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She unashamedly owned her "nepo baby" status at the 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony, but even though she's the daughter of Hollywood power couple Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis didn't exactly walk easily through the doors of fame and fortune. At age 18, she made her small screen debut in an episode of the Jack Klugman medical series Quincy M.E. as "girl in dressing room," followed by an appearance in the Peter Falk detective classic Columbo playing "waitress." In 1977, she landed a recurring role in TV's Operation Petticoat, a sitcom based on the 1959 film starring her father, but was dropped from the series after just one season. One year later, she snagged the lead in a horror movie with the rather innocuous title of Halloween. It had a budget of just $325,000 and was helmed by a relatively unknown writer-director named John Carpenter. Curtis was paid $8,000 for her role...

Coslough Johnson, the Emmy-winning writer who worked with his late older brother, Arte Johnson, on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and wrote for two variety shows toplined by Sonny and Cher, has died. He was 91.

Johnson died March 23 of prostate cancer at a nursing facility in the Thousand Oaks area, his wife, Mary Jane, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Johnson also worked on sitcoms including The Monkees, Bewitched, That Girl, The Partridge Family, Good Times, Flo, Operation Petticoat and Cpo Sharkey and on cartoons featuring Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, The Flintstones, Voltron and He-Man.

He wrote on the first three seasons (1968-70) of NBC’s Laugh-In, the final three seasons (1971-74) of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and the lone season (1976-77) of The Sonny and Cher Show, those last two for CBS.

Other variety shows on his résumé included The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show...

Today we've lost a true icon. The great Jackie Cooper, whom you should instantly recognize, has passed away at the age of 88. Though he only dabbled in our genre a few times, we'd be remiss not to honor this legend.

Known for countless TV shows such as "The Rockford Files", "Operation Petticoat", "Police Story", and genre fare such as "The Twilight Zone", "The Invisible Man", and "Journey into Fear", Cooper is probably most recognizable to fans as Perry White in the Superman films.

We here at Dread Central would like to take this time to honor the memory of Cooper and to extend our sincerest of condolences to his many friends, family members, and constituents.

Thanks for the memories, sir. You will be missed.

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American writer and producer Michael Rhodes has lost his battle with cancer, aged 74.

Rhodes died last week at a Los Angeles hospital, according to his daughter Laura. Further details regarding his illness had not been released as WENN went to press.

Rhodes was perhaps best-known for shaping 1970s U.S. TV crime dramas Ellery Queen and Delvecchio, which starred Judd Hirsch.

His other producing credits include TV shows Operation Petticoat and Mariah, and small screen films The Return of Frank Cannon and Captive.

Rhodes is survived by his mother, a son, two daughters, a stepdaughter and three grandchildren.

Michael Rhodes, a producer and writer who shaped 1970s TV crime dramas "Ellery Queen" and "Delvecchio," died Oct. 7 of cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 74.

Rhodes' version of "Ellery Queen" ran on NBC from 1975-76 and starred Jim Hutton as a writer-sleuth who helps his NYPD detective father solve crimes. "Delvecchio," another Universal TV series, was written by Steven Bochco and starred Judd Hirsch as an Los Angeles detective; it ran 1976-77 on CBS.

Other producing credits for Rhodes include the series "Operation Petticoat" and "Mariah" and the telefims "The Return of Frank Cannon" and "Captive."

He is survived by his children Ross, Laura and Camila; his step-daughter Nikki; his grandchildren Ethan, Ella and Zen; and his mother Rose.

A ceremony to celebrate his life will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday at Braemar Country Club in Tarzana. The family asks that donations be made to...