Dead Celebrity Alert

Chester-born comedian and actor Hugh Lloyd MBE, famed for co-starring with the legendary Tony Hancock, has died aged 85. …

He went on to star in 25 episodes of ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’ from 1957-61 as the comedy great’s sidekick, including the classic ‘Blood Donor’ episode.

Following that great success, he got the title role in ‘Hugh and I’ with Terry Scott. Other TV credits included ‘The Gnomes of Dulwich’, ‘Lollipop Loves Mr Mole’, ‘Jury’ and ‘You Rang M’Lord’. He also starred in and devised the series ‘Lord Trump’. … Read full obituary

LOS ANGELES — Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71.

Carlin, who had a history of heart and drug-dependency problems, died at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m. local time (9 p.m. ET) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains, spokesman Jeff Abraham told Reuters.

Known for his edgy, provocative material, Carlin achieved status as an anti-Establishment icon in the 1970s with stand-up bits full of drug references and a routine called “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television.” A regulatory battle over a radio broadcast of the routine ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court. … Read full obituary

Dick Martin, the zany half of the comedy team whose “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In” took television by storm in the 1960s, making stars of Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin and creating such national catch-phrases as “Sock it to me!” has died. He was 86.

Martin, who went on to become one of television’s busiest directors after splitting with Dan Rowan in the late 1970s, died Saturday night of respiratory complications at a hospital in Santa Monica, family spokesman Barry Greenberg said. …

“Laugh-in,” which debuted in January 1968, was unlike any comedy-variety show before it. Rather than relying on a series of tightly scripted song-and-dance segments, it offered up a steady, almost stream-of-consciousness run of non-sequitur jokes, political satire and madhouse antics from a cast of talented young actors and comedians that also included Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, Jo Anne Worley and announcer Gary Owens.

Presiding over it all were Rowan and Martin, the veteran nightclub comics whose standup banter put their own distinct spin on the show. … Read full obituary

Joey Bishop, the stone-faced comedian who found success in nightclubs, television and movies but became most famous as a member of Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack, has died at 89.

He was the group’s last surviving member. Peter Lawford died in 1984, Sammy Davis Jr. in 1990, Dean Martin in 1995, and Sinatra in 1998.

Bishop died Wednesday night of multiple causes at his home in Newport Beach, publicist and longtime friend Warren Cowan said Thursday.

The Rat Pack — originally a social group surrounding Humphrey Bogart — became a show business sensation in the early 1960s, appearing at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in shows that combined music and comedy in a seemingly chaotic manner.

Reviewers often claimed that Bishop played a minor role, but Sinatra knew otherwise. He termed the comedian “the Hub of the Big Wheel,” with Bishop coming up with some of the best one-liners and beginning many jokes with his favorite phrase, “Son of a gun!” … Read full obituary

LOS ANGELES — Richard Jeni, a standup comedian who played to sold-out crowds, was a regular on the “Tonight Show” and appeared in movies, died of a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide, police said Sunday.

Police found the 49-year-old comedian alive but gravely injured in a West Hollywood home when they responded to a call Saturday morning from Jeni’s girlfriend, Los Angeles Police Officer Norma Eisenman said.

Eisenman said the caller told police: “My boyfriend shot himself in the face.”

Jeni died at a nearby hospital. …

Jeni regularly toured the country with a standup act and had starred in several HBO comedy specials, most recently “A Big Steaming Pile of Me” during the 2005-06 season. Another HBO special, “Platypus Man,” won a Cable ACE award for best standup comedy special, and formed the basis for his UPN sitcom of the same name, which ran for one season.

Jeni’s movie credits included “The Mask,” in which he played Jim Carrey’s best friend, “The Aristocrats,” “National Lampoon’s Dad’s Week Off,” and “An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn.” …

Jeni became a frequent guest on “The Tonight Show” during Johnny Carson’s reign and continued to appear after Jay Leno took over as host. … Read full obituary

LOS ANGELES — Red Buttons, the carrot-topped burlesque comedian who became a top star in early television and then in a dramatic role won the 1957 Oscar as supporting actor in “Sayonara,” died Thursday. He was 87.

Buttons died of vascular disease at his home in the Century City area of Los Angeles, publicist Warren Cowan said. He had been ill for some time, and was with family members when he died, Cowan said.

With his eager manner and rapid-fire wit, Buttons excelled in every phase of show business, from the Borscht Belt of the 1930s to celebrity roasts in the 1990s.

His greatest achievement came with his “Sayonara” role as Sgt. Joe Kelly, the soldier in the post-World War II occupation forces in Japan whose romance with a Japanese woman (Myoshi Umeki, who also won an Academy Award) ends in tragedy. …

Buttons’ Academy Award led to other films, both dramas and comedies. They included “Imitation General,” “The Big Circus,” “Hatari!” “The Longest Day,” “Up From the Beach,” “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Gable and Lombard” and “Pete’s Dragon.” … Read full obituary

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jan Murray, one of the fabled generation of comics who rose from the Catskills to prime time TV, tickling fans of the 1950s game show Treasure Hunt, has died. He was 89.

Murray, who appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows, died Sunday at his home in Beverly Hills, son Howard Murray said in a telephone interview Monday. …

Born Murray Janofsky on Oct. 4, 1916, in New York, Murray honed his craft by watching vaudeville shows and performing at Catskills resorts that catered to the crowds of Jewish vacationers. …

Among the other veterans of that vanished show business training ground were Mel Brooks, Red Buttons, Sid Caesar and the late Buddy Hackett. … Read full obituary

LOS ANGELES — Richard Pryor, the groundbreaking comedian whose profanely personal insights into race relations and modern life made him one of Hollywood’s biggest black stars, died of a heart attack Saturday. He was 65.

Pryor died shortly before 8 a.m. after being taken to a hospital from his home in the San Fernando Valley, said his business manager, Karen Finch. He had been ill for years with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the nervous system. …

Pryor lived dangerously close to the edge both on stage and off.

He was regarded early in his career as one of the most foul-mouthed comics in the business, but he gained a wide following for his universal and frequently personal routines. After nearly losing his life in 1980 when he caught on fire while freebasing cocaine, he incorporated the ordeal into his later routines.

His audacious style influenced generations of stand-up artists, from Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock to Robin Williams and David Letterman, among others. … Read full obituary

Charles Rocket, an actor and former “Saturday Night Live” comedian who gained notoriety almost 25 years ago for uttering an unscripted obscenity during a skit on the NBC show, has died. He was 56.

Mr. Rocket, 56, was found dead Oct. 7 in a field near his home in Canterbury, Conn. His throat had been cut, and the Connecticut medical examiner’s office has ruled his death a suicide. …

Mr. Rocket joined the “SNL” cast in the fall of 1980 and let an expletive slip the following February during a spoof of the famed “Who Shot J.R.?” plot line from the CBS night-time soap “Dallas.” Viewers complained, and NBC issued an apology.

The former television newscaster was fired soon after along with other cast members and writers on the show, which had tepid ratings. … Read full obituary

Nipsey Russell, an actor and comedian whose impromptu versifying was familiar in years past to TV game show and late-night talk show audiences, died Oct. 2 of cancer at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

Mr. Russell didn’t have a birth certificate, so his age couldn’t officially be confirmed, said Joseph Rapp, Mr. Russell’s manager for nearly 40 years. He was either 81 or 82 and had lived for many years in New York City.

Often called “the poet laureate of comedy,” Mr. Russell may be best known today as one of the polyester-wearing guests on TV quiz show reruns, cracking wise and rhyming couplets in the company of such B-list celebrities as Paul Lynde, Fanny Flagg and Charles Nelson Reilly. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he was a frequent guest on “To Tell the Truth,” “Match Game 73,” “Masquerade Party,” “What’s My Line?” and “Hollywood Squares.” He hosted a daytime game show called “Your Number’s Up.”

In addition to his numerous TV appearances, he was the Tin Man in “The Wiz,” the 1978 black-cast remake of “The Wizard of Oz.” … Read full obituary

Rodney Dangerfield, the goggle-eyed comic famed for his self-deprecating one-liners and signature phrase “I can’t get no respect,” died on Tuesday at age 82, his publicist said.

Dangerfield, who became a pop culture sensation with a string of broad film comedies starting with “Caddyshack” in 1980, died at 1:20 p.m. PDT (4:20 p.m. EDT) at the UCLA Medical Center, where he had undergone heart valve replacement surgery in August, spokesman Kevin Sasaki said in a statement. … Read full obituary

Alan King, 76, the dyspeptic wisecracker whose withering stare, Brooklyn accent and mockery of modern American life made him a comic favorite for six decades, died May 9 at a hospital in New York. He had lung cancer.

The comedian, known also for his ever-present cigar, amused audiences in nightclubs and on stage and television with routines about the ailments of suburban living. His acts exemplified an old school of Jewish New York humor in which one could practically hear the rimshot after each line. …

Mr. King was born Irwin Alan Kniberg in a tough part of Brooklyn where he learned to use his mouth as a weapon. He also boxed, just in case words failed him. …

His breakthrough came in 1956 when mainstream reviewers caught his act on the same bill with Judy Garland at the Palace Theatre in New York. With excellent feedback, he and Garland toured Europe and performed for royalty, including Queen Elizabeth II.

After that show, he had an audience with the queen, who asked, “How do you do, Mr. King?”

He replied: “How do you do, Mrs. Queen?” … Read full obituary

BURBANK, Calif. — Actor John Ritter died of a heart problem Thursday after falling ill on the set of his ABC sitcom, his publicist and longtime assistant said.

Ritter … died at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday, said his assistant of 22 years, Susan Wilcox.

The cause of death was a dissection of the aorta, the result of an unrecognized flaw in his aorta, said his publicist, Lisa Kasteler. … Read full obituary

Actor John Ritter, who gained fame playing bumbling and lovable characters in a pair of television comedies decades apart, has died, a representative said on Friday.

Details of the circumstances of his death were not immediately available.

Ritter was best known for his portrayal of Jack in the 1970s situation comedy “Three’s Company” and recently he starred in the series “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter”… Read full obituary

Bob Hope, whose mastery of the comic monologue and the topical wisecrack carried him from vaudeville to Broadway musicals and then on to worldwide fame as a radio, film and television star of the first magnitude, died Sunday night in Toluca Lake, Calif., according to The Associated Press, which cited his long-time publicist, Ward Grant. Mr. Hope was 100. …

Mr. Hope, who made an art and a vast fortune out of the delivery of the one-line gag, thrived on applause. It was the secret of his youthfulness.

It was also an important source of the energy that allowed him to travel millions of miles to entertain American servicemen, far exceeding the effort of any other entertainer. From 1941 to 1948 he performed nearly all his 400 radio programs at military bases. And at an age when most performers curtail their activities, Mr. Hope continued to make his annual tours during the war in Vietnam, playing to the sons of the servicemen he entertained during World War II and the Korean War. …

Mr. Hope excelled at a typically American brand of brash, timely humor. The wit was never very profound or subtle, but it was, at its best, irreverently poignant, carrying him through several immensely successful careers in the theater, radio, films and television. …

Mr. Hope served a long apprenticeship in vaudeville and the theater before he appeared on the national scene in 1938. That was the year he began his popular series of Tuesday night radio shows for Pepsodent toothpaste and made his first feature motion picture, “The Big Broadcast of 1938.” A bittersweet ballad he sang with Shirley Ross in the film, “Thanks for the Memory,” became the theme he used throughout his career.

He had made a half-dozen films of varying popularity when, in 1940, Paramount cast him in “Road to Singapore” with his old friend Bing Crosby. …

In the mid-50’s, as Hollywood began to feel the effects of television competition, Mr. Hope, who had made two and sometimes as many as three pictures a year, slowed his pace slightly to an average of one film a year and devoted more time to his weekly television show. … Read full obituary