After saying a sad and shocking farewell to the many stars who died in 2023, including Matthew Perry, Tina Turner, Andre Braugher, Suzanne Somers and Lisa Marie Presley, we once again pay our respects following the deaths of entertainers and other celebrities Numbers in the new year.
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images; Disney; Bob DAmico/Disney General entertainment content via Getty Images
Read on to remember the lives and work of celebrities who died in 2024, including Mary Poppins actress Glynis Johns, Honeymooners star Joyce Randolph and Designated Survivor and X-Men: Days of Future Past actors Adam Canto.
Nerene Virgin
Nerene Virgin.
Today's special/YouTube
Canadian broadcast journalist, host and actress Nerene Virgin died on January 15 at the age of 77. She was best known to 80s children as Jodie on the television show Today's Special, about a department store doll who comes to life after the store closes. The Canadian series ran from 1981 to 1987 and aired in the United States on Nickelodeon. Virgin also worked as a broadcaster and hosted CTV's current affairs program Eye on Toronto in the late '80s and early '90s. She spent the later part of her career as an author and educator, advocating for the teaching of black history in schools and fighting as an advocate against racism.
Joyce Randolph
Joyce Randolph.
CBS via Getty
Joyce Randolph, the last surviving member of The Honeymooners cast, died of natural causes on January 13th. She was 99 years old. The actress is best remembered for her role as housewife Trixie Norton in 39 episodes of the classic TV sitcom. She starred alongside Audrey Meadows, Art Carney and series creator Jackie Gleason. The show was canceled after its original broadcast but gained widespread recognition in syndication. Although Elaine Stritch was the originator of Trixie when The Honeymooners first appeared as a series of sketches for the variety show Cavalcade of Stars, Randolph later became synonymous with the character after Gleason spotted Randolph in a Clorets commercial in 1951 and auditioned her for the role.
Alec Musser
Alec Musser.
Stephen Lovekin/Getty
Alec Musser, the actor best known for his role as Del Henry on “All My Children” and his brief but memorable appearance in the film “Grown Ups,” died by suicide on January 12th. He was 50. Musser was a model before his acting career, appearing in Men's Health and in ads for Abercrombie and Fitch. After winning the SOAPnet reality television competition “I Wanna Be a Soap Star,” Musser debuted on All My Children in 2005. Musser played the illegitimate son of Seabone Hunkle (Steve Kanaly) for two seasons before leaving the show in 2007. Her last role was in 2011 as Friedrich in the final season of Desperate Housewives.
Bill Hayes
Bill Hayes.
Fred Sabine/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Bill Hayes, the beloved television actor who starred as Doug Williams on “Days of Our Lives” for more than five decades, died Jan. 12 at age 98. A talented singer and actor, Hayes originated the role of Doug in the NBC series “Sudser” in 1970. He would become one of the longest-running stars, appearing in more than 2,000 episodes over the next 53 years. He married his co-star Susan Seaforth Hayes in 1974 and two years later the two super couples also followed them to the altar in the series. In 2018, they both received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmy Awards for their work on the show.
Lynne Marta
Lynne Marta.
Everett
Lynne Marta, an actress known for her guest roles on television and supporting roles in films such as Footloose and Three Men and a Little Lady, died on January 11 after a battle with cancer. She was 78 years old. Marta made her professional acting debut in a 1966 episode of Gidget before becoming a leading actress on the ABC anthology series Love, American Style in 1969. Marta appeared in the 1972 western Joe Kidd with Clint Eastwood and Robert Duvall, which was probably her best-known film role until 1984's Footloose. The actress was also a regular on television and had guest roles in series such as Kojak, Angels Charlie” and “Designing Women”. Marta also appeared in 24 episodes of Days of Our Lives from 1983 to 2003.
Roy Battersby
Roy Battersby.
Alan Davidson/Shutterstock
British film and television director Roy Battersby died on January 10 after a short illness, his stepdaughter Kate Beckinsale announced on social media. He was 87. London-born Battersby made his directorial debut in the 1969 television film Some Women and is best known for his work on several popular British crime films, including Between the Lines, Inspector Morse, Cracker and Frost's A Touch. His films include the 1984 drama Winter Flight and 2005's Red Mercury.
Peter Crombie
Peter Crombie.
Randy Tepper/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Peter Crombie, the actor known for his role as “Crazy” Joe Davola on Seinfeld, died on January 10 after a brief illness. He was 71 years old. Crombie played Davola, a psychopath determined to terrorize Jerry, in several episodes of the fourth season of the classic comedy series. The actor's other credits include spotlight roles on television shows such as Loving, Law & Order, NYPD Blue, Picket Fences, LA Firefighters, Diagnosis Murder and Get Smart. He also appeared in films such as Se7en, The Doors, Rising Sun, My Dog Skip, Natural Born Killers and The Blob.
Adan Canto
Adan Canto.
FOX via Getty Images
Adan Canto, the actor known for his work in television series such as “The Cleaning Lady” and “Designated Survivor” as well as films such as “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” died of appendix cancer on January 8. He was 42 years old. Canto was born in Mexico and grew up in Texas. He initially pursued a career in music and later turned to acting. He made his American acting debut in the thriller The Following and went on to play White House Chief of Staff Aaron Shore in Designated Survivor, real-life politician Rodrigo Lara Bonilla in Narcos and gangster Arman Morales in The Cleaning Lady. He portrayed the powerful mutant Sunspot in “Days of Future Past” and his other film appearances included “Blood & Oil,” “Second Chance,” “The Catch,” “Bruised” and “Agent Game.”
Christian Oliver
Christian Oliver.
Gisela Schober/Getty Images
Christian Oliver, the actor best known for his roles as Snake Oiler in “Speed Racer” and Emil Brandt in “The Good German,” died in a plane crash on January 4 at the age of 51 His two little daughters also died. Born Christian Klepser, the star was born in Germany and moved to the United States to pursue a Hollywood career. His other appearances include the television shows Alarm for Cobra 11, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Sense8 and Hunters. In addition, Oliver – who also worked as a writer and producer – appeared in the films “Valkyrie,” “The Baby-Sitters Club,” “Hercules Reborn” and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”
Glynis Johns
Glynis Johns.
Jim Smeal/BEI/Shutterstock
Glynis Johns, who played the committed women's rights activist Winifred Banks in the original “Mary Poppins”, died on January 4th at the age of 100. The British actress was recruited by Walt Disney himself to star in the popular 1964 musical starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, in which Johns' character begins the film with a rousing rendition of “Sister Suffragette.” Johns received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for “The Sundowners” and won a Tony Award for the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's “A Little Night Music,” in which she sang “Send in the Clowns.”
David Soul
David Soul.
Everett Collection
Starsky & Hutch actor David Soul, who helped popularize one of the most iconic TV series of the 1970s, died on January 4 at the age of 80. His first major TV roles were small parts in “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Flipper,” followed by two roles. Season of the western comedy “Here Come the Brides” from 1968 to 1970. From 1975 to 1979, Soul played the leading role of Kenneth Richard “Hutch” Hutchinson opposite Paul Michael Glaser's David Michael Starsky in “Starsky & Hutch”. Outside of his acting career, Soul released five albums and a handful of successful singles, including the 1976 rock hit “Don't Give Up on Us,” which reached No. 1 in the United States.
Harry Johnson
Harry Johnson.
Hulu
Harry Johnson, a veteran actor who appeared in hit television shows such as Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Law & Order, died on January 2 after a long illness. He was 81 years old. Johnson began his career as one of Universal Studios' last contract players, making his television debut as a warrior in a 1978 episode of the science fiction epic Battlestar Galactica. Over the course of his 40-year career in entertainment, he landed guest roles on several other popular television series, including “M*A*S*H,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “The A-Team,” “LA Law,” “Dynasty ” and “Who’s the Boss”. ? and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He was also a prolific ADR voice actor and played the role of Harry in the political commercials “Harry & Louise” that aired in the early 1990s.
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