TV Stars We Lost in 2023

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Adam Rich

Rich, best known for starring in the ABC dramedy Eight Is Enough, died in January at the age of 54. A cause of death was not disclosed. On Eight Is Enough, Rich played youngest son Nicholas Bradford for a total of 112 episodes. As a child, he also appeared in commercials for Betty Crocker and Nabisco, and provided voice work on Dungeons & Dragons alongside his Eight Is Enough co-star Willie Aames. Other TV credits included bit parts on The Six Million Dollar Man, The Love Boat, St. Elsewhere, Baywatch and more shows.

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Bernard Kalb

A journalist with more than six decades of experience covering news, Kalb died at age 100 in January, following complications from a fall. Kalb became the founding co-host and panelist of CNN’s Reliable Sources, on which he appeared from 1992 to 1998. Other programs he appeared on included CBS News Sunday Morning, CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite, The Bob Braun Show and Bicentennial Minutes.

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Ben Masters

Masters, best known for his portrayal of Julian Crane on NBC’s Passions from 1999 to 2008, died of COVID complications in January. He was 75. Prior to his starring role on Passions, Masters appeared on a number of hit TV series, including Touched by an Angel; Sisters; Diagnosis Murder; Walker, Texas Ranger; Murder, She Wrote; and Another World. He also starred on the big screen in Mandingo (1975), All That Jazz (1979), Dream Lover (1986) and Making Mr. Right (1987), among other projects.

Michael Levin

Levin died of natural causes in January at the age of 90. He was best known for portraying reporter Jack Fenelli during the entire 13-year run of daytime soap opera Ryan’s Hope, which aired on ABC from 1975 to 1989. Levin also appeared in two other daytime soaps — as John Eldridge on As the World Turns and Dr. Tim Gould on All My Children — and popped up on episodes of The Equalizer, Law & Order and other series.

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Al Brown

Brown was 83 years old when he passed away in January, following a battle with Alzheimer’s. To TV fans, he’s best remembered as Baltimore Police Commissioner Stanislaus “Stan” Valchek on The Wire, a character that recurred throughout all five seasons of the HBO drama. On the small screen, Brown also appeared in such series as Rescue Me, Law & Order: SVU, Commander in Chief and the 2004 TV movie Something the Lord Made.

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CJ Harris

Harris, who finished in sixth place on Season 13 of American Idol, died in January after suffering a heart attack. He was just 31 years old. During his Salt Lake City-based audition in 2014, Harris performed Allman Brothers Band’s “Soulshine,” wowing then-judges Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban; watch his performance here.

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Annie Wersching

Wersching, whose many TV credits included 24, Bosch and Timeless, died at the age of 45 in January, following a cancer diagnosis in 2020. Her long résumé also included roles on Castle, Revolution, Angel, The Vampire Diaries and Frasier, among others; right up until her death, she held recurring roles on both Star Trek: Picard and The Rookie. Additionally, she provided the voice/performance for Tess in the video game The Last of Us, which has been adapted this year into a successful HBO TV series.

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Lisa Loring

Loring, who played Wednesday Addams on the original live-action Addams Family series, died in January at the age of 64 after suffering a stroke. The actress played Wednesday from 1964 to 1966; in a Season 2 episode of The Addams Family, Wednesday taught Lurch her version of “The Drew,” a quirky shuffle which has gained online traction in recent years and partially inspired the choreography for Jenna Ortega’s dance scene in Netflix’s Wednesday. Loring’s other TV credits included As the World Turns, Barnaby Jones, Fantasy Island, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. and The Phyllis Diller Show.

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Cindy Williams

Williams, who starred alongside Penny Marshall on the hit ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley, passed away in January. She was 75. The actress co-starred in films like American Graffiti and The Conversation before making her debut as Milwaukee brewery worker Shirley Feeney in an episode of Happy Days. Williams and Marshall’s characters were then spun off into their own self-titled series, which debuted in 1976. Williams ultimately left Laverne & Shirley early in its eighth and final season after becoming pregnant; she later co-starred on the CBS sitcom Normal Life and with Telma Hopkins in the ABC comedy Getting By. She also guest-starred on a number of series, including Lois & Clark, Touched by an Angel and 8 Simple Rules.

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Melinda Dillon

Dillon, best known for playing Ralphie’s mom in the holiday classic A Christmas Story, died in early January at the age of 83. A cause of death was not disclosed. Though Dillon’s most memorable roles were on the big screen — she earned Oscar nods for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice — she did make several guest appearances on TV shows like Law & Order: SVU, Judging Amy and Picket Fences.

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Charles Kimbrough

Kimbrough, who played Jim Dial on all 10 seasons of Murphy Brown (and its 2018 revival), passed away in January at the age of 86. During Murphy Brown‘s 1988-1998 run, Kimbrough starred opposite Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown’s stuffy co-anchor, a performance that earned him an Emmy nomination in 1990. The actor also lent his voice to multiple TV series, including Family Guy, Recess, Mighty Max and Batman Beyond.

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Lance Kerwin

Kerwin, who as a teen headlined the seminal coming-of-age series James at 15, died on Jan. 24 of an undisclosed cause. He was 62. Following NBC’s James at 15 (which at the appropriate time was retitled James at 16), Kerwin’s subsequent TV credits included CBS’ 1979 Stephen King miniseries Salem’s Lot and a slew of guest-starring roles throughout the ’80s and ’90s. His most recent TV credit came with a 1992 episode of ABC’s police drama anthology series FBI: The Untold Stories.

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Scott Alexander

A magician who competed on Season 6 of America’s Got Talent, Alexander died in February after suffering a stroke. He was 52. Though Alexander made quite an impression on then-judges Howie Mandel, Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan, he was ultimately eliminated in the quarterfinals. He later appeared in the second season of Penn & Teller: Fool Us in 2015, joining forces with fellow AGT alum The Magic of Puck for a special double act.

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Cody Longo

Longo was just 34 years old when he passed away in February. He joined the Days of Our Lives cast in 2011, playing Nicholas “Nikki” Alamain for a total of eight episodes. He also played Nicky Russo on Season 1 of the ABC Family teen gymnast drama Make It or Break It. His longest-running TV role was on the Nick at Nite/TeenNick soap Hollywood Heights, where he played rock star Eddie Duran. His other TV credits included Nashville, CSI: NY and The Catch.

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Austin Majors

Former child actor Majors, best known for his role as the son of Dennis Franz’s Det. Andy Sipowicz on NYPD Blue, died in February at just 27 years old, reportedly after ingesting fentanyl. In addition to playing Theo Sipowicz, Majors’ TV credits included guest stints on According to Jim, Desperate Housewives, NCIS and How I Met Your Mother.

Raquel Welch

Raquel Welch

Welch, the legendary actress and iconic 1960s sex symbol, died in February at the age of 82, following a brief illness. Her TV career kicked off in the mid-’60s with guest spots on shows like The Virginian, McHale’s Navy and Bewitched; in the ’70s and ’80s, she appeared on Mork & Mindy and the telepics Scandal in a Small Town and Right to Die, the latter of which earned her a Golden Globe. More recently, she had guested on Seinfeld, Spin City and CSI: Miami, among other series.  

On the big screen, Welch was perhaps best known for her role in the One Million Years B.C. remake (1966), manifesting the Deadly Sin “Lust” opposite Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in the 1967 comedy Bedazzled, and playing the titular secret agent in the spy spoof Fathom.

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Tim McCarver

McCarver, who transitioned from an All-Star baseball playing career to a legendary stint in the broadcast booth, died in February at the age of 81. After retiring as an MLB player in 1980, McCarver quickly moved to the broadcasting side, eventually calling baseball games for all four broadcast networks. His most notable work as a broadcaster came alongside Joe Buck on Fox’s baseball coverage for nearly two decades, from 1996 to 2013. McCarver went on to call a total of 23 World Series, a record at the time of his retirement.

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Richard Belzer

Belzer, best known for playing John Munch on Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: SVU, died in February after contending with multiple health issues. He was 78. Combining his run on Homicide (where he appeared from 1993 to 1999) and SVU (1999-2016), as well as his appearances in their various spinoffs and TV movies, Belzer played John Munch for nearly 25 years (and also took him to an episode of The X-Files). Additionally, Belzer appeared on series such as Miami Vice, Moonlighting, South Park and The Wire.

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Barbara Bosson

Bosson, who earned five Emmy nominations for her work on Hill Street Blues, died in February at the age of 83. On Hill Street Blues — co-created by Bosson’s then-husband, Steven Bochco — Bosson co-starred for six seasons as Fay Furillo, the ex-wife of Daniel J. Travanti’s protagonist, Frank Furillo. She and Bochco also collaborated on three other series: the ABC legal drama Murder One (for which Bosson scored another Emmy nod); the ABC dramedy Hooperman; and the short-lived musical police drama Cop Rock.

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Jansen Panettiere

Panettiere, an actor and the younger brother of Nashville‘s Hayden Panettiere, was just 28 years old when he passed away of complications from an enlarged heart in February. Panettiere notably lent his voice to several TV shows and movies, including Blue’s Clues, Nickelodeon’s animated series The X’s and the 2006 film Ice Age: The Meltdown. On the live-action front, his small-screen credits included episodes of Even Stevens, Hope & Faith, Everybody Hates Chris and Major Crimes. His final TV appearance came in 2019 via a Season 9 episode of The Walking Dead.

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Tom Sizemore

Sizemore, best known for portraying Sergeant Horvath in Saving Private Ryan — but whose TV credits included the 2017 revival of Twin Peaks plus episodes of Cobra Kai, Shooter, Lucifer, Law & Order: SVU and Hawaii Five-0 — died on March 3 at age 61. The actor had been in critical condition after suffering a brain aneurysm on Feb. 18.

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Robert Blake

The star of ABC’s 1970s cop show Baretta died from heart disease on March 9, at the age of 89. Blake began his Hollywood career as a child actor, playing Mickey in MGM’s Our Gang shorts (later known as The Little Rascals). As an adult, his credits included the 1967 film version of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and TV police detective Tony Baretta (for which he won an Emmy).

In 2001, Blake’s wife Bonny Lee Bakley was found dead in Blake’s car outside an L.A. restaurant. Blake was arrested and charged with Bakley’s murder a year later, but was ultimately found not guilty of murder and of solicitation of murder. (An additional charge of solicitation to commit murder was dropped when the jury deadlocked.) Blake was later found liable in the wrongful death of Bakley in a civil suit brought by her children.

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Lance Reddick 

The actor, best known for playing Lieutenant Cedric Daniels on The Wire and General Phillip Broyles on Fringe, died in March. He was in the middle of his press tour for John Wick: Chapter 4, in which he reprised his role as the Continental Hotel concierge Charon. He appeared in numerous films and shows, including The Blacklist, Key & Peele, Castle, the Disney animated revival of DuckTales, Netflix’s animated series Castlevania, the 2020 film One Night in Miami (directed by Regina King) and the John Wick saga.

Reddick also portrayed Irvin Irving in Bosch, Albert Wesker in Netflix’s Resident Evil, and lent his voice as Thordak in the Prime Video animated series The Legend of Vox Machina. 

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Elizabeth Hubbard

Soap opera vet Hubbard passed away in April at the age of 89. Of her 11 Daytime Emmy nominations, she earned eight for her turn as Lucinda Walsh on CBS’ As the World Turns, a role she played from 1984 until the show’s swan song in 2010. Though she never won for that portrayal, Hubbard did take home trophies in 1974 (for her work as Dr. Althea Davis on NBC’s soap The Doctors) and 1976 (for the TV movie First Ladies Diaries: Edith Wilson). Hubbard’s TV credits also included episodes of Guiding Light, One Life to Live, Hope & Faith and Law & Order, among others. She most recently appeared in the soap opera web series Anacostia, which earned the actress her final Daytime Emmy nomination in 2016.

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Keith Nale

The two-time Survivor contestant and fan favorite died April 18 after a short battle with cancer. He was 62. Nale participated in both Season 29, San Juan del Sur, and Season 31, Cambodia — Second Chances, where he placed fourth and fifth, respectively. He was known and loved for his Southern charm and challenge prowess.

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Barry Humphries

Humphries, the Australian-born comedian, actor and satirist who was best known for his drag persona, Dame Edna Everage, died in April at the age of 89. Humphries embodied Dame Edna for nearly seven decades in numerous TV series and specials in the United States, Australia, Britain and beyond. In the U.S., the character starred in her own mock talk show, Dame Edna’s Hollywood. The NBC series’ three episodes spanned from 1991-1993. She appeared in other TV series including Dame Edna’s Neighborhood Watch, Saturday Night Live, Ally McBeal and The Life and Death of Sandy Stone, and made numerous talk show appearances.

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Len Goodman

Goodman, who judged the reality competition series Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing With the Stars for many years, died in April after a battle with bone cancer. He was 78. Goodman, who boasted years of his own ballroom dancing experience, served as head judge on both the U.K.’s Strictly Come Dancing and ABC/Disney+’s Dancing With the Stars since their inception. He appeared on the former series from 2004 through 2016, and on the latter from its premiere in 2005 through 2022, when he stepped down at the end of Season 31 to spend more time with his family.

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Jerry Springer

Springer died in April following a “brief illness” at the age of 79. He was best known for his long-running, eponymous talk show, which ran for 27 years before ending in 2018. He returned to daytime TV in 2019 with the syndicated courtroom show Judge Jerry, which ran for three seasons and ended in 2022.

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Jacklyn Zeman

Soap star Zeman, who played Bobbie Spencer on General Hospital for more than four decades, died in May following a short battle with cancer. She was 70. Zeman had a regular role on One Life to Live before debuting as Bobbie on General Hospital in 1977. She remained a regular on GH until 2010, earning a total of four Daytime Emmy nominations; she shifted to a recurring role on the show in 2013, still appearing in episodes earlier this year. She also appeared on the streaming soap The Bay.

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Ray Stevenson

The Black Sails and Thor actor died in May at the age of 58. Stevenson appeared in numerous TV shows and films throughout the 1990s and early ’00s before starring opposite Grey’s Anatomy’s Kevin McKidd in the historical drama Rome. He also played Baylan Skoll in the Star Wars series Ahsoka and voiced Mandalorian commander Gar Saxon in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. His film credits included the Divergent trilogy, RRR (this year’s Oscar winner for Best Original Song), The Three Musketeers (2011) and Antoine Fuqua’s King Arthur.

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George Maharis

The Route 66 actor died in May at the age of 94. He was best known for his portrayal of Buz Murdock on the CBS drama, which ran four seasons between 1960 and 1964. The part earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) in 1962.