Steven Gilborn, 72, a veteran character actor on television and stage has died on January 2nd. Most will recognize him from his playing Ellen DeGeneres’ father on Ellen and Kevin’s beloved math teacher, Mr. Collins, on The Wonder Years. His other TV work has included roles on Damages, The Bernie Mac Show, NYPD Blue, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The West Wing, The Practice, L.A. Law, Columbo, and Law & Order. Gilborn lived in North Chatham.
Pat Hingle, 84, passed away on January 3rd from blood cancer. He was living in Carolina Beach in North Carolina. A veteran of stage (like the revival of 1776) and film (Hang ’em High and the 1980s Batman movies), he also played a number of roles on the small screen. You may remember seeing him in episodes of Hail to the Chief, Hawaii Five-0, M*A*S*H, Gunsmoke, and Murder, She Wrote.
Cheryl Holdridge passed away on January 6th after a two year fight with cancer. She lived in Santa Monica, CA and was just 64. Holdridge is best known as one of the original Mousketeers of the Mickey Mouse Club. She also appeared on episodes of shows like My Three Sons, Bewitched, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and played Wally’s girlfriend on Leave It to Beaver.
Don Galloway, 81, best known for his role as Raymond Burr’s sidekick Sgt. Ed Brown on NBC’s Ironside, died on January 8th in Reno, Nevada. He had suffered a stroke on Christmas and was hospitalized until his death. Coincidentally, Galloway’s mother died on Christmas in 1989 and his mother-in-law passed on Christmas 2007. Galloway was a regular on General Hospital in the 1960s and later appeared in movies like The Rare Breed and The Big Chill. He left the business in the 1990s.
John Hager, 67, passed away in his sleep in Nashville on January 9th. Hager, and his identical twin brother Jim, were a fixture on Hee-Haw as a musical comedy duo, The Hager Twins. The twins left the show in the 1980s and continued to perform together. Hager was in ill health and had been depressed since the death of his twin in May 2008.
Harry Endo, 87, died on January 9th in Brooklyn after suffering a stroke. Endo played Che Fong, one of the original castmembers of Hawaii Five-0. Though born in Colorado, Endo spent much of his life in Hawaii and later played small parts in Magnum, PI.
Patrick McGoohan, the Emmy-winning Irish American actor, has left us at age 80. He died on January 14th in Los Angeles. A veteran of many classical and modern roles, he’s best known for creating and starring in the 1960s cult series, The Prisoner. Efforts were made to include him in the upcoming reboot but his declining health made his involvement impossible.
Ricardo Montalban, 88, passed away on January 14th in Los Angeles. He will always be remembered for playing the Mr. Roarke, the mysterious host of Fantasy Island. He also played the charismatic villain Khan in an episode of the original Star Trek and memorably reprised the role for the Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan movie. An outspoken advocate for Latino rights and a veteran of dozens of movies and TV shows, Montalban also appeared on Dynasty, The Colbys, Hawaii Five-0, Here’s Lucy, and Murder, She Wrote.
Gordon “Whitey” Mitchell left this world on January 16th at the age of 76. He had been living in Palm Desert in California and had been battling cancer. Mitchell had been a jazz musician in his earlier years but ended up coming to Hollywood and becoming a staff writer on such shows as All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Odd Couple, and Mork & Mindy. Later in life, he started a radio show that combined his loves of writing and music.
Bob May, 69, died in Lancaster, CA on January 18th from congestive heart failure. The actor performed on many TV shows but is best known for performing The Robot on Lost in Space. Though May didn’t perform the voice (Dick Tufeld did that), he took the role very seriously and made a point of learning all of the other actors’ lines so that he’d be ready to respond. May and his wife lost their home in November when wildfires destroyed an upscale mobile home park in the San Fernando Valley.
After a long battle with cancer, Kim Manners passed away at age 59 in Los Angeles on January 25th. A veteran of the TV industry for many years, Manners directed episodes of Charlie’s Angels, Star Trek: The Next Generation, 21 Jump Street, and Baywatch. From there, he went on to direct over 50 episodes of The X-Files. He later helped to launch Supernatural and directed many of the show’s most memorable episodes.
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