Italian actress Lucia Modugno, 94, died on Nov. 3. Modugno worked with such directors as Roberto Rossellini (The General of the Oak), Lucio Fulci (The Cheaters), Dino Risi (The Monsters), Mario Bava (Danger: Diabolik), Sandro Bolchi (Anna Karenina), and Pupi Avati (The Friends of the Bar Margherita). She also appeared in Jayne Mansfield’s worst movie, the unwatchable Primitive Love. Among her other films to reach the US were Navajo Joe, Barabbas, The Twelve-Handed Men of Mars

Singer Tony Butala, the last living member of The Lettermen, has died, his family announced on Nov. 2. He was 87. Butala sang in several 1950s film—as Tommy Rettig’s voice in The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, in War of the Worlds, Peter Pan, On Moonlight Bay, and White Christmas; he also had an acting role in 1958’s Dragstrip Riot. He sang in a quartet with Connie Stevens, and in 1958, he, Mike Barnett, and Talmadge Russell formed The Lettermen (the lineup changed through the years

British actor John Leeson, best known for voicing the robot dog K9 in Dr. Who and its many, many spin-offs, died on Nov. 1. He was 83. Leeson went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and had a very respectable stage career, appearing in such shows as Plaza Suite, Flint, and Don't Start Without Me. His film and TV credits include Crossroads, Dad’s Army, Crown Court, Jigsaw, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, ‘Allo ‘Allo!, The Bill, and Vanity Fair. But it was his voice-over wor

TV producer, casting director, and sometimes actress Ronny Hallin, 88, died on Oct. 27. Hallin was one of the “Marshall Mafia,” sibling to producer Garry Marshall and actress/director Penny Marshall. Hallin acted on TV in The Odd Couple (as Myrna Turner’s sister Verna Turner) and Laverne & Shirley, and in the movies Frankie and Johnny, Exit to Eden, and Raising Helen. She worked as casting director on Laverne and Shirley and Happy Days, and eventually went into producing: Mor

Country singer and sometimes actor Bobby Wright, 84, died on Oct. 27. The son of country stars Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells, he joined the family act early, as a singer and guitarist. His country-boy (West Virginia) persona got him cast as radio operator Willy Moss in McHale’s Navy; besides appearing in 138 episodes, he was also in the McHale’s Navy Joins the Air Force movie, as well as making appearances in Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats, The Road West, and the 1974 film Catch the

Patrick Stewart, one of Britain’s most talented and acclaimed actors, died on Oct. 28 at his Los Angeles home. He was 86. Stewart was best known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in several Star Trek movies, but his career covered everything from playing the classics at the Royal Shakespeare Company to poking fun at himself on Family Guy. With his godlike voice and sexy bald good looks, Stewart was rarely out of work: he started onstage (his many Broadway shows included Mac

German-born blonde bombshell Elke Sommer, 85, died on Oct. 28 in Los Angeles. Sommer (she, Mai Britt, and Britt Ekland could have done the “Triplets” number from The Bandwagon) was discovered by Vittorio De Sica while vacationing in Italy, and from 1959 till her semi-retirement around 2000, she appeared in more than 100 films and TV shows. Sadly, few if any were much good: The Prize, A Shot in the Dark, The Money Trap, The Oscar (one of her worst), Boy Did I Get a Wrong Numbe

Elfin actress Barbara Barrie, who often played “manic pixie dream grannies,” died on Oct. 28. She was 95. Barrie played Sarah in Company on Broadway (sadly, she got no solos), also appearing in The Prisoner of Second Avenue, California Suite, Torch Song Trilogy, Fiddler on the Roof, and Significant Other, among other Broadway shows. On TV, she played Barney Miller’s worried wife, and Brooke Shields’ too-adorable grandmother in Suddenly Susan; from the 1960s through last year,

TV actress Susan Saint James, 80, died of pancreatic cancer on Oct. 26. Saint James costarred in McMillan & Wife (1971–76) and Kate & Allie (1984-89). Like her lookalike Kate Jackson, Saint James always brought a grown-up intelligence to her roles (though Rock Hudson’s biographer says he thought she was an undisciplined hippie chick during MacMillan and Wife). Saint James got her start in the late ‘60s, and can be spotted in Ironside, Where Angels Go Trouble Follows!, What’s

Soap actor Alan Dysert, who played engaging cad Sean Cudahy on All My Children all through the 1980s, died on Oct. 23. He was 75. Besides that role, he appeared in such TV shows and movies as Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie, Working It Out, Two Weeks, The Grift, The Senator, and this year’s The Legend of Van Dorn. An Illinois farm boy, Dysert became a stand-up comic and worked in real estate while waiting for his big break; he later went into teaching, and worked as a producer

Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Pavel Chekov in Star Trek, died on Oct. 25. He was 90. The Chicago native played the Russian crew member on the famously multi-national series from 1967-69, and in several spin-off movies (poor Anton Yelchin, who died such a horrible death, took over the role in several movies). Koenig got his start on TV’s Combat!, The Untouchables, General Hospital, Gidget, I Spy, and Mannix, before being cast in Star Trek. That role pretty much took over th

Voice actor Eric Bauza, who took over many of Mel Blanc’s characters, died of heart disease on Oct. 25. He was 46. Bauza started his career as as an intern at Spümcø, taking over Stimpy’s voice from Billy West. He eventually went on to voice Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety, Marvin the Martian, and Woody Woodpecker, working in more than 400 movies, TV shows, and video games. Among the more notable were Coyote v. Acme, Surly Squirrel, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Sque

“Pretty Perky Peggy King,” a big band singer and sometimes actress, died on Oct. 25 in Wynnewood, PA (hey, right next to my home town!). She was 96. King began singing on the radio, and soon was snapped up by several bands: Charlie Spivak, Ralph Flanagan, and Ray Anthony. She was a regular on George Gobel’s and Mitch Miller’s TV shows, recorded several albums, and appeared on just about every TV variety show of the 1950s. King sang in the films Torch Song, The Bad and the Bea

Michael Gray, a 1970s TV teen idol, died on Oct. 16. H was 75. The Chicago native had small roles in Marcus Welby, M.D., Room 222, The Flying Nun, The Brady Bunch, and the TV-movie Bobby Jo and the Big Apple Good Time Band (gawd what a 1972 title!), before being cast in the series The Little People. From 1974-76, he starred as Billy Batson—the mortal version of Captain Marvel—in Shazam! (a role he poked fun at in several episodes of Archer, decades later). Gray pretty much le

The New York City Council announced on Oct. 22 that they will be banning horse-and-carriage rides in Central Park as of June 2028, spurred on by the death of a tourist last year when a carriage overturned. I have mixed feelings about this: I’ve never taken one of the carriage rides, though I’ve seen them in countless films and TV shows, and have walked by the stand on Central Park South a million times. I will miss the traditional elegance of them (if you ignore the smell), a

Movie and TV actor Tom Skerritt, 93, died on Oct. 21. Skerritt starred in the offbeat 1990s TV drama Picket Fences, and costarred in such films as Alien, M*A*S*H, The Turning Point, Ice Castles, The Dead Zone, Top Gun, Steel Magnolias, and A River Runs Through It. The Air Force veteran began acting in the early 1960s, and with his tall, squinty-eyed good looks, was soon a regular presence on the small and big screens: The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, My Favorite Martian, Mannix, De

Australian model and fashion designer Sahara Ray, 34, died on Oct. 18. No cause of death was revealed, but she was known to have had Guillain-Barré syndrome. Ray, a successful fashion model, founded her swimsuit company, Sahara Ray Swim, in 2014. The daughter of surfer Tony Ray, she was romantically linked with singers Justin Bieber, Cody Simpson, and Mod Sun; she had a baby a few months ago (she declined to name the father). “This is really hard to deal with,” she said of he

Ubiquitous character actor Richard Riehle, 78, died on Oct. 15. I remember him best from the sitcom Grounded for Life and the movie Office Space, but Riehle appeared in more than 400 (!) movies and TV shows, from 1977’s Joyride through this year’s The Cowboy Killer. It would be impossible to list all—or even most—of his credits, but some of the more notable were Of Mice and Men, The Fugitive, Jury Duty, Executive Decision, Wedding Crashers, My Two Dads, Quantum Leap, The Gold

Movie, TV and stage actress Betty McGuire, 100, died on Oct. 8. In the 1950s, she appeared on Broadway in Plain and Fancy, Happy Hunting, and Oh, Captain!, also acting on the road in Gypsy, Oliver!, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and the disastrous Ziegfeld Follies of 1956. She had continuing roles in Growing Pains and Falcon Crest, also appearing on TV in The Doris Day Show, Phyllis, Charlie’s Angels, Lou Grant, Hill Street Blues, Moonlighting, Murphy Brow

What a terrible year for British actresses! Now it’s Georgina Cates, who died on May 6, aged 51. Cates made her name with 1995’s An Awfully Big Adventure, having previously costarred on TV’s 2point4 Children, The Bill, and other shows. Through the 1990s, Cates appeared in the films Frankie Starlight, Illuminata, A Soldier's Sweetheart, and Clay Pigeons, before taking a break from acting. More recently, she was in several short films as well as Sinner, The Closer, Bad Grandpa,