Actor James Van Der Beek (best known for the prime-time soap Dawson’s Creek ) died on Feb. 11 after a long battle with cancer. He was 48. The tall, blond and handsome Van Der Beek was already appearing Off-Broadway in his teens; he was a rising young star (notably in Varsity Blues ) when cast as Dawson Leery in the 1998-2003 teen soap Dawson’s Creek . His career leveled off thereafter, but he continued to appear in such movies and TV shows as Texas Rangers , The Rules of Att

Actor Bud Cort , best known for Harold and Maude , died on Feb. 11 after a long illness. He was 77. Cort was acting in a revue when discovered by Robert Altman and cast in supporting roles in M*A*S*H  and Brewster McCloud . In Harold and Maude  (1971), the 23-year-old Cort played teenager obsessed with suicide, who falls in love with the elderly Maude (Ruth Gordon, for whom I have a very low tolerance). Despite being sidelined by a 1979 auto accident, Cort continued acting, i

I know this is an entertainment obits site, but if you think I can ignore a name like King T. Leatherbury , then you are laboring under a misapprehension. Leatherbury—who died on Feb. 10, age 92—was a thoroughbred racehorse trainer who ranks fifth all-time in wins among U.S. trainers. Among his most successful horses were Ah Day, Ben's Cat, I Am The Game, Thirty Eight Paces, Catatonic, Taking Risks, and Malibu Moonshine (cue Spike Jones jokes about “Toothpaste being squeezed

Former child actor Blake Garrett , 33, died on Feb. 8. He had been recently diagnosed with shingles and his mother suspected he had over-medicated from the pain, but no definite cause has yet been determined. Garrett started performing in local (Texas) theater, appearing in Aladdin and his Magical Lamp, The Wizard of Oz, Annie , and Grease . His big break came with the 2006 movie How to Eat Fried Worms , as one of the ensemble of kids. Worms  seems to have been his last scree

Actress Peggy Steffans —who starred in films by her porn-meister husband, Joseph Sarno—died on Feb. 6. She was 87. Steffans studied at RADA in London, but almost immediately on her return to the US, Steffans (sometimes billed as Cleo Nova) took up with the much-older, already married Sarno (they wed in 1967 and were together till his death in 2010). In the late ’60s she apprared in his movies (I can hear Neely O’Hara crowing, “Nudies—that’s what they are— nudies! ”), as The S

Actress Camilla Carr , 83, died on Feb. 4. The Texas-born actress appeared in such enjoyably low-rent fare as A Bullet for Pretty Boy  (her 1970 debut), Don’t Look in the Basement, Scum of the Earth , and Keep My Grave Open . She was also seen on TV in Designing Women (as a homophobic bitch), One Day at a Time , and Falcon Crest ; in later years she kept busy in the local Texas theater scene. Carr also wrote the comic novel Topsy Turvy Dingo Dog . She was married to actor Hu

Character actor Charles C. Stevenson, Jr.,  (“Smitty” on Will & Grace ) 95, died on Jan. 19. Stevenson served in the Korean war and studied at UC Berkeley before going into “civilian” jobs. He didn’t start acting professionally until the 1980s. He appeared in more than 100 TV shows and movies: his son Scott wrote that “In his own words, his job was ‘marrying or burying people. As he told it, the panic-stricken director would invariably come to him to beg him to find a way to

Singer LaMonte McLemore , of The Fifth Dimension, died on Feb. 3. He was 90. McLemore was the thin, matinee-idol-looking singer with group; he started his career as a successful photographer, working for Harper's Bazaar , Jet , and Ebony ; it was while shooting singers Marilyn McCoo and Florence LaRue that The Fifth Dimension was formed. The group enjoyed such late-60s/early-70s hits as “Up, Up and Away,” “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In,” “Wedding Bell Blues,” “Stoned Soul Picn

Actress Christa Lang , 82, died on Jan. 30 at her Los Angeles home. Born in Germany, she moved to France and was soon acting in such films as Alphaville, Circle of Love, Le Scandal e, and Code Name: Tiger . In the US, Lang had small or supporting roles in Peter Bogdanovich’s What’s Up, Doc?, At Long Last Love , and Nickelodeon . In 1967 Lang married director Samuel Fuller (he died in 1997; their daughter Samantha Fuller is an actress). She continued to work sporadically, most

Nigerian singer Ifunanya Nwangene , 26, died on Jan. 29, when she was bitten by a snake while sleeping in her Abuja apartment. She was rushed to the hospital, but doctors could not find the right antivenin to save her (a cobra  was later found in her apartment!). Nwangene sang as NANYAH on her YouTube channel, was a member of the AMEMUSO choir, and had just recently appeared on the Nigerian version of The Voice .   Ifunanya Nwangene singing “Right Now” https://www.youtube.com

Three Dog Night founder Chuck Negron , 83, died on Feb. 2. The native New Yorker was a street singer when Danny Hutton invited Negron and Cory Wells to found Three Dog Night in 1967. Through the’70s, Negron was the lead singer on such hits as "One,” "Easy to Be Hard,” "Joy to the World,” "An Old Fashioned Love Song,” "Pieces of April,” "The Show Must Go On,” and "Til the World Ends.” After the band broke up in 1976, Negron suffered through a drug phase, finally getting clean

Actress Elyse Donalson , 78, died on Jan. 28. The Texas native began acting in L.A. in the early ’80s, and was seen in small roles in the movie Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers , and in such TV shows as St. Elsewhere , The X-Files , Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Chicago Hope , The Practice  and Beverly Hills, 90210 . Donalson was last seen onscreen in 2004.

Film and theater writer Harry Haun , 85, died on Feb. 2. Haun wrote for Playbill  (he had “On the Aisle” and “Theatregoer’s Notebook” columns), the New York Daily News , the New York Observer , the Village Voice , and the New York Sun , among other publications; he also wrote The Movie Quote Book and The Cinematic Century: An Intimate Diary of America’s Affair with the Movies . Haun told interviewer Suzanna Bowling, “What I’ve done I have loved. I have gone to Broadway and Of

Here I am still in mourning over Campbell’s green pea soup, when Coca-Cola (which owns Minute Maid ) announces that they are discontinuing their frozen lemonade, limeaid, orange juice, pink lemonade, and raspberry lemonade in both the US and Canada. "We are discontinuing our frozen products and exiting the frozen can category,” the Juice Lady announced. “With the juice category growing strongly, we're focusing on products that better match what our consumers want." I suppose

Israeli actress and dancer Tal Berkovich , 41, died in a car accident on Jan. 29 (she and her brother were en route to their mother’s birthday—her brother is in cirtitcal condition). Berkovich began her career as a dancer, in the Israeli ballet and the Bat-Dor Dance Company, then moved to London and L.A., where she appeared in such TV shows and movies as Payday, Widows, Sprout, Don’t Forget Me, Perfect , and DisGraced . Her most recent product was in the cooking show Game of

Producer and director Woody King, Jr ., 88, died on Jan. 29. Known as “the Renaissance Man of Black Theater,” King was the founding director of the New Federal Theater in New York, which (since 1970), showcased black playwrights and performers. King wrote theater criticism and opened the Concept-East Theater in Detroit, moving to New York in the 1960s. In addition to the New Federal Theater, he also founded the The National Black Touring Circuit. Last year, King to interviewe

Demond Wilson , who played Redd Foxx’s long-suffering son Lamont on Sanford and Son , died on Jan. 30. He was 79. Wilson started his career as a child actor onstage, and served in the 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam. He was a rising young actor ( Mission: Impossible , All in the Family , The Organization ) when cast in Sanford and Son . The big, handsome Wilson, with his impressive ‘70s pornstache, played straight man to such comic greats as Foxx (who called him “Dummy,” at

Delightful comic actress Catherine O’Hara , 71, died on Jan. 30. O’Hara first came to fame on the sketch-comedy show SCTV , in the 1970s. She went on to deliver fey, hilarious performances in such movies as After Hours, Beetlejuice, Betsy’s Wedding, Home Alone, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show , and For Your Consideration (I cannot stand those improv films), and in the sitcom Schitt’s Creek . The Toronto-born O’Hara was the sister of singer-songwriter, actress and composer

TV chef and consumer affairs reporter Peter Napolitano , known as Produce Pete, or Pete Your Produce Pal, died on Jan. 26. He was 80. Known throughout the East Coast, Napolitano appeared for decades on WNBC and WCAU, offering friendly, chatty advice on cooking—and buying—food. He also did commercial for Pathmark, and ran his family’s farmer’s market. The New Jersey native advised, “buy produce when it’s plentiful and cheap in the supermarket because that reflects that it’s in

Blonde starlet Yvonne Lime  ( High School Hellcats, I Was a Teenage Werewolf ), 90, died on Jan. 23. Lime was spotted while acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, and began appearing on TV ( December Bride, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Dragnet, December Bride, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis ). Her first movie was the big-budget (though low-quality) The Rainmaker , but she soon found herself cast in the delightfully lurid B-films that become her legacy: the two above-nam