Dancer and puppeteer Danny Seagren , 81, died on Nov. 10. Seagren was the first live-action Spider-Man, on nearly 400 episodes of The Electric Company (from 1974-77). He worked with Jim Henson, and played numerous characters on Sesame Street  (he was Ernie’s right hand, and occasionally filled in for Caroll Spinney as Big Bird). Seagren was a puppet designer as well, and worked on the series Spidey Super Stories, Who’s Afraid of Opera?, The Adventures of Slim Goodbody in Nut

Actor and model Ethan Browne , 52, was found dead in his home on Nov. 25; no further information is yet available. The son of singer/songwriter Jackson Browne and model/actress Phyllis Major, Ethan worked as a model, and acted in Hackers, Birds of Prey , and Raising Helen  (he’s not to be confused with the Australian actor of the same name, who stars in Home and Away ). Ethan appeared as a toddler with his father on the cover of Rolling Stone , but other than his few acting j

Michael Delano , who played the obnoxious lounge singer Johnny Venture on Rhoda , died on Oct. 20. He was 84. Delano danced on American Bandstand  as a teen, and worked as a real-life lounge singer (a career he kept up till recently). Delano was tall, handsome, and a good singer and actor, but he had rotten luck with film and TV vehicles. He costarred in the flop shows Firehouse, Flamingo Road , and Supertrain , also playing the casino manager in Ocean's Eleven  and Ocean's T

British playwright and actor Jack Shepherd , 85, died on Nov. 24. Shepherd started his career at the Royal Court Theater, and was named "most promising actor of year" in 1967, for Arnold Middleton . He also appeared in such plays as 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Ruling the Roost, The Three Arrows, Let's Murder Vivaldi , and Dracula . He also wrote numerous plays, including The Incredible Journey of Sir Francis Younghusband, In Lambeth, Real Time, Comic Cuts, Half Moon, Holding Fir

Actor Jonathan Farwell , 93, died on Nov. 22. Farwell played George Rawlins on The Young and the Restless  from 1988-90, and was also seen on the soaps The Doctors, The Edge of Night , and All My Children  (as well as the 1988 film Frankenstein General Hospital ). The son of a composer and an actress, Farwell served in the US Air Force, and started his career onstage. He was seen in The Fantasticks (he created the role of El Gallo when the show was still in workshop), and pl

1960s child actor John Eimen , 76, died on Nov. 22. Eimen was a go-to performer on many TV series: he was in 11 episodes of the sitcom McKeever and the Colonel , and also turned up in The Untouchables, Wagon Train, The Twilight Zone, Leave It to Beaver, Wendy and Me , and Petticoat Junction , among others. He also appeared in ads for Carnation Milk, Campbell’s Soup, and Alphabits. After aging out of the child-actor biz, Eimen became a rock singer, guitarist and songwriter, bo

British actress Jill Freud , 98, died on Nov. 24. As a teenager, she was evacuated to Oxford during the Blitz, where she lived with writer C.S. Lewis (it’s rumored that he based the character of Lucy in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe  on her). Graduating from RADA, she acted in rep theater companies and on the West End, billed as Jill Raymond. She also acted on TV and in films ( The Devil’s Disciple, Stranger at My Door, Malta Story, Torchy the Battery Boy, Crown Court

Jamaican reggae star Jimmy Cliff , 81, has died, his wife posted on Nov. 24. The singer, pianist, guitarist and songwriter had such hits as "Many Rivers to Cross,” "You Can Get It If You Really Want,” "The Harder They Come,” "Reggae Night,” Hakuna Matata,” "Wonderful World, Beautiful People,” "Vietnam,” "Wild World,” and "I Can See Clearly Now,” and was awarded Jamaica’s Order of Merit. Cliff also acted, in such films and TV shows as Bouton Rouge, The Harder They Come, Club P

German actor Udo Kier , who appeared in more than 300 films and TV shows, died on Nov. 23. He was 81. He was born in the rubble of Cologne during a bombing, and was trained in acting in London.  He entered films in 1966, and by 1970 was already playing leads. Kier appeared in the Paul Morrissey films Flesh for Frankenstein  and Blood for Dracula , and his films The Story of O, The Stationmaster’s Wife, the appalling Ace Ventura: Pet Detective , Lulu  (as Jack the Ripper), My

Ever so many musicians and singer have unalived this week (I just can’t let go of “unalived,” I am obsessed). French pop singer/songwriter Jean Guidoni , 74, died on Nov. 21. Guidoni sang about sex, gay love, AIDS, and other topics which raised eyebrows, even in France. He released 21 albums between 1978 and 2022. Musician Garry "Jellybean" Johnson , 69, died on Nov. 21; he collaborated with Prince and Rihanna, not only writing songs, but backing up on guitar and drums. Itali

Stuntman and actor Carl Ciarfalio , 72, died this week, his family announced. Carlfalio started his career as a teen at Knott’s Berry Farm. By the late 1970s he was working as a stuntman and bit player (he eventually worked his way up to stunt coordinator). His resume is astonishing, including such TV shows and movies as Knight Rider, Invaders from Mars, Sledge Hammer!, Beetlejuice, Casino, Glory, The Hunt for Red October, Wayne’s World, Get Shorty, Romy and Michele’s High Sc

Canadian-born actor Spencer LoFranco , 33, died on Nov. 18 in British Columbia; no cause of death has yet been determined. Lofranco was best known for his starring role in the 2014 crime movie Jamesy Boy , and a costarring role in 2018’s Gotti . He also appeared in At Middleton, Unbroken, Dixieland , and King Cobra . He left acting in 2018 (his recent hideous tattoos can’t have helped him get roles) and pretty much disappeared from everything but Instagram. “I was always funn

YouTube, Instagram and TikTok star Girlala , 21, was shot and killed by her boyfriend in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, on Nov. 17. Girlala worked as a hairstylist, and her videos mostly involved wigs—I had never heard of her, though I am obsessed with the Crazy Wig Lady’s videos. Girlala’s TikTok account had 300,000 followers, though searching for her now mostly turns up stories about her being “unalived” (is that a new slang expression? Because it is unintentionally hilarious)

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