NFL
By: Greg Rector
Usually, I write an “In Memoriam” article listing all the names we have lost in sports. Those articles are not easy to write; I will cover the entertainment world this year. This first article deals with those we lost in television. This isn’t going to cover everyone who we lost. So, for any friends and families I don’t list here, please accept my condolences and those of everyone at Team NBS Media.
January 2024
David Soul– Singer/Actor
Soul was first well-known for playing “Hutch” on Starsky and Hutch in the 1970s. He released five studio albums and hit number one with “Don’t Give Up on Us” in 1977. He passed away at the age of 80.
Adan Canto – Actor
Canto is best known as the White House Chief of Staff and then the National Security Advisor on Designated Survivor. He went on to play other roles, including real-life politician Rodrigo Lara Bonilla in NARCOS. He was just 42 when he passed away from cancer.
Bill Hayes – Actor/Singer
For decades, I would come home from school, and my mom would be watching Days of Our Lives. In over 2000 episodes, Bill Hayes played Doug Williams on the program. When times were tough, you could always disappear into Salem and watch Bill Hayes and his real-life wife, Susan Seaforth-Hayes.
Joyce Randolph – Actress
Randolph played Trixie Norton on ” The Honeymooners.” She played Trixie in 39 episodes and was the warm-hearted wife of Art Carney. She passed away at the age of 99. Her career suffered after doing such a good job of playing Trixie, and she was often not seen by casting directors because they only saw her as Trixie.
Charles Osgood – News Anchor
From 1994 to 2016, Osgood hosted Sunday Morning on CBS and voiced Dr. Suess Horton Hears a Who. He passed away from dementia at the age of 91.
February 2024
Don Murray– Actor
Murray played opposite Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop; he was nominated for an Oscar for the role. Decades later, he gained fame by playing on the Dallas spin-off Knots Landing. He was 94 years old.
Richard Lewis– Actor/Comedian
The most neurotic comedian I have ever watched was also a star on TV shows from Curb Your Enthusiasm also played characters on 7th Heaven, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit Two and Half Men, and several other shows. For me, though, his late-night appearances on The Tonight Show and The Late Show with David Letterman are comic genius on display. He passed at age 76 after suffering from Parkinson’s Disease.
March 2024
Robyn Bernard – Actress
Bernard, Crystal Bernard’s older sister, stormed onto television to play Terry Brock, an aspiring singer, on General Hospital. She had never seen any real success outside of her run General Hospital. She was 64 years old.
April 2024
Joe Flaherty – Actor
Flaherty was the sole United States-born member of the SCTV show. He was 82 years old and also acted on Freaks and Geeks and The Kings of Queens.
Robert MacNeil – Anchorman
The Canadian-born anchor worked with Jim Leher on the PBS Newshour, which started as Robert MacNeil Reports and became the MacNeil/Leher Newshour. In 1973, he won an Emmy Award for his coverage of the Watergate Hearings. He passed away at the age of 93.
May 2024
Susan Buckner– Actress
Buckner’s claim to fame was in the movie Grease, where she played cheerleader Patty Simcox, but her career was far more on television. Buckner was Miss Washington in 1971. She left acting in 1989 but became a drama teacher in Florida and continued to teach dance. She was 72.
Bill Walton– Sportscaster
I can undoubtedly include Walton for his fantastic basketball career in the sports medium, but it was as a broadcaster that most either loved or hated Walton. Walton covered the NBA and NCAA basketball games and is most well known as maybe the greatest fan of The Grateful Dead and was a “Deadhead.” You might have disagreed with Walton’s takes, but the man loved basketball, and he loved being on air. He died at the age of 71.
Elizabeth MacRae – Actress
MacRae was the girlfriend of everyone’s favorite United States Marine Corps member; everyone in my era watched her on “Gomer Pyle: USMC,” and years later, she also starred in Days of Our Lives General Hospital and Guiding Light. Her role forever in my heart remains Lou-Ann Poovie.
June 2024
Taylor Wily- Actor
The Big Man on Hawaii Five-O, for ten seasons on the remake, played Kamekona Tupuola. He also appeared in Magnum P.I. and Macgyver. He was just 56 years old.
Martin Mull- Comedian/Actor
Mull appeared on many different comedy shows over his lengthy career, but he got his start in the 1970s on Mary Hartman, and Mary Hartman and followed up that start with roles on Roseanne, Clue, and Sabrina The Teenaged Witch. He passed away at the age of 80.
Doug Sheehan – Actor
Sheehan is another actor who started on daytime TV. He played Joe Kelly, a lawyer, on General Hospital. He then went on to star in Knots Landing and play the dad of Sabrina, The Teenaged Witch. He passed away at the age of 75.
From January to June 2024, we lost some actors and broadcasters. The rest will follow in part II of my entertainment tributes.
What about Eric Carmen, who passed away in March, 2024? He was an amazing musician
Yes Nancy he was an amazing musician. This list though was for Television stars.
I didn’t have time to do a Musicians list.