From teen movie stars to iconic character actors, Hollywood has lost a lot of greats
over the last few years—so many, in fact, that some may have slipped under your radar.
Here now are some famous faces you may not know are actually dead.
Michelle Thomas
Family Matters star Michelle Thomas died on December 28, 1998 after battling a rare form
of stomach cancer. The 30-year-old actress played Steve Urkel's perky girlfriend Myra
Monkhouse on the series from 1993 until 1998. Following Family Matters, she joined the cast
of the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless in August 1998. She left the soap
to go on medical leave in October of that year, according to her obituary in The New
York Times.
Bob Hoskins
Best known for Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and his Oscar-nominated turn in Mona Lisa, Bob
Hoskins seemed like one of those great character actors who had been around forever and would
continue gracing the silver screen for centuries to come. Unfortunately, the legendary British
actor died in April 2014 after a bout with pneumonia, according to BBC News. He was 71.
Ashleigh Aston Moore
Known to practically every young girl who grew up in the '90s, Ashleigh Aston Moore
played the neurotic, food-loving, little Chrissy in the coming-of-age drama Now and Then. Details
of her death are vague. However, Life and Style magazine said that she died from an
alleged drug overdose in December 2007 at age 26.
Her Now & Then co-star, Thora Birch, confirmed Moore's death in a 2015 interview with ABC
News. She said:
“Ashleigh was a really cool kid. She had a great personality and I remember making
fun of 'Chrissy's' lines with her from time-to-time because neither of us could believe that Chrissy
was so clueless. I had not heard about her passing until a couple years ago, and was
saddened by the news. She still lives on as Chrissy to me"
Edward Herrmann
One actor who sadly won't be appearing in Netflix's Gilmore Girls revival is Edward
Herrmann, who died on December 31, 2014, after a tough battle with brain cancer. He was 71.
Hermann played father to Lauren Graham's Lorelai and grandfather to Alexis Bledel's Rory on
the hit WB series. Both actresses grieved his death in the early days of 2015.
Graham tweeted:
"My friend Ed Herrmann was the kindest, classiest, most talented man. It was an honor and a joy
to know him, a devastating blow to lose him."
Bledel told TV Line:
"Ed Herrmann was a wonderful actor and a kind man. He was endlessly knowledgeable about
theater, TV and film, and would generously share his wisdom or tell stories from a long
and rewarding career."
James Rebhorn
Hollywood lost an incredible film and television actor when James Rebhorn succumbed to his
battle with melanoma on March 21, 2014. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he had been fighting
the disease since 1992. Rebhorn had bit roles in some of the most successful movies and
TV shows of all time, ranging from Seinfeld, to Meet the Parents and, more recently, the
Emmy-winning Homeland. He was 65.
Stuart Scott
One of the most iconic ESPN anchors of all time, Stuart Scott died on January 4, 2015,
after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was just 49 years old. Scott joined ESPN in 1993
and quickly became one of the network's most popular and beloved personalities, due in
great part to spirited catchphrases, such as:
“Booyah!”
In 2014, Stuart spoke about his battle with cancer—which began in 2007 after an emergency
appendectomy revealed a malignancy—at the ESPY Awards, telling the audience:
"When you die, that does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you
live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live."
James Horner
On June 22, 2015, composer James Horner died after the single-engine S312 Tucano turboprop
plane he was piloting crashed near Santa Barbara. Horner had scored numerous movies throughout
his career, including Avatar, Braveheart, and Field of Dreams. His biggest success came
in 1997 when he scored the music for Titanic and its accompanying hit song, "My Heart Will
Go On."
(Celine Dion singing)
Horner received two Oscars for Titanic in 1998. He was 61.
Doris Roberts
Emmy-winning actress Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond died in her sleep on April 17,
2016. She was 90. Roberts won four Emmy Awards for her work on Raymond, capping off a career
that spanned decades on the small screen and multiple iconic shows including Remington
Steele and St. Elsewhere. Her legacy lives on today as millions continue to tune in for
the sitcom's repeats.
Natasha Richardson
While she may not have been a household name, you may have seen British actress Natasha
Richardson in the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap, or in 2002's Maid in Manhattan. The
accomplished thespian also had a successful theater career, and would have gone on to
even bigger and better roles—until her life was tragically cut short at the age of 45.
On March 18, 2009, Richardson died after injuring her head during a ski accident. Richardson's
husband, Liam Neeson, spoke about her death in a 2014 interview on 60 Minutes, saying:
"I was told she was brain dead. I’m seeing this X-Ray, and it was like ‘Wow.’ But,
obviously, she was on life support and stuff. And I went in to her and I just told her I
loved her. Said, 'Sweetie, you're not coming back from this.'"
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