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

The body of Canadian actor Stewart McLean, 45, was found in Lions Bay, near Vancouver, on May 23. He’d gone missing a week earlier, and is believed to have been murdered. A native of Edmonton, McLean costarred in the TV series Cloud Van Tales, also appearing in such movies and TV shows as Arrow, Supernatural, The Arrangement, Travelers, Beyond, Blue Steele, The 100, Loudermilk, Daughter of the Wolf, HollyNorth, The Killer Inside: The Ruth Finley Story, and, most recently, thi

In another sign of the devolution of news, radio, and CBS, the end of CBS News Radio was announced on May 22. CBS served some 700 nationwide affiliates, and simulcast such CBS shows as Face the Nation, 60 Minutes, and the CBS Evening News. The Writers Guild of America East slammed CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski, saying that they “broke its trust with its employees and its audience in a single reckless and shortsighted decision. This closure er

Big, burly actor Grizz Chapman—who played Tracy Morgan’s bodyguard Grizz on 30 Rock—died on May 22. He was 52; no cause of death has been announced, though he had suffered from kidney disease since 2010. He was working as a strip-club bouncer when befriended by Morgan, who cast him in 30 Rock in 2006 (he appeared in 80 episodes, along with fellow bodyguard “Dot Com,” played by Kevin Brown). He went on to play small roles in the movies Life of the Party, Home, Are You Joking?,

TV and theater writer Jeffrey Lane, 71, died on May 20. Lane was Tony-nominated for his Broadway shows Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and he wrote and/or produced such TV shows as Mad About You, Ryan's Hope, Lou Grant, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, and Bette Midler’s disastrous sitcom Bette. Of this last show, Lane admitted, “It was frustrating. We went into it with the best intentions. No matter how hard we tried, we just couldn't

Trinidad-born British actress Jacqueline “Jacqui” Chan, 91, died on May 19. Of Chinese and Russian descent, she moved to London at 16 and trained as a dancer. Chan played on the West End in Teahouse of the August Moon, The King and I, and The World of Suzie Wong (she starred in that, though in the film version was given a small supporting role—she also had a small role in the over-stuffed 1963 Cleopatra). Chan kept busy on TV through the early 2020s, in Reilly: Ace of Spies,

British TV actor Michael Keating, 79, has died, his family announced on May 21. Keating was best known for playing Vila Restal in Blake's 7, and Reverend Stevens in EastEnders. He made a handful of film appearances, but was busiest on TV: Dr. Who, Omnibus, Yes Minister, The Bill, Casualty, and Midsomer Murders, among many others. Of his TV work, Keating said that “'It's like with hiking, an actor can only use the script as a route map, you can only really be as good as the sc

Inventor Greg Hyman, who unleashed the creepy, annoying Tickle Me Elmo doll upon an unsuspecting populace, died on May 1. He was 78. A science buff and inventor from his early years, Hyman dropped out of Cornell to pursue his work, which included a hovering bumper car, an anti-siphoning device for cars, and dolls that drank milk and had audible heartbeats (racheting up the creepiness early). Elmo started out as Tickles the Chimp, a laughing monkey toy (I didn’t want to sleep

Italian actor George Eastman, 83, died in Rome on May 20. Born Luigi Montefiori, he changed his name for US credits (do you have any idea how hard it is to find a photo of an actor named “George Eastman?”). he starred as the villain in Joe D'Amato’s Antropophagus, also appearing in and writing scripts for D’Amato’s Cormack of the Mounties, Erotic Nights of the Living Dead, Porno Holocaust, and Absurd. Starting his career as an advertising artist, Eastman entered films in 1970

Pabst Brewing Company announced the end of the line for the 177-year-old Schlitz Beer, “the beer that made Milwaukee famous.” The beer company was started by August Krug in 1849, but bought out by Joseph Schlitz in 1858 when he married Krug's widow (!). Schlitz weathered Prohibition—barely—by switching to candy production, and fought with rival Anheuser-Busch as the country’s most popular beer by the mid-20th century. I am the original “Papa, what is beer?” girl—I have never

Voice actor Tom Kane, 64, died of a stroke on May 18. I know him from his work on the delightful Powerpuff Girls, in which he played the heroic Prof. Utonium and the villainous HIM. Kane also provided voices on a whole lotta stuff I have never seen: Star Wars: The Clone Wars 9, Wolverine and the X-Men, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Kim Possible, The Angry Beavers, and The Wild Thornberrys. Oh w

Actress Ann Robinson, 96, died on Sept. 26 of last year, her family finally announced; Robinson was the female lead in 1953’s The War of the Worlds. She started her career in 1949 as a stunt double and extra; The War of the Worlds was her first major role. She never had as good a showcase, but kept working steadily in films and on TV through the mid-60s (Racket Squad, Bad for Each Other, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Dragnet, The Millionaire, Gun Duel in Durango, Perry Mason, Al

Everyone is going nertz about Marilyn Monroe’s upcoming centennial, but being Queen of the Dead, I am nodding toward all the high-profile deaths that happened in 1926. The most famous, of course, is Rudolph Valentino (there better be a clutch of Ladies in Black at his grave this year!). Among the others who popped their clogs (as my British friends would say) were performers Barbara La Marr, Annie Oakley, Zip the Pinhead, Harry Houdini, Billy Quirk, Alva Garbo (Greta’s actres

British film and TV actress Jill Curzon, 87, died in April, her family has announced. Curzon costarred in the 1966 movie Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., also appearing in such films as Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow, Smokescreen, and The Intelligence Men. On TV—both in the UK and US—she was seen in Hugh and I, The Saint, The World of Wooster, Adam Adamant Lives!, The Dick Emery Show, and It Takes a Thief. Pete Sims, who coauthored Curzon’s memoirs, said, “She was just a joy t

Former child actor Dennis Rush, 74, has died of leukemia, his family announced on May 14. Rush appeared in the films Man of a Thousand Faces (as James Cagney’s son), No Name on the Bullet, and Follow Me, Boys!, but he was much busier on TV. He had recurring roles on The Andy Griffith Show, as one of Opie’s pals (Rush recalled, “I got to be in eight episodes over about a two-and-a-half year period. It was just the best of the best”), and on Laramie and Wagon Train; he also did