Actors We Lost In 2021

Philadelphia-born actress Marion Ramsey, best known for playing soft spoken Officer Laverne Hooks in the "Police Academy" movies, died in January 2021, her agency told The Hollywood Reporter. "Marion carried with her a kindness and permeating light that instantly filled a room upon her arrival," the statement read. "The dimming of her light is already felt by those who knew her well. We will miss her and always love her." No cause of death was given. She was 73.

She made her stage debut in the original Broadway production of "Hello, Dolly!" She popped up in another Broadway musical — the short-lived, New York City-set "Soon" — before making her onscreen bow in a 1976 episode of the classic sitcom "The Jeffersons." A gig on Bill Cosby's sketch show "Cos" followed, but Ramsey would return to the theater world for the best part of a decade after that. She made her first appearance as Officer Hooks in 1984's "Police Academy" and would remain a mainstay of the wacky comedy franchise over the coming years, working on six installments.

Ramsey returned to television in the 1990s, landing one-off parts in the likes of "MacGyver" and "Beverly Hills, 90210." She also got involved in voice acting, lending her unmistakable tones to the character of D.I. Holler in Hanna-Barbera's "The Addams Family." The cartoon began airing on ABC in 1992. Other notable credits include SyFy's cult direct-to-TV movie "Lavalantula" and its follow up, "2 Lava 2 Lantula!"

British actress Barbara Shelley, who appeared in numerous Hammer Horror films during the 1950s and '60s, died in January 2021. The veteran scream queen contracted COVID-19 after a routine hospital visit, her agent, Thomas Bowington, told the BBC. She was 88.

She trained in theater as a child, but her good looks naturally led her into the world of modeling. Her dream was to act, however, so when she was approached by Italian comic Walter Chiari with an offer while vacationing in Rome, she took a chance. Shelley went on to appear in a string of Italian movies over a four-year period, but it would be the work she did after returning to the UK that she would be best remembered for. The Londoner became the go-to female star for Hammer Horror, appearing in eight of the studio's classic pictures. "She really was Hammer's number one leading lady and the technicolor queen of Hammer," Bowington said. "On screen she could be quietly evil. She goes from statuesque beauty to just animalistic wildness."

Shelley's agent also mentioned her special relationship with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Speaking to the Express in 2009, she said that she was "honored" to have shared the screen with them. "They were so wonderful to work with, both so generous as actors with a wonderful atmosphere on the set and a wonderful sense of humor." She worked mainly in TV during the golden years of her career, including a stint on "Doctor Who."

Croatian-American actress Mira Furlan, best known for her stints on "Babylon 5" and "Lost," died in January 2021. Her death was announced on her official Twitter account, alongside a message that she appeared to have written near the end. "I look at the stars. It's a clear night and the Milky Way seems so near," the quote read. "That's where I'll be going soon... In the meantime, let me close my eyes and sense the beauty around me. And take that breath under the dark sky full of stars. Breathe in. Breathe out. That's all." The cause of death was not revealed. She was 65.

Born in Zagreb, Furlan and her husband emigrated to America in the early '90s amid rising tensions in their home country, settling in New York City. "We slept on my friend's couch, and I worked as a waitress and my husband as a mover," she told Lilith in 2016. "It was one of the harshest winters in New York, and homeless people were dying in the street." Three years after the move, she landed what would become her most iconic role: Minbari Ambassador Delenn in "Babylon 5." She briefly returned to Croatia before jetting off to Hawaii to play the part of Danielle Rousseau in "Lost." She appeared as the French loner in 20 episodes ABC's hit show.

Other notable credits include "NCIS," "Law & Order: LA," the Amazon Prime Original "Just Add Magic," and "Spider-Man: The Animated Series," in which she voiced Silver Sable.

Award winning actress Cloris Leachman, best known (among many memorable roles) for playing Phyllis Lindstrom on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and Frau Blücher in Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein," died of natural causes in January 2021. She was "one of the most fearless actresses of our time," her rep and friend, Juliet Green, told Variety. "You never knew what Cloris was going to say or do and that unpredictable quality was part of her unparalleled magic." She was 94.

A native of Iowa, Leachman moved to neighboring Illinois to study theater at Northwestern University. She dropped out before she could graduate and took an unconventional route to Hollywood that included an appearance at the 1946 Miss America pageant. Her acting career began when she landed in New York and got in with the Actors Studio, but she wouldn't come to national attention until she debuted on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" some 20 years later. She won two of her eight primetime Emmy Awards for playing the catty Phyllis Lindstrom, who would later get her own spin-off, "Phyllis." 

Leachman also had an Academy Award in her trophy cabinet. She was named Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "The Last Picture Show," beating out stiff competition from her co-star and favorite for the Oscar, Ellen Burstyn. She notched over 280 credits over the course of her remarkable career (she appeared in "Diagnosis Murder," "Two and a Half Men," "Malcolm in the Middle," and "American Gods" to name a few) and was still working at the time of her death.

Actor Dustin Diamond, who played iconic '90s geek Samuel "Screech" Powers on the sitcom "Saved by the Bell," died of cancer in February 2021, just three weeks after it was revealed that he'd been diagnosed with stage 4 small cell carcinoma. "In that time, it managed to spread rapidly throughout his system; the only mercy it exhibited was its sharp and swift execution," his agent said (per Variety). "Dustin did not suffer." He was 44.

A naturally funny child, Diamond landed the role of Screech with next to no onscreen experience. He debuted as the loveable loser in 1988 on the Disney Channel's "Good Morning, Miss Bliss" (which would be picked up and revamped into "Saved by the Bell" by NBC when it was canned after a single season). "Saved by the Bell" finished in 1992, but Diamond reprised the role of Screech on several occasions in the years that followed, most notably in "Saved by the Bell: The College Years" and "Saved by the Bell: The New Class." The California native appeared in 130 episodes of "The New Class" from 1994 to 2000.

Diamond's career floundered after "The New Class," and he faced troubles in his personal life too. In 2015, he spent three months behind bars for stabbing a man during a barroom brawl. "We want the public to understand that he was not intentionally malevolent," Diamond's agent said. "He — much like the rest of those who act out and behave poorly — had undergone a great deal of turmoil and heartache."

Star of the stage and screen Christopher Plummer, known for a prolific career that included playing Captain von Trapp in the iconic Best Picture winner "The Sound of Music" and later becoming the oldest ever Oscar recipient, died in February 2021. He was 91.

The Toronto native made his Broadway bow in 1954's "The Starcross Story" and debuted on the big screen four years later, starring alongside Henry Fonda and Susan Strasberg in Sidney Lumet's "Stage Struck." The actor disliked many of the films he appeared in during the 1960s, including the one he would come to be best known for (he famously called Robert Wise's musical "The Sound of Mucus"). He was reportedly drinking heavily at the time, but he managed to turn his personal and professional life around with the help of actress Elaine Taylor, his third wife.

In the 1970s, Plummer bagged a Tony Award for his work on the musical "Cyrano" and then a Primetime Emmy for "The Moneychangers," NBC's adaptation of Arthur Hailey's political thriller. He was named Best Supporting Actor for his turn as a gay man who comes out late in life in 2010's "Beginners," making him the oldest Academy Award winner at the age of 82. He was nominated in the same category for 2017's "All the Money in the World," a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact that he stepped in to replace Kevin Spacey in the role of J. Paul Getty just six weeks before the film was due to be released.

Actor and lifelong Buddhist Christopher Pennock, who appeared in 126 episodes of the Gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows" and later recurred on "General Hospital," died in February 2021. He had been given a melanoma diagnosis the previous year, Deadline confirmed. His death came on "the first day of the Tibetan Buddhist New Year," his wife, Lynn Dunn Pennock, said in a statement (via ComicBook.com). "Chris has transitioned into the pure land of Dewachen with complete enlightenment leaving only a rainbow body behind." He was 76.

Pennock studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and would go on to finetune his craft with The Actors Studio before making his bow on Broadway. He began with understudy work, but he quickly leveled up and started landing roles in productions like 1969's "Patriot for Me," which is where Dan Curtis first laid eyes on him. The "Dark Shadows" creator cast Pennock as Leviathan, the first of many characters he would portray — he's perhaps best known for the twin roles of Cyrus Longworth and John Yaeger, the in-universe versions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Pennock became a regular at "Dark Shadows" fan conventions in the decades that followed, but he was also known for various other TV shows. He played Assistant District Attorney Mitch Williams in "General Hospital" and would also pop up in the likes of "The Love Boat," "Strike Force," "Cagney & Lacey," "Melrose Place," "The A-Team," "Dynasty," "The Young and the Restless," and "Baywatch."

Versatile British actor Ronald Pickup, who was the Neville Chamberlain to Gary Oldman's Winston Churchill in "The Darkest Hour" and gave a memorable turn as the Archbishop of Canterbury in "The Crown," died in February 2021. His agent told the BBC that he "passed away peacefully [...] after a long illness surrounded by his wife and family." He was 80.

Pickup was a classically trained actor with decades of experience on both the stage and the screen. He made his TV debut in the 1964 "Doctor Who" episode "The Tyrant of France" and broke into film in the 1970s, appearing in pictures like "The Day of the Jackal" and "Zulu Dawn." He would move seamlessly between television and movies in the decades that followed, plying his trade in everything from long-running British soap opera "Coronation Street" to large scale Hollywood blockbusters like 2010's "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," in which he played King Sharaman, the murdered father of Jake Gyllenhaal's hero. He was perhaps best known for his turn as aging ladies man Norman Cousins in 2011's "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and its 2015 sequel, "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel."

News of Pickup's death was mourned by the National Theatre, which called him an "exceptional actor" in a tribute tweet. "[He] had a long history with the NT, starting with 1964's 'The Royal Hunt of the Sun.' He went on to feature in 36 of our productions, and was a regular at The Old Vic under Laurence Olivier."

New York-born actor Yaphet Kotto – who appeared opposite Roger Moore as a corrupt Caribbean politician in the James Bond film "Live and Let Die" and later played engineer Dennis Parker in Ridley Scott's sci-fi flick "Alien" – died in the Philippines in March 2021. His wife, Sinahon Thessa, confirmed the news in a Facebook post. "You played a villain on some of your movies but for me you're a real hero," she said, adding, "A good man, a good father, a good husband and a decent human being." He was 81.

Kotto was a descendant of Cameroonian royalty on his father's side, as he revealed in his book, "The Royalty." After separating from his dad, Kotto's mother (who was of West Indian heritage) joined the U.S. Army and left him to be raised by her Catholic parents. He made his movie debut aged 23 in "Nothing but a Man," a film about a Black couple dealing with racial discrimination in 1960s Alabama. His sheer size led to him being cast in a variety of hardman roles in the years that followed, something that always bothered him. "I want to try to play a much more sensitive man," he once told The Baltimore Sun, adding, "There is an aspect of Black people's lives that is not running or jumping."

Other notable credits include the Stephen King adaptation "The Running Man," in which Kotto fought for his freedom alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the '90s police procedural series "Homicide: Life on the Street."

We lost Bond girls Honor Blackman ("Goldfinger") and Diana Rigg ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service") in 2020, and in the first month of 2021, Tanya Roberts was added to that list. She was best known for playing geologist Stacey Sutton opposite a much older Roger Moore in 1985's "A View to a Kill," the 14th installment in the British spy franchise. The actress died from a urinary tract infection that "got into her blood" and developed into sepsis, her longtime partner, Lance O'Brien, told Fox News. She was 65.

The New York native started out as a model but made the transition to acting a decade before her James Bond appearance, landing a part in the horror flick "Forced Entry" (aka "The Last Victim"). Her first major role came in 1980, when she joined the cast of the then-struggling "Charlie's Angels." She couldn't save the show, but the exposure was enough to launch a film career. She went on to appear in sword-and-sorcery flick "The Beastmaster" and action-fantasy "Sheena," in which she starred as the titular Queen of the Jungle. She remained busy during the 1990s, when she made her first appearance on "That '70s Show;" Roberts became a fan favorite playing Midge Pinciotti, the hilarious mother of Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon).

In a bizarre twist, Roberts' death was announced prematurely. A misunderstanding between her partner and her agent led to the latter jumping the gun and informing news outlets that she had died 24 hours before she did.

Award-winning actress Jessica Walter, who won an Emmy for her turn as a San Francisco cop in "Ironside" spinoff "Amy Prentiss," and became known to later generations for playing Lucille Bluth in "Arrested Development" and voicing Malory Archer in "Archer," died in her sleep in March 2021. "A working actor for over six decades, her greatest pleasure was bringing joy to others through her storytelling both on screen and off," daughter Brooke Bowman said in a statement, per Deadline. "While her legacy will live on through her body of work, she will also be remembered by many for her wit, class, and overall joie de vivre." She was 80.

The New York-born Walter began her career on Broadway and quickly started turning heads, picking up the Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her work in the show "Photo Finish." She continued to impress after making the move to the big screen, where Walter played Clint Eastwood's knife-wielding ex-girlfriend in the actor's directorial debut, 1971's "Play Misty for Me," earning a Golden Globe nomination in the process.

She was up for multiple Emmys over the course of her career, including for "Arrested Development." The cast and crew of the cult sitcom took to Twitter to mourn Walter's passing after the news broke. "What a brilliant, funny, intelligent, and strong woman," omniscient narrator and producer Ron Howard tweeted. "Thank you for a lifetime of laughs and for sharing your incredible talent on our show and with the world."

Former child actor Houston Tumlin, who played Will Ferrell's trash-talking son Walker Bobby in 2006 speedway comedy "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," died at his home in Alabama in March 2021. His death was ruled a suicide, Shelby County coroner Lina Evans confirmed to TMZ. His girlfriend, Charity Robertson, said that she would miss his "big heart, caring spirit [and] infectious laughter" in a Facebook post. "I love you so much Houston Lee, and thank you for loving me so passionately and unapologetically for the time we had each other." He was 28.

Will Ferrell's "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" – which also starred the likes of John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jane Lynch, and Amy Adams — was Tumlin's one and only acting credit. The film's director, Adam McKay, said that he was "truly heartbroken and stunned at Houston's passing" in a tweet. "He was a joyful and talented person," McKay recalled. "[I] will never forget the laughs and good times we had. Sending love and prayers to his family and friends."

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

New Jersey-born actor Robert Rodan, best known for his portrayal of Adam, the Frankenstein's monster-inspired character in the cult '60s show "Dark Shadows," died in March 2021. The cause of death was heart failure, the official "Dark Shadows" newsletter ShadowGram confirmed (via Deadline). He was 83.

The Newark native made his onscreen debut in a 1963 episode of "Day in Court," a series that took viewers inside real criminal trials via reenactments long before true crime became popular. Rodan appeared uncredited in two feature films the following year, popping up as "Office Employee on Phone" in the musical "Looking for Love" and "Dancing Party Goer in Baby Blue Blazer" in the rom-com "Goodbye Charlie." He didn't catch his big break until 1968 when he made his bow as Adam, a towering creature composed entirely of body parts procured by Addison Powell's Dr. Eric Lang.

Created by Dan Curtis, "Dark Shadows" ran from 1966 until 1971 and featured a cast of rotating actors that often popped up as different characters. Rodan was one of the few who only played a single character, though that only made him more popular with fans of the gothic soap opera. Rodan also went on to star as a power-mad business mogul in 1969's grindhouse picture "The Minx," but he quit acting sometime after to concentrate on real estate, instead. His death was mourned by everyone at Dark Shadows News, which confirmed in a tribute tweet that his ashes were to "be scattered off Catalina Island."

British character actor Paul Ritter, who won plaudits for his powerful performance in HBO's Golden Globe-winning miniseries "Chernobyl," died in April 2021. The Kent native "had been suffering from a brain tumor," his agent told The Guardian. "He died peacefully at home with his wife, Polly, and sons, Frank and Noah, by his side." He was 54.

Ritter was well known in theater communities on both sides of the Atlantic, having been nominated for both an Olivier Award and a Tony Award in his time. He made his onscreen bow in 1992, with an appearance in the long-running police procedural "The Bill." He went on to carve out a career as a prolific TV actor, landing recurring roles in the likes of "City Lights," "Land Girls," "Vera," "The Game," "Hang Ups," "No Offence," "Resistance," "Cold Feet," and "Belgravia." Alongside his turn as engineer Anatoly Dyatlov in "Chernobyl," his best-known performance came in the British sitcom "Friday Night Dinner," where he played oddball dad Martin Goodman. Robert Popper, creator of "Fright Night Dinner," said that he was "devastated at this terribly sad news" in a tribute tweet. "Paul was a lovely, wonderful human being. Kind, funny, super caring and the greatest actor I ever worked with."

Notable feature film appearances include "The Libertine," "Hannibal Rising," "Quantum of Solace," and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." In the sixth "Potter" movie, Ritter played Eldred Worple, the wizard who unsuccessfully tries to convince Harry to let him write his biography at Professor Slughorn's party.

Oklahoma-born actor James Hampton, who played Michael J. Fox's werewolf father in 1985's "Teen Wolf," died in April 2021. The cause of death was Parkinson's disease, a rep told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 84.

Hampton was raised in Dallas and studied theater arts at the University of North Texas. After a stint in the military, he returned to Dallas and got his foot in the door at the Knox Street Theater, where he was under the tutelage of Sidney Lumet's father, Baruch Lumet. When a short film he starred in (1962's "The Cliff Dwellers") got an unexpected Oscar nod, Hampton secured an agent and was soon rubbing shoulders with Burt Reynolds on Western series "Gunsmoke." The two struck up a friendship and would work on several movies together, most notably 1974's "The Longest Yard."

Hampton received a Golden Globe nomination for his turn in the prison-set sports comedy. He was originally tapped to play the snitch character, but he saw more value in the caretaker role. It was a similar story when he went in to audition for the basketball coach in "Teen Wolf" and ended up reading for the dad part instead. "I thought, 'I'm gonna do this picture to be a wolf, I wanna be a wolf," he once said. "At that time there was only three or four actors who had played [a wolf]." Hampton was also known for the Western comedy series "F Troop," having appeared in 65 episodes of the satirical sitcom during the mid-'60s.

Actor Joseph Siravo, who debuted as the vengeful son of a slain mobster in Brian De Palma's "Carlito's Way" and later played Tony Soprano's father in HBO's iconic mafia series "The Sopranos," died in April 2021, his daughter announced on Instagram. "I was by his side when my dear father passed away this morning, peacefully," Allegra Okarmus said (via the BBC), adding, "I am so immensely grateful to have had him here on Earth, and I know that he hasn't gone very far." The cause of death was colon cancer, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed. He was 66.

The Washington D.C. native learned his craft at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, and his early successes were largely on the stage. He shone in critically acclaimed plays like "Oslo" and "Conversations with My Father," and he was equally as comfortable in musicals, appearing in "The Boys from Syracuse," "The Light in the Piazza," and most notably, "Jersey Boys." It was here that he played Angelo "Gyp" DeCarlo, patriarch of the Genovese crime family, over 2,000 times during the show's national tour in 2006. To television fans, however, he'll be best remembered as the head of another famous Jersey family.

Siravo appeared as the young Johnny "Johnny Boy" Soprano in dreams and flashbacks, but the impact he made on the cast and crew of "The Sopranos" was very much real. Michael Imperioli, who played Christopher Moltisanti on the show, called him "an excellent actor and a wonderful guy" in a tribute Instagram post.

Horror movie actor and regular Sam Raimi collaborator Timothy Patrick Quill, who played the bald blacksmith in the director's "Evil Dead" sequel "Army of Darkness" and later appeared in all three of his "Spider-Man" films, died in 2021. News of his death was shared by Bruce Campbell, his longtime friend and fellow Raimi regular. "Tim was full of fun and mischief, and he left it all on the dance floor," the actor tweeted. "Safe travels, sir!"

Quill, Raimi, Campbell and Scott Spiegel (who co-wrote "Evil Dead II") all went to the same high school in Detroit. It was here that they developed a passion for film and a friendship that would last a lifetime. "We made movies back in the '70s, the old Super-8 movies," Quill told Groovey.TV in a 2013 interview. "And the funny thing is — Sam mentioned this to me on 'Spider-Man' — all the gags are the same, just different budget!"

He went on to call Raimi "very loyal" for casting his old friends in his projects ("We've all worked together and tried to stay together," Quill said), and he thanked the director for getting him "into Hollywood" with "Army of Darkness." The part apparently came with one condition. "He goes, 'Tim, would you shave your head for $5,000?' And I said, 'Sam, I'll shave my whole body!' He goes, 'No, it's not that kind of movie, Timmy!'"

Quill also appeared in Raimi's films "The Quick and the Dead" and "Oz the Great and Powerful."

Italian actor and stuntman Felix Silla, who played the iconic Cousin Itt on ABC's macabre sitcom "The Addams Family" and later appeared as bald Nazi villain Litvak in "The Maltese Falcon" sequel "The Black Bird," died in April 2021. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, friend and former co-star Gil Gerard confirmed. "The only good I can draw from his passing is that he didn't suffer any longer," Gerard said when he announced the news on Twitter. "I will miss him terribly, especially the great time we had at our panels." He was 84.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Silla arrived in the States in 1955 and traveled the country as a trapeze artist and tumbler with the famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. His skills landed him regular stuntman work in Tinseltown, and by 1963, he'd made the transition to credited roles. He appeared in TV shows "Grindl" and "Bonanza" before debuting on "The Addams Family," appearing as the Addams' hairy, sunglasses-wearing cousin in 17 episodes of the cult show.

Silla went on to become a favorite among sci-fi fans, playing Twiki in "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" and later working on both "Battlestar Galactica" and "Star Trek." He also had "Star Wars" on his resume, having played an Ewok in "Return of the Jedi," and he popped up in Mel Brooks' "Spaceballs" too. He retired in 1996 and moved to Las Vegas in 2003, but he continued to make regular convention appearances.

Emmy-nominated actor Johnny Crawford, who was one of Disney's 24 original Mouseketeers in the 1950s, died in April 2021. "Sadly, Johnny was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and he was living in a memory care residence before contracting COVID-19, then pneumonia," a statement posted to the Johnny Crawford Legacy website revealed. He was 75.

Crawford was best known for his time as a child star. After acing his Disney audition with a mixture of tap-dancing, singing and fencing, he appeared in the first season of "The Mickey Mouse Club." Producers decided that they wanted fewer Mouseketeers on the team ahead of the second season, however, and Crawford was among those cut loose. "When they dropped my option, that really broke my heart, and I didn't have any other prospects," he once said in an interview. "I was a has-been at nine."

He dusted himself off and got back in the saddle a few years later, landing the co-lead part in Western series "The Rifleman." He was 12 years old when he made his debut as Mark McCain, son of the Winchester-wielding Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors), a role that earned him an Emmy nod for Supporting Actor. "I had a great time and really never thought about the fact that I was a kid," he said of his years on the show. He began a second career as a recording artist around this time and would go on to have some chart success in the 1960s. Other notable credits include "Rawhide," "El Dorado," and "Hawaii Five-O."

Olympia Dukakis – the star of the stage and screen who won an Oscar for her turn as Cher's meddling mother in hit '80s rom-com "Moonstruck" — died in May 2021, her brother confirmed in a Facebook post. "My beloved sister, Olympia Dukakis, passed away this morning in New York City," Apollo Dukakis said. "After many months of failing health, she is finally at peace." She was 89.

The daughter of Greek immigrants, Dukakis was born in Massachusetts and attended Boston University, where she mastered in performing arts. She met actor-producer Louis Zorich after moving to New York, and they would tie the knot in 1962, the year she made her debut. By the mid-1960s, she had two Obie Awards to her name and was well on her way to becoming a respected Broadway star, though she'll be remembered by most for her work on the screen.

Dukakis was named Best Supporting Actress at both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes for her performance as Rose Castorini in "Moonstruck." In a tweet, Cher said that "even though her part was that of a suffering wife," Dukakis was a barrel of laughs on set. Sally Field, who worked with Dukakis on "Steel Magnolias" a few years later, called her "unique and talented and one of a kind" in her own tribute. She also appeared in Woody Allen's "Mighty Aphrodite" and gave Emmy-nominated performances in the TV movie "Lucky Day," the miniseries "More Tales of the City," and the two-part drama "Joan of Arc."

Former NFL defensive tackle Frank McRae – who played a close friend of Timothy Dalton's James Bond in his final film as the spy, 1989's "License to Kill," and later appeared as Arnold Schwarzenegger's angry boss, Lieutenant Dekker, in 1993's "Last Action Hero" — died of a heart attack in April 2021, per Variety.

A graduate of Tennessee State University, McRae went on to have a short career as a professional athlete after he was drafted into the NFL in 1966, a sixth-round pick for the Chicago Bears. When football didn't pan out, he leaned on his past experience (he'd majored in drama and history at his historically Black university) and became an actor instead. He went on to play a variety a tough guy roles in Hollywood in the 1970s, including in Sylvester Stallone's "F.I.S.T." McRae became a regular in Sly's films over the next few years, popping up in "Paradise Alley," "Lock Up," and "Rocky II," in which he played the foreman who's forced to let Rocky go from his job at the meat factory.

McRae went on to appear in a number of comedies in the 1980s, most notably the Eddie Murphy film "48 Hrs.," "National Lampoon's Vacation," and "*batteries not included." He reprised his "48 Hrs." role in the '90s sequel and carried on working into the next decade, appearing in two episodes of "ER" in 2003. McRae made his final appearance in the 2006 made-for-TV Western "Love's Abiding Joy," playing a ranch hand.

Beloved Hollywood veteran Norman Lloyd, who was one of the oldest living actors in the business, died in May 2021 at the age 106. "Norman Lloyd loved to tell stories and make people laugh," Judd Apatow, who directed Lloyd in 2015's "Trainwreck" (his final movie appearance), said in an Instagram post. Lloyd loved to tell stories about his wife, Broadway performer Peggy Craven, Apatow said. She died in 2011.

The New Jersey-born, Brooklyn-raised Lloyd got his first break back in 1932 when he was a student at New York University. He was spotted by Eva Le Gallienne (who The Hollywood Reporter described as "one of the grand figures of the American stage") and would end up working with Orson Welles, playing Cinna the Poet in Welles' famous adaptation of "Julius Caesar." His first film — Alfred Hitchcock's "Saboteur" — soon followed. The hit spy thriller was the beginning of a long-lasting professional relationship between Hitchcock and Lloyd, who went on to produce and/or direct over 250 episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" in the '50s and '60s.

Lloyd was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his work on the TV movie "Steambath" (an adaptation of Bruce Jay Friedman's off-Broadway play of the same name) in the '70s, and in the following decade, he became known for NBC medical drama "St. Elswhere," appearing as Dr. Daniel Auschlander between 1982 and 1988. Other notable roles include Peter Weir's "Dead Poets Society," Martin Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence," and Charlie Chaplin's "Limelight."

Boxer turned actor Chuck Hicks, who played a heavy in numerous Clint Eastwood movies, died in May 2021. His son, who confirmed his death to The Hollywood Reporter, revealed that Hicks had a stroke around six months prior. He was 93.

The California native excelled at football during his time at Burbank High School, and after a stint in the Navy amid World War II, he landed a scholarship at Loyola Marymount University. He played semipro after NFL tryouts came to nothing, and then got into boxing, earning $75 a fight. His experience helped him carve out a career in Hollywood, as both an actor and a stuntman (Hicks was a Stuntman Hall of Fame inductee).

He began making uncredited big screen appearances in 1952, popping up as football players in "The Rose Bowl Story" and the Ronald Reagan film "She's Working Her Way Through College." He played robot boxer Maynard Flash on "The Twilight Zone" in the early '60s, which is around the same time he first shared the screen with Clint Eastwood. Hicks appeared alongside Eastwood on an episode of "Rawhide" and would go on to feature in no less than nine of his movies, the last being "City Heat," released in 1984. "I was the bad guy, always getting beat up," he once told the Los Angeles Daily News.

Other notable credits include 1990's "Dick Tracy," in which he played unfortunate-looking villain the Brow, and Gore Verbinski's 2002 remake of "The Ring." Hicks made his last on-screen appearance in 2010's "Legion."

Actor and reality star Tawny Kitaen, who played Tom Hanks' sweetheart in the raunchy 1984 comedy "Bachelor Party" and later featured on shows like "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" and "Botched," died in May 2021, her daughter told The New York Times. She was 59.

Kitaen made her debut in the 1983 TV movie "Malibu" and landed her first big-screen role the following year, playing the title character in the French action comedy "Gwendoline" (aka "The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak"). She followed that up with the role of Debbie Thompson, fiancée to Tom Hanks' Rick Gassko in teen flick "Bachelor Party." The film received mixed reviews, but audiences were smitten with Kitaen, who would go on to make a name for herself in the rock world.

After featuring in Ratt's music video for "Back for More" (she also appeared on the cover of the band's 1984 album "Out of the Cellar"), Kitaen starred in several Whitesnake videos, most notably 1987's "Here I Go Again" — she's the redhead dancing suggestively on top of that white sports car in the famous video. She apparently impressed frontman David Coverdale, who married her two years later. Kitaen went on to have two daughters (Wynter and Raine) by her second husband, baseball player Chuck Finley.

Other notable credits include the film "Crystal Heart," in which she starred as a rock singer, the Spain-set action movie "Marine Issue" (aka "Instant Justice"), and the Ouija board-based horror flick "Witchboard."

Two-time Tony Award nominee Samuel E. Wright, most famous for his iconic portrayal of Sebastian the crab in Disney's "The Little Mermaid," died of prostate cancer in May 2021, Deadline confirmed. He was 74.

The South Carolina-native began his career on Broadway, appearing in the original production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" in 1971. He made his TV debut in 1976 and went on to land a part in 1988's "Bird," the Forest Whitaker-led biopic about jazz musician Charlie Parker. He voiced King Triton's forthright advisor Sebastian in Disney's animated classic "The Little Mermaid" the following year, a role he would reprise many times in TV spinoffs and related Disney media. "Sebastian has given me what I've always wanted as an actor, and that's immortality," he once told Entertainment Weekly, adding, "As far as I'm concerned, that's why I'm in the business. I want the whole world to love me, remember me forever."

Wright got the chance to portray another iconic Disney character when "The Lion King" came to Broadway in 1997, originating the role of Simba's father, Mufasa. The musical's official Twitter account paid tribute to him after news of his death broke, displaying his image on a billboard above the New Amsterdam Theatre, the original home of the production. Wright's turn as Mufasa led to a Tony nomination, the second of his career — his first nod was for 1983's "The Tap Dance Kid". Other notable stage credits include "Welcome to the Club," "Mule Bone," and "Over Here!"

Ohio native Mark York, best known for playing wheelchair user Billy Merchant on "The Office," died in May 2021 after "a brief and unexpected illness," Variety said. He was 55.

According to the actor's official website, years ago, York was in "an almost fatal, life-changing auto accident, leaving him a paraplegic." Five years after his accident, he made an uncredited appearance in coming-of-age film "Going All the Way," and he appeared (once again uncredited) in Steven Spielberg's "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" in 2001. He popped up as a construction worker on "8 Simple Rules" in 2004, and in 2006, he played Richard Keith on "CSI: NY," his first named role. That same year, he made his first appearance as Billy Merchant.

York made a memorable debut on a Season 2 episode of "The Office." We first meet Billy (the property manager of Scranton Business Park) when he's invited to speak at a disability awareness meeting by Steve Carell's Michael Scott. He reminds everyone not to use the disabled parking spots, not knowing the culprit is Michael himself (hey, the dude burned his foot on a Foreman Grill). He gives free pretzels to his tenants in Season 3, and he was present at the fun run during Season 4. Michael calls him to ask about office space when he decides to start his own paper company in Season 5, but Billy ultimately sells the Scranton Business Park to Rainn Wilson's Dwight Schrute at the end of Season 6, bringing his time on the show to an end.

Survivors include York's mother, father, and three brothers.

Chicago-raised actor Arlene Golonka, best known for her turn as Millie Swanson on "Mayberry R.F.D.," died in May 2021. Her niece told Variety that she had Alzheimer's. "She lived and breathed being an artist, being an actress was who she was born to be," Stephanie Morton said. "She was a very wise woman who I was lucky to call my aunt." She was 85.

Golonka trained at some of the acting world's top institutions, going from Chicago's Goodman Theatre to the Actors Studio in New York. She was just 19 when she moved to the Big Apple, but (after receiving classes from veteran coaches like Lee Strasberg, Uta Hagen, and Sanford Meisner), she was ready to launch her career. She began landing TV and movie roles, though she limited herself to films made in New York for the majority of the 1960s. Towards the end of that decade, she bit the bullet and headed out west.

After establishing herself in Los Angeles, Golonka carved out a career as a respected character actor. She made her debut as Millie on "The Andy Griffith Show" in 1967 and reprised the role in "Mayberry R.F.D." the following year, ultimately appearing in 49 episodes of the spinoff. Other notable credits include "The Doctors," "Get Smart," "That Girl," "M*A*S*H," "Fantasy Island," and "The King of Queens," her final appearance.

She became an acting coach in later years, with her most famous student being Halle Berry. "She loved to teach," Golonka's niece told Variety.

Veteran TV actor Robert Hogan, who "appeared in more than 100 primetime shows as well as nearly every daytime drama on the air" according to his obituary in The New York Times, died of "complications from pneumonia" in May 2021. He was 87.

The New York-born actor served with the U.S. Army in Korea and briefly trained as an engineer upon returning, but an aptitude test told him that he was in the wrong field. "That's when I gave acting a try," he said. Hogan secured a place at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and went on to become a stalwart on the small screen, appearing in everything from "The Twilight Zone," "Bonanza," "Mission: Impossible," and "M*A*S*H" to Adam West's "Batman" and Lou Ferrigno's "The Incredible Hulk," to name but a few.

For many, Hogan was best known for his recurring roles on classic ABC shows "The Young Marrieds," "Peyton Place," and "Petticoat Affair," though younger viewers will no doubt remember him from his turn in HBO's "The Wire." Hogan portrayed Louis Sobotka, father and moral compass to Pablo Schreiber's Nick Sobotka, in four 2002 episodes of the hit show. He was also seen briefly in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood." Leonardo DiCaprio's Rick Dalton calls "Bobby Hogan" a "good guy" as he watches the actual Hogan on-screen in an episode of ABC's "The F.B.I." with his buddy, Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth. DiCaprio's character plays the villain of the episode in Tarantino's reimagining.

Blake Lively's father, Ernie Lively, who played her on-screen dad in the critically acclaimed movie adaptation of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and racked up over 100 acting credits during a career that spanned nearly five decades, died of "cardiac complications" in June 2021, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed. He was 74.

The Baltimore native served in the military before he entered the acting world, rising to the rank of captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. He made his ons-creen debut playing a construction worker in a 1975 episode of "The Waltons," credited as Ernie Brown (his birth name was Ernest Brown Jr.). He performed under that name for a number of years, landing roles in "Fantasy Island" and "The Dukes of Hazzard," on which he appeared several times between 1979 and 1984. When he popped up on "Fame" in 1985, he was going by Lively, a name that his daughter would later make famous. 

Lively would continue to work regularly in television (he plied his trade in multiple episodes of shows likes "Falcon Crest," "Murder, She Wrote," and "The West Wing"), but he's perhaps best known for his minor movie roles. On top of playing Bridget's dad in 2005's "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and the 2008 sequel, he was the motel clerk in Tom Hanks comedy "Turner & Hooch," the man at the airport in Sylvester Stallone's "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot," and the sergeant in "American Pie 2."

Ohio native Lisa Banes, who was in '80s films "Cocktail" and "Young Girls" and later appeared in "Gone Girl" and "A Cure for Wellness," died after a hit-and-run in June 2021. The actor was on a Manhattan street corner when she was struck by "an unknown scooter or motorcycle" that failed to stop following the collision, the NYPD told The Hollywood Reporter. Banes was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, but she died 10 days later. She was 65.

Banes' career in acting began in the city where her life was tragically taken. She studied at New York's Juilliard School and appeared in numerous Broadway shows, working with a young Billy Crudup in the original production of "Arcadia" and later portraying the mother of Melissa Errico's Tracy Lord in the popular musical "High Society." She made her movie debut in Tony Richardson's "The Hotel New Hampshire" in 1984, and by the end of the decade, she was sharing the screen with Tom Cruise, playing wealthy barfly Bonnie in "Cocktail."

She worked largely in TV during the 1990s, co-starring in the Emmy-nominated drama series "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill" before a string of guest roles in the likes of "L.A. Law," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," and "Frasier." Banes would continue to appear regularly on American TV screens, with casting directors often keen to take advantage of her age-defying looks. More recent roles include Nina Clavermore in Showtime's "Masters of Sex" and Speria Balask in Seth MacFarlane's "The Orville."

Alaska native John Paragon, best known for playing Jambi the Genie on "Pee-wee's Playhouse," died in April 2021, California's Riverside County Coroner told Deadline. The cause of death was not revealed. He was 66.

Paragon came to know "Pee-wee's Playhouse" star Paul Reubens through the Groundlings, the renowned Los Angeles improv comedy troupe that started the likes of Will Ferrell, Kristin Wiig, and Melissa McCarthy on the path to Hollywood stardom. "He was sly and wickedly funny," Reubens said in a tribute Instagram post. "We became best friends instantly. In a group of exceptionally talented and funny people, he stuck out." He helped Reubens with the development of his Pee-wee Herman character and was instrumental in the success of his Saturday morning show. On top of playing the disembodied genie Jambi (named after a sandwich shop on Hollywood Boulevard), he provided the voice of Pterri the Pterodactyl and was also a writer and director on several "Pee-wee's Playhouse" episodes.

He appeared in a number of other hit TV shows over the years, including "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "Cheers," and "Seinfeld” (his character, Cedric, was a thorn in the side of Kramer in three memorable episodes), and he continued to work on both sides of the camera, branching out into movies. Paragon penned the script for 1988's "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" (starring Cassandra Peterson, another Groundlings alum) and went on to direct twin bodybuilders turned actors Peter and David Paul in comedies "Double Trouble" and "The Babysitters."

California native Joanne Linville – who played a Romulan commander in "Star Trek: The Original Series" and went on to appear in the likes of "Gunsmoke," "Hawaii Five-O" and "Barnaby Jones" — died in June 2021, per USA Today. The Bakersfield-born actor "lived a full life," her family said in a statement. They went to describe her as "one whose spirit, passion for art and life was an inspiration to all who had the pleasure of knowing her." She was 93.

Linville made her debut as an uncredited showgirl in the 1950 Western "Copper Canyon," directed by Oscar winner John Farrow. Years would pass before she landed another role, but this time it was one of some substance. Linville played the title character in "Gwyneth," a 1956 episode of "The Kaiser Aluminum Hour," and more TV parts soon followed. She popped up in "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and later played a major part in a Civil War-set episode of "The Twilight Zone."

She was perhaps best known for her memorable guest role in "The Enterprise Incident," in which her Romulan commander captures Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock — falling in love with the latter. Her performance was "perhaps the best thing about Star Trek's third season," writer and producer Mark A. Altman tweeted.

She became an acting coach in later years, passing on the techniques she learned from renowned teacher, Stella Adler. Linville co-founded the Stella Adler Academy of Acting & Theatre in Los Angeles, which counts the likes of Benicio Del Toro and Mark Ruffalo as alumni.

Actor and renowned drama coach Ann Ratray, who began teaching young actors after her own career on the stage and screen came to an end, died in June 2021. Her son, "Home Alone" star Devin Ratray, confirmed her death in an Instagram post. "She was in her bed surrounded by her family," he wrote beside a picture of his mother and father, actor Peter Ratray ("Ryan's Hope"). She was 81.

A native of Rhode Island, Ratray trained at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She was known as a model at the time (she'd used some of the prize money she earned at a 1958 Miss America Pageant to cover her tuition fees, according to Deadline), but before long, she was treading the boards with Angela Lansbury in the hit Broadway musical "Mame." A few years later, Ratray made her full-length screen debut in the TV movie "Hastings Corner," a spoof on soap operas that aired on NBC.

She appeared in an episode of "Mission: Impossible" and had a couple of small movie roles in the 1970s, and she returned to Broadway as a replacement on the revival of George Bernard Shaw's "Candida" in the early '80s, but Ratray would become best known for her mentoring in later years. She prepared her son for his turn as Buzz McCallister in "Home Alone" and was influential in the career of "Catch-22" star Graham Patrick Martin, who tweeted, "Ann Ratray is the reason I am an actor. Forever grateful."

Longtime soap star Stuart Damon, who played Dr. Alan Quartermaine in over 300 episodes of ABC's "General Hospital” between 1977 and 2018, died following renal failure in June 2021. "['General Hospital'] was his favorite place to be," his son told KABC's George Pennacchio. "He loved playing Alan and was always so appreciative of that role and that job. It was his passion." He was 84.

Born Stuart Michael Zonis in Brooklyn, Damon began his career on the stage, appearing in the musicals "First Impressions," "The Boys From Syracuse," "Do I Hear a Waltz?," and the revue "From A to Z." According to The Hollywood Reporter, his breakthrough onscreen role was the prince in a TV production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," though Damon decided to cross the Atlantic instead of sticking around in the States. The New Yorker launched a television career in the U.K. and bagged roles in shows like "The Saint," "The New Avengers," and "The Champions," in which he played the pilot and spy Craig Stirling.

He worked out of London for over a decade, but he opted to come home when the possibility of a part on "General Hospital" arose. "I was thinking 'General Hospital' might be a 13-week gig," Damon told Inman in a 2010 interview, "and 31 years later, I was still there." His character was killed off in 2006, but he continued to return in flashbacks. The soap veteran went on to appear in "As the World Turns" and "Days of Our Lives."

Model and actor Daniel Mickelson, who was best known for his role on Brat TV's "Mani," died on July 4, 2021. His sister, model Meredith Mickelson, revealed the news via Instagram the following day. "My heart is shattered and to write this feels so wrong," she posted. "Yesterday, I lost my brother, best friend, and the other half of my heart. There wasn't a person I loved more on this Earth." No cause of death was given. He was 23.

Mickelson only made his acting debut in 2019. He played the treasure hoarding con man Billy in "Mani," a web series about a young girl whose parents decide to hire a male nanny. The Atlanta-born up-and-comer landed his first film role soon after, appearing in the indie horror "The Killer Clown Meets the Candy Man," a fictional account of a meeting between real-life serial killers John Wayne Gacy and Dean Corll. He also had a bright future in the modeling world, which was deeply saddened by his loss.

The comment section of Meredith Mickelson's tribute post was quickly flooded with messages of condolence, many of them from fellow models. Jordyn Woods sent her prayers, while Paris Hilton wrote that she was "so sad to hear" about Mickelson's death. Among the most heartbreaking tributes was the one made by his girlfriend, Maddie Haley. "I wish my plans to spend the rest of my life with you weren't stripped away from me like this," she said.

Veteran actor Suzzanne Douglas, who starred in the '90s sitcom "The Parent 'Hood" and later appeared in Ava DuVernay's critically acclaimed drama "When They See Us," died in July 2021. DuVernay described her as "a quiet, elegant force" in a tribute tweet. "A gentlewoman. A gem of a lady. A confident, caring actor who breathed life into the words and made them shimmer. I'm grateful that our paths in this life crossed." She died of complications from cancer, her husband told TMZ. She was 64.

A native of Chicago, Douglas grew up in a "rough" part of the city. "We were not allowed off my block, and the playgrounds were rat-infested, and there was broken glass all over," she once told the Chicago Sun-Times. She caught the acting bug young, however, and would go on to study theater at Illinois State University, learning her craft alongside the likes of John Malkovich and Gary Sinise. Douglas made her on-screen debut in the 1981 TV movie "Purlie" and would become a sitcom mainstay the following decade.

In what was her best known role, Douglas played matriarch Jerri Peterson on The WB's "The Parent 'Hood" from 1995 to 1999. Notable film credits from the time include "Jason's Lyric," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" and "The Inkwell," which co-starred Jada Pinkett Smith. "She was an elegant, gentle warm spirit," the actor tweeted. In "When They See Us," Douglas played Grace Cuffee, mother of one of the Central Park Five.

Action movie actor William Smith, who played villains that fought the likes of Clint Eastwood and Nick Nolte on the big screen, died in July 2021. His wife, Joanne Cervelli Smith, confirmed his death to The New York Times. He was 88.

Born and raised on his family's cattle ranch in Missouri, Smith "could ride almost before he could walk," the bio on his official website states. His background and skill set made him ideal for Westerns, and he certainly worked on plenty of those over the years (he was a recipient of both the Golden Boot Award and the Silver Spur Award, marking his contribution to the genre). He was way more than just a cowboy, however.

Smith dabbled in film as a child actor but would showcase his many talents elsewhere before returning to Hollywood. According to his website, he joined the Air Force and went "on secret missions over Russia and other Eastern Bloc countries" during the Korean War, on account of him speaking several languages. He later excelled as a bodybuilder, a boxer (he was the Air Force light-heavyweight boxing champion for a spell), and a martial artist, earning black belts in kung fu and karate.

In terms of on-screen achievements, he was best known for his roles in the TV mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man" and films like "Any Which Way You Can," "Red Dawn," "The Losers," "Angels Die Hard," "The Outsiders," and "Conan the Barbarian," in which he played Arnold Schwarzenegger's dad.

Martial arts movie icon Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba – who came to the attention of international audiences in the 1970s with his violent classic "The Street Fighter" and later appeared in "Kill Bill" and "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" — died in August 2021. The cause of death was complications from COVID-19, Variety confirmed. He was 82.

A black belt in numerous disciplines, Chiba was the real deal when it came to martial arts. He learned how to fight from karate master Masutatsu "Mas" Oyama (who he later portrayed in a series of films) and made good use of these skills in his onscreen debut. At age 19, Chiba took over the title role in the tokusatsu show "Seven Color Mask," marking the start of a long and illustrious career. The Fukuoka native's first crossover success was 1974's "The Street Fighter," the dub of which became a cult favorite in the United States. The film would inspire Quentin Tarantino, who referenced it in his script for 1993's "True Romance."

He went on to play legendary swordmaker Hattori Hanzō in "Kill Bill," a name that Tarantino lifted directly from Chiba's TV show "Shadow Warriors," a period drama from the 1980s. Tarantino has stated that the Hanzō played by Chiba in "Kill Bill" is supposed to be a descendant of the one seen in "Shadow Warriors." Chiba died before his final feature film, the gangster movie "Bond: Kizuna," got released. "He will be missed," the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said in a tribute tweet.

Emmy-nominated actor Michael K. Williams, best known for his spellbinding turns on numerous HBO shows, was found dead in his New York apartment on September 6, 2021. He was "a member of the HBO family for more than 20 years," a rep from the network said in a statement, (via The Hollywood Reporter). "While the world is aware of his immense talents as an artist, we knew Michael as a dear friend who was beloved by all who had the privilege to work with him." He was 54.

Williams worked as a background dancer for Madonna and George Michael before switching his attention to acting. The Brooklyn native was soon spotted by Tupac Shakur, who pushed for him to be cast in the 1996 film "Bullet" after seeing his headshots. His distinctive facial scar made him a perfect fit for the role of High Top, and Williams would go on to play a number of gangster roles in the years that followed. His portrayal of openly gay stick-up man Omar Little in "The Wire" garnered widespread praise and helped change attitudes, the actor said in a 2019 interview. "Omar definitely helped soften the blow of homophobia in my community, and it opened up a dialogue," he told The New York Times.

Other memorable roles include Jack Gee ("Bessie"), Chalky White ("Boardwalk Empire"), Freddy Knight ("The Night Of"), Bobby McCray ("When They See Us"), and Montrose Freeman ("Lovecraft Country"), which earned the versatile star his fifth and final Emmy nod.

Comedian and actor Norm Macdonald, who starred in films like "Dirty Work" and "Screwed" but was best known for his time on "Saturday Night Live," died of cancer in September 2021. Macdonald kept his diagnosis secret for nine years because he didn't want it to "affect the way the audience or any of his loved ones saw him," friend Lori Jo Hoekstra told Deadline. "Norm was a pure comic. He once wrote that 'a joke should catch someone by surprise, it should never pander.' He certainly never pandered." He was 61.

The Canadian funnyman perfected his act in and around his hometown of Quebec City before bringing it to the States. A 1990 appearance on "Star Search" led to some TV writing gigs, and he soon found himself penning gags for ABC's "Roseanne." In 1993, NBC came calling, and Macdonald began a five-year stint on "SNL" that's remembered chiefly for his time fronting the Weekend Update segment. His spell as anchor was defined by his relentless criticism of O.J. Simpson and his murder trial, which some say contributed to his axing from SNL. Macdonald himself believed that his humor was just too out there, however. He told The New York Times: "We were doing experimental stuff."

Macdonald went on to star in "The Norm Show" and worked on several movies with former "SNL" cast members, most notably Adam Sandler's "Billy Madison," Eddie Murphy's "Dr. Dolittle," and Rob Schneider's "The Animal." Other notable TV credits include "Sunnyside" and "The Middle."

Comedian and actor Anthony "AJ" Johnson, best known for his standout turn as Ezal in the classic comedy "Friday," died in September 2021. "We lost an icon," his rep, LyNea Bell, told The Hollywood Reporter. "He has left with us amazing memories of his laughter, dynamic acting skills, but most of all his enormous personality and heart of gold." Having spoken with Johnson's nephew, TMZ revealed that the actor "was found lifeless in a store [...] in Los Angeles and rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead." The cause of death was not revealed. He was 55.

Johnson put in a scene-stealing performance in "Friday," playing the film's memorable, homeless drug addict. Ice Cube, the co-writer and co-star of the stoner comedy, called him a "naturally funny dude who was straight outta Compton at the same time" in a tribute tweet. "Sorry I couldn't bring your character Ezal back to the big screen in 'Last Friday.'" According to Johnson, he was supposed to reprise the role in 2000's "Next Friday," but Cube cut him from the movie to save some money. He told Vlad TV that he and Cube "shook hands" on a figure, only for the former N.W.A man to hire someone else and begin shooting early — without telling Johnson.

He made his onscreen debut in 1990's "House Party" and reprised his role in the 1994 sequel before "Friday." Later notable credits include "The Jamie Foxx Show" and the "I Got the Hook Up" films.

Character actor Art LaFleur, who was best known for his turn as baseball legend Babe Ruth in the 1993 film "The Sandlot," died in November 2021 after "a 10 year battle with A-typical Parkinson's," his wife confirmed in a Facebook post. "He was a generous and selfless man, which carried over to his acting, but more importantly, it was who he was for his family and friends," Shelley LaFleur wrote. He was 78.

Ruth wasn't the only baseball player that LaFleur portrayed during a career that began in 1975 when he relocated to California to become a screenwriter. He started taking acting classes with Gordon Hunt (father of Helen Hunt) to help with his writing, and before long, he'd caught the acting bug. The Indiana-born former college football player went on to portray Chick Gandil in 1989's "Field of Dreams" and would appear alongside Tom Selleck in the 1992 comedy "Mr. Baseball," though it was usually "The Sandlot" that people wanted to talk about when they bumped into him on the street. "When I went into the audition I went in 'as' Babe," LaFleur once told Media Mikes. "I wore a newsboy kind of hat. I went in with a cigar ... the Babe always had a cigar."

Other notable roles include Sylvester Stallone's "Cobra," the 1988 remake of "The Blob," and the sequels to the Christmas comedy "The Santa Clause," in which he played the Tooth Fairy, aka the Molinator. "A kind and gifted actor, husband, and father," star Tim Allen said in a tweet.

TV and film actor Heath Freeman, known for playing serial killer Howard Epps on "Bones," as well as turns on "NCIS" and "Raising the Bar," died in 2021 at the age of 41. His reps reported being "truly devastated at the loss," (via The Hollywood Reporter), and called him a "brilliant human being with an intense and soulful spirit." The cause of death was not revealed.

Freeman, who learned his craft at New York University's famous Tisch School of the Arts, made his screen debut in a 2001 episode of "ER." He appeared in his first film that same year, playing a younger version of Charles Shaughnessy's character in the romantic drama "The Painting." In 2003, he landed the role of Benjamin Frank on "NCIS," a gemologist and former flame of Pauley Perrette's Abby Sciuto who appears in the Season 1 episode "Minimum Security."

In 2005, he made his first appearance as Howard Epps on a Season 1 episode of "Bones," becoming the show's first serial killer. The popular villain returns in a later episode, directing an accomplice from behind bars. He breaks out of prison in Season 2 by killing a fireman and escaping in his uniform. Freeman went on to play Gavin Dillon on "Raising the Bar." He had been concentrating on his film career at the time of his death: Freeman appeared in three features in 2021, including the Luke Wilson-led, Depression-era football flick, "12 Mighty Orphans."

Rhonda Stubbins White, who appeared on shows like "Days of Our Lives" and Tyler Perry's "Ruthless" during a three-decade career on television, died of cancer in December 2021, per The Hollywood Reporter. "She was an amazingly talented woman, full of positivity and energy, and grounded by her faith," a friend of the actor said on Facebook (via Today). "We were all fortunate to have known her and shared her short time on this earth." She was 60.

A student of the famous Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, White first appeared on our screens in 1992 when she landed a part in an episode of NBC's "Here and Now." Before long she was winning critical acclaim for her turn as Rolanda Arnett in the HBO miniseries "Laurel Avenue," a Minnesota-set drama about an extended African-American family. She plied her trade as Patrice Sayers on "Homicide: Life on the Street," Yolanda Briggs on "Chicago Hope," Mrs. Enloe on "ER," and Mrs. Sims on "Promised Land" during the remainder of the decade.

The year 2000 was a big one for White. She popped up as Dr. Whitaker on the hit political drama "The West Wing," and she began playing the role that she'd become best remembered for — she appeared as Lady Vi on 17 episodes of "Days of Our Lives," the longest run in the character actor's varied career. Other notable credits include "Charmed," "Shameless," and the BET drama "Ruthless," in which she played the cult member Agnes.

Treasured TV icon Betty White, best known for her turns on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Golden Girls," died on December 31, 2021. According to her agent, Jeff Witjas, the Emmy winner "died peacefully in her sleep at her home" at the age of 99. "I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much," Witjas told People. "I don't think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband, Allen Ludden."

Ludden, who died of cancer in 1981, was White's third husband. Her first marriage lasted just eight months. Her second was to a theater agent who wanted her to give up acting. "When you have a calling you have to follow it, so I made the choice, blew the marriage, and I've never regretted it," White told Newsweek in 2011. She went on to become a staple of American television, playing the sickly-sweet Sue Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" from 1973 to 1977, and the kind-hearted widow Rose Nylund on "The Golden Girls" from 1985 to 1992.

White enjoyed a career revival in her later years, winning a fifth Emmy Award for hosting "Saturday Night Live" and appearing in over 100 episodes of "Hot in Cleveland" between 2010 and 2015. In one of her final roles, she voiced the toy tiger Bitey White in 2019's "Toy Story 4."