Actors Who Died In 2023

Say what you want about celebrity worship, but actors loom large in the popular imagination. Millions of people around the world suspend their disbelief to follow a story and invest in its characters, and some of this investment may go toward the actors themselves. Many of us like, respect, or find some common ground with specific performers. Our connections with them vary — background, talent, personality — but a consistent one is generation. So it is lamentable when we hear of an actor aging or even dying. Why? Because it means another part of our culture and zeitgeist is fading away. 

We're just over halfway through 2023, and while we haven't seen a repeat of 2016 with its flurry of celebrity deaths, numerous actors from the screen and stage are passing on. Here are the actors who have died in 2023, so far. 

A character actor's job is to bring life to a supporting role, and they achieve this through charisma, eccentricity, or a set of features that embody their role in an interesting way. Those with broad shoulders and lantern jaws may find work as cops and Army types, but what about a man like Earl Boen, with his high hairline and doughy physique? These are not criticisms but valuable traits, for Boen used them — and an elbow-padded wardrobe — to embody Dr. Silberman, the condescending psychologist in "The Terminator" series.

Arnold Schwarzenegger may be the villain of the first film, but the T-800 can't help that he's been programmed to kill Sarah Connor. Silberman, however, can help his demeanor, which is equal parts arrogant, dismissive, and cynical. "I can make a career out of this guy!" Silberman proclaims after his interview with Kyle Reese, the time-traveling protector whom the psychologist treats with derision.

Boen reprised the Silberman role twice more, in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines." He played many other supporting roles across film and TV and lent his voice to numerous animated projects and video games too.

Diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2022, Earl Boen died on January 6 in Hawaii. He was 81 (via Hollywood Reporter).

Born Jo-Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940, Raquel Welch began her Hollywood career in the early 1960s, appearing in several Elvis Presley vehicles before starring in "One Million Years B.C." in 1966. The fantasy B-movie made Welch a famous sex symbol not so much because of the film's content but its iconic poster, which features Welch in a fur bikini set against a prehistoric landscape and the film's title in big red lettering.

This image kickstarted a career that lasted decades but Welch felt uneasy about her international sex appeal. "I was not brought up to be a sex symbol, nor is it in my nature to be one ...," she said. "The fact that I became one is probably the loveliest, most glamorous and fortunate misunderstanding" (via BBC).

Welch, who remained active until 2017, racked up some 73 acting credits, working with everyone from Frank Sinatra and Burt Reynolds to Reese Witherspoon and Paul Feig. The actress died on February 15 at age 82 following a short illness.

In the 1990s, Tom Sizemore collaborated with big filmmakers on such hot films as Tony Scott's "True Romance," Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers," Michael Mann's "Heat," and Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan." This exposure landed the actor his first leading role in "The Relic," a horror-thriller from 1997, and further roles in "Bringing Out the Dead," "Black Hawk Down," and other notable releases.

Sizemore's career destabilized through the 2000s, the result of a publicized string of legal cases, namely a 2003 conviction for domestic violence and criminal threats against his former partner, Heidi Fleiss, the so-called "Hollywood Madam" (via Guardian/Observer). Drugs afflicted Sizemore too, leading to numerous arrests and convictions, including a 16-month jail sentence for methamphetamine possession.

On February 18, Sizemore collapsed in his Los Angeles home and was taken to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center. Sadly, doctors recommended an "end-of-life decision," and on March 3, Sizemore died with his brother Paul and twin sons Jagger and Jayden by his side. He was 61.

Robert Blake got his start as a child actor in MGM comedies of the late 1930s, but it took until 1967 for Blake, then 33, to land one of his most enduring roles. He starred as Perry Smith in "In Cold Blood," which adapted Truman Capote's nonfiction novel to critical acclaim and four Oscar nominations. Blake's relative anonymity proved vital to embodying Smith, a drifter criminal sentenced to death for the Clutter family murders (the role almost went to Paul Newman, per Roger Ebert).

Blake stayed active for the next three decades, appearing in many films and TV shows across Europe and the U.S., including the lead role in "Baretta," a '70s cop show that won Blake a Primetime Emmy, and "Lost Highway," David Lynch's psychological horror film from 1997.

In 2001, Blake's second wife Bonny Lee Bakley was shot dead in a car outside Vitello's, an Italian restaurant in Studio City. Bakley was waiting for Blake, who had returned to fetch a handgun he'd left at their table. Police confirmed that this weapon had not been used in the killing, but charged Blake with his wife's murder the following year, based in part on a former stuntman's testimony that Blake had approached him to kill his wife. A jury acquitted Blake in 2005 (via Deadline).

Robert Blake died at age 89 on March 9, succumbing to heart disease.

Tall, clean-cut, and authoritative, Lance Reddick was best known for his performances as Cedric Daniels in "The Wire," Phillip Broyles in "Fringe," and Chief Irvin Irving in "Bosch." He also lent charisma to the character of Charon, the wry Kenyan concierge in the "John Wick" franchise.

During a press tour for "John Wick: Chapter 4," Reddick chose not to attend the New York premiere. He died later that week, on March 17, at age 60. A Guardian report attributed his death to "natural causes," although TMZ obtained a death certificate citing ischemic heart disease and atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. However, family representative James E. Hornstein disputed these claims as "not corroborated and is inconsistent with the facts known to the family" (via Los Angeles Times).

Despite Reddick's often stern and aloof characters, Keanu Reeves remembered him as a "very beautiful person, a special artist ... his grace and dignity, his shining light of character was just something really special." Numerous others shared Reeves' assessment, including "The Wire" showrunner David Simon, who described Reddick as, "A consummate professional, a devoted collaborator, a lovely soul and a friend ... This is just gutting and way, way, way too soon."

Harry Belafonte made a generational impression as a singer, actor, and activist. Born in New York City on March 1, 1927, Belafonte spent much of his childhood in the Caribbean before returning to Harlem in 1940. He lived there in poverty with his mother Melvine and was exposed to the reality of race, segregation, and social justice (via CNN).

Although he may be best remembered for popularizing calypso music, theater first inspired him to pursue a career in entertainment. Singing soon followed. His performing talents merged in earnest during the 1950s, first with Otto Preminger's 1954 musical "Carmen Jones," which transformed him into a household name, and then the 1956 album "Calypso," with its smash hit single "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)" (via Biography/AARP).

By the end of the decade, Belafonte owned Tony and an Emmy, and was the so-called "King of Calypso." He used this fame and wealth to affect change during the civil rights movement, risking both his career and even his life. In 1964, Belafonte and Sidney Poitier traveled through Mississippi on a fundraising mission when Ku Klux Klan members shot at them (via CNN).

Asked about art and activism in 2011, Belafonte said, "I was an activist long before I became an artist. They both service each other, but the activism is first" (via Dallas Morning News). Harry Belafonte died of congestive heart failure on April 25. He was 96.

In 1969, Jim Brown starred opposite Raquel Welch in "100 Rifles," a film notable for depicting the first interracial love scene in a major Hollywood production. The film served as a touchstone of Brown's new career as Hollywood's first African American action hero and he followed it with "Tick, Tick, Tick" and several other blaxploitation films, such as "Black Gunn" and "Slaughter."

Before that, Brown gained fame as one of the greatest football players in the NFL for his eight-year run with the Cleveland Browns, setting numerous records, winning the 1964 NFL championship, and becoming a four-time NFL MVP (via USA Today). He retired from the sport at just 30 years old and, in 1967, as his Hollywood prospects shifted gear, organized and agitated for the civil rights movement, namely Muhammad Ali's opposition to the Vietnam War (via BBC).

Brown went on to appear in some 30 films and lead numerous social causes, such as the Amer-I-Can program in the 1980s, which tackled gang violence and child poverty. However, Brown was also arrested six times for domestic violence and, in 1999, received a six-month jail term for misdemeanor vandalism. "Brown was not a good dude," wrote biographer Mike Freeman, "but he was a great man. Both of those things can be true."

Jim Brown died at his Los Angeles home on May 18 at the age of 87.

Margia Dean was born Marguerite Louise Skliris on April 7, 1922, and she took to performing at an early age. After scaling the beauty pageant system in the late 1930s (she placed second at the 1939 Miss America), Dean became a fixture of mid-century B-movies, appearing in dozens of westerns, dramas, and science fiction films through the '40s, '50s, and '60s (via Hollywood Reporter).

She'd often pack in at least half a dozen film credits in a single year, many of them for producer Robert L. Lippert, causing her to be known as "The Queen of Lippert." Some of her best-known films include "The Quatermass Xperiment” and "Ambush at Cimarron Pass," in which Dean received billing above co-star Clint Eastwood.

Her last film, "Moro Witch Doctor," opened in 1964. The following year, she married Felipe Alvarez, a Spanish architect and singer, and channeled her efforts into real estate and small businesses, including a dress store and a coffee shop. On June 23, Dean died at home in Rancho Cucamonga, California. She was 101.

Glenda Jackson had quite the résumé. The actress won two Academy Awards and two Emmy Awards in such films and TV shows as "Women in Love" and "Elizabeth R" before leaving the stage for the UK Parliament during the 1992 election. A Labour MP, Jackson represented the constituents of Hampstead and Kilburn for 15 years and proved herself a vocal critic of those on both sides of the political aisle. She cited Thatcher's legacy of "greed" and called Tony Blair's invasion of Iraq the "worst foreign policy decision in my lifetime" (via Guardian/Ham&High).

Jackson left office in 2015 and returned to acting on stage and screen, including a production of "Three Tall Women," for which she won a Tony Award that joined her Oscars and Emmys. In doing so, she achieved the rare Triple Crown of Acting. Jackson spent her last years with her son and family in Blackheath, where she died on June 15, aged 87.

Julian Sands never quite exploded into a household name, but he was certainly a busy, in-demand actor. He amassed 158 credits in his four-decade career, appearing in "The Killing Fields," "A Room With a View," "Boxing Helena," "Naked Lunch," and "Leaving Las Vegas," to mention just a few.

Sands disappeared on January 13 during a hike in the San Gabriel Mountains in north Los Angeles County. The actor was an experienced climber but found himself caught in unusually bad weather that ravaged southern California for weeks and hampered rescue efforts once he went missing.

It wasn't the first time Sands got in trouble. Years prior, in the 1990s, a storm battered the actor while hiking the Andes "We were all in a very bad way," he remembered. "Some guys close to us perished; we were lucky," Alas, Sands would not be so lucky on the trails of the Baldy Bowl, where his remains were found on June 25, more than five months since his disappearance. He was 65 (via BBC).

A veteran of stage and screen for seven decades, Alan Arkin appeared in numerous films, among them "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," "Edward Scissorhands," "Argo," and "Little Miss Sunshine," for which he won an Oscar for best supporting actor. He also won a Tony for his performance in "Enter Laughing" in 1963, just three years after dropping out of college and joining the Second City comedy group in Chicago, a move that reportedly "saved his life" (via BBC).

Arkin grew up in Brooklyn until age 11, when his family moved to Los Angeles in 1945, shortly before the Red Scare tore through the city's institutions, including the Los Angeles Board of Education, which fired Arkin's father, David, a schoolteacher, when he refused to state his political thoughts and affiliations (via San Diego Reader). "It was a tough time," Arkin remembered, "He got stigmatized mightily for it."

Comedy may have been the actor's forte, but Arkin displayed an uncommon seriousness on set. "Alan does not meet you halfway as an actor," said Marshall Brickman, who directed Arkin in "Simon" (1980). "The way he photographs has a kind of austerity that's a little hard for an audience to take. You either like Alan or you don't" (via Guardian).

Alan Arkin died on June 29 at the age of 89.

Jane Birkin remains known to a generation for the erotic song "Je t'aime ... moi non plus" with Serge Gainsbourg, her partner of 12 years. Radio stations across the world and even the Vatican banned the song, causing Gainsbourg to brand the Pope "our greatest PR man" (via Telegraph).

Birkin and Gainsbourg met during the production of "Slogan," a French satire released in 1969. Birkin had already made a countercultural impression in "Blowup" and "Kaleidoscope" — both directed by Michaelangelo Antonioni — and she maintained a busy career through the rest of her life in French and English-language productions such as "Catherine & Co.," "Death on the Nile," and "Evil Under the Sun."

Birkin had three daughters: Kate Barry, a photographer who died in 2013; Charlotte Gainsbourg, an actress; and Lou Doillon, a musician. Charlotte took her mother's acting baton, performing in a variety of films and TV, including several films by Lars Von Trier. Charlotte also directed the 2022 documentary, "Jane by Charlotte."

Jane Birkin died on July 16. She was 76.

In 1977, Paul Reubens created his alter-ego, Pee-wee Herman, a bow-tied man-child prone to impish remarks such as, "I know you are, but what am I?" The character emerged from the L.A. comedy scene and graduated to the "The Pee-wee Herman Show" in theaters across Los Angeles before Warner Brothers gave Reubens a film deal, which became "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" in 1985 (via NPR).

"Big Adventure" grossed over $40 million on a $7 million budget and impressed most critics, although Vincent Canby's scathing review in the New York Times led with the sinister headline, "You've been warned" (via The Numbers). Reubens' character got another bump the following year with CBS's "Pee-wee's Playhouse," which became a cult success and ran for four seasons.

Reubens' image took a hit in 1991 upon his arrest for indecent exposure at an adult theater. "It was kind of like a mortifying kind of situation," Reubens told NBC News, "where I felt like you know people are laughing at me." The case slowed the actor's career but did not destroy it. After years of cameos, Reubens staged a Pee-wee comeback through the 2010s that culminated in "Pee-wee's Big Holiday" on Netflix in 2016.

Paul Reubens was 70 when he succumbed to cancer on July 30. 

Mark Margolis enjoyed a career resurgence in recent years. Before his Emmy-nominated turn as Hector Salamanca, the notorious but aged drug baron in "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul," Margolis made dozens of characterful appearances in everything from "Scarface" and "The Equalizer" to "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," "Requiem for a Dream," and "The Wrestler."

Born in Philadelphia on November 26, 1939, Margolis learned his trade in New York City and performed on and off-Broadway before his lengthy screen career started in the mid-1970s. Film and TV credits came steadily, but Margolis struggled to make ends meet. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor had to get a job in real estate six months after his memorable role in "Scarface."

Hector Salamanca gave Margolis a huge late-career opportunity and, even better, he said, the character was unable to speak. "I was delighted not to have to learn any lines," Margolis told Time, "I mean, I had to know what was going on, I had my cues, but the fact that I didn't have to master lines was great.

Mark Margolis died on August 3 at age 83 after a short illness.

On December 13, 1955, Barry Humphries was touring with an arts council through Melbourne, Australia. Improv was part of the show, so the 21-year-old performer took to the stage as a character he'd been working on, Mrs. Norman Everage (the precursor to Dame Edna). The audience was lukewarm, but Humphries was emboldened. From the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, Humphries took Edna from small town revues to sold out theaters.

Humphries tried to crack London during this period but success eluded him. After rehab and sobriety in 1970, Humphries continued his successful run in Australia and added a new character, the lecherous cultural attaché Sir Les Patterson. Humphries' big British break finally came in a 1976 West End show that attracted some 500,000 patrons over four months. 

From there, Humphries, Edna, and Sir Les became a fixture first of British theater and then British television. By the 2000s, his acts had made it stateside with shows such as "Dame Edna: The Royal Tour," which fared much better than a 1977 show on West 55th Street, which critics described as "abysmal ... pointless ... like the litter on 42nd Street, something worth missing" (via The Guardian). 

Humphries died on April 22, aged 89, prompting an outpouring of grief and respect across film, theater, TV and politics. "A world in which I don't have the friendship of Barry Humphries is really painful," Joan Bakewell told The BBC. "[There's] a great absence in my life now."

Johnny Hardwick voiced Dale Gribble in some 250 episodes of "King of the Hill" from 1997 to 2010. Animators based Gribble on Hardwick's appearance and they lent him the actor's fondness for smoking, too. "I ended up kind of basing his attitude on if he thought he was Jack Nicholson but he wasn't," Hardwick told the Austin Chronicle, "or if he just thought he was the coolest guy around, like Matthew McConaughey's character in 'Dazed and Confused.'"

Hardwick also served as writer, producer, and story editor on the show. In 1999, he shared the Emmy Award for outstanding animated program. In a 2019 interview, Hardwick said he loved the role because he didn't have to wear make-up, memorize lines, or deal with fame. "I did it the whole time and I was completely anonymous walking around and still am," he said. "That's meant so much to me." 

Dale Gribble is set to return for Hulu's revival of "King of the Hill," and Hardwick had recently recorded dialogue for some episodes. In August of 2023, Hardwick died in his Austin, Texas home. He was 64.

Ron Cephas Jones had some 30 years' experience across TV and film. The actor was best known for his performance as William Hill in the NBC drama "This Is Us," which earned Jones a Screen Actors Guild award and two Emmys for outstanding guest actor. Jones was also active on stage and earned a Tony nomination in 2022 for his work in the ex-con drama "Clyde's." 

"My whole life has been the stage," Jones told The New York Times. "The idea of not performing again seemed worse to me than death."

Jones died on August 19, aged 66. The actor's manager Dan Spilo announced that Jones had been suffering from a "long-standing pulmonary issue" (via People). Sterling K. Brown, who played Randall Pearson, the son of Jones' character, on "This Is Us," wrote on Instagram, "One of the most wonderful people the world has ever seen is no longer with us ... the world is a little less bright."

Angus Cloud worked in a chicken and waffle joint before an HBO casting agent approached him in the street and asked for his number. "I was confused and I didn't want to give her my phone number," Cloud told GQ. "I thought it was a scam." Soon, after a few readings, Cloud got the role as drug dealer Fezco "Fez" O'Neill on "Euphoria," the hit high school drama.

Cloud noted the challenges and pressures of his new career. "You have to stay focused," he said. "You have to be on point. Acting takes a lot out of you. I'd be drained, but I was just sitting there acting." It is unclear whether overnight stardom affected Cloud's longstanding drug use and mental health issues.

In 2013, the actor received opioids after falling and breaking his skull. "The drug use most likely had something to do with his need to relieve his pain," his mother told People. Cloud's mental health took a downward turn following his father's death in May 2023. Two months later, on July 31, the 25-year-old actor was found dead at his family's home in Oakland. The cause of death was determined to be a lethal combination of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Known for his fiery Italian-American shtick, comedian Pat Cooper was called the "Comedian of Outrage" over his 60-year career on stage and on camera. He was best known as a fixture of the standup and late night talk show circuits, as well as notable appearances on shows like "Seinfeld" and in movies like "Analyze This" and "Analyze That." 

Cooper was acquainted with some of the biggest stars of his time — and he fell out with more than a few of them, too. For instance, Frank Sinatra cut ties with him over a joke about an upside-down St. Anthony statue, and in the early 1970s, Cooper swore never to return to "The Tonight Show" after Johnny Carson accidentally urinated on him in a nightclub bathroom. Cooper was also too proud to accept Martin Scorsese's cameo offer in "Casino."

Sadly, the comedian's combative personality extended to his family. "He hated us with every fiber of his being," his son Michael wrote in his book "Dear Pat Cooper," published in 2009. "What did any of us do to make my father keep away from the whole family and go find himself a new one?"

In summarizing his place in the culture, Cooper told the New York Observer, "I'm a semi name ... I am not a Rodney Dangerfield. I am not a Bob Hope. I am a consistent performer. I'm packing rooms. But I'm happier than Rodney will ever be." Pat Cooper died on June 6 in Las Vegas. He was 93.

Connecticut native Treat Williams may not have been a household name, but he worked with some of the biggest figures in New Hollywood and beyond. Among them: Steven Spielberg, Milos Foreman, Sergio Leone, and Sidney Lumet, who gave him the lead role in "Prince of the City." The film was not a box office hit, but critics praised Williams, namely Roger Ebert, who described the actor's performance as "​​demanding and grueling."

A flurry of roles followed this auspicious break, including the lead role in a 1984 film production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Later, in the 1990s, Williams appeared in "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead," "Mulholland Falls," and "The Late Shift," which earned him an Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actor. Williams' career continued to grow through the 2000s and 2010s across film, TV, and theater. 

On June 12, Williams rode his motorcycle along Route 30 in Vermont and crashed when a motorist drove into his path. A witness described the actor as "verbal," but Williams was pronounced dead upon arrival at Albany Medical Center (via NBC New York). He was 71.

You may not know Frederic Forrest's name, but you'll know his face if you've seen anything in Francis Ford Coppola's oeuvre beyond "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II." Forrest's first collaboration with the great New Hollywood director was "The Conversation," in which he played Mark, a nondescript but ultimately vital character. Five years later, after a role in "The Missouri Breaks" with Marlon Brando and a slew of TV work, Forrest gave perhaps the most famous turn of his career as "Chef" in "Apocalypse Now." 

Tattooed and mustachioed, Forrest gave a loud, brash performance, especially in contrast to Michael Sheen's cynical Captain Willard. "We were creating a surreal, dreamlike war," Forrest told The New York Times. "Sometimes we would think we were losing our minds."

Forrest's other credits include "The Rose," "One From The Heart," "Valley Girl," and the original series of "21 Jump Street." Frederic Forrest died on June 23. He was 86.

In 1994, Matthew Perry read for the part of Chandler Bing on "Friends" and he was struck by the personal similarities. "It was as if someone had followed me around for a year, stealing my jokes, copying my mannerisms, photocopying my world-weary yet witty view of life," he said later (via The Guardian). Perry had hoped "Friends" would be a mere career break, but it proved to be a global phenomenon during its ten-year run and far beyond, showering him with money and fame. 

Alas, the meteoric success enabled Perry's addictions to drugs and alcohol. In his memoir "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing," Perry wrote that he had forgotten three whole years of the "Friends" production and that there was a time where he took 55 Vicodin a day and weighed just 128 lbs. He also spent $9 million to get sober but relapsed, as he recalled, some "60 or 70" times.

On October 28, Perry was found dead in a hot tub in his Pacific Palisades home, aged 54. The cause of death remains under investigation. In his memoir released just 11 months prior, Perry wrote, "It is very odd to live in a world where if you died, it would shock people but surprise no one."

Michael Gambon had a long career in film and especially on stage, performing in works by William Shakespeare, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, and Arthur Miller. The actor won three Olivier Awards before leaving the stage in 2015 because of poor memory. "It's a horrible thing to admit but I can't do it. It breaks my heart," Gambon told the Sunday Times Magazine.

Years prior, in 2010 and 2011, Gambon made his final appearances as Professor Albus Dumbledore in both parts of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." Gambon inherited the character from the late Richard Harris, who originated the role in "The Sorcerer's Stone" and "Chamber of Secrets" before his death in October 2002. Dumbledore may have been Gambon's defining role for millions of Harry Potter fans, but the actor's screen career was teeming with fascinating characters, especially the tyrannical mob boss Albert Spica in "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover." 

Gambon was also known for his dry, playful humor. He told Jeremy Clarkson of "Top Gear" that he hated interviews and explained how he would invent outlandish stories to test journalists' credulity, such as a past ballet career that ended after he fell off a stage and crashed through a kettle drum. Gambon seemed to enjoy his time on "Top Gear," though, and Clarkson even gave Gambon's name to a race track corner after the actor clipped it in spectacular fashion. 

Gambon died on September 28, aged 82. He is survived by his wife Anne and three sons.

Richard Roundtree will always be synonymous with John Shaft, the cool cat private investigator in "Shaft," perhaps the best known entry in the blaxploitation genre of the early 1970s. Roundtree's career did not end there, though. After "Shaft's Big Score!" in 1972 and "Shaft in Africa" in 1973, Roundtree performed in dozens of films and TV shows, including "Man Friday," "Inchon," "Roots," "Desperate Housewives," and "Being Mary Jane."

Roundtree died in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer on October 24, aged 81. He is survived by his son James and four daughters Nicole, Tayler, Morgan and Kelli. Samuel L. Jackson, who starred in two "Shaft" reboots in 2000 and 2019, wrote on Instagram, "Richard Roundtree, The Prototype, The Best To Ever Do It!! SHAFT, as we know it is & will always be His Creation!! ... His passing leaves a deep hole not only in my heart, but I'm sure a lotta y'all's, too."

Burt Young knew how to play tough, street-smart characters because he'd lived it. Before his acting career took off in the 1970s, Young had been a soldier, a boxer, a truck driver. He also found work at a printing business and a cleaning company. In the late 1960s, Young took his New York City grit to Lee Strasberg, who said, "You have huge tension about you. I feel you're an emotional library" (per The Guardian).

In 1976, "Rocky" brought Young's turn as boxing trainer Paulie Pennino, which earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor and typified the popular image of a boxing trainer — an old, stocky New Yorker who's coarse but caring. Pennino drew on his own boxing career, which saw him train under Cus D'Amato — the legendary trainer of Floyd Patterson and later Mike Tyson — and win 17 fights against only one loss. 

Young knew the streets and he knew the ring, so mere film sets did not intimidate him. That was even true when working with Sam Peckinpah, the notoriously hard headed filmmaker who directed Young in "The Killer Elite" and "Convoy." As he recalled later (via The Guardian), "Everybody was scared of [Peckinpah]. And so they would go through me, because I had no fear of nobody."

Young died on October 8, aged 83. He is survived by his daughter, Anne.

Suzanne Somers had cameos in "Bullitt," "American Graffiti," and "Magnum Force" before winning the role of Christmas "Chrissy" Snow on the ABC sitcom "Three's Company." Somers' blonde bombshell shtick was a hit with audiences, but ABC axed her part after the fifth season following a pay dispute, which likely damaged her industry reputation.

Consequently, Somers moved to Las Vegas and held two residencies over some five years. The actress returned to TV in the late 1980s with "She's the Sheriff" and then "Step by Step" in 1991, which ran for seven seasons and became the second big success of Somers' acting career. She also joined the mid-'90s infomercial boom, promoting an exercise gadget called the "ThighMaster," which sold so incredibly well that it netted Somers around $300 million.

Somers' ThighMaster campaigns segued into a wider career in health and fitness that included over a dozen books and outspoken support for bioidentical hormones, alternative medicine, and other controversial issues, causing the Los Angeles Times to describe Somers as a pioneer of "celebrity medical misinformation."

On October 15, just one day before her 77th birthday, Somers died from "breast cancer with metastasis to the brain," according to her death certificate. (via Blast). The actress had skin cancer in her 30s and breast cancer in her 50s. "Every time that little f***** pops up, I continue to bat it back," Somers told Entertainment Tonight. "I do my best not to let this insidious disease control me."

In 2001, Annie Wersching arrived in Los Angeles with a BFA in musical theater from Millikin University. After a slew of early roles and an 80-episode run as Amelia Joffe on "General Hospital," Wersching became a series regular on TV shows such as "Bosch," "24," and "Runaways." She also had a memorable role in "The Last of Us" — the hit 2013 post-apocalyptic video game — and a raft of supporting turns on everything from "Frasier" and "Angel" to "Charmed," "Boston Legal," "Cold Case," and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

Following a cancer diagnosis in 2020, Wersching died on January 29, aged 45. Her husband Stephen said (via The Hollywood Reporter), "There is a cavernous hole in the soul of this family today. But she left us the tools to fill it ... She taught us not to wait for adventure to find you." Stephen survives his wife with their three sons Freddie, Ozzie, and Archie.

The early 1970s were good to Cindy Williams, for the actress appeared in two consecutive Oscar magnets — George Lucas's "American Graffiti" and Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation." Both films came up short at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, but Williams' fortunes continued.

In 1975, producer Gary Marshall cast Williams as a "fast girl" on "Happy Days" and the lead role of Shirley Feeney on ABC's "Laverne and Shirley," which enjoyed the highest ratings in the Tuesday evening time slot from 1977 to 1979. "Laverne and Shirley" was career-making for Williams and co-star Penny Marshall, but when Williams missed a run of episodes due to pregnancy, the show ended with a maternity dispute and a $20 million lawsuit settled in 1982.

Over the next 30 years, Williams maintained a steady acting schedule in film and especially TV. She also co-produced "Father of the Bride" in 1991 and, four years later, "Father of the Bride, Part II." She also raised two children with her husband Bill Hudson, whom she divorced in 2000. 

Williams died on January 25, aged 75. "She was funny, charming and brilliant right up to the end," her friend Bruce Kimmel said (via The Hollywood Reporter). "I've never known anyone like her."

"You've seen him countless times," wrote film critic Philip French wrote for The Guardian about the actor Michael Lerner, "but what's his name again?" It was a problem that Lerner shared with many character actors — always appreciated but often forgotten. The Brooklynite lent his roguish charm to "The Postman Always Rings Twice," "The Road to Wellville," and "Elf." Perhaps his best known roles were gangster Arnold Rothstein in "Eight Men Out" and golden era movie mogul Jack Lipnick in "Barton Fink," which earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.

To his credit, Lerner was unafraid to play deeply unflattering characters, even when it went against his managers' advice. This was especially true of his role as John Pressman in the violent Spanish horror film "Anguish," which Lerner recognized as a "repulsive character" but a "great role" (per The Hollywood Reporter).

Lerner died on April 8, aged 81. His nephew Sam wrote in an Instagram post, "It's hard to put into words how brilliant my uncle Michael was, and how influential he was to me ... He was the coolest, most confident, talented guy."

Gayle Hunnicutt died September 3, aged 80. She was born in Dallas, Texas, and moved to Hollywood in the mid-1960s, appearing in numerous low-budget features such as "The Wild Angels" and "Marlowe" before she relocated to England with her husband David Hemmings. There, she segued into British and Italian cinema — "The Spiral Staircase," "Strange Shadows in an Empty Room" — and scored notable parts in two BBC period dramas, "The Golden Bowl" and "Fall of Eagles."

Hemmings and Hunnicutt divorced in 1974 and she remained in London, marrying journalist Simon Jenkins in 1978. Over the next 20 years, Hunnicutt kept busy on screen — "Dylan," "Target," "The Brazilian Connection" — and on stage — "Hedda Gabler," "The Life and Loves of Edith Wharton." She also wrote two books, "Health and Beauty in Motherhood" in 1984, and "Dearest Virginia" in 2004, which gave an account of her father's service in the Pacific war. Hunnicutt is survived by her sons Nolan and Edward and her five grandchildren, Poppy, Theo, Oscar, Dash and Nia. (The Guardian)

Carol Locatell died on April 18, aged 82. The actress worked in film and TV for over 50 years, appearing in everything from "M*A*S*H," Mad Men," and "Grey's Anatomy" to "Coffy," "The Daytrippers," and three films with Burt Reynolds, including his 1981 directorial effort "Sharky's Machine." She was active also on stage, appearing in Broadway productions of "Broadway Bound," "The Shadow Box," and "The Rose Tattoo." (The Hollywood Reporter)

Locatell's most enduring role, however, was Ethel Hubbard in "Friday the 13th Part V:A New Beginning." As legions of fans will tell you, Hubbard is a foul mouthed, firebrand farm woman who reprimands anyone she pleases, especially her dim-witted son, Junior. Locatel had fun amplifying the role with both improvved four-letter words and a few handfuls of dirt, "The first time I got made up, I took one look at me and I thought, 'OK, I know what I have to do,'Locatell told Horror 365, "So I go outside and I find a pile of dirt and I put dirt on me, dirty [up my] hands, and I thought, 'This is perfect."

Darren Kent died on August 11, aged 36. He was active in the horror and fantasy genres, appearing in "Mirrors," "Jeepers Creepers: Reborn," "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves," and in season four of "Game of Thrones." The actor also directed several projects, including "You Know Me," "Room 301," and episodes of "Happy Hours" and "The Break." Kent suffered from osteoporosis, arthritis, and a rare skin condition that inspired his performance in "Sunny Boy," a short film about an isolated teenager for which he won a Van D'or award for best actor. (Sky News)

Carey Dodd Associates announced Kent's death in a statement on Twitter, "It is with deep sadness we have to tell you that our dear friend and client Darren Kent passed away peacefully on Friday... His parents and best friend [were] by his side. Our thoughts and love are with his family in this difficult time. RIP my friend."

Rossetta Jacobs became Piper Laurie in 1949, when the 17-year-old actress landed a contract at Universal Studios. Over the next decade, the starlet earned $2,000 a week as the romantic interest in over a dozen comedies, adventures, westerns and musicals. However, the roles just didn't cut it, and when studio executives failed to provide anything better, Piper told her agent (via People), "They can throw me in jail, sue me, I don't care what it is. I'm never working again until I can do something that I have some respect for."

Disillusioned, Piper left Los Angeles for New York City, where she studied acting and pursued more meaningful work, which came in 1961 with "The Hustler" opposite Paul Newman. Laurie played Sarah, an alcoholic involved with Newman's "Fast Eddie" Felson, a small-time pool hustler. The noirish drama was a big hit and earned Piper an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress, yet "The Hustler" was not the break she had hoped for. "I gradually gave up acting," she told People, "because after The Hustler, the offers that I was getting were very similar to the part I'd just played."

Piper spent the next 15 years with her husband Joseph Morgenstern in upstate New York, where she committed herself to baking, civil rights, and her daughter Anne. In 1976, Piper made a big comeback with her demented, matriarchal turn in "Carrie," which she described as a "hoot". She received a second Oscar nomation for the role. Piper died on October 14, aged 91.

Mark Goddard was known for his three season stint as Major Don West in "Lost in Space," the popular CBS science fiction series that ran for 83 episodes from 1965 to 1968. Major West would become Goddard's most enduring role, but he almost passed on the opportunity. "I didn't want to do it," he said in 1990. "Now, the reason I didn't want to do the series at first is because I had never done science fiction, and had no idea what it was going to be like."

Goddard, who had previously worked in "Johnny Ringo," "The Detectives," and "Many Happy Returns," went on to appear in numerous other series such as "The Streets of San Francisco," "Our Life to Live," and "General Hospital." In 1991, Goddard retrained as a special education teacher. (LA Times)

Mark Goddard died on October 10, aged 87. Three days later, Bill Muny, Goddard's "Lost in Space" peer, wrote a tribute on Facebook, "R.I.P. to Mark Goddard. A truly beloved friend and brother to me for 59 years. Shortly after a great phone chat he and I had on his 87th birthday in late July, I became aware that I would most likely never see or speak with him again. The last words we exchanged were "I love you."

Tom Wilkinson was a consummate professional who saw acting as a quiet, introspective craft. "I've always felt that actors should have a degree of anonymity about them," Wilkinson told The Guardian, "I can see it in other actors who love being famous. Me, I don't care for it at all." Wilkinson had been an understated film and TV actor for some 20 years when he appeared in "The Full Monty" as Gerald, an old fashioned gent and unlikely striptease dancer.

The British comedy became a huge hit, grossing an enormous $261 million against a $3.5 million budget and winning an Oscar for best music (via The Numbers). The success inundated Wilkinson with a raft of opportunities including "Wilde," "Rush Hour," "Shakespeare in Love," and "The Patriot." In 2002, he was nominated for best actor for his performance opposite Sissy Spacek in "In the Bedroom." Six years later, in 2008, Wilkinson was nominated for best performance in a supporting role in Tony Gilroy's legal thriller "Michael Clayton."

In 2023, Wilkinson reprised his role as Gerald in the "The Full Monty" miniseries and he died on December 30, aged 75. He is survived by his wife Diana Hardcastle and their daughters, Alice and Molly.

South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun found international acclaim as Dong Ik, the wealthy patriarch in the Oscar-winning sensation "Parasite." Lee was already a big name in his native South Korea, noted for his work in television series such as "Coffee Prince," "Behind the White Tower," "Pasta," "Golden Time," and "My Mister." He was a prolific film actor, too, appearing in numerous features including four films directed by Hong Sang-soo.

Lee's shock death was announced on the morning of December 27, shortly after the 48-year-old actor was found in his car by a park in central Seoul. Police found a charcoal briquette in the passenger seat, suggesting death by carbon monoxide poisoning, which is a common method of suicide in the country. Lee was under investigation for using marijuana and other illicit drugs, which carries a maximum sentence of five years and significant reputational damage. The actor claimed that a hostess and her accomplice had plied him with substances as part of a deceptive, $270,000 blackmail scheme. (NPR)

Andre Braugher possessed a natural authority that charged a three decade career playing detectives, doctors, and military officers across numerous genres. Braugher's first big break came when he landed a 100-episode run in "Homicide: Life on the Street" as Detective Frank Pembleton, for which he won an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in 1998. He won again eight years later for his performance in "Thief," which saw him play against type as Nick Atwater, a brilliant heist leader. Braugher's most enduring role, however, was as Captain Raymond Holt in "Brooklyn Nine-Nine."

Braugher never got the Emmy as Holt, but he won legions of fans with his dry, unflappable manner, especially when criticizing his offbeat underlings Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) and Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio). Braugher's work on screen and stage earned high praise from his contemporaries, such as "The Wire" showrunner David Simon, who said, "I've worked with a lot of wonderful actors. I'll never work with one better.

Braugher died of lung cancer on December 11, aged 61. He is survived by his wife, Ami Brabson; their sons Michael, Isaiah and John-Wesley; his brother, Charles; and his mother, Sally. (The Guardian)

David McCallum appeared in everything from "The Great Escape" and "Colditz" to "Sapphire & Steel" and "Sex and the City," but the highlights of McCallum's 70 year career were undoubtedly Soviet agent Illya Kuryakin in "The Man from U.N.C.L.E" and medical examiner Donald Mallard in "NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service."

Illya Kuryakin was popular not in spite of his mysterious, inscrutable manner but because of them, giving McCallum an anti-hero, pop culture icon over 105 episodes of television from 1964 to 1968. Over the next 30 years, the Scottish actor appeared in dozens of films, series, and TV movies on both sides of the Atlantic, with NBC's "The Invisible Man" in 1975 being another highlight.

McCallum's career shifted a gear in 2003, when he joined the cast of "NCIS" as Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, a bow-tied medical examiner whom McCallum played for 20 years and 457 episodes. After Mark Harmon's departure in 2021, McCallum became the last remaining actor from the original cast. (via Popculture) David McCallum died surrounded by family on September 25, aged 90. (citation: BBC)

In 1964, six-year-old Lisa Loring became the first actress to play Wednesday Addams in "The Addams Family," the original television adaptation of Charles Addams' popular New Yorker cartoons. Loring appeared in all 64 episodes of the show, which ran on ABC from September 1964 to April 1966.

52 years later, in a Comic Con interview, Loring described the casting process as a "cattle call" in which she was pitted against 75 girls, some as old as 13. Loring couldn't read as she had not yet attended first grade but she made up for this with an "adorable" outfit and, crucially, by repeating the producer's lines verbatim. 

In the years immediately after "The Addams Family," Loring appeared in "The Phyllis Diller Show" and an episode of the shortlived "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." series. In 1977, Loring reprised Wednesday Addams in the TV movie "Halloween with the New Addams Family."Loring died on January 28, aged 64. Her friend Laurie Jacobson wrote on Facebook, "It is with great sadness that I report the death of our friend, Lisa Loring... 4 Days ago she suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure."

Camden Toy worked in almost 60 productions over the last 30 years, specializing in the horror genre. He was best known for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in the late '90s and early 2000s, appearing as a Gentleman demon in the episode "Hush," Gnarl in "Same Place, Same Time," and as Turok-Han — also known as Ubervamp — in "Bring on the Night," "Get It Done," and "Showtime."

Toy held two Master's degrees in clinical psychology and worked as a drug and alcohol counselor. He also had an MFA in creative writing, which he completed shortly before his death on December 11, aged 68. (PRlog) The actor, who had been suffering from pancreatic cancer, was remembered by numerous colleagues, including Juliet Landau, who told Entertainment Weekly, "Camden was a beautiful soul, a beautiful friend, and a beautiful talent... From the first moment we met, I knew he was special."