Below are some of the noted people in arts and entertainment who died within the past year or so. Because of press deadlines, those who pass away late in the calendar year traditionally fail to get recognized. As a result, Back Stage has included a few people who died late in 2006.
The following are listed in chronological order; included are the ages at the time of death, and cause of death, as listed by Wikipedia.org and/or the Internet Broadway Database.
DECEMBER 2006-APRIL 2007
Frank Campanella, 87, Dec. 30, 2006, cause unknown; character actor who helped Robert De Niro learn Sicilian for The Godfather: Part II.
Frances Helm, 83, Dec. 30, 2006, cause unknown; Broadway and soap opera actor who was among the first women admitted to the Players Club in New York City.
Warren Pincus, 68, Dec. 31, 2006, cause unknown; longtime casting director for Broadway and Connecticut's Goodspeed Opera House.
Ben Gannon, 54, Jan. 4, cancer; Australian movie producer who worked with actors such as Russell Crowe, Judy Davis, and Charlotte Rampling.
Vincent Sardi Jr., 91, Jan. 4, complications from an infection; restaurateur and longtime owner of Sardi's, the unofficial home office of Broadway.
Yvonne De Carlo, 84, Jan. 8, natural causes; actor whose credits include The Munsters, The Ten Commandments, and the original Broadway production of Follies.
Iwao Takamoto, 81, Jan. 8, 2007, heart failure; Hanna-Barbera animator for Scooby-Doo, directed Charlotte's Web.
Carlo Ponti, 94, Jan. 9, pulmonary complications; husband of Sophia Loren, produced War and Peace, Doctor Zhivago, Fellini's La Strada, for which he earned an Oscar for best foreign-language film.
Irma St. Paule, 79 or 80, Jan. 9, cause unknown; Off-Broadway veteran also known for playing older ladies in TV and film (The Sopranos, Twelve Monkeys, Trees Lounge).
Solveig Dommartin, 45, Jan. 11, heart attack; actor who starred in Win Wenders' Wings of Desire.
Darlene Conley, 72, Jan. 12, stomach cancer; actor best known for soaps, including 18 years on The Bold and the Beautiful.
Ron Carey, 71, Jan. 16, stroke; actor who played Officer Levitt on Barney Miller.
Curt Dempster, 71, Jan. 19, suicide; artistic director and founder of Ensemble Studio Theatre.
Alfredo Ripstein, 90, Jan. 20, respiratory failure; producer credited with helping to shape Mexican film industry.
Liz Renay, 80, Jan. 22, internal bleeding; actor who starred in John Waters' film Desperate Living.
Glen Tetley, 80, Jan. 26, melanoma; choreographer for dances such as Pierrot Lunaire, Voluntaries, and Greening.
Bob Carroll Jr., 88, Jan. 27, natural causes; screenwriter for all of Lucille Ball's TV shows, including I Love Lucy, writer-producer for Alice.
Tige Andrews, 86, Jan. 27, heart attack; Capt. Greer on The Mod Squad who later became an accomplished painter.
Michael Shurtleff, 86, Jan. 28, cause unknown; Broadway casting director (Oliver!, 1776, original Chicago), author (Audition: Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part).
Sidney Sheldon, 89, Jan. 30, pneumonia; the Oscar-, Tony-, and Emmy-winning writer turned pulp novelist also created The Patty Duke Show, I Dream of Jeannie, and Hart to Hart.
Lee Bergere, 88, Jan. 31, cause unknown; TV character actor best known as Joseph Anders on Dynasty.
Barbara McNair, 72, Feb. 4, throat cancer; singer and actor who became first African-American woman with her own syndicated musical variety show on television.
Ian Richardson, 72, Feb. 8, natural causes; actor was a founding member of Royal Shakespeare Company, Tony nominee for 1976 revival of My Fair Lady.
Daniel McDonald, 46, Feb. 15, brain cancer; actor was Tony nominee for Steel Pier.
Walker Edmiston, 81, Feb. 15, voiceover actor for Keebler elves, H.R. Pufnstuf, and The Bugaloos.
Janet Blair, 85, Feb. 19, pneumonia; Columbia co-star in movies such as My Sister Eileen and Broadway.
Fons Rademakers, 86, Feb. 22, emphysema; Dutch director of The Assault, Oscar winner for best foreign film in 1986.
Bruce Bennett (nĂŠHarold Brix), 100, Feb. 24, hip fracture; actor (New Adventures of Tarzan, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre).
Andy Sidaris, 76, Feb. 7, throat cancer; television and B-movie director.
Richard Jeni., 49, Feb. 10, probable suicide; actor-comedian best known for standup specials on HBO.
Lana Saunders, 65, Feb. 10, multiple sclerosis; actor on Days of Our Lives.
Betty Hutton, 85, March 11, colon cancer; star of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek and Annie Get Your Gun.
Gareth Hunt, 65, March 14, pancreatic cancer; British TV actor, Upstairs, Downstairs and The New Avengers.
Stuart Rosenberg, 79, March 15, heart attack; director (The Naked City, Cool Hand Luke, The Pope of Greenwich Village).
Freddie Francis, 89, March 17, stroke; director and two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer (Sons and Lovers, Glory).
Calvert DeForest, 85, March 19, natural causes; actor best known as David Letterman sidekick Larry "Bud" Melman.
John P. Ryan, 70, March 20, stroke; actor (The Runaway Train, It Lives).
Calvin Lockhart, 72, March 29, stroke; actor (Uptown Saturday Night).
George Sewell, 82, April 1, cancer; British stage and TV actor (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy).
Salem Ludwig, 91, April 1, cause unknown; primarily New York stage actor and teacher.
Char Fontane, 55, April 1, breast cancer; TV, film, and stage actor.
Walter Nicks, 81, April 3, cause unknown; modern-dance choreographer among the first to use jazz and blues music.
Bob Clark, 67, April 4, car accident; director (A Christmas Story, Porky's).
Edward Mallory, 76, April 4, cause unknown; actor (Days of Our Lives).
Luigi Comencini, 90, April 6, cause unknown; Italian filmmaker (Tutti a Casa).
Barry Nelson, 89, April 7, cause unknown; prolific Broadway actor was the first performer (and only American) to play James Bond, in a 1954 TV adaptation of Ian Fleming's book Casino Royale.
A.J. Carothers, 75, April 9, cancer; TV and film writer (The Happiest Millionaire, creator of Nanny and the Professor).
Roscoe Lee Browne, 81, April 11, cancer; Emmy-winning actor (The Cosby Show) and Tony nominee (Two Trains Running).
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., 84, April 11, brain injury from a fall; novelist and playwright (Slaughterhouse-Five, Happy Birthday, Wanda June).
Jean-Pierre Cassel, 74, April 19, cancer; French actor (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines).
Kitty Carlisle Hart, 96, April 17, heart failure; actor, opera singer, To Tell the Truth panelist, and longtime chair of New York State Council on the Arts.
Conchita Montenegro, 94, April 22, natural causes; Spanish actor who was a contract player for MGM and Fox in '30s.
Anne Pitoniak, 85, April 22, cancer; actor and two-time Tony nominee ('night, Mother, 1994 revival of Picnic).
Michael Smuin, 68, April 23, heart attack; Emmy- and Tony-winning choreographer (1988 revival of Anything Goes) also directed and choreographed Sophisticated Ladies.
Henry LeTang, 91, April 26, unknown causes; Tony-winning choreographer (Black and Blue).
Jack Valenti, 85, April 26, stroke; longtime president of the Motion Picture Association of America.
Al Hunter Ashton, 49, April 27, heart failure; British actor and writer.
Dabbs Greer, 90, April 28, heart failure; longtime character actor in TV and film.
Tom Poston, 85, April 30, unknown causes; actor and comic known for work on Newhart, Mork and Mindy, and The Steve Allen Show.
Gordon Scott, 80, April 30, complications from surgery; portrayed Tarzan six times.
Compiled by Andrew Salomon; in addition to original reporting, sources include Wikipedia.org, The New York Times, Internet Movie Database, Internet Broadway Database, Lortel Archives — Internet Off-Broadway Database, and The Associated Press, among others.
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