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Floyd Levine, a character actor who appeared in such films as Dog Day Afternoon, Night Shift and, for his son, producer, director and studio exec Brian Robbins, Coach Carter and Norbit, has died. He was 93.

Levine died Sunday, his daughter-in-law Tracy Robbins announced in an Instagram post.

“He was surrounded by his beautiful family (and probably wishing someone would bring him a martini),” she wrote. “The best father-in-law, grandpa and all-around jokester, Floyd loved Frank Sinatra, classic films and making everyone laugh.”

Levine also showed up as Desk Sgt. Lubin on CBS’ Cagney & Lacey, as Dr. Howard Stein on Fox’s Melrose Place and as Ned the Doorman on Nickelodeon’s Cousin Skeeter, a show co-created by his son.

Born in New York on Feb. 23, 1932, Levine and his wife, Rochelle, raised their three kids in the Marine Park section of Brooklyn. He drove a cab to support an acting...

Veteran motion picture and television executive Frank Price, who had more than one go-round at both McA/Universal and Columbia Pictures, died Monday in Santa Monica. He was 95.

His son Roy Price, former president of Amazon Studios, reported his death, posting on X, “My father, Frank Price, passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning at 95. He lived a full life and we will miss him deeply.”

One of the few journeymen writer-producers to rise through the ranks to head both television and film production divisions, Price headed McA’s TV division in the 1970s, a period of great prosperity for the company, with such series as “Kojak,” “Baretta” and “The Rockford Files.” He moved on to become president of Columbia Pictures in 1978 and then chairman and CEO before he left in 1983; such films as “Kramer vs. Kramer,” “The Big Chill,” “Tootsie,” “Gandhi,” “Ghostbusters” and “The Karate Kid” were released...

Ronnie Rondell Jr., a stuntman in a family full of them who performed in films including How the West Was Won, Ice Station Zebra, Twister and The Matrix Reloaded, has died. He was 88.

Rondell died Tuesday at a senior living facility in Osage Beach, Missouri, his family announced.

Rondell is known to the Pink Floyd faithful as the businessman on fire on the cover of the band’s 1975 album, Wish You Were Here. In an era before computer effects, his mustache was burned off during the photo shoot that took place on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank.

His father, Ronald R. Rondell, was an extra and then a veteran assistant director on films like Around the World in 80 Days and TV programs including Bachelor Father and The Jack Benny Show, and one of his sons, R.A. Rondell, is a stunt performer and coordinator with credits including Clear and Present Danger and The Avengers.

The Oldenburg film festival will honor music producer and one-and-done film director James William Guercio at this year’s festival, hosting Guerico and presenting a special screening of his 1973 cult film Electra Glide in Blue.

The satirical black comedy, which mocks the hippie motorcycle movies made popular with Easy Rider (1969), stars Robert Blake and Billy Green Bush as Arizona motorcycle cops who get caught up in a murder investigation. Electra Glide in Blue premiered in competition at Cannes. Blake was nominated for a Golden Globe for his lead performance. The role reportedly helped Blake land the lead in the popular 70s cop series Baretta. (Years before the actor would become notorious after he was charged, and eventually acquitted, of the murder of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley).

Electra Glide in Blue failed to land with audiences at the time, with critics dismissing it as a reactionary alternative to Easy Rider.

Rick Hurst, the classic television actor best known for his role as Deputy Cletus Hogg in the hit series The Dukes of Hazzard, has passed away. Hurst's death was announced by Dukes of Hazzard co-star Ben Jones in a post shared on Facebook by the Cooter's Place museum. He was 79 years old, per CNN.

"It doesn't seem right that Rick Hurst passed away this afternoon," Jones' statement, posted on the evening of June 26, reads. "When something so unexpected happens, it is 'harder to process,' as the current expression goes. I have known Rick for over 45 years and there wasn't a minute of that time that he didn't leave me smiling or laughing. Sure he was a professional comedian, but mostly he just had a heart as big as Texas. He was a fine actor, a splendid comic, and a wonderfully supportive colleague."

Jones continued, "I had seen him in...

Rick Hurst, who portrayed the good-hearted Deputy Cletus Hogg on the long-running CBS action comedy The Dukes of Hazzard, died Thursday. He was 79.

Hurst’s death was announced by the Cooter’s Place museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. He had just canceled a scheduled July 3-7 appearance there.

“To fans, he was more than a character — he was family,” reads a Dukes of Hazzard post on Instagram. “His gentle smile, impeccable comedic timing and kind-hearted spirit made every scene brighter.

“Offscreen, Rick was known for his generosity, humility and love for connecting with fans at events across the country. Whether it was a reunion special or a meet-and-greet at Cooter’s, he never stopped sharing his joy with the people who adored him.”

Before his most famous role, Hurst played a prisoner named Cleaver alongside Tom Poston and Hal Williams on the 1975-76 ABC sitcom On the Rocks, which revolved...

Starring Peter Falk and running for 10 seasons, the crime drama Columbo gained recognition for its lead character, Lieutenant Columbo, and his unconventional approach. However, nothing prepared me for the revelation I stumbled upon regarding the Season 3 premiere of the series, Lovely but Lethal.

Amidst the glamour and intrigue of the cosmetics industry plot, a brief scene features a uniformed officer. That officer was none other than Dave Toma, a real-life Newark narcotics detective whose undercover exploits were so legendary they inspired not one, but two television series.

The surprising factor in the Columbo season 3 premiere

The season 3 premiere of Columbo follows the murder of Karl Lessing, a chemist portrayed by a young Martin Sheen, who is killed by cosmetics mogul Viveca Scott in her desperate attempt to secure a seemingly magical wrinkle-removing formula that could revolutionize the beauty industry.

A still from Columbo | Credit: Universal Television Distribution

Scott doesn’t stop there,...

Despite being an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk) doesn't really act like a cop. He's rather unconcerned with his uniform or following police protocol, and he even stands up against a corrupt superior in one of the show's best episodes. Columbo is a deeply unusual cop, and in the season 3 premiere, a real-life celebrity cop with some unusual quirks of his own had a small background role. In the episode "Lovely but Lethal," real-life police officer Dave Toma appears in uniform and lets Columbo and the Sergeant (John Finnegan) know that there's a potential witness outside. It's a very short scene, but it marked the beginning of Toma's career in crime television.

Before his TV work, Toma worked as an undercover detective in the narcotics division of the Newark Police Department in Newark, New Jersey. He got so good at doing different disguises...

Sian Barbara Allen, a Golden Globe-nominated TV actress who appeared in such hits as The Waltons and L.A. Law, died today at the age of 78 in Chapel Hill, N.C. The cause of death was Alzheimer’s Disease.

A prolific television performer of the ’70s and ’80s, Allen was born on July 12, 1946 in Reading, Penn. Raised by her mother and grandmother, upon graduating high school, she received a scholarship to the Pasadena Playhouse, which sparked her career. She studied with the highly regarded acting teacher Peggy Feury as part of the Journeyman program at the storied Mark Taper Forum.

Afterward, she was soon hired as one of the last contract players at Universal Studios, eventually booking roles on such series like Gunsmoke, Cagney & Lacey, The Incredible Hulk, Hawaii Five-0, Columbo, The Rockford Files and others. She was also the first woman to pen a script for an episode of Baretta,...

Sian Barbara Allen, a onetime Universal contract player who appeared in the films You’ll Like My Mother and Billy Two Hats and played a love interest of Richard Thomas’ John-Boy on The Waltons, died Monday. She was 78.

Allen died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, after a battle with Alzheimer’s, her family announced. She often played characters with “great vulnerability and uncommon empathy,” they noted.

In telefilms, Allen starred with Bette Davis and Ted Bessell as the title character, a housekeeper in a mansion, in 1973’s Scream, Pretty Peggy at ABC; with Claude Akins, John Savage and Patricia Neal in the 1975 tearjerker Eric at NBC; and with Anthony Hopkins and Cliff DeYoung in 1976’s The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, also at NBC (she played the wife of the famed aviator).

Born on July 12, 1946, in Reading, Pennsylvania, Allen was raised by her mother, Ruth, and her grandmother, Etta.

After she graduated from Reading Senior High School,...

Sian Barbara Allen, the actor known for numerous television roles and her lead role in “Scream, Pretty Peggy” alongside Bette Davis, died Monday in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Allen’s death was confirmed to Variety with the cause of death being Alzheimer’s disease.

In the ’70s and ’80s, Allen had numerous roles in popular TV shows, including “The Waltons,” “Columbo,” “The Rockford Files,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Gunsmoke,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.” and “The Incredible Hulk.” Allen also wrote the “Just for Laughs” episode of “Baretta” in Season 4.

In her film work, she starred alongside numerous stars, including Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy and Richard Thomas in “You’ll Like My Mother” (1972), Bette Davis in “Scream Pretty Peggy” (1973) and Gregory Peck and Jack Warden in the Western “Billy Two Hats” (1974). She also played Anne Morrow alongside Anthony Hopkins in “The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case” (1976). Allen earned a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising New Actress...

Wings Hauser, the father of Cole Hauser and an instantly-recognizable character actor who had roles on just about every action-based TV series in the past 50 years, died over the weekend at the studio he shared with wife Cali Lili Hauser. He was 77.

Hauser began his TV career in the ’70s on episodes of staples such as Canon, Baretta and Emergency!

He had bit roles in movies of the period such as the Nick Nolte starrer Who’ll Stop the Rain? and A Soldier’s Story with Denzel Washington.

His career took off in the ’80s and ’90s, with dozens and dozens of appearances on big-name action shows like The Fall Guy, Airwolf and Walker, Texas Ranger. He had longer arcs on China Beach, Lightning Force, Roseanne and Beverly Hills, 90210. He also played Greg Foster on more than a dozen episodes of The Young and the Restless.

In all, Hauser has...

We have some sad news to share today, as the official Wings Hauser page on social media has revealed that the prolific character actor passed away over the weekend at the age of 77. As the post reads, “Movie icon Wings Hauser took flight in the arms of his film & music partner, Cali Lili Hauser at their studio this weekend.“

Known for having one of the coolest names in cinema history, Wings Hauser was actually born Gerald Dwight Hauser on December 12, 1947. “Wings” was part of a stage name (Wings Livinryte) he used for a 1975 folk music album called Your Love Keeps Me Off the Streets, and he was credited as Wings Livinryte when he appeared on an episode of the TV series Cannon that same year. After that, he moved on to calling himself Wings Hauser.

Hauser made his screen debut with an uncredited appearance in the 1967 film First to Fight.

Jeannot Szwarc, known in part for directing the first sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jaws along with Helen Slater's Supergirl movie, has passed away. He was 87 years old.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Szwarc died on Tuesday due to respiratory failure while at Central Hospital in Loches, France. Jane Seymour, sho co-starred with Superman actor Christopher Reeve in Szwarc's 1980 film Somewhere in Time, also commented on the filmmaker's passing with a statement shared on social media.

“Jeannot Szwarc was not just a brilliant director but a kind and generous soul,” she Seymour said. “He gifted us many timeless stories, including Somewhere in Time, a film that changed my life forever. May his memory be a blessing, and may his artistry live on in our hearts.”

After graduating from Harvard University, the Paris-born Szwarc delved into directing for American TV in the 1960s. He worked on many classic shows from the era,...

Filmmaker Jeannot Szwarc earned directing credits on 80 different projects over the course of a career that spanned more than 50 years – but most movie fans will likely remember him as the director of the shark thriller sequel Jaws 2, the time travel romance Somewhere in Time, and/or the DC Comics adaptation Supergirl. Sadly, Szwarc is no longer with us, as his Somewhere in Time star Jane Seymour took to social media to confirm that he has passed away at the age of 85. Seymour wrote, “Today, we say goodbye to a true visionary. Jeannot Szwarc was not just a brilliant director but a kind and generous soul. He gifted us many timeless stories, including Somewhere in Time, a film that changed my life forever. May his memory be a blessing, and may his artistry live on in our hearts.“

Born in Paris on November 21, 1939, Szwarc graduated from Harvard University before getting...

A French filmmaker best known to horror fans for directing the first sequel to Steven Spielberg’s Jaws back in 1978, Jeannot Szwarc has passed away at the age of 85 this week.

Jane Seymour, who starred alongside the late Christopher Reeve in Szwarc’s 1980 film Somewhere in Time, writes on Facebook: “Today, we say goodbye to a true visionary. Jeannot Szwarc was not just a brilliant director but a kind and generous soul. He gifted us many timeless stories, including Somewhere in Time, a film that changed my life forever.

“May his memory be a blessing, and may his artistry live on in our hearts.”

Jeannot Szwarc got his start in Hollywood directing for multiple television shows throughout the late 1960s and into the 1970s including “Ironside,” “It Takes a Thief,” “Paris 7000,” “The Virginian,” “Longstreet” and “Marcus Welby, M.D.” He made his feature debut with the 1972 TV movie Night of Terror,...

Jennifer Jason Leigh came from a showbiz family. Her father was Vic Morrow, a prolific film and TV actor who starred in the series "Combat!" Her mother was Barbara Turner who acted in many TV shows throughout the '50s and '60s, and who wrote the screenplays for "Petulia," "Cujo," "Georgia," and "Pollock." Leigh started attending acting workshops when she was still a teenager, studying with Lee Strasberg. At age 16, she started to land her first professional acting gigs, appearing in an episode of "Baretta," and in the film "The Young Runaways." In 1981, she caught the public's eye playing a young woman battling anorexia in the TV movie "The Best Little Girl in the World," but it wasn't until her role in 1982's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" that the world took proper notice.

After that, Leigh was an actress to look out for. Her intense performances always lend...

Days of our Lives (Dool) news shows that there is sad news to report, actor Wayne Northrop has died at the age of 77. He played Roman Brady on the Peacock sudser, appearing in over 1,036 episodes of the show from 1981 to 2006.

The actor’s publicist, Cynthia Snyder, told TMZ that Northrop Northrup died on Friday, November 29 at the Motion Picture and Television Woodland Hills Home, which is an assisted living facility for veterans of the film industry.

Days of Our Lives can be Streamed on Peacock

Northrop was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s six years ago and needed full time care which necessitated his stay at the facility.

Northrup was married to Lynn Herring Northrop who plays Lucy Coe on ABC’s General Hospital. She issued a statement noting that the daytime star “was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s 6 years ago” and “took his final breath in the arms of family.

Best known for his portrayal as Roman Brady on “Days of our Lives” (1981-1984; 1991-1994) and Michael Culhane on “Dynasty,” actor Wayne Northrop died on Friday, November 29 at the Motion Picture and Television Woodland Hills Home in Woodland Hills. He was just 77 years old.

Outside of soaps, Northrop was married to “General Hospital” star Lynn Herring (Lucy Coe) for 43 years. They had two kids together, Hank and Grady.

In a family statement, they said, “Wayne was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s 6 years ago. He took his last breath in the arms of his family. We wish to thank the most caring and amazing place, The Motion Picture and Television Home for taking such great care of him. Wayne touched so many people with his sense of humor and wit. A husband for 43 years, the best dad ever to his two boys, Hank and Grady, and a rancher who loved...

Days of our Lives alum Wayne Northrop has died at the age of 77 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Wayne was best known for playing Roman Brady on the hit Peacock soap.

On Sunday, Wayne’s wife, General Hospital star Lynn Herring Northrop, announced the sad news.

“Wayne was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s 6 years ago. He took his last breath in the arms of his family. We wish to thank the most caring and amazing place, The Motion Picture and Television Home, for taking such great care of him,” read part of her statement via Deadline.

Lynn’s statement went on to gush over her husband and how much he meant to anyone who knew him, but especially to those who loved him.

“Wayne touched so many people with his sense of humor and wit. A husband for 43 years, the best dad ever to his two boys, Hank and Grady,...

Days of our Lives alum Wayne Northrop died on Friday, November 29th. The actor was 77 years old, and he passed at the Motion Picture and Television Woodland Hills Home.

Remembering Northrop

His wife, Lynn Herring Northrop, released a statement. She said, “Wayne was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s 6 years ago. He took his last breath in the arms of his family. We wish to thank the most caring and amazing place, The Motion Picture and Television Home for taking such great care of him. Wayne touched so many people with his sense of humor and wit. A husband for 43 years, the best dad ever to his two boys, Hank and Grady, and a rancher who loved his cows and was a friend to many.”

Northrup was best known for his role as Roman Brady, the tough yet kind-hearted detective on Days (1981-1984 & 1991-1994). Roman’s romance and marriage to Dr.

Spanish studio Mediapro has unveiled its slate of English-language content in the U.S. and Canada at MIPCOM Cannes on Wednesday, including a new film written and directed by and starring John Turturro.

Head of Mediapro Studio in the U.S. and Canada J.C. Acosta spoke with 24 producer Evan Katz, head of unscripted at Mediapro Pam Healey, CEO Laura Fernandez Espeso, TV producer Ran Tellem and Oscar-winning writer-director Juan-José Campanella.

Espeso began: “Our strategic approach in the U.S. aligns perfectly with our initiatives in other key territories, emphasizing the creativity of the talent, but also relevance and reach and, of course, diversity, which is a priority in our company.” It was over to Acosta, who spoke optimistically and passionately about “writing a new chapter in the U.S. and Canada, doubling down on English language content,” after Mediapro North America was unveiled six months ago.

Their fully-fledged English-language content...

Very few things can inspire the feeling of youth like a music video that immortalizes the trends and culture of the times. And they’ve come a long way from projections of still images paired with a live performance.

People were wildin’ out with their puffy leg-of-mutton sleeves in 1894, part of the decade called the “Gay Nineties” to the song, “Little Lost Child.”

We have the ’60s and ’70s to thank for advancing us from the methods of the “Naughty Nineties.” These are real names for the 1890s. Let that sink in.

(NBC, HBO, ABC, Paramount Pictures/Screenshots)

Due to its namesake, it didn’t take long before film and TV became the special sauce in crafting some visual masterpieces.

Over the years, that trend has only grown, with artists of countless genres jumping on the bandwagon.

Tell Me Lies Season 2 Episode 6 Review: Do Your Dirty Words Come Out to Play?...

Eugene Levy and his son Dan Levy continue to make Emmy history. Four years ago, their comedy series “Schitt’s Creek” won a staggering nine Emmys including best comedy series, actor, actress, supporting actors, writing and directing. Even before “Schitt’s Creek,” Eugene was no stranger to the Emmy universe, winning statutes in 1982 and 1983 as a writer on the beloved “Sctv.” In fact, Dan was just a month old when his dad received his second honor.

Eugene’s nominated this year for the 14th time for outstanding hosted nonfiction series or special for Apple TV +’ “The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy.” Now Eugene and Dan will be the first father and son to host the Emmys airing Sept. 15 on ABC. And here’s bit more history: the 77-year-old Eugene is the oldest Emmy host ever.

Having two hosts is nothing new for the Emmys. Back in 1952, the Emmys were hosted by the...

Spencer Milligan, who starred for Sid and Marty Krofft as the park ranger and widowed father Rick Marshall on the iconic Saturday morning kids show Land of the Lost, has died. He was 86.

Milligan died April 18 at his home in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, his family announced.

Milligan played the heroic father of youngsters Will Marshall (Wesley Eure) and Holly Marshall (Kathy Coleman) on the first two seasons of NBC’s Land of the Lost, which featured a mix of live-action and stop-motion animated dinosaurs. On the sci-fi show, the family is caught in an earthquake while on a rafting trip and propelled into an alternative universe.

“Sid and Marty Krofft didn’t just cast our TV family, they created, for the cast, a lifelong loving family in real life,” Eure said Wednesday in a statement. “Today I have been overwhelmed by thousands of fans, reaching out to tell me how...

Gloria Stroock, who played Rock Hudson’s secretary on McMillan & Wife and appeared in films including Fun With Dick and Jane, The Competition and The Day of the Locust, has died. She was 99.

Stroock died May 5 of natural causes in Tucson, Arizona, her daughter, Kate Stern, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Stroock was married to Emmy-winning writer-producer Leonard B. Stern (Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion, The Phil Silvers Show, The Honeymooners, Get Smart and much more) from 1956 until his death in 2011 at age 87.

Her late younger sister was Geraldine Brooks, a Tony nominee and Warner Bros. contract player (Cry Wolf, Embraceable You).

Stroock recurred as Maggie, the secretary of Hudson’s San Francisco police commissioner Stewart McMillan, on the final three seasons (1974-77) of McMillan & Wife, the NBC series created by her husband.

She portrayed the wife of Richard Dysart’s art director in John Schlesinger’s The Day of the Locust...

Identical twins mistaken for each other, a desperately obvious crime, the production values of a 70s TV mystery … this is cheap and tedious but not without a certain knowing charm

Given that this intensely schlocky, cheap-as-chardonnay-in-a-box erotic thriller is about identical twins who are often mistaken for each other, it can’t be a mere accident that it’s coming out hot on the heels of similarly titled romcom The Idea of You, an Anne Hathaway-vehicle about a fortysomething woman falling for a 24-year-old pop star. Surely, I will not be the only person to get the two mixed up.

Interestingly, it’s sort of a toss up as to which is more enjoyable. While The Idea of You is indubitably better financed and more lushly upholstered with fancy locations, snazzier costumes and a gazillion extras, it’s air of self-seriousness is irksome. The Image of You, on the other hand,...

Actor Ron Thompson, best known for starring alongside Robert Blake in the ABC crime series Baretta and his performance in the iconic 1981 film American Pop, has died. He was 83. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Thompson was found dead in his Los Angeles apartment on Saturday afternoon (April 13). He was discovered by his friend and former co-worker Joe Black, a filmmaker who worked with Thompson on Hate Horses (2017), Chicks, Man (2018), Suffrage (2023), and many other projects. No cause of death was given. “For a man of his age, he was so full of life; he had such a presence,” Black told THR, referring to Thompson as “the Sam Jackson to my Tarantino.” Born on January 31, 1941, in Louisville, Kentucky, Thompson moved with his family to Miami in 1945 and soon became fascinated with acting, especially after seeing Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront. Thompson’s first acting gig came in 1960 when he appeared as...

Ron Thompson, the unheralded actor who starred on Broadway for Charles Gordone in the Pulitzer Prize-winning No Place to Be Somebody and played father and son musicians for Ralph Bakshi in the animated cult classic American Pop, has died. He was 83.

Filmmaker Joe Black told The Hollywood Reporter that he found Thompson in his Van Nuys apartment on Saturday afternoon. The two had worked together in eight features, including Hate Horses (2017), Chicks, Man (2018) and Suffrage (2023), and Black visited him a couple times a week to help him out.

“For a man of his age, he was so full of life, he had such a presence,” Black said. He called Thompson “the Sam Jackson to my Tarantino.”

In 1969, Thompson originated off-Broadway the role of Shanty Mulligan in the Joseph Papp-produced No Place to Be Somebody, starring Ron O’Neal, then accompanied the drama to Broadway and on a tour around the country.

Ron Thompson, a veteran character actor best known for his role in Ralph Bakshi’s rotoscope film American Pop and his 1970s TV series portrayal of Detective Nopke in Baretta, died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 83. No cause was given by his friend Professor Rel Dowdell of Hampton University, who confirmed the death.

Thompson had a brief career as a rock singer in the 1960s and wrote and recorded a number of singles as Ronnie Thompson.

He also originated the role of Shanty Mulligan in the Pulitzer Prize winning play No Place to Be Somebody by Charles Gordone. He also won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his 1973 lead performance in the play Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?

Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1941, Ron, his older brother, and parents moved to Miami, Florida in ’45. Ron began to show talents as a singer/performer at an early age,...

Star Trek: The Original Series actor Barbara Baldavin has passed away.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Barbara Baldavin died on Sunday at her Manhattan Beach home due to congestive heart failure. Her passing was confirmed by her son, Marc D'Agosta. Baldavin was 85 years old.

Baldavin was known for playing two characters in Star Trek: The Original Series. In the first season, she appeared in two episodes in 1966 as phaser control officer Angela Martine. She played a significant role in the story with her first episode, which saw Starfleet come under attack during Angela's wedding to Robert Tomlinson (Stephen Mines) with Captain Kirk (William Shatner) presiding. Baldavin would later appear in the series finale of Star Trek as communications officer Lieutenant Lisa. The episode aired in 1969.

It was also through Star Trek that Baldavin met her husband, Joseph D'Agosta, who was a casting director for the series. Baldavin would later become...

Actor M. Emmet Walsh has passed away.

Per TheWrap, it's been revealed that M. Emmet Walsh died on Tuesday, March 19, at Kerbs Memorial Hospital in St. Albans, Vermont. His passing was confirmed by his manager, Sandy Joseph, who verified that Walsh died of cardiac arrest. Walsh was 88 years old.

Walsh was born on March 22, 1935. He made his acting debut in 1969's Alice's Restaurant, starting a career that would see him take on over 200 roles over the next five decades. The actor would follow this up with roles in movies like Midnight Cowboy and Serpico before landing more recognizable roles in 1977's Slap Shot and 1978's Straight Time. Walsh would also pick up a memorable role in the classic Steve Martin comedy The Jerk in 1979.

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One of Walsh's best-known roles was in the original Blade Runner movie, released by director Ridley Scott in 1982; he played the role of Captain Harry Bryant.

Very sad news today as it’s been reported that M. Emmet Walsh has died at the age of 88. No matter the size of the role, the prolific character actor always made a unique impression throughout his long career, which spanned six decades.

M. Emmet Walsh is best known for playing Bryant in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, the captain of the Los Angeles Police Department who tasks Deckard with tracking down the replicants at the beginning of the film. He told THR that the cast and crew weren’t quite sure what the make of the movie when they first saw it. “I don’t know if I really understood what in the hell it was all about,” Walsh said. “We all sat there and it ended. And nothing. We didn’t know what to say or to think or do! We didn’t know what in the hell we had done!

M. Emmet Walsh, a legendary character actor known for roles in iconic films, passed away at 88 from cardiac arrest in Vermont hospital. Walsh's six-decade career featured standout performances in Coen Brothers' films, Blade Runner, Knives Out, and other beloved movies. A versatile actor, Walsh brought big energy to small parts, creating a long-lasting impact on the cinematic landscape.

M. Emmet Walsh died today, March 20th, 2024. The famous actor was 88 and suffered cardiac arrest, passing away at Kerbs Memorial Hospital in St. Albans, Vermont. It's the end of a six-decade-long career that has seen Walsh work with some of the most legendary directors of all time, and in some of the most important movies, too: Blade Runner, Blood Simple, Bound for Glory, Baretta — and those are just the ones starting with "B."

Walsh began his film career with two of the most important films of the countercultural 1960s, starring in Alice's Restaurant...

The premise of the 1977 sitcom "Three's Company" -- adapted from the 1973 British series "Man About the House" -- would likely never fly in 2024. Roommates Janet (Joyce DeWitt) and Chrissy (Suzanne Somers) require a third roommate to pay rent in their expensive Santa Monica apartment. They stumble across Jack Tripper (John Ritter), an aspiring culinary student whom they get along with. It so happens, though, that the building's landlord, Mr. Roper (Normal Fell), is ultra-conservative and refuses to let unmarried men and women share his apartments. To get around this contrived contingency, Janet and Chrissy tell Mr. Roper that Jack is gay. This satisfies the landlord but opens Jack up to homophobic jibes.

Fell eventually left the series and was replaced by the high-strung Mr. Furley, played by Don Knotts. Mr. Furley, it seems, required the charade to continue. Somers also left the show in its last two seasons and was...

Peter S. Fischer, the prolific television writer behind “Murder, She Wrote” and “Columbo,” passed away on Monday, his grandson Jake McElrath told TheWrap. He was 88.

“We are very lucky to have so much of his work still accessible, like pieces of him left behind,” McElrath said in a statement to TheWrap. “He was an amazing presence to have in our lives, our Pa. We are all going to miss him.”

Fischer, who was nominated for three Emmy Awards across the duration of his career, is also known for his work on “Ellery Queen” and “The Eddie Capra Mysteries.” No further details about Fischer’s death are known at this time.

Born in 1935, Fischer’s longstanding career in Hollywood stretches back to writing 1971 TV movie “The Last Child,” before writing several TV episodes on “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” “Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law,” “Griff,” “Kojak” and “Baretta.”

The TV writer went...

Peter S. Fischer, the late-blooming TV writer and producer who co-created Murder, She Wrote after serving on such other crime-solving series as Columbo, Baretta and Ellery Queen, has died. He was 88.

Fischer died Monday at a care facility in Pacific Grove, California, his grandson Jake McElrath announced.

He became a prolific novelist after he exited Hollywood, writing murder mysteries, of course.

Fischer, who had worked with Columbo co-creators Richard Levinson and William Link on the iconic Peter Falk series as well as on the Jim Hutton-starring Ellery Queen, accompanied the pair to a meeting with CBS executives in 1984, he recalled in a 2011 interview.

“CBS wanted to do a murder mystery and they called Dick, who was our ringleader. He said, ‘Ok, I’ll bring the boys,'” Fischer said. “We went over there and pitched a premise called Blacke’s Magic, about a retired magician who solves mysteries. It became...

Actor and boxer Burt Young, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the original Rocky film, has passed away.

Per The New York Times, Young died on Oct. 8 in Los Angeles with his death confirmed by his daughter, Anne Morea Steingieser. No other details, such as a cause, have been divulged. Young was 83 years old.

Young is perhaps best known for his popular role in the Rocky franchise as Paulie Pennino, the brother to Adrian (Talia Shire) and brother-in-law to Rocky (Sylvester Stallone). For his performance in the original Rocky film released in 1976, Young was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He would reprise his role as Paulie in five sequels, culminating with 2006's Rocky Balboa.

"To my Dear Friend, Burt Young, you were an incredible man’s and artist, I and the World will miss you very much...Rip," Stallone wrote in a...

Ex-Marine, former boxer, consummate ruffian, beloved character actor, and Academy Award nominee Burt Young has passed away, confirmed The New York Times. He was 83 years old. With a career spanning over five decades, Young's acting resume included over 160 roles, with memorable performances in films like "Chinatown," "Once Upon a Time in America," and "Back to School." Trained by the legendary Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York City, Young made a career playing Hollywood tough guys, street-smart cops, relatable working men, and as an Italian-American — of course — a mob boss.

However, it's his role as Rocky Balboa's brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the "Rocky" film series that made him a household name and earned him the coveted Oscar nomination. The role allowed Young to not only shine as a complex, gifted performer but also bring his real-life experience as a professional boxer to the screen.

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

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

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Earl Boen...

Nicolas Coster, the British-American actor who played an evasive lawyer in All the President’s Men, a fiendish kidnapper in All My Children, zany businessman Lionel Lockridge on Santa Barbara, and the father of Lisa Whelchel’s Blair Warner in The Facts of Life, died Monday at a hospital in Florida. He was 89.

His death was announced by his daughter Dinneen Coster on social media. “There is great sadness in my heart this evening, my father actor Nicolas Coster has passed on in Florida at 9:01 pm in the hospital,” Dinneen Coster wrote on Facebook. “Please be inspired by his artistic achievements and know he was a real actor’s actor!”

A cause of death was not given.

A prolific actor whose career spanned decades on television and encompassed both leading and character roles,...

Lew Palter, a veteran actor and teacher who portrayed Isidor Straus in James Cameron’s Titanic, has died at the age of 94.

Palter died on May 21st of lung cancer at his home in Los Angeles, his daughter told The Hollywood Reporter.

In Titanic, Palter portrayed Straus, a U.S. Congressman and co-owner of Macy’s department store. He and his wife, Ida, perished on the sinking ship after refusing to board a lifeboat because there were women and children who had yet to be saved. In one of the film’s final scenes, Palter’s character embraces his wife (played by Elsa Raven) in their stateroom as water rushes in.

Wendy Rush, the wife of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush who died last week on a dive in a submersible to the wreck of the Titanic, is a great-great-granddaughter of the Strauses — as is the singer King Princess.

Earlier on in his career,...

Lew Palter, who played Isidor Straus in James Cameron’s Titanic and a Supreme Court justice in First Monday in October, has died. He was 94.

Palter died of lung cancer May 21 at his Los Angeles home. CalArts, where Palter was a longtime faculty member, shared news of his death on Twitter.

“It is with great sadness that we share the news that longtime #calartstheater faculty Lew Palter has passed away. Lew retired from @CalArts in 2013, having served our community since 1971 as an acting teacher, director, and mentor.”

Among his students at CalArts was Cecily Strong, said it was Palter who encouraged her to try out for improv/sketch comedy group The Groundlings, leading to her breakout role on SNL.

“Lew loved the craft of acting, and taught his students to do the same,” said CalArts School of Theater Dean Travis Preston in a statement. “He fostered deep curiosity, care, intellect,...

Actor Lew Palter has died. Per THR, Palter passed away on May 21 of lung cancer at his L.A. home with his daughter, Catherine Palter, now sharing the sad news with the press. He was 94 years old.

Palter also worked as a beloved acting teacher and director at CalArts from 1971 to 2013. During that time he provided guidance to many big stars, such as Ed Harris and Don Cheadle. Palter also tutored Cecily Strong, personally encouraging her to try out for The Groundlings, which led to her rise to fame on Saturday Night Live. Palter's daughter Catherine says that, as a teacher, her father "seemed to have truly changed people's lives."

“Lew loved the craft of acting and taught his students to do the same. He fostered deep curiosity, care, intellect and humor in every scene, play and class,” adds CalArts School of Theater Dean Travis Preston. “He had the utmost...

In the early days of television, the “Big Three” networks ruled the small screen. ABC is the baby, entering the new medium a little behind its competitors, and finding new and creative ways to find success against two mighty opponents.

ABC found its earliest success with two programs that had begun on radio, “The Lone Ranger,” which was the network’s first big hit, and “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” a sitcom loosely based on the life of the real-life Nelson family. The latter remained on the air for 14 seasons, and was the longest-running prime-time comedy for decades, and the longest-running live action sitcom until 2021. However, ABC still struggled against the firmly established NBC and CBS, and found innovative ways to compete.

In 1954, ABC and Walt Disney struck an unprecedented deal: the network helped finance the filmmaker’s ambitious Disneyland Park, while Disney produced a weekly TV show for the network.

The Oscars’ annual In Memoriam segment on Sunday included a live performance of the song “Calling All Angels” by Lenny Kravitz.

The slideshow of notable deaths that streamed behind Kravitz includes names like Angela Lansbury, Ray Liotta, Jean-Luc Godard, Irene Cara, Kirstie Alley, Raquel Welch, Nichelle Nichols, Burt Bacharach, Vangelis, and many more.

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Watch the performance above.

Among those that were missing (and called out on Twitter) included Charlbi Dean, the leading actress in the Best Picture Oscar nominee Triangle of Sadness who died suddenly at age 32; Anne Heche, who died in an August car crash; Goodfellas star Paul Sorvino; and Tom Sizemore,...

Kristin Bjorklund, a longtime member of the Family Feud game show producing team, died in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 5 of sepsis after undergoing a kidney transplant. She was 67.

Here death was announced by her friend Diane Hamilton.

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Starting as a production assistant when Richard Dawson hosted, Bjorklund had risen to co-executive producer by the Steve Harvey era. She also worked on the show when Ray Combs and Louie Anderson hosted.

Born in Mineola, New York on July 8, 1955, Bjorklund began her career at game show producer Goodson-Todman Productions after graduating from Dartmouth. She started working for Family Feud in 1982, first as a production assistant for the main show and its spinoff All-Star Family Feud,...

Legally embattled actor Alec Baldwin has asked fans to focus on late Hollywood outcast Robert Blake’s contributions to film and TV rather than Blake’s “legal entanglements.”

“Robert Blake has died. I realize that many people have had harsh feelings toward him,” Baldwin wrote on Instagram. “His life seemed to involve many dramatic legal entanglements.”

Baldwin continued, “Today, I want [to] remember him as the incredibly gifted actor he was. A child actor who made countless films in the ’40s.” He went on to name the films Treasure of the Sierra Madre, A Town Without Pity, Electra Glide in Blue, and more, as well as Blake’s Emmy-winning role in the ABC detective series Baretta.

According to Baldwin, however, Blake’s performance in 1967’s In Cold Blood “cemented his place in movie history.” He added, “The brooding, baby-faced Blake had a difficult life. However, when you watch In Cold Blood,...

Emmy-winning actor Robert Blake died Thursday (March 9) at age 89, surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles. His niece Noreen Austin said that he had been battling heart disease. Blake had a career lasting 60 years but will forever be remembered for the dramatic murder trial and his acquittal over the shooting death of his second wife Bonny Lee Bakley in 2001. Blake’s best known role was as star of the ABC show Baretta in which he played undercover New York City detective Tony Baretta. It aired for four seasons in the mid 1970s. His quirky character was fond of disguises and carrying a pet cockatoo on his shoulder. The show had often quoted catchphrases, including “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time” and “You can take that to the bank.” Following Blake’s death Alec Baldwin posted a tribute on Instagram, urging people to...

Robert Blake — the actor best known for his roles on “Baretta” and in the film “In Cold Blood”, as well as for being tried and acquitted of his wife’s murder in a high-profile case — has died. He was 89.

Blake’s niece, Noreen Austin, confirmed the news in a public obituary, sharing that Blake died from heart disease in Los Angeles on Thursday, surrounded by his family.

Blake’s career began in childhood when he started acting in MGM’s “Our Gang” short films, a.k.a “The Little Rascals”. Blake managed to maintain his career through his teens, and after getting drafted into the Army, Blake returned to acting in his mid-20s.

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He was one of the first child stars to gain fame and take on serious roles as an adult actor,...