Deaths So Far (and it's just July)

[IceWizard]

A Few More
I'll Try Not To Repeat, but I wouldn't bet on it 


JAN



Wayne Osmond, the singer and musician known for performing alongside his siblings as a member
of the Osmond Brothers, died Jan. 1 at 73. He was 64. Born in Ogden, Utah, in 1951, he began his
musical career in a barbershop quartet with his brothers Alan, Jay, and Merrill, gaining prominence
during a televised Disneyland performance in 1961 and regularly appearing on several TV shows
throughout the 1960s. After adding brothers Donny and Jimmy to their lineup, the Osmonds performed
as a pop group, nabbing a No. 1 hit with "One Bad Apple" in 1971. Wayne, who had perfect pitch,
helped arrange the band's harmonies and played lead guitar. Though the group's popularity dwindled
as younger siblings Jimmy, Donny, and Marie launched solo careers in the mid-'70s, the original
four Osmond Brothers reunited as a country act in the '80s and performed until the 2010s.
Wayne eventually retired from the band in 2012, following treatment for a brain tumor that left
him deaf. He reunited with the group for a performance in Honolulu in 2018, then had one
final performance on The Talk in 2019 to celebrate Marie's birthday.








Mike Rinder, a former high-ranking Scientology executive who became a vocal critic of the church
and cohosted the Emmy-winning docuseries Scientology and the Aftermath with Leah Remini,
died on Jan. 5. He was 69. Rinder renounced Scientology in 2007, becoming a prominent
whistleblower against the organization. He was featured in the Emmy- and Peabody-winning
HBO documentary Going Clear in 2015, before teaming up with the King of Queens actress for
the A&E docuseries Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. Remini and Rinder continued
their partnership with the podcast,Scientology: Fair Game.








Leslie Charleson, the actress best known for her role as Monica Quartermaine on General Hospital,
died on Jan. 12. She was 79. Producer Frank Valenti confirmed Charleson's death in a post on the
official General Hospital Instagram which read in part, "Her enduring legacy has spanned nearly
50 years on General Hospital alone and, just as Monica was the heart of the Quartermaines,
Leslie was a beloved matriarch of the entire cast and crew." The Kansas City, Mo.-born actress
appeared in brief stints on soaps like As The World Turns and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing
before joining the GH cast as Monica, the matriarch of the powerful Quartermaine family.
Monica owns Quartermaine Mansion, is former chief of staff of General Hospital, and is known
for her enduring and often fractious relationship with ex-husband Alan (Stuart Damon).
Charleson's moving performance throughout Monica's breast cancer storyline of the
mid- to late-1990s earned her the last of four Daytime Emmy nominations. With her last
onscreen appearance in December 2023,
Charleson became General Hospital's longest-tenured cast member.









Bob Uecker, the beloved sports broadcaster and comedic actor died Jan. 16. He was 90.
Uecker parlayed his stint as an unremarkable MLB catcher into a successful second act
as a Hall of Fame broadcaster and comedy star in all three of the Major League and
Mr. Belvedere, and cameoed on shows like Who's The Boss?, Futurama, and Teen Titans Go.
He also made regular appearances on The Johnny Carson Show, the Late Show with
David Letterman, and hosted Bob Uecker's Wacky World of Sports and Bob Uecker's
War of the Stars. In 1982, Uecker published a memoir titled Catcher in the Wry:
Outrageous but True Stories of Baseball. He was honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame
with the Ford C. Frick award in 2003 and was similarly recognized by the National Sportscasters
and Sportswriters Association, the Radio Hall of Fame, and the WWE.









Jan Shepard, an actress who appeared on dozens of TV Westerns and performed opposite Elvis Presley
in the films King Creole and Paradise, Hawaiian Style, died Jan. 17 at 96. Born in Quakertown, Pa.,
Shepard came to Los Angeles in 1949 and got involved in the local theater scene. She would go on
to book roles on such television series as Death Valley Days, The Lone Ranger, The Life and Legend
of Wyatt Earp, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Laramie, Lawman, The Virginian, Perry Mason, and Mannix.
Her big-screen credits also included the B-movie Attack of the Giant Leeches and the drama Third of a Man.




FEB




Tony Roberts, the character actor best known for playing Woody Allen's best friend in Annie Hall,
died Feb. 7 at 85. Born in Manhattan in 1939, Roberts made his Broadway debut in 1962's
Something About a Soldier. He went on to act in Barefoot in the Park and earned a Tony nomination
for Best Featured Actor in a Play for How Now, Dow Jones. Roberts first collaborated with Allen
in the 1960s plays Don't Drink the Water and Play It Again, Sam, earning another Tony nom for
the latter and reprising his character in the 1972 film adaptation. Roberts later reteamed with
Allen in Stardust Memories, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, Hannah and Her Sisters, and
Radio Days. His other notable films included the 1973 crime drama Serpico and the 1974 subway
thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. Roberts also appeared in movies like Million Dollar Duck,
Amityville 3-D, and Switch, as well as on TV shows like The Love Boat, Matlock,
The Carol Burnett Show, and Law & Order.









Voletta Wallace, the mother of late rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G.
died of natural causes in hospice care at her home in Stroudsburg, Pa., Monroe County Coroner
Thomas Yanac confirmed on Feb. 21. Wallace was an advocate for her son's legacy following the
27-year-old's tragic death in a drive-by shooting on March 9, 1997, and she sought justice for him.
Wallace participated in several projects meant to keep her son's legacy alive, including the 2021
Netflix documentary Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell. "As long as I have life, there's hope," she told
EW at the time. "I'll never give up. And I hope when I'm not in this world anymore, my friends
and family will carry on the fight. There is always hope."










Lynne Marie Stewart, the character actress known for her work on Pee-Wee's Playhouse and
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, died Feb. 21 after a short illness. She was 78. Stewart was
best known for her collaborations with Paul Reubens in a multitude of Pee-wee projects, playing
Miss Yvonne and a number of other characters. She also was responsible for numerous hilarious
scenes in It's Always Sunny, in which she played the chaotic, off-the-walls neurotic mother of
Charlie (Charlie Day). Born in Los Angeles in 1946, Stewart was an early member of the Groundlings,
a seminal improv comedy troupe that also included Reubens, Kathy Griffin, Phil Hartman, and Jon Lovitz.
On the big screen, Stewart played supporting roles in massive films, including Bridesmaids
(in which she played Maya Rudolph's mother), American Graffiti, Clear and Present Danger,
The Running Man, and Children of a Lesser God. On television, Stewart appeared in episodes of
Laverne & Shirley, MASH, The Golden Girls, The Jeffersons, Night Court, Hawaii Five-O,
Arrested Development, Grey’s Anatomy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and 2 Broke Girls.








Michelle Trachtenberg, who broke out as the child star of Harriet the Spy and went on to play
notable roles on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl, died Feb. 26, at 39.
After getting her start on Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete & Pete and the soap All My Children,
the precocious actress landed the lead role in the film adaptation of beloved children's book
Harriet the Spy, starring alongside Rosie O'Donnell. Trachtenberg went on to play stubborn
little sister Dawn to Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy Summers on BTVS and the conniving
Georgina Sparks on both the original Gossip Girl and Max's reboot. Her other screen credits
included Inspector Gadget, EuroTrip, Ice Princess, and 17 Again with the late Matthew Perry.