What is with all the British actors and actresses dying this week? The latest is Patrick Godfrey, 93, on June 4. The stage, radio, screen, and TV actor appeared in such Big Period Films as The Remains of the Day, A Room with a View, Maurice, The Duchess, and The Count of Monte Cristo, as well as countless TV series and movies (among them Dr. Who, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Inspector Morse, Casualty, Foyle’s War, and Z-Cars). Samuel West, who directed Godfrey in 2003’s Les L

British actor Anthony Head, 72, died on June 5. He was best known in the US as Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Prime Minister in Little Britain, Uther Pendragon in Merlin, and Rupert Mannion in Ted Lasso; not having seen any of those, I remember him in those soap opera-esque Nescafe commercials (Sharon Maughan was his leading lady). The son of actress Helen Shingler and writer Seafield Head and brother of actor Murray Head, Anthony appeared onstage in Godspell,

TV and movie actor James Handy, 81, was found stabbed to death in Los Angeles on June 3; the son of Handy’s girlfriend was taken into custody. A native New Yorker, Handy had recurring roles in the TV series Alias, Profiler, Melrose Place, and NYPD Blue, and appeared in such films as Taps, Who Is Julia?, Burglar, Bird, K-9, Arachnophobia, The Rocketeer, Guarding Tess, Jumanji, Unbreakable, and Logan. A Vietnam War veteran (he fought with the 196th Lightning Brigade), Handy bec

British voice actress Sally Grace, 74, has died, her family announced on June 4. A great impressionist (as in Rich Little, not Claude Monet—The Guardian called her Margaret Thatcher "more terrifying than the real thing"). Grace was a regular in the radio shows Week Ending, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. She was also a regular voice on the animated shows Mr. Bean: The Animated Series (I hate Mr. Bean as much as I love Black Add

British TV actress Angela Morant, 85, has died, her family announced on June 4. The daughter of actor Philip Morant, she played Augustus’s sister Octavia in the marvelous TV version of I, Claudius, and costarred in the series Brookside. For some 50 years, she played small or supporting roles in such series and TV-movies as Dixon of Dock Green, Nana, Coronation Street, Armchair Thriller, Crown Court, Inspector Morse, and The Bill. Morant was married to actor Ben Kingsley from

Stage, screen and TV actor Robert Kya-Hill, 95, died on May 31. After serving in the Korean War, Kya-Hill attended the New York College of Music, and performed in New York clubs as a singer and guitarist. He appeared in numerous stage productions, notably as Othello, and as Purlie in Purlie Victorious (his other vehicles included Lost in the Stars, The Glass Menagerie, The Trials of Brother Jero, and The Trial; he also wrote and directed several plays). Although primarily a s

Welsh ator Owain Rhys Davies, 44, died on May 28. His family wrote that “While there are still questions that remain unanswered regarding the circumstances of his death, our understanding at this stage is that Owain passed suddenly, naturally, and peacefully.” Rhys Davies played on the West End in Mamma Mia!, The Wizard of Oz, By Jeeves, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and appeared in regional productions of The Lion King, Something Rotten, Imagine This,

Actor and playwright Andy Halliday, 73, died of Parkinson’s disease on May 5. Halliday costarred in Charles Busch's high-camp 1980s shows Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Theodora, She Bitch of Byzantium, Psycho Beach Party, Pardon My Inquisition, or, Kiss the Blood off My Castanet, and The Lady in Question, and wrote the more recent shows Nothing but Trash, Up the Rabbit Hole, and Those Musclebound Cowboys from Snakepit Gulch. He also appeared in the TV shows Law & Order, Gossip G

Theater, film, and TV actress Caitlin O’Heaney, 73, died on May 18. The Julliard grad appeared Off-Broadway in Hot House, Yentl, Gogol, and A Christmas Carol, also acting onstage in many regional theaters. She appeared in a handful of films (He Knows You're Alone, Wolfen, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, Zelig, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Three O'Clock High), but was busiest on TV. O’Heaney costarred in the 1980s series Tales of the Gold Monkey and appeared as Snow White in The

Actress Kelly Curtis, 69, died on May 30. No details are yet available on cause of death. The daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, and older sister of Jamie Lee Curtis, she costarred in the 1996 TV series The Sentinel. She made her film debut as a child in her father’s The Vikings, and later appeared in such films as Trading Places, Checkpoint, Magic Sticks, The Sect, Ex-Cop, and Mixed Blessings. She was also busy on TV, in The Renegades, The Equalizer, Hunter, Silk Stalk

Oscar-winning film editor (Star Wars) Marcia Lucas, 80, died on May 27. Lucas started her career editing promotional films and trailers, but after her marriage (from 1969-83) to director George Lucas, she began working on his films. She edited Lucas’s films THX 1138, American Graffiti, and three Star Wars films (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi); she also edited Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. She said of her working relationship

TV producer Jay Daniel, 82, died on May 27. Daniel produced such TV shows as Moonlighting (one of my favorites!), Roseanne, and Cybill. Daniel studied acting at UCLA and first set out to be a performer before turning to producing. He worked on numerous TV-movies before making his first film, Clean and Sober, with future Moonlighting creator Glenn Gordon Caron. He became famed for calming the trouble waters of many a show, even luring Cybill Shepherd back to TV for her own sit

Busy stage, screen and TV character actor Charles Cioffi, 90, died on May 22. Cioffi appeared on Broadway in King Lear, In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer, 1776, Antigone, Hamlet, and several other plays; his films included Klute (stalking Jane Fonda), Shaft, The Thief Who Came to Dinner, All the Right Moves (as Tom Cruise’s father), The Other Side of Midnight, Time After Time, Missing, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Newsies, and Used People. But he was busiest on T

French actor Pierre Deny (Emily in Paris), died of ALS on May 25. He was 69. Deny played fashion boss Louis de Léon in Emily in Paris, his only major US-released role. From the 1970s through last year, he appeared in nearly 70 French films and TV shows, and was best-known as Dr. Renaud Dumaze on the soap Demain Nous Appartient.

Comedian turned director Howard Storm, 94, died on May 24. The son of comic Jack Sobel, he started his career in burlesque, but by the 1950s was acting in movies and TV: The Untouchables, Love American Style, That Girl, Funny Face, Sanford and Son, Rhoda, American Hot Wax, Broadway Danny Rose (as himself). Like so many sitcom actors, he segued into sitcom directing (“I felt my career as a comic would not go very far. I thought I would be an opening act for a singer for the re

Award-winning theatrical and movie costume designer Albert Wolsky, 95, died on May 23. Wolsky was born in Paris, and during WWII he and his family were lucky enough to escape to New York. He began working as an assistant costume designer, and by 1964 was working on Broadway; his shows included Fiddler On the Roof, The Odd Couple, Illya Darling, The Sunshine Boys, They Knew What They Wanted, and The Heiress. Wolsky was working in films and TV by the 1960s, and eventually won O

Japanese film director and special effects/makeup artist Yoshihiro Nishimura, 59, died on May 25. While he might be somewhat unknown in the US, his film titles translate into porn-movie title wonderfulness: Blind Beast vs. Dwarf, Meatball Machine: Reject of Death, Ghost Zombie (those are the worst kind of zombies!), Tokyo Gore Police, RoboGeisha, Yazuka-Busting Girls: Final Death-Ride Battle, Psycho Gothic Lolita, Horny House of Horror, and (my favorite) Zombie Ass: Toilet of

Modern jazz great Sonny Rollins, a jazz tenor saxophonist, died on May 25. He was 95. This is a tough obit for me to write, not because I am all broken up, but because I hate modern jazz (to me, jazz died with Bix Beiderbecke). I’m sure Sonny Rollins was great at what he did and I am very happy that so many people enjoyed his work, but in the words of the New Yorker cartoon, I say it’s spinach and I say the hell with it. Anyway, for your listening pleasure, Rollins plays “In

Jools Topp, one of the New Zealand Topp Twins, died on May 23; she was 68. The twins—sister Lynda survives—described as a “folk singing and activist sister comedy duo,” started busking in their teens, interspersing their act with pleas against nuclear power, and for Māori and gay rights (both sisters were lesbians) and breast-cancer awareness (both sisters had that disease). They appeared on TV in their own specials, as well as on such shows as Rainbow Reports, Hessie’s Shed,

Movie and TV actor Peter Helm, 84, died in Los Angeles on May 21. The Toronto-born Helm was the younger brother of actress Anne Helm, and through his marriage to Brooke Bundy, the father of actress Tiffany Helm. His career lasted from the late 1950s through the early ’70s, and included small or supporting roles in both movies (Holiday for Lovers, The Longest Day, Inside Daisy Clover, The Andromeda Strain) and TV (Dr. Kildare, Tales of Wells Fargo, Naked City, Wagon Train, The