Emmys 2014 Obituaries Story Gallery

Lucy Hood, a well-regarded entertainment industry veteran and president and chief operating officer of the Television Academy, died Wednesday of cancer.

With a vocabulary to match his football skills, Todd Christensen helped the Raiders win two Super Bowls. Later a TV analyst, he died during liver transplant surgery.

Stanley Rubin helped lead the writers and producers guilds and was one of the first Emmy winners.

Sid Caesar, hailed as a genius of live TV sketch comedy, won two Emmys for ‘Your Show of Shows’ in the ‘50s. He ‘always took comedy to a stratospheric level,’ said Mel Brooks.

Kalvert began directing music videos in the late 1980s, scoring a hit with his first major assignment, ‘Parents Just Don’t Understand.’

A veteran actor of TV and movie westerns, Russell Johnson achieved enduring fame as the Professor on the 1960s show ‘Gilligan’s Island.’

When Robin Williams graduated from Redwood High School in Marin County, his classmates couldn’t help themselves: They voted him both “most humorous” and “least likely to succeed.”

Nobody ever accused Robert Halmi Sr. of thinking small.

Robert Drew had no experience in filmmaking when he directed the 1960 documentary “Primary” that was radically different from the way TV documentaries were made at the time.

A former chairman of the Motion Picture Assn.’s ratings board, Richard Heffner was also a prominent TV host, professor and author.

A Marine, an ordained minister and an editor before he took up acting, Ralph Waite later became involved in politics in the Coachella Valley.

Ralph Kiner, who hit 369 home runs in his career, later became the New York Mets’ longtime announcer. His broadcasts, often marked by goofy slips, earned him an Emmy.

Televangelist Paul Crouch’s Trinity Broadcasting surpassed its rivals in scope and ambition, reaching a global audience of millions. But his lavish lifestyle sparked controversy.

Wymore Flynn was a TV and film actor who appeared with Frank Sinatra in ‘Ocean’s Eleven.’ She was 24 when she became the last wife of Flynn, the matinee idol, who was 41.

Dick Wagner Rock guitarist worked with Alice Cooper, others Dick Wagner, 71, a rock ‘n’ roll guitarist who worked with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Kiss and Aerosmith, and also co-wrote songs for Cooper, died of respiratory failure Wednesday at a hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Lionel Ferbos, 103, a New Orleans trumpeter who was believed to be the oldest working jazz musician, died Saturday at his home in New Orleans, said his granddaughter, Lori Schexnayder.

Ken Thorne, 90, a television and film composer who won an Oscar for scoring the 1966 musical comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” died of natural causes Wednesday at West Hills Hospital & Medical Center, said his wife, Linda.

Don Matheson, 84, a veteran television actor best known for his portrayal of one of the humans stranded on a mysterious planet on the science-fiction series “Land of the Giants,” died June 29 in Woodland Hills.

Louis Brown Jr., 90, father of Nicole Brown Simpson, who was slain in 1994, leading to a sensational trial in which her former husband O.J.

Steve Rossi Half of comedy duo Allen and Rossi Steve Rossi, 82, one half of the prolific comedy duo Allen and Rossi, which became a favorite of “The Ed Sullivan Show” and other TV variety shows, died Sunday in hospice care in Las Vegas.

Rik Mayall, 56, one of a generation of performers that injected post-punk energy into British comedy, died Monday at his London home, according to the Brunskill Management firm.

Joan Lorring, 88, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in the 1945 Bette Davis film “The Corn Is Green,” died Friday, said her daughter, Andrea Sonenberg.

Jimmy Ellis Won world heavyweight title in 1968 Jimmy Ellis, 74, who beat Jerry Quarry to become World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion in 1968 and fought the era’s best fighters including his friend, Muhammad Ali, died Tuesday at a hospital in Louisville, Ky., according to his son, Jeff.

Phillip Hayes Dean, 83, ‘Paul Robeson’ playwright; Cheo Feliciano, 78, famed salsa singer; Hal Cooper, 91, director of TV’s ‘Maude,’ ‘Dick Van Dyke Show’

Charles Sumner ‘Chuck’ Stone Jr., 89, columnist helped found association of black journalists; John Pinette, 50, stand-up comic appeared in ‘Seinfeld’ finale

Sandy Grossman, an innovative TV sports director who oversaw broadcasts of a record 10 Super Bowls, dies at 78.

Kate O’Mara, a British actress best known for her role as Joan Collins’ sister in the 1980s prime-time soap ‘Dynasty,’ dies at 74.

Abby Singer, famed production manager, dies at 96

Wendy Hughes, Australian actress, dies at 61; William Hauck, longtime Cal State trustee dies at 73; S. Lee Pogostin, writer and director dies at 86; Fred Kaz, music director of Chicago’s Second City, dies at 80

Mohammad Qasim Fahim, influential Afghan vice president, dies at 57; Ted Bergmann, veteran producer of Grammys, NFL games, dies at 93; Melba Hernandez, ‘heroine of Cuban Revolution,’ dies at 92

Sheila MacRae, actress-singer who was on ‘60s ‘Honeymooners,’ dies at 92; Hank Rieger, longtime NBC press representative, dies at 95; Robert Ashley, avant-garde composer, dies at 83.

Garrick Utley, veteran TV journalist who did it all, dies at 74

James C. Dowdle, 79, helped transform Tribune into media conglomerate.

John Henson, 48, sometimes performed in the Muppets troupe his father founded

Louise Brough Clapp, 90, top-ranked tennis player; Richard Bull, 89, actor known for ‘Little House on the Prairie’; Michael Filerman, 75, TV executive on ‘Dallas,’ ‘Knots Landing’

John Cacavas, composer whose career was helped by Telly Savalas, dies at 83; Joan Mondale, wife of vice president and a cultural arts advocate, dies at 83.

Luis Avalos, 67, Cuban American actor on ‘The Electric Company’

Ben Starr, 92, comedy writer featured in documentary; Rep. Otis Pike, 92, led House probe of the CIA

Jose Sulaiman, longtime head of World Boxing Council, dies at 82; Frank Marth, prolific character actor, dies at 91

Larry D. Mann, 91,Canadian character actor, TV announcer; Dennis Johnson, 68, former Showtime executive began as an NBC page

Henri Lazarof, composer, teacher and art collector, dies at 81; Elizabeth Jane Howard, author of ‘The Cazalet Chronicles,’ dies at 90; George Goodman, who wrote economics books as ‘Adam Smith,’ dies at 83; Carter Camp, American Indian activist, dies at 72

Charles Vest, MIT president who oversaw school’s expansion, dies at 72; Sam Barshop, co-founder of no-frills La Quinta motel chain, dies at 84; Colin Wilson, British author who gained fame with ‘The Outsider,’ dies at 82; Fred F. Scherer, a painter of vivid nature dioramas, dies at 98.

Audrey Totter, a blond leading lady of 1940s film noir who starred as a tough-talking dame in “Lady in the Lake,” dies at 95.

Bill Porter, inspiring salesman, dies at 81; Raul Martinez Sr., King Taco founder, dies at 71; Don Mitchell, actor, dies at 71.

Tony Musante, who gave up the well-received TV series ‘Toma’ for a variety of other acting jobs, dies at 77.

Vern Mikkelsen, Hall of Fame player with Minneapolis Lakers, dies at 85; Ray Schonbak, general manager at KSWB-TV in San Diego, die at 70; Sylvia Browne, author and TV personality claimed to have psychic abilities, dies at 77

William Weaver, 90, translated works of Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino; Barbara Park, 66, author of Junie B. Jones books; Sheila Mathews Allen, 84, actress married to producer Irwin Allen; Billy Hardwick, 72, Hall of Fame bowler

Raul Ramirez, investigative journalist, dies at 67; Al Ruscio, character actor, dies at 89

Mark Lacter, 59, business journalist contributed to many area publications; Marvin Paige, 86, Hollywood casting director worked on ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s,’ ‘General Hospital.’

Paul Mantee, actor in numerous TV series who later turned to writing, dies at 82

Mary Finch Hoyt, press secretary to Rosalynn Carter, dies at 89; Antonia Bird, British film director, dies at 54; Francisco Mayoral, protector of Mexico whales, dies at 72; Bill Mazer, longtime N.Y. sportscaster, dies at 92.

Noel Harrison, British singer-actor, dies at 79; Jon Locke, actor who often played the heavy, dies at 86; Jamalul Kiram III, who led bid to reclaim part of Malaysia, dies at 75.

Patrice Chereau, 68, stage and film director; Ernie Dunlevie, 96, helped found Palm Springs Golf Classic; Marc Merson, 82, staged consumer shows; Henry Guettel, 85, film executive and Broadway producer

The character actor won accolades on Broadway and then in the film ‘The Robe,’ but his Hollywood career was derailed for years after a drug conviction.

Ned Vizzini achieved fame while still in his teens but continued to struggle with depression. He took his own life.

In the ‘Andy Hardy’ films, he was the All-American boy. But Mickey Rooney’s roller-coaster show-business career was marked by an often-turbulent personal life.

Costume designer Michael Travis, who created famously over-the-top outfits for Liberace’s stage extravaganzas, died Thursday at his home in Studio City.

In a career stretching over six decades, alto saxophonist and actor Med Flory was successful in two creatively demanding arenas.

Schell, who played the most famous role of his career in ‘Judgment at Nuremberg,’ also directed films, plays and opera.

Mary Anderson, who auditioned for the role of Scarlett O’Hara, played Maybelle Merriwether in ‘Gone With the Wind.’ She was one of the film’s last surviving cast members.

Actress Marilyn Burns, who screamed her way into cult movie fame as a star of the 1974 slasher flick “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” has died in Houston.

The voice of Edna Krabappel on “The Simpsons,” Marcia Wallace also endeared herself to TV fans as Carol the receptionist on “The Bob Newhart Show.”

Choreographer Marc Breaux was renowned for his live-action dances in film and on variety TV shows throughout the 1960s and ‘70s.

Rare in the trade, Semple -- who worked on ‘Papillon’ and ‘Three Days of the Condor’ -- didn’t mind much if he was not the sole writer on a film.

A producer of the popular 1990s television show “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” was found dead in Hermosa Beach earlier this week.

Lange spent more than 50 years in radio and TV and hoped to have a TV talk show. But he felt stymied by his ‘Dating Game’ tenure.

Jess Marlow, a former Los Angeles news anchor whose no-nonsense delivery reflected a passion for facts over fluff, died Sunday in a Denver-area nursing home.

Kean played diverse roles in a four-decade career but is best known for playing the wife of Art Carney’s character Ed Norton in the 1966 revival of the TV show.

Actor James Shigeta played the leading male role in the lavish movie musical “Flower Drum Song” in 1961.

Though few people knew ‘Homeland’ actor James Rebhorn’s name, he was a familiar face on TV, in movies and onstage.

If Sam Spade was a tough guy, Jim Rockford was … well, he could throw a punch, but he didn’t like to because it hurt his hand.

The Navy veteran trained as a Shakespearean actor but gained his widest audience as Judge Philip Banks in the 1990s sitcom opposite Will Smith.

Flamboyant promoter never appeared in the campy commercials for his company, but the slogan got stuck in the public mind for years.

Ramsay, who led the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship, coached in the league for parts of 21 seasons. He later became an analyst for ESPN.

Hal Douglas’ gravelly voice narrated trailers of movies such as ‘Lethal Weapon’ and ‘Marley & Me,’ in addition to TV commercials.

Branching into TV, the radio show host ‘helped change the look of game shows’ in the 1970s.

Rheinstein had an encounter with Jack Ruby the day before he shot Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas in November 1963. He later founded an L.A. post-production house that worked on TV, film.

Frank L. Fouce made downtown L.A.’s Million Dollar Theater a prestigious venue for Spanish-language entertainment and was cofounder of the TV network now known as Univision.

Elaine Stritch, the raspy-voiced actress whose forceful personality and salty language enlivened the New York stage for more than six decades, died Thursday at her home in Birmingham, Mich.

Efrem Zimbalist Jr., the elegant actor with the mellifluous baritone who costarred as the suave private eye Stuart Bailey on TV’s “77 Sunset Strip” beginning in the late 1950s and later starred as the buttoned-down Inspector Lewis Erskine on “The F.B.I.,” died Friday at his home in Solvang.

Ed Nelson, a television, stage and film actor who was one of the mainstays of the 1960s prime-time soap opera “Peyton Place,” died Saturday at his home in Greensboro, N.C.

Ed Joyce, a former president of CBS News whose brief, turbulent tenure in the 1980s was marked by threatened corporate takeovers and settlement of a damaging libel lawsuit from Gen.

Don Pardo, the legendary NBC announcer whose deep, resonant voice was heard for more than three decades on “Saturday Night Live,” has died.

As the grandmaster of special-effects makeup, Dick Smith broke ground in the movies in the early 1970s when he transformed Dustin Hoffman into a 120-year-old for “Little Big Man” and an adolescent Linda Blair into a diabolical demon in “The Exorcist.”

Dick Dodd was a member of two of the earliest and most influential surf bands — the Bel-Airs and Eddie and the Showmen — before a sharp turn to garage rock with the Standells.

Known for observational comedy, he was a frequent guest at a time when being on the ‘Tonight Show’ could ensure a comic’s success.

Madden played Reuben Kincaid, who managed the family band and clashed with the wisecracking pre-teen bassist played by Danny Bonaduce.

Hollywood’s portrayal of the Holocaust and an examination of the racially charged Scottsboro, Ala., rape trial were among Daniel Anker’s subjects. He won an Emmy and was nominated for an Oscar.

Dickson Wright partnered with fellow lard-loving English cook Jennifer Paterson on the BBC cooking show that had a worldwide audience of about 70 million.

Soaring to fame with ‘Wild in the Streets,’ Christopher Jones abandoned his career after an acclaimed performance in ‘Ryan’s Daughter.’

Welch’s work ranged from stage productions in New York and L.A. to film and television, including the series ‘Rubicon.’

Charles Keating, a Shakespearean actor who injected passages from the Bard into his portrayal of the villainous Carl Hutchins on the soap opera “Another World,” has died at his home in Weston, Conn.

Frustrated by the limited roles available to Latinos, Carmen Zapata helped produce stage productions of Spanish-language classics.

Bob Hoskins, a British actor whose powerful screen presence earned him a reputation as “the Cockney Cagney” and who, at 5 feet 6 and with a face he likened to a squashed cabbage, gave the short, bald men of the world a reason to swagger, has died.

Rankin and Jules Bass developed the stop-motion animation for the 1964 Christmas special. When it aired in 1964, it was a blockbuster.

Emmy-winning producer Alan Landsburg thrived on variety during a five-decade career in Hollywood.

Deaf actress Phyllis Frelich, for whom playwright Mark Medoff wrote ‘Children of a Lesser God,’ which earned her a Tony, has died at 70.

Jay Leggett, comic actor, dies at 50; Jerry Seeman, ex-NFL officials supervisor, dies at 77; Bill Foulkes, ex-Manchester United defender, dies at 81; Georges Lautner, French film director, dies at 87.