RIP Dean Tavoularis

 

Dean Tavoularis, Production Designer on the ‘Godfather’ Films and ‘Apocalypse Now,’ Dies at 93

The Oscar winner and five-time nominee teamed with Francis Ford Coppola on 13 features after getting his start as the art director on 'Bonnie and Clyde.'

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

April 23, 2026

 

Dean Tavoularis, the revered Oscar-winning production designer who collaborated with Francis Ford Coppola on 13 films, including all three Godfather movies, Apocalypse Now and One From the Heart, has died. He was 93.

He died Wednesday night in a Paris hospital of natural causes, THR writer and film critic Jordan Mintzer reported. The two teamed on the 2022 book Conversations With Dean Tavoularis.

Tavoularis received his Academy Award in the best art direction-set decoration category for The Godfather Part II (1974) and also was nominated for his work on three other Coppola-directed films — Apocalypse Now (1979), Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) and The Godfather Part III (1990) — plus William Friedkin‘s The Brink’s Job (1978).

In his first movie as art director, Tavoularis came up with the bleak Dust Bowl look for Arthur Penn’s fabled Bonnie and Clyde (1967), the first of six best picture nominees on which he worked. Two of those — the first two Godfather films — took home the ultimate prize.

Tavoularis also teamed with director Coppola on The Conversation (1974), The Outsiders (1983), Rumble Fish (1983), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Gardens of Stone (1987), New York Stories (1989) and Jack (1996).

Talking about Coppola, “There are many partnerships in all different kinds of businesses that can always turn out badly, but sometimes it can turn out to be a collaboration. You see eye to eye; you feel supportive,” Tavoularis said in a 2018 interview. “When you’re doing a film, no matter how tough you are, no matter how strong you are, you need a feeling of support. And I always had that with Francis.”

“Like all great collaborations,” Coppola said in 1997, “I began to depend on Dean. This grew into a natural and wordless collaboration, which provided so much comfort to me and added to the style of the films we worked on together.”

He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Art Directors Guild in 2007.

For The Godfather Part II, Tavoularis transformed East Sixth Street between Avenues A and B in Lower Manhattan into Little Italy in 1918, complete with a dirt road and quaint, old-fashioned storefronts.

There was nothing quaint about the making of Apocalypse Now, for which Tavoularis created a nightmarish jungle kingdom with a decaying temple — inspired by the ancient Angkor Wat in Cambodia — as its centerpiece. His scheduled 14-week stay in the Philippines wound up lasting two years. (In all, the movie took four years to finish.)

“You never had the feeling at the end of the day that it is one day less and you were one day closer to completion,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2012.

And for the nostalgic (and pricey) love story One From the Heart (1981), who needed to trek to Las Vegas when you could have Tavoularis construct a multimillion-dollar, high-tech version of Sin City at Coppola’s American Zoetrope in San Francisco?

Covering nine soundstages, his set included replicas of casinos and Fremont Street with loads of neon lights and a paved intersection, a residential neighborhood, a desert motel and a faux runway at McCarran International Airport.

“I’ve bought a movie studio, which is like getting a theater. What the hell am I going to Las Vegas for?” Coppola told Rolling Stone in 1982. “Let’s build it inside the studio and totally control it and have the sets be on one stage, as on Saturday Night Live, and have the actors literally perform it like a play — ‘Ready, begin!’ — and do the whole movie as a performance and then go back and put the cameras in different places with the transitions, music, everything. There’d be nothin’ like it!”

He continued, “Dean, in his mind, couldn’t get with the idea of creating the illusions of the movie with matte shots and trickery on that level. He wanted to build the fantasy — that’s what cost the extra 10 or so million dollars.”

On Thursday, Coppola called Tavoularis “a dear friend” and said his death is “a profound loss. I would be unable to list the many ways he benefited my work and my personal life. He was a great artist, a great friend, a great production designer and a great man.”

Constantine Tavoularis was born on May 18, 1932, in Lowell, Massachusetts. When he was a kid, the family moved to Los Angeles, where his dad was in the coffee business.

“We are Greek Americans, and one of [his father’s] clients was Fox studio, which was owned by [Greece native] Spyros Skouras,” Tavoularis said. “In the summer sometimes I would go with my dad and spend a day going around on his deliveries. We would drive back to the commissary, and you saw stage pieces and ladies dressed in their period gowns. It was a mysterious, magical paradise.”

He studied architecture and painting at Otis College of Art and Design and joined Disney as an in-betweener in its animation department, where one of the first films he worked on was Lady and the Tramp (1955).

He served under art director Robert Clatworthy on the live action Disney films Pollyanna (1960) and The Parent Trap (1961), then was Clatworthy’s assistant at Warner Bros. on Robert Mulligan’s Inside Daisy Clover (1965), set in Santa Monica in 1936.

Despite Tavoularis’ lack of experience, Penn gave him a great opportunity on Bonnie and Clyde, and he delivered.

“We made Bonnie and Clyde on a minuscule budget. It was barely more than a couple of million dollars,” Penn said. “But Dean Tavoularis and Theadora Van Runkle, who designed the costumes, created a whole era.”

After working on Michelangelo Antonioni’s Death Valley-set Zabriskie Point (1970), he reteamed with Penn on Little Big Man (1970), a Western filmed in Montana and Calgary.

Tavoularis first met Coppola while he was an assistant art director on the Marlon Brando-starring Candy (1968).

He said that Paramount execs pushed for the director to make The Godfather (1972) in St. Louis. “Why St. Louis? I went over there and looked around; it was ridiculous. It wouldn’t have made the picture better; they only wanted to escape the New York unions,” he said. “Everything that Paramount wanted would have made this movie a flop. Everything that Francis fought against and fought for made The Godfather a screen classic.”

For Apocalypse Now, Tavoularis went in search for helicopters and a river.

“We went to the Pentagon, this huge mythical Pentagon building, but the Department of Army read the script and they said, ‘No.’ No helicopters from the United States,” he recalled. “So we started looking for helicopters elsewhere — and we needed a river. … I went to Thailand, Borneo, Jakarta, Malaysia — it was educational, and I still remember the weirdness of these trips. I ended up in the Philippines, and like a lot of war films finally did, the government co-operated and gave us helicopters, and they had the rivers. So we shot the film in the Philippines.”

He once described the shoot as “living in the house of death that I was making.”

Tavoularis’ other credits included Farewell, My Lovely (1975), Caleb Deschanel’s The Escape Artist (1982), Wim Wenders’ Hammett (1982), Shelf Life (1993), Philip Kaufman’s Rising Sun (1993), Warren Beatty’s Bulworth (1998), Nancy Meyers’ The Parent Trap (1998), Roman Polanski’s The Ninth Gate (1999) and Roman Coppola’s CQ (2001).

After a decade away to paint, he returned to work for Polanski again on Carnage (2011), his final feature.

In The Offer, Paramount+’s 2022 limited series about the making of The Godfather, Tavoularis was portrayed by Eric Balfour.

Survivors include his second wife, French actress Aurore Clément, whom he met on the set of Apocalypse Now and then married in 1986 at Coppola’s home, and his daughters, Alison and Gina.

(His wife’s scenes in the mesmerizing French plantation sequence of Apocalypse Now were cut from the original release but restored for the expanded redux version.)

In an introduction to a 2007 exhibit that showcased Tavoularis’ career as a film designer and painter, writer Jean-Paul Scarpitta said the designer “attained a higher reality, that of poetry.”

“In his art, he doesn’t dwell on magic, visual deception, optical illusion or unreality … His penetrating eyes allow him to watch and feel things deeply, which leads him to capture what others are not privy to see: the gimmicks, the artifices, the tricks, the element of life upon which the veil of illusion is cast,” Scarpitta wrote. “In his mind, there is a clear parallel between painting and cinema, in that he considers one and the other as different yet compatible means to create an illusory world that only exists in a dimension of its own.”

TAVOULARIS, Dean (Constantine Tavoularis)

Born: 5/18/1932, Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.A  

Died: 4/22/2026, Paris, Île-de-France, France

 

Dean Tavoularis’ western – production designer:

Little Big Man -

RIP Karina Duprez

 

Karina Duprez, actress of 'Wild Rose' and director of 'The Usurper', died at the age of 79 

RPP

By Renzo Alvarez

April 22, 2026

 

She was the daughter of actress Magda Guzmán, remembered for her participation in productions such as Cuna de lobos and María la del barrio.

Mexican actress Karina Duprez, who participated in more than twenty Televisa productions, died on Wednesday at the age of 79, the National Association of Interpreters (ANDI) confirmed through its social networks. The institution mourned the loss of who also served as a director and participated in productions such as Rosa salvaje, Mundo de juguete and La rosa de Guadalupe.

"The Board of Directors and the Vigilance Committee of the National Association of Interpreters communicate the sensitive death of our interpreter partner Karina Duprez. Mexican actress and director with an extensive career in the television industry. To her family and friends we send our most heartfelt condolences on behalf of the Board of Directors and Vigilance Committee of ANDI," the statement reads.

From a very young age, Duprez participated in plays and his career soon extended to film and television, where he came to direct productions such as Agujetas de color de rosa, Esmeralda, La usurpadora and Sortilegio.

According to information from the newspaper El Universal, no wake will be held in compliance with his wishes. His remains will be cremated and on Saturday, April 25, a mass will be held in his honor.

Who was Karina Duprez?

Karina Duprez came from a family that was no stranger to art. She was the daughter of actress Magda Guzmán, remembered for her participation in films and soap operas such as El ángel exterminador, Cuna de lobos and María la del Barrio.

In 1979, she married actor Carlos Ancira, a relationship that continued until his death in 1987. From that marriage was born the actress Magda Karina, who continued the family tradition in acting.

Her grandson, actor Chris Pazcal, dedicated a message to her on social networks, accompanied by 10 family photos.

"Thank you for your unconditional love, for your complicity, for every moment shared and for always being my guide. Thank you for believing in me, for pushing me and for being a fundamental part of my career. Without a doubt, I would not be the actor I am today if it were not for you, for your teachings, for your passion and for everything you gave me. But, above all, thank you for being the best grandmother. For being there, for taking care of me, for loving me," she said.

DUPREZ, Karina (Karina Julia Descalzo Guzmán)

Born: 12/25/1946, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

Died: 4/22/2026, Mexico

 

Karina Duprez’s westerns - actress

El caudillo – 1968 ((Lupe Garcia)

Furias bajo el cielo – 1971 (Juanita)

Uno para la horca – 1974 (Millie)

RIP Luis Puenzo

 

Maker of Argentina's first Oscar-winning film, Luis Puenzo, dies at 80

CBS News

April 21, 2026

 

The director of the first Argentine film to win an Oscar, Luis Puenzo, died on Tuesday aged 80, the main organization representing Argentine creatives said Tuesday.

"With deep sorrow we bid farewell to the outstanding screenwriter, director, producer and partner in our organization, Luis Puenzo, who passed away today in the city of Buenos Aires at the age of 80," the General Society of Argentine Authors said in a statement.

No cause of death was given but Puenzo had been absent from public life for an extended period due to health issues.

His drama "The Official Story," about the adoption by military families of children snatched from activists during Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1986.

He also directed the 1989 drama "Old Gringo" starring Jane Fonda as an American teacher who becomes swept up in the Mexican Revolution and "The Plague" (1992) based on the Albert Camus novel of the same title, starring William Hurt and Robert Duvall.

PUENZO, Luis (Luis Adalberto Puenzo)

Born: 2/19/1946, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Died: 4/21/2026, Buenos Aires, Argentina

 

Luis Puenzo’s western – director, writer:

Old Gringo - 1989

RIP Rif Hutton

 

Rif Hutton Dies: ‘Doogie Howser, M.D.’, ‘General Hospital’ Actor Was 73

DEADLINE

By Greg Evans

April 20, 2026

 

Rif Hutton, an actor whose prolific work in television included roles on Doogie Howser, M.D., JAG and General Hospital, among many other series, died Saturday, April 18, at his home in Pasadena following a yearlong battle with the brain cancer Glioblastoma. He was 73.

His death was announced by family to TMZ and by close friends on Facebook.

“A remarkable human being has left this earthly plane,” wrote his friend and voice-over colleague Steve Apostolina. “To say that Rif Hutton was one of a kind is a gross understatement…People knew when they hired him for a voice job that he was going to be the most prepared – he always was. He was also always first to show up on a gig – I had the great pleasure of beating him a few times and scooping a treasured chair, but those were few and far between.”

Many of Hutton’s nearly 200 TV credits were guest shots on such shows as The Jeffersons, Remington Steele, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, 227, Night Court, A Different World, Knots Landing, Full House, Married…With Children, Wings, Murphy Brown, The Larry Sanders Show, Sister, Sister, Home Improvement, Family Matters, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Seinfeld, American Horror Story, Grace and Frankie and NCIS: Los Angeles.

But he had longer runs on series including 1990’s Tribes (95 episodes), Doogie Howser, M.D. (17 episodes from 1989-93), 15 episodes of JAG (1997-2001) and, in 2021 and 2022, 32 episodes of daytime soap General Hospital.

Film credits include the 2022 crime comedy Rattled! and, in 2016, Ice Age: Collision Course.

“When the SAG strike broke out,” Apostolina notes, “he was on the line every day at Warner Bros. – a constant vision of support.”

Hutton learned he had a brain tumor in March of 2025, and later took part in the National Brain Tumor Society’s Southern California Brain Tumor Walk. At the time, he wrote, “Every person facing Glioblastoma, or any brain disorder, deserves this kind of support – to be  surrounded by encouragement, by prayer, and by stalwart champions of hope and light. There continues to be meaningful advancements in the fight against [Glioblastoma], and that fight needs all  of us. Please support it in whatever way you can.”

He is survived by his wife, the voice actor Bridget Hoffman, and son Wolfy. Additional survivor information was not immediately available.

HUTTON, Rif

Born: 11/28/1955, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.

Died: 4/18/2026, Pasadena, California, U.S.A

 

Rid Hutton’s westerns – additional crew member:

3:10 to Yuma – 2007

Rango – 2011

RIP Alan Osmond

 

Alan Osmond, Oldest Member of The Osmonds, Dies at 76

The musician died on the evening of Monday, April 20, a spokesperson for the family said in a statement

People

By Becca Longmire

April 21, 2026

 

Alan Osmond, the oldest member of The Osmonds, has died. He was 76.

Alan, who was born in Ogden, Utah, died at around 8:30 p.m. local time on Monday, April 20, a spokesperson for the family confirmed to ABC4 Utah and CBS affiliate KUTV.

Alan’s wife, Suzanne Pinegar Osmond, and their eight sons were by his side when he died, KUTV reported. The singer had retired from performing after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 40 years ago, the outlet stated.

Alan’s brother, Merrill Osmond, 72, was among those paying tribute.

He said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE, "It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of my beloved brother, Alan Osmond. I was grateful to be with him shortly before he passed and to share a final meaningful moment together. Alan was a gifted creator, a man of faith, and a deeply loving soul whose life blessed many."

"Our family is thankful for the outpouring of love and prayers. We will honor his memory and the message he cared so deeply about. He will be missed beyond words," Merrill added.

Merrill also wrote on Facebook, “My dear friends, Two days before my brother, Alan, passed, I was blessed to sit quietly with him. We talked as brothers do, heart to heart.”

“He was struggling, but when I shared a joke or two, he found the strength to chuckle… and then he smiled. In a tender moment I will never forget, he leaned close and whispered something into my ear. He said, ‘Merrill, you and I worked side by side,' ” the musician continued. “ 'We created, we produced, we directed… we gave our hearts to The Plan with Wayne. Please… do something with it. Let people know what we were trying to say.’ I want you to know, his request will be honored.”

Merrill wrote, “My brother has now stepped into the presence of our Father in Heaven with honor and peace. His life was not measured in years, but in love, sacrifice, and purpose.”

Merrill said Alan’s “creativity, his vision, and his deep understanding of the Savior’s teachings were simply part of who he was,” adding, “He lived it. He felt it. He shared it. He wanted me to tell you how much he loved you, and I believe that with all my heart. He gave everything he had to the Lord, to his family, and to all of you. He truly was a missionary. He truly was a saint.”

“And I need you to know this… he has not left me. I have felt him. I have felt his quiet encouragement telling me to keep going… to keep building faith… to keep sharing light. His testimony is not gone, it lives on, and it will continue to be felt far beyond this life,” Merrill said.

The musician continued, “So please, don’t let your hearts be heavy. Don’t weep for him. Rejoice, knowing that your brother, your friend, your hero is no longer in pain. He is free. He is whole. He is home.”

“Before he passed, I whispered one request to him. I asked him, when he gets there… please give my son Troy a big hug for me. He looked at me and promised he would,” Merrill concluded. “And somehow… I believe that promise has already been kept.”

Brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay and later Donny, formed The Osmonds in the 1970s, before they skyrocketed to fame. The brothers were raised by parents George Virl Osmond and Olive May, in Utah, alongside their brothers Virl, Jimmy and Tom, and sister Marie Osmond.

Alan was the leader of the band at just 8 years old, and his brothers called him "No. 1," PEOPLE previously reported.

Though they weren’t in the band, the oldest Osmond siblings, Virl and Tom, who were born almost completely deaf, took part in the musical side of their family as well. Virl taught his brothers how to tap dance, among other things, it was previously revealed in the Being the Osmonds documentary.

Donny was also among those paying tribute to Alan on Instagram on Tuesday, April 21, sharing a throwback black-and-white photo of the pair, alongside the caption, “This is one of the earliest pictures I have of my brother Alan and me. Even back then, you can see that he had his arm around me, watching over me.”

“That’s who he was. My protector. My guide. The one who quietly carried so much responsibility so the rest of us could shine,” he added. “Alan was our leader in every sense of the word. His tireless work helped build everything we became.”

Donny wrote, “I will always be grateful for the sacrifices he made and the love he showed—not just to me, but to every member of our family.”

“I owe him more than I can ever fully express,” he shared. “I love you, Alan. Thank you for always being there for me. Till we meet again,” signing off the post with, “Brother Donny.”

Alan is survived by his wife, Suzanne, of 51 years, as well as his sons sons Michael, Nathan, Doug, David, Scott, Jon, Alex, and Tyler, KUTV reported. He also has 30 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, according to the outlet.

Through the years, Alan helped create the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon, which has raised over $2 billion for children’s hospitals, as well as launching the One Heart Foundation to help support orphans, ABC4 Utah reported.

The family spokesperson said, “Upon meeting the entertainer, an ever-ready smile was ever prevalent. One might feel as though they had known him all their life,” per the outlet.

“Others’ importance seemed to outshine his own, and he especially treasured the countless fans who supported the group,” they added, according to ABC4 Utah.

OSMOND, Alan (Alan Ralph Osmond)

Born: 6/22/1949, Ogden, Utah, U.S.A.

Died: 4/20/2026, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.

 

Alan Osmond’s westerns – actor:

The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV) – 1963-1964 (Micah Kissel)

RIP Gianni Quillico

 

Gianni Quillico, actor and voice actor of many films and television series, has died

La Voce dei Giornalisti

By Alessandra Rissotto

4/19/2026

 

Today we were left with a dear friend, Gianni Quillico, a special person for those who loved him and for the whole world of Milanese culture.

His voice has been the protagonist in many movies, television series, advertising, cartoons, and even video games. Of the dubbing, Gianni was a highly appreciated master in Italy and abroad, friends loved to tell secrets and anecdotes of those “voices in the shadows” lent to movie stars whose success is determined, in large part, by the charm of the voice of the voice actor but Gianni, despite being aware of his skill, has always remained a balanced person never over the top, no hint of pride.

Gianni Quillico

Born in Milan in 1947, he loved his city and, in a particular way, his theaters: a wonderful Marquis of Forlimpopoli in La Locandiera, the most famous opera by Goldoni, with Dario Fo had participated in the Palazzina Liberty in Milan at the Colletivo Teatrale from which it would be produced “We Talk About Women” written and directed by the future Nobel Prize. Many famous directors with whom he worked from Anton Giulio Majano to Sandro Bolchi to Giuseppe Piccioni.

He had been the voice of the Spider-Man in the first animated series dedicated to the character; the Black Knight in King Arthur; Jobback in Calimer and Hamber in the series Orizzonti Pokemon.

His latest works with Massimiliano Finazzer Flory in “Being Leonardo da Vinci” and “Rocco Schiavone”, the television series he had worked on in 2025.

Always elegant, with a somewhat English style, Gianni shared the passion for theater, music, the mountain with his wife, Raffaella, who reconciled his commitment as a journalist in the editorial culture of Rai, with the long times of Gianni’s theater rehearsals and then with the debuts and the many evenings of entertainment.

The last greeting to Gianni Quillico will be in the farewell room inside the cemetery of Lambrate.

QUILLICO, Gianni

Born: 4/9/1947, Milan, Lombardy, Italy

Died: 4/19/2026, Italy

 

Gianni Quillico’s westerns – voice actor:

Tex and Company (TV) – 1980 (Cico)

Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (TV) – 1993-1998 [Italian voice of Frank Collison]

Cocco Bill (TV) – 2002 (Bob)

 Outer Range (TV) – 2022 [Italian voice of Will Patton]

RIP Don Schlitz

 

NC Native Don Schlitz, storied country songwriter behind such hits as ‘The Gambler,’ dies at 73

WPTF

By Maria Sherman

April 17, 2026

 

Don Schlitz, the storied country music songwriter known for such hits as “The Gambler,” “On the Other Hand” and “Forever and Ever, Amen,” died Thursday at a Nashville hospital. He was 73.

The cause of death was not immediately known. A press release from the Grand Ole Opry described it as a sudden illness.

Schlitz, a North Carolina native, was born in 1952 and raised in Durham before packing his bags and heading to Nashville

The two-time Grammy Award winner was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. “I will never be able to believe that I deserve this, unless I receive it as a representative of my family, my mentors, my collaborators, my promoters and my friends,” Schlitz said in 2017, when he learned of the Country Music Hall of Fame honor. “That’s the only way I can deal with this.”

Schlitz made his Grand Ole Opry debut in 2017 and was later inducted in 2022. He is the only non-artist to receive the honor in the Opry’s 100 years. The historic venue’s Saturday night show will be dedicated in his honor.

He was named ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year for four consecutive years, from 1988 through 1991. He also wrote music and lyrics for “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” the 1999 Broadway musical.

Schlitz’s songs are widely considered some of the most unwavering in country music, and have been recorded by such hitmakers as Kenny Rogers (“The Gambler,” “The Greatest”), Randy Travis (“On the Other Hand,” “Forever and Ever, Amen”), The Judds (“I Know Where I’m Going”), The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (“I Love Only You,”) Tanya Tucker (“I Won’t Take Less Than Your Love,”) Mary Chapin Carpenter (“He Thinks He’ll Keep Her”) and many others.

He also wrote “You Can’t Make Old Friends” for Rogers and Dolly Parton; their first duet since 1983’s “Islands in the Stream.”

His first recorded song, “The Gambler,” is perhaps his most enduring hit and the tent-pole of his legacy. The song, which was recorded by Rogers in 1978 and certified five times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), opened doors for country music in the ’70s, a track that was not only a huge genre hit but also a pop crossover one.

As Rogers said when he inducted Schlitz into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012, “Don doesn’t just write songs. He writes careers.”

“We are heartbroken by the news of the passing of Don Schlitz. Don loved his family, his home state of North Carolina, and above all, songs and songwriters. He carried that love into every room, every stage and every lyric he ever wrote,” Sarah Trahern, Country Music Association CEO, wrote in a statement Friday. “Not long ago, we shared a dinner, and as we were leaving, Don picked up a guitar and began to play. That is how I will always remember him, smiling and with a guitar in his hand. His legacy lives on through his music and the many artists and writers he inspired. He will be deeply missed.”

“Don Schlitz’s place as a songwriting great would be secure had he never written ‘The Gambler’ or had he only written ‘The Gambler,’” Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, wrote in a statement Friday. “Nashville was richer for his presence and is lesser for his absence.”

Schlitz is survived by his wife Stacey, daughter Cory Dixon and her husband Matt Dixon, son Pete Schlitz and his wife Christian Webb Schlitz, grandchildren Roman, Gia, Isla and Lilah, brother Brad Schlitz and sister Kathy Hinkley.

SCHLITZ, Don (Donald Alan Schlitz Jr.)

Born: 8/29/1952, Durham, North Carolina, U.S.A.

Died: 4/16/2026, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.

 

Don Schlitz’s westerns – writer:

The Gambler (TV) 1980

Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (TV) – 1983

The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (TV) – 1991

Gambler V: Playing for Keeps (TV) - 1994