Recent Losses for 1999

Dec 31, 1999: Elliot Richardson (brain hemorrhage, born 1920), refused to fire Archibald Cox so he was fired by Nixon (Oct 1973)
Dec 30, 1999: Sarah Clark Knauss, oldest known well-documented person (really extreme old age, born Sep 24, 1880). Lived in Pennsylvania her whole life, ate chocolate almost every day
Dec 28, 1999: Clayton Moore (actor) Heart attack and a broken heart (born Sep 14, 1914). TV's "The Lone Ranger." In 1981 a new, updated version "The Legend of the Lone Ranger" came out (a box office flop) and its producers got a court order forbidding Moore from ever wearing the popular mask again
Dec 26, 1999: Dick Peabody, actor (prostate cancer, born 1925). Littlejohn in the "Combat" tv series
Dec 19, 1999: Desmond Llewelyn (actor) Car crash. Born Sep 12, 1914. Q in the James Bond movies - in the latest one Q got an assistant (John Cleese, who has agreed to play the same role next time)
Dec 17, 1999: Rex Allen (actor/voice), Accidentally run over by a friend in his driveway (born Dec 31, 1920). Cowboy star who narrated dozens of Disney flicks
Dec 14, 1999: Douglas Leigh (natural causes, born 1907). Broadway "lamplighter," he owned One Times Square, where he put up lots of lighted signs, and where the ball is dropped every New Years Eve
Dec 12, 1999: Joseph Heller, writer (heart attack, born 1923), "Catch-22"
Dec 3, 1999: Madeline Kahn, actress (Ovarian cancer, born Sep 29, 1942), leading lady in several Mel Brooks movies including Young Frankenstein
Nov 29, 1999: Gene Rayburn, game show host (heart disease, born Dec 22, 1917). Many shows, especially "Match Game"
Nov 28, 1999: giant panda Hsing-Hsing, good will ambassador (euthanasia/kidney disease, born 1971), a donation from China to the National Zoo in 1972. Predesceased by "spouse" Ling-Ling.
Nov 28, 1999: Hazel Frederick, a face in a crowd (born 1908). She was the elderly Minnesotan facing the camera when Mary Tyler Moore tossed her hat in the opening credits of her show
Nov 28, 1999: Bethel Leslie, actress/writer (cancer, born Aug 3, 1929), she played a memorable Maggie in the soap opera "The Doctors" (in the '60s).
Nov 26, 1999: Ashely Montagu, writer/anthropologist (heart disease, born 1905). Dozens of books, including "The Natural Superiority of Women"
Nov 21, 1999: Quentin Crisp, writer/life-stylist (old age, born Dec 25, 1908). The inspiration for "The Naked Civil Servant"
Nov 18, 1999: Paul Bowles, writer (heart attack, born Dec 30, 1910) "The Sheltering Sky"
Nov 13, 1999: Donald, last of the Mills Brothers singers (84 years old). John Jr died 1936, John Sr died 1958, Harry died 1982, Herbert died 1989
Nov 11, 1999: Mary Kay Bergman, aka Shannen Cassidy (suicide, born 1961). Most of the female voices in cartoon South Park
11-3-99, Ian Bannen, actor (Car crash) (Born Jun 29, 1928). Charming as the mastermind (Jackie O'Shea) of the plot in "Waking Ned Devine."
10-25-99, Hoyt Axton, singer/actor/songwriter (Born Mar 25, 1938): Amusing turn as the father in Gremlins, wrote songs including Joy to the World
10-25-99, Payne Stewart, colorful golfer: Asphyxiation at the start of a very long, bizarre plane accident. (Born Jan 30, 1957) Won US Open twice
10-24-99, Frank DeVol Band leader, composer and comic actor (born 1911)
10-16-99, Jean Shepherd, writer/radio artist (Born Jul 21, 1921): Voice-over specialist, wrote In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash on which the popular comedy movie A Christmas Story was based
10-12-99, Wilt "the Stilt" Chamberlain, basketball great/sometime actor, (Heart attack, Born Aug 21, 1936) Record-smashing basketball player who once scored 100 points in a single pro game
10-3-99, Akio Morita, industrialist, (Born Jan 26, 1921) CEO of SONY, popularized transitorized consumer products
9-25-99, Marion Zimmer Bradley, writer (Heart attack, Born June 3, 1930) Created the Darkover series, sister of Paul Edwin Zimmer
9-14-99, Harry Crane, writer: (Born 1914) Co-creator of The Honeymooners,
comedy writer for Red Skelton, grandfather of Melissa Gilbert
September 22, 1999: George C. Scott (71), a distinguished actor of both stage and screen for five decades. He is best known for roles in movies such as "The Hustler" (1961) and "Dr. Strangelove" (1963). He was nominated for an Academy Award four times, winning once for the title role in "Patton" (1970). Scott refused the award, calling the Oscars "a two-hour meat parade". He was the first performer to ever do so, according to ABC. Scott started acting in college. Before long, he landed a number of roles in Shakespeare plays and other theater productions both off and on Broadway. His last role on the big screen was in the movie "Angus." He played a feisty grandfather. George Campbell Scott was born in Wise, Virginia, on Oct. 18, 1927. He was raised in Detroit, and at the age of 17, he joined the Marine Corps. He was married five times, twice to actress Colleen Dewhurst. Scott would have been 72 next month.
Sep 5, 1999: Allen Funt, complications of a stroke suffered in 1993 (Born Sep 16, 1914): creator/host of Candid Microphone (radio), Candid Camera (tv) and the movie What Do You Say To a Naked Lady (Rated R, it starred a female nudist who startled people in hallways, elevators, etc)
Aug 24, 1999: Mary Jane Croft, old age (Born 1916): Lucy's "second" sidekick during the '60s after I Love Lucy ended.
Aug 23, 1999: Martha Roundtree, journalist (Born 1911): Co-creator of TV's Meet the Press and its first host.
Aug 23, 1999: James White (writer), stroke (Born 1928): Wrote the "Sector General" books.
8-10-99, Jennifer Paterson (cook/writer/motorcyclist),(born April 3, 1928). One of the Two Fat Ladies on PBS/BBC.
8-9-99, Nerine Shatner, the 40-year-old wife of Star Trek actor William Shatner, was found dead in the swimming pool at the couple's Studio City, Calif., home. According to reports, Shatner arrived home at 10 p.m. PDT and discovered Nerine's body, whereupon he dialed 911. Following the instructions of the 911 operator, 68-year-old Shatner dove into the pool, pulled his wife out of the water and began performing CPR, but he was unable to revive her. Paramedics arrived on the seen shortly thereafter and pronounced Nerine dead. Nerine was Shatner's third wife.
8-7-99, Brion James (heart attack),(born 1945) actor: The replicant Leon in Blade Runner, a general in The Fifth Element
8-6-99, Andrew Keith (1950), author: the Wing Commander books with William Forstchen and the Fifth Foreign Legion books with his brother William H. Keith.
8-4-99, Victor Mature (Jan 29, 1913), actor.
8-2-99, Willie Morris (1935), famous Southern writer, "The Ghosts of Medgar Evers".
7-20-99, Sandra Gould (born 1920), actress: best known as the 2nd Mrs. Kravitz on Bewitched tv series
7-16-99, John F. Kennedy Jr (born 11/60), publisher of "George" magazine, son of Pres. JFK
7-8-99, Pete Conrad (69, motorcycle accident), pilot of Gemini 5 (1965) and the 3rd man to walk on the Moon (Apollo 12), managed the lengthy Skylab flight in 1973 that led to the current joint NASA-Russian space station project
7-2-99, Mario Puzo (born 1920, Heart failure), writer of The Godfather
7-1-99, Sylvia Sidney (born 1910), actress: Beetlejuice as the woman in charge of the Netherworld's waiting room, Oscar-nominated (for Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams)
6-28-99, Sir John Woolf (86), film producer: Oliver!, The African Queen
6-11-99, DeForest Kelley (The U.S.S.Enterprise's ship doctor "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek

5-17-99, Henry Jones (b. 1912), movies include Arachnophobia (as Dr. Metcalf), Deathtrap, Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (as the Coroner). TV appearances: $6 Million Man:Return of the Robot Maker, Kolchak, The Night Stalker:The Werewolf, Night Gallery:You Can't Get Help Like That Anymore, Voyage to Bottom of Sea:3 episodes, Bewitched:The Lepprechaun, Honey West:The Abominable Snowman, Bonanza (as Arthur in Knight To Remember), 5 eps of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Twilight Zone:Mr.Bevis, Boris Karloff's Thriller:The Wierd Tailor, Philco Playhouse:One Mummy to Many, Suspense:Mr.Matches, and an episode of The New Love American Style as owner of a hotel where bickering couples see themselves as newlyweds (sorry I don't remember the ep title).

5-10-99, Shel Silverstein (b.1932), writer of sometimes dark (warped?) poems & silly songs like "A Boy Named Sue" (Johnny Cash did that one on a record & has refused to do any live performances of it) and "Sarah Stout", books including "Where the Sidewalk Ends."

5-8-99, Dirk Bogarde (1921) British actor: Simba (1955), Agent 008 & 3/4 (1964), Modesty Blaise (1966), tv: Hallmark Hall of Fame:Little Moon of Elban (1964)

5-2-99, Oliver Reed (1938) British actor: Curse of the Werewolf (1961), Burnt Offerings (1976), Poe'sHouse of Usher (1988), Advs. of Baron Munchausen (as Vulcan, 1988), Pit & The Pendulum (1990, as Cardinal)

4-28-99, Rory Calhoun (1922), Hell Comes to Frogtown (1987), Motel Hell (1980), Night of the Lepus (1972), Alfred Hitchcock Presents:Killer Takes All, and Gilligan's Island in an ep spoofing the urban legend about a big-game hunter who hunts down people

4-14-99, Anthony Newley (1931) as actor: X the Unknown (1956), Doctor Doolittle (1967), and wrote music for: Goldfinger (1964), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

4-10-99, Jean Vander Pyl (79), actress best known as the voice of Wilma Flintstone, she was last surviving cast member of the original 1960-66 animated series which was originally seen in evening prime-time
4-3-99, Helen Aberson (1907), writer for Disney fantasy "Dumbo"

3-14-99, Kirk Alyn (1910), Superman in early movie serials

3-7-99, Stanley Kubrick (1928), director: "2000, A Space Odyssey," Dr.Strangelove (1964), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Shining (1979)

***** Don Taylor (78), actor in over 400 tv shows inc. Night Gallery

1-12-99, Betty Lou Gerson (84), actress: Twilight Zone, others, voice of Cruella DeVil in animated 101 Dalmations

6-19-99, Not dead: Stephen King: after three weeks in the hospital and five rounds of surgery, the best-selling author has returned to his home in Bangor, Maine. The famed horror writer was discharged from the Medical Center on Friday, July 9, and now faces up to nine months of physical therapy in order to complete his recovery.
King was seriously injured on June 19 when he was struck by a van while walking along the road near his summer house in western Maine. The author suffered numerous injuries during the accident, including a collapsed lung, a fractured pelvis and hip, and two breaks to his right leg below the knee. He once told an interviewer that to this day he checks under the bed each night...

Entries in Recent Losses come largely courtesy info from the Dead People Server, their link is below. Also the links horror greats, Vincent Price & Edgar Allen Poe. Recent Losses was originally a regular column in TV Collector magazine, a list of their backissues is also available by clicking below.