Stars of the Silver Screen

Bruce Bennett (1906-2007) 100. Actor. Former Olympic champion who parlayed his athletic skills into a long acting career first as a star in The New Adventures of Tarzan, then as a character actor in such films as Mildred Pierce and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

Janet Blair (1921-2007) 85. Actress. Best remembered as the title character in My Sister Eileen (1942) and for such subsequent films as Boys Night Out and Burn, Witch, Burn. Last seen in an episode of TV's Murder, She Wrote.

Roscoe Lee Browne (1925-2007) 86. Actor. His long career includes such films as The Liberation of L.B. Jones, The Cowboys, The Mambo Kings and Babe, which he narrated.

Kitty Carlisle (1910-2007) 96. Actress/singer. She was still touring in her one-woman show until a few months before her death. Fondly remembered for A Night at the Opera, her later films include Radio Days, Six Degrees of Separation and Catch Me If You Can.

Laraine Day (1920-2007) 90. Actress. Fondly remembered as Mary Lamont in the Dr. Kildare series of the 1940s, her films also include Foreign Correspondent and The Locket. She was last seen in an episode of Murder, She Wrote.

Jean-Pierre Cassel (1932-2007) 74. Actor. His occasional appearances in English language films include memorable roles in Oh! What a Lovely War, The Three Musketeers (1973), Murder on the Orient Express and Who's Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?

Dabs Greer (1917-2007) 90. Actor. He was one of those character actors whose face you remember, but whose name you tend to forget. His many films include All Mine to Give, Shenandoah, The Cheyenne Social Club and The Green Mile.

George Grizzard (1928-2007) 79. Actor. He alternated between stage, screen and TV. His most memorable screen roles include those in Advise & Consent, Comes a Horseman, Wonder Boys and Flags of Our Fathers.

Betty Hutton (1921-2007) 86. Actress/singer. She proved a deft screen comedienne in such films as The Fleet's In, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Annie Get Your Gun and The Greatest Show on Earth.

Deborah Kerr (1921-2007)86. Actress. She was the personification of the genteel English lady and was unforgettable in everything she did. She was her best in Black Narcissus, The King and I, An Affair to Remember and The Sundowners among many others.

Charles Lane (1905-2007) 102. Actor. His long career encompassed such films as 42nd Street, It's a Wonderful Life, The Music Man and The Night Before Christmas, which he narrated shortly before his death.

Kerwin Mathews (1926-2007) 81. Actor. He battled special effects monsters in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, and had major dramatic roles in such films as The Devil at 4 O'Clock and Maniac.

Bobby Mauch (1924-2007) 83. Actor. With his twin brother Billy, they appeared in the Penrod series in the 1930s as well as in the classic 1937 version of The Prince and the Pauper. Both brothers became editors in later years. Billy died last year.

Lois Maxwell (1927-2007) 80. Actress. She had a long career in films but is best known for playing Miss Moneypenny in such James Bond films as Dr. No, The Man With the Golden Gun, For Your Eyes Only and A View to a Kill.

Ulrich Muhe (1953-2007) 54. Actor. He was best known for playing the surveillance agent in The Lives of Others. The role had special meaning for him as he himself was spied upon as a theatrical director in East Berlin, his own wife allegedly having informed on him.

Barry Nelson (1917-2007) 89. Actor. He had a long career playing nice guys in films from Shadow of the Thin Man and A Guy Named Joe to Airport and The Shining. He won a Tony nomination for Broadway's The Act.

Mala Powers (1931-2007) 85. Actress. She was best known for playing Roxanne in the 1950 film version of Cyrano de Bergerac. On TV, she guest starred five times on Perry Mason and made a late career appearance in Murder, She Wrote.

Ian Richardson (1934-2007) 72. Actor. He won a Tony nomination for the 1976 Broadway revival of My Fair Lady. His films include Man of La Mancha, Brazil, Joyeux Noel and Becoming Jane.

Gordon Scott (1926-2007) 80. Actor. He was the big screen's eleventh, and some say best, Tarzan. Once married to Vera Miles, he died in obscurity having lived the last six years of his life as a "guest" in a fan's spare bedroom in Baltimore.

Michel Serrault (1928-2007) 79. Actor. He won a Cesar Award (the French version of the Oscar) for La Cage aux Folles. The beloved French actor had a long career in a wide range of films from the 1955 masterpiece Les Diaboliques to recent Oscar nominee Joyeux Noel.

Miyoshi Umeki (1929-2007) 78. Actress. She won an Oscar for Sayonara. She is also fondly remembered for the Broadway and film versions of Flower Drum Song and TV's The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

Jane Wyman (1917-2007) 93. Actress. She won an Oscar for Johnny Belinda and three other nominations. She's fondly remembered for Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows and TV's Falcon Crest as well as for divorcing Ronald Reagan because "he talked too much".

Artists of the Small Screen

Tige Andrews (1920-2007) 86. Actor. Best remembered as the captain in the TV series The Mod Squad.

Joey Bishop (1918-2007) 89. Actor/comedian. The last surviving member of the famed Rat Pack that included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. He's best remembered as the host of a late night TV show.

Shirl Conway (1916-2007) 88. Actress. Best remembered for her Emmy-nominated role in the 1960s TV series The Nurses. She's the granddaughter of veteran actress Henrietta Crosman. She won a Theatre World award for Broadway's Plain and Fancy.

Yvonne De Carlo (1922-2007) 84. Actress. May be best known for TV's The Munsters, but her long career also embraced such films as Criss Cross and McLintock. She made a major comeback in Broadway's Follies singing "I'm Still Here".

Alice Ghostley (1926-2007) 81. Actress. Best remembered for TV's Bewitched, her long list of film credits include New Faces, To Kill a Mockingbird, My Six Loves and Mothers and Daughters.

Merv Griffin (1925-2007) 82. Actor/producer. He was best known for his long-running TV talk show and for producing such long lasting TV shows as Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. He had his most prominent screen role in So This Is Love.

Barbara McNair (1934-2007) 72. Actress/singer. She had her own primetime TV show in the late 1960s. Her films include Spencer's Mountain, Change of Habit, They Call Me Mister Tibbs and Neon Signs.

Tom Poston (1921-2007) 85. Actor/comedian. He won an Emmy for The Steve Allen Show and an additional four nominations for Newhart. His films include The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and Christmas With the Kranks.

Charles Nelson Reilly (1931-2007) 76. Actor/comedian. He won a Tony for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and a nomination for Hello, Dolly! He was nominated three times for Emmys, including one for Millennium.

Tom Snyder (1936-2007) 71. TV host. He won an Emmy for The Tomorrow Show, the first of TV's late, late shows. His self-deprecating humor was his trademark. He never let himself forget that for the first ten minutes of his interview he called Meat Loaf "Meat Ball".

Brett Somers (1924-2007) 83. Actress/comedienne. She first came to prominence as the ex-wife of real life former husband Jack Klugman in TV's The Odd Couple, then as a panelist on the long-running Match Game as a comic foil for Charles Nelson Reilly and vice versa.

Legends of the Stage

Carol Bruce (1919-2007) 87. Actress/singer. She won acclaim as Julie in the 1945 Broadway revival of Show Boat. On screen as Steve Martin's mom in Planes, Trains & Automobiles, she was a frequent guest star in various TV series.

Robert Goulet (1933-2007) 73. Actor/singer. He became an overnight sensation as Sir Lancelot in Broadway's Camelot and later won a Tony for The Happy Time. His films include Atlantic Cityand Beetlejuice.

Ellen Hanley (1926-2007) 80. Actress/singer. She lent her glorious voice to numerous Broadway musicals and can be heard on the original cast recordings of the Annie, Get Your Gun (1946), Two's Company, First Impressions and Fiorello!

Michael Kidd (1915-2007) 92. Choreographer/actor/dancer. He won Tony awards for choreographing Finian's Rainbow, Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Li'l Abner and Destry Rides Again. On screen he choreographed The Bandwagon and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Daniel McDonald (1960-2007) 46. Actor. He was the younger brother of Christopher McDonald. A Tony nominee for Steel Pier, he appeared on screen in The Ice Storm and had prominent guest appearances on such TV shows as Murder, She Wrote and Law & Order: SVU.

Anne Pitoniak (1922-2007) 85. Actress. She won Tony nominations for 'night, Mother and the revival of Picnic. She also originated the lead in off-Broadway's Driving Miss Daisy. Her films include Bed of Roses and Unfaithful.

Gretchen Wyler (1932-2007) 75. Actress. She became an overnight sensation in Broadway's Silk Stockings and later made guest appearances on many TV shows. On screen she appeared in Private Benjamin and Broadway: The Golden Age.

Craftsmen Behind the Camera

Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007) 94. Director. Master of ennui whether working in his native Italian (L'Avventura, La Notte) or English (Blow-Up, The Passenger).

Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) 89. Director. Illuminated the dark with one masterpiece after another from The Seventh Seal to Wild Strawberries to Cries and Whispers to Fanny & Alexander.

Frank Capra Jr. (1934-2007) 73. Producer. He was best known for providing commentary on DVDs of his father's films, most notably It's a Wonderful Life.

Bob Clark (1939-2007) 67. Director. His movies ran the gamut from horror films (Black Christmas) to family films (A Christmas Story) to teen sex comedies (Porky's) to late career obscurities (The Karate Dog).

Freddie Francis (1917-2007) 89. Cinematographer. He won Oscars for Sons and Lovers and Glory. His films also include The Elephant Man, The French Lieutenant's Woman and The Straight Story. He was also occasionally a director.

Curtis Harrington (1926-2007) 80. Director. His output included the under-appreciated horror movie spoofs What's the Matter With Helen?, Who Slew Auntie Roo?, Killer Bees and Ruby.

Laszlo Kovacs (1933-2007) 74. Cinematographer. He was the man behind the camera on such legendary films as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Paper Moon and Shampoo.

Delbert Mann (1920-2007) 87. Director. He won an Oscar for Marty and a nomination for Separate Tables. He also directed The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and many TV movies including A Death in California.

Carlo Ponti (1912-2007) 94. Producer. He won an Oscar for La Strada and a nomination for Doctor Zhivago. He was best known for his marriage to Sophia Loren, considered bigamy in Italy as his Mexican divorce from his first wife was not recognized in that country.

Stuart Rosenberg (1927-2007) 79. Director. He won an Emmy for The Defenders and an Oscar nomination for Cool Hand Luke. His films also include Voyage of the Damned, The Pope of Greenwich Village and My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.

William J. Tuttle (1912-2007) 95. Make-up artist. He was at one time Donna Reed's husband and won an Oscar for 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. His many films include Myra Breckinridge, Young Frankenstein, The Fury and Zorro, the Gay Blade.

Monty Westmore (1923-2007) 84. Make-up artist. He won an Oscar nomination for Hook. His film credits also include The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Mr. & Mrs. Bridgeand The Shawshank Redemption.

Edward Yang (1947-2007) 59. Director. He won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival for his 2000 masterpiece Yi Yi about the year in the life of a Taipei family. The film itself won numerous awards.

Peter Zinner (1919-2007) 88. Editor. He won an Oscar for The Deer Hunter and nominations for The Godfather and An Officer and a Gentleman. His films also include Darling Lili and Gladiator.

Masters of the Written Word

John Harkness (1954-2007) 53. Film critic. He was a member of Online Film & Television Association (OFTA) and the Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board (UAADB). The acerbic Toronto-based critic was also the editor for ten years (1994-2003) of the annual Academy Awards Handbook.

Ira Levin (1929-2007) 78. Writer. His novels A Kiss Before Dying, Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives and The Boys From Brazil were made into films, some of them more than once.

Norman Mailer (1923-2007) 84. Writer. His novels The Naked and the Dead, An American Dream, The Executioner's Song (TV), and Tough Guys Don't Dance were made into films. He directed the latter himself.

Sheridan Morley (1941-2007) 65. Writer. The son of Robert Morley and grandson of Gladys Cooper, he was the biographer of such family friends and legends as Noel Coward, John Gielgud, Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Dirk Bogarde and David Niven.

Melville Shavelson (1917-2007) 90. Writer. He received Oscar nominations for The Seven Little Foys and Houseboat. He also won a Writers Guild of America (WGA) award for The Five Pennies and five other nominations including one for his last screenplay Yours, Mine and Ours (1968).

Sidney Sheldon (1917-2007) 89. Writer. He won an Oscar for The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer and WGA awards for Easter Parade and Annie Get Your Gun along with a nomination for Jumbo. He later wrote trashy novels such as The Other Side of Midnight.

Joel Siegel (1943-2007) 63. Film critic. His amiable presence was a mainstay on TV's Good Morning America beginning in 1981. He was president of the Broadcast Film Critics and host of their annual awards for the last several years.

George Tabori (1914-2007) 93. Writer. One-time husband of Viveca Lindfors, he translated works of Bertolt Brecht and Thomas Mann from German to English. His films include I Confess, The Journey, Secret Ceremony and The Legend of Mrs. Goldman and the Almighty God.

Peter Viertel (1920-2007) 86. Writer. His films include Saboteur, The Hard Way, The Sun Also Rises, and White Hunter, Black Heart. The model for the Robert Redford character in The Way We Were, he died 19 days after wife Deborah Kerr.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922-2007) 84. Writer. His novels Slaughterhouse-Five, Mother Night and Breakfast of Champions have previously been filmed. A Man Without a Country is filming now.

Tabloid Icons

Anna Nicole Smith (1967-2007) 39. Actress. Former Playboy Playmate and Marilyn Monroe wannabe, her tragic short life was played out in the tabloids and on TV shows, especially after the death of her 20-year-old son under mysterious circumstances.

Tammy Faye Messner (1934-2007) 65. TV evangelist/actress. Formerly known as Tammy Faye Bakker. A 2000 documentary, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, earned her back much of the respect she lost when her former husband's fraudulent schemes landed him in prison.

Musical Luminaries

Denny Doherty (1940-2007) 66. Actor/singer. Best known as the tenor with the voice of an angel in the singing group The Mamas and the Papas.

Ray Evans (1915-2007) 72. Songwriter. He won Oscars for the songs "Buttons and Bows", "Mona Lisa" and "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)". He also received nominations for "Tammy" and "Dear Heart".

Dan Fogelberg (1951-2007) 56. Singer/songwriter. His hit songs include "Same Old Auld Lang Syne", "Leader of the Band", "Part of the Plan" and "Run for the Roses".

Don Ho (1930-2007) 76. Actor/singer. He was the icon of breezy, island entertainment. His hit songs include "Tiny Bubbles", "Pearly Shells", "I'll Remember You" and "With All My Love".

Frankie Laine (1913-2007) 93. Singer/composer. His voice can be heard prominently on the soundtrack of films as different as The Last Picture Show, Blazing Saddles, Raging Bull and Little Voice.

Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007) 95. Composer. He composed his first opera when he was 11. He won an Oscar nomination for The Medium, an Emmy nomination for Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Pulitzers for The Consel and The Saint of Bleecker Street.

Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007) 71. Opera singer. He spent much time on TV and received eight Emmy nominations. His one Emmy was for one of his appearances on PBS' Great Performances. He was seen on the big screen in Yes, Giorgio.

Oscar Peterson (1925-2007) 82. Jazz pianist/composer. His recordings have been used in a wide variety of films such as Play It Again, Sam, Bright Lights, Big City, Eyes Wide Shut, and Criminal.

Beverly Sills (1929-2007) 78. Opera singer. She won an Emmy for a 1975 concert performance and four additional nominations. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980 was a Kennedy Center Honors recipient in 1985.

Ike Turner (1931-2007) 76. Musician/songwriter. He gained fame as half of the duo of Ike & Tina Turner and made many TV guest appearances. His songs have been used in films as diverse as Bull Durham, Clueless, Kill Bill, Vol. 1 and Glory Road.

The Others

Evel Knievel (1938-2007) 69. Daredevil. His life of death defying stunts spawned one theatrical film and two TV movies.

Marcel Marceau (1923-2007) 84. Mime. He is credited with perfecting the art of pantomime in the 20th Century. He was a French Resistance hero during World War II, credited with saving hundreds of lives. He appeared on screen in Barbarella and several other films.

-Peter J. Patrick (January 5, 2008)