Remembering the celebrities we lost in 2024

Glynis Johns

Glynis Johns, a Tony Award-winning stage and screen star who played the mother opposite Julie Andrews in the classic movie Mary Poppins and introduced the world to the bittersweet standard-to-be Send in the Clowns by Stephen Sondheim, died on Jan. 4 at the age of 100.

Johns was known to be a perfectionist about her profession — precise, analytical and opinionated. The roles she took had to be multi-faceted. Anything less was giving less than her all.

Johns’ greatest triumph was playing Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music, for which she won a Tony in 1973. Other highlights include playing the mother in Mary Poppins, the movie that introduced Julie Andrews, and starring in the 1989 Broadway revival of The Circle, W. Somerset Maugham’s romantic comedy about love, marriage and fidelity, opposite Rex Harrison and Stewart Granger.

David Soul

David Soul, who earned fame as the blond half of crime-fighting duo Starsky & Hutch in the popular 1970s television series, died Jan. 4 at the age of 80.

Soul portrayed detective Ken (Hutch) Hutchinson alongside Paul Michael Glaser as detective David Starsky in Starsky & Hutch. It ran on ABC between 1975 and 1979, and grew so popular it spawned a host of children’s toys.

At the height of his fame, Soul also hit the music charts with the single Don’t Give Up on Us.

Joyce Randolph

Joyce Randolph, a veteran stage and television actor whose role as the savvy Trixie Norton on The Honeymooners provided the perfect foil to her dim-witted TV husband, died Jan. 13. She was 99.

Randolph was the last surviving main character of the beloved comedy from television’s golden age of the 1950s.

Decades after leaving the show, Randolph still had many admirers and received dozens of letters a week. She was a regular into her 80s at the downstairs bar at Sardi’s, where she liked to sip her favourite White Cadillac concoction — Dewar’s and milk — and chat with patrons who recognized her from a portrait of the sitcom’s four characters over the bar.

Nerene Virgin

Nerene Virgin, a Canadian children’s entertainer most beloved for her role as Jodie on the 1980s TV series Today’s Special, died on Jan. 15 at the age of 77.

She was a familiar staple in kids’ before-and-after school television programming in the ’80s, starring not just on Today’s Special but also in other Canadian classics like Ramona, Polka Dot Door, Night Heat and The Littlest Hobo.

Virgin’s television career continued on in the late 1980s and early ’90s, when she went on to host and broadcast on CTV and later, on CBC.

In 2016, Virgin was awarded a place on the list of 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women.

Norman Jewison

Norman Jewison, the Canadian director of numerous Oscar-recognized titles — including Moonstruck and Fiddler on the Roof — and a champion of homegrown cinematic talent at the Canadian Film Centre, died on Jan. 20 at the age of 97.

The charming, strong-willed director-producer tackled a wide range of genres throughout his distinguished career, but was particularly drawn to projects that had a social message and explored the human condition. His five-time Oscar-winning 1967 crime drama In the Heat of the Night, for example, was the first of several Jewison films that probed the effects of racism.

David Gail

Soap opera star David Gail, best known for his roles in Beverly Hills, 90210 and Port Charles, died on Jan. 20 at the age of 58.

In 1993, Gail guest starred as Stuart Carson on Beverly Hills, 90210, the rich boy fiancé of Brenda Walsh (played by Shannen Doherty). He appeared in eight episodes before his character’s engagement to Walsh came to an end amid revelations about Carson’s drug-dealing history.

He would eventually go on to star in the General Hospital spinoff Port Charles as Dr. Joe Scanlon beginning in 1999. Gail was the second actor to play the role after Michael Dietz’s departure from the show. Gail left Port Charles in 2000.

Chita Rivera

Chita Rivera, the dynamic dancer, singer and actor who garnered 10 Tony nominations, winning twice, in a long Broadway career that forged a path for Latina artists and who shrugged off a near-fatal car accident, died Jan. 30. She was 91.

Rivera first gained wide notice in 1957 as Anita in the original production of West Side Story and was still dancing on Broadway with her trademark energy a half-century later in 2015’s The Visit.

She won Tonys for The Rink in 1984 and Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1993. When accepting a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018, she said, “I wouldn’t trade my life in the theatre for anything, because theatre is life.”

Carl Weathers

Carl Weathers, a former NFL linebacker who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star, playing nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies, facing off against Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator and teaching golf in Happy Gilmore, died on Feb. 1. He was 76.

Comfortable flexing his muscles on the big screen in Action Jackson as he was joking around on the small screen in such shows as Arrested Development, Weathers was perhaps most closely associated with Creed, who made his first appearance as the cocky, undisputed heavyweight world champion in 1976’s Rocky, starring Sylvester Stallone.

Most recently, Weathers starred in the Disney+ hit The Mandalorian, appearing in all three seasons.

Toby Keith

Country music fans around the world lifted their red Solo cups to the legendary singer and songwriter Toby Keith, who died on Feb. 5. He was 62 years old.

Keith’s death came 18 months after he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. The country singer earlier said he’d been receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatment and undergoing surgery to treat his cancer.

Keith was a giant within the country music scene and, according to his website, released 32 No. 1 songs, including Red Solo Cup, Should’ve Been A Cowboy and How Do You Like Me Now!?

Kenneth Mitchell

Canadian actor Kenneth Mitchell, best known for his roles in Star Trek: Discovery and Captain Marvel, died on Feb. 24, five years after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was 49.

He played several different roles across numerous episodes in the Star Trek: Discovery franchise, namely the Klingon warrior Kol-Sha, Tenavik and Aurellio. He also provided voice work for Star Trek: Lower Decks. Outside of the Star Trek universe, Mitchell was best known for playing Joseph Danvers, the father of the titular superhero Captain Marvel, and Eric Green from the TV series Jericho.

He revealed he was diagnosed with ALS after experiencing constant muscle twitching, which he thought could have been a pinched nerve or multiple sclerosis (MS). Mitchell said learning that he had ALS was “a complete disbelief, a shock.”

Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis, an acclaimed comedian known for exploring his neuroses in frantic, stream-of-consciousness diatribes while dressed in all-black, leading to his nickname “The Prince of Pain,” died on Feb. 28. He was 76.

A regular performer in clubs and on late-night TV for decades, Lewis also played Marty Gold, the romantic co-lead opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, in the ABC series Anything But Love and the reliably neurotic Prince John in Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights. He re-introduced himself to a new generation opposite Larry David in HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, kvetching regularly.

Comedy Central named Lewis one of the top 50 stand-up comedians of all time and he earned a berth in GQ magazine’s list of the “20th Century’s Most Influential Humorists.” He lent his humour to charity causes, including Comic Relief and Comedy Gives Back.

Lou Gossett Jr.

Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries Roots, died on March 29. He was 87.

He always thought of his early career as a reverse Cinderella story, with success finding him from an early age and propelling him forward, toward his Academy Award for An Officer and a Gentleman.

Gossett broke through on the small screen as Fiddler in the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries Roots, which depicted the atrocities of slavery on TV. The sprawling cast included Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton and John Amos.

Gossett became the third Black Oscar nominee in the supporting actor category in 1983.

Chance Perdomo

Chance Perdomo, whose spotlight was only growing amid his success found in Gen V and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, died in a motorcycle crash on Apr. 1. He was 27.

Perdomo, who was British American, was a rising star in Hollywood. He was best known for playing Ambrose Spellman in Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and the superhuman character Andre Anderson from The Boys spinoff series Gen V.

Joe Flaherty

Comedian Joe Flaherty, a founding member of the Canadian sketch series SCTV, died on April 1 at the age of 82.

Flaherty first made his mark on the comedy scene while at SCTV, playing characters like Count Floyd, news anchor Floyd Robertson and the iconic character of SCTV station manager Guy Caballero.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Flaherty moved to Toronto and helped establish the Toronto Second City theatre troupe, which led to a starring role on SCTV as one of the original performers and writers.

He also made his foray into the world of cinema, including the role of a sabotaging golf fan who yelled “Jackass!” every time Adam Sandler stepped up to the tee in Happy Gilmore.

O.J. Simpson

O.J. Simpson died on April 10, following a battle with cancer. He was 76.

Simpson, an ex-NFL great, was most widely known for the notorious ’90s court case watched around the world, when he stood trial for the double murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.

He was acquitted of the charges, but it became one of the most talked-about court cases of the last century, and its live, of-the-minute coverage on TV changed everything.

The trial transfixed America. In the White House, President Bill Clinton left the Oval Office and watched the verdict on his secretary’s TV. Many Black Americans celebrated his acquittal, seeing Simpson as the victim of bigoted police. Many white Americans were appalled by his exoneration.

His case sparked debates on race, gender, domestic abuse, celebrity justice and police misconduct.

He appeared in multiple cameo roles, most notably the ’90s Naked Gun movie series.

Mike Pinder

Moody Blues founding member Mike Pinder died on April 24 at the age of 82.

Pinder was the Moody Blues’ co-founder, keyboardist and the last surviving original member of the band, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

Notably, Pinder was one of the first musicians to use the mellotron, a type of electronic keyboard, in rock music.

Bernard Hill

Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and went down with the ship as the captain in Titanic, died on May 4 at the age of 79.

Hill joined The Lord Of The Rings franchise in the second film of the trilogy, 2002’s The Two Towers, as Théoden, king of Rohan. The following year, he reprised the role in Return of the King, a movie that won 11 Oscars.

Hill first made a name for himself as Yosser Hughes in Boys From the Blackstuff, a 1982 British TV miniseries about five unemployed men.

In Titanic, Hill played Captain Edward Smith, one of the only characters based on a real person in the 1997 tragic romance starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The film also won 11 Academy Awards.

Susan Buckner

Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical Grease, died on May 7. She was 72.

She got her start as a beauty queen. She won Miss Washington in 1971 and went on to place in the Top 10 in the 1972 Miss America pageant, tying for first in the swimsuit competition.

Throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s, Buckner appeared in a number of TV series including Starsky and Hutch, The Love Boat and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, and co-starred in the ABC series When the Whistle Blows alongside Dolph Sweet.

Ian Gelder

Ian Gelder, who played Kevan Lannister in Game of Thrones, died on May 7 at the age of 74.

Gelder had a long career on the stage, appearing in productions on London’s West End and at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and he also played Mr. Dekker on Torchwood along with roles on Doctor Who and His Dark Materials.

But he might be best known to TV fans as Kevan Lannister — the younger brother of Tywin and uncle to Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion — on the HBO fantasy epic Game of Thrones.

Alice Munro

Short story legend Alice Munro, whose intricate tales depicting small-town southwestern Ontario earned her an international fanbase and the Nobel Prize in literature, died May 13 at age 92.

Though often lauded for bringing depth and universal appeal to her rural settings and characters, she said she was particularly proud of having given a voice to women through her stories, especially considering that at one time critics belittled her work.

The Swedish Academy summed up the thoughts of many in the global literary community when it hailed Munro as the “master of the contemporary short story” in awarding her the Nobel Prize in fall 2013.

It was one of countless honours she received throughout her distinguished career. Others included the Man Booker International Prize for her entire body of work, as well as two Scotiabank Giller Prizes.

Dabney Coleman

Dabney Coleman, best known for his portrayal of cantankerous characters in films such as Tootsie and 9 to 5, died May 16 at age 92.

He was best known for playing nasty men for laughs, but he also took on a range of dramatic roles and voice-over work and won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for his TV appearances.

More recently he appeared in the western drama Yellowstone, and had a recurring role as an influential businessman in the HBO gangster saga Boardwalk Empire.

Morgan Spurlock

Morgan Spurlock, the filmmaker best known for his documentary Super Size Me, died May 23 at the age of 53.

Super Size Me, which hit theatres in 2004, earned Spurlock an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature. In the film, he challenged himself to only eat meals from McDonald’s for a month — never being allowed to turn down the “super-size” option of the meal, if offered — while monitoring the effects on his mental and physical health and taking a deep dive into the inner workings of the fast food industry.

The movie, which grossed US$22 million in theatres worldwide, prompted McDonald’s to cut its “super-size” option from menus. It also preceded the release of Eric Schlosser’s influential Fast Food Nation, which accused the industry of being bad for the environment and rife with labour issues.

Johnny Wactor

Actor Johnny Wactor of General Hospital was shot and killed in Los Angeles on May 25 during a suspected car robbery. He was 37.

He appeared in nearly 200 episodes of General Hospital as Brando Corbin. He remained a recurring character in the series from 2020 until 2022, when the character was written off.

Wactor also appeared in NCIS, Westworld and Criminal Minds, and had many other acting roles.

Benji Gregory

Benji Gregory, who starred as a child in the 1980s comedy sitcom ALF, died June 13 at the age of 46.

Gregory starred as Brian Tanner in 101 episodes of ALF from 1986 to 1990, where he became on-screen best friends with the title character, a pointy-eared, sarcastic alien from the planet Melmac that arrived on Earth when he crash-landed through the Tanner family garage.

Gregory was a fixture on ’80s television sets, with roles on The A-Team, T.J. Hooker and Punky Brewster. He also appeared in the 1986 movie Jumpin’ Jack Flash, alongside Whoopi Goldberg.

Donald Sutherland

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Donald Sutherland, the gravelly-voiced Canadian actor who graced both TV and movie screens, died June 20 in Miami from a long illness. He was 88.

Known for his easily identifiable baritone, Sutherland starred in a multitude of recognizable and memorable films, including 1980’s Ordinary People, 1991’s JFK, 1998’s Without Limits and the Hunger Games franchise. He also played the lovable Hawkeye in the movie version of M*A*S*H*. He did a lot of TV work as well, appearing on shows like Lawmen: Bass Reeves, The Simpsons, Dirty Sexy Money and Commander in Chief, among many others.

Sutherland was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1978 and was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2000. He got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.

Bill Cobbs

Bill Cobbs, the veteran character actor who became a ubiquitous and sage screen presence as an older man, died on June 26. He was 90.

A Cleveland native, Cobbs acted in such films as The Hudsucker Proxy, The Bodyguard and Night at the Museum. He made his first big-screen appearance in a fleeting role in 1974’s The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. He became a lifelong actor with some 200 film and TV credits. The lion’s share of those came in his 50s, 60s and 70s, as filmmakers and TV producers turned to him again and again to imbue small but pivotal parts with a wizened and worn soulfulness.

Cobbs appeared on television shows including The Sopranos, The West Wing, Sesame Street and Good Times. He was Whitney Houston’s manager in The Bodyguard (1992), the mystical clock man of the Coen brothers’ The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) and the doctor of John Sayles’ Sunshine State (2002). He played the coach in Air Bud (1997), the security guard in Night at the Museum (2006) and the father on The Gregory Hines Show.

Martin Mull

Martin Mull, whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms including Roseanne and Arrested Development, died on June 27 at the age of 80.

Mull often played slightly sleazy, somewhat slimy and often smarmy characters. The 1980s brought what many thought was his best work, A History of White People in America, a mockumentary that first aired on Cinemax. Mull co-created the show and starred as a 60 Minutes-style investigative reporter probing all things milquetoast and mundane.

In the 1990s he was best known for his recurring role on several seasons on Roseanne, in which he played a warmer, less sleazy boss to the title character, an openly gay man whose partner was played by Fred Willard, who died in 2020.

Mull would later play private eye Gene Parmesan on Arrested Development, a cult-classic character on a cult-classic show, and would be nominated for an Emmy, his first, in 2016 for a guest run on Veep.

Shifty Shellshock

Shifty Shellshock, the lead singer of the late-1990s rap-rock band Crazy Town known for the hit song Butterfly, died on June 29. He was 49.

The singer, whose real name was Seth Binzer, was open about his struggles with substance abuse. He appeared on two seasons of the VH1 series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2008 and also on the spinoff series Sober House from 2009 to 2010.

He formed Crazy Town with bandmate Bret Mazur, known as Epic, in 1995, but the band was initially known as the Brimstone Sluggers. The idea to form the band began when the pair wrote each other letters from rehabilitation clinics, according to the band’s Spotify biography.

Shelley Duvall

Shelley Duvall, the cult-favourite character actor best-known for her work in The Shining and Annie Hall, died on July 10. She had just turned 75.

At her peak, Duvall was a regular star in some of the defining movies of the 1970s and 1980s. In The Shining, she played Wendy Torrance, who watches in horror as her husband, Jack (Jack Nicholson), goes crazy while their family is isolated in the Overlook Hotel. It was Duvall’s screaming face that made up half of the film’s most iconic image, along with Jack’s axe coming through the door.

The Texas native had dozens of acting credits to her name, spanning from 1973 to as recently as 2023, as well as several producing and writing credits. The last time she appeared on screen was in 2023’s The Forest Hill, alongside Edward Furlong and Dee Wallace.

Dr. Ruth

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Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the diminutive sex therapist who became a pop icon, media star and bestselling author through her frank talk about once-taboo bedroom topics, died on July 12. She was 96.

Westheimer’s giggly, German-accented voice, coupled with her four-foot-seven frame, made her an unlikely looking — and sounding — outlet for “sexual literacy.” The contradiction was one of the keys to her success.

Westheimer never advocated risky sexual behaviour. Instead, she encouraged open dialogue on previously closeted issues that affected her audience of millions. Her one recurring theme was there was nothing to be ashamed of.

Richard Simmons

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Richard Simmons, television’s hyperactive court jester of physical fitness who built a mini-empire in his trademark tank tops and short shorts by urging overweight people to exercise and eat better, died on July 13 at age 76.

Simmons was a former 268-pound teen who shared his hard-won weight-loss tips as host of the Emmy-winning daytime Richard Simmons Show, author of best-selling books and the diet plan Deal-A-Meal, as well as opening exercise studios and starring in millions of exercise videos, including the successful Sweatin’ to the Oldies line.

Shannen Doherty

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After years with breast cancer, Shannen Doherty died on July 13 surrounded by her family.

A native of Memphis, Tenn., Doherty moved to Los Angeles with her family at age seven and, within a few years, became an actor. She was well-known for her roles on TV shows Little House on the Prairie, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed, among others.

Doherty’s fame came with media scrutiny and accounts of outbursts, drinking and impulsiveness — the latter most notably after a very brief marriage to actor George Hamilton’s son, Ashley. She always claimed her personality was “grotesquely misconstrued” by the media.