Saying goodbye to the stars we lost in 2024 is sometimes a double emotional blow. It's not just about mourning the talented people who entertained us with their performances. In many cases, it's time to revisit the outstanding roles they've played in film and television.
Whether they're formidable heroes, complex villains, or ordinary individuals just fighting to survive, these fictional characters are our companions through the decades. Sometimes it's difficult to separate the role from the actor. But that's okay, because it's this fusion that makes acting so special.
Here are some of the men and women who deserve a final thank you for their indelible characters on screen. Oh, how we'll miss her – and how we'll keep re-watching her unforgettable roles in streaming and syndication.
Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing (“Friends,” NBC)
On his television program address label he was known as Chanandler Bong. For the rest of us, Perry's Chandler tapped into the authentic fears and hopes of someone who fears he's not worthy of love or success, but finds himself so anyway because of his basic kindness and decency. Who wouldn't want to put a turkey over their head and do a silly dance to win their heart?
Andre Braugher as Captain Raymond Holt (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” Fox and NBC)
Braugher's depth as a serious actor was evident in works such as “Glory” and NBC's “Homicide.” But as talented as he was in theater, Braugher brought something special to comedy. Tough on the outside, compassionate and quirky on the inside, Braugher's captain Holt was perfect. What else is there to say? As Marc Evan Jackson (who played Holt’s husband Kevin Cozner) tweeted after Braugher’s death, using a line from Walt Whitman’s poem about the death of Abraham Lincoln: “O Captain. My captain.”
Suzanne Somers as Chrissy Snow (“Three's Company,” ABC)
In the disco era, network television was no more tongue-in-cheek than “Three's Company,” the sitcom about a straight man who pretends to be gay in order to be with two women. As Christmas “Chrissy” Snow, Somers brought an endearing, goofy naivety to her stereotypical dumb blonde role. She became an overnight sensation, as did Chrissy — and will forever be — whose pure heart and impeccable comedic timing transformed a cartoon into a woman you'd be proud to have as a roommate or significant other.
Ryan O'Neal as Oliver Barrett IV (“Love Story”, 1970)
When O'Neal's impossibly dashing Oliver, a Harvard student and heir to an old money fortune, fell in love with Ali MacGraw's working-class Jenny Cavilleri, it was a romance for the ages – or at least the best tearjerker of the Vietnam era. Somewhere, Oliver is still sitting alone in the snow-covered stands, mourning the loss of his vibrant young wife. Love means never having to apologize for falling so deeply in love with him.
David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin (“The Man from UNCLE,” NBC)
In the midst of the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union, a Russian spy for global law enforcement boosted primetime ratings. Long before his “NCIS” days, Scottish actor McCallum turned secret agent Illya Kuryakin – who worked with Robert Vaughn's elegant Napoleon Solo – into an unlikely sex symbol. Illja, an enigmatic figure with a turtleneck sweater and a Beatle-esque haircut, was as committed to relaxation as Gorbachev was years later.
Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman (“Pee-wee's Playhouse,” CBS, “Pee-wee's Big Adventure,” 1985 and more)
Impatient, fun-loving, spoiled, and yet devoted to friends like Chairy, Jambi, Miss Yvonne, Cowboy Curtis, and all the others who populated his world of talking objects and whimsical gadgets, Pee-wee was a colossal figure in 1980s pop culture. Popular with children and adults alike, Pee-wee has created a world where difference is not only tolerated but embraced. Everyone – people, animals, robots, little claymation dinosaurs, talking clocks, etc. – was welcome in Pee-wee's playhouse.
Ron Cephas Jones as William Hill (“This Is Us,” NBC)
The talented character actor took the spotlight in the series, which explored how family relationships break down and evolve over time. As the biological father of Randall Pearson (Sterling K. Brown), William was convincing as he reunited with his adult son, was honest about their complicated relationship and apologized for “doing everything wrong by you.” Jones won two Emmys and a Screen Actors Guild Award for a role that showed that wisdom sometimes comes with pain and age.
Alan Arkin as Edwin Hoover (“Little Miss Sunshine,” 2006).
The veteran actor played the everyman Yossarian in 1970's “Catch-22,” a lonely deaf man in 1968's “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,” and a sadistic drug dealer in 1968's “Wait Until Dark.” In 1967, a blind Audrey Hepburn was threatened. But he won his only Oscar for a supporting role as a heroin-taking, tough-talking grandfather in the unconventional family comedy. Heartwarming climax? When Arkins Edwin – who teaches his anxious granddaughter Olive a strip club dance to the “Super Freak” for her children's beauty pageant – tells her that she is beautiful inside and out.
Frances Sternhagen as Bunny MacDougal (“Sex and the City,” HBO)
Sternhagen, a Tony winner who had already conquered television as Cliff Claven's mother on “Cheers,” poked fun at unbearable arrogance as the high-profile mother of Charlotte's (Kristin Davis) husband Trey (Kyle MacLachlan). Rich, privileged, and unwilling to admit her major role in her son's life, Sternhagen almost made you fall for the mother-in-law from hell.
Lance Reddick as Lt. Cedric Daniels (“The Wire,” HBO)
From “Lost” to “Bosch” to the “John Wick” series, Reddick regularly stole scenes with his intense, intimidating presence. In “The Wire” (arguably the best TV series of all time), Reddick brought confidence and depth to his role as a respected Baltimore police officer who refuses to succumb to corruption. In the end, Lt. Daniels too sincere for a broken police system. Yet he continued to fight for justice, a trait the real world needs now more than ever.
Tom Sizemore as Sgt. Mike Horvath (“Saving Private Ryan,” 1998)
While the Detroit native's inner turmoil, addiction and arrests shaped his personal life, it didn't stop Sizemore from leaving behind a legacy of major film roles in the 1990s. For eternity, he was his war-weary World War II soldier in Steven Spielberg's epic about the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation. In a key scene, Horvath shares his thoughts on the dangerous mission to find a soldier whose three brothers died in battle. “One day we might look back on this and decide that rescuing Private Ryan was the only sensible thing we could get out of this whole terrible mess,” Horvath says. “Like you said, Captain, maybe we do, then we'll all earn the right to go home.”
Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch (“Homicide” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” NBC)
A badass standup comedian with a heart of gold. Belzer gave his longtime detective a similar twist. With his penchant for caustic comments and conspiracy theories, Munch often hid how much he cared about the victims he encountered. But he didn't care. In a heartbreaking episode of “SVU,” Munch was seen reading a children's book to an abused little girl in a coma. Considering how many hours of reruns this series receives on cable, Munch will continue to keep us safe around the clock.
Cindy Williams (Shirley Feeney, “Laverne & Shirley,” ABC)
As one half of the female duo in the hit Happy Days spin-off, Williams was no Ethel to Penny Marshall's 1970s version of Lucy. Her Shirley may have tried to be more prim and proper than Laverne, but Williams was just as gifted as Marshall at the goofy physical comedy that kept the sitcom at the top of the Nielsen charts. For many young girls of the time, Shirley was proof that you could be nice and incredibly funny at the same time – and had more courage than the boys.
Richard Roundtree (Shaft, 1971)
They said that Shaft cat was a bad mother, and they were right. No one was hipper than New York detective John Shaft, who is tasked with rescuing the daughter of a kidnapped gangster in Harlem in this groundbreaking film. With his simmering confidence, Roundtree's Shaft is often described as the first black action hero. As the film's theme song goes, Shaft would “risk his neck for his brother,” but his most memorable achievement was creating a dynamic icon who could take on Hollywood bias and take it down in a fight.
Piper Laurie as Margaret White (“Carrie,” 1976)
Born Rosetta Jacobs in Detroit in 1932, Laurie was an actress celebrated for her performances as the alcoholic woman who connects with Paul Newman's pool shark in 1961's The Hustler. Laurie was that rare star who brought compassion to problematic, unlikeable characters. And, oh, could she be wild? As the fiercely religious mother in the '70s horror classic Carrie, she was almost scarier than her daughter's supernatural (and highly destructive) gifts.
Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore (the “Harry Potter” films)
Born in Ireland and raised in England, the knighted actor has had one of those illustrious acting careers that includes everything from British royalty to US presidents to gangsters. When Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in two Harry Potter films, died, Gambon took on the role of Hogwarts headmaster in six films. Even more than his outstanding performances in Gosford Park, The King's Speech and Judy, his Dumbledore will forever be remembered for his battle against the forces of evil.
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at [email protected].