Comedian and actor John Mulrooney , 67, died on Dec. 29. The Brooklyn-born Mulrooney started his career as a radio announcer and host, and beginning in the late 1970s was showing up at Comic Strip Live, the Improv, the Laugh Factory, and Dangerfield’s. He guest-hosted several talk shows, and briefly replaced Joan Rivers when she was fired from The Late Show . He also acted in such films and TV shows as Ryder P.I., 1st and Ten, Ellen, Midtown North, The Good Life, Hardball , a

British-born Australian actor Tim Robertson , 81, will die tomorrow (well, the obit notices say he died on Jan. 2, which it already is  in Australia!). Born in Essex, he moved to Australia in 1952, where he taught acting, and directed several shows. Robertson began appearing on TV and in movies in the 1970s, starring in 1976 mini-series Power Without Glory , and Peter Weir’s horror/comedy film The Cars That Ate Paris . His other notable vehicles included the sketch-comedy ser

Australian actress Candy Raymond , 75, died on Jan. 1 in Sydney. Raymond played small roles in films and TV till getting her big break in 1973, in the soap Number 96 , which involved some shocking onscreen nudity on her part. She also had continuing roles in Class of ’74 , the sketch-comedy show The Norman Gunston Show, Prisoner , and Cornflakes for Tea . Her films included Alvin Rides Again, Don's Party, The Getting of Wisdom, Money Movers, The Journalist, Freedom , and Monk

Dancer, choreographer, and actress Carmen de Lavallade , 94, died on Dec. 29. A cousin of ballet dancer Janet Collins, de Lavallade grew up in L.A., and danced with Lester Horton’s and Alvin Ailey’s companies. De Lavallade appeared on Broadway in Hot Spot  (Judy Holliday’s last, doomed show), House of Flowers , and A Streetcar Named Desire , and in numerous Off-Broadway shows. She also acted and/or danced in such movies and TV shows as Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and

Fashion designer and socialite Jacqueline, Comtesse de Ribes , died on Dec. 30. She was 96. Born in Paris to the Comte de Beaumont, she married Édouard, Comte de Ribes, in 1948. She designed clothing beginning in the 1950s, and soon both show-biz royalty and real royalty were her customers (de Ribes signed an exclusive contract with Saks in 1985). She also produced French TV shows, and was manager at the International Ballet of the Marquis de Cuevas, and supported several mus

Actor Isiah Whitlock, Jr.,  who played Senator Davis in The Wire , died “after a short illness” on Dec. 30. He was 71. Whitlock made his debut in 1981 and was continually busy thereafter. He appeared in the Spike Lee films She’s Gotta Have It, Red Hook Summer , She Hate Me, Chi-Rag,  and Da 5 Bloods , as well as the films Goodfellas , Pieces of April , 1408 , Enchanted , Cedar Rapids , Pete’s Dragon , Cars 3,  and The Old Man & the Gun , and on TV in The Good Cop , Veep , Cha

“Artist” Cecilia Giménez , 94, creator of Monkey Jesus, died on Dec. 29. The church volunteer in Borja, Spain, became (in)famous in 2012 when she “restored” a deteriorating 1930 fresco of Jesus (titled Ecce Homo , painted by Elías García Martínez). The result was a fall-down-laughing funny monkey-like painting, which first brought fury and insults, but which quickly became a beloved tourist attraction. "The priest knew it. I've never tried to do anything hidden,” Giménez defe

Melanie Watson , who played Kathy on four episodes of Diff’rent Strokes , died on Dec. 26. She was 57. Watson was born with osteogenesis imperfect, resulting in dwarfism and brittle bones. Diff’rent Strokes  was her only acting role (she played a wheelchair-bound friend of star Gary Coleman, who himself was only 4’ 8”). Watson was the founder and executive director of Train Rite, an organization that trains shelter dogs to serve the disabled.

It never fails—some major celeb always dies at the very end of the year, just in time to screw up the year-end issues and make TCM scramble. This year it’s pouty, tousle-haired French sex kitten Brigitte Bardot , 91, who died on Dec. 28. Promoted by first husband Roger Vadim, she became a star in such films as Le Trou Normand, The Girl in the Bikini, Helen of Troy, Babette Goes to War , and most successfully,  . . . And God Created Woman . Through the 1960s, she appeared in s

Annette , the last of the famous Dionne Quintuplets , died on Dec. 24. She was 91. Born in Canada into a world fraught with the Depression and fascism, the girls (rare surviving quintuplets) became a worldwide craze, and were made wards of the state as a tourism hook, so they could live like little queens. Like queens, though, they lived a regimented life in the glare of publicity, gaped at like zoo animals (the Dionnes had eight other children—I’d like to have heard their s

Marilyn Granas , who was a stand-in for Shirley Temple in several 1930s films, died on Oct. 21. She was 97. Granas was Temple’s stand-in for Baby, Take a Bow, Bright Eyes , Now and Forever , Curly Top , and The Little Colonel . She also acted in Glad Rags to Riches, Kid in Hollywood, The Kid’s Last Fight , and—in 1947— Escape Episode  (directed by the perfectly dreadful Kenneth Anger). In later years, Granas went to UCLA, and worked her way up at CBS and NBC, finally working

Perry Bamonte —guitarist and keyboardist for The Cure—died on Dec. 26. He was 65. The wild-haired Bamonte was born in London and began his career as a roadie for The Cure and Depeche Mode; he joined The Cure in 1990, and stayed with them through four albums, leaving in 2005 (and rejoining the group in 2022). Between gigs, Bamonte worked as an illustrator. Bamonte showed himself a real gentleman after he was kicked out of The Cure in 2005 and replaced with former band member P

Punk filmmaker Amos Poe , 76, died of cancer on Dec. 25. Poe was also called a “No Wave” and “Remodernist” filmmaker, and if you can explain what those mean, I will have you over for tea. Born in Israel, Poe made both concert films and linear stories. His 1976 The Blank Generation  featured Richard Hell, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, and Wayne County; other films he wrote and/or directed included Unmade Beds, The Foreigner, Subway Riders, Alphabet City, Just an American Boy , a

Russian actress Vera Alentova , 83, died on Dec. 25. She was best-known for her starring role in the 1980 film Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears , which won a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Born to show people, Alentova attended the Moscow Art Theater School and acted with the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theater. She married director Vladimir Menshov (who helmed Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears ). Between 1966 and 2023, Alentova appeared in more than 30 movies and TV series (she c

Imani Dia Smith , 26, who played young Nala in The Lion King on Broadway, died on Dec. 21. She was stabbed to death in Edison, NJ, and her boyfriend was arrested and charged in her death. Smith was the daughter of a stage, television, and film hairdresser; The Lion King seems to have been her only acting credit. Her family posted that "Imani had her whole life ahead of her. She was a vivacious, loving and fiercely talented person,” and that her acting “reflected the joy, cr

Ubiquitous sitcom actor Pat Finn , 60, died of cancer on Dec. 23. Finn was a college friend of Chris Farley’s, and joined the improv groups The Second City, Olympic Theater, and Beer Shark Mice. He later taught improv, and formed Improv-Ability, “a company that brings the principles of improvisation into the business world” (me, I agree with Marlene Dietrich that improv is “amateur stuff—you get the scwipt, and you learn the lines”). From the 1990s through this year, Finn was

British singer/songwriter Chris Rea , 74, died on Dec. 22, after years of ill health (Cancer! Stroke! Diabetes!). I was going to call him a “rock star,” but he hated that term: “None of my heroes were rock stars,” he said. “I arrived in Hollywood for the Grammy Awards once and thought I was going to bump into people who mattered, like Ry Cooder or Randy Newman. But I was surrounded by pop stars.” His only big hit in the US was "Fool (If You Think It's Over),” but in England h

Character actress Helen Siff , 88, died on Dec. 18. Since the 1980s, Siff had been ubiquitous on TV, in movies, and commercials (sometimes with her twin sister, Carol). Her family posted, “Those who worked with Helen knew her not just as a talented performer, but as someone who brought professionalism, dedication and genuine kindness to every set. She understood that every role, no matter how large or small, was an opportunity to contribute something meaningful to the story b

I hear from my friend Trav S.D. ( travsd.wordpress.com ) that actress and preservationist Melanie Winter died of lung cancer on Oct. 21. She appeared in the original Broadway production of A Chorus Line  (and in the disappointing movie version); toured with Jerry Lewis in what must have been a hellish revival of Hellzapoppin’ , and was seen in the films Gold of the Amazon Women, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas , and New Year’s Day . But she was best known as a preservatio

Actor James Ransone , 46, died by suicide on Dec. 19. He was best known for playing Ziggy Sobotka in The Wire , Cpl. Josh Ray Person in Generation Kill , the Deputy in Sinister  and Sinister 2 , Chester in Tangerine , Eddie Kaspbrak in It Chapter Two , and Max in The Black Phone . He was born and raised in Baltimore and said that “Baltimore breeds a really specific type of weirdo” (I lived in Baltimore in the ’70s, and he wasn’t kidding—John Waters made documentaries ). Ranso