham and actress Helen Burns, he wrote for numerous comedy series, including The Muppet Show, Not the Nine O’Clock News, Spitting Image, Kiss Me Kate, and Help, and acted in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, The Gaffer, Silas Marner, Jackanory, Married…With Children, Carry On Columbus, The Thick of It, People Like Us, and many other vehicles. In 2007, Langham wa

I know Gloria Steinem—who died on Sept. 2, at age 92—is not “show biz,” but I did want to cover her anyway, as her whole life was a kind of performance art. Beginning with her stint as an undercover Playboy Bunny for Show magazine, Steinem championed a kind of “lipstick feminism,” showing that we can be feminists and hot patooties at the same time. She also wrote for That Was the Week That Was, appeared as herself in several movies and TV shows, and of course co-founded Ms. m

Actress Carla Jeffery, 33, died on Sept. 1; no cause of death has been determined. The twin sister of actor Carlon Jeffery, Carla appeared in neatly 40 TV series and movies from 2006 through 2024’s Zombies: The Re-Animated Series; she’d played cheerleader Bree in Disney’s Zombies franchise, beginning with the 2018 TV-movie. She made her debut with Phat Girlz, and appeared in the films Teacher of the Year, Girl on the Edge, Exchange, and Puzzled, and was in several high-profil