deaths

Mary Pat Gleason, a character actress with a huge list of credits and who most recently played “Mom”‘s Mary, has died. She was 70. Per a post on Gleason’s official Facebook page, she passed away after a long illness from cancer. Though you may not have known Gleason’s name, it’s likely that her face is …

Fred Willard died of heart failure. The 86-year-old “Best In Show” actor went into cardiac arrest on May 15 at 6:45 p.m, according to a death certificate obtained by TMZ on Wednesday. However, Willard also had two other conditions that may have contributed to his death. For years, he suffered from myelodysplastic syndrome, a bone …

Lennie Niehaus, who went from Stan Kenton sideman to Clint Eastwood’s movie composer during a nearly 60-year career in music, died Thursday at his daughter’s home in Redlands, Calif. He was 90. Niehaus’s two dozen films for Eastwood include original scores for the best picture-winning Western “Unforgiven,” the Charlie Parker biopic “Bird” and the popular …

Herbert Stempel, the contestant on NBC’s “Twenty-One” who helped uncover the quiz show rigging scandals of the 1950s, died on April 7 at the age of 93. His death, which had not been publicly announced, was confirmed by a former stepdaughter, Bobra Fyne, according to the New York Times. Stempel was portrayed by John Turturro in …

Dove Cameron is honoring her late co-star on what would be his 21st birthday. The “Descendants” actress, 24, teamed up with the Cameron Boyce Foundation to release a collection of T-shirts, sweaters and more, with a portion of proceeds going to the Actors Fund COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. Designed by Cameron, the limited-edition apparel features …

Marge Redmond, who played Sister Jacqueline on TV’s “The Flying Nun” and later became known as the spokeswoman in Cool Whip commercials, has died. She was 95 and her death was announced by SAG-AFTRA in its magazine. No cause was given. Redmond appeared in 80 episodes of “The Flying Nun,” which ran from 1967-1970 and …

Anthony James, an actor best known for his work in the Oscar-winning films “In The Heat of the Night” and “Unforgiven,” died on May 26 of cancer in Massachusetts. He was 77. Born Jimmy Anthony, he discovered there was already an actor with that name and created his stage persona of Anthony James, according to …

“Seinfeld” actor Richard Herd has died at age 87. A rep for Herd told The Wrap that the veteran character actor died of cancer-related causes, surrounded by his family at home in Los Angeles. Herd appeared in 11 episodes of the hit series as Mr. Wilhelm — George Costanza’s (Jason Alexander) boss in recurring seasons, …

Stanley Ho, the flashy casino tycoon who helped turn Macau into the world’s biggest gambling hub, has died, his family confirmed Tuesday. He was 98. The Hong Kong native known as the “King of Gambling” ushered in a new era of gaming in China by building what was once a sleepy Portuguese colony into a …

Jazz drummer Jimmy Cobb, who brought subtlety and swing to Miles Davis’ epochal “Kind of Blue” and many other classic albums, died at his home in New York on Sunday, according to NPR and other outlets. He was 91. His wife, Eleana Tee Cobb, said the cause was lung cancer. While best known as a …