The death of a beloved actor can be quite devastating — especially one who was on
a Nickelodeon show you grew up watching. Sadly, these actors are no longer with us.
Actor and comedian Les Lye began his career on television back in the early 1970s and
later became a major part of You Can't Do That On Television — a children's sketch
comedy series in which he played numerous characters alongside an ensemble cast of
kids. The show initially aired on local television in Canada before switching
to a national format that was broadcast on CTV. Nickelodeon then picked up the series
and took a more active role in production as it became a ratings hit in the United States.
"Any more of this studying and none of you will be allowed to stay for attention after school."
Lye appeared in every season of You Can't Do That On Television for a
total of 144 episodes. During that time, he continued to perform in other kids' shows,
including voicing characters on animated series such as Dennis the Menace and The
Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin. Lye passed away in Ottawa, Canada in 2009 at the
age of eighty-four. No cause of death was publicly provided by his agent or family.
Makoto Iwamatsu — most commonly credited throughout his career as Mako — was a
Japanese American actor who had roles in a large number of television projects and
films. He received an Academy Award nomination for his performance in The Sand Pebbles in 1966
and had iconic roles in the Conan the Barbarian franchise, Samurai Jack, and Dexter's Laboratory.
For Nickelodeon, Mako had several parts in the highly acclaimed animated series,
Avatar: The Last Airbender, most notably the fire-bending master Iroh — the mentor, aide,
and uncle to the Fire Nation's Prince Zuko. Mako also had a brief role as Mr. Yamaguchi,
a fun-loving CEO of the toy company that invented Reptar in 2000's Rugrats in Paris.
The actor died at his home in Somis, California in 2006 from esophageal cancer. He was 72 years
old and still working up until the end. The character Iroh in Avatar would be recast with
Greg Baldwin for the final two seasons of the show and for the sequel series, The Legend of Korra.
Christine Cavanaugh had a long acting career, making her debut as a voice actor in the late
1980s. She appeared in a single episode of Cheers before having her first Nickelodeon
appearance in two episodes of Salute Your Shorts. She would go on to voice the character
Oblina in Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and the adorably nervous Chuckie Finster in the Rugrats franchise.
"I don't know. Maybe it's not such a good idea."
Also known for her roles in both the 1995 Academy Award-nominated film Babe and the Cartoon Network
animated series Dexter's Laboratory, Cavanaugh retired from acting in 2001,
with Bart Simpson voice actor Nancy Cartwright replacing her as Chuckie in
Rugrats. She would pass away 13 years later at her home, at the age of 51. Although no
official cause of death was released, she had been diagnosed with leukemia.
After making his acting debut in a music video for the singer and actress JoJo,
Cody Longo rose to fame for his part in the 2012 Nickelodeon drama series,
Hollywood Heights. Aimed at an older audience compared to other Nickelodeon shows,
it largely focused on the exploits of Brittany Underwood's Loren as she comes
into contact with rock star Eddie Duran. Longo played Eddie in 78 of the series' 80 episodes.
Outside of Nickelodeon, he had recurring roles in Make It or Break It and Secrets and Lies,
with his final appearance coming in the podcast High School Crimes & Misdemeanors in 2020. He had
simultaneously worked in music as a singer and producer throughout many stages of his
career. In 2023, Longo was discovered having passed away in his home in Austin, Texas. His
representative suggested that he had died in his sleep from an accidental alcohol overdose.
Kirk Baily had roles in seemingly everything — from NYPD Blue to Hotel Transylvania. For
Nickelodeon, Baily is best known for his performance as Kevin Lee, the bossy camp
counselor who's constantly pranked in all 26 episodes of the two-season comedy series,
Salute Your Shorts. While the character Kevin desperately wants to command others'
respect and admiration, the kids at Camp Anawanna hold him in such low esteem,
they routinely call him "Ug" to his face — because he's ugly.
"Ugly."
Before his death in 2022, he was credited with additional voices in The SpongeBob Movie:
Sponge on the Run, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, and an episode of Love,
Death & Robots. He was 59 years old when he died of lung cancer.
Jansen Panettiere is probably best known for his work in films,
but the actor also appeared in a number of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows and
made-for-tv movies. His first role came in 2002 on the television series Even Stevens
before he managed to snag small parts in Hope & Faith and Third Watch. He claimed a role
alongside his sister Hayden Panettiere in the Disney Channel film Tiger Cruise and provided
the voice of Truman X on Nickelodeon's animated show The X's. He later portrayed
the main character in the 2007 Nickelodeon television movie, The Last Day of Summer.
Reports of Panettiere's death came in February of 2023 when his body was found at his home in
New York City. He was just 28 when he passed away, and the cause of death was
later revealed to be cardiomegaly; the actor had an enlarged heart and aortic valve complications.
Among the most famous voice actors was Joe Alaskey , best known as Mel Blanc's replacement for a
variety of Warner Bros. characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Sylvester Cat.
Alaskey also worked on a number of Nickelodeon projects, portraying Mermaid Man in two of the
SpongeBob SquarePants video games, as well as providing a voice for a Season 4 episode
of Hey Arnold! But Alaskey is probably best known for his role as Grandpa Lou
Pickles in Rugrats. He replaced original actor David Doyle in 1997 and continued to
portray Grandpa Lou in the television show and several movies until 2006.
In 2016, the actor passed away at the age of 63 in his home in New York. His
spokesperson confirmed that at the time he had been diagnosed with cancer. His
final voice performance came in 2016's Tom & Jerry: Back to Oz.
Many people might not immediately recognize Steve Viksten, but that might be because he
has primarily worked as a writer. His first writing credit for a television
series came when he co-authored 15 episodes of Rugrats. He went on to write for Duckman:
Private Dick/Family Man, Recess, and co-created and co-developed the series, Hey Arnold!
In addition to his extensive behind-the-scenes work on this late-'90s Nickelodeon animated
series, Viksten also voiced several recurring characters;
the most notable among them being Oskar Kokoshka.
"I wanted to do something to help you with your play. So I
made Suzie write all your lines on these tiny pieces of paper."
Viksten's final writing credit came in 2011 on an episode of The Simpsons. In 2014, at the age of
53, the writer and voice actor died. No official cause of death was ever publicly released.
Craig Bartlett paid tribute to his former Hey Arnold! writer, saying,
"Today Arnold is hatless as I remember Steve."
This was in reference to the first Hey Arnold!
script that gave Viksten sole credit — the episode titled "Arnold's Hat."
Alice Playten was an actor arguably best known for her voicework, though she also
played live-action roles in films like 2009's The Rebound and 1985's Legend,
as well as television shows like Frasier and Law & Order. She got her first role
on stage at the age of 11 and was later nominated for a Tony Award.
But her most famous voice-acting gig was arguably playing wealthy heiress Beebe Bluff in
Nickelodeon's animated series Doug, and she would reprise the role in Doug's 1st Movie. Throughout
the run of the show, Playten also occasionally provided the voice for other minor characters.
News arose in 2011 that she had died in her home borough of Manhattan in New York City.
Her cause of death was heart failure brought on by a mix of juvenile diabetes and pancreatic cancer.
Fred Willard was best known for his comedy work. Fans would likely
recognize him from This Is Spinal Tap, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,
Roseanne, and Everybody Loves Raymond. In more recent times, he played Frank
Dunphy in Modern Family — a performance that earned him two Primetime Emmy nominations.
"Is it weird we've barely seen Phil since we've been here?"
"He was always a wanderer. It's the curse of being a genius."
For Nickelodeon, Willard voiced the character Sammy Redman in a single episode of Hey Arnold!
and the Loud grandfather Pop-Pop in four seasons of the still-running series, The Loud House.
Willard's death at the age of 86 was first reported in May of 2020. His daughter,
Hope, paid tribute to her father, stating,
"He kept moving, working and making us happy until the very end."
It was later revealed that Willard had died from cardiac arrest due
to complications from coronary artery disease.
Robyn Griggs will be most familiar for her roles in the soap operas One Life to Live and Another
World, as well as the small-budget horror films of her later career like Hellweek and Slashers
Gone Wild! The actor's time on Nickelodeon came on the show Rated K: For Kids by Kids,
where she was one of a handful of hosts during the 1988 season. The series primarily focused on
rating new movies and discussing their positives and negatives; it became part of an essential
experimental phase for the network, mostly known at the time for the game show, Double Dare.
Griggs died at 49 years old in 2022 after being diagnosed with endocervical adeno cancer. She had
spent much of the final stage of her life discussing her condition on social media.
First rising to prominence in soap operas like Days of Our Lives and Another World,
Philece Sampler became a prolific voice actor who played characters in many animated projects,
such as Lucky Star, Digimon: Digital Monsters, and the theatrical film, Demon Slayer: Infinity Train.
"Tanjiro! Please don't leave us behind!"
Sampler also appeared in a number of Nickelodeon shows over the years,
including a 1997 Rugrats episode and the 2019 installment of The Loud House. But
her best known Nickelodeon voice role might be her Legend of Korra character
Toph Beifong — an Earth-bending master first introduced in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The actor died of a heart attack in 2021. She had been voicing characters in the french
animated series, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir before she died at the age of 67.
Greg Burson was a prolific voice actor who worked in franchises like Star Wars and
Looney Tunes. Having trained with Daws Butler — the voice behind characters like Yogi Bear
and Huckleberry Hound — Burson took over many of Butler's roles following his death in 1988.
A year later, Burson was also chosen as one of the replacements for the legendary Mel Blanc,
lending his voice to the likes of Elmer Fudd and many other Looney Tunes characters.
As a Nickelodeon voice actor, he portrayed characters in both The Angry Beavers and
CatDog. But in 2004, his career came to an abrupt end after he was arrested at his home in Tujunga,
Los Angeles following a standoff with police. Reports of the incident offer
conflicting details, but it seems he was armed, heavily intoxicated,
and possibly threatening a female roommate on the morning of his arrest.
Burson died four years later at the age of 59. According to Mark Evanier,
who had previously worked with the actor on several projects, his death was in part due to
diabetes and arteriosclerosis, also claiming, quote, "drinking had a lot to do with it."
Tara Correa-McMullen began her acting career in 2004 when she was cast in the basketball comedy
Rebound. Despite having no acting experience, Correa-McMullen was recommended for the part by
her mother, who was working as a casting agent. She then landed a recurring role
in the CBS legal drama Judging Amy, where she played the gang member Graciela Reyes,
before making a single appearance in the Nickelodeon comedy series, Zoey 101.
At just 16 years old, the young actor was killed while standing outside her apartment complex in
2005. According to police, she was shot during gang-related violence that also wounded two of
her friends. Two individuals were later sentenced to life in prison without parole for the shooting.