As 2013 comes to a close, we look back at some of the people we lost from film and television. Through their work on big screen and small, these talented men and women entertained, delighted and brought us closer together. Their lives touched ours, and with their deaths, our shared world becomes a little less magical. Take a moment with us to remember the movie and TV stars who died in 2013.
January
Tony Lip (July 30, 1930 - January 4, 2013)
Tony Lip, a veteran actor known for playing mob roles on
The Sopranos television show and in many major feature films, has died. He was 82. While best known for playing mob kingpin Carmine Lupertazzi in
The Sopranos on HBO, Lip has also had roles in movies including
The Godfather,
'Goodfellas and
Donnie Brasco.
Huell Howser (October 18, 1945 - January 6, 2013)
Huell Howser, the homespun host of public television's popular
California's Gold travelogues, died at age 67.
Conrad Bain (February 4, 1923 - January 14, 2013)
Conrad Bain, a veteran stage and film actor who became a star in middle age as the kindly white adoptive father of two young African-American brothers in the TV sitcom
Diff'rent Strokes, has died.
February
Dale Robertson (July 14, 1923 - February 27, 2013)
Dale Robertson, an Oklahoma native who became a star of television and movie Westerns during the genre's heyday, died Tuesday. He was 89. In the 1950s, he moved into television, starring in series such as
Tales of Wells Fargo (1957-62),
Iron Horse (1966) and
Death Valley Days (1968-70).
March
Bonnie Franklin (January 6, 1944 - March 1, 2013)
Bonnie Franklin, the pert, redheaded actress whom millions came to identify with for her role as divorced mom Ann Romano on the long-running sitcom
One Day at a Time, died due to complications from pancreatic cancer. She was 69.
Richard Griffiths (July 31, 1947 - March 28, 2013)
Richard Griffiths, the versatile British actor who played the boy wizard's unsympathetic Uncle Vernon in the
Harry Potter movies, died at age 65. Griffiths appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows, but will be most widely remembered as a pair of contrasting uncles — the hero's grudging Muggle guardian in the
Harry Potter series, and flamboyant Uncle Monty in 1980s cult classic
Withnail and I.
April
Shain Gandee (November 1, 1991 - April 1, 2013)
Shooting for the second season of the MTV reality show
BUCKWILD was suspended after popular cast member Shain Gandee was found dead along with two others inside a sport utility vehicle in West Virginia.
Jane Henson (June 16, 1934 - April 2, 2013)
Jane Henson died following a battle with cancer. She was 78. She and Jim Henson met in a University of Maryland puppetry class in the mid-1950s, and became creative and business partners in the development of the Muppets.
Annette Funicello (October 22, 1942 - April 8, 2013)
Annette Funicello, the most popular Mouseketeer on
The Mickey Mouse Club, who matured to a successful career in records and '60s beach party movies but struggled with illness in middle age and after, died at age 70.
Jonathan Winters (November 11, 1925 - April 11, 2013)
Jonathan Winters, the cherub-faced comedian whose breakneck improvisations and misfit characters inspired the likes of Robin Williams and Jim Carrey, died at age 87.
Allan Arbus (February 15, 1918 - April 19, 2013)
Allan Arbus, who played the wise — and wisecracking — psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on TV's
M.A.S.H., died at age 95.
Deanna Durbin (December 4, 1921 - April 20, 2013)
Deanna Durbin, a star whose songs and smile made her one of the biggest box office draws of Hollywood's Golden Age with fans that included Winston Churchill, died at age 91.
May
Ray Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 - May 7, 2013)
Ray Harryhausen, a special effects master whose sword-fighting skeletons, six-tentacled octopus, and other fantastical creations were adored by film lovers and admired by industry heavyweights, died at 92.
Jeanne Cooper (October 25, 1928 - May 8, 2013)
Jeanne Cooper, the enduring soap opera star who played grande dame Katherine Chancellor for nearly four decades on
The Young and the Restless, died at age 84.
Jean Stapleton (January 19, 1923 - May 31, 2013)
Jean Stapleton, the stage-trained character actress who played Archie Bunker's far better half, the sweetly naive Edith, in TV's groundbreaking 1970s comedy
All in the Family, has died. She was 90.
June
Esther Williams (August 8, 1921 - June 6, 2013)
Esther Williams, the swimming champion turned actress who starred in glittering and aquatic Technicolor musicals of the 1940s and 1950s, died at 91. Following in the footsteps of Sonja Henie, who went from skating champion to movie star, Williams became one of Hollywood's biggest moneymakers, appearing in spectacular swimsuit numbers that capitalized on her wholesome beauty and perfect figure.
James Gandolfini (September 18, 1961 - June 19, 2013)
James Gandolfini, whose portrayal of a brutal, emotionally delicate mob boss in HBO's
The Sopranos was the brilliant core of one of TV's greatest drama series and turned the mobster stereotype on its head, died while on holiday in Italy. He was 51.
July
Cory Monteith (May 11, 1982 - July 1, 2013)
Cory Monteith, the handsome young actor who shot to fame in the hit TV series
Glee but was beset by addiction struggles so fierce that he once said he was lucky to be alive, was found dead in a hotel room at age 31.
Joe Conley (March 3, 1928 - July 7, 2013)
Joe Conley, an actor best known as the small town storekeeper on the TV series
The Waltons, has died at age 85. A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Conley had bit parts on 1960s series like
Green Acres and
The Beverly Hillbillies before he landed the role on CBS's
The Waltons in 1972 that would last nearly a decade.
Mel Smith (December 3, 1952 - July 19, 2013)
Actor and writer Mel Smith, a major force in British comedy whose evening news parody anticipated the hijinks of hits such as
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, died of a heart attack at age 60.
Dennis Farina (February 29, 1944 - July 22, 2013)
Dennis Farina, a onetime Chicago cop who as a popular actor played a cop on
Law & Order, has died after suffering a blood clot in his lung. He was 69. For three decades, Farina was a character actor who displayed remarkable dexterity, charm and, when called for, toughness, making effective use of his craggy face, steel-gray hair, ivory smile and ample mustache.
Eileen Brennan (September 3, 1932 - July 28, 2013)
Eileen Brennan, who went from musical comedy on Broadway to wringing laughs out of memorable characters in such films as
Private Benjamin and
Clue, has died. She was 80.
Michael Ansara (April 15, 1922 - July 31, 2013)
Michael Ansara, a television and movie actor whose roles included a Klingon on
Star Trek, died at 91. Besides
Star Trek role, Ansara appeared on dozens of TV shows, including
Broken Arrow,
'Law of the Plainsman,
'I Dream of Jeannie,
'Hawaii 5-0 and
Murder, She Wrote.
August
Karen Black (July 1, 1939 - August 8, 2013)
Karen Black, the prolific actress who appeared in more than 100 movies and was featured in such counterculture favorites as
Easy Rider,
'Five Easy Pieces and
Nashville, died in Los Angeles this August.
Lisa Robin Kelly (March 5, 1970 - August 14, 2013)
That '70s Show actress Lisa Robin Kelly has died at age 43. Kelly portrayed Laurie Forman, sister of Topher Grace's lead character Eric, on the Fox series. It concluded in 2006.
August Schellenberg (July 25, 1936 - August 15, 2013)
Canadian actor August Schellenberg, who starred in the
Free Willy films, died at his Dallas home after a fight with lung cancer. He was 77.
Lee Thompson Young (February 1, 1984 - August 19, 2013)
Lee Thompson Young, who began his acting career as the star of the Disney Channel's
The Famous Jett Jackson and was featured in the film
Friday Night Lights and the series
Rizzoli & Isles, died at age 29.
Julie Harris (January 15, 1931 - August 24, 2013)
Julie Harris, one of Broadway's most honored performers, whose roles ranged from the flamboyant Sally Bowles in
I Am a Camera to the reclusive Emily Dickinson in
The Belle of Amherst, died Saturday. She was 87.
September
Patricia Blair (January 15, 1931 - September 13, 2013)
Patricia Blair, an actress who played leading roles in 1960s television westerns like
Daniel Boone and
The Rifleman, died on Sept. 9 at her home in North Wildwood, N.J. She was 80. Her first movie was
Jump Into Hell (1955), about the battle of Dien Bien Phu in French Indochina. She appeared in the horror film
The Black Sleep (1956), which starred Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr., and the 1959 film
City of Fear before turning to television. Her last role was in the 1979 Robert Redford-Jane Fonda movie
The Electric Horseman.
October
Ed Lauter (October 30, 1938 - October 16, 2013)
Veteran character actor Ed Lauter, whose long, angular face and stern bearing made him an instantly recognizable figure in scores of movies and TV shows during a career that stretched across five decades, died at age 74.
Hal Needham (March 6, 1931 - October 25, 2013)
Hal Needham, a top Hollywood stuntman who turned to directing rousing action films including
Smokey and the Bandit and
The Cannonball Run, has died. He was 82.
Marcia Wallace (November 1, 1942 - October 25, 2013)
Marcia Wallace, who was the voice of scoffing schoolteacher Edna Krabappel on
The Simpsons and played wisecracking receptionist Carol on
The Bob Newhart Show in the 1970s, died at age 70.
November
Paul Walker (September 12, 1973 - November 30, 2013)
When actor Paul Walker died this November, the shock reverberated throughout the entertainment world. The star of the
Fast & Furious movie series was just 40 years old, gone far too soon in a tragic car crash.
December
Eleanor Parker (June 26, 1922 - December 9, 2013)
Eleanor Parker, who was nominated for Academy Awards three times for her portrayals of strong-willed women and played a scheming baroness in
The Sound of Music, died at 91. Parker was nominated for Oscars in 1950, 1951 and 1955, but then saw her career begin to wane in the early 1960s. Her last memorable role came in 1965's
The Sound of Music, in which she played the scheming baroness who loses Christopher Plummer to Julie Andrews.
Tom Laughlin (August 10, 1931 - December 12, 2013)
Actor-writer-director Tom Laughlin, whose production and marketing of
Billy Jack set a standard for breaking the rules on and off screen, has died.
Billy Jack was released in 1971 after a long struggle by Laughlin to gain control of the low-budget, self-financed movie, a model for guerrilla filmmaking.
Audrey Totter (December 20, 1917 - December 12, 2013)
Audrey Totter, the radio actress who became a silver screen star by playing femme fatales in 1940s film noir including
Lady in the Lake, died in December. She was 95 and had recently had a stroke. Totter was under contract with MGM starting in 1944. After landing a small part in
The Postman Always Rings Twice, Totter went on to a series of roles as tough-talking blondes.
Peter O'Toole (August 2, 1932 - December 14, 2013)
Peter O'Toole, the charismatic actor who achieved instant stardom as
Lawrence of Arabia and was nominated eight times for an Academy Award, died at the age of 81.
