British actress Lorraine Cheshire , 65, died on Dec. 19. She costarred in the TV series Stanton Blues, Early Doors, Tittybangbang (a sketch-comedy show, not a porno!), Massive, Waterloo Road, In the Club, Trollied , and Ackley Bridge . She also appeared in the horribly-titled film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus . Cheshire didn’t start acting till she was 35, when her husband lost his job; she was already a member of the Manchester Actors Company. Cheshire recalled that “

TCM always gets right what the Oscars, Emmys, and Tonys invariably screw up: the end-of-the-year memorials. “There were a lot of big names this year,” one will think, but there are always  a lot of big names (I am old enough to remember the great movie-star die-offs of 1965 and 1973). As always, the TCM wind-up always makes me tear up. I’m sure, as always, they will re-edit through December 31 to fit in any additional deaths (hi, May Britt!). I was sorry not to see my friends

Swedish movie star May Britt , 91, died on Dec. 11. She was a photographer’s assistant and model when discovered by Carlo Ponti and cast in Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair  (1952). She made a handful of European films before being snapped up by Hollywood and starred in War and Peace, The Young Lions , and the just-about career-killing remake of The Blue Angel  (1959). Britt married Sammy Davis, Jr., in 1960, which pretty much put paid to her career (interracial mar

British actor William Rush , 31, died on Dec. 17. He was 31, and his family did not release a cause of death. The son of Coronation Street  actress Debbie Rush (and brother of actress and singer Poppy Rush), William had a bit part in Shameless , then got a supporting role in TV’s Grange Hill . He went on to appear in Drop Dead Gorgeous, The Street, Casualty, Vera , and Friday on My Mind . He was best known for the school drama Waterloo Road , as gay teen Josh Stevenson. Rush

Pianist and colorful con man Marcel de Sade  (born Jørgen Vase Schmidt in Denmark), 91, died on Dec. 16. De Sade lived la dolce vita  in 1950s and ’60s Copenhagen and Paris, throwing wild parties and kibitzing with Jean Marais, Jean Cocteau, and other cultural heroes. He claimed to make his money trading in jewelry, but in 1963 he was convicted for embezzling from the oil company where he worked, and served three years in prison. Once released, he became even more of a celebr

Porn star Lane Rogers —who usually worked under the pseudonym Blake Mitchell —died in a motorcycle accident near Oxnard, California, on Dec. 22. He was 31. Rogers made his film debut in 2014, and some of his vehicles include Toilet Tramps, The Meatman, Snatch Masters 9  (I could kick myself for missing Snatch Masters 1-8), Slutsville USA, Philmore Butts Hawaiian Anal Adventure  (I think we have a winner!), Electropussy, Babes of Bonerville, and Hunchback of Nasty Dames  (runn

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has signed a deal with YouTube to stream (do I have that right? Probably not) the annual Oscars show (and the pre-show fashion parade, I wonder?) on YouTube, and no longer on TV. Now, I am a big fan of YouTube—the only thing about this stupid century I approve of—but I am damn well not going to watch the Oscars on my computer or phone. (Yes, I know there’s a way to watch YouTube on my Smart TV, but my TV is a lot smarter than I

German filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim , 83, died on Dec. 17. Born Holger Radtke, he took the name Rosa von Praunheim to honor the Pink Triangle victims of the Nazis. He was born in a Latvian prison during Nazi occupation; his mother died in a mental institute in 1947 (his film Two Mothers  examined the trauma). Von Praunheim wrote, directed and produced some 150 films between 1968 and this year. His movies mostly dealt with gay and trans rights, AIDS, and other social issues; t

Bob Burns III , actor and archivist of movie memorabilia, died on Dec. 16. He was 90. Was he the grandson of “Bazooka” Bob Burns, or of western actor Bob Burns? Your guess is as good as mine; the internet is no help (you should only use "III" if your family name is famous, or you are the King of England). This Bob Burns acted in 40-some movies and TV series, often as a gorilla, mummy, or other monster ( Invasion of the Saucer Men, Capt. America vs. the Mutant, The Lucy Show,

Actor Gil Gerard  (TV’s Buck Rogers in the 25th Century ), 82, died of cancer on Dec. 16. The little boy from Little Rock got his start in TV commercials, films ( Some of My Best Friends Are . . ., Airplane ’77 ), and soaps ( The Doctors, Another World ). Stardom came with Buck Rogers  (1979-81), making Gerard a major pre-Selleck sex symbol. He continued working (my favorite late title of his is Psycho Hillbilly Cabin Massacre! —that exclamation mark makes it sound like a Fos

Publisher’s Weekly announced that ReaderLink will stop distributing mass-market paperbacks by the end of this year, pretty much killing off the format. I love those cheap 4.25” × 6.87” paperbacks, even though the ones bought from used bookstores or Goodwill are usually curled up and smell like pee. But there are very few bookstores or newsstands left, and those two or three people who still read do it on their annoying tablets or e-readers (me, I prefer curling up on the sof

Anthony Geary —famous as Luke on General Hospital —died on Dec. 14. He was 78. Geary started his career onstage, and even during his busy TV years, managed to find theater work as well. Beginning in the early ’70s, Geary worked his way up through small TV and movie roles, before finding fame as the ne’er-do-well Luke Spencer on General Hospital  (from 1978 through 2017). I am not a soap viewer, but even I heard of the famous “Luke and Laura” wedding in 1981 (and was appalled

Australian actress Rachael Carpani , 45, died on Dec. 7, after a long illness. Born in Sydney, her star-making role was as Jodi Fountain in the Australian soap McLeod's Daughters ; in the US she was best known for TV’s Home and Away . Through the 21 st  century, Carpani appeared (in the US and Australia) in such movies and TV shows as Law Dogs , Cane , NCIS: Los Angeles , The Glades , Against the Wall , If There Be Thorns , and Seeds of Yesterday . She said of her role as dit

Actor and director Rob Reiner , 78, and his wife (since 1989), Michele, were found dead (allegedly stabbed by their son Nick) in their L.A. home on Dec. 14. Reiner, son of famed comedy star Carl Reiner, started acting as a teenager, and was a regular on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour . Stardom came playing Michel “Meathead” Stivic on All in the Family , and he went on to appear in The Jerk, Throw Momma from the Train, Postcards from the Edge, Bullets Over Broadway , The B

Singer and songwriter Carl Carlton , 72, died on Dec. 14; his two biggest hits were "Everlasting Love" and "She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)." The Detroit native started his career as a child ("Little Carl" Carlton), and signed with the Back Beat Record label in 1968. Through the 1970s and ’80s, Carlton had such R&B, soul, and disco hits as “I Can Feel It,” “Baby, I Need Your Loving,” and the two songs mentioned above. He continued to work through the 2010s,

German actor Rolf Becker , 90, died on Dec. 12. Best known for his role in the soap In Aller Freundschaft  (from 1998 till his death), Becker began his career with the Munich Kammerspiele, Staatstheater Darmstadt, and Theater Ulm companies (he also directed operas at the Theater Bremen). He appeared in hundreds of German movies and TV shows, from Shakespeare to soaps to thrillers. Though none of his work reached the US, Becker dubbed many American films into German. Becker wa

Intense character actor Peter Greene , 60, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on Dec. 12. No cause of death is yet known. From 1990 through this year, the cadaverous-looking actor played mostly villainous roles, in such films as Pulp Fiction, The Mask, Under Siege 2, The Rich Man’s Wife, Kiss and Tell, Permanent Midnight, Blue Streak, Training Day, Under the Influence, Brothers in Arms , and in the TV series The Black Donnelleys . “Nobody played a bad guy better than P

Internet star and plastic surgery/tattoo-addict Denise Jarvis —who posted as “ Mary Magdalene ”—fell or jumped from a hotel balcony in Phuket on Dec. 9 (I am leaning toward “jumped,” as what better place to kill yourself than Phuket?). She was 33. I am not going to make fun of the lady, as she obviously had issues—issues, hell, she had a subscription . But I want to know why the plastic surgeons and tattoo artists who did this to her aren’t in jail, or at least had their lice

Scottish actor and comedian Stanley Baxter , 99, died on Dec. 11. Born in Glasgow, Baxter worked in the coal mines during WWII, and started performing on the radio and onstage. "I probably became an entertainer to please mother," he said. "She was forthright, while father was a retiring man. I was more like him in nature but to please her I pushed myself forward." Success came by the 1960s--Baxter had his own TV variety show, from 1963-71, and he appeared in dozens of movies

Musician, songwriter, and singer Camryn Magness , 26, died in Miami on Dec. 5 when the electric scooter she was riding collided with a pedestrian (who, along with Magness’s fellow rider, is still hospitalized). The granddaughter of Celestial Seasonings co-founder Mo Siegel, she first became known on YouTube (the Major Bowes Amateur Hour  of today), and eventually went on to tour with such acts as One Direction, Greyson Chance, Cody Simpson, and Fifth Harmony. She also toured