EW.com
After saying sad and shocking goodbyes to the many stars who died in 2023, with Matthew Perry, Tina Turner, Andre Braugher, Suzanne Somers, and Lisa Marie Presley among them, we are once again paying our respects after the deaths of entertainers and other notable figures in the new year.
Read on to remember the life and work of the celebrities who have died in 2024, including Mary Poppins actress Glynis Johns, Honeymooners star Joyce Randolph, and Designated Survivor and X-Men: Days of Future Past actor Adam Canto.
Joyce Randolph
CBS via Getty
Joyce Randolph, the last surviving member of The Honeymooners cast, died Jan. 13 of natural causes. She was at 99. The actress is best remembered for playing housewife Trixie Norton across 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 run, but gained acclaim in syndication. Though Elaine Stritch originated Trixie when “The Honeymooners” was first a series of sketches on the variety show Cavalcade of Stars, Randolph later became synonymous with the character after Gleason spotted Randolph doing a commercial for Clorets in 1951 and flagged her for the part.
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 movie Grown Ups, died Jan. 12 by suicide. He was 50. Musser was a model prior to his acting career, appearing in Men’s Health and ads for Abercrombie and Fitch. After winning the SOAPnet reality TV contest I Wanna Be a Soap Star, Musser made his debut on All My Children in 2005. For two seasons, Musser played the illegitimate son of Seabone Hunkle (Steve Kanaly), before exiting the show in 2007. His last role was in 2011, as Friedrich in the final season of Desperate Housewives.
Bill Hayes
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Bill Hayes, the beloved daytime television actor who starred as Doug Williams on Days of Our Lives for more than five decades, died Jan. 12 at 98. A talented singer and actor, Hayes originated the role of Doug on the NBC sudser in 1970 and would become one of its longest-running stars, appearing in more than 2,000 episodes over the next 53 years. He married his costar Susan Seaforth Hayes in 1974 and, two years later, their super-couple characters on the show similarly followed them down the aisle. In 2018, both of them received a Lifetime Achievement Award for their work on the show at the Daytime Emmy Awards.
Lynne Marta
Everett
Lynne Marta, an actress known for her guest starring roles in TV and bit parts in films like Footloose and Three Men and a Little Lady, died Jan. 11 after a battle with cancer. She was 78. Marta made her professional acting debut in 1966 on an episode of Gidget before becoming a featured player on the ABC anthology series Love, American Style in 1969. Marta appeared in the 1972 western Joe Kidd starring Clint Eastwood and Robert Duvall, which was probably her most high profile film role until 1984’s Footloose. The actress was also a regular on television, guest starring on the likes of Kojak, Charlie’s Angels, and Designing Women. Marta also appeared in 24 episode of Days of Our Lives from 1983 to 2003.
Roy Battersby
Alan Davidson/Shutterstock
British film and television director Roy Battersby died Jan. 10 following a brief illness, his stepdaughter Kate Beckinsale announced on social media. He was 87. Born in London, Battersby made his directorial debut in the 1969 made-for-television film Some Women and is best known for his work on several popular British crime dramas including Between the Lines, Inspector Morse, Cracker, and A Touch of Frost. His film credits include the 1984 drama Winter Flight and 2005’s Red Mercury.
Peter Crombie
Randy Tepper/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Peter Crombie, the actor known for playing “Crazy” Joe Davola on Seinfeld, died Jan. 10 following a short illness. He was 71. Crombie starred as Davola, a psychopath dead set on terrorizing Jerry, throughout a stint of episodes in season 4 of the classic comedy series. The actor’s other credits include spotlight roles in television shows like Loving, Law & Order, NYPD Blue, Picket Fences, L.A. 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
FOX via Getty Images
Adan Canto, the actor known for his work on TV series including The Cleaning Lady and Designated Survivor, and in such films as X-Men: Days of Future Past, died Jan. 8 from appendiceal cancer. He was 42. Born in Mexico and raised in Texas, Canto first pursued a career in music and later branched out into acting. He made his American acting debut on the thriller The Following and went on to play White House Chief of Staff Aaron Shore on Designated Survivor, real-life politician Rodrigo Lara Bonilla on Narcos, and mobster Arman Morales on The Cleaning Lady. He portrayed the powerful mutant Sunspot in Days of Future Past, and his other screen credits included Blood & Oil, Second Chance, The Catch, Bruised, and Agent Game.
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 Jan. 4 at 51 in a plane crash that also killed his two young daughters. Born Christian Klepser, the star was born in Germany and relocated to the States to pursue a Hollywood career. His other credits include TV shows Alarm für Cobra 11, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Sense8, and Hunters. In addition, Oliver — who was also 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
Jim Smeal/BEI/Shutterstock
Glynis Johns, who played dedicated suffragette mother Winifred Banks in the original Mary Poppins, died on Jan. 4 at age 100. The British actress was recruited by Walt Disney himself for the beloved 1964 musical starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in which Johns’ character begins the film with a rousing performance of “Sister Suffragette.” Johns earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination 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
Everett Collection
Starsky & Hutch actor David Soul, who helped popularize one of the most iconic TV series of the 1970s, died Jan. 4 at age 80. His first major TV roles were small parts in I Dream of Jeannie and Flipper, followed by a two-season run on the western comedy Here Come the Brides from 1968 to 1970. From 1975 to 1979, Soul starred as 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
Hulu
Harry Johnson, a veteran actor who appeared on hit television shows such as Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Law & Order, died Jan. 2 following a long illness. He was 81. Johnson began his career as one of Universal Studios’ final contract players and made his television debut as a warrior in a 1978 episode of the sci-fi epic Battlestar Galactica. He would go on to land guest roles on several more beloved television series throughout his 40-year career in entertainment, including: M*A*S*H, The Incredible Hulk, The A-Team, L.A. Law, Dynasty, Who’s the Boss?, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He was also a prolific ADR voice actor and starred as Harry in the “Harry & Louise” political advertisements that aired throughout the early 1990s.
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