Dead Celebrity Alert

LOS ANGELES — Dennis Weaver, the slow-witted deputy Chester Goode in the TV classic western Gunsmoke and the New Mexico deputy solving New York crime in McCloud, has died. The actor was 81. … Read full obituary

… The husky, tough-talking performer went on to become one of the busiest actors in television and film, starring in five TV series, including “Mike Hammer,” and endearing holiday audiences with his role as the grouchy dad in the 1983 comedy classic “A Christmas Story.”

McGavin, 83, died Saturday of natural causes at a Los Angeles-area hospital with his family at his side, said his son Bogart McGavin. … Read full obituary

Deputy Barney Fife of “The Andy Griffith Show,” Mr. Furley of “Three’s Company,” and star of such 1960s comedy films as The Incredible Mr. Limpet and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.

Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, who was involved in one of the biggest financial scandals to hit the Vatican, has died, church officials say. …

Marcinkus was head of the Vatican Bank at the time of the fraudulent collapse of Banco Ambrosiano in 1982, with which it had close ties.

He denied any wrongdoing. … Read full obituary

Richard Bright, a veteran character actor who appeared in all three “Godfather” films and “The Sopranos,” died on Saturday in New York. He was 68 and lived in Manhattan.

He was hit by a bus…

Mr. Bright is survived by his wife, the actress Rutanya Alda; a son, Jeremy Bright, of Manhattan; and a brother, Charles, of Rowland, Pa. … Read full obituary

… According to family members, William Cowsill died Friday in Canada. He had been suffering from emphysema, osteoporosis and other ailments. He was 58 years old. …

News of his death came just after a memorial ceremony honoring William Cowsill’s younger brother, Barry. Barry Cowsill drowned after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans. … Read full obituary

Related:
Barry Cowsill

Peter Benchley, whose novel “Jaws” terrorized millions of swimmers even as the author himself became an advocate for the conservation of sharks, has died at age 65, his widow said Sunday. … Read full obituary

First surgeon in the U.S. to perform a successful heart transplant.

LOS ANGELES — Franklin Cover, who became a familiar face as George and Louise Jefferson’s white neighbor in the long-running TV sitcom “The Jeffersons,” has died, his publicist said Thursday. He was 77. … Read full obituary

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — Alan Shalleck, who collaborated with the co-creator of “Curious George” to bring the mischievous monkey to television and a series of book sequels, was found dead outside his home, and police were treating the death as a possible homicide.

The bloodied body of Shalleck, 76, was found Tuesday covered in garbage bags in the driveway of his mobile home. Police said it was there for at least a day before a maintenance man discovered it. … Read full obituary

Betty Friedan, whose manifesto “The Feminine Mystique” became a best seller in the 1960s and laid the groundwork for the modern feminist movement, died Saturday, her birthday. She was 85. … Read full obituary