Australian stage, screen, and TV actress Lorraine Bayly , 89, died on Feb. 28. Bayly was probably best remembered as the host of the kiddie show Play School  (from 1966-78), but she was also very active in other ventures. She costarred on TV in The Sullivans  and Carson’s Law , and was also seen in The Rovers, Homicide, The Man from Snowy Rover, 1915, Neighbours, Pizza , and Locks of Love , among other films and TV shows. As a child, she did a ventriloquist act and played cla

Singer/songerwriter Neil Sedaka , 86, died on Feb. 27. The balladeer wrote (and usually performed) such hits as "Oh! Carol,” "Calendar Girl,” "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” "Laughter in the Rain,” "Stupid Cupid,” and "Love Will Keep Us Together,” among many others. Sedaka was classically trained, but by the late 1950s had discovered pop music: “It’s hard to deny the influence Chopin, Debussy, Beethoven and Prokofiev have had on my writing,” he sa

Actor Bobby J. Brown , 62, died in a barn fire in Maryland on Feb. 26. Born in Washington, D.C., Brown started his career as a boxer, winning five Golden Glove Championships. He moved to New York and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Brown is best known for playing Officer Bobby Brown in 12 episodes of The Wire , and costarring in the 2022 mini-series We Own This City . He also was seen in such TV shows and movies as Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, Th

British comedy writer Rob Grant , 70, died on Feb. 25. Along with his writing partner Doug Naylor, he wrote the sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf ; he also wrote for radio and TV ( Spitting Image, The 10 Percenters, Carrott’s Lib, Cannon and Ball, Three of a Kind, Dark Ages, The Strangerers ). Grant also wrote several novels, and did stand-up comedy. “It was like our wildest dream come true,” Grant said of his most popular project, Red Dwarf . “It had taken so long from writing

Broadway star Sondra Lee , 97, died on Feb. 23. From 1947 through 1970, Lee appeared in such shows as High Button Shoes, Peter Pan (as Tiger Lily to Mary Martin’s Peter), Hotel Paradiso, Jerome Robbins’ Ballet USA  (she worked often with Robbins), Sunday in New York , and Hello, Dolly!  (as Minnie Fay, to a raft of Dollies). The tiny (under 5 feet) blonde singer and dancer also appeared on TV in Peter Pan  and Hansel and Gretel , and danced on Ed Sullivan’s show and in La Dol

Character actor John Wheeler , 95, died on Feb. 6. Wheeler appeared on Broadway in The Happiest Girl in the World, Kean, Cafe Crown, I Had a Ball , and Sweet Charity , and in various regional productions around the country. From the 1950s through 2005, he was seen in countless TV one-off appearances ( Star Trek, Green Acres, Mannix, Love American Style, The Brady Bunch, The Odd Couple, Rhoda, Dallas, The Golden Girls ) and the occasional film ( Tell Them Willie Boy is here, S

Actress Lauren Chapin (“Kitten” on Father Knows Best ) died on Feb. 24. She was 80. The L.A. native (sister of actors Billy and Michael Chapin) had already appeared in a handful of films and TV shows before being cast, at age nine, as youngest daughter Kathy “Kitten” Anderson on the popular sitcom Father Knows Best  (1954-60). Post- Father , Chapin only appeared in a handful of shows (some of them Father reunions), most recently on School Bus Diaries (2016-17). Chapin late

Delightfully off-kilter singer Joseph Montanez, who performed as Sir Monti Rock III , died on Feb. 23. He was 86. Born in the Bronx, Rock became famous through appearances on Johnny Carson’s and Merv Griffin’s shows in the 1960s, his get-up-and-dance rock and disco numbers including “The Tennessee Waltz,” "Get Dancin’,” and "I Wanna Dance Wit' Choo” becoming minor hits. Rock also acted, turning up in small roles in Saturday Night Fever, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,

Australian drag performer Kristopher Elliot  (“Maxi Shield”), 51, died of cancer on Feb. 21. Elliot performed at the 2000 Olympic Games closing ceremony, the Gay Games in 2002, RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under, and at RuPaul's DragCon UK. He also campaigned against domestic violence. “I’m a silly old queen,” Elliot told the Star Observer . “I’m not skinny, I wanted to represent plus-sized old girls and just show everyone that just because you get over forty doesn’t mean you’re d

Actor Robert Carradine , 71, died by suicide on Feb. 23. He was 71. The son of John Carradine and brother of Keith and David, Robert played more comic roles than most in his family: he was Lewis Skolnick in the Revenge of the Nerds  films and dad Sam on TV’s Lizzie McGuire . Robert made his film debut in 1972’s in The Cowboys  (he also appeared in the TV series) and went on to play gradually bigger roles in Go Ask Alice, Mean Streets, Cannonball, Orca, Coming Home, The Long R

Salsa superstar Willie Colón , 75, died in his native New York on Feb. 21. He was 75.  The composer, singer, musician (trumpet and trombone), and producer had his first hit album at 17, and has been recording (some 40 albums) and touring ever since. His jazz, rock, and salsa-infused music reflected both his Puerto Rican parents, and the New York music scene of the past 60 years. Colón also took a fling at acting ( Miami Vice, It Could Happen to You, The Last Fight, The Cosby

Actor Eric Dane , who played Dr. Mark “McSteamy” Sloan on Grey’s Anatomy , died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on on Feb. 19. He was 53. The San Francisco native got his start in the early ’90s, and besides Dr. McSteamy, he had continuing roles in Gideon’s Crossing, Charmed, The Last Ship, Euphoria , and Countdown ; he also appeared in countless TV-movies, and such films as The Basket , Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane , Sol Goode , Feast , and X-Men: The Last Stand . Dane was stil

Character actor Tom Noonan , 74, died on Feb. 14. The tall, cadaverous Noonan (not to be confused with comic actor/director Tommy Noonan) appeared in such films and TV shows as Manhunter (as serial killer Francis Dollarhyde), The Monster Squad  (as Frankenstein’s), RoboCop 2 , Last Action Hero , Heat , Synecdoche, New York , The House of the Devil , Hell on Wheels , and 1 2 Monkeys . The brother of actor and playwright John Ford Noonan, Tom didn’t begin acting till his late

Mexican actress Dolores Muñoz , died on Feb. 13 at the ridiculous age of 107. Shortly after WWII, Muñoz was hired by MGM as a voice dubber for films to be released in Latin America. Among many other projects, she was the voice for Chip in Chip and Dale cartoons, the Sorceress in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe , and Adrian in Rocky IV . Her voice was also heard in such films as Waterloo Bridge, Dangerous Partners, The Seventh Cross, Assignment in Britain, We Were the S

Italian actor Giuseppe "Pino" Colizzi , 88, died on Feb. 15 in his home town of Rome. The handsome matinee idol became a star in 1960 with the Italian TV version of Tom Jones ; he went on to appear in numerous movies and TV shows (among his US-released hits were Jesus of Nazareth  and Tea with Mussolini ). Colizzi also became one of Italy’s busiest voice-dubbers, providing the Italian voices of Jack Nicholson, James Caan, Richard Dreyfuss, Omar Sharif, and Michael Douglas, an

Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman , 96, died on Feb. 16. Wiseman is most famous for his 1967 Titicut Follies , which exposed the horrors at the Bridgewater State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. His many other films include Domestic Violence, High School, Hospital, Model, Central Park, Ballet , and Ex Libris: The New York Public Library . Wiseman called his films “reality fictions” (as a biographer, that very term makes my teeth hurt). He said that “What I try to do

Songwriter Billy Steinberg , 75, died on Feb. 16. Along with writing partner Tom Kelly, Steinberg wrote such hits as "Like a Virgin” (for Madonna), "True Colors" (Cyndi Lauper), "Eternal Flame" (The Bangles),  (1989), "So Emotional" (Whitney Houston), "I Drove All Night" (Roy Orbison, Lauper),  "I Touch Myself" (Divinyls) and "I'll Stand by You” (The Pretenders). After Kelly’s retirement, Steinberg wrote solo or with other partners for such artists as Ashley Tisdale and Demi

Superstar character actor Robert Duvall , 95, died on Feb. 15. Duvall was one of the hordes of “ordinary-looking” actors who became stars in the 1960s and ’70s; he eventually starred (or costarred) in To Kill a Mockingbird, The Chase, Bullitt, True Grit, M*A*S*H, The Godfather, The Conversation, Network, The Eagle Has Landed, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, Rambling Rose, Sling Blade , and Jayne Mansfield’s Car , among many others. Duvall was born into a military family, b

Character actor Shelly Desai , 90, died on Feb. 10. Born in Mumbai, he appeared on the New York stage in At the Hawks Well, Jungle of Cities, Gandhi, A Talent For Murder , and A Journal of the Plague Year.  He had continuing roles in Men of a Certain Age  and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia  (as Charlie and Frank’s landlord), and was seen in Phantom of the Paradise, St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, The A-Team, Sledge Hammer!, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Moonlighting, t

1960s starlet Lory Patrick , 92, died on Jan. 26. All through the 1960s, Patrick decorated such movies and TV shows as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Surf Party, Death Valley Days, Dr. Kildare, Bonanza , and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying . Patrick was married twice: to famed sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison, and to cute-as-a-button actor Dean Jones.