Hail And Farewell To Those We Lost In 2024

Before we rush into 2025, the C&I crew is looking back and honoring those we lost in 2024. Hail and farewell to these Western and Indigenous celebrities who died this year.

January

N. Scott Momaday

N. Scott Momaday was widely credited with inspiring a renaissance in Native American literature with the publication of his 1968 Pulitzer Prizewinning novel House Made of Dawn. The Lawton, Oklahoma-born author, poet, essayist, and academic also drew upon his Kiowa heritage in The Way to Rainy Mountain, a 1969 book based on tales told to him by his grandmother. Momaday held the position of his native state’s poet laureate for two years and was an on-camera interviewee in several documentaries including Ken Burns’ The American Buffalo (2023). In 2007, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President George W. Bush for works “that celebrate and preserve Native American art and oral tradition.” Momaday died January 24 in Santa Fe. He was 89.

Photographed on Thursday February 6, 2020. Adolphe Pierre-Louis/JOURNAL (PHOTOGRAPHY: Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News).

February

Don Murray

Don Murray earned an Oscar nomination for his breakthrough performance in Bus Stop (1956) as a rodeo cowboy who falls for an ambitious singer (Marilyn Monroe). He also appeared in the western movies From Hell to Texas (1958), These Thousand Hills (1959), One Foot in Hell (1960), Kid Rodelo and The Plainsman (both 1966), and co-starred with Otis Young in The Outcasts, the 1968 – 69 series credited as the first TV western with a racially integrated lead cast. Murray died February 2 at age 94 in Goleta, California.

Toby Keith

Toby Keith was a proudly outspoken and sometimes controversial figure in the world of country music and beyond. Despite (or maybe because) of that, he claimed a fan base — and logged record sales — that could be counted in tens of millions. The Oklahoma-born singer-songwriter charted 20 No. 1 singles throughout his career including “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “I Love This Bar,” “Beer for My Horses,” “As Good as I Once Was,” and “How Do You Like Me Now?!” In 2021, he and Ricky Skaggs were among a handful of artists given National Medals of the Arts by President Donald Trump. Keith also starred in two feature films: Broken Bridges (2006), which cast him opposite such notables as Burt Reynolds and Tess Harper as a faded country star who seeks reconciliation with members of his extended family; and Beer for My Horses (2008), a rowdy comedy-drama in which Keith portrayed a small-town Oklahoma deputy sheriff pitted against a Mexican drug lord who kidnapped his girlfriend (Gina Gershon). “Toby Keith was big, brash, and never bowed down or slowed down for anyone,” wrote Kyle Young, CEO of Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “He relished being an outsider and doing things his way. For three decades, he reflected the defiant strength of the country music audience. His memory will continue to stand tall.” Keith was 62 when he passed away February 5 in Oklahoma after a lengthy battle with cancer.

After his death on February 5, stars such as Billy Dean, Blake Shelton, and Larry Gatlin took to social media to commemorate Toby Keith (PHOTOGRAPHY: Toby Keith/Courtesy Andrew Southam).

Robert M. Young

Robert M. Young earned his spurs with The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, the acclaimed 1982 western drama that was added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 2022. Edward James Olmos played the title role in the fact-based movie, which focused on the 1901 manhunt for a poor Tejano farmer accused of killing a Texas sheriff. Young’s other credits as a filmmaker include features starring Paul Simon (One-Trick Pony), Farrah Fawcett (Extremities), and Tom Hulce and Ray Liotta (Dominick and Eugene). Young passed away February 6 at age 99 in Los Angeles.

Charles Dierkop

Charles Dierkop, a veteran character actor best known for playing heavies in film and television, likely is most familiar to C&I readers for his portrayal of Hole in the Wall Gang outlaw George “Flat Nose” Curry in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). He later appeared opposite Butch Cassidy star Paul Newman again as Floyd, the bodyguard who serves as protection for Robert Shaw’s crime boss Doyle Lonnegan, in The Sting (1973). During a career that spanned more than six decades, Dierkop guested on several TV series, including Gunsmoke (three times), Bonanza, Lancer, The High Chaparral, Kung Fu, Alias Smith and Jones, and Bearcats!, and had a continuing role on the 1974 – 78 TV series Police Woman. He was 87 when he passed away on February 25 in Los Angeles.

Angie Dickinson (left), Ed Bernard (center left), Earl Holliman (center right), Charles Dierkop (right) posing on the set of Police Woman circa 1976.

March

Ron Harper

Ron Harper, best remembered by television viewers for his roles in Land of the Lost (1976) and the 1974 Planet of the Apes spinoff, frequently guested on such TV series as Tales of Wells Fargo, Wagon Train, The Deputy, The Tall Man, Shotgun Slade, Laramie, The Big Valley, and Walker, Texas Ranger. Harper died on March 21 in Los Angeles. He was 91.

Louise Gossett Jr.

Louis Gossett Jr. earned awards and critical acclaim for his vivid performances as the sage Fiddler in the groundbreaking 1977 TV miniseries Roots and the demanding gunnery sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 drama An Officer and a Gentleman. He also made a memorable impression early in his film career opposite James Garner in Skin Game (1971), an audaciously amusing comedy-drama about two brassy pre-Civil War con artists who operate a traveling scam in 1857 Missouri and Kansas. Working in tandem with Jason O’Rourke (Gossett), a New Jersey-born free Black man, smooth operator Quincy Drew (Garner) fleeces gullible marks with a cynical game plan: First, he sells his “slave” for top dollar; then, he helps Jason escape, so they can repeat their ploy in the next town. Gossett repeated his role as O’Rourke in Sidekicks (1974), a TV-movie spinoff with Larry Hagman in the Garner role; starred in the made-for-television westerns El Diablo (1990) and Return to Lonesome Dove (1993); and guested on such series as Cowboy in Africa, The Young Rebels, Bonanza, McCloud, and Alias Smith and Jones. Gossett died at age 87 on March 29 in Santa Monica, California.

Lou Gossett Jr. as Thomas Van Leek in El Diablo (1990).

April

Cole Brings Plenty

Cole Brings Plenty, who identified himself as Mnicoujou Lakota, co-starred in the first season of the Yellowstone spinoff 1923 as Pete Plenty Clouds, a Native American sheepherder who comes to the aid of a young woman fleeing an abusive Indian School. The nephew of actor Mo Brings Plenty, he and his uncle visited Washington, D.C., in May 2023 to talk with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs about the boarding schools and other issues facing Native Americans. Cole Brings Plenty also appeared in episodes of the INSP western TV series Into the Wild Frontier and The Tall Tales of Jim Bridger, and was a media student at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. He died April 5 at the age of 27.

Cole Brings Plenty supporting his uncle Mo Brings Plenty along with photographer Eugene Tapahe at C&I’s cover-reveal party (PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy Walt Burns).

May

Roger Corman

Acclaimed director and producer Roger Corman was 98 when he passed away May 9 in Santa Monica, California. Corman garnered fame, fortune, and influence as director and/or producer for literally hundreds of small-budget genre movies — earning himself the title “King of the Bs” in the process — and gave early breaks to such notables as Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, Ron Howard, and Sylvester Stallone. The title of his 1990 memoir, How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime, was never dismissed as an empty boast by anyone who followed his career. His first film as a director was a western — Five Guns West (1955) — was followed by rapid-fire hits like Apache Woman (also 1955), The Oklahoma Woman (1956), and Gunslinger (also 1956). And while Corman arguably is best known for directing a series of stylish 1960s thrillers loosely based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe (including House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Raven), he also produced some notable westerns, including the 1967 cult favorites The Shooting and Ride the Whirlwind, directed by Monte Hellman and cowritten by lead actor Jack Nicholson.

Dabney Coleman

Patrick Gottsch

Patrick Gottsch passed away at age 70 on Saturday, May 18. Gottsch, founder and president of Rural Media Group Inc., which is the parent company of RFD-TV, The Cowboy Channel, The Cowgirl Channel, and Rural Radio 147 — was described as an out-of-the-box thinker and visionary. “In the short time I’ve spent in the Western sports space this past year, I am glad to have had the opportunity to get to spend time with Patrick and hear the origins of Rural Media Group and so many stories of the rodeos, athletes, and fans he committed to serving,” says Deirdre Lester, CEO of Teton Ridge, the parent company of C&I. “His passion for rodeo culture, both domestic and abroad, was unparalleled and truly paved a path forward for the future of Western sports athletes, brands, and fans. His legacy is solidified in rodeo history and should be celebrated and honored.”

After Patrick Gottsch’s death on May 18, Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan took to social media to honor him and his contribution to Western media (PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy of RFD-TV).

Herbert “Hub” Baker

Cowboy and champion for Western heritage preservation Herbert “Hub” Baker passed away on May 20 in Weatherford, Texas at age 78. Baker served as the executive director of Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards for nearly three decades, championing for the preservation of the Stockyards as a staple of Western history. Throughout his tenure, he dramatically influenced the cowboy culture and entertainment scene. His contribu­tions include producing and hosting several major events, such as The Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering, The Texas Circuit Finals Rodeo, The Women’s National Finals, the first two years of the PBR tour, and the weekly Stockyards Championship Rodeo held at the Cowtown Coliseum.

Darryl Hickman

Darryl Hickman, older brother of Cat Ballou and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis star Dwayne Hickman, began his showbiz career as a child actor in such notable films as John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939) and George Cukor’s The Keeper of the Flame (1942). He also appeared in the western features Jackass Mail (1942) with Wallace Beery and Black Gold (1947) with Anthony Quinn, and later co-starred in Southwest Passage and Ricochet Romance (both 1954), as well as The Iron Sheriff (1957). Hickman was 92 when he passed away on May 22 in Montecito, California. 

Al Ruddy

Al Ruddy ensured for himself a place in film history by serving as producer of Francis Ford Coppola’s Oscar-winning The Godfather (1972). He also produced two pictures starring and directed by Clint Eastwood — the Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Cry Macho (2021) — and served as producer and co-writer of Bad Girls (1994), the first western with all female leads ever released by a major Hollywood studio. For television, he was credited as co-creator of the original Walker, Texas Ranger series and How the West Was Won. Ruddy died in Los Angeles on May 25. He was 94. 

Tom Bower

Tom Bower amassed an impressive array of TV and movie credits during his decades-long career as a character actor but likely is best remembered by viewers for playing Dr. Curtis Willard in The Waltons. He also played a translator whose botched interpretation of testimony by a Mexican- American farmer (Edward James Olmos) has fatal consequences in Robert M. Young’s The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982), which was added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 2022. Bower passed away on May 30 at age 86 in Los Angeles. 

June

Janis Paige

Janis Paige was the toast of Broadway when she starred in the original production of Pajama Game (1954). She later replaced Angela Lansbury in the long-running Mame (1968) and played Annie Oakley in touring productions of Annie Get Your Gun. Her film credits include the westerns Cheyenne (1947), The Younger Brothers (1949), and Welcome to Hard Times (1967), and the musicals Romance on the High Seas (1948) and Silk Stockings (1957). Paige died June 2 in Los Angeles. She was 101. 

Mark James

Mark James received two Grammy Awards in 1983 — Best Country Song and Song of the Year — for co-writing (with Johnny Christopher and Wayne Carson) “You Were Always On My Mind,” a signature hit for Willie Nelson also recorded by such diverse artists as Elvis Presley, The Pet Shop Boys, and Brenda Lee. He also wrote or co-wrote such songs as “Hooked on a Feeling,” “Suspicious Minds,” “Sunday Sunrise,” and the last No. 1 hit for Presley during The King’s lifetime, “Moody Blue.” The Houston native was 83 when he died June 8 in Nashville.

Donald Sutherland

The prolific and prodigious Canadian-born actor passed away Thursday, June 20, in Miami at age 88. Most recently seen in the limited-run series Lawmen: Bass Reeves as Judge Isaac Parker, who hired the title character as the first Black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi River, Donald Sutherland repeatedly demonstrated his extraordinary versatility through a career that spanned seven decades. David Oyelowo, who starred as Bass Reeves, remembers Sutherland fondly: “Given the iconic status he rightly achieved,” Oyelowo told Deadline, “having a front row seat to Donald Sutherland’s last onscreen performance was both a privilege and clear evidence to me of his deep passion for the craft of acting. The glint in his eye was that of an inquisitive, hungry artist still on the hunt for the truth. Seeing that glint, up close, in the eyes of a legend was something to behold.”

Donald Sutherland as Judge Isaac Parker in Lawmen: Bass Reeves.

Richard “Kinky” Friedman

Prolific musician, novelist, humorist, and politician Richard “Kinky” Friedman passed away on June 27 at his family home of Echo Hill Ranch at age 79. Famed as a jack of many trades, Friedman gained notability for his satirical take on pressing issues facing the country, pulling no punches with his boundary-breaking music and performances. Known by some for his 1970s satirical country band, Kinky Friedman and The Texas Jewboys, Friedman has been hailed by country icons such as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson for his provocative work. Fans may also remember Friedman for his boisterous campaign for governor in 2006. Friedman ran as an independent against Republican incumbent Rick Perry, finishing fourth in the race. Perry honored the provocateur with a statement to The Texas Tribune, stating, “Kinky Friedman was a larger than life Texas icon and will be remembered as one of the most interesting personalities in Texas politics.”

July

Rusty Golden

Rusty Golden, the son of Oak Ridge Boy William Lee Golden, passed away Monday, July 1, at age 65 in his Hendersonville, Tennessee home. Through a slew of collaborations with his father and brothers, Golden established himself as a noteworthy solo artist, songwriter, and award-winning keyboard player during his decades-long career. Rusty was born January 3, 1959, in Brewton, Alabama, as the eldest son of William Lee and Frogene Golden. In 1972, his musical life took a significant turn when he attended an Elton John concert. After this show, Rusty passed the drumsticks over to his brother Chris and started learning how to play the piano. By 17, he started touring as keyboardist for Larry Gatlin, and eventually played on several studio recordings, including Gatlin’s Love Is Just A Game and Marty Stuart’s concept album The Pilgrim. What followed was a musical adventure full of accolades, camaraderie, and family collaborations, that unfortunately ended too soon.

Joe Bonsall

Joe Bonsall, a 50-year member of the Grammy-winning country-gospel quartet The Oak Ridge Boys, passed away Tuesday, July 9 from complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. The multitalented Philadelphia native was 76. The tragedy comes just one week after the death of Rusty Golden. Bonsall had announced last January in a statement posted on social media that he was retiring from performing due to failing health. “Many of you know I have been battling a slow onset (over 4 years now) of a neuromuscular disorder,” Bonsall said. “I am now to a point that walking is impossible so I have basically retired from the road. It has just gotten too difficult.” Friends and fans of the country legends paid their respects on social media and beyond, with David and Howard Bellamy of The Bellamy Brothers saying, “Heartbreaking to hear the news about Joe Bonsall passing. Joey was a true road brother and a great friend for many years. Deepest Condolences to his family and to all the Oak Ridge Boys organization and his many fans.”

Joe Bonsall passed away just one week after Rusty Golden, son of Oak Ridge Boy William Lee Golden, died (PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy of Jon Mir).

Shannen Doherty

Shannen Doherty became a household name and an international celebrity in the 1990s, thanks to her full-tilt performance as the mercurial Brenda Walsh in the teen-skewing prime-time soap opera Beverly Hills 90210, then continued to attract millions of viewers while playing one of three supernaturally empowered sisters during the first three seasons (1998 – 2001) of Charmed. But for those of a certain age, she may always be remembered best for her winning performance as young Jenny Wilder in the final season of series creator and star Michael Landon’s enduringly popular Little House on the Prairie. Doherty — who passed away on Saturday, July 13 at age 53 after a lengthy battle with cancer — was only 11 years old when Landon, impressed by her guest-starring performance in episodes of his Father Murphy series, cast her as Jenny. The lasting impact of her performance is still felt today by viewers young and old.

Kellie Stockton

The rodeo world has lost a friend and role model with the passing of former Miss Rodeo Colorado Kellie Stockton. The Colorado native passed away Sunday, July 28, leaving behind a grieving rodeo community. The Miss Rodeo Colorado organization took to social media to share their condolences, saying, “Our hearts are heavy tonight with the news of Kellie Stockton’s passing. Kellie was exceptionally kind, humble, and supportive. Always ready with a hug and a warm smile, there was no job she wasn’t eager to do. Kellie made everyone feel special and uplifted them when they needed encouragement. Our prayers go out to her family as they cope with this terrible loss.”

A Pueblo, Colorado, native, Kellie Stockton’s legacy was honored by the Miss Rodeo Colorado organization upon her death on July 28 (PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy of Miss Rodeo Colorado).

August

Gena Rowlands

The C&I crew bids a fond farewell to Gena Rowlands, the iconic actress whose credits ranged from guest roles on TV Westerns to acclaimed collaborations with her husband, actor-filmmaker John Cassavetes, to deeply affecting performances in films like the 2004 romantic drama The Notebook and the 1974 classic A Woman Under the Influence. Rowlands, who passed away August 14 at age 94 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s, began her decades-long career in film and television by guesting in several weekly TV series, including such Westerns as Laramie, Riverboat, Bonanza, and The Virginian. She made her first significant impact with film critics and audiences as the supportive wife of a jailed cowboy in Lonely are The Brave, the classic 1962 neo-Western starring Kirk Douglas and Walter Matthau.

Robert Fuller and Gena Rowlands in Laramie (1959).

Alain Delon

A mainstay of international cinema for over six decades, French actor, producer, and screenwriter Alain Delon starred in such acclaimed films as René Clément’s Purple Noon, Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers and The Leopard, and Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samourai. He also appeared in two entertaining westerns — Texas Across the River (1966), opposite Dean Martin, and Red Sun (1971), opposite Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune — and played the title role as the dashing masked swordsman in the 1975 swashbuckler Zorro. Delon, who passed away August 18 at age 88 in Douchy-Montcorbon, France after a battle with cancer was largely considered an icon of classic French cinema. Dubbed “a French monument” by French President Emmanuel Macron, who paid his respects to the actor on X,  Delon’s ability to embody a variety of characters with a unique combination of rugged toughness and tender vulnerability made him a prolific leading man.

September

James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones may be the only indisputably great stage and screen actor most famous for being heard rather than seen. He provided the voices for the villainous Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and the regal King Mufasa in The Lion King (1994) and served for decades as the authoritative announcer who routinely informed us that “This is CNN.” He also served as narrator for The Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy (2006), an award-winning two-part documentary available for streaming on various platforms. His many and varied film credits include Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 dark comedy Dr. Strangelove (1964); The Great White Hope, the 1970 drama in which he repeated his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance as a boxer patterned after the real-life Jack Johnson; The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, the 1976 dramedy set in the world of the Negro Baseball Leagues, co-starring Billy Dee Williams and Richard Pryor; and Field of Dreams, the 1989 classic that cast him as a reclusive author who reluctantly, then enthusiastically, helps Kevin Costner’s baseball-loving farmer make his dreams come true. Jones gave one of his finest performances in A Family Thing (1996), playing a Chicago cop who discovers he has a white half-brother, an Arkansas equipment rental business owner played by C&I reader favorite Robert Duvall. On September 9, Jones died at his home in Dutchess County, N.Y. He was 93.

Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones in A Family Thing.

Tommy Cash

Tommy Cash, brother of Johnny Cash, was a country artist who scored three top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart during the 1970s: “Rise and Shine,” “One Song Away,” and “Six White Horses,” a powerful tribute to John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. Icon Entertainment & Hospitality CEO Bill Miller, who founded Nashville’s Johnny Cash Museum, offered a eulogy on Instagram: “Tommy Cash was a loyal supporter of the Johnny Cash Museum and a very beloved member of our extended family as well as a highly respected member of the music industry. This great man will be deeply missed by his friends and many loyal fans around the world. Please keep Tommy’s beloved wife, Marcy, and his family in your prayers.” Tommy Cash passed away September 13 — just one day after the 21st anniversary of his brother Johnny’s passing — at age 84.

Kathryn Crosby

Kathryn Crosby, the wife of Bing Crosby, appeared in several films early in her career under her maiden name, Kathryn Grant, including two westerns: The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957), co-starring Audie Murphy; and Gunman’s Walk (1958) with Tab Hunter, Van Heflin, and James Darren. Her other film credits include The Brothers Rico (1957), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), and Anatomy of a Murder (1959). She died September 20 at age 90 in Hillsborough, California.

Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson, who passed away on September 28, 2024, at age 88, began acting in films during the early 1970s, around the same time he started performing his own songs in concert. And in both areas, he recalled when Joe Leydon interviewed him back in 2011 at the Nashville Film Festival, “It was kind of like learning on the job, finding out what works. And I found that what worked on stage was sort of like what was working in the films: Make people believe that you’re telling the truth.” The late singer-songwriting legend proved himself as a credible and creditable actor for a variety of filmmakers while simultaneously releasing country and indie hits that would live on indefinitely. Film stars and country stars alike took to social media to honor the star. George Strait stated, “artists and songwriters of this caliber come along very rarely and he certainly made his mark on the world. My family, like most people, were huge fans and we will all miss him. I knew him on a professional level only but I always felt like it was more because of the kindness and respect he showed me on the times we met. I’ll treasure those times forever. He lived one heck of a life and I’m hoping it has only just begun for him. God bless Kris and all of the Kristofferson family.”

Kris Kristofferson has been a C&I favorite since the beginning, gracing our September 2011 cover and appearing in several other issues.

Ron Ely

Ron Ely was the first actor to portray Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Lord of the Jungle for a television series when he went vine-swinging in Tarzan (1966 – 68). He also appeared in the westerns The Fiend Who Walked the West, a 1958 remake of the 1947 film noir Kiss of Death, starring Hugh O’Brian and future Paramount Pictures chief Robert Evans; and The Night of the Grizzly (1966), starring C&I reader favorite Clint Walker. Ely died September 29 in Los Alamos, California, at age 86, but his death was not announced until October 23.

Billy Klapper

Billy Klapper, a nationally renowned, Texas-based spur and bit maker, made a cameo appearance as himself in his own Panhandle shop during Season 5, Episode 9 of Yellowstone, continuing producer Taylor Sheridan’s tradition of casting in small parts real-life Western figures and cowboys. As The Houston Chronicle reported in a laudatory obituary, “Klapper, who lived in Pampa, Texas, was a true legend in his field of work, being heavily sought after in the cowboy and ranching community for his trade and recognized as one of the last of his kind. He began spur and bit making in 1968 and is notably one of the few remaining spur makers trained by Adolph Bayers, a pioneer who laid the foundations for many contemporary artisans like Klapper. Klapper would produce more than 200 spurs annually and designed more than 680 unique designs.” On September 10, two months before the Yellowstone episode aired with his scene opposite series star Cole Hauser, Klapper passed away at age 87 in Pampa.

October

Mitzi Gaynor

Mitzi Gaynor was best known for her singing-and-dancing roles during the Golden Age of the Hollywood Musical, with credits that included There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954) and South Pacific (1958), and for her appearances in Las Vegas and several TV variety specials during subsequent decades. C&I readers may recall her work in two westerns: Golden Girl (1951), co-starring Dale Robertson and Dennis Day; and Three Young Texas (1954), co-starring Jeffrey Hunter and Keefe Brasselle. Gaynor died October 17 in Los Angeles. She was 93.

November

Tony Todd

Tony Todd enjoyed cult status among horror movie buffs for his roles in the Candyman and Final Destination franchises. He also appeared in Black Fox, a 1995 western TV miniseries starring Todd and Christopher Reeve as two “blood brothers” struggling to survive in post-Civil War Texas; True Women, a 1997 western miniseries costarring Dana Delany, Annabeth Gish, and Angelina Jolie; West of Hell (2018), a horror western in which Todd starred as a vengeful ex-slave opposite Lance Henriksen as Satan; and Badland, the 2019 C&I Movie Award-winning western that cast Todd as a slave-turned-Senator eager to employ a straight-shooting Pinkerton agent (played by Kevin Makey) to track down war criminals (including Trace Adkins, Bruce Dern and Jeff Fahey) who fought for the Confederacy. Todd was 69 when he passed away November 6 in Marina del Rey, California.

Jonathan Haze

Jonathan Haze earned a place of honor in The B-Movie Hall of Fame for playing Seymour, a nebbish assistant florist forced to feed a man-eating plant, in Roger Corman’s classic 1960 comedy Little Shop of Horrors. He also appeared in four lowbudget westerns directed by Corman early in the latter’s career: Five Guns West (1955), Apache Woman (also 1955), Gunslinger (1956) and The Oklahoma Woman (also 1956). On TV, he guested on such series as Cimarron City, The Californians, and Overland Trail. Haze died November 2 in Los Angeles at age 95.

Beverly Garland, Chris Alcaide, Jonathan Haze, and Martin Kingsley in Gunslinger (1956) (PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy of Lionsgate/IMDb).