Update, Oct. 28: Harris’ agency, Henderson Hogan, said in a statement to Deadline: “We are deeply saddened by the news of David’s passing. Henderson Hogan has had the privilege and honor to represent him for over 40 years. He has left an indelible mark on our lives. David will be cherished not only for his extraordinary talent on screen but also for his warmth and generosity of spirit. Our hearts are with his loved ones during this difficult time. He will be deeply missed and forever remembered.”

David Harris, the actor known for playing Cochise in the Walter Hill-helmed 1979 cult classic The Warriors, has died. He was 75.

The actor died Friday at his New York City home after he was diagnosed with cancer, his daughter Davina Harris disclosed to The New York Times. David is also survived by his mother, three siblings and two grandchildren.

Having accumulated more than 50 onscreen...

David Harris, the actor who portrayed gang member Cochise in the cult classic film The Warriors, has died at the age of 75.

Harris’ daughter confirmed his death to The New York Times, adding that he died Friday at his New York City home following a battle with cancer.

In the Walter Hill-directed 1979 film, Harris played the headband-and-necklace-wearing Cochise, an integral member of the red-vested gang the Warriors, who endure a one-night odyssey from the Bronx to their native Coney Island while dodging increasingly colorful gangs hell-bent on violence after...

Before "Hill Street Blues" broke the network procedural mold in the early 1980s, the television landscape was bustling with hour-long series about cops and firemen and doctors and so on that plunged their characters into a crime or problem of the week (sometimes of the ripped-from-the-headlines variety). The narratives were strictly of the standalone variety (with the occasional two-part episode), so the major elements that kept viewers coming back for more were the formula and the stars. In terms of longevity, the formula could go stale for a bit as long as the stars were still appealing in whatever way drew audiences to the show in the first place. But when people tired of the cast –- or, worse, a major cast member departed the series –- the Nielsen ratings could go south in a hurry.

Is this what caused "CHiPs," the popular NBC series about photogenic Southern California highway...

An aging Commander in Chief faces health struggles, and as a result, his younger, female vice-president ascends. That is, of course, the story of the 2024 presidential election in which Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee, replacing an ailing Joe Biden. But it also happens to be a TV show plot – nearly 20 years ago.

The series, Commander in Chief, which premiered in 2005, starred Geena Davis as the first female vice president in American history, selected to help an older, white male political candidate appeal to other constituencies. Sound familiar? There are notable differences between the political fiction of the show and the political realities of the 2024 race, however. For one, fictional President Teddy Bridges is a Republican, while Mackenzie, portrayed by Davis, is an Independent. Oh, and in the show (spoiler alert!) the president dies, leading to the first female Commander in Chief.

The show was initially a hit with audiences,...

It was the night before Valentine’s Day in 1995, and Jennifer Tilly was sitting in a hotel room, feeling a strange electrical charge in the air.

The Oscar nominations would be announced the following morning, and Tilly had no reason to be optimistic. The actress had earned glowing reviews from critics for her robust comedic performance in “Bullets Over Broadway,” which opened in theaters 30 years ago this week. But it was her co-star Dianne Wiest who had swept the critics awards and won the Golden Globe and was a lock to receive a nomination.

And though Tilly had eagerly promoted her own work in the film – read on to find all about the unique strategy of her campaign – she had not garnered a single precursor citation anywhere and was considered a long shot, generously speaking. According to the pundits, only one film would net two Best Supporting Actress nominations that year: “Forrest Gump,...

Entertainment journalist and longtime Variety contributor Scott Huver takes a racy look at celebrity vice in his first book, “Beverly Hills Noir: Crime, Sin and Scandal in 90210.” Published by Simon and Schuster on Oct. 1, the true crime exposé serves as both a deep dive into the fledgling years of the 90210 and a guide to Hollywood’s most extraordinary criminal cases.

Huver, who has worked in journalism for over three decades, inherited his love of procedural dramas from his mother and stepfather, who raised him on a diet of “Adam-12,” “Hill Street Blues” and “Dragnet.” His love of writing was intrinsic from a young age and led him from the newsroom at Central Michigan University to running a crime beat at a Beverly Hills newspaper.

Coincidentally, Huver’s first week in Los Angeles brought him face-to-face with one of the city’s most infamous crimes in recent memory.

“I literally witnessed...

“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” is shining the spotlight on a completely separate murder – one that happened a decade before the brothers’ trial.

Episode 7 of the series – titled “Showtime” – features a long dinner party scene where Nathan Lane’s character Dominick Dunne breaks down the Menendez case as he sees it through the context of having sat through his own daughter’s murder trial. It’s also a trial that earned significant media attention a decade earlier.

Dunne’s daughter Dominique was a 22-year-old rising actor fresh off a lead role in 1982’s “Poltergeist.” She was strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend John Sweeney after their breakup on Oct. 30, 1982. Sweeney confessed to the murder – and an attempt to kill himself after – when the police arrived on the scene.

Here’s what we know about Dominique, the night she was killed, and where Sweeney and the rest of her family is today.

How many actors can say they have over 100 credits on their resume? Lynn Whitfield can. The Emmy winner has a lengthy resume filled with classics across genres. The latest addition to her decades-long career is The Chi, on which she’s been a recurring guest star but will now be a series regular in the upcoming season. Whitfield joined us for a trip down memory lane in the TV Insider studio for our Career Rewind video series. In the interview above, she shares anecdotes from some of her most memorable projects, starting with Hill Street Blues in 1981 and leading all the way up to The Chi in 2024. Whitfield’s Emmy-winning turn came in HBO’s The Josephine Baker Story in 1991. She reflects on that Emmys night with us. It would be a hard night to forget, as Whitfield reminds us that she had just given birth to her daughter just...

The very first Emmy Award for Best Drama Series was presented to ABC’s “Pulitzer Prize Playhouse” in 1951. It is one of 40-plus programs that have been honored as television’s top dramatic series. Scroll through our photo gallery below of every winner for Best Drama Series in Emmy history.

Five shows — “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law,” “The West Wing,” “Mad Men” and “Game of Thrones” — hold the record for most wins in this category with four each. “Hill Street Blues,” “The West Wing” and “Mad Men” all accomplished that feat in consecutive years. HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is also the most-winningest scripted primetime series in Emmy history at 59 trophies. Originally published August 2018.

TV dramas have come a long way since the days of Playhouse 90, Hallmark Hall of Fame and Net Playhouse – all of which won Emmys for best drama in the 1960s. Even the category’s name has evolved since then, from Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Drama to Outstanding Dramatic Series or Outstanding Series-Drama and the current Outstanding Drama Series.

Click through a gallery of the shows that have taken home to marquee Emmy Award since 1960 – from the elegance of The Defenders and the period tech of Mission: Impossible through cop shows including Police Story, Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue; medical shows Marcus Welby, M.D. and ER, the legal offices of L.A. Law and The Practice; such quirky fare as Picket Fences, Northern Exposure and Ally McBeal; and into the antihero tales of The Sopranos and Breaking Bad – and many more.

Along the way you’ll...

The West Wing’s President Bartlet and his staff reunited at the Emmys.

The not-so-secret reunion saw Martin Sheen, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney and Richard Schiff appear in a replica of the Oval Office before presenting best drama series.

Sheen opened by saying, “From 1999 to 2006 I had the honor of playing the President of the United States on an extraordinary series created by Aaron Sorkin and produced by John Wells.”

“The name of that series was The West Wing, and we all had the honor of serving your administration,” added Hill.

Janney said, “It’s hard to believe that 25 years ago, Aaron and the writers actually had to use their imaginations to create interesting plot lines for The West Wing.”

Schiff replied, “Unlike today, where story lines can be plucked right off the news, storylines that writers would have deemed a bit far-fetched, if not utterly ridiculous 25 years ago.

The late great Peter Falk was born on September 16, 1927, and his detective drama “Columbo” is as timeless as it is entertaining. In the whole of television history, few actors have been as identified with a single character than was Falk with Lieutenant Columbo, the eccentric, rumpled, cigar-chomping, trench coat-clad, implausibly wily Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective who always got his man. In the process, Falk and the producers revolutionized what a cop show could be.

It’s been more than a half-century since Falk began portraying the world’s favorite lieutenant as part of the rotating “NBC Mystery Movie” franchise on September 15, 1971. It would grow to become a global phenomenon originally across eight seasons (1971-78), then again sporadically from 1989 to 2003. The series itself would win 13 Emmys..

SEE30 best TV detectives ranked

From the first official installment of “Columbo” – entitled “Murder by the Book” and featuring Jack Cassidy as the...

Betty A. Bridges, an actress and the mother of Diff’rent Strokes star Todd Bridges who appeared on her son’s sitcom, Hill Street Blues, Ally McBeal and many other shows, has died. She was 83.

Bridges died Wednesday in hospice care at Todd’s home in Phoenix, publicist Elizabeth Much announced.

During her four-decade career, Betty Alice Bridges appeared on everything from Police Woman, Good Times, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Charlie’s Angels, Wonder Woman and Quincy, M.E. to Flamingo Road, Lou Grant, Dallas, NYPD Blue, ER and Scrubs.

The Dallas native also was seen in such films as A Night at the Roxbury (1998) and Building Bridges (2000), a 45-minute documentary about Todd, who as a child actor in Hollywood dealt with his share of trouble.

Bridges was a manager and acting coach, too; she co-founded Kane Bridge Academy, and among her students were Nia Long, sisters Reina and Regina King, Sanaa Lathan,...

Betty A. Bridges, who guested on dozen of popular TV series during a 40-year career ranging from Good Times and Charlie’s Angels to Lou Grant and Hill Street Blues to ER and 2 Broke Girls and later was a prominent acting coach, died August 27. She was 83.

She died at the Phoenix home of her son, Diff’rent Strokes and reality TV star Todd Bridges, where she had been in hospice care. Rep Elizabeth Much confirmed her death to Deadline, but no cause was given.

Born on August 1, 1941, Betty Bridges got her screen start guesting on such 1970s TV shows as Police Woman, Charlie’s Angels and Norman Lear’s Good Times and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. She continued to work consistently for much of the next four decades, mostly in TV. She made guest appearances in popular series including Wonder Woman; What’s Happening!!; Quincy, M.E.; CHiPs; Lou Grant; Diff’rent Strokes...

Like stadiums full of sports fans carrying brooms to a game where their team has a chance to complete a sweep against an archrival, the Emmys have been home to a string of dominant showings in recent years. But while sweeps can be thrilling to fans of the shows that have run the table on Emmy night, can we just admit that they’re not much fun for most of us?

And with final voting now underway, can we remind voting members of the Television Academy that it might be a good thing to divvy up those golden statuettes?

First, a little background: In 2020, “Schitt’s Creek” became the first comedy series ever to go 7-for-7 at the Primetime Emmy Awards, winning all of the ceremony’s comedy categories: Outstanding Comedy Series, awards for directing and writing, plus the two for lead acting and two for supporting acting.

The next year,...

August 9

Q: On this day exactly 50 years ago, August 9 1974, Richard Nixon became the first and only President to resign his office. Nixon also significantly brought Best Actor nominations to two actors who played him on screen. Who are they?

A: Anthony Hopkins was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for 1995’s Nixon. Frank Langella was nominated in the same category for 2008’s Frost/Nixon. Langella had previously won a Tony Award for the play on which that movie was based. Only one actor has ever won a Best Actor Oscar for playing a real life U.S. President. Daniel Day Lewis took his third Lead Actor Academy Award in 2012’s Lincoln. Raymond Massey was also previously nominated as Lincoln for Best Actor in 1940’s Abe Lincoln In Illinois. Nixon and Lincoln are the only real life U.S. Presidents to be responsible for multiple Oscar nominations for those who played them.

Over the course of a screen acting career that stretched across fifty years, Charles Cyphers racked up 100 credits, but he’s best known for his collaborations with John Carpenter, having appeared in the director’s Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, Someone’s Watching Me!, Elvis, The Fog, and Escape from New York. His most popular character was Sheriff Leigh Brackett from the 1978 Halloween, a role he reprised in 1981’s Halloween II and, after a forty year absence from the Halloween franchise, 2021’s Halloween Kills. Sadly, we’ve lost this great character actor, as Variety reports that Cyphers has passed away “from a brief illness” at the age of 85.

Cyphers’ manager Chris Roe confirmed his passing to Variety and provided the following statement: “Charles was a lovable and sensitive man. He always had the best stories, and you got a full performance while he told you. He was a close friend and...

Charles Cyphers, known for his role as Sheriff Leigh Brackett in the “Halloween” franchise, died from a brief illness in Tucson, Ariz., on Sunday, his manager Chris Roe announced. He was 85.

“Charles was a lovable and sensitive man,” Roe said in a statement shared with Variety. “He always had the best stories, and you got a full performance while he told you. He was a close friend and client on many years who will be dearly missed.”

Cyphers first played Sheriff Brackett in John Carpenter’s 1978 horror film “Halloween,” starring Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie in her film debut. He reprised his role in the 1981 sequel “Halloween II” and 2021’s “Halloween Kills.”

Cyphers initially worked with Carpenter on the 1976 action film “Assault on Precinct 13,” in which he played Starker, a police officer. After the original “Halloween,” he appeared in the filmmaker’s 1980 horror pic “The Fog” and 1981 film “Escape From New York.

Based on the merits of its first two seasons, Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show” was nominated for three of the four regular drama series acting Emmys, with its lone elusive category having been the supporting female one. Now, following its submission of seven featured ladies on the initial 2024 Emmy ballot, it has simultaneously scored a whopping four Best Drama Supporting Actress mentions, joining only three other series that have done the same or better.

The supporting actresses representing “The Morning Show” on this year’s final Emmy ballot are Nicole Beharie, Greta Lee, Karen Pittman, and Holland Taylor. Only Pittman has been part of the cast since the show’s inception, as Lee and Taylor first appeared in season two and Beharie was just added ahead of season three. All are Emmy newcomers except Taylor, whose eight earlier nominations led to a single win in this category for “The Practice...

By the time 1999 rolled around, David E. Kelley had already more than proven his bonafides as a megaproducer and an Emmy dynamo nearly without peer. He had already won five statuettes as a producer for Best Drama Series – three for “L.A. Law” and two more for “Picket Fences” (1993 and ’94) – as well as another pair for writing Emmys for “L.A. Law” (’90 and ’91). Oh, and there was also a 1998 Best Drama win for “The Practice,” giving him six trophies for top series and eight Emmys overall. Not too shabby. In fact, his run of winning Best Drama five times in six years had never happened. The closest anyone came was Kelley’s mentor Steven Bochco’s run of four straight for “Hill Street Blues” in the early 1980s.

And still, even with all of that, the best was yet to come for Kelley.

In ’99, the producer was coming off his “Practice” win...

There’s a generation who know him as Sheldon’s idol Professor Proton in an Emmy-winning turn on “The Big Bang Theory.” Another generation remembers him as Buddy’s adoptive dad in the film “Elf” (2003). Yet another generation grew to love him as writer-turned-innkeeper Dick Loudon, who’s surrounded by eccentric Vermonters on the sitcom “Newhart” (1982-1990). But before all those memorable characters, Bob Newhart won over audiences as psychologist Dr. Robert “Bob” Hartley on “The Bob Newhart Show,” which premiered 50 years ago on September 16, 1972.

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Emmy-nominated comedy, plus the 93rd birthday of the TV Academy Hall of Fame inductee, by touring our photo gallery ranking the 25 best episodes.

Set in Chicago, Bob splits time between his home life with his loving but sometimes flippant wife Emily (Suzanne Pleshette) and their neighbor and friend Howard Borden (Bill Daily), an airline navigator (later co-pilot) who drops in unannounced A Lot.

James B. Sikking, known for his notable leading roles on Hill Street Blues and Doogie Howser, M.D., has died at the age of 90. The actor’s death was caused by complications related to dementia, according to his publicist Cynthia Snyder (via Variety). He died at home in Los Angeles on Saturday, July 13.

Sikking’s career began in the mid-1950s, when he made his acting debut as an uncredited union sergeant in the film Five Guns West. Over the next three decades, the actor would take on roles on...

According to The Hollywood Reporter, television vet and character actor James B. Sikking was announced by his publicist, Cynthia Snyder, to have passed away this Saturday at his Los Angeles home due to complications with dementia. Sikking was a regular and a frequent collaborator of Steven Bochco shows. The actor is known for portraying the stern Lt. Howard Hunter on the cop series, Hill Street Blues, as well as playing the dad to the titular teenage doctor character played by Neil Patrick Harris on the drama Doogie Howser M.D. Sikking was 90 at the time of his passing.

In addition to being known for television, Sikking can also be seen in a bevy of notable film roles. He played a mocking hitman in the John Boorman film Point Blank (1967). He was also the stuffy Captain Styles who James T. Kirk would defy in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), directed by Leonard Nimoy.

James B. Sikking, the veteran actor best known for playing Lt. Howard Hunter on the hit 1980s television series Hill Street Blues, has died. He was 90. Sikking passed away peacefully at his Los Angeles, California, home due to complications from Dementia on Saturday, July 13, according to his publicist, Cynthia Snyder. “In a remarkable career, Sikking’s wonderfully exciting face gave us drama, comedy, tragedy and hilarious farse. His career spanned over six decades in television, film and on stage,” Snyder said in a statement (per Deadline). “His talent, integrity and imagination intrigued and delighted audiences.” Born on March 5, 1934, in Los Angeles, California, Sikking graduated from UCLA in 1959 and began his on-screen acting career in the 1960s, appearing in episodes of Perry Mason, Combat!, The Outer Limits, The Fugitive, Bonanza, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Hogan’s Heroes, and more. ABC/courtesy Everett Collection He would continue to be a regular on television throughout the 1970s,...

James B. Sikking, the Steven Bochco favorite who portrayed the no-nonsense Lt. Howard Hunter on Hill Street Blues and the good-hearted doctor dad on Doogie Howser, M.D., has died. He was 90.

Sikking died Saturday at his Los Angeles home of complications from dementia, publicist Cynthia Snyder announced.

Although best known for his TV work, Sikking did have notable turns on the big screen as a mocking hitman in John Boorman’s Point Blank (1967), as the stuffy Captain Styles in Leonard Nimoy‘s Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and as the director of the FBI in Alan J. Pakula’s The Pelican Brief (1993).

After spending the better part of two decades showing up on such shows as The Outer Limits, Honey West, The Fugitive, Hogan’s Heroes and Mannix, Sikking was cast as the pipe-smoking Hunter, leader of the Swat-like Emergency Action Team, on NBC’s Hill Street Blues.

James B. Sikking, known for his roles as Lt. Howard Hunter on “Hill Street Blues” and the titular character’s father on “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” has died. He was 90.

Sikking died Saturday of complications from dementia, his publicist Cynthia Synder said in a statement Sunday evening.

“In a remarkable career, Sikking’s wonderfully exciting face gave us drama, comedy, tragedy and hilarious farse,” Snyder shared with Variety. “His career spanned over six decades in television, film and on stage.”

Sikking was widely recognized for his portrayal of Howard Hunter on the police procedural series “Hill Street Blues,” which aired from 1981 to 1987 on NBC. He received an Emmy nomination in 1984 for his performance as the clean-cut, pipe-smoking lieutenant.

After “Hill Street Blues,” Sikking played Dr. David Howser, father of Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris), for all four seasons of the ABC medical sitcom from 1989 to 1993.

He portrayed a police officer again for Steven Bochco,...

James B. Sikking, an actor best known for playing Hill Street Blues‘ Swat leader Lt. Howard Hunter and the father of Doogie Howser M.D., died peacefully at his Los Angeles home, of complications from Dementia, on July 13. He was 90.

“In a remarkable career, Sikking’s wonderfully exciting face gave us drama, comedy, tragedy and hilarious farce. His career spanned over six decades in television, film and on stage,” the late actor’s publicist, Cynthia Snyder, said in a statement. “His talent, integrity and imagination intrigued and delighted audiences.”

More from TVLineJacoby Jones, NFL Great and Dancing With the Stars Finalist,...

James B. Sikking, the prolific, Emmy-nominated actor known for his roles on Hill Street Blues and Doogie Howser, M.D., died July 13 of dementia. He was 90.

Sikking died at his Los Angeles home, where his publicist Cynthia Snyder tells Deadline that the actor was surrounded by family in his final moments.

“In a remarkable career, Sikking’s wonderfully exciting face gave us drama, comedy, tragedy and hilarious farse. His career spanned over six decades in television, film and on stage,” said Snyder in a statement, adding: “His talent, integrity and imagination intrigued and delighted audiences.”

Sikking earned an Emmy nom in 1984 for playing the gung-ho S.W.A.T. leader Lt. Howard Hunter on Hill Street Blues during the show’s full 1981-87 run and co-starred as the title character’s father Dr. David Howser on Doogie Howser, M.D. from 1989-93. He also was a regular on Brooklyn South in 1997-98 appeared on such shows as Rawhide,...

Beverly Hills, 90210 star Shannen Doherty has died following a lengthy battle with breast cancer. She was 53 years old.

“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty,” Doherty’s publicist Leslie Sloane tells TVLine. “On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease. The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace.”

More from TVLine<em>Charmed’</em>s Alyssa Milano Pays Tribute...

Over the weekend, my phone blew up with texts from TV comedy writers who were in the middle of watching the latest season of The Bear. Some were enjoying the new episodes, others were frustrated by them, but not one person said this story of toxic workplaces, addiction and mental illness, and ruinous personal relationships was a barrel of laughs — this despite the fact that FX, Hulu, and Emmy voters everywhere continue to consider it a comedy. As one writer put it, “I like the show a lot, but it...

Billy Crudup is the odds-on favorite to win his second Best Drama Supporting Actor trophy for “The Morning Show,” and if that happens, he’ll carve out a unique place in Emmy history. Crudup would not be the first person to win the category more than once, but he would defy a trend by prevailing in non-consecutive years.

No acting category loves consecutive wins as much as Best Drama Supporting Actor does. Five men have won the award twice — all accomplishing the feat in back-to-back years: Stuart Margolin, Michael Conrad, Larry Drake, Ray Walston and Matthew Macfadyen. “Game of Thrones'” Peter Dinklage holds the category record with four victories, and while he did not bag all four consecutively, he claimed his last two in 2018 and 2019 (his first two were in 2011 and 2015). Aaron Paul, the first person to win the category three times, is thus far the only multiple winner who...

In September 2021, Olivia Colman bagged her first career Emmy for “The Crown” despite having failed on her Oscar bid for “The Father” five months earlier. This made her the 16th performer to triumph at the Emmys after going home empty-handed at the same year’s Oscars and the fourth to do so during the 21st century. The release of the 2024 Emmy nominations ballots confirmed that nine of the 16 actors who lost at the latest Oscars ceremony are capable of joining Colman on said list.

Gold Derby’s current Emmy odds indicate that the man and woman with the best hopes of following in Colman’s footsteps are Ryan Gosling and Jodie Foster, who just earned their respective third and fifth Academy Award notices for their supporting turns in “Barbie” and “Nyad.” They are now generally expected to share in the experience of being first-time acting Emmy nominees thanks to his...

Tom Bower, the veteran character actor best known for prominent turns on The Waltons and in Die Hard 2, has died. A family member confirmed the news to Deadline’s sister publication The Hollywood Reporter. He was 86.

Bower never had what one might call a “breakout” part, but he was an actor one recognized from, well, everywhere. His more than 180 screen credits include appearances on The Rockford Files, Lou Grant, Quincy M.E., Miami Vice, Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, The X-Files, Law & Order and many other TV staples of the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s.

And he kept on working. In the past 15 years, Bower was on Ray Donovan, Bosch, Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, The Office and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He also played the father of Bob Odenkirk’s character on Lucky Hank and had a part in Vince Gilligan’s El Camino, A Breaking Bad Movie.

Terrence Beasor, a veteran character and voice-over actor best known for Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, The Gods Must Be Crazy and recurring roles on The Middle and Raising Hope, has died. He was 89.

A rep said Beasor died May 28 at his home in Santa Monica with his wife of 55-plus years, actress Muriel Minot, by his side.

Beasor appeared on dozens of TV shows during his 40-year career, including The Incredible Hulk, The Greatest American Hero, The A-Team, Hardcastle and McCormick, Hill Street Blues, Cheers, L.A. Law, Dynasty, Hunter, Knot’s Landing, Simon & Simon, Police Squad!, Chicago Hope, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Scandal, Angie Tribeca, The Grinder, Hot In Cleveland, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, The District, Suddenly Susan, Days of Our Lives and Murder, She Wrote.

He also did voice work on several Star Trek series and video games and offscreen announcing on movies and TV shows including Jaws: The Revenge,...

Detective Murtaugh sees a mysterious man pull out a weapon in the middle of a police station. He heroically jumps into action to protect, serve, and tackle. But it turns out it is just good ol’ Mel Gibson, who overpowers and flips this 50-year-old character, played by a 40-year-old actor, Danny Glover. Humiliated and hurt, Danny Glover spits out an iconic line that has come to define his career and become a meme, “I’m too old for this shit.” Danny Glover was too old for this shit three decades ago… but he has kept on grinding, making motion pictures ever since. But maybe Danny Glover is too old for this shit… if that “shit” is good movies. Oh, I kid! I kid!

Glover may not have any Oscars, but he did get a late start in his movie career, having broken out in his 40s. So, what has Danny Glover,...

Richard Foronjy, who spent more than eight years in prison before he turned to acting and appeared in such films as Serpico, Midnight Run, Repo Man and Carlito’s Way, died Sunday, his family announced. He was 86.

Foronjy said he was arrested more than 20 times for “forgery, bank robbery, credit card rip-offs, assorted crimes and skullduggery … [guilty of] almost everything except drugs and homicide,” he said in a 1987 interview with Upi’s Vernon Scott.

The Brooklyn native was convicted only once, but that got him an 8½-year stretch in the New York prisons Sing Sing and Attica before he was released when he was 32.

In Hollywood, not surprisingly, Foronjy specialized in portraying cops and crooks.

He was a cop killer in his screen debut, Serpico (1973), and cops in The Morning After (1986) and Prince of the City (1981), all for Sidney Lumet. “I was especially good at playing cops, no doubt because I got to...

If you’re not caught up on your peak TV viewing, consider this your spoiler warning. Four months have passed since Jennifer Coolidge bagged her second consecutive Emmy for “The White Lotus” and thus became the eighth drama or comedy series regular honored by the TV academy for a season in which her character died. Emmy nominations of this kind have become quite common in recent years, and it’s possible that over 15% of the 2024 lead and supporting continuing series contenders will be added to the list.

The current consensus among more than 2,400 Gold Derby users is that five continuing series performers whose characters perished within the past year will receive Emmy nominations, while a few others have outside shots at recognition. This does not include characters like Anakin Skywalker who died before their shows’ latest seasons began but appear as ghosts or in flashbacks. Undead characters like most of...

If time is a river, as the oft-repeated phrase echoes through the second season of Prime Video’s mysterious, existential Western and metaphysical sci-fi series, the “Outer Range,” then the unrelenting flow of time is also an unforgivable force that stops for no man. Weirder and darker than ever, and yet somehow streamlined and more ruggedly focused, thanks to the series’ new veteran showrunner Charles Murray, “Outer Range” continues to grip and mesmerize with its mind-bending, enigmatic blend of family anxieties, crisis-of-faith dilemmas, impending land rivalries, and the burden of keeping secrets.

Continue reading ‘Outer Range’ Review: Time Is A River For Josh Brolin In Still Weird, Existentially Compelling Season 2 at The Playlist.

"Vanishing Point" isn't exactly a mainstream classic, but for a portion of moviegoers who like to see cars go fast and people do drugs, it's pretty much unmissable. Based on that description alone, it makes sense that the cult film's audience grew when it was directly referenced in Quentin Tarantino's 2007 road slasher film "Death Proof." Other directors who are major fans of the film include Edgar Wright and Steven Spielberg, who once told Entertainment Weekly it was one of his favorite movies.

The 1971 film didn't feature many stars, but did include a handful of actors who would become famous for other projects in the years following the film. Cleavon Little, who played radio DJ Super Soul in the film, went on to star in Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" three years later, while actress Charlotte Rampling, who was Oscar nominated for her work in "45 Years" in 2016, apparently appeared as...

Upon sweeping the four main drama acting categories at the 2021 Emmy Awards, “The Crown” stars Olivia Colman, Josh O’Connor, Gillian Anderson, and Tobias Menzies all joined a special roster of lead or supporting TV academy honorees who were not part of their shows’ original casts. As members of the expansive Netflix series’ second of three distinct ensembles, this quartet and their co-stars were replaced ahead of season five by a new group of actors, some of whom could be added to said exclusive winners club later this year.

According to Gold Derby’s odds, the performer from the sixth and final season of “The Crown” with the best shot at Emmy glory is supporting female frontrunner Elizabeth Debicki. She played the role of Princess Diana for two seasons, finishing the job started by younger season four cast member Emma Corrin. The characters embodied by predicted nominees Imelda Staunton (Queen Elizabeth II...

In a very unsettled drama Emmy field, one of the few ostensible locks this year is Elizabeth Debicki. With 4/1 odds, she is the runaway favorite to take home the Best Drama Supporting Actress Emmy for her turn as Princess Diana on “The Crown,” which would make the Netflix series the sixth show to deliver two different winners in the category.

Twelve shows have won drama supporting actress more than once. Of those, seven shows have had one person triumph repeatedly, including “Lou Grant” for Nancy Marchand, who won a record four times, and most recently “Ozark” for three-time champ Julia Garner. The five shows that saw the wealth spread among its cast members are “St. Elsewhere”, “The West Wing”, “Hill Street Blues”, “The Practice” and “thirtysomething”. No show has had more than two cast members win the award.

Interestingly, Marchand (1980-82; her first win was in ’78), Roberts (1983), Woodard (1984), Thomas (1985), Bartlett...

The premise of the 1977 sitcom "Three's Company" -- adapted from the 1973 British series "Man About the House" -- would likely never fly in 2024. Roommates Janet (Joyce DeWitt) and Chrissy (Suzanne Somers) require a third roommate to pay rent in their expensive Santa Monica apartment. They stumble across Jack Tripper (John Ritter), an aspiring culinary student whom they get along with. It so happens, though, that the building's landlord, Mr. Roper (Normal Fell), is ultra-conservative and refuses to let unmarried men and women share his apartments. To get around this contrived contingency, Janet and Chrissy tell Mr. Roper that Jack is gay. This satisfies the landlord but opens Jack up to homophobic jibes.

Fell eventually left the series and was replaced by the high-strung Mr. Furley, played by Don Knotts. Mr. Furley, it seems, required the charade to continue. Somers also left the show in its last two seasons and was...

Alfre Woodard has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple TV+ drama series “The Last Frontier,” Variety has learned exclusively.

Woodard joins previously announced series lead Jason Clarke in the show, as well as cast members Haley Bennett, Dominic Cooper, Simone Kessell, Tait Blum, and “Reservation Dogs” alum Dallas Goldtooth. Apple has given the show a 10-episode order.

Per the official description, the series “follows US Marshall Frank Remnick (Clarke), the lone Marshal in charge of the quiet, rugged barrens of Alaska, whose jurisdiction is turned upside-down when a prison transport plane crashes in the remote wilderness, setting free dozens of violent inmates. Tasked with protecting the town he’s vowed to keep safe, he begins to suspect the crash wasn’t an accident, but the first step of a well-crafted plan with international political implications.”

Woodard will star as Bradford, described as “a top leader in the CIA.” This...

Eighties television was a land of new ideas that hadn’t been seen before. It was also a place where old tropes were made shiny and new with a modern sheen that intrigued audiences and would produce classics like the hospital drama St. Elsewhere and the crime drama Hill Street Blues.

It would be a humdinger of a decade within the genre of mystery and detectives. It would see the return of the iconic detective Mike Hammer in a new series and would also bring us the dramedy Moonlighting. We’d also be treated to one of the greatest performances of Sherlock Holmes ever with the amazing Jeremy Brett.

It would also bring us a female detective who, in a world filled with male counterparts, couldn’t catch a break until she made up her own male counterpart in a boss named Remington Steele. The rest, as they say, is history,...

Greg Finley, an actor, voiceover artist and Adr (additional dialogue replacement) specialist with credits including Robotech, The X-Files and Men in Black II, has died. He was 76.

Finley, who appeared and/or was heard in hundreds of movies and TV episodes, died Feb. 1 while on vacation in Phoenix, his son Guy Finley announced.

Finley served as a writer, director and voice actor on the 1980s syndicated anime series Robotech and created sounds for the Cigarette Smoking Man (played by William B. Davis) on The X-Files in the 1990s and a group of tiny aliens in Men in Black II (2002).

He retired in 2018 but still worked occasionally, appearing as recently as last year on the Netflix docuseries The King Who Never Was.

Greg Ronald Finley was born in Los Angeles on May 8, 1947. His father, Larry, a cousin of Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, hosted shows on Ktla-tv and Kfwb radio and...

Rod Holcomb, an Emmy-winning TV director of “ER,” “Lost” and other series, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 80.

Holcomb was best known for directing both the pilot and the series finale of “ER,” winning an Emmy for that farewell episode in 2009. He was nominated four four Primetime Emmys over his career, and also nominated for three DGA awards — winning one in 1995 for the “ER” pilot. Holcomb directed 21 pilots over his career, with the remarkable track record of 15 going to series.

“Every good director will elevate the material on the page. His job is to elevate it visually, to give it the weight of an art form,” Holcomb told Variety in 2011. “In a way, it’s easier to determine with a show that you know very well as a viewer, and if you know the contours and the voice of the show, then you can more easily answer some key questions.

Rod Holcomb, an Emmy-winning ER director who also helmed Battlestar Galactica, The Six Million Dollar Man, China Beach and dozens of other shows and was a longtime Directors Guild negotiating committee menber, has died. He was 80.

The DGA said Holcomb died Wednesday in Los Angeles after a long illness.

“The DGA deeply mourns the passing of Rod Holcomb — a visionary director whose impact on television direction and the creative rights of television directors cannot be overstated,” DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter said in a statement. “Rod’s influence as a pilot director on shows like China Beach and ER among many others, resonated deeply with directors and audiences alike, leaving a cultural imprint. His pioneering use of Steadicam and other techniques brought a more cinematic style to television, helping establish a visual aesthetic that continues today.”

Holcomb helmed hundreds of TV episodes during his 40-year career, scoring four career Emmy...

In the most important scene of the first season of The Sopranos — arguably the most important scene of television of the last 25 years, if not much longer — Mob boss Tony Soprano stalks and murders Febby Petrulio, a former wiseguy who testified against friends of Tony’s and then went into hiding.

What would have happened, I asked Sopranos creator David Chase recently, if he had pitched the same idea 25 years before that, back when he was a young writer on The Rockford Files, a hit NBC drama starring James Garner as a wisecracking private detective?...

At a time when syndicated science fiction was just Star Trek series, it took some guts on Warner Bros’ part to try something darker and more experimental with J. Michael Straczynski’s Babylon 5, designed to tell a sprawling epic that was more political than it was space opera. The show arrived thirty years ago and was successful enough to spawn spin-off five telefilms and a short-lived spinoff, spanning 1993-2007.

The core of it, the 110 episodes from the original five-season series, have been remastered and collected on a nice Blu-ray box set from Warner Home Entertainment. Also included is the original pilot film.

Set in the 23rd century, the Earth Alliance has found its place among star-faring races, notably the Minbari and the Centauri. Some of these races are fine with humans; others wish them gone. Then there are the Vorlons, and no one knows what they want.

Babylon 5 is a gigantic,...

Jack Axelrod, the actor who played the role of Victor Jerome on General Hospital, has died. He was 93.

Multiple reports indicate that Axelrod died on Nov. 28 of natural causes in Los Angeles.

Axelrod was featured on the ABC soap for 40 episodes between 1987 and 1989. He had previously made guest appearances in Kojak (1977), Hill Street Blues (1984), Dallas (1983), The Judge (1986), Dynasty (1987), Outlaws (1987) and Night Court (1989).

“I had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with him in his last years, as he had no immediate family,” representative Jennifer Garland said in a statement to EW. “We spent much time outdoors, where Jack loved to sketch, read news articles, and recite Shakespearean sonnets.”

Following his stint on General Hospital, Axelrod went on to play Arnie Zimmer on three episodes of Knots Landing between 1989 and 1990. Guest appearances would follow on shows like Murphy Brown (1992), Everybody Loves Raymond (1999), Boys Meets World (1999), Good vs Evil (1999), Jack & Jill...