Jackie Cooper's Celebrity Deaths

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

The death of former child actor Jackie Cooper ( not to be confused with the , somewhat less fortunate as an adult and , infamously , ripped off by his parents Jackie Coogan ) inspires me to start a " Celebrity Deaths - That , Um , Don't Have The Most Obvious Connectuions To Our Beloved Genre , As Those Folks Will Tend To Get A Solo Thread , Admittedly..." omnibus thread .

  Directly , Cooper played Perry White in the Salkind/Reeve series of Superman movies , and , as per Wikipedia , about the last thing he did in the directing of episodic TV series that occupied much of his later working years were episodes of the Salkind Superboy series...

  Cooper also starred in the CBS series Hennessy ( Probably the subject of a couple Dell FOUR COLOR COMICS issues anyway , wasn't it ????????? ) , enthused over by our Cmdr. Benson , and another B&W-era series , The People's Choice .

  In pre-TV days movies with ____ ____ made them something of a team

[ClarkKent_DC]

Longtime character actor Dean Stockwell, best known for his role as Admiral Al Colavicci on Quantum Leap (which earned him four Emmy nominations), passes from natural causes. 

From Deadline: "Dean Stockwell Dies: ‘Quantum Leap’ Star Was 85"

[Richard Willis]

It's kinda spooky. Yesterday I watched Married to the Mob (his Oscar-nominated role) for the first time. In the next day or two I was already planning to watch Anchors Aweigh, his very first movie. I've always enjoyed him.

[ClarkKent_DC]

Scott Bakula provides a lovely tribute to Dean Stockwell in Deadline: "Scott Bakula Remembers ‘Quantum Leap’ Co-Star Dean Stockwell: “He Made Me a Better Human Being”

Scott Bakula said:

I met Dean at his audition for Quantum Leap in 1988. He had agreed to ‘read’ for the Network, I was already cast. We connected immediately and my career and my life were changed that day in Brandon Tartikoff’s office. How lucky were we to get him? A few months later he would be nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Married to the Mob, but he was stuck with us. Serendipity? All I know is, he never tried to get out or complain, he loved the role and the show and the rest was history.

He became a dear friend and a mentor and we grew very close over the next five, very intense years. Dean was such a passionate man…about life, his work, his art (he was an amazing artist!), his family, all kinds of causes, people, music, the planet, cigars, golf, and on and on! Having been a famous child actor, he had a soft spot for every young actor who came on our set. He was very protective of their rights and safety and always checked in with them to make sure that they were ok. His big hearted response to the kids made all of us take notice and be better guardians ourselves.

In spite of having a career that came and went several times during his seventy plus years in the business, he was always grateful and delighted to have the chance to keep working. The only time he ever complained was when we called him on the golf course and told him we were ready for him to come to work! He used to announce his presence on the sound stage (if we hadn’t already caught a whiff of cigar smoke trailing in behind him), with a bellowed, “The fun starts now!” Truer words were never spoken.

I loved him dearly and was honored to know him. He made me a better human being…

[ClarkKent_DC]

Gavan O’Herlihy, whose fairly decent career as an actor was reduced to being a trivia question, dies at 70. From Deadline: "Gavan O’Herlihy Dies: Actor Who Played ‘Happy Days’ Disappeared Brother Was 70"

That's right: O'Herlihy was one of the three guys who played Chuck Cunningham. The other two were Ric Carrott, who played Chuck in the pilot, an episode of Love, American Style originally titled "Love and the Television Set" (renamed "Love and the Happy Days" in syndicated reruns); the other guy was Randolph Roberts, who was Chuck in two Season 2 episodes.

O'Herlihy was Chuck in seven episodes in Season 1, and bailed because he wasn't getting enough to do. After a few years guesting on various TV shows, he turned to movies. 

[ClarkKent_DC]

The Legion of "Hey, It's That Guy!" Character Actors loses another one. From Entertainment You Don't Really Think It's Still Weekly, Do You?: "Art LaFleur, The Sandlot and Field of Dreams actor, dies at 78"

He was the type a casting agent would call when you needed someone big and burly but somehow not very menacing. Wikipedia and IMDb list his first role as one of the two bumbling Russian spies following around Gilligan and The Skipper in Rescue from Gilligan's Island!

[ClarkKent_DC]

The world of film loses Peter Bogdanovich, director of The Last Picture Show, What's Up, Doc? and Paper Moon.

From The Hollywood Reporter: "Peter Bogdanovich, Oscar-Nominated Director and Champion of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Dies at 82"

[ClarkKent_DC]

Two losses in show business: 

From Deadline: "Meat Loaf Dies: ‘Bat Out of Hell’ Singer & ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ Actor Was 74"

Also from Deadline: "Louie Anderson Dies: Comedian & Emmy Winner Was 68"

[ClarkKent_DC]

A really sad blow to our childhoods: From USA Today: "Peter Robbins, OG Voice of Charlie Brown in Peanuts Holiday Staples, Dies by Suicide at 65."

Robbins was the first voice of Charlie Brown in the Peanuts specials. He had bipolar disorder.

[ClarkKent_DC]

The Legion of "'Hey, It's That Guy!" Character Actors loses another one.

From USA Today: "'Seinfeld,' 'Law & Order: SVU,' actress Kathryn Kates Dies fro...

[The Baron]

RIP Howard Hesseman

[The Baron]

RIP Sally Kellerman

[Richard Willis]

She was always fun to watch.

The Baron said:

RIP Sally Kellerman