TV Obits: Hagen, Sutcliffe, Marko, Candido, Roman, Duffy
A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.
- Earle Hagen: He was a legendary, Emmy-winning composer of music for TV shows, including the themes to The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, I Spy, That Girl, Gomer Pyle, USMC, Make Room For Daddy, The Mod Squad, and Mike Hammer (”Harlem Nocturne”). He also worked on the music for many movies, including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Monkey Business, Daddy Long Legs, Carousel, Let’s Make Love, Compulsion, Don’t Bother To Knock, and There’s No Business Like Show Business. Hagen died at age 88 in Rancho Mirage, CA.
- Dick Sutcliffe: He was the co-creator of the classic children’s show Davey & Goliath. He died at age 90.
- Zekial Marko: He wrote for several TV shows over the years, including The Rockford Files, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and Toma, and wrote the big screen movie Once A Thief. He died at age 74.
- Nino Candido: He started his career as an actor, appearing on such shows as Leave It To Beaver, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Time Tunnel, and The Tony Randall Show, then moved into the art department of many shows, including My Name Is Earl and The A Team. He died at age 66.
- Lawrence Roman: Though he wrote for several TV shows, including The Virginian and Lux Radio Theatre, he was most famous for writing the movies Under The Yum Yum Tree, Paper Lion, A Kiss Before Dying, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, and McQ. He died at age 86.
- Jack Duffy: He was an actor who appeared in several TV shows over the years including Doc, Queer As Folk, Brimstone, Corner Gas, Friday The 13th, Street Legal, and SCTV. He was also a regular on several shows, including Here’s Duffy, The Party Game, The Bobby Vinton Show, and The Perry Como Kraft Music Hall. He died at age 81.
TV Obits: Court, Grasshoff, Byrne, Oliver, Gilford
- Hazel Court: She was the actress known as the “Scream Queen.” Besides appearing in such classic horror flicks as The Masque of the Red Death, The Raven, and The Curse of Frankenstein, she also did a lot of TV, including episodes of The Twilight Zone, Mannix, Mission: Impossible, Burke’s Law, The Wild, Wild West, Gidget, Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Rawhide, McMillan & Wife, and many other shows. She died of a heart attack at age 82.
- Alex Grasshoff: He was a TV and film director/producer (he won and Oscar for Young Americans in 1969 but had to give it back when his film was declared ineligible) who worked on such shows as The Rockford Files, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Toma, The Rookies, CHiPs, several National Geographic Specials and several ABC Afterschool Specials. He died after surgery at age 79.
- Johnny Byrne: He wrote for several TV shows, including Space: 1999, Doctor Who, All Creatures Great and Small, Tales of the Unexpected, Noah’s Ark, One By One, Heartbeat, and many others. He died on April 2.
- Stephen Oliver: He played Lee Webber on Peyton Place and appeared on many other showed, including Bracken’s World, Streets of San Francisco, The Immortal, CHiPs, Starsky & Hutch, and Code R. He died of cancer at age 68.
- Madeline Lee Gilford: Sometimes credited as Madeline Lee (she was married to actor Jack Gilford for 40 years), Gilford made several apperances as a judge on Law and Order and appeared on such shows as Mad About You and The Beat. She also appeared in such movies as The Savages, Save The Tiger, and Cocoon: The Return. She died at age 84.