Les Paul, Walter Cronkite, Maurice Jarre, Soupy Sales Among Departures

By Jordan R. Young

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 1/18/10 — The sudden death of Michael Jackson last summer became a banquet for media watchers, pundits, blogsters and other assorted jackals. The King of Pop’s bizarre demise grabbed enough headlines to make it the most newsworthy obit of 2009, perhaps of the decade.

But there were many others who made untimely departures, notably TV icon Farrah Fawcett, who died the same day as Jacko…  actor-dancer Patrick Swayze… actresses Natasha Richardson and Brittany Murphy…  writer- director John Hughes… folk singer Mary Travers… and actor David Carradine.

Several Oscar winners took their final curtain in 2009: actor Karl Malden… actress Jennifer Jones… director Claude Berri… screenwriter Budd Schulberg… composer Maurice Jarre… and cinematographer Jack Cardiff.

Many others who were at the top of their profession also left us, including music innovator Les Paul… comedy writers Larry Gelbart and David Lloyd… news anchor Walter Cronkite… actors James Whitmore and Beatrice Arthur… choreographer Merce Cunningham… playwright Horton Foote… comedian Soupy Sales… blues singer Koko Taylor… film executive and producer Roy E. Disney… Italian screenwriter Tullio Pinelli… and character actors Arnold Stang and Lou Jacobi.

Among other notable passings: Huey Long, last survivor of The Ink Spots… Liam Clancy, last survivor of The Clancy Brothers… one of the remaining Our Gang kids, Shirley Jean Rickert… two of the last surviving Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz, Clarence Swensen and Mickey Carroll… and three of the last actors who worked in silent movies, all as children: Virginia Davis, Frank Coghlan Jr. and Coy Watson Jr.

Here’s an incomplete list of entertainment industry deaths for 2009:

Olga San Juan, 81, film actress, 1/3.

Pat Hingle, 84, stage-film-TV actor, 1/3.

Tom O’Horgan, 84, stage director (Hair), 1/9.

Claude Berri, 74, French film writer‐director (Jean de Florette), 1/12.

Patrick McGoohan, 80, Irish actor (The Prisoner), 1/13.

Gordon “Whitey” Mitchell, 76, jazz musician, TV writer‐producer, 1/16.

Susanna Foster, 84, film actress and singer, 1/17.

Charles H. Schneer, 88, film producer (Jason and the Argonauts), 1/21.

Kim Manners, 58, TV producer and director (The X­Files), 1/25.

Clint Ritchie, 70, soap actor (One Life to Live), 1/31.

Jean Martin, 86, French stage-film-TV actor (The Battle of Algiers), 2/2.

Philip Carey, 83, actor (One Life to Live), 2/6.

Shirley Jean Rickert, 82, actress (Our Gang), 2/6.

James Whitmore, 87, Oscar–nominated actor (Give ‘em Hell, Harry), 2/6.

Blossom Dearie, 82, jazz singer and pianist, 2/7.

Hugh Leonard, 82, Irish playwright, screenwriter (Da), 2/12.

Dorothy Bridges, 93, actress, mother of Beau and Jeff Bridges, 2/16.

Howard Zieff, 81, film director (Private Benjamin), 2/22 .

Clarence Swensen, 91, actor (The Wizard of Oz), 2/25.

Wendy Richard, 65, British actress (Are You Being Served?), 2/26.

Sydney Chaplin, 82, stage‐film actor, son of Charlie Chaplin, 3/3.

Horton Foote, 92, playwright and screenwriter, 3/4.

Tullio Pinelli, 100, Italian screenwriter (La Strada, La Dolce Vita), 3/7.

Anna Manahan, 85, Irish stage, film and  TV actress, 3/8.

Jack Grimes, 82, radio (Adventures of Superman), TV and film actor, 3/10.

Betsy Blair, 85, Oscar–nominated actress (Marty), 3/13.

Coy Watson Jr., 96, silent film child actor, 3/14.

Altovise Davis, 65, actress and dancer, widow of Sammy Davis Jr., 3/14.

Ron Silver, 62, stage-film-TV actor, 3/15.

Morton Lachman, 90, TV writer and executive producer, 3/17.

Natasha Richardson, 45, British stage-film actress, 3/18.

Glenn Marlin Sundby, 87, gymnast (Spike Jones Show), 3/18.

Marilyn Borden, 76, TV‐nightclub actress‐singer (I Love Lucy), 3/25.

Maurice Jarre, 84, film composer (Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago), 3/28.

Jody McCrea, 74, TV‐film actor, son of Joel McCrea, 4/4.

Maxine Cooper Gomberg, 84, actress (Kiss Me Deadly), 4/4.

Peter Rogers, 95, British film producer (Carry On series), 4/13.

Jack Cardiff, 94, British cinematographer (The African Queen), 4/22.

Ken Annakin, 94, British film writer-director (The Longest Day), 4/22.

Beatrice Arthur, 86, Emmy & Tony‐winning actress (Maude, The Golden Girls), 4/25.

Dom DeLuise, 75, TV-film comedian (Silent Movie), 5/4.

John Furia, Jr., 79, screenwriter (The Twilight Zone, Dr. Kildare), 5/7.

Mickey Carroll, 89, actor (The Wizard of Oz), 5/7.

Frank Aletter, 83, TV character actor, 5/13.

Wayne Allwine, 62, voice artist (Mickey Mouse), 5/18.

Joan Alexander, 94, radio actress (The Adventures of Superman), 5/21.

Michael Ross, 89, screenwriter and director (All in the Family), 5/26.

Mort Abrahams, 93, film and TV producer (Planet of the Apes), 5/28.

Koko Taylor, 80, blues singer, 6/3.

David Carradine, 72, actor and film director, 6/3.

Dorothy Layton, 96, actress (Laurel &Hardy comedies), 6/4.

Karl Michael Vogler, 80, German actor (The Blue Max, Patton) 6/9.

Huey Long, 105, guitarist and singer (The Ink Spots), 6/10.

Ken Roberts, 99, radio‐TV actor and announcer, 6/19.

Ed McMahon, 86, TV host and announcer (The Tonight Show), 6/23.

Michael Jackson, 50, pop singer-songwriter, 6/25.

Farrah Fawcett, 62, actress (Charlie’s Angels), 6/25.

Gale Storm, 87, actress (My Little Margie), 6/27.

Fred Travalena, 66, comedian and impressionist, 6/26.

Harve Presnell, 75, stage actor-singer (Unsinkable Molly Brown), 6/30.

Pina Bausch, 68, German modern dance choreographer, 6/30.

Karl Malden, 97, actor (A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront), 6/1.

Brenda Joyce, 92, actress (Tarzan and the Amazons), 7/4.

Beverly Roberts, 96, 1930s stage-film actress, 7/13.

Dallas McKennon, 89, voice actor (Gumby, Archie  Andrews), 7/14.

Walter Cronkite, 92, TV newsman (CBS Evening News), 7/18. Danny McBride, 63, singer‐songwriter and guitarist (Sha Na Na), 7/23.

Virginia Carroll, 95, actress (B‐westerns), 7/23.

Merce Cunningham, 90, modern dance choreographer, 7/26.

Howard Smit, 98, film make‐up artist (The Wizard of Oz, The Birds), 8/1.

Budd Schulberg, 95, screenwriter (On the Waterfront), playwright, novelist, 8/5.

John Hughes, 59, film director-screenwriter (The Breakfast Club), 8/6.

John Quade, 71, TV‐film character actor, 8/9.

Kitty White, 86, jazz vocalist,  8/11.

Les Paul, 94, guitarist, arranger and inventor, 8/13.

Philip Saltzman, 80, TV writer and producer (Barnaby Jones), 8/14.

Sammy Petrillo, 74, comedian (Jerry Lewis impersonator), 8/15.

Virginia Davis, 90, actress (Disney’s Alice In Cartoonland series), 8/15.

Ed Reimers, 96, TV‐film actor‐announcer, 8/16.

Richard Moore, 83, cinematographer, co‐founder of Panavision, 8/16.

Don Hewitt, 86, TV producer (creator of 60 Minutes), 8/19.

Johnny Carter, 75, doo‐wop, R&B singer (The Flamingos, The Dells), 8/21.

Ernest “Brownie” Brown, 93, tap dancer,  8/21.

Berle Adams, 92, music industry executive (MCA), booking agent, 8/25.

Sadie Corre, 91, British stage‐film actress, 8/26.

Jack Manning, 93, radio‐TV‐stage actor, 8/31.

Caro Jones, 86, film‐TV casting director, 9/3.

Keith Waterhouse, 80, British novelist‐screenwriter (Billy Liar), 9/4.

Frank Coghlan Jr., 93, actor in silent films, talkies (Captain Marvel serial), 9/7.

Army Archerd, 90, entertainment columnist (Variety), 9/8.

Zakes Mokae, 75, South African‐born stage‐film‐TV actor, 9/11.

Larry Gelbart, 81, radio-TV-film-stage comedy writer (M*A*S*H, Tootsie), 9/11.

Pierre Cossette, 85, Canadian TV‐stage producer (Grammy Awards), 9/11.

George Eckstein, 81, TV writer and producer (The Fugitive), 9/12.

Arnold Laven, 87, film-TV director (The Rifleman), 9/13.

Paul Burke, 83, TV actor (Naked City), 9/13.

Patrick Swayze, 57, actor (Dirty Dancing, Ghost), 9/14.

Henry Gibson, 73, TV-film actor and comedian (Laugh­In, Nashville), 9/14.

Troy Kennedy Martin, 77, British screenwriter (The Italian Job), 9/15.

Dorothy Coonan Wellman, actress‐dancer (Wild Boys of the Road), 9/16.

Mary Travers, 72, singer (Peter, Paul and Mary), 9/16.

Timothy Bateson, 83, British stage‐film-TV character actor, 9/16.

Dick Durock, 72, actor and stuntman (Swamp Thing), 9/17.

Frank Deasy, 49, Irish Emmy Award‐winning screenwriter, 9/17.

Robert Ginty, 60, TV‐film actor, 9/21.

Grace Keagy, 87, stage and soap opera actress, 10/4.

Pamela Blake, 94, B‐movie and TV actress, 10/6.

Barry Letts, 84, British TV director and producer (Doctor Who), 10/9.

Daniel Melnick, 77, studio executive, film‐TV producer, 10/13.

Al Martino, 82, singer and actor (The Godfather),10/13.

Collin Wilcox, 74, actress (To Kill a Mockingbird), 10/14.

Joseph Wiseman, 91, stage‐film‐TV actor (Dr. No), 10/19.

Sultan Pepper, 47,  comedy writer (The Ben Stiller Show), 10/20.

Soupy Sales, 83, comedian and kid’s TV host, 10/22.

Lou Jacobi, 95, stage-film character actor (The Diary of Anne Frank), 10/23.

Linda Day, 71, TV sitcom director, 10/23.

Carl Ballantine, 92, TV actor and comedy magician (McHale’s Navy), 11/3.

David Tree, 94, British stage‐film actor, 11/4.

Joe Maross, 86, TV actor, 11/7.

David Lloyd, 75, comedy writer (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Frasier), 11/10.

Marvin Minoff, 78, agent, film and TV producer, 11/11.

Paul Wendkos, 87, TV and film director (Gidget), 11/12.

Dennis Cole, 69, film‐TV actor, 11/15.

Richard Carlyle, 95, stage‐TV‐film actor, 11/15.

Edward Woodward, 79, British film and  TV actor, 11/16.

Jan Leighton, 87, TV‐commercial actor‐model, 11/16.

Beatrice Gray, 98, film actress‐dancer, 11/25.

Maggie Jones, 75, British actress (Coronation Street), 12/3.

Liam Clancy, 74, Irish folk singer (The Clancy Brothers), 12/4.

Jerry Birn, 86, soap opera writer, 12/5.

Mark Ritts, 63, TV actor‐producer (Beakman’s World), 12/7.

Gene Barry, 90, TV actor (Burke’s Law, Bat Masterson), 12/9.

Val Avery, 85, film‐TV character actor (Minnie and Moskowitz), 12/12.

Yvonne King, 89, singer (The King Sisters), 12/13.

Dan Barton, 88, TV‐film actor and voice‐over actor, 12/13.

Roy E. Disney, 79, entertainment executive, nephew of Walt Disney, 12/16.

Dan O’Bannon, 63, screenwriter, director (Alien), 12/17.

Jennifer Jones, 90, actress (The Song of Bernadette, Portrait of Jenny), 12/17.

Connie Hines, 78, actress (Mister Ed), heart failure, 12/18.

Arnold Stang, 91, radio-TV-film actor and voice artist (Top Cat), 12/20.

Brittany Murphy, 32, actress and voice artist (Clueless, 8 Mile), 12/20.

Marianne Stone, 87, British film character actress (Carry On series), 12/21.

Michael Currie, 81, TV actor (Dark Shadows), 12/22.