RIP Earl Barret

 

Earl Barret, ‘Too Close for Comfort’ Writer and Producer, Dies at 94

He also worked on ‘Bewitched,’ ‘Get Smart,’ ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’ ‘The Governor & J.J.’ and ‘See No Evil, Hear No Evil’ and came up with the villain King Tut for ‘Batman.’

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

October 29, 2026

 

Earl Barret, the veteran comedy writer who co-developed the Ted Knight-starring Too Close for Comfort and worked on more than 30 other series, including Bewitched, Get Smart, Batman and The Andy Griffith Show, has died. He was 94.

Barret died Oct. 22 of natural causes at his home in Sherman Oaks, his daughter, J.K. Barret, announced. He was a “lifelong learner with a keen, curious mind and a gift for impeccable comic timing,” she said.

The Ohio native also wrote for My Favorite Martian, My Three Sons, My Mother the Car, I Spy, The Wild Wild West, Julia, The Bob Newhart Show, Sanford and Son and Welcome Back, Kotter.

He and longtime writing partner Arne Sultan developed, wrote and produced Too Close for Comfort, which was based on the British sitcom Keep It in the Family, created by Brian Cooke.

The American adaptation, which ran for six seasons (1980-87) on ABC and in syndication, revolved around Knight’s Henry Rush, a cartoonist who works out of the San Francisco home he shares with his wife (Nancy Dussault) and adult daughters (Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Lydia Cornell).

Barret and Sultan first worked together on the 1969-70 CBS comedy The Governor & J.J., starring Dan Dailey and Julie Sommars. They continued with NBC’s The Partners (Don Adams’ first series after Get Smart), CBS’ The Sandy Duncan Show, ABC’s Holmes and Yoyo and The New Odd Couple and the CTV’s Check It Out (Adams starred on that one, too).

The pair also were among the credited writers on the 1989 feature See No Evil, Hear No Evil, directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.

An only child, Barret was born on Oct. 17, 1932, in Canton, Ohio. His parents, Aurel and Mary, who owned a confectionery store, got him tap dancing and violin lessons as a youngster before the family came west, and he graduated from Hollywood High School and Los Angeles City College.

He originally pursued a career as an actor but changed direction after taking a free TV-writing class taught by Robert C. Dennis, a scribe on shows including Perry Mason and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

“No matter how busy he was, no matter what show he was working on, he gave a free class every Wednesday night,” Barret noted.

Barret wrote on 1961 episodes of Sea Hunt, Hawaiian Eye and Ripcord, and he and Dennis would later partner on scripts for Get Smart, My Mother the Car, The Andy Griffith Show and The Wild Wild West.

For Batman, he and Dennis came up with the character of King Tut (portrayed by Victor Buono) when producers wanted new villains for the series (the actors playing Joker, Riddler and Penguin apparently were demanding too much money). The duo then wrote the episodes “The Curse of Tut”/“The Pharaoh’s in a Rut” and “The Spell of Tut”/“Tut’s Case Is Shut.”

Barret landed a gig as a story editor on The Governor and J.J., created by Sultan and Get Smart writer Leonard Stern, and before long, he and Sultan were writing for the political comedy. (Barret also directed an episode of the show; later, he would helm 13 installments of Too Close for Comfort.)

Barret and Sultan also wrote the comedy Wife Begins at 40 for the stage, later a 1988 BBC telefilm.

In addition to daughter J.K., survivors include his wife, Barbara; his son, John; and five grandsons. He was preceded in death by another daughter, Lisa.

Barret’s memoir, Eden Was on a Hollywood Hill, was published in 2010. It “tells how a Romanian chauffeur and Hungarian American waitress marry after a one-week courtship and spend the next 50 years pursuing the American Dream through the Great Depression, World War II and finally to the enchanted hills of Hollywood, where they hope their tap-dancing, violin-playing son will break into the movies. And why shouldn’t he? Wasn’t anything possible in America?”

BARRET, Earl

Born: 10/17/1932, Canton, Ohio, U.S.A

Died: 10/22/2026, Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.A.

 

Earl Barret’s western – writer:

The Wild Wild West (TV) - 1966-1969

Dirty Sally (TV) – 1974

 

RIP Roberto Maya

 

Actor, voice actor and host Roberto Maya dies at the age of 91

Artist participated in emblematic pornochanchadas, voiced Disney villain and was host of important journalistic program of the 1990s

Globo

10/29/2026

 

He died on the afternoon of last Tuesday (27), at the age of 91, the actor, voice actor and presenter Roberto Maya, at the age of 91, due to a respiratory failure. According to the broadcaster EPTV, Maya was taken by ambulance to the Hospital Beneficência Portuguesa, in Campinas, where he lived, but could not resist.

Roberto Maya was a veteran of the communication and the arts, having acted on several fronts on radio, television and film. He began his career as an actor in radio soap operas in the 1950s. As a voice actor, one of his most remembered works was the tiger Shere Khan, villain of the 1967 animated "Mogli - The Wolf Boy". He also made some TV brochures, such as 1968's "Simply Maria," and 1982's "Happy Final." And it was quite marked by participation in emblematic films of pornochanchada, such as "The Night of the Immorals" (1979), "The Boys of the Hard Easy Life" (1980) and "Eros, the God of Love" (1981).

Maya was very friends with Hugo Carvana, Miele and Daniel Filho, with whom she shared unpublishable experiences. The quartet shared an apartment on the third floor of the No. 410 building of Bartolomeu Mitre Street in Leblon, which served as inspiration for the 2008 film "The House of Mother Joan" in which he also acted.

Another important chapter of Roberto Maya's career was to present the "Special Document", a journalistic program remembered by the investigative reports that was almost a decade on the air, shown between 1989 and 1998, first by Manchete, and then by SBT and the Band.

“That show was a post-dictatorship documentary seed on television. Today, I don’t know if I would have the chest to face the bars that (Nelson, documentarian and creator of the program) Hoineff and I would top at the time. We made the interpretation of the issue freedom of expression that existed in the 1988 Constitution, said the artist to GLOBO, in an interview published in 2008.

Then he gave a period of few works in the 1990s, he returned to perform frequently from the 2000s. He made novels such as "Tropical paradise" (2007) and "Prohibited desire" (2008), in addition to the series "Lara com Z", 2011. His last work was in the 2016 film "Women in Power." Roberto Maya was a widower of Flora, with whom he was married for five decades, and had no children.

MAYA, Roberto

Born: 1/5/1935, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

Died: 10/27/2026, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

 

Roberto Mayo’s western – actor:

Jerônimo, o Herói do Sertão (TV) – 1972-1973 (Ventura)

RIP Patrick Stewart

 

Patrick Stewart, star of 'X-Men' and 'Star Trek,' dies at 86

Yahoo News

By Dylan Stableford

October 29, 2026

 

The actor died Wednesday in Los Angeles after “a brief and poignant journey” with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia, according to a statement posted to his X account.

Patrick Stewart, a revered English actor best known for his work on Star Trek, has died. He was 86.

According to a post on his X account, Stewart died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles following "a brief and poignant journey" with Alzheimer's Disease and Lewy Body Dementia.

"He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all," the post read. "We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace.

"His sonorous voice and singular talent will forever be synonymous with indelible performances in every genre. He explored the human condition in all its poetic complexity and brought hope not only to the far reaches of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but into science fiction's most iconic final frontier aboard the Starship Enterprise," it continued: "His professional accomplishments were humbly matched by his philanthropy and activism on behalf of human rights, survivors of domestic violence, global refugees, veterans' mental health services, and animal welfare, particularly his cherished foster puppies.

"He was a Knight, Chancellor, motor sport enthusiast, and lifelong Huddersfield Football fan," the post added. "He will be remembered for the dignity, compassion, and humanity he brought to every role — in his art and life."

Born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, Stewart dropped out of school at age 15 to work as a reporter at a local newspaper and then furniture salesman before enrolling in drama school in 1957.

He made his professional theater debut in 1959, eventually joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966.

In the mid '80s, Stewart moved to Los Angeles to star on Star Trek: The Next Generation, which ran from 1987 to 1994, as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard.

He later reprised the role on the big screen for a series of Star Trek films, including Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).

Stewart had more than 160 credits as an actor, according to the Internet Movie Database, most recently as the voice of Avery Bullock on the animated comedy series American Dad!.

He will also appear posthumously in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday as Professor X.

In 2010, Stewart was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and given the title of Sir in honor of his contributions to film and theater.

STEWART, Patrick

Born: 7/13/1940, Mirfield, Yorkshire, England. U.K

Died: 10/28/2026, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Patrick Stewart’s westerns – actor, voice actor, producer:

King of Texas – 2002 (John Lear) [producer]

A Million Ways to Die in the West – 2014 [dream voice]

RIP Elke Sommer

 

‘Pink Panther’ star Elke Sommer dies a week before 86th birthday: report

Page Six

By Chris Bradford

October 29, 2026

 

Golden Globe winner and international sex symbol Elke Sommer – who was known for her on-screen affair with Jacques Clouseau in the “Pink Panther” franchise – has died of heart failure – one week before her 86th birthday.

Sommer, 85, “passed away peacefully around 10 p.m” Wednesday at her home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air, her stepson Sebastian Walther told the German outlet Bild, and her death comes three months after her husband of 32 years Wolf Walther lost his battle with cancer.

“Now she can finally be with her beloved husband again,” Sebastian Walther added of the actress.

Berlin-born Sommer’s acting career spanned some 58 years – with her final credited acting role coming in 2017.

However, the actress stepped away from the spotlight in recent years and had become bed-bound in recent months before her death – which Bild reported as being from heart failure. She would’ve turned 86 on Nov. 5.

Sommer was born in the Nazi Reich in November 1940 – a year after World War II began in Europe – and initially she wasn’t thinking about pursuing a Hollywood career, according to Bild.

She wanted to become an interpreter and could speak six languages by the time she was in her teens.

However, her acting break would come after she won the Italian beauty contest Miss Viareggio age 17 while she was on vacation in the Mediterranean country in 1958.

She was spotted by the Italian director Vittorio De Sica before starring in Italian comedies – one of which was entitled “Men and Noblemen.”

Sommer starred in several Italian and German movies in the early 1960s before landing a role in the Mark Robson-directed movie “The Prize” – which starred Paul Newman and Edward G. Robinson.

She received a Golden Globe in 1964 where she was named Most Promising Newcomer.

But one of the actress’ most recognizable acting roles came in the 1964 comedy flick “A Shot in the Dark” – the second installment of the “Pink Panther” film franchise.

Sommer played the maid Maria Gambrelli who was framed for the murder of chauffeur Miguel Ostros before having a sexual affair with Inspector Jacques Clouseau – who was played by “Dr. Strangelove” star Peter Sellers.

She even declined to reprise her role in the 1993 movie “Son of the Pink Panther” because Sellers had already died, according to IMDB. Sellers died in 1980.

Sommer was also known for her roles in the Russell Rouse-directed movie “The Oscar” and the 1968 movie “The Wrecking Crew” – the latter featuring the “King of Cool” Dean Martin.

She didn’t just make her name on the big screen. She featured in three Playboy shoots in September 1964, December 1967 and September 1970.

During a July 1969 interview with the National Police Gazette, she admitted that she had painted naked on a hill outside her Beverly Hills home.

“It’s the best way to get a tan all over,” she quipped according to the article, which described her as “Hollywood’s No.1 nudie.”

Away from the screen, Sommer was married twice. She tied the knot to famed Hollywood columnist Joe Hyams in 1964 – before they divorced in 1981.

Hyams said his marriage was “the best 17 years of [his] life” and had “no regrets,” it was reported by UPI in December 1981.

“When we were married 17 years ago, no one thought our marriage would last long,” he added.

She met Wolf Walther, who would later become her husband of 32 years, in 1989 while she was being cast for the play “Tamara.”

“I was in New York City starring in “Tamara” and had to stay there for four months,” she told Classic Film TV Cafe, reflecting on how the couple met.

“So, I had to find an apartment but they were excruciatingly expensive, tiny and loud. As I knew the managing director of the Essex House, I wanted to talk to him about renting a room but the hotel had a new managing director, a man by the name of Wolf Walther. So we met. For him, it was love at first sight.

“For me, it took a little longer, but not much longer.”

Wolf Walther died in July following a cancer battle – and Sommer’s friend Erwin Schneider told Bild “She could never have imagined a life without her beloved ‘Papa Bear'”

“Now Elke has finally been able to join him,” Schneider, a Munich-based photographer, said

SOMMER, Elke (Elke Schletz)

Born: 11/5/1940, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Died: 10/28/2026, Bel Air, California, U.S.A.

 

Elke Sommer’s westerns – actress:

Frontier Hellcat – 1964 (Annie Dillman)

RIP Peter Medak

 

Peter Medak Dies: ‘The Ruling Class’ & ‘Romeo Is Bleeding’ Director Was 88

DEADLINE

By Greg Evans

October 28, 2026

 

Peter Medak, the award-winning Hungarian-British film and television director with a career spanning six decades and credits including The Changeling starring George C. Scott, Romeo Is Bleeding with Gary Oldman and The Krays starring Martin and Gary Kemp, died October 27 in Los Angeles. He was 88.

His death was announced by family. The family noted that Medak died peacefully but did not reveal a cause.

Born on December 23, 1937, in Budapest, Hungary, Medak showed interest in movie-making by the time he was 8 years old when his aunt gave him a 35-millimeter hand-cranked projector and a piece of film. At 13, under the communist regime, he was banned from going to school, later saying: “My father was a so-called capitalist. … [He was] put away to prison for years. … I spent an awful lot of time on my own, in our apartment, because my father was in prison, my mother was working in a plastics factory, I had a brother who died. … I became an observer … you know, looking through this incredible keyhole of our apartment.”

After fleeing to England in 1956 at 18, Medak started as a trainee at Associated British-Pathe and worked on the sets of major British productions while soon getting promoted to assistant director on films such as The Great Armored Car Swindle (1961) and The Phantom of the Opera (1962). MCA Universal Pictures quickly noticed his work and he was brought to Los Angeles in 1963 and signed to a television-directing contract, working on the Peter Graves-led series Court Martial.

In 1967 Paramount signed him to direct his first feature, Negatives, with Glenda Jackson. His next two films were the acclaimed black comedies A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1972), starring Alan Bates, and The Ruling Class (1972), with Peter O’ Toole, for which Medak was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and O’Toole earned an Academy Award nomination.

Medak earned a reputation across his six-decade career as an “actors’ director,” resulting in 27 features with such acclaimed films as The Changeling (1980) with George C. Scott, The Krays (1990); Let Him Have It (1991) and Romeo is Bleeding (1993), with Gary Oldman. His 2018 documentary The Ghost of Peter Sellers received acclaim, winning Best Documentary at the Beverly Hills Film Festival.

His prolific television directing work included episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, Chicago Hope, The Wire and Breaking Bad. With a deep interest in music, he directed some of the earliest music videos for such artists as Pink Floyd and Peter Gabriel, and, in the opera realm, directed La voix humaine with Julia Migenes. He staged a production of Salome in Minneapolis and Rigoletto with the Los Angeles Opera.

In a career spanning 60 years, making both cult and critically acclaimed movies, Medak directed 27 features and 59 episodes of television.

“If it’s in your blood, directing,” he said once. “You never stop directing and it doesn’t matter that you’re alone in your mind, dreaming or imagining things but you’re always making a movie.”

Medak is survived by his children Christopher, Joshua, Karen and Cornelia Medak and grandchildren Sacha, Marlowe, Ryden, Oliver and Anders.

He previously was married to Katherine La Kermance, Carolyn Seymour and Julia Migenes, and was in a relationship with Christine Wagner.

MEDAK, Peter

Born: 12/23/1927, Budapest, Hungary

Died: 10/27/2026, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A

 

Peter Medak’s western – director:

Zorro the Gay Blade - 1981

RIP Susan Saint James

 

Susan Saint James, Emmy-Winning Star of ‘Kate & Allie’ and ‘McMillan & Wife,’ Dies at 80

Variety

By Anna Tingley

October 27, 2026

 

Susan Saint James, the Emmy-winning actress who starred opposite Rock Hudson in “McMillan & Wife” and Jane Curtin in the CBS sitcom “Kate & Allie,” died Monday after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was 80.

Her death was confirmed to People by a representative.

In a statement shared with the magazine, Saint James’s family described her as someone “generous with her time and energy, which she valued more than money, and instinctively drawn to whoever needed lifting up. She taught her children to pause, be kind and look out for other people.”

“She never met a stranger,” the statement continues. “Every person she met became the most important person in the room at that moment, from a fellow board member to the clerk at the shoe store, who usually walked away knowing her entire life story.”

“Her defining act: weeks after losing her youngest son, Teddy, in the November 28, 2004 plane crash, she delivered his eulogy as a note to each of her other children and her husband, giving them words to heal,” the statement concludes. “Even in the deepest grief of her life, she put everyone else first. Days after the crash she sat with Tim Russert to thank the people who had reached out and to tell them the family was okay.”

Saint James became a television fixture in the late 1960s with NBC’s “The Name of the Game,” an anthology drama in which she played research assistant Peggy Maxwell. The role earned her three Emmy nominations, including a win for supporting actress in a drama series in 1969.

She went on to star alongside Hudon in “McMillan & Wife,” playing Sally McMillan, the wife of a San Francisco police commissioner, from 1971 to 1976. Her performance earned her three additional Emmy nominations.

In 1984, Saint James returned to series television in “Kate & Allie,” starring alongside Curtin as two divorced mothers who decide to raise their children together in a Manhattan apartment. The sitcom ran for six seasons on CBS, earning Saint James two more Emmy nominations.

Her film credits include “Outlaw Blues” (1977), the vampire comedy “Love at First Bite” (1979) and “How to Beat the High Cost of Living” (1980).

Born Susan Jane Miller in Los Angeles on Aug. 14, 1946, Saint James grew up in Rockford, Ill., before pursuing modeling and acting. She largely retired from Hollywood following the conclusion of “Kate & Allie” in 1989, though she made occasional television appearances, including on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Suits.”

Outside acting, she was a longtime advocate for the Special Olympics. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008.

She is survived by her husband, former NBC executive Dick Ebersol, four children and seven grandchildren.

SAINT JAMES, Susan (Susan Jane Miller)

Born: 8/14/1946, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 10/26/2026, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Susan Saint James’ westerns – actress:

The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County – 1970 (Miss Martha Kid)

Alias Smith and Jones (TV) – 1971 (Miss Porter)

Desperate Women (TV) – 1978 (Esther Winters)

RIP Barbara Barrie

 

Barbara Barrie, Actress in ‘Breaking Away,’ ‘Company’ and ‘Barney Miller,’ Dies at 95

An Oscar, Emmy and Tony nominee, she was impressive early in her career in the groundbreaking drama 'One Potato, Two Potato.'

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

October 28, 2026

 

Barbara Barrie, the sprightly actress who starred in the heart-wrenching interracial drama One Potato, Two Potato and earned an Oscar nomination for playing the supportive mom in Breaking Away, died Wednesday. She was 95.

Barrie died at her home in Manhattan, The New York Times reported. Her daughter, Jane Harnick, told the newspaper that she had terminal cancer and that her death was medically assisted.

Barrie also portrayed the dieting foodie Sarah, the wife of a man with a drinking problem (Charles Kimbrough), in the original 1970-72 production of Stephen Sondheim‘s Company, and she received one of the landmark musical’s then record-setting 14 Tony nominations.

A veteran of the stage, she also appeared in the first Broadway runs of Neil Simon‘s The Prisoner of Second Avenue and California Suite, in Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy and, more recently, as a Jewish bubbe in 2017 in Joshua Harmon’s Significant Other.

Fans of Barney Miller know Barrie for playing the wife of the captain of a Greenwich Village police station (Hal Linden) on the 1975-82 ABC sitcom, and she had another recurring role, as the grandmother and confidant of Brooke Shields’ character, on the 1996-2000 NBC magazine-set comedy Suddenly Susan.

For One Potato, Two Potato (1964), directed by Larry Peerce, Barrie was named best actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her portrayal of a white woman with a young daughter who, after being abandoned by her loser husband (Richard Mulligan), falls in love and marries an African-American office worker (Bernie Hamilton).

The Times wrote that Barrie “justifies the [Cannes] prize with a portrayal that is perceptively naturalistic. She is timid, worried and, finally, feminine in the extreme as a woman fighting against impossible odds in defense of her love and family.”

Released three years before Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, the poignant drama, filmed in black and white on location in Painesville, Ohio, is believed to be the first U.S. movie to portray such an interracial relationship.

Also set in the Midwest — in Bloomington, Indiana — the inspiring, coming-of-age tale Breaking Away (1979) saw Barrie receive a supporting actress Oscar nom for playing the reassuring mother of a kid (Dennis Christopher) obsessed with Italian bicycle racing.

After director Peter Yates told her she had the part, she read a revised script and noticed that “it was about a boy who is at odds with his father but who is a chip off the block of his mother. Yet you never see a scene between him and his mother,” she recalled in a 2017 interview.

Barrie asked for some kind of “connecting scene” to be added, and that turned out to be the one in which she shows her passport to her son and tells him to follow his dreams. “That scene would not have been in the picture if I hadn’t asked for it,” she said. “I can’t believe the chutzpah I had in asking for it.”

Barrie lost out to Meryl Streep of Kramer vs. Kramer at the Oscars. She returned as Evelyn Stoller in a 1980-81 ABC adaptation of Breaking Away that starred Shaun Cassidy, but that lasted just eight episodes. She did, however, earn an Emmy nom for that performance as well.

Barbara Ann Berman was born in Chicago on May 23, 1931. She and her family moved to Texas when she was 9, and she graduated from Corpus Christi Senior High School and then the University of Texas at Austin, where her classmates included Rip Torn, Jayne Mansfield and Liz Smith.

She came to New York by train to accompany her boyfriend, who was an actor, and worked as a typist to pay the rent. In 1955, she starred as a shop girl on an installment of ABC’s Ponds Theatre, made her Broadway debut in The Wooden Dish and landed a walk-on part in Giant (1956), where she can be seen at Mercedes McCambridge’s funeral reception.

A recommendation from none other than Katharine Hepburn got her into John Houseman’s American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut, and she worked for two seasons alongside the likes of Fritz Weaver, Will Geer, Nancy Marchand and Sada Thompson. She also studied with Uta Hagen.

In the early 1960s, Barrie starred as Annie Sullivan (the role originated by Anne Bancroft) in a State Department tour of The Miracle Worker that played throughout Europe.

To prepare for her part as a catatonic patient at the mercy of a nasty nurse played by Joan Crawford in The Caretakers (1963), Barrie signed herself into a mental hospital in California, then frantically needed the director of the film, Hall Bartlett, to get her out.

She was starring in a production of Taming of the Shrew in Flint, Michigan, when she was spotted by a producer and offered the role of Julie in One Potato. “It was an odd, eerie day when that phone call came to Flint,” she said in 1964 interview with the Times. “It was the very same day with police dogs and fire hoses in Alabama. I’m not a crusader, but it was a spooky coincidence.”

Her role in Company was the only nonsinging one among the principal players, but she was featured in the 1970 D.A. Pennebaker documentary on the making of the show’s fabled cast album.

Known for her blond, boyish bob, she played Goldie Hawn’s mom in Private Benjamin (1980) and Edie Falco’s mother in Judy Berlin (1999), getting an Independent Spirit Award nomination for the latter.

She also was Diana Rigg‘s next-door neighbor on a short-lived sitcom in 1973-74; tried to woo Gavin MacLeod on a memorable 1974 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show; portrayed Mamie Eisenhower on the 1979 miniseries Backstairs at the White House; and earned two more Emmy noms for guest-starring stints on Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU in 1992 and 2003.

Her TV résumé also included turns on Naked City, The Untouchables, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Fugitive, The Twilight Zone (in the 1963 episode “Miniature” with Robert Duvall) and Enlightened.

She wrote the novels Lone Star — about an Orthodox Jewish family assimilating in Texas — and Adam Zigzag as well as two books about overcoming rectal cancer and a colostomy. In an effort to help others, she announced in 2014 that she had been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

In 2008, Barrie donated photographs, programs, a scrapbook and other items from her career to the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library.

She was married to Jay Harnick from 1964 until his death in 2007. They met at an audition and were friends for 12 years before he proposed.

He was the founder and longtime artistic director of TheatreworksUSA, the nation’s largest touring children’s theater company — which was instrumental to the careers of F. Murray Abraham and Henry Winkler — and the brother of Fiddler on the Roof lyricist Sheldon Harnick.

In addition to her daughter, survivors include her son, Aaron, a Broadway producer, and three grandchildren.

BARRIE, Barbara (Barbara Ann Berman)

Born: 5/23/1931, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Died: 10/28/2026, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

 

Barbara Berri’s westerns – actress:

Giant – 1956 (Mary Lou Decker)

The Virginian (TV) - 1963 (Ellen Beecher)

Rawhide (TV) - 1965 (Liz Harmon)

Scarlett (TV) - 1994

RIP Eric Bauza

 

Eric Bauza, 'Looney Tunes' voice actor behind Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, dead at 46

Eric Bauza had more than 400 voice-acting credits including the iconic 'Looney Tunes' characters

FOX News

By Lauryn Overhultz

October 26, 2026

 

Eric Bauza, the voice behind iconic "Looney Tunes" characters including Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, has died, Fox News Digital has confirmed.

Bauza died Sunday from hypertensive cardiovascular disease, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. He was 46.

Beginning in 2001, Bauza amassed more than 400 voice-acting credits in a career that gave voice to beloved characters in animated Looney Tunes series including "Puss in Boots," "Muppet Babies," "Avatar: The Last Airbender," and countless others.

The voice actor's family confirmed his death on Instagram, but has not shared any additional details.

Fox News Digital reached out to Bauza's representative.

Bauza's early breakthrough came when he voiced Stimpy in the 2003 series "Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon," taking over the character previously voiced by Billy West.

He became one of Hollywood's most recognizable voice talents, particularly for his work carrying on the legacy of legendary Looney Tunes performer Mel Blanc.

"I’m a fan first when it comes to this franchise, this band of characters. Mel Blanc will always be the original gangsta, the godfather of voiceover," Bauza told Fox News Digital back in 2020. "He was the first voice actor credited on screen as a voice actor. They never did back in the day. And we’re talking about the ‘30s and ‘40s."

"So he really paved the way to show the importance of vocal performance, not an on-camera one. And the fact that we’re sitting here now talking about his performance just shows you how incredible, impactful and influential his sound is."

Bauza's Looney Tunes work included feature films such as "Space Jam: A New Legacy" (2021), "The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie" (2024) and this year's "Coyote vs. Acme." Bauza won three Children's and Family Emmy Awards during his career.

Beyond bringing Bugs Bunny to life on screen, Bauza had a deep appreciation for the character's roots and what made him so beloved by generations of fans. Reflecting on Bugs Bunny's signature personality, Bauza once explained how the character's unmistakable New York accent came to be.

"And if you’re wondering where [Bugs Bunny] got that accent from, they say he’s a rascally rabbit," Bauza told Fox News Digital. "So [Mel] thought, he’s gotta be a tough character. And there’s no one tougher than a New Yorker, that’s what he said. He said it’s either Brooklyn or The Bronx. He mixed the two together, those accents. So that’s why he kind of has that street talk."

"I think he represents the everyman, the every rabbit," he added. "He doesn’t have a lot of high demands in life. All he wants is a carrot and a nice afternoon where no one bugs him. And if you get on his bad side, that’s when you gotta look out. That’s when he becomes the trickster. But really, he’s just a simple rabbit, nothing to him. I think that’s why he’s so appealing. And I think that’s why when he gets in trouble, people want him to succeed."

With hundreds of voice-acting credits across television, film and video games, Bauza built a career introducing classic cartoon characters to new generations while creating memorable performances of his own.

His work helped keep some of animation's most enduring characters alive for modern audiences.

BAUZA, Eric Adrian

Born: 12/7/1979, Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Died: 10/25/2026, Los Angeles, Calfiornia, U.S.A.

 

Eric Adrian Bauza’s westerns – actor:

Long Gone Gulch (TV) – 2021 [voice of Mako]

RIP Alan Dysert

 

All My Children Star Alan Dysert Dies at 75 After Revealing His ‘Incurable Cancer’ Diagnosis

The actor “faced more than his share of health challenges over the years,” his wife wrote in a post announcing his death

People

By Julia Moore

October 26, 2026

 

All My Children alum Alan Dysert has died at age 75.

News of his death was shared by his wife, Michele, in a Facebook post on Sunday, Oct. 25. “My heart is broken as I share that my beloved husband, Alan, passed away on October 23, 2026. While I am struggling to imagine life without him, I am forever grateful to have experienced what so many people spend their lives searching for — the love of a lifetime,” Michele wrote.

While a cause of death was not shared, Michele noted that the actor “faced more than his share of health challenges over the years, yet he continued to approach life with determination, humor, and gratitude.”

In a 2023 autobiography, Lights, Camera, Cancer!, Alan revealed that he had been diagnosed with a “rare, aggressive and incurable cancer.” Per the book’s synopsis, he’d undergone “four major cancer-related surgeries, one recurrence, many rounds of chemotherapy and 29 CT scans to date.”

“Alan lived an extraordinary life. From his humble beginnings as a farm boy in Illinois, he went on to become an actor, musician, writer, filmmaker, producer, and beloved acting teacher. Many knew him from his years on All My Children, while thousands of others knew him as the teacher and mentor who encouraged them to believe in themselves and pursue their dreams. He was a life changer!!”

Dysert was best known for playing con-man Sean Cudahy over a 10-year period on All My Children. He made his debut on the series in 1980 and his final appearance in 1990, a total of 79 episodes.

Michele noted his “incredible gift for storytelling” and “wonderful sense of humor” in her tribute. “But behind all those accomplishments was the man I was fortunate enough to call my husband, my partner, and my best friend. We shared a love that was truly special,” she wrote. “Thank you for loving me, for making me laugh, for the adventures, the memories, and the beautiful life we built together. I would choose you all over again, without hesitation. My heart is broken, but I am so thankful for the love of a lifetime.”

Alan was a father of two, and Michele wrote of his sons Cody and Cooper: “I hope you’ll remember Alan with a smile, share a favorite story, and celebrate the joy he brought into this world.”

She also called out a section from his autobiography, in which he wrote that he “wanted his children, grandchildren, family, and friends to celebrate his life rather than mourn his passing.”

“That was Alan. He understood that life was an adventure, that tomorrow was never guaranteed, and that the greatest treasures weren’t things, but the people and experiences that made life meaningful. So today, even through my tears, I want to honor his wishes and celebrate the remarkable life he lived.”

Alan’s longtime agent Melinda Eisnagule tells PEOPLE his death is a “loss to our community and to the acting community at large,” adding, “He touched so many lives and made the industry and the world a better place every day with his positive energy and kindness.”

Alan was born and raised on a farm in rural Illinois and attended the University of Illinois, where he studied television arts. After graduation, he worked in real estate before pivoting to stand-up comedy, and in 1978, made his acting debut on Soap, and he booked All My Children shortly afterward.

“My scenes are written better than stuff on nighttime TV,” he told PEOPLE in a 1981 interview. “This is such a fun role! I love it.”

DYSERT, Alan (Alan Ray Dysert)

Born: 6/12/1951, Vermilion County, Illinois, U.S.A.

Died: 10/23/2026, Franklin, Tennessee, U.S.A.

 

Alan Dysert’s western – actor:

The Legend of Van Dorn - 2026 (supply ship captain) [producer]

RIP Walter Koenig

 

Actor Walter Koenig Dead at 90 ... Played Chekov in Original 'Star Trek' Series

TMZ

October 26, 2026

 

Walter Koenig -- the TV star best known for playing Ensign Pavel Chekov in the original "Star Trek" series -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

The late actor's rep tells us ... Walter's daughter, Danielle, and his niece were by his side when he died of old age at his home in North Hollywood on Sunday.

The rep noted his enormous talent -- including his recent win at the 2026 Independent Shorts Awards for his performance in the film "Mr. Fleischmann" -- as well as his larger legacy.

At conventions, the rep says Walter "shared his kindness, wit, and appreciation with everyone fortunate enough to meet him. He understood what Star Trek meant to people and embraced the community that grew around it."

The rep expressed condolences to Walter's loved ones and fans ... before adding, "Thank you, Walter, for the memories, the inspiration, and for boldly going where few have gone before."

Walter began acting onscreen in the early 1960s, appearing in bit roles on shows like "Gidget" and "I Spy" before landing the role of Chekov, which he played on 36 episodes of "Star Trek."

He later reprised his role in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" and several other sequels.

Walter's credits also include "Babylon 5," "Columbo," and "Futurama" ... among many others.

He was predeceased by his son, Andrew Koenig, who died by suicide in 2010.

We last caught up with Walter in 2009 ... when we asked him about the secret to a successful marriage. He and his wife Judy were married for nearly 60 years ... until she passed in 2022.

He was 90.

RIP

KOENIG, Walter (Walter Marvin Koenig)

Born: 9/14/1936, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Died: 10/25/2026, North Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

 

Walter Koenig’s westerns – actor:

The Virginian (TV) - 1970 (Paul Erlich)

Cowboys & Engines: Complete Pitch Reel – 2015 (Professor Timéon)

RIP Peggy King

 

Peggy King, ‘George Gobel Show’ Actress and Singer of the ’50s, Dies at 96

Variety

By Mya Copeland

October 25, 2026

 

Peggy King, a 1950s television and recording star, died Sunday following a battle with Alzheimer’s at the Saunders House Assisted Living facility in Wynnewood, Pa. She was 96.

King’s publicist, Alan Eicher, confirmed her death.

King was a regular on the “George Gobel Show” from 1954-57. Gobel dubbed her “Pretty Perky Peggy King,” a nickname that stuck for the rest of her career. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for best female singer in 1955. She performed “Count Your Blessings” at the 1955 Academy Awards and co-hosted the Emmys in 1958.

King appeared on shows including Bob Hope’s “Chevy Show,” “American Bandstand,” “The Steve Allen Show,” “The Kraft Music Hall with Milton Berle,” “What’s My Line?,” “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” “The Perry Como Show,” “The Garry Moore Show” and “The Jack Benny Program.” Her dramatic credits include roles on “Maverick” and “Dragnet.”

In 1952, she signed to an MGM contract, which led to a cameo in Vincente Minnelli’s “The Bad and the Beautiful,” in which she sang on the soundtrack album. She also appeared in “Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.”

Mitch Miller signed her to a long-term contract with Columbia Records, where she made two best-selling albums. She had a string of hit singles, and composer Arthur Hamilton wrote “Cry Me a River” for her but Miller would not let her record the song.

King starred with Tab Hunter in the television musical “Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates.” She also starred in a TV musical version of “Jack and the Beanstalk” with Joel Grey, Celeste Holm and Cyril Ritchard. She played a stewardess in the 1957 thriller “Zero Hour!” with Dana Andrews and Linda Danell.

She was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2010 and was among the first celebrities honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. King’s last released recording was the album “Songs a la King,” released in 2016. She performed regularly in the Philadelphia area, New York and Los Angeles as late as 2014.

King was born Feb. 16, 1930, to Floyd Henry King and Margaret Finan in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Ravenna High School and sang on radio in Cleveland. She was a regular on “The Mel Torme Show” for CBS and had a successful commercial jingle for Hunt’s Tomato Sauce.

King is survived by her daughter, Suzy Rudofker, and son-in-law, Dwain Goforth.

KING, Peggy

Born: 2/16/1930, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Died: 10/25/2026, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

 

Peggy King’s western – actress:

Maverick (TV) - 1959 (Jenny Hill)

RIP Tom Skerritt

 

Tom Skerritt, Star of ‘Picket Fences’ and ‘Alien,’ Dies at 93

Mentored by Robert Altman in 'M*A*S*H,' the Emmy-winning actor later stood out in 'Top Gun,' 'The Turning Point' and 'A River Runs Through It.'

The Hollywood Reporter

By Chris Koseluk

October 22, 2026

 

Tom Skerritt, the rough-hewn actor who sparkled amid ensembles in M*A*S*H, Alien and Top Gun before starring as small-town sheriff Jimmy Brock on the quirky 1990s series Picket Fences, has died. He was 93.

Skerritt died Wednesday of natural causes, his family announced.

“We are heartbroken by his loss,” they said. “While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew him for his humor, curiosity, wisdom, generosity and the love he brought into our lives. He cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world and helping others find and share their own voices.”

The collaborative Skerritt also portrayed Shirley MacLaine’s husband in the 11-time Oscar nominee The Turning Point (1977), was Tom Cruise’s Air Force instructor Mike “Viper” Metcalf in Top Gun (1986) and was memorable as a minister and the patriarch of the MacLean family in Robert Redford‘s rhythmic A River Runs Through It (1992).

Known for his outdoorsy features and bristly mustache, the handsome actor exuded masculinity during his six-decade career and was often cast in positions of authority — as when he starred as the iconic lawman Will Kane in a 2000 remake of High Noon for TBS.

Skerritt’s breakthrough came in the 1970 feature M*A*S*H. As Southern surgeon Duke Forrest, he opens the film by stealing a jeep with co-conspirator Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland) to get them to the mobile hospital where they’re assigned to treat injured U.S. soldiers during the Korean War.

Once there, the two join forces with Trapper John McIntrye (Elliott Gould) and set about questioning any rigid army regulation that stands in the way of their drinking and womanizing.

The anti-establishment, freewheeling comedy, directed by Robert Altman, was one of the year’s most popular films and led to the long-running CBS series of the same name. Curiously, Skerritt’s character was one of the few not included in the small-screen adaptation; nonetheless, the role proved the actor had star power.

The Detroit native credited Altman for giving him the freedom to create the character. “I just loved the guy from the first. He made me realize early on that you could do no wrong, as long as you tried,” Skerritt said in Mitchell Zuckoff’s 2009 book Robert Altman: The Oral Biography. “The worst you could do was make an ass out of yourself. And that’s the first thing you have to be willing to do as an actor, be willing to make an ass out of yourself. Bob gave me that.”

After his success with M*A*S*H, Skerritt began landing work in more films — Wild Rovers (1971), Fuzz (1972), Big Bad Mama (1974) and Ice Castles (1978) among them. He worked again with Altman in Thieves Like Us (1974) and did a zany turn in Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke (1978) as Strawberry, a shell-shocked, pot-dealing Vietnam veteran.

Skerritt originally turned down the role as Captain Dallas of the doomed spacecraft Nostromo in Alien (1979) after fearing that the film’s budget would be consumed by special effects. However, he reconsidered after learning that Ridley Scott had signed on to direct.

As Skerritt recalled in an interview for the 2001 TV documentary Alien Evolution, “Hold on here, let me see. I’ve heard of this Ridley Scott guy, I’ve heard that he did this thing called The Duellists [Scott’s 1977 feature debut]. ‘Can I see this?’ And they said, ‘Yes, we’ll run a screening for you tomorrow.’ So I went to see The Duellists. And it was a masterpiece. I mean, I have never seen a picture that captured so much production value as The Duellists. Magnificent-looking film, a painting from beginning to end. So I had to do Alien at that point.”

For four seasons on CBS beginning in 1992, Skerritt starred on David E. Kelley’s Picket Fences as the sheriff of the fictional Rome, Wisconsin, the voice of calm amid insanity. Skerritt, who played the husband of the town doctor (Kathy Baker) and a father of three, won the Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama series in 1993 and was nominated again the following year.

On the sixth season of Cheers, he portrayed Rebecca Howe’s (Kirstie Alley) ultra-suave ex-boss, Evan Drake, and played Sally Field’s deceased husband, William, on Brothers and Sisters. And he appeared as himself in a hilarious cameo in the 2012 comedy Ted.

And in 2021, he landed a rare leading role in a feature when he played a retired heart surgeon and recent widower who learns he has terminal cancer in East of the Mountains.

Thomas Roy Skerritt was born on Aug. 25, 1933, in the Motor City. After graduating from Mackenzie High School in 1951, he enlisted in the Air Force, hoping to see the world. Instead, lacking the skills to be a pilot, he spent most of his time in uniform in Austin as a classification specialist. Skerritt then returned to his hometown to study English at Wayne State University.

Deciding to pursue a career as a writer or director, Skerritt transferred to UCLA, where he also did some acting in a bid to overcome his shyness. He never dreamed he could make a living at it.

“I thought I would continue writing and continue acting if I was going to be a director,” Skerritt told Film Comment in 2016. “I happened to be seen as an actor and I was hired for a little low-budget film and I thought, ‘Hey, this is a great way to learn how to be a director, to be a participant in the actual reality of making a film.’

“You can’t be a filmmaker purely by going to the university, as you know. The practical knowledge, the street knowledge you can gain by being on a set, being around that, being around the way people talk, the way they approach the business, was really the benefit I saw in it from the beginning.”

The low-budget film was War Hunt (1962). Its producers, Terry and Denis Sanders, had seen Skerritt in a community stage production and offered him a job. The drama, featuring John Saxon, Sydney Pollack, Redford and Gavin MacLeod, was, like M*A*S*H, set during the Korean War.

Skerritt’s on-camera appeal couldn’t be denied, and he easily found more acting work. Throughout the 1960s, he appeared on episodes of Laramie, The Real McCoys, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, My Three Sons, Wagon Train, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel and Mannix.

The shows Death Valley Days, Gunsmoke, The F.B.I., The Fugitive, 12 O’Clock High, Combat!, Bonanza and The Virginian showcased him multiple times in different roles.

After becoming friends with director Hal Ashby, Skerrit appeared in Harold and Maude (1971) as a motorcycle cop. (Skerritt stepped in to do the small role as a favor after an on-set accident caused an actor to bow out.) When asked about a credit, he chose to use Martin Bormann instead of his real name.

“We did silly things in those days, and we still do,” he told Film Comment. “And I said, ‘You know, Martin Bormann, second in command to Hitler, nobody ever found out what happened to that guy. Everyone else they were able to trace, but that guy just vanished.’ I said, ‘You know, I think he went to Oakland and became a motorcycle cop.’ ”

His other notable film credits included Savage Harvest (1981), The Dead Zone (1983), SpaceCamp (1986), Made to Order (1987), The Rookie (1990), Steel Magnolias (1989), Contact (1997), The Other Sister (1999), Tears of the Sun (2003), Bonneville (2006), Redemption Road (2010), A Hologram for the King (2016) and Day of Days (2017).

Skerritt also popped up on television on Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Cannon, Barnaby Jones, S.W.A.T., Baretta, Chicago Hope, Will & Grace, The West Wing, The Grid, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Huff, Leverage, The Good Wife and Madam Secretary.

Survivors include his third wife, Julie Tokashiki, whom he married in 1998; his children, Andy, Erin, Matt, Collin and Emiko; grandchildren Sara, Maddison, Sunny, Louisa and Georgia; and great-grandchildren Marigold and Ravi.

Skerritt helped launch TheFilmSchool in Seattle to support the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers. That commitment extended to the Red Badge Project, which he co-founded to help veterans work through PTSD, anxiety and depression by writing and sharing their experiences.

His passion for service included protecting the natural world. Inspired in part by A River Runs Through It, he helped create and champion Reflections of the River, a documentary series exploring the health of America’s rivers and the urgent need to protect them. He also supported river conservation through partnerships with the Wildlands Festival, American Rivers and the Gallatin River Task Force.

SKERRITT, Tom (Thomas Roy Skerritt)

Born: 8/25/1933, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.

Died: 10/21/2026, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

 

Tom Skerritt’s westerns – actor:

The Virginian (TV) 1962-1971 (Billy Landers, Bobby Allen, Eric Kroeger)

Death Valley Days (TV) – 1963-1968 (Dennis Driscoll, Emmett Dalton, Mark Twain)

Laramie (TV) - 1963 (Price)

Temple Houston (TV) – 1963 

Bonanza (TV) -1964-1973 (Corporal Bill Tanner, Jerry)

Wagon Train (TV) - 1964 (Hamish Browne)

Gunsmoke (TV) 1965-1972 (Ben Stone, Edmund Dano, Fred Garth)

Cimarron Strip (TV) - 1968 (Enoch Shelton)

Lancer (TV) - 1969 (Bill Blake)

Wild Rovers -1971 (John Buckman)

Nichols (TV) - 1971 (Charley Doyle)

The Last Day (TV) – 1975 (Bill Powers)

Sara (TV) – 1976 (Newt Johnson)

Silence of the North – 1981 (Walter Reamer)

Poker Alice (TV) – 1987 (Jeremy Collins)

Smoke Signals – 1998 (police chief)

Two for Texas (TV) – 1998 (Sam Houston)

High Noon (TV) – 2000 (Will Kane)

Texas Rangers – 2001 (Richard Dukes)

Gun – 2005 - [voice of Clay Allison]

The American West (TV) – 2016 (Texas Ranger)

Lucky – 2017 (Fred)

Catch the Bullett – 2021 (Dex)

Broke – 2025 (Cliff)

 

RIP Fabrizio Gianni

 

Fabrizio Gianni tribute and male model photography

Male Model Retro

October 19, 2026

 

Fabrizio Gianni (1938,2026, 87). Countless were the times a photograph by Fabrizio Gianni made me dream as a child and teenager. Feeling that rush of adrenaline and fascination upon discovering an advertising campaign or an editorial shot by one of my favorite photographers.

And aspiring to one day possess even a fraction of the class, elegance, and masculinity of his models. And fetishizing all those beautiful clothes that were always far out of reach for my budget.

It doesn’t matter, in the end, you realize that it’s all a fantasy, and as such, the photographs will always be there to admire and to keep dreaming of other eras, other lives.

Fabrizio Gianni passed away yesterday, Sunday morning. In his own words, he left peacefully and satisfied with having lived a great life, grateful to God for having a beautiful family.

Thank you, Fabrizio. Rest in peace. 🙏

My deepest condolences to his family, his friends, and his models who always showed him so much love and respect.

GIANNI, Fabrizio

Born: 10/21/1938, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Died: 10/18/2026, Falkirk, Scotland, U.K.

 

Fabrizio Gianni’s westerns – assistant director, writer, actor:

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 1966

The Ugly Ones – 1966

El Puro – 1969 – (Shorty/professor) [screenwriter]

Hate is My God – 1969

RIP Richard Riehle

 

'Office Space' Actor Richard Riehle Dead at 78

TMZ

October 19, 2026

 

Richard Riehle -- famous for his role as Tom Smykowski in "Office Space" -- is dead ... TMZ has learned.

Friends of Richard tell TMZ ... he died of natural causes last Thursday in Los Angeles.

He was an acclaimed character actor, appearing in over 400 projects during a long career in Hollywood.

Richard's best known for his work in "Office Space" ... he plays Tom, the product manager who gets laid off from Initech, survives a hit-and-run accident, and lands a massive financial settlement that allows him to follow his dreams and build his prototype "Jump to Conclusions" mat. He's got tons of memorable scenes and lines, and is a cult favorite.

The last time we caught up with Richard was back in 2018 in Los Angeles, after he had just gotten back from filming the Lifetime holiday movie "A Very Nutty Christmas" with Melissa Joan Hart.

Richard was 78.

RIP

RIEHLE, Richard (Richard Mathias Riehle)

Born: 5/12/1948, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Died: 10/15/2026, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

 

Richard Riehle’s westerns – actor, voice actor:

Glory - 1989 (quartermaster)

Of Mice and Men – 1992 (Carlson)

Lightning Jack – 1994 (Marcus)

Gambler V: Playing for Keeps (TV) – 1994 (Frank Dimaio)

Lone Justice 2 – 1995 (mayor)

The Ransom of Red Chief (TV) – 1998 (Sheriff 'T-Bone' Yankum) [narrator]

Home on the Range – 2004 [voice of Sheriff Sam Brown]

Dead Man's Burden – 2012 (Three Penny Hank)

Deadman Standing – 2018 (Clarence Potts)

West of Hell – 2018 (Mr. Braxton)

3 From Hell – 2019 (Sheriff Wolf)

Ambush at St. Mary's – 2024 (Father Jacob)

The Cowboy Killer (TV) – 2026 (Cook Gerald)

Trail’s End – 2026

RIP Betty McGuire

 

Betty McGuire Dies: Broadway Actress & ‘Growing Pains’ Guest Star Was 100

DEADLINE

By Glenn Garner

October 18, 2026

 

Betty McGuire, the Broadway actress who also appeared on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains, has died. She was 100.

On Sunday, McGuire’s rep confirmed that the actress died of natural causes on Thursday, Oct. 8 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills.

Born 1933 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, McGuire made her Broadway debut as Rebecca in the 1955 musical Plain and Fancy, also appearing on the Great White Way in Happy Hunting (1956) and Oh Captain! (1958), working with such talents as Ethel Merman, Barbara Cook, Bea Arthur and Tony Randall. She also starred in touring productions of Auntie Mame, Gypsy and Oliver!

McGuire’s onscreen debut came in a 1973 episode of The Doris Day Show, before she went on to appear in shows like Columbo, Phyllis, Charlie’s Angels, Hart to Hart, Little House on the Prairie, Moonlighting, Matlock, MacGyver, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Murphy Brown, CSI: Miami, ER, 7th Heaven and more.

The actress was best known for her recurring guest role as Grandmother Kate Malone on Growing Pains.

McGuire also starred in movies like Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke (1978), Hometown USA(1980), The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) and Wishmaster (1997).

Outside of acting, McGuire spent years volunteering for the Coalition for Economic Survival legal clinic in Los Angeles, offering support to low-income tenants fighting eviction. She also hosted GabFest, a segment of NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt that spotlit her fellow residents at The Motion Picture & Television Fund Home.

McGUIRE, Betty (Betty Jean McGuire)

Born: 3/20/1926, Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Died: 10/8/2026, Woodland Hills, California, U.S.A.

 

Betty McGuire’s western – actress:

Little House on the Prairie (TV) - 1982 (Nora Kramer)

RIP Michael Forest

 

Michael Forest, Actor in Roger Corman Movies and ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 97

He starred in ‘Beast From Haunted Cave,’ ‘Ski Troop Attack’ and ‘Atlas’ for the B-movie maven but also did lots of Shakespeare on the stage and films overseas.

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

October 16, 2026

 

Michael Forest, the strapping actor who starred in Beast From Haunted Cave and other B-pictures for Roger Corman and made memorable guest-star appearances on classic episodes of The Twilight Zone, The Dick Van Dyke Show and Star Trek, has died. He was 97.

Forest was living in a facility for seniors in Sparks, Nevada, and died Wednesday, his friend James A. Brown announced.

A native of North Dakota, Forest also made more than 20 movies in Spain, France and England — among them 100 Rifles (1969), starring Jim Brown and Raquel Welch — and was a very busy voice actor who was fluent in Italian, dubbing more than 500 films while living in Rome from 1968-78.

Six-foot-3 and 215 pounds in his prime, Forest had recently moved to Los Angeles when he met Corman in an acting class and was hired to play the whip-cracking barbarian Zarko in The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (1957), starring Richard Devon, Abby Dalton and Jonathan Haze.

That led him to snowy Deadwood, South Dakota, and a turn as local guide Gil Jackson in the horror heist movie Beast From Haunted Cave (1959), produced by Roger’s brother, Gene Corman, and featuring Chris Robinson as the monster. (Monte Hellman, who lived in the same apartment building as Forest at the time, made his feature directing debut on the film.)

One day after finishing work on Beast From Haunted Cave, Forest was back at it, starring as an American soldier in the Roger Corman-directed war flick Ski Troop Attack (1960). And after that, he quickly headed to Athens to portray the title hero in Atlas (1960), with Corman seeking to horn in on the popular Hercules pictures that starred Steve Reeves.

Forest played one of the three motorcycle-riding brothers from another planet (Lee Kinsolving and Tom Gilleran were the others) sent to wipe out humans on Earth on the Twilight Zone episode “Black Leather Jackets,” which starred Shelley Fabares and premiered on Jan. 22, 1964.

Nine days later, he was on CBS again on The Dick Van Dyke Show as a former love interest of Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) who’s now a priest — getting set up with Rose Marie’s Sally Rogers was great for a few laughs — on the episode “The Life and Love of Joe Coogan.”

And on the second-season Star Trek episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?” that first aired in September 1967, Forest portrayed the Greek god Apollo who demands that the crew of the Starship Enterprise worship him as he falls for Lt. Carolyn Palamas (fellow guest star Leslie Parrish).

In 2013, he returned as Apollo on the fan-produced series Star Trek Continues to work alongside his late wife, Diana Hale, as Athena.

Gerald Michael Charlebois was born on April 17, 1929, in Harvey, North Dakota. He moved with his family as a youngster to Seattle and said he decided to pursue acting — instead of boxing — after seeing a friend perform at the Seattle Rep Playhouse.

After he attended the University of Washington and San Jose State, he moved to L.A. in 1955, appeared on an episode of Highway Patrol and started acting for the Players Ring theater company in West Hollywood. He first met Roger Corman in an acting class that both were taking with noted teacher Jeff Corey.

“One day he said to me, ‘Look, Mike, do you want to do this picture [Viking Women]?’” Forest recalled in an interview for Tom Weaver’s 2001 book, I Was a Monster Movie Maker. “‘It’d be nothing more than kind of a glorified stuntman, but if you want to do it, fine.’ I said, ‘Sure.’”

He spent five weeks in South Dakota on Beast From Haunted Cave and Ski Troop Attack and told Weaver he was paid $2,500. “I got $500 a week,” he said. “I think at that time, minimum weekly was $350 and I got $500 — I held out for big bucks!”

Also in 1960, he recurred as the French Canadian rogue Pierre Duran alongside Roger Moore on the Warner Bros./ABC adventure series The Alaskans.

He wound up under contract at Warners — and later Universal — and worked on everything from Zorro, Bat Masterson, Maverick, Bonanza, Have Gun — Will Travel, Lawman, The Rifleman, Death Valley Days and Wagon Train to Dr. Kildare, Gomer Pyle: USMC, The Outer Limits, Perry Mason, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Gunsmoke, Combat!, Gilligan’s Island and Get Smart through the end of the 1960s.

Meanwhile, Forest was doing lots of Shakespeare, playing Othello three times and appearing as Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew at the Old Globe in San Diego. (He landed his Star Trek gig after someone at the theater recommended him.)

Back from Europe, he lived in New York while playing Nick Andropoulos, owner of the Greek restaurant The Plakka, on the CBS soap As the World Turns from 1980-82.

Later, Forest portrayed the wealthy older millionaire who has a fatal heart attack after an intense sadomasochistic encounter with Madonna’s Rebecca Carlson in Body of Evidence (1993) and was a pilot in the Tom Hanks-starring Cast Away (2000).

He and Hale were married for 52 years until her death in 2022.

“I look back, and it certainly hasn’t been what you might call a distinguished career, but on the other hand, it hasn’t been bad,” he once said. “Some of the things that I’ve done, I take a great deal of pride in. But, like all actors, you do work in material and situations that are not what you want, and you try to make it the best you can. Acting has its ups and its downs.”

FOREST, Michael (Gerald Michael Charlebois)

Born: 4/17/1929, Harvey, North Dakota, U.S.A.

Died: 10/14/2026, Sparks, Nevada U.S.A.

 

Michael Forest’s westerns – actor:

Death Valley Days (TV) 1953-1959 (Coyote Jim, Larry)

Cheyenne (TV) – 1956-1961 (Capt. Robert Holman, Lariat Sanga, Leader)

Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend – 1957 (Slade)

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (TV) -1957-1958 (Big Bear, Brave, Broken Claw)

Tombstone Territory (TV) - 1957 (Floyd Rank)

Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (TV) - 1958 (Strong Eagle)

Have Gun - Will Travel (TV) - 1958 (Peter Keystone)

Zorro (TV) – 1958 (Anastacio)

Bat Masterson (TV) – 1959-1960 (Les Wilkins, Noah Gannon)

Bonanza (TV) – 1959-1967 (Frank Shirmer, Wabuska, Young Wolf)

Bronco (TV) - 1959 (Jacques Perrault)

Lawman (TV) - 1959 (Chief Little Wolf)

Maverick (TV) – 1959-1961 (Bob Tallhorse, Jean Paul St. Cloud)

The Rifleman (TV) - 1959 (Chaqua)

The Texan (TV) - 1959 (Deputy Lacy)

26 Men (TV) - 1959 (Jodine Hardie, The Champ)

Yancy Derringer (TV) - 1959 (Pierre)

Zane Grey Theater (TV) – 1959 (Joe Sampson)

The Alaskans (TV) - 1960 (Pierre Duran, Shaman)

Valley of the Redwoods – 1960 (Dave Harris)

The Westerner (TV) - 1960 (Troy)

The Tall Man (TV) - 1961 (Ledall)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1961-1962 (Dallas, Julio)

Frontier Circus (TV) - 1962 (Roy Clatter)

Laramie (TV) – 1962-1963 (Cobey, Dev Bardeen, Lew Catlin)

Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) - 1962 (Duke Tolliver)

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1963-1965 (Bob Sullins, Chance, Ray Pate)

The Virginian (TV) – 1964-1966 (Cavalry Lieutenant, George MacGregor, Hugh Stager)

The Glory Guys -1965 (Fred Cushman)

Rawhide (TV) - 1965 (Yuma)

Branded (TV) - 1966 (Newt Woolery)

Little Rita of the West – 1967 [English voice of Kirk Morris]

Daniel Boone (TV) – 1967 (Long Feather, Canuda)

Mosby's Marauders – 1967 (General J.E.B. Stuart)

Laredo (TV) - 1967 (Miguel)

The Wrath of God – 1968 (Pitt)

Here Come the Brides (TV) - 1969 (Gallagher, Mike Donegan)

100 Rifles – 1969 (Humara)

The Silent Gun – 1969 (Trace Evans)

Compañeros – 1970 [additional English voices]

The Last Rebel – 1970 (pool hustler) [as Mike Forest]

Requiem for a Bounty Hunter – 1971 (Ryan/John Burton/Nick Barton)

The Grand Duel – 1972 [additional English voices]

Massacre at Fort Holman – 1972 [English voice of James Coburn]

Now They Call Him Sacramento – 1972 (Sacramento/Amen)

Cotter – 1973 (Tony Amaral)

Border Shootout – 1990 (Earl Beaudry)

The Scarlet Worm – 2011 (Judge Hanchett)

RIP Sanjulian

 

Comic Book Clique

10/15/2026

 

Manuel Pérez Clemente, known professionally as Sanjulián, has passed away at 85. The Spanish illustrator died on October 14, with the news confirmed by documentary filmmaker and longtime friend David García Sariñena, citing the artist’s family.

For generations of readers, Sanjulián’s paintings helped define the look of horror and fantasy on the comic-book newsstand. His work for Warren Publishing’s Vampirella, Creepy, and Eerie brought a striking painterly sophistication to stories filled with monsters, vampires, and the macabre.

His talent extended far beyond horror magazines. Sanjulián illustrated fantasy novels, including Conan the Barbarian stories, and created film-related artwork connected to major franchises such as Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. His paintings earned admiration from filmmakers including George Lucas and Peter Jackson.

What made Sanjulián’s art so memorable was his command of atmosphere. His use of light, shadow, color, and classical composition gave his subjects a sense of grandeur, even when depicting the darkest corners of fantasy. His covers could make a reader stop and stare before they had even opened the magazine.

Sanjulián belonged to a remarkable generation of illustrators whose work helped shape how horror, fantasy, and science fiction were imagined by readers around the world. His influence lives on in the artists who continue to draw inspiration from his paintings.

A true master has left us, but the worlds he brought to life will endure.

Rest in peace, Sanjulián.

SANJULIAN (Manuel Pérez-Sanjulian Clemente)

Born: 6/24/1941, Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Died: 10/14/2026, Sitges, Catalonia, Spain

 

Sanjulian’s western – art department:

Stop Over in Hell - 2016

 

RIP Dieter Jäger

DEFA

10/13/2026

The DEFA newsletter has announced the death of director, cameraman and actor Dieter Jäger who died on September 1^st. He was 88. Born in Mückenburg, Poland on February 7, 1938, Jäger directed the film “Not Just an Adventure” in 1960. In 1967, he served as a member of the camera and lighting department for the film “Lady Venus and Her Devil”. In 1978, Dieter Jäger played the role of Ferdl in an episode of the television series ‘Dangerous Manhunt’. In 1983, he served as a member of the camera and lighting department for the television series ‘Märkische Chronicle’. In 1994, Dieter Jäger portrayed a photographer and also worked as a still photographer for the film “Farewell to Agnes”. From 1999 to 2002, he worked as a camera assistant for the television series ‘Heartbeat - The Medical Team North’. Additionally, Dieter was long active in the camera department, serving in roles such as camera assistant, still photographer, and camera operator for numerous film and television productions from the 1960s to the early 2000s. He appeared in some 15 films from 1970 to 2003.

JAGER, Dieter

Born: 2/7/1938, Mückenburg, Poland

Died: 9/1/2026, Germany

 

Dieter Jäger’s western – actor:

The Long Ride from School – 1982 (an innocent)

RIP Waltraut Kramm

 

Waltraut Kramm the actress and dubber Waltraut Kramm died in Potsdam at the age of 94: she leaves behind a rich life’s work.

Tagesspiegel

By Klaus Bustrin

8/17/2026

 

Waltraut Kramm began her career as a voice actress at the Rundfunk (state broadcaster) for the children's program Kunterbunt. She completed her acting training from 1948 to 1950 at the DEFA Acting School.

As a theater actress, she worked at the Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam; there she was a permanent member of the ensemble until 1958.

From 1958, she worked as a freelance actress for theater, film, radio, and radio drama.

She also appeared in numerous radio series, including the crime series Blaulicht, Polizeiruf 110 (as Frau Schr110er in the episode Der Kreuzworträtselfall in 1988) and Der Staatsanwalt hat das Wort.

After World War II, Kramm resumed her work as a voice actress for the state broadcaster; she spoke the role of "Kleinen Pfennig" in the children's radio series Aus dem Butzemannhaus.

Kramm also worked as a voice actress for radio plays. She, along with Genia Lapuhs, played the title role as the Queen in the fairy tale radio play Schneewittchen in 1963; in the same year, she took on the role of Rosenrot in the fairy tale radio play Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot. In the literary radio play Huckleberry Finn, she played the role of Mary Jane Wilks, one of the attractive daughters of the wealthy Peter Wilks.

Waltraut Kramm also worked as a voice actress in several fairy tale films. In the classic fairy tale film "Three Nuts for Cinderella," she played the role of the landlady and cook Rosi; her voice in the GDR dubbing was provided by the Czechoslovak actress Míla Myslíková.

Waltraut Kramm was married to the long-time head director of the Hans-Otto Theater, Dieter Schindelhauer.

She died in July 2026 after a short illness in a hospital in Potsdam.

In eternal memory

KRAMM, Waltraut

Born: 12/14/1931, Berlin, Germany

Died: 7/28/2026, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

 

Waltraut Kramm’s western – actress:

White Wolves – 1969 (mother)