TV Stars We Lost in 2023

Adam Rich

Rich, best known for starring in the ABC dramedy Eight Is Enough, died in January at the age of 54. A cause of death was not disclosed. On Eight Is Enough, Rich played youngest son Nicholas Bradford for a total of 112 episodes. As a child, he also appeared in commercials for Betty Crocker and Nabisco, and provided voice work on Dungeons & Dragons alongside his Eight Is Enough co-star Willie Aames. Other TV credits included bit parts on The Six Million Dollar Man, The Love Boat, St. Elsewhere, Baywatch and more shows.

Bernard Kalb

A journalist with more than six decades of experience covering news, Kalb died at age 100 in January, following complications from a fall. Kalb became the founding co-host and panelist of CNN’s Reliable Sources, on which he appeared from 1992 to 1998. Other programs he appeared on included CBS News Sunday Morning, CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite, The Bob Braun Show and Bicentennial Minutes.

Ben Masters

Masters, best known for his portrayal of Julian Crane on NBC’s Passions from 1999 to 2008, died of COVID complications in January. He was 75. Prior to his starring role on Passions, Masters appeared on a number of hit TV series, including Touched by an Angel; Sisters; Diagnosis Murder; Walker, Texas Ranger; Murder, She Wrote; and Another World. He also starred on the big screen in Mandingo (1975), All That Jazz (1979), Dream Lover (1986) and Making Mr. Right (1987), among other projects.

Michael Levin

Levin died of natural causes in January at the age of 90. He was best known for portraying reporter Jack Fenelli during the entire 13-year run of daytime soap opera Ryan’s Hope, which aired on ABC from 1975 to 1989. Levin also appeared in two other daytime soaps — as John Eldridge on As the World Turns and Dr. Tim Gould on All My Children — and popped up on episodes of The Equalizer, Law & Order and other series.

Al Brown

Brown was 83 years old when he passed away in January, following a battle with Alzheimer’s. To TV fans, he’s best remembered as Baltimore Police Commissioner Stanislaus “Stan” Valchek on The Wire, a character that recurred throughout all five seasons of the HBO drama. On the small screen, Brown also appeared in such series as Rescue Me, Law & Order: SVU, Commander in Chief and the 2004 TV movie Something the Lord Made.

CJ Harris

Harris, who finished in sixth place on Season 13 of American Idol, died in January after suffering a heart attack. He was just 31 years old. During his Salt Lake City-based audition in 2014, Harris performed Allman Brothers Band’s “Soulshine,” wowing then-judges Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban; watch his performance here.

Annie Wersching

Wersching, whose many TV credits included 24, Bosch and Timeless, died at the age of 45 in January, following a cancer diagnosis in 2020. Her long résumé also included roles on Castle, Revolution, Angel, The Vampire Diaries and Frasier, among others; right up until her death, she held recurring roles on both Star Trek: Picard and The Rookie. Additionally, she provided the voice/performance for Tess in the video game The Last of Us, which has been adapted this year into a successful HBO TV series.

Lisa Loring

Loring, who played Wednesday Addams on the original live-action Addams Family series, died in January at the age of 64 after suffering a stroke. The actress played Wednesday from 1964 to 1966; in a Season 2 episode of The Addams Family, Wednesday taught Lurch her version of “The Drew,” a quirky shuffle which has gained online traction in recent years and partially inspired the choreography for Jenna Ortega’s dance scene in Netflix’s Wednesday. Loring’s other TV credits included As the World Turns, Barnaby Jones, Fantasy Island, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. and The Phyllis Diller Show.

Cindy Williams

Williams, who starred alongside Penny Marshall on the hit ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley, passed away in January. She was 75. The actress co-starred in films like American Graffiti and The Conversation before making her debut as Milwaukee brewery worker Shirley Feeney in an episode of Happy Days. Williams and Marshall’s characters were then spun off into their own self-titled series, which debuted in 1976. Williams ultimately left Laverne & Shirley early in its eighth and final season after becoming pregnant; she later co-starred on the CBS sitcom Normal Life and with Telma Hopkins in the ABC comedy Getting By. She also guest-starred on a number of series, including Lois & Clark, Touched by an Angel and 8 Simple Rules.

Melinda Dillon

Dillon, best known for playing Ralphie’s mom in the holiday classic A Christmas Story, died in early January at the age of 83. A cause of death was not disclosed. Though Dillon’s most memorable roles were on the big screen — she earned Oscar nods for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice — she did make several guest appearances on TV shows like Law & Order: SVU, Judging Amy and Picket Fences.

Charles Kimbrough

Kimbrough, who played Jim Dial on all 10 seasons of Murphy Brown (and its 2018 revival), passed away in January at the age of 86. During Murphy Brown‘s 1988-1998 run, Kimbrough starred opposite Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown’s stuffy co-anchor, a performance that earned him an Emmy nomination in 1990. The actor also lent his voice to multiple TV series, including Family Guy, Recess, Mighty Max and Batman Beyond.

Lance Kerwin

Kerwin, who as a teen headlined the seminal coming-of-age series James at 15, died on Jan. 24 of an undisclosed cause. He was 62. Following NBC’s James at 15 (which at the appropriate time was retitled James at 16), Kerwin’s subsequent TV credits included CBS’ 1979 Stephen King miniseries Salem’s Lot and a slew of guest-starring roles throughout the ’80s and ’90s. His most recent TV credit came with a 1992 episode of ABC’s police drama anthology series FBI: The Untold Stories.

Scott Alexander

A magician who competed on Season 6 of America’s Got Talent, Alexander died in February after suffering a stroke. He was 52. Though Alexander made quite an impression on then-judges Howie Mandel, Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan, he was ultimately eliminated in the quarterfinals. He later appeared in the second season of Penn & Teller: Fool Us in 2015, joining forces with fellow AGT alum The Magic of Puck for a special double act.

Cody Longo

Longo was just 34 years old when he passed away in February. He joined the Days of Our Lives cast in 2011, playing Nicholas “Nikki” Alamain for a total of eight episodes. He also played Nicky Russo on Season 1 of the ABC Family teen gymnast drama Make It or Break It. His longest-running TV role was on the Nick at Nite/TeenNick soap Hollywood Heights, where he played rock star Eddie Duran. His other TV credits included Nashville, CSI: NY and The Catch.

Austin Majors

Former child actor Majors, best known for his role as the son of Dennis Franz’s Det. Andy Sipowicz on NYPD Blue, died in February at just 27 years old, reportedly after ingesting fentanyl. In addition to playing Theo Sipowicz, Majors’ TV credits included guest stints on According to Jim, Desperate Housewives, NCIS and How I Met Your Mother.

Raquel Welch

Welch, the legendary actress and iconic 1960s sex symbol, died in February at the age of 82, following a brief illness. Her TV career kicked off in the mid-’60s with guest spots on shows like The Virginian, McHale’s Navy and Bewitched; in the ’70s and ’80s, she appeared on Mork & Mindy and the telepics Scandal in a Small Town and Right to Die, the latter of which earned her a Golden Globe. More recently, she had guested on Seinfeld, Spin City and CSI: Miami, among other series.  

On the big screen, Welch was perhaps best known for her role in the One Million Years B.C. remake (1966), manifesting the Deadly Sin “Lust” opposite Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in the 1967 comedy Bedazzled, and playing the titular secret agent in the spy spoof Fathom.

Tim McCarver

McCarver, who transitioned from an All-Star baseball playing career to a legendary stint in the broadcast booth, died in February at the age of 81. After retiring as an MLB player in 1980, McCarver quickly moved to the broadcasting side, eventually calling baseball games for all four broadcast networks. His most notable work as a broadcaster came alongside Joe Buck on Fox’s baseball coverage for nearly two decades, from 1996 to 2013. McCarver went on to call a total of 23 World Series, a record at the time of his retirement.

Richard Belzer

Belzer, best known for playing John Munch on Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: SVU, died in February after contending with multiple health issues. He was 78. Combining his run on Homicide (where he appeared from 1993 to 1999) and SVU (1999-2016), as well as his appearances in their various spinoffs and TV movies, Belzer played John Munch for nearly 25 years (and also took him to an episode of The X-Files). Additionally, Belzer appeared on series such as Miami Vice, Moonlighting, South Park and The Wire.

Barbara Bosson

Bosson, who earned five Emmy nominations for her work on Hill Street Blues, died in February at the age of 83. On Hill Street Blues — co-created by Bosson’s then-husband, Steven Bochco — Bosson co-starred for six seasons as Fay Furillo, the ex-wife of Daniel J. Travanti’s protagonist, Frank Furillo. She and Bochco also collaborated on three other series: the ABC legal drama Murder One (for which Bosson scored another Emmy nod); the ABC dramedy Hooperman; and the short-lived musical police drama Cop Rock.

Jansen Panettiere

Panettiere, an actor and the younger brother of Nashville‘s Hayden Panettiere, was just 28 years old when he passed away of complications from an enlarged heart in February. Panettiere notably lent his voice to several TV shows and movies, including Blue’s Clues, Nickelodeon’s animated series The X’s and the 2006 film Ice Age: The Meltdown. On the live-action front, his small-screen credits included episodes of Even Stevens, Hope & Faith, Everybody Hates Chris and Major Crimes. His final TV appearance came in 2019 via a Season 9 episode of The Walking Dead.

Tom Sizemore

Sizemore, best known for portraying Sergeant Horvath in Saving Private Ryan — but whose TV credits included the 2017 revival of Twin Peaks plus episodes of Cobra Kai, Shooter, Lucifer, Law & Order: SVU and Hawaii Five-0 — died on March 3 at age 61. The actor had been in critical condition after suffering a brain aneurysm on Feb. 18.

Robert Blake

The star of ABC’s 1970s cop show Baretta died from heart disease on March 9, at the age of 89. Blake began his Hollywood career as a child actor, playing Mickey in MGM’s Our Gang shorts (later known as The Little Rascals). As an adult, his credits included the 1967 film version of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and TV police detective Tony Baretta (for which he won an Emmy).

In 2001, Blake’s wife Bonny Lee Bakley was found dead in Blake’s car outside an L.A. restaurant. Blake was arrested and charged with Bakley’s murder a year later, but was ultimately found not guilty of murder and of solicitation of murder. (An additional charge of solicitation to commit murder was dropped when the jury deadlocked.) Blake was later found liable in the wrongful death of Bakley in a civil suit brought by her children.

Lance Reddick 

The actor, best known for playing Lieutenant Cedric Daniels on The Wire and General Phillip Broyles on Fringe, died in March. He was in the middle of his press tour for John Wick: Chapter 4, in which he reprised his role as the Continental Hotel concierge Charon. He appeared in numerous films and shows, including The Blacklist, Key & Peele, Castle, the Disney animated revival of DuckTales, Netflix’s animated series Castlevania, the 2020 film One Night in Miami (directed by Regina King) and the John Wick saga.

Reddick also portrayed Irvin Irving in Bosch, Albert Wesker in Netflix’s Resident Evil, and lent his voice as Thordak in the Prime Video animated series The Legend of Vox Machina. 

Elizabeth Hubbard

Soap opera vet Hubbard passed away in April at the age of 89. Of her 11 Daytime Emmy nominations, she earned eight for her turn as Lucinda Walsh on CBS’ As the World Turns, a role she played from 1984 until the show’s swan song in 2010. Though she never won for that portrayal, Hubbard did take home trophies in 1974 (for her work as Dr. Althea Davis on NBC’s soap The Doctors) and 1976 (for the TV movie First Ladies Diaries: Edith Wilson). Hubbard’s TV credits also included episodes of Guiding Light, One Life to Live, Hope & Faith and Law & Order, among others. She most recently appeared in the soap opera web series Anacostia, which earned the actress her final Daytime Emmy nomination in 2016.

Keith Nale

The two-time Survivor contestant and fan favorite died April 18 after a short battle with cancer. He was 62. Nale participated in both Season 29, San Juan del Sur, and Season 31, Cambodia — Second Chances, where he placed fourth and fifth, respectively. He was known and loved for his Southern charm and challenge prowess.

Barry Humphries

Humphries, the Australian-born comedian, actor and satirist who was best known for his drag persona, Dame Edna Everage, died in April at the age of 89. Humphries embodied Dame Edna for nearly seven decades in numerous TV series and specials in the United States, Australia, Britain and beyond. In the U.S., the character starred in her own mock talk show, Dame Edna’s Hollywood. The NBC series’ three episodes spanned from 1991-1993. She appeared in other TV series including Dame Edna’s Neighborhood Watch, Saturday Night Live, Ally McBeal and The Life and Death of Sandy Stone, and made numerous talk show appearances.

Len Goodman

Goodman, who judged the reality competition series Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing With the Stars for many years, died in April after a battle with bone cancer. He was 78. Goodman, who boasted years of his own ballroom dancing experience, served as head judge on both the U.K.’s Strictly Come Dancing and ABC/Disney+’s Dancing With the Stars since their inception. He appeared on the former series from 2004 through 2016, and on the latter from its premiere in 2005 through 2022, when he stepped down at the end of Season 31 to spend more time with his family.

Jerry Springer

Springer died in April following a “brief illness” at the age of 79. He was best known for his long-running, eponymous talk show, which ran for 27 years before ending in 2018. He returned to daytime TV in 2019 with the syndicated courtroom show Judge Jerry, which ran for three seasons and ended in 2022.

Jacklyn Zeman

Soap star Zeman, who played Bobbie Spencer on General Hospital for more than four decades, died in May following a short battle with cancer. She was 70. Zeman had a regular role on One Life to Live before debuting as Bobbie on General Hospital in 1977. She remained a regular on GH until 2010, earning a total of four Daytime Emmy nominations; she shifted to a recurring role on the show in 2013, still appearing in episodes earlier this year. She also appeared on the streaming soap The Bay.

Ray Stevenson

The Black Sails and Thor actor died in May at the age of 58. Stevenson appeared in numerous TV shows and films throughout the 1990s and early ’00s before starring opposite Grey’s Anatomy’s Kevin McKidd in the historical drama Rome. He also played Baylan Skoll in the Star Wars series Ahsoka and voiced Mandalorian commander Gar Saxon in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. His film credits included the Divergent trilogy, RRR (this year’s Oscar winner for Best Original Song), The Three Musketeers (2011) and Antoine Fuqua’s King Arthur.

George Maharis

The Route 66 actor died in May at the age of 94. He was best known for his portrayal of Buz Murdock on the CBS drama, which ran four seasons between 1960 and 1964. The part earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) in 1962.

John Beasley

Beasley, best known for his role as Irv Harper on the beloved WB drama Everwood, died on May 30 at the age of 79. His acting career began at the age of 45, with a recurring role on the short-lived ABC drama Brewster’s Place, opposite Oprah Winfrey. That was followed by guest turns on Early Edition, Millennium, Judging Amy and CSI. Following his four-season stint on Everwood, he starred opposite Cedric the Entertainer and Niecy Nash on the TV Land sitcom The Soul Man, which wrapped its five-season run in 2016.

Jacky Oh

The Wild ‘N Out performer (whose real name was Jacklyn Smith) died in May at just 32 years old, due to complications from cosmetic surgery. “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jacklyn Smith, known to the world as Jacky Oh, a talented Wild ‘N Out family member whose impact will be forever treasured and missed,” a BET Media Group spokesperson said in a statement. “Jacky Oh was a loving friend and beloved colleague of the Wild ‘N Out cast throughout five seasons. More importantly, she was a tremendous mother to three beautiful children.”

Sharon Farrell

Daytime TV vet Farrell, who played Florence “Flo” Webster on CBS’ The Young and the Restless, died in May of natural causes. She was 82. She made her Y&R debut in 1991, when Flo arrived in Genoa City to live with her daughter Nina (played by Tricia Cast). Farrell departed Y&R in 1997, at which point Flo left Genoa City and moved to Los Angeles. On the big screen, Farrell was best known for her turn as Lenore in the 1974 horror flick It’s Alive. She made her film debut in 1959’s Kiss Her Goodbye, and went on to star in such titles as Marlowe (opposite James Garner) and The Reivers (opposite Steve McQueen).

Anna Shay

Shay, a socialite who starred in Netflix’s reality series Bling Empire for three seasons, died at the age of 62 from a stroke. She was the daughter of Edward Shay, the founder of the global defense contractor Pacific Architects and Engineers. After her father’s death, she and her brother Allen sold the company in 2006, making them the heirs to its fortune.

The Iron Sheik

The legendary wrestler died June 7 at the age of 81. Born Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, Sheik was known as one of the biggest heels to ever step foot in the ring. In 1983, he took on Bob Backlund to become the WWF World Heavyweight Champion, and later, he famously became one of Hulk Hogan’s first rivals. In 2005, Sheik was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Sgt. Slaughter, one of his longtime rivals and former partner. 

Treat Williams

Williams, a veteran actor whose many roles included a starring turn on the WB drama Everwood, died in June following a motorcycle accident. He was 71.

Williams first broke out as the star of the 1979 film version of Hair, based on the Broadway musical, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. He had more than 100 film and TV credits over the years; TV fans knew him best as Dr. Andrew Brown, the big-city neurosurgeon who moved to a small Colorado town along with his son and daughter on Everwood, which ran from 2002 to 2006. He became TV’s go-to dad, recurring as Severide’s father on Chicago Fire and Neal Caffrey’s dad on White Collar. His other TV credits included Brothers & Sisters, Heartland, Blue Bloods and Chesapeake Shores.

Glenda Jackson

Jackson, the Oscar- and Emmy Award-winning actress who later made the transition to politics, died in June at the age of 87. During a career that spanned seven decades, Jackson won a pair of Academy Awards (for 1970’s Women in Love and 1973’s A Touch of Class), two Emmys (for her role as Elizabeth I in the 1971 BBC miniseries Elizabeth R) and a Tony (for the 2018 revival of Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women). Across the pond, she took home the BAFTA for Best Actress in a Leading Role for 1971’s Sunday Bloody Sunday, and the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for the 2019 TV-movie Elizabeth Is Missing — a role that also earned her the honor of TVLine’s Performer of the Week upon its Stateside debut in January 2021.

Brett Hadley

The Young and the Restless vet, who played Genoa City detective Carl Williams, died in June at the age of 92. A cause of death was not disclosed. He made his debut as the Williams family patriarch in 1980. He initially departed the show in 1991, then returned from 1998-1999. Additional TV credits included episodes of The F.B.I., Ironside, Police Story, The Waltons, Kojak, The Rockford Files and The Incredible Hulk.

Julian Sands

It was confirmed in June that Sands, who went missing in January, had died in a California hiking accident. He was 65 years old. Though the actor was best known for his work in films (including Warlock, The Killing Fields and Naked Lunch), Sands also appeared in several TV series, namely 24 (as Russian businessman Vladimir Bierko) and Smallville (as Jor-El’s clone). Other television credits included Lipstick Jungle, Crossbones, Dexter, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: SVU.

Nicolas Coster

Coster, a soap vet best known for his role as Lionel Lockridge on NBC’s Santa Barbara, died in June at the age of 89. Coster’s daytime career included stints on the now-defunct soaps Young Doctor Malone, The Secret Storm, Somerset, Another World, As the World Turns, One Life to Live and All My Children, but it was his turn as the heavily monied Lockridge family patriarch on Santa Barbara for which he’ll be most remembered. He played the character on and off throughout the beloved series’ 1984-1993 run, earning four Daytime Emmy nominations in the process. He would ultimately pick up his first Daytime Emmy in 2017 for his role as Mayor Jack Madison in the digital soap The Bay.

Sue Johanson

The Canadian sex education expert and host of Talk Sex With Sue Johanson passed away in June at the age of 93. A nurse in her native Canada, Johanson began offering frank sex advice on a Canadian radio show, Sunday Night Sex Show, which became a TV series. In 2002, Oxygen began airing the show in the U.S. under the title Talk Sex With Sue Johanson, until its run ended in 2008.

Alan Arkin

Arkin, an Oscar and Tony Award winner, died in June at the age of 89; according to his son Matthew, the actor suffered from “heart ailments.” Arkin most recently starred opposite Michael Douglas in Chuck Lorre’s The Kominsky Method, which ran for three seasons on Netflix and ended in 2021; the part of Hollywood agent Norman Newlander earned him two consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, in 2019 and 2020. He departed the series ahead of its final season.

Jeffrey Carlson

Carlson, whose acting credits included playing one of daytime-TV’s first transgender characters (on ABC’s All My Children), died at age 48 in July. A cause of death was not reported. The actor made his All My Children debut in August 2006 as Freddie Luper aka Zarf, a British rock musician. Zarf fell in love with Bianca Montgomery and tried to kiss her, unaware that she was a lesbian. That New Year’s Eve, having come to realize why she had been attracted to a lesbian, Zarf came out as a transgender lesbian named Zoe. Carlson’s other acting credits included the Will Smith movie Hitch and a 2004 episode of Law & Order: SVU.

Andrea Evans

Soap vet Evans, best known for her role as One Life to Live‘s conniving Tina Lord, died of cancer in July. She was 66. Evans, who originated the role of Tina in 1978, left the ABC soap in 1981; she returned in 1985, 2008 and 2010, before One Life to Live left the airwaves in 2012. Evans’ other soap work included CBS’ The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, as well as NBC’s late Passions.

Mike ‘Mantaur’ Halac

The former WWE wrestler died July 11 at the age of 55; a cause of death was not given. Halac competed in the WWF in the ’90s, but got his start in the German Catch Wrestling Association under the name Bruiser Mastino. He competed there from 1991-1994, before returning to the States later that year. His wrestling career continued until 2019, when he participated in his final match in Jersey City, N.J. 

Inga Swenson

Swenson, who as Gretchen Kraus on the 1979-86 sitcom Benson was an incredible comedic foil for Robert Guillaume’s titular butler, died in July of natural causes. She was 90. Swenson was thrice Emmy-nominated for her role as Benson‘s Gretchen Wilomena Kraus, a German cook who playfully locked horns with the title character. She also netted a Golden Globe nod for her work. Swenson’s post-Benson roles included the miniseries North & South and Nutcracker: Money, Madness & Murder, plus episodes of Newhart, The Golden Girls and Hotel. She then retired from acting in 1998.

Paul Reubens

Reubens, known the world over as Pee-wee Herman, died in July after a long, private battle with cancer. He was 70. “Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years,” Reubens wrote in a message posted posthumously to his Instagram page at the time. “I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”

The Pee-wee Herman character had hit just about every platform since his introduction at The Groundlings Theatre in February 1981, including the big-screen hit Pee-wee’s Big Adventure in 1985, CBS’ Emmy-winning Pee-wee’s Playhouse from 1986-1991 and Broadway’s The Pee-wee Herman Show in 2010. Reubens last reprised the role in the 2016 Netflix movie Pee-wee’s Big Holiday.

Angus Cloud

The Euphoria actor was just 25 years old when he passed away in July. Cloud played Fez on the edgy HBO drama, which shocked viewers with its graphic depictions of teen sex and drug use. His character Fez was an easygoing drug dealer who took a liking to Zendaya’s drug addict character Rue, and who struck up an unlikely romance with Rue’s friend Lexi in Season 2. 

“We are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Angus Cloud,” an HBO spokesperson told TVLine. “He was immensely talented and a beloved part of the HBO and Euphoria family. We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family during this difficult time.”

Mark Margolis

Margolis, best known for playing Hector “Tio” Salamanca on both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, died in August after a short illness. He was 83. Margolis appeared as the Salamanca patriarch in eight episodes of Breaking Bad and 22 episodes of its Better Call Saul spinoff; his work on the former series earned him a Primetime Emmy nod in 2012 for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Additional TV credits included Santa Barbara, Law & Order, Oz, Ed, Blue Bloods and American Horror Story. Margolis’ last TV work was on Showtime’s Your Honor, where he recurred as Carmine Conti and reunited with Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston.

Johnny Hardwick

Hardwick, best known for voicing Hank Hill’s BFF Dale Gribble on King of the Hill, died in August at the age of 64. Hardwick was set to reprise the role of Dale in Hulu’s forthcoming King of the Hill revival; although he completed work on “a couple” of the new episodes prior to his death, he did not finish the entire run. It remains unclear if another actor will be brought in to finish what Hardwick started.

Darren Kent

Kent, who had a small but moving role in Game of Thrones, died Aug. 11 at the age of 39. Kent played a goatherd in the Season 4 finale of HBO’s epic fantasy series, who appeared before Daenerys to drive home the destruction that her unruly dragons were unleashing across the land. In a brief but emotional scene, he brought the charred body of his dead 3-year-old daughter to the khaleesi’s throne to illustrate the havoc her creatures were wreaking on the locals’ lives. His meeting with the queen was the impetus for her chaining up two of her dragons so they couldn’t hurt anyone else. The actor’s other TV credits included EastEnders, the British Shameless and Happy Hours.

Carol Duvall

DIY trailblazer Duvall, who for decades shared her crafting mastery locally on Michigan TV and nationally on ABC and HGTV, died in July at the age of 97. Dubbed the “Queen of Crafts,” Duvall made a name for herself on myriad Detroit affiliate stations before graduating in 1988 to ABC’s Home Show, where she served as the daytime program’s resident craft expert. After Home Show‘s cancellation in 1994, she moved to HGTV where she launched The Carol Duvall Show; the series ended its HGTV run in 2005, before it jumped to the DIY Network from 2005-09. Duvall also made appearances on Lifetime’s Our Home and Handmade by Design.

Ron Cephas Jones

Jones died Aug. 19 from a long-standing pulmonary issue. The actor won two Emmys for Outstanding Guest Actor in 2018 and 2020 for his work portraying Randall Pearson’s biological father, William, in the NBC drama This Is Us. His other notable roles included Congressman Leon Kilbride in Law & Order: Organized Crime, Bobby Fish in Luke Cage, Ron in Better Things, Dr. Hyde in Looking for Alaska and Romero in Mr. Robot.

David Jacobs

TV writer Jacobs, who created the classic primetime soap Dallas as well as its long-running spinoff Knots Landing, died at age 84 in August, following complications from a series of infections and a years-long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. After creating Dallas, Jacobs worked as an executive story consultant on the show’s first two seasons before moving over to Knots Landing in 1979. During his time on that series, Jacobs co-created the CBS Western Paradise, which ran from 1988 to 1991. He also served as an executive producer on the ’90s ABC dramas Homefront and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Nancy Frangione

Frangione, best known to fans of daytime soap operas for her role as Another World‘s scheming and devious Cecile DePoulignac, died in August. She was 70. Frangione actually made her daytime-TV debut on ABC’s All My Children, where she played Tara Martin from 1977 to 1979. In June 1981, she joined NBC’s Another World as Cecile, whom she played for a three-and-a-half-year stretch (and then occasionally reprised that role through 1996). Frangione’s daytime-TV credits also included ABC’s One Life to Live, where in 1985 she was a temporary Tina Lord recast.

Terry Funk

Hardcore legend and WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Funk died on Aug. 23 at 79 years old. He began his career in 1965 at his father Dory’s promotion Western State Sports before debuting on WWE’s Championship Wrestling in 1985. Funk later joined WCW, where had a legendary feud with Ric Flair that culminated with their memorable “I Quit” match at Clash of the Champions IX. In 1993, he joined ECW and competed in career-defining matches as a hardcore wrestler — including a barbed wire match against Sabu at Born to Be Wired — which helped bring national attention to that violent style of wrestling. Funk was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.

Hersha Parady

Parady, best known to TV audiences as Walnut Grove schoolteacher Alice Garvey on NBC’s Little House on the Prairie, died Aug. 23 at the age of 78. She’d been battling a brain tumor. On Little House, she was originally up for the role of Caroline Ingalls, which went to Karen Grassle. She then appeared in a Season 3 episode not as Alice, but as Charles’ sister-in-law Eliza, before Alice and her husband Jonathan rolled into town in Season 4. Additional TV credits included episodes of Bearcats!, Kenan & Kel, Mannix and The Waltons.

Bray Wyatt

Windham Rotunda, who wrestled in WWE as Bray Wyatt, passed away on Aug. 24 at 36 years old. The former WWE Champion is perhaps best known for his Wyatt Family stable with Luke Harper (the late Brodie Lee) and Erick Rowan. After rebranding as “The Fiend” in 2019, his most popular gimmick to date, he competed in unique matches such as the Wyatt Swamp Fight against Braun Strowman at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules and the Firefly Fun House match against John Cena at WrestleMania 36. His additional accolades included the Universal Championship (2x), Raw Tag Team Championship and SmackDown Tag Team Championship.

Bob Barker

Barker, the longtime host of CBS’ daytime game show The Price Is Right, died in August after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 99. For 35 years, Barker served as host of The Price Is Right, starting with the current version’s premiere in 1972. Wielding his signature skinny microphone while taking bids from contestants, Barker was a beloved staple of daytime TV, helping make The Price Is Right a consistent ratings winner and the longest-running game show in TV history. He went on to win a total of 17 Emmys, including a lifetime achievement award in 1999. Barker retired in 2007, handing the skinny mic over to current Price Is Right host Drew Carey.

Arleen Sorkin

Sorkin, best known for playing Calliope Jones on Days of Our Lives and originating DC’s Harley Quinn character, passed away at the age of 67. The actress played eccentric fashion designer/wedding planner Calliope on Days from 1984-1990, and later reappeared in 1992, 2006 and 2010. She earned two Daytime Emmy nominations (in 1988 and 1989) for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Her turn as Calliope also went on to inspire the DC character Harley Quinn; Sorkin first voiced Harley in 1992’s Batman: The Animated Series and lent her voice to the character in other TV series including Superman: The Animated Series (1997), The New Batman Adventures (1997-1999), Gotham Girls (2000-2002), Static Shock (2003) and Justice League (2003).

Billy Miller

Miller, a three-time Daytime Emmy-winning soap vet best known for his roles on The Young and the Restless and General Hospital, died in September at the age of 43. Miller entered the daytime TV arena in 2007 when he joined the cast of All My Children as Richie Novak, paving the way for his breakout role as Young and the Restless‘ Billy Abbott. During his six years as Billy (2008-14), he won three Daytime Emmys (two for Outstanding Supporting Actor and one for Outstanding Lead Actor). In 2014, Miller jumped to General Hospital, where he took over the role of Jason Morgan/Drew Cain until 2019. His primetime credits included guest stints on CSI: NY, Justified, Ringer, Major Crimes, Suits and Ray Donovan. He also recurred in the first season of the Apple TV+ drama Truth Be Told as the husband of Lizzy Caplan’s Lanie.

David McCallum

The actor who played Donald “Ducky” Mallard on NCIS for more than two decades passed away of natural causes in September at the age of 90. McCallum was a part of the NCIS cast when it debuted on CBS in 2003 and remained with the series through the end of Season 20, becoming a beloved fan favorite as the team’s chief medical examiner. He also played secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the classic TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. 

Michael Gambon

Irish actor Gambon died in September at the age of 82, following a bout of pneumonia. Though he was best known for his work as Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films, Gambon held many TV roles throughout his multi-decade career. His turns as Mr. Woodhouse in BBC’s Emma miniseries and as Lyndon Johnson in the 2002 TV movie Path to War both earned him Primetime Emmy nominations; he also collected four BAFTA Awards, for the TV movie Longitude (in 2001) and miniseries The Singing Detective (in 1987), Wives and Daughters (in 2000) and Perfect Strangers (in 2002). Other TV credits included HBO’s Luck, Doctor Who‘s 2010 Christmas special, BBC’s Little Women miniseries and HBO’s adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s novel The Casual Vacancy, among many others.

Phyllis Coates

Coates, the first actress to play Daily Planet journalist Lois Lane on the small screen, died of natural causes in October at the age of 96. She made her debut as Lois in the first season of Adventures of Superman, which ran in syndication from 1952 to 1958; Noel Neill succeeded her in the role from Season 2 onward. Prior to Adventures of Superman, Coates had played Lois Lane in the 1951 flick Superman and the Mole Men, which was the first feature film based on a DC Comics character. Decades later, in 1994, she appeared in one episode of ABC’s Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as Ellen Lane, the mother of Teri Hatcher’s Lois.

Suzanne Somers

The actress, who is best known for her TV work in Three’s Company and Step By Step, died in October at the age of 76 following a lengthy battle with breast cancer. During the mid-’70s, Somers had guest stints on The Rockford Files, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Love Boat and One Day at a Time before landing her breakout role of Chrissy Snow in Three’s Company in 1977. She exited the show after five seasons and would later star in the ’90s ABC sit-com Step by Step. Her other TV credits include She’s the Sheriff and Season 20 of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.

Joanna Merlin

Merlin died at the age of 92 in October. She was best known for portraying Judge Lena Petrovsky in 43 episodes of Law & Order: SVU, but also appeared in Law & Order proper. Her other TV credits include The Good Wife, Homeland, Northern Exposure, L.A. Law, Another World and All My Children.

Lara Parker

Parker, who starred as vengeful witch Angelique Bouchard in the ABC soap opera Dark Shadows, died in her sleep in mid-October. She was 84 years old. The actress portrayed Angelique for a whopping 269 episodes. After stepping away from acting years later, she revisited the universe, writing four Dark Shadows novels between 1998 and 2016. Her other TV credits include Remington Steele, Hawaii Five-O, Kojak and The Six Million Dollar Man.

Elizabeth Hoffman

The actress who portrayed Beatrice “Bea” Reed Ventnor in NBC’s ’90s family drama Sisters, died of natural causes at her home in Malibu, Calif. on Aug. 21. She was 97 years old. She also portrayed Eleanor Roosevelt in two separate miniseries, The Winds of War (1983) and War and Remembrance (1988-89), in addition to guest-starring on shows like Little House on the Prairie, Matlock, The A-Team, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Thirtysomething, Stargate SG-1 and L.A. Law.

Richard Roundtree

The actor who shot to fame as the star of the 1971 film Shaft and its sequels passed away in October after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 81. Roundtree worked as a stage actor and model before breaking out as private eye John Shaft in 1971’s Shaft, became a milestone in blaxploitation cinema and turned Roundtree into one of Hollywood’s first Black action heroes. On the small screen, Roundtree played slave Sam Bennett in Roots along with key roles on Chicago Fire, Desperate Housewives and Being Mary Jane.

Richard Moll

The towering 6-foot-8 actor best known for playing Bull the bailiff on NBC’s original ’80s iteration of Night Court died in October; he was 80 years old. Moll portrayed the genteel giant Nostradamus “Bull” Shannon during all nine seasons of Night Court, which ran on NBC from 1984-92. Moll also voiced Harvey Dent/Two-Face in both Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, along with guest appearances on Happy Days, Mork & Mindy, Baywatch, Married… With Children, 7th Heaven and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.    

Matthew Perry

The Friends star died Oct. 28 after first responders rushed to a Los Angeles-area home on a call for cardiac arrest; a toxicology report later determined his cause of death to be “the acute effects of ketamine.” In addition to Friends, where he co-starred for a decade as Chandler Bing, Perry’s additional TV credits included NBC’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, CBS’ Odd Couple reboot and the short-lived sitcoms Mr. Sunshine (on ABC) and Go On (on NBC).

Tyler Christopher

Christopher, best known for his years playing Nikolas Cassadine on General Hospital, died in October at the age of 50. He made his GH debut as Nikolas in 1996, playing the character on and off for the next 20 years. He was nominated for four Daytime Emmys for the role, winning in 2016 for Best Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama. He joined the cast of Days of Our Lives in 2017 as Stefan DiMera, earning a fifth Daytime Emmy nod. His other TV credits included The Lying Game, Into the West and Charmed.

Evan Ellingson

The former child actor died Nov. 5 at the age of 35 at his home in San Bernardino county, Calif. His cause of death was not immediately available. Ellingson had a sizable role in CSI: Miami, playing Kyle Harmon, the son of David Caruso’s Lt. Horatio Caine and Julia Winston. He also played Jack Bauer’s nephew in Season 6 of 24. On the film side of things, he starred as Cameron Diaz’s teen son in the 2009 movie My Sister’s Keeper.

Suzanne Shepherd

The actress best known for her roles in The Sopranos and Goodfellas died on Nov. 17 at her New York City home. She was 89 years old. Shepherd played Mary DeAngelis, the mother of Edie Falco’s Carmela Soprano, on the HBO crime drama The Sopranos between 2000 and 2007. After snagging her first acting credit in the 1988 romantic comedy Mystic Pizza starring Julia Roberts, she went on to appear in films including Working Girl, Uncle Buck, Lolita, Requiem for a Dream, and most recently, The Performance. Her other TV credits include appearances in Blue Bloods, Ed, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Third Watch.

Marty Krofft

Known as “The King of Saturday Mornings,” he died on Nov. 25 of kidney failure at the age of 86. Marty and his brother Sid, through their Sid & Marty Pictures shingle, produced family entertainment for more than 50 years, after becoming a household name in the 1970s with the likes of H.R. Pufnstuf, The Bugaloos, Lidsville, Land of the Lost, Sigmund & the Sea Monsters, Pryor’s Place, Far Out Space Nuts, Lost Saucer, The Krofft Supershow, Wonderbug and Bigfoot, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, Dr. Shrinker and Bigfoot & Wildboy. He also created primetime programs that included the satirical D.C. Follies series, The Donny & Marie Show, The Brady Bunch Hour and Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters.

Norman Lear

The legendary writer/producer/creator died peacefully Dec. 5 at the age of 101. A four-time Emmy Award winner for the 1970s juggernaut All in the Family, the New Haven, Conn., native also produced the hit comedy’s spinoffs, Maude and The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and the Maude offshoot Good Times. In the past several years, he had been almost as prolific, exec-producing a reimagining of One Day at a Time for Netflix/Pop TV, as well as ABC’s Live in Front of a Studio Audience franchise of sitcom episode reenactments.

Ellen Holly

The first Black actor to have a leading role on a daytime soap opera, Holly died peacefully in her sleep on Dec. 6; she was 92. For the role of One Life to Live‘s Carla Benari aka Carla Gray, an African-American passing as white, Holly had been personally chosen for the role by Agnes Nixon, after the daytime-TV titan saw a New York Times opinion piece that Holly wrote called “How Black Do You Have To Be?,” about the difficulty that light-skinned Black women have finding acting roles.

Jack Hogan

Hogan, an actor who starred in Combat! for 111 episodes, died Dec. 6 of natural causes at his home in Bainbridge Island, Wash. He was 94 years old. He played PFC William G. Kirby in the ABC drama series, starring alongside Rick Jason, Vic Morrow and Pierre Jalbert. His other TV credits include The Six Million Dollar Man, Adam-12, Emergency!, Hawaii Five-O, Switch and S.W.A.T., among others. 

Andre Braugher

Braugher, whose illustrious TV career included roles on Homicide: Life on the Street and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, died in December after a brief battle with lung cancer. He was 61. On the NBC police drama Homicide: Life on the Street, Braugher played interrogation specialist Det. Frank Pembleton, which earned him two Emmy nominations for Lead Actor in a Drama Series and a win in 1998. In 2013, he turned to comedy as stoic captain Raymond Holt in the Fox/NBC sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, nabbing four more Emmy nods for Supporting Actor in a Comedy. At the time of his death, he had recently appeared in Season 6 of The Good Fight and was set to co-star with Uzo Aduba and Susan Kelechi Watson in the Netflix murder mystery The Residence.

James McCaffrey

The actor and star of Rescue Me died at the age of 65 following a battle with myeloma. In addition to starring in 55 episodes of the FX dramedy, McCaffrey also starred in 1994’s Viper as expert driver Michael Payton/Joe Astor. He appeared in Seasons 1 and 4 of the action series. During that same time period, he played Capt. Arthur O’Byrne in the Fox crime series New York Undercover, appearing in seven episodes from 1994-1997. His most recent TV credits include Blue Bloods, Jessica Jones, She’s Gotta Have It and more.

Bobbie Jean Carter

The sister of Nick and Aaron Carter passed away on Saturday, Dec. 23. A cause of death was unknown. She appeared on her family’s 2006 reality series House of Carters. The E! show chronicled the interior lives of brothers Nick, a longtime Backstreet Boys member, and Aaron, who also found success as a teen pop star in the 1990s.

Kamar de los Reyes

The Puerto Rico-born actor, who was best known for playing cop Antonio Vega on the ABC daytime soap One Life to Live, died at the age of 56. The actor passed away on Sunday, Dec. 24, in Los Angeles after a brief battle with cancer, a publicist for de los Reyes’ wife, actress Sherri Saum, confirmed to TVLine.

In addition to starring in One Life to Live from 1995-98 and 2000-2009, de los Reyes most recently had a recurring role on The CW’s All American as Coach Montes. His other TV credits included guest stints on The Rookie, The Passage and Sleepy Hollow. He also provided the voice of Nicaraguan drug lord Raul Menendez in multiple Call of Duty video games.

Tom Wilkinson

The actor, who was best known for playing Gerald in The Fully Monty, died at the age of 75 on Saturday, Dec. 30. A cause of death was unknown. Wilkinson earned an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Benjamin Franklin in the HBO miniseries John Adams. He earned three other Emmy nominations for his work in Normal, Recount and The Kennedys, in addition to two Oscar nods for his roles in Michael Clayton and In the Bedroom.