Obituaries
Phil Quartararo, Former Executive at Warner Bros. and Virgin Records, Dies at 67
Phil Quartararo, the former EMI, Virgin and Warner Bros. record mogul who helped break Paula Abdul, the Spice Girls, Linkin Park and numerous other pop megastars, died Wednesday morning in Los Angeles of cancer. He was 67. “I loved helping an artist’s dream come true,” Quartararo told an interviewer in 2021. “I cannot press upon you the satisfaction of doing that.” […]
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Joss Ackland, ‘Lethal Weapon 2’ and ‘Mighty Ducks’ Actor, Dies at 95
Joss Ackland, the British actor known for Lethal Weapon 2, Mighty Ducks and White Mischief, has died. He was 95. Ackland died peacefully of old age, surrounded by his family Sunday morning, his longtime rep and friend Paul Pearson told The Hollywood Reporter. “He was lucid, erudite and mischievous to the end,” the rep added. […]
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Rosalynn Carter, Outspoken Former First Lady, Dies at 96
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96. The Carter Center said she died Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The statement announcing her […]
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Suzanne Shepherd, ‘Sopranos’ and ‘Goodfellas’ Mother, Dies at 89
Suzanne Shepherd, an actress known for playing mothers to key characters in Goodfellas and The Sopranos, has died. She was 89. Shepherd died peacefully in her home in New York City early Friday morning, her agent told The Hollywood Reporter. Shepherd appeared in 20 episodes of The Sopranos as Mary DeAngelis, the mother of Edie […]
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Kool & the Gang Drummer George Brown Dies at 74
George Brown, the drummer who gave Kool & the Gang its propulsive, infection beats, died Thursday after a battle with cancer, a Universal Music Enterprises spokesperson announced. He was 74. Brown — whose nickname was “Funky” — was one of seven school friends from Jersey City, New Jersey, who came together in 1964 as an […]
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Dex Carvey, Son of Dana Carvey, Dies at 32
Dex Carvey, the son of Dana Carvey, died Wednesday night of an “accidental drug overdose,” the former Saturday Night Live star and his wife announced. He was 32. “Dex packed a lot into those 32 years,” Carvey and his wife of 40 years, Paula Zwagerman, wrote in a signed post on X (formerly Twitter). “He […]
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Ken Squier, Legendary NASCAR Broadcaster, Dies at 88
Ken Squier, the famed NASCAR broadcaster who called stock car events on television for more than three decades and coined the phrase “The Great American Race” for the Daytona 500, has died. He was 88. Squier was in hospice care and died Wednesday night in Waterbury, Vermont, according to his hometown radio station, WDEV, part […]
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Roger Kastel, ‘Jaws’ Movie Poster Artist, Dies at 92
Roger Kastel, the artist whose painting of a shark and a swimmer for the cover of the paperback version of Peter Benchley’s Jaws was used as the iconic movie poster for the 1975 Steven Spielberg classic, has died. He was 92. Kastel died Nov. 8 of kidney and heart failure at a hospice facility in […]
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Michel Ciment, Prominent French Film Critic and Historian, Dies at 85
Michel Ciment, the esteemed French film critic, historian, author, radio producer and editor of the influential film magazine Positif, has died. He was 85. His death was reported Monday by the French radio channel France Inter, the home of his culture program Le Masque et la Plume since 1970. Ciment was “perhaps the freest and […]
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Stephen Kandel, Writer on ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Batman,’ ‘Mannix’ and ‘MacGyver,’ Dies at 96
Stephen Kandel, the prolific screenwriter whose work over four decades in television spanned Sea Hunt to Star Trek, Batman to Barnaby Jones and Mannix to MacGyver, has died. He was 96. Kandel died Oct. 21 of natural causes in his Boston apartment, his daughter Elizabeth Englander told The Hollywood Reporter. Kandel also wrote multiple episodes […]
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Kevin Turen, Producer on ‘Euphoria’ and ‘The Idol,’ Dies at 44
Kevin Turen, a producer on HBO’s Euphoria and The Idol and Ti West’s X, Pearl and MaXXXine, has died. He was 44. A spokesperson for Penske Media Corp., the parent company of The Hollywood Reporter, confirmed Turen’s death. No other details were immediately available. “Despite his many achievements in Hollywood, Kevin’s greatest passion was his […]
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Robert Butler, Director on Pilots for ‘Batman,’ ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Hill Street Blues,’ Dies at 95
The three-time Emmy winner also did the first episodes of 'Hogan's Heroes,' 'Moonlighting' and 'Remington Steele,' which he co-created.
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