Stage, screen and movie actress Penelope Milford , 77, died on Oct. 14. She had supporting roles in such films as Coming Home  (which earned her an Oscar nomination), Take This Job and Shove It, Endless Love , and Heathers , and also showed up on TV in The Blue Knight, The Burning Bed, The Oldest Living Graduate , and The Hitchhiker . The cute, slightly bucktoothed (in a Meredith Baxter kind of way) actress appeared on Broadway in Lenny  and Shenandoah , and Off-Broadway in L

Grammy-winning R&B singer and songwriter Michael Eugene Archer , who recorded as D’Angelo , died of cancer on Oct. 14. He was 51. The Virginia native began playing piano at age three, and was signed to his first record contract at 17. He wrote his first hit, "U Will Know,” in 1994, and went on to write and/or record “Brown Sugar,” “Cruisin’,” “Lady,” “Left & Right,” “Really Love, and “Unshaken,” among others. “I’m just like a sponge, you know, just trying to soak everything i

Sad news that the old-movie fan newspaper Classic Images  and its sister magazine, Films of the Golden Age , are folding with the retirement of their tireless editor, Bob King; October 2025 will be their final issues. This is heartbreaking for me; I started writing for them in 1991 (many of my articles were anthologized in the books Golden Images  and Bride of Golden Images ). CI  was founded as The 8mm Collector  by Samuel K. Rubin in 1962; it had become Classic Images  by t

Singer and songwriter Richard Addrisi , 84, died on Oct. 14. “Dick” and his brother Don Addrisi started their careers as acrobats (the family business!), then signed with several record companies as a singing duo. That career stalled and they broke through as songwriters, their biggest hits being "Never My Love" and "Slow Dancin' Don't Turn Me On” (they also wrote the tooth-achingly ‘60s theme to Nanny and the Professor ).  Richard also scored the movies Inherent Vice  and St

Movie poster artist Drew Struzan , 78, died on Oct. 13. A favorite of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, Struzan created the posters for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , Risky Business , several Star Wars films , Back to the Future , The Goonies , The Thing , Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone , The Shawshank Redemption , Blade Runner , and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial . Struzan wisely moved from fine art to movie posters (and albums and books), because "I was poor and h

Actress Helen Geller , 97, died on Oct. 9 (and let’s get those Helen Keller jokes out of the way, OK?). Geller was a “Meglin Kiddie” as a child, and did bit parts on radio and in movies, as well as performing in regional theater. It wasn’t till she became an old lady that her career really took off, with commercials and parts in Frasier, Ned & Stacey, The Wayans Bros., Mad About You, The Nanny, Bette (gawd, remember that?), Will & Grace , and Scrubs , among other shows. “Hel

British TV actor Tony Caunter , 88, died on Oct. 13. Caunter costarred in the series Queenie Castle  (he played Diana Dors’s husband—you must  check this show out on YouTube!), United!, Beryl’s Lot , and EastEnders  (as Roy Evans—he was controversially axed from the show). Though he appeared in a few movies and shows, TV was Caunter’s bread and butter: Dr. Who, Z Cars, The Avengers, The Saint, Softly Softly, Dixon of Dock Green, Pennies from Heaven, Crown Court, Rumpole of th

Italian nightclub performer and owner Carla Follis  (whose stage name was Dolly Van Doll ), died on Oct. 13. She was 87. One of Italy’s first openly trans celebrities, she started performing in the 1960s at cabarets in Berlin, Hamburg, and Paris, and by the 1970s was a star in Spain (she also ran her own nightclubs, called Belle Époque, in Spain). Van Doll was seen in a handful of TV series and movies, as well as documentaries.   Dolly Van Doll in performance: https://www.you

Beatrice "BeBe" Shopp —Miss America 1948—died on on Oct. 4. She was 95. Shopp was the first Miss Mississippi to win the title (her talent...

Argentinean pop singer Fede Dorcaz , 29, was shot and killed in Mexico City on Oct. 9, as he was leaving a rehearsal. Police are still...

Charmingly fey actress Diane Keaton , 79, has died, her family announced on Oct. 11. She was best known for her films with Woody Allen (...

Singer and songwriter Terry “Buzzy” Johnson  (The Flamingos) died on Oct. 8. he was 86. Johnson joined the Flamingos in 1958, staying...

Character actor Ron Dean , 87, died on Oct. 5. The Chicago native often played tough-guy roles, in such movies and TV shows as The...

Italian actor Paolo Bonacelli , 88, died in his hometown of Rome on Oct. 8. Bonacelli was seen in the US in such films as Salò, or the...

Actress and philanthropist Susan Kendall Newman , 72, died on August 2. The daughter of Paul Newman and his first wife, Jacqueline Witte,...

British stage, screen and TV actor John Woodvine , 96, died on Oct. 6. Woodvine worked at the Old Vic and the Royal Shakespeare Company,...

Australian actor Ben Lewis , 46, died of cancer on Oct. 6. The son (and brother) of opera singers, he was mostly known for his stage...

Musician and producer Ike Turner, Jr. , 67, died after a long illness on Oct. 4. The son of Ike and Lorraine Taylor (Tina later adopted...

Pharmacy chain Rite-Aid has closed all of its locations after filing for bankruptcy. Founded in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Rite-Aid at its...

Actress Kimberly Hébert Gregory , 52, died on Oct. 3; her family has not released the cause of death. Gregory was best-known for her...