From the voice of a beloved children’s cartoon
to a star whose career didn’t begin until 50, these actors may be gone, but their mark
on the entertainment world is everlasting. French actor Gaspard Ulliel, who was
best known to international audiences for his turn as a young Hannibal Lecter,
died due to a skiing accident in January 2022. He was 37. Ulliel began his career
on French television in the late 1990s, and was landing film roles by the early
2000s. His big break arrived in 2004, when he landed a role in "A Very Long Engagement,"
for which he won his first Cesar award. His second Cesar came in 2017, when he scooped up Best
Actor for "It's Only the End of the World." Ulliel would make the transition to Hollywood
soon after, playing the titular killer in the 2007 prequel film "Hannibal Rising." It was
his biggest role at the time of his death, though that likely won't remain the case.
Sadly, Ulliel died a few months before Marvel's "Moon Knight" dropped, in which
he plays Anton Mogart, aka Midnight Man, a black market antiquities dealer who
goes head to head with the titular hero. Peter Robbins, who was best known as
the original voice of Charlie Brown, died in January 2022. Dylan Novak, Robbins'
friend and agent, told the Los Angeles Times that the cause of death was suicide. He was
65. The convention regular made his on screen debut in the 60s and appeared on TV shows
like "Rawhide" and "The Munsters." Robbins began voicing Charlie Brown in 1965 and went
on to play the classic "Peanuts" character seven times before the end of the decade,
most notably in the feature-length films "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "It's the Great Pumpkin,
Charlie Brown," and "A Boy Named Charlie Brown." According to the Times, Robbins was so proud of
his work on the franchise that he got a tattoo of Charlie Brown and Snoopy on his arm. Robbins was
also known for another comic adaptation: He played Alexander Bumstead on the live-action "Blondie"
series, based on the long-running strip of the same name. Other notable credits include the TV
shows "F Troop," "Get Smart," and "My Three Sons." Up-and-coming actor Moses J. Moseley, who
appeared on shows like "Queen of the South" and "The Walking Dead," was found dead
in Georgia in January 2022. His agent, Tabatha Minchew, told The Hollywood Reporter, "Moses was a very talented person, with a
bright light around him. He will be missed deeply by his friends, family and fans.
Always a ball of happy energy around him." The cause of death was not immediately
revealed by authorities, who launched an investigation to determine
the circumstances. He was 31. Moseley worked as a model before transitioning
into acting. He got his foot in the door with a number of uncredited appearances in films like
"Trouble with the Curve," "The Internship," and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." Moseley began
playing Michonne's pet walker Mike on "The Walking Dead" in 2012, and would appear on the hit AMC
show half a dozen times over the next few years. His most notable feature film was 2017's "Attack
of the Southern Fried Zombies." Moseley had several projects in various stages of production
when he was reported missing by his family. Robert Morse is probably best known
to contemporary audiences for his role as old-school ad man and co-founder Bert
Cooper on "Mad Men." With its 1960s setting, business world plots, and one
very memorable musical number, "Mad Men" easily brings Morse's first claim to
fame to mind: He won a Tony Award in 1962 for his role as the accidentally successful
window washer-turned-corporate star J. Pierrepont Finch in the Broadway musical "How
to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Morse appeared in many other stage productions
before and after that breakthrough hit, including "The Front Page" and "Tru," a
one-man play about writer Truman Capote, which won Morse his second Tony Award — and
an Emmy for the TV adaptation. He was all over TV and film for decades as well, including
appearances on "Teen Titans Go!," "American Crime Story," and the movie version of "How to Succeed
in Business Without Really Trying." On April 20, 2022, Morse's son, Charlie, reported to KABC
that his father had died. Morse was 90 years old. Mike Hagerty was among the most prolific and
recognizable character actors of the last 40 years, popping up in more than 100 movies
and TV shows. He usually played a gruff, blue-collar, working man type with a big
mustache and pronounced Chicagoan accent. "My mom was right. I'm just a big
potato with arms and legs and a head." Among Hagerty's most familiar roles was Davey,
a cable TV station employee in "Wayne's World," apartment building superintendent Mr. Treeger
on "Friends," the best friend of the main character in the original "Overboard,"
an auto shop owner on "Lucky Louie," and a main cast role on "The George Carlin Show."
Hagerty recently played a captain on multiple episodes of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and played
farmer Ed Miller on "Somebody Somewhere." On Instagram, "Somebody Somewhere" star Bridget
Everett reported that Hagerty had died on May 5, 2022, in Los Angeles. Cause of death wasn't
revealed for the actor, who was 67 years old. In a career spanning more than
200 roles back to the early 1970s, Philip Baker Hall became a quintessential
character actor, lending his raspy voice and intense stare to countless movies and TV
shows. Hall became a favorite of filmmakers relatively late in his career. He's probably
best known to audiences as Lt. Joe Bookman, a taciturn "library cop" tenaciously investigating
Jerry Seineld for a decades-overdue book on the comedian's titular show. You'll also likely
recognize him as the intimidating but secretly sweet neighbor Walt on "Modern Family,"
Doctor Morrison on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and hippo game show host Hank Hippopopalous
on "BoJack Horseman." Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson also cast Hall in prominent
roles in "Hard Eight" and "Boogie Nights." Hall's daughter shared that the actor
died at home in Glendale, California, on June 12, 2022. Hall was 90 years old. While he had a long career as a character actor
for more than 40 years, Gregory Itzin was likely best known for his role on the smash-hit action
drama "24." Itzin portrayed Charles Logan, a conniving vice president who finagles
his way into the presidency. The part earned Itzin two Emmy Award nominations,
one for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and one for Guest Actor
when he returned late in the "24" run. In addition to roles on various "Star Trek" shows, "The Mentalist," "NCIS," "Covert Affairs," and
"Friends," Itzin performed a bit part in 1980's "Airplane!" as an airport-working cult recruiter.
Tragically, Itzin underwent an emergency surgery in July 2022, but complications from
the procedure proved fatal. He was 74. Perhaps the quintessential supporting
actor specializing in playing elegant but intimidating mobsters, Tony Sirico found
the role of his life as Paulie Walnuts, on HBO's universally acclaimed
modern-day Mafia saga "The Sopranos." "You do what you're told. When you’re told." He played similar characters in "Goodfellas,"
"Bullets Over Broadway," and "Mighty Aphrodite." His first film work came as an extra in the
organized crime drama "Crazy Joe." Sirico turned to playing fictional law-breakers
in order to escape a real life of actual crime. He was arrested 28 times as a kid and
young adult, and he had connections to the Colombo crime family. In recent years,
and after "The Sopranos," Sirico traded on his image and tendency to be typecast,
playing tough characters on comedy shows, like a gangster on "American Dad"
and a gruff dog on "Family Guy." Sirico's manager confirmed to media outlets
that the actor died July 8, 2022. He was 79. Paul Sorvino worked in character roles
and on stage throughout the '60s and '70s, earning a Tony nomination for "That
Championship Season" on Broadway in 1973. Following a starring role on the
short-lived "The Streets of San Francisco" spinoff "Bert D'Angelo/Superstar," Sorvino
reprised his role as Phil Romano for the film version of "That Championship Season."
It was his screen acting breakthrough. In 1990, Sorvino landed roles in major
movies that would amount to his signature work — gangster Lips Manlis in the big-screen
adaptation of "Dick Tracy," and as the paternal, calculating mob boss Paulie Cicero in the crime
saga "Goodfellas." In addition to criminals, Sorvino played a lot of authority figures,
like a sergeant early in the run of "Law and Order," Juliet's father in Baz
Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet," Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone's "Nixon," and
Frank Costello in "Godfather of Harlem." Sorvino died on July 25, 2022.
According to the actor's publicist, natural causes were to blame. Sorvino was 83. Tony Dow is most remembered for a signature
role that came early in his life and career. From 1957 to 1963, he played squeaky-clean 1950s
teenager Wally Cleaver on "Leave It to Beaver," a hit show of the golden age of TV. After "Beaver"
wrapped up, Dow played Chet on the melodramatic, teen-oriented soap opera "Never Too Young," but
he would only act occasionally in the decades thereafter. Dow guest-starred on shows
like "Adam-12" and "Murder She Wrote." He frequently returned to the role that made
him famous, whether it was co-starring on the 1980s reboot "The New Leave It to Beaver"
or sending up his character in a "Kentucky Fried Movie" cameo. Dow segued into a
career as TV show director in the '80s, ultimately helming episodes of
shows like "Coach" and "Babylon 5." Dow received a cancer diagnosis in May 2022.
In July 2022, the actor died at the age of 77. Leslie Phillips had roles in more than 170
projects, in a career that lasted for well over 80 years. And yet he's best known — to
younger, American audiences, at least — for a role in which he didn't appear on-screen at
all: He voiced the mischievous Sorting Hat in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2." "Mmm, difficult, very difficult." Other major career-topping performances
came in the drama "Venus," for which he was nominated for a BAFTA and other awards in
2007, and in 2001's "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider." One of the most prolific and
quintessentially British actors, Phillips often played British archetypes,
appearing in made-for-TV stage adaptations and in multiple roles in the long-running
"Carry On" franchise in the mid-20th century, which lampooned British life and sensibilities. Phillips died in his sleep on November 7, 2022,
after a lengthy illness. The actor was 98. Clarence Gilyard Jr. found success in both acting
and academia. On the educational side of things, he earned his bachelor's degree in
acting at California State University, Long Beach and California State University,
Dominguez Hills. Later on, he would earn an MFA in Theatre Performance at
Southern Methodist University. On the entertainment side, Gilyard made his
cinematic debut in 1986's "Top Gun," playing the pilot with the call sign "Sundown." He
would then join one of the most memorable bad guy crews in action history, teaming up
with Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber in "Die Hard." "Theo!" "Yo!" But he truly endeared himself to TV fans in
"Walker, Texas Ranger" as Chuck Norris' sidekick, Jimmy Trivette. Sadly, Gilyard died in November
2022 at the age of 66, with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas confirming his death and film
chair Heather Addison saying, via Deadline, "Professor Gilyard was a beacon of light and
strength for everyone around him at UNLV." Helen Slayton-Hughes was best known for playing
the incredibly cranky Ethel Beavers on "Parks and Recreation." Ethel was a court stenographer
who was immune to Tom Haverford's charms and was adopted by Andy and April to be their
grandmother. Of course, that's far from the only role she played. Born in 1930, Slayton-Hughes
didn't begin acting until age 50. Over the years, she's popped up in television shows such as
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "New Girl," "Arrested Development," "True Blood," and "The
West Wing." She also appeared in movies like the Oscar-nominated "Good Night, and
Good Luck" and the "Veronica Mars" movie. Slayton-Hughes' death was confirmed by
her family on Facebook on December 8, 2022, with a statement that read, "Helen passed away last night. Her pain has ended, but her fierce spirit lives on. Thank you
for the love and support of her work."
