Stars From Married... With Children You Didn't Know Died

[Music] a former child star a legendary athlete some of the funniest people who ever lived a lot of entertainers visited the bundy household over the course of married with children's time on the air but sadly some of them have since departed this mortal coil michael clark duncan only had a brief cameo as a bouncer in one married with children episode but it helped get his foot in the door the former construction worker and bodyguard first got into acting via a brief appearance in the 90s drama renegade which led to more tv shows and the occasional commercial his fortunes improved immensely when he played the burly and sensitive roughneck bear in the 1998 blockbuster armageddon a year later his stardom shot even higher when he portrayed a death row inmate in the green mile earning him an oscar nomination duncan would later go on to demonstrate his comedic chops in the likes of talladega knights and two and a half men unfortunately his career and life were cut tragically short in 2012 when he died of a heart attack at the age of 54. as his green mile co-star tom hanks eulogized him to entertainment tonight i am terribly saddened at the loss of big mike he was the treasure we all discovered on the set of the green mile he was magic he was a big love of man and his passing leaves us stunned sometimes married with children would bring on a major star just to provide them with an opportunity to play against type so when the show handed former different strokes child star gary coleman that proverbial football he gleefully ran with it playing a building inspector he shared one hilarious scene with al which referenced his iconic role don't even ask i'm not him i've never been him i can't even stand the little creep coleman could never outgrow the role that first made him famous quite literally an autoimmune disability at birth limited his height to four feet eight inches and required constant medical treatment including heart surgery and two kidney transplants his short stature also ultimately limited the opportunities for his acting career according to celebritynetworth.com coleman was making 2.5 million dollars annually at the height of his fame but he lost a fair chunk of it to taxes medical bills lawyers and a trust issue with his parents and other handlers whom he accused of misappropriating his assets he won some of his earnings back in a lawsuit but he still had to work as a security guard to make ends meet in the end the 42 year old actor was worth only 75 000 when he died of a brain hemorrhage in 2010 tim conway was a brilliant and prolific supporting actor who never really had his sights set on being a leading man billed by the las vegas son as quote the best second banana in the business he was arguably the funniest cast member on the carol burnett show it's little wonder then that married with children enlisted his skills to play the recurring role of farmer ephrem wenker peg bundy's father conway typically employed understated low-key execution that would take viewers by surprise with a killer improvised line a quality that nabbed him six emmys over the course of his career before all that adulation conway first made a name for himself in several disney movies and on the sitcom mchale's navy in his later years he guest starred on a variety of shows including mad about you and spongebob squarepants he also regularly appeared on las vegas stages with his old carol burnett cohort harvey corman conway died at the age of 85 from complications of fluid on his brain upon his passing carol burnett declared he was one in a million not only as a brilliant comedian but as a loving human being i cherish the times we had together both on the screen and off he'll be in my heart forever dom deluise's voice performance as floyd the dog in one episode of married with children was a marked contrast to his reputation for going out of control on a movie set oh that's madonna's dog after the book came out he turned himself in delouise would often have the cast and crew bent over in laughter with such regularity that production on his films often went behind schedule as his frequent collaborator mel brooks said to the los angeles times upon de luis's passing he created so much joy and laughter on the set that you couldn't get your work done so every time i made a movie with dom i would plan another two days on the schedule just for laughter you'd be hard-pressed to find a delouey's appearance where he wasn't loud vibrant and over the top in fact you'd have to go back to the early 60s to find those rarities such as a minor role in the cold war drama fail-safe he eventually showed off more of his hilarious colors when a producer of the dean martin show told him not to hold back on his penchant for improv after decades of making countless audiences crack up deluise died in 2009 at the age of 75 from kidney failure a number of sitcoms added an element of intrigue to their cast lineups with actors who are heard but never seen one notable name on that list is kathleen freeman who played peg's mom flo wanker on five episodes of married with children her obesity was frequently a target from her son-in-law al margaret open the door it's your mother and i'm hungry freeman is probably best known for her role as a voice coach in the 1951 classic singing in the rain although she was far more prolific as a foil to comedian jerry lewis over the course of 10 movies she made appearances in more than 100 tv shows and movies although many of her roles were uncredited when she started out that gradually changed as she garnered a reputation as a character actor and landed several tv roles in the likes of the beverly hillbillies and growing pains one of her most notable movie credits was sister mary stigmata in the blues brothers and its sequel blues brothers 2000 freeman was 78 when she passed away from lung cancer in 2001. despite its success married with children was a bit of a pariah among its sitcom brethren so it made sense when it opened its doors to folks with similar outlaw reputations few carried that designation more vividly than country singer waylon jennings who dominated radio airwaves in the 60s and 70s with a grizzled scowl jennings played local music hero ironhead haynes in one episode of married as evidence of his defiant demeanor he played one tune a five second one chord diddy whose only lyric was darlings despite recording 15 number one hits jennings was legendary for thumbing his nose at the nashville country music establishment as he put it to npr in 2010 it was all formula it was like cookie cutters you know everything you did jennings otherwise didn't work much on tv although he did provide some voice work for family guy now them griffin boys better grow some wings or start flapping their arms that was an homage to his narration of the dukes of hazzard which used his tune good old boys as its theme song unlike most legendary outlaws jennings passed away peacefully at the age of 64 in 2002 from a diabetes related illness when it came to delivering sexual innuendo for the sake of a few titters married with children was among the bodiest offenders of its time and few guest stars came equipped to dog paddle in those proverbial tanks more than tawny katane her sole appearance was as a lingerie model who finagles a free pair of shoes from al's store only to fracture her leg on live television when the footwear's heal inexplicably breaks off katane didn't exactly deliver any zingers in the episode but then again she didn't have to the san diego native got into showbiz via modeling leading to bit parts in tawdry made for tv beach movies before landing roles in the daytime drama santa barbara and a 90s reboot of the classic radio set sitcom wkrp in cincinnati she also landed some big screen work the most notable of which has to be the 1984 comedy bachelor party in which she played tom hanks fiance but if you're a fan of 80s hair metal you probably remember katane a little bit differently as she posed on album covers and served as eye candy in music videos for bands like rat and white snake the latter band appearance white snake was no accident since at the time she was married to lead singer david coverdale katane died in 2021 at the age of 59 from a heart ailment known as dilated cardiomyopathy we don't know if there are any thoroughly kept records about some of the most arcane achievements of married with children guest characters but we can say with reasonable confidence that alan thicke is probably the only actor to have played characters who dated both peg and kelly bundy he first wound up with kelly after an ill-fated double date then his involvement with kelly's mother occurred one season later and a three-parter when the bundys were going through a separation a top-of-the-line model like myself doesn't stay long on the showroom floor thick is best known for being the patriarch on the abc sitcom growing pains and he appeared on plenty of other shows from how i met your mother to the eric andre show behind the scenes he was one of the industry's busiest movers and shakers he was also an accomplished musician composing themes for such shows as the facts of life and the joker's wild he even worked as a television writer pinning scripts for several outings from the groundbreaking fake talk show fernwood tonight to specials hosted by such stars as barry manilow olivia newton-john and richard pryor a native canadian who first cut his teeth on the state-run cbc network thick also enjoyed playing hockey he was enjoying playing on the ice with his son carter when he suddenly died from a ruptured aorta at the age of 69 in 2016. as his other son musician robin thicke wrote on instagram he was the best man i ever knew life in the bundy household with two undisciplined children a father who believed he was a failure and a wife who reinforced that notion was hardly sunshine and lollipops fortunately legendary blues musician bb king offered a cure for the bundy blues in one season 5 episode he portrayed a street performer who played one of his hits blues for a dog as some pups fittingly scurried past him to blues fans seeing the legendary musician on the show was a real treat since king wasn't exactly known for being a regular fixture on sitcoms his credited filmography mainly consists of recorded concerts though he did make rare appearances in such flicks as blues brothers 2000 a winner of 15 grammy awards and best known for hits like the thrill is gone and three o'clock blues king put out more than 50 albums in his lifetime and toured relentlessly he averaged 250 dates a year as he played past most folks retirement age for his efforts he's been inducted into the blues foundation hall of fame and the rock and roll hall of fame appropriate recognition for someone who's inspired scores of guitar heroes that have followed in his wake king died in his sleep in 2015 after a las vegas gig at the age of 89 from several strokes associated with type 2 diabetes a master at improv and an expert in timing and execution fred willard consistently proved that even bird brain portrayals could alter an actor's flight path to greater heights it's a gift he deployed in hundreds of credits throughout his career including one time on married with children when he played a shyster salesman in an episode that also showcased heavy metal band anthrax willard seldom played the lead part instead he served as a comedic foil who frequently stole the show for all that he received five primetime emmy nominations three for everybody loves raymond and two for modern family he also won a daytime emmy for the afternoon soap opera the bold and the beautiful in 2015 when he was 81. willard came to prominence in 1977 as an idiotic sidekick on the fictitious small town talk show fernwood tonight which led to several tv spots and the movie mockumentary this is spinal tap which highlighted his gift for ad libbing his improv skills really shined in another mockumentary when he played a dim-witted commentator at a dog competition in 2000's best in show just an idea of the top night why didn't he put the blood on put on one of those sherlock holmes hats and put a little pipe in his mouth willard worked tirelessly until the end of his life his stint as phil dunphy's father in modern family serving as one of his last gigs before he died at 86 from a heart attack in 2020. just a couple weeks after his passing he still had more for his fans to see as he showed up on the netflix sitcom space force if you've ever seen an episode or even just a clip of married with children then you know that life with the bundys was less than ideal still they pale in comparison to the real life of one particular guest star that would be country singer tammy wynette whose own tales of hardship were preserved in iconic songs like stand by your man and d-i-v-o-r-c-e when she played herself as the manager of peg and kelly's hack duo the jugs the tear-jerker queen demonstrated that she at least had a sense of humor about herself despite her musical success wynette's life was marked with one instance of despair after another according to jimmy mcdonald who penned the biography tammy wynette tragic country queen her true talent was in transferring all that anguish into music as he put it to npr in terms of a slow sad song nobody could rip it up like tammy she's just unrelenting during her career wynette scored 20 major hits and is recognized as the first country star to score a platinum record but she also endured five marriages including one tempestuous relationship with fellow country legend george jones several health issues also surfaced in later years her married with children cameo would be the last time she'd be seen on tv during her lifetime as she died in 1998 at the age of 55 from a blood clot in the lungs the experience of watching married with children was hardly a peaceful sunday drive instead it was more of a pedal to the metal joy ride into a daytona 500 pileup thus it was the perfect setting for a guest appearance from high octane comedian sam kinnison who punctuated his punch lines with rage that delighted die hards and terrified everyone else a former preacher he played an unlikely guardian angel in one married episode that satirized the yuletide classic it's a wonderful life trying to offer some advice to a down on his luck al kennison's character amped up his temper after sharing anecdotes of his own hard luck life i hated driving home so much i had vanity plates written up and said hit me his risque humor notwithstanding kennison thought that the transition from preacher to comedian seemed logical as he put it during an interview with larry king if he could make people laugh in church you can make them laugh anywhere i think but offstage kennyson's life was nowhere near as holy as his religious background might suggest he indulged heavily in cocaine and alcohol although towards the end of his life he claimed that he was cutting down on those substances alas his life in the fast lane ended with a fatal car collision in 1992. he was only 38. japanese american actor no ryuki pat morita set the bar for asian representation in hollywood although his appearance on married with children was quite a contrast to his reputation for playing wise and dignified characters in an episode he played a stern bank executive whom his subordinate and bundy neighbor marcy darcy wanted to impress for the sake of a promotion the role was certainly a far cry from his most famous gigs on the sitcom happy days and in the karate kid the latter of which earned him an oscar nomination all of that success came after morita endured a difficult childhood he was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis and then spent part of his early years in an internment camp during the second world war a computer employee for a time he eventually switched to showbiz first landing apart in the japanese movie car thieves and eventually scoring small roles on tv shows like colombo recurring parts on sitcoms like mash and sanford and sun led to his star-making stints in happy days and karate kid after which he played the lead in a short-lived cop show called o'hara he would go on to appear in dozens of tv shows over the years before passing away in 2005 at the age of 73 from kidney failure related to complications from alcoholism his birth certificate might have read charles aaronsmith but football fans knew him better as bubba outside of the gridiron he played brawny law enforcer moses hightower and the police academy film franchise he also showed up for two hilarious appearances on married with children first as a vengeful security guard still angry over his high school team losing to al bundy's squad back in the day you never made it past that goal line i dropped you like third period french smith's second appearance on the show happened alongside fellow nfl great kenny stabler for a less than spectacular game called the dud bull before generating gaffas in hollywood smith instilled fear into his opponents as a lineman on the baltimore colts oakland raiders and houston oilers his all-star status helped land parts on a variety of tv shows which led to the big screen with police academy and a number of miller lite beer commercials during his later years smith revived his moses hightower portrayal in a short-lived tv version of police academy in 1997 which was followed by low-budget films with titles like full clip and blood river although his death at age 66 in 2011 was due to drug intoxication additional research in 2016 revealed that he also suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy which was caused by concussions he received during his nfl days if you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues help is available visit the substance abuse and mental health services administration website or contact samhsa's national helpline at 1 800 662 4357

Channel: Nicki Swift

Views: 624,327

Keywords: nicki swift, sitcom, married with children, michael clarke duncan, tim conway

Id: sQEWOEBGZ20

Length: 18min 4sec (1084 seconds)

Published: Mon May 23 2022