Category Archives: Late Greats

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Nehemiah Persoff, ‘Some Like It Hot’ & ‘Yentl’ Actor, Dies @ 102

Nehemiah Persoff, ‘Some Like It Hot’ & ‘Yentl’ Actor, Dies @ 102
The man whose character was the subject of Barbra Streisand's plaintive ballad "Papa Can You Hear Me" has died at 102. In "Judgment Night," a classic Twilight Zone episode (Image via video still) Nehemiah Persoff, a veteran character actor with well over 200 performances to his name, died Tuesday, April 5, 2022. The charter member…
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Rock-Era Teen Idol Bobby Rydell, ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ Star, Dies @ 79

Rock-Era Teen Idol Bobby Rydell, ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ Star, Dies @ 79
Bobby Rydell, one of the quintessential teen idols of the early rock era, died Tuesday, April 5, 2022. He was 79. Rydell, who survived a double-organ (liver and kidney) transplant in 2012, succumbed after a bout with pneumonia just shy of his 80th birthday. His great, radio announcer Jerry Blavat, confirmed Rydell's death, writing on…
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Estelle Harris, Mrs. Costanza & Mrs. Potato Head, Dies @ 93

Estelle Harris, Mrs. Costanza & Mrs. Potato Head, Dies @ 93
Estelle Harris, Mrs. Costanza on Seinfeld, has died at 93. The mother of all mothers (Image via NBC) ExtraTV reports she died in Palm Desert, California, of natural causes. She was with her son, Glen Harris, who said, "Her kindness, passion, sensitivity, humor, empathy and love were practically unrivaled, and she will be terribly missed…
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Barrie Youngfellow of ‘It’s a Living’ Dies @ 75

Barrie Youngfellow of ‘It’s a Living’ Dies @ 75
From L-R: Youngfellow (bottom) with her It's a Living castmates, on Three's Company with John Ritter & in The Scarlett O'Hara Wars (Images via ABC) One of my favorite-ever TV theme songs has to be the one for It's a Living/Making a Living — it's so ebullient, so Broadway. "Life's not the French Riviera!" it shouts,…
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Oscars In Memoriam Snubs & Flubs 2022

Oscars In Memoriam Snubs & Flubs 2022
It was not the most controversial thing that happened at the 94th Oscars, but as usual, the In Memoriam segment had its fair share of detractors. Anne Rice was a writer, but some of her works were made into very famous films. (Image via selfie) First, there seems to be a cultural divide over whether…
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Scoey Mitchell, Comic Trailblazer, Dies @ 92

Scoey Mitchell, Comic Trailblazer, Dies @ 92
Years ago, I started to write an oral history of Tattletales, a game show I believe bridged the gap between average game shows and reality TV. One of the survivors of that show was Scoey Mitchell, who also appeared on Match Game. I was heartened that he was still living. Guessing his wife's answer on…
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William Hurt, Oscar Winner, Dies @ 71

William Hurt, Oscar Winner, Dies @ 71
William Hurt, an Oscar winner who was one of the most successful leading men of the '80s, has died at 71. Kiss, before dying (Image via Island Alive) His death, reportedly from natural causes, comes about three years after he confirmed he had terminal prostate cancer that had spread. Will, the actor's son, said in a…
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Conrad Janis of ‘Mork & Mindy’ Dies @ 94

Conrad Janis of ‘Mork & Mindy’ Dies @ 94
Conrad Janis, most familiar to TV fans as Mindy's music store-owning dad on Mork & Mindy, died March 1, just a few weeks after his 94th birthday. He gave good head shot. (Image via head shot) Janis, an accomplished jazz trombonist and art dealer with expansive knowlege of Modernist art, moved between the fields of…
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Johnny Brown from ‘Good Times’ Dies @ 84

Johnny Brown from ‘Good Times’ Dies @ 84
Johnny Brown, who played the perennial punching bag Bookman on the classic Norman Lear (b. 1922) sitcom Good Times, died March 2 at 84. It was the best of times, it was the Good of Times (Image via CBS) His Broadway actress daughter Sharon Catherine Brown, 60, announced his passing in an anguished Instagram post on Friday:…
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Sally Kellerman of ‘M*A*S*H’ Fame Dies @ 84

Sally Kellerman of ‘M*A*S*H’ Fame Dies @ 84
Sally Kellerman, Oscar-nominated as Hot Lips Houlihan in M*A*S*H (1970), died Thursday at 84. Loretta Swit shared her condolences regarding Kellerman's death. (Image via Instagram) ExtraTV reported she had battled dementia and died in a care facility. Born on June 2, 1937, in Long Beach, California, Kellerman moved with her family as a girl and…
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