Singer Guy Hovis , 84, died on Jan. 22. Hovis (and no, I don’t think he was related to Larry Hovis) was born and raised in Mississippi, and got his first break on Art Linkletter’s House Party  show, in 1967. He went on to become a regular on The Lawrence Welk Show , and appeared on such talk and game shows as Tattletales, The Mike Douglas Show , and Beat the Clock , as well as numerous Lawrence Welk specials and reunions. He often performed with his first wife, Ralna English.

Italian actor Carlo Cecchi , 86, died on Jan. 23. Cecchi was well known as a stage actor and director, especially in Florence. From the 1960s through the 2010s, he also appeared in numerous films and TV shows, including some that were seen in the US: Le Mans, Stealing Beauty, The Red Violin, Silk, Martin Eden, Death of a Neapolitan Mathematician, Honey . Cecchi stayed active onstage, and was last seen in 2025 in The Legend of the Holy Drinker , by Joseph Roth.

New Jersey TV personality Floyd Vivino , who hosted The Uncle Floyd Show  (1974–98), died on Jan. 22. He was 74. Vivino was the brother of musicians Jerry and Jimmy Vivino (who played with Conan O’Brien’s house band) and actress Donna Vivino. Uncle Floyd  was one of those “kids like it, but there’s grown-up stuff in there, too” shows, on various broadcast and cable TV networks, proving very popular (when I was growing up in Phila., the kid’s shows Sally Starr, Gene London an

Busy TV director Bruce Bilson , 97, died on Jan. 16. Starting as assistant director on The Andy Griffith Show , he went on to helm episodes of Life with Lucy, Get Smart (for which he won an Emmy), The Patty Duke Show, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, Gidget, That Girl, Bewitched, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Sanford and Son, Hogan’s Heroes, The Brady Bunch, The Doris Day Show, The Odd Couple, Love American Style, B.J. and the Bear, Barney Miller, The Fall Guy, Hotel, Dallas , and

Scottish actor Donald Douglas , 92, died on Jan. 14. He played Mr. Darcy’s father in the Bridget Jones  films, costarred in the TV series Rob Roy, Moonstrike, The Newcomers, Middlemarch, War & Peace , the 1970s Poldark (as Capt. McNeil), Couples, Jackanory (as the storyteller), and Take the High Road , and appeared in countless other movies and TV shows. Onstage, he costarred with Diana Rigg on the West End and Broadway in Medea , and played in regional theaters around the

Australian actress Patsy King , who played prison governor Erica Davidson on TV’s Prisoner: Cell Block H , died on Jan. 19. She was 95. King was also a mainstay onstage, appearing in such plays as Victoria Regina , The Miser , Blithe Spirit , Absurd Person Singular , Half a Sixpence , Love Letters , The   Four Poster , and just about everything that Shakespeare ever wrote. Besides her five-year run in Prisoner , King costarred in such series as Homicide, The Box, and the soap

Italian fashion designer Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani , 93, died in Rome on Jan. 19. Known for his elegant (if sometimes glitzy) gowns, he was named after Rudolph Valentino, and started his career as a sketch artist and designer for several houses. He opened his own house in 1959, and dressed such fashion icons as Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Vreeland, Jacqueline Kennedy, Jacqueline de Ribes, and Babe Paley. He and his partner (business and romantic) Giancarlo Giammetti ra

Animation director Roger Allers , 76, died on Jan. 17. Allers directed (or co-directed) the animated films The Lion King, Open Season, The Prophet , and The Little Matchgirl . Allers started his career doing background, character design and animation for Dirty Duck, Rock & Rule, The Mind’s Eye , and 1989’s Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland . He worked his way up at Disney as storyboard artist on The Little Mermaid , The Prince and the Pauper , The Rescuers Down Under , a

Former actress Kianna Underwood , 33, was struck by as many as three cars and dragged for several blocks while crossing a street in Brooklyn on Jan. 16. No arrests have yet been made. Underwood is best known for playing Fuchsia on Nickelodeon’s series Little Bill  (1999-2004). She also appeared in The 24-Hour Woman, Santa Baby!, and on the sketch-comedy show All That . Onstage, she toured as Little Inez in Hairspray . Underwood left the show business around 2005 and pretty m

Brazilian actress and model Vera Valdez , 89, died on Jan. 14. Born in Rio de Janeiro, she became a top model in Paris in the 1950s, walking the runways for Schiaparelli, Dior, and that Nazi whore Coco Chanel. She returned to Brazil, where she worked as a costume designer for Louis Malle, acted onstage (primarily with the Teatro Oficina), and appeared in such films as Sol Alegra, Quebranto, The Grandmother , and Tia Virgínia  (her last film, in 2023). According to Publico , V

British teen actress Vera Frances , 95, died on Jan. 7. The daughter of a prop and special effects man for Gainsborough Pictures, she made her debut at 12 in comic Arthur Askey’s 1942 film Back-Room Boy . Frances became a favorite of Askey’s, touring with him in stage shows and appearing in his film King Arthur Was a Gentleman  (also 1942). Vera was also seen with George Formby in Get Cracking  (probably the only leading lady the formidable Mrs. Formby wasn’t jealous of), and

Yet another British actor gone: Marcus Gilbert , 67, died of cancer on Jan. 11. Gilbert was a founder member of the Odyssey Theatre Company, which toured schools throughout London. He also acted with the Dundee Repertory Theatre and the Library Theatre, in Manchester. He ran the company, Touch the Sky Productions, and was seen in many commercials, most notably for Lee Jeans. The tall, handsome actor appeared in such films and TV shows as Dr. Who, Biggles: Adventures in Time,

Successful but controversial cartoonist Scott Adams  ( Dilbert ) died of cancer on Jan. 13. He was 68. While working as an office drone, Adams created Dilbert  in 1989—the strip was a smart, funny look at the horrors of office work, which most of us could identify with. The strip was carried by some 800 newspapers, released in collection form, and inspired a terrible TV show. He wrote several books, including the best-selling Dilbert Principle , and hosted the online talk sho

Lots of British people dying lately! Today it’s comic actress and singer Sheila Bernette , who died on Jan. 12, age 94. Bernette was a regular on the comedy/sketch shows The Black and White Minstrel Show  (which ran till 1978 and was just as horrifying as you think it was), The Saturday Crowd , the British version of Candid Camera  (never liked that show, it just struck me as mean), and The Good Old Days ; she also had continuing roles in the shows Coronation Street  and Hote

British actor Trevor a Toussaint (sometimes billed as Trevor A. Toussaint ) died on Jan. 11. He was 65. He costarred in the soap Hollyoaks , as the father of two of the leading characters, appearing on the show from 2018-22. Toussaint was also seen in such films and TV shows as Death in Paradise, Nine Nights, Sulfur and White , and Dreaming Whilst Black . His Hollyoaks costar Kéllé Bryan wrote that “He wore his waist-length dreads with pride for over 10 year’s fighting again

Erich von Däniken , author of the chuckle-headed best-seller Chariots of the Gods?,  died on Jan. 10. He was 90. The Swiss-born von Däniken wrote Chariots of the Gods?  while working as a hotel manager in Davos (he served a year in jail for embezzling from the hotel, and wrote his second book, Gods from Outer Space , while in stir). Chariots was rewritten by a former Nazi author, and became a surprise hit amongst the nincompoop crowd. Von Däniken claimed that ancient peoples

British stuntman turned actor Derek Martin , 92, died on Jan. 10. Martin is best known for playing patriarch Charley Slater on EastEnders , till he was axed in 2016, in an attempt to bring more youth to the show (“youthanizing it?”). Born in London and possessing a marketable cockney accent, Martin worked as a stuntman till a broken collarbone convinced him to seque into acting. He appeared in over 100 movies and TV shows, including recurring roles in It’s Square World, Adam

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Bob Weir —a founder of The Grateful Dead—died on Jan. 10. He was 78. He met Jerry Garcia in 1963, and they formed the Dead two years later, along with Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. How to describe the band? Not being a Deadhead, I will leave that to whomever wrote their Wikipedia entry: “Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, and world

Actor Thomas Kent (“T.K.”) Carter , 69, died at his Calif. home on Jan. 9. Carter had good (mostly comic) supporting roles in The Thing, Good Times, Corvette Summer, The Jeffersons, Seems Like Old Times, Southern Comfort, Dr. Detroit, Runaway Train, Amazon Women on the Moon, A Rage in Harlem, Moesha , and The Nanny ; he also had continuing roles on TV’s Punky Brewster, Just Our Luck, Jem, Good Morning Miss Bliss, The Sinbad Show, The Corner, Dave, and The Company You Keep . C

British actress turned director Tina Packer , 87, has died, her family announced on Jan. 10. Packer began her career as an actress, most famously costarring in the 1966 mini-series David Copperfield  (she was Dora to Ian McKellen’s David). She was also seen in films and on TV in Dr. Who, The Avengers, No Hiding Place, Boy Meets Girl, Crime of Passion , and a handful of other vehicles. But she left acting for directing in the 1970s, moving to the US and forming Shakespeare & C