Sioux actress and animator Dawn Little Sky , 95, died on Oct. 24. She worked as a colorist at Disney Studios (women were rarely promoted to animator at Disney), but was mostly known as an actress. She appeared in both movies ( Gypsy, Ten Who Dared, Cimarron, Duel at Diablo, Billy Two Hats, The Apple Dumpling Gang ) and TV (The Texan, Gunsmoke, Have Gun – Will Travel, Rawhide, Daniel Boone, Lakota Woman – Siege at Wounded Knee). In later years, Little Sky was director of a cul

Identical twin singers, dancers, and actresses Alice  and Ellen Kessler , 89, died by assisted suicide in Grünwald, Germany, on Nov. 17. Born in East Germany, the two were talented singers and dancers, fleeing to the West at 18 and appearing in clubs and revues all over Europe in the 1950s and ’60s (including a five-year run at Paris’s Lido). They also toured in the US, and appeared on the variety shows of Dean Martin, Danny Kaye, and Ed Sullivan. They acted—mostly as singers

Lawyer and occasional actor Sidney Davidoff , 86, died on Nov. 16. Davidoff passed the bar in 1963, was administrative assistant to New York Mayor John Lindsay, and found himself on Nixon’s enemies list (“a first class S.O.B., wheeler-dealer and suspected bagman”). He was senior partner at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, and formed the New York Advocacy Association, a "lobbying group for lobbyists” (I will back slowly away in confusion from that one). As an actor, Davidoff app

TV writer Dan McGrath, 61, died of a stroke on Nov. 14. McGrath wrote 50 episodes of The Simpsons  (including “Mr. Plow,” “Marge vs. the Monorail,” “Lady Bouvier’s Lover,” and “Itchy & Scratchy Land”), 24 Saturday Night Live s, and 11 King of the Hill s. He was also a Harvard Lampoon  writer who graduated to Saturday Night Live  (two Emmy nominations), and wrote for The PJs, Sammy , and Mission Hill . McGrath won an Emmy for the Simpsons  episode “Homer’s Phobia,” which was g

Alt-country singer/songwriter Todd Snider , 59, died of pneumonia on Nov. 14. He recently cancelled a tour after being “violently assaulted,” and was arrested after getting aggressive with police after being released from the hospital. Snider called himself a folk singer, with a gravelly voice and good guitar skills; he began touring and recording in the ’90s, and was a hit on the alt-country scene. His singles included "Talkin' Seattle Grunge Rock Blues,” "Trouble," "This La

Tony-winning actress Elizabeth Franz , 84, died on Nov. 4. She started out in rep theater, and by the late ’60s was appearing on Broadway in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead . She won a Tony for the 1999 revival of Death of a Salesman , also appearing in The Cherry Orchard, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound, The Cemetery Club, Uncle Vanya, Morning’s at Seven , and The Miracle Worker , in addition to many Off-Broadway shows, and a turn in Buried Child  on the West En

Actor turned producer Ted Hartley , 100, died on Oct. 10. A U.S. Naval Academy grad, he was a jet-fighter pilot who had to retire after a 1964 crash. He turned to acting shortly thereafter, appearing in such movies and TV shows as High Plains Drifter, Peyton Place, Walk Don’t Run, Barefoot in the Park, Ice Station Zebra, The FBI, Mannix, Chopper One  (he costarred in the 1970s helicopter-cop series), Caddyshack II , and, most recently, 2012’s A Late Quartet . He and his wife

Cleto Escobedo, III , sax player and bandleader for Jimmy Kimmel Live!,  died on Nov. 11. He was 59. Escobedo and Kimmel had been childhood friends in Las Vegas, and Cleto and the Cletones played on Jimmy Kimmel Live!  since its debut in 2003. The son of musician Cleto Escobedo, Jr., Cleto III toured with Paula Abdul and several other artists, and joined Kimmel’s show with his father’s band, which he inherited. Escobedo joined a 2017 suit trying to get musicians compensated f

“ What Ever Became Of …?” author Richard Lamparski , 93, died on Nov. 11. His books—11 of them, published between 1967-89, are treasure troves of interviews with not only old movie stars, but sports, political, and arts figures. I hold Vol. 1 in my dainty little hands now, and the subjects include Adele Astaire, Gertrude Ederle, Jesse Owens, and Patsy Kelly. He touched history in a way we all wish we could, and he shared it with us. He also wrote the more recent books Hollywo

Japanese actor Tatsuya Nakadai  ( Ran, Harakiri, The Human Condition ), 92, died on Nov. 8. Born in Tokyo, he was a huge stage star before entering films, appearing in nearly 200 between 1954-2020. His most famous in the US were Akira Kurosawa’s 1985 medieval drama Ran , and Masaki Kobayashi’s The Human Condition  trilogy ( No Greater Love ,  Road to Eternity , and  A Soldier’s Prayer); Nakadai eventually appeared in 11 of Kobayashi’s films. “There's just something about bein

Offbeat actress Sally Kirkand ("the Sylvia Miles of Karen Blacks"), 84, died on Nov. 11. The daughter of a Vogue  fashion editor, Kirkland began acting Off-Broadway; she hung out at Andy Warhol’s Factory, and appeared in several of his “films.” She worked steadily, but mostly in small roles—she had small or supporting roles in Going Home , The Way We Were , The Sting , Big Bad Mama , Crazy Mama , A Star Is Born , and Private Benjamin . It wasn’t till the’80s that Kirkland be

Porn star Jeanna Fine , 61, died on Nov. 10, according to the XBIZ website. Fine made her debut in 1986, and through the early 2000s appeared in hundreds of films, becoming one of the industry’s top, and most-awarded, stars. Her resume includes (I swear I am not making any of these up) Abducted by the Enema Bandit, All Anal on the Western Front, Around the World in 80 Gays, Edward Penishands, Generally Horny Hospital, Lust Tango in Paris, Moonlusting, Saturday Night Beaver, S

Stage, screen, and TV character actress Betty Harford , 97, died on Nov. 2. Harford started her career onstage with the UCLA Theater Group. She had continuing roles in The Paper Chase  (as old pal John Houseman’s secretary) and Dynasty  (as the Carringtons’ cook), and voiced Gumby’s mother, Gumba, on The Gumby Show . She also played Natalie Wood’s sister in the delightfully awful Inside Daisy Clover , and had small roles in such movies and TV shows as The Twilight Zone, The A

Jordanian-born British actor and playwright Nabil Shaban , 72, died of a brain hemorrhage on Oct. 25. Shaban was born with osteogenesis imperfect (“brittle bone syndrome”), which left him with stunted legs and lower torso. After spending most of his childhood in hospitals, Shaban studied psychology and sociology at the University of Surrey, then formed his own theater company, as no one else would cast him. He became quite a star, in London and Edinburgh, playing Hamlet , his

The Farmers’ Almanac , an entertaining annual (and calendar) containing such information as weather forecasts, planting advice, folklore, astronomy, and general advice, will cease publication as of next year. It was the oldest continuously published periodical in North America. I frequently bought their calendars, which were beautifully designed and chock-full of interesting tid-bits. The editors posted, “After more than 200 years of sharing a unique blend of weather, wit and

New Zealand director Lee Tamahori , 75, died on Nov. 7. Tamahori worked his way up as an assistant director and in TV before his first big hit, the dark Once Were Warriors (1994) brought him international fame. He went on to direct Mulholland Falls, Along Came a Spider, Die Another Day, The Devil’s Double, The Patriarch, Billions, The Convert , and an episode of The Sopranos . He became unwillingly known for his kinky private life—he and his girlfriend were into cross-dressi

Adorable, saucer-eyed British actress Pauline Collins  ( Upstairs, Downstairs, Shirley Valentine ) died on Nov. 5. She was 85. Collins was already a rising young actress ( Doctor Who, The Liver Birds ) when cast as mischievous maid Sarah on Upstairs, Downstairs (the best British series ever , and I will hear no arguments) and she stole the show. She and her husband/costar John Alderton left for an unsuccessful spin-off, Thomas and Sarah , then costarred in the delightful Wod

Glenn Clifton, 51, a singer who performed as Young Bleed , died of of a brain aneurysm, and let’s not have any wisecracks, children. The Baton Rouge native was rapping and hip-hopping from the time he really was  young. In 1995 he joined the group Concentration Camp (!), and in 1997 had his first hit with “How You Do That.” In 2010 he formed his own record company, Trap Door Entertainment. Between 1998 and 2020, Young Bleed released nine albums. “I’m the young that bleed for

Talented, versatile actress Diane Ladd , 89, died on Nov. 3. Ladd was Oscar-nominated for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore  (that’s two Flos who died this year!), Wild at Heart , and Rambling Rose . Born in Mississippi, Ladd started her career in 1950s TV and worked her way through larger parts in the ‘60s. It wasn’t till the early ‘70s—after 20 years—that she broke through with roles in Chinatown, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Bluegrass, A Kiss before Dying, The Cemetery C

Singer Donna Jean Godchaux (The Grateful Dead) died on Nov. 3. She was 78. Godchaux was a backup singer (with a strong mezzo-soprano voice) for such artists as Percy Sledge (“When a Man Loves a Woman”), Elvis Presley (“Suspicious Minds,” “In the Ghetto”), Boz Scaggs, Duane Allman, Cher, Neil Diamond, and others; she sang with The Grateful Dead from 1972-79, and with the Jerry Garcia Band, the Heart of Gold Band, and her own Donna Jean Godchaux Band. She was married (from 197