A beloved sci-fi actor, a cult-favorite comedian, and a "Talladega Nights" standout all lost
their lives in 2021 – and the news may have gone under your radar.
These are the actors you might not know passed away last year.
Croatian-American actress Mira Furlan, best known for her stints on Babylon 5 and Lost,
died in January 2021.
Her death was announced on her official Twitter account.
The cause of death was not revealed.
She was 56.
Born in Zagreb, Furlan and her husband emigrated to America in the early '90s amid rising tensions
in their home country, settling in New York City.
Three years after the move, she landed what would become her most iconic role: Minbari
Ambassador Delenn in Babylon 5.
She briefly returned to Croatia before jetting off to Hawaii to play the part of Danielle
Rousseau in Lost.
She appeared as the French loner in 20 episodes of ABC's hit show.
"You offered to fix my music box after all I've done to you, striking you, shocking you."
Actor Frank Bonner, best known for playing the spectacularly dressed Herb Tarlek on the
classic sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati," died in June 2021, according to TMZ.
He was 79.
His daughter broke the news, posting on the official "WKRP" Facebook page,
"He loved his fans and was still signing autograph requests up until the last few weeks of his illness.
Thank you to all who followed his career.
He will be forever missed."
"I love you…I really do."
Bonner made his first onscreen appearance in the 1967 horror film "The Equinox ...A
Journey Into the Supernatural."
But he was best known for his TV work.
After early appearances in shows like "Mannix" and "The F.B.I.," Bonner landed the career-defining
role of Herb Tarlek.
He portrayed the character in all but two episodes of the series.
His co-star Loni Anderson told the Associated Press,
"He was one of the funniest men I had the pleasure of working with, and he was the nicest
man I have ever known."
Award winning star of stage and screen Hal Holbrook, best known for his portrayal of
Mark Twain in his enduring one-man show Mark Twain Tonight!, died at his California home
in February 2021, his agent told The New York Times.
He was 95.
He studied drama at Denison University after graduating from high school, but World War
II forced him to put his career dreams on hold.
His first on-stage performances took place when he was stationed in Newfoundland with
the U.S. Army; he joined a theater group and appeared in a number of local productions.
He began working on what would eventually become Mark Twain Tonight!
in 1952, and four years later he shot to prominence after Ed Sullivan invited him onto his variety show.
Remarkably, Holbrook would go on to perform as Twain over 2,000 times, including two stints
on Broadway.
The first run scored him a Tony Award, and he was nominated for an Emmy when Mark Twain
Tonight! transferred to TV.
Former child actor Kevin Clark, who played percussionist turned drummer Freddy Jones
in the Jack Black film "School of Rock," died after being hit by a motorist in May 2021.
Clark was riding his bicycle in his home city of Chicago when he was struck by a car.
He was pronounced dead at Illinois Masonic Medical Center around 45 minutes later.
He was 32.
Clark landed his part in Richard Linklater's "School of Rock," his one and only acting
credit, after he tagged along with a friend to the auditions.
His mother, Allison Clark, told the Chicago Sun-Times,
"He just kind of shined.
He took it on right away, but he never really acted afterward."
He did, however, keep the music up.
Clark went on to play in a number of bands in the Chicago area and even taught some classes.
Robbie Goldberg, who played with Clark in the band Robbie Gold, said,
"He was motivated and loved to write songs,"
His Hollywood career was short, but Clark was a stand-out performer in "School of Rock,"
a cult favorite that spawned a Broadway show and a TV adaptation.
He was photographed alongside co-star Jack Black as recently as 2018, and Black said
in an Instagram tribute,
"Kevin is gone.
Way too soon.
Beautiful soul.
So many great memories.
Heartbroken."
New York-born actor Gregory Sierra, who appeared in '70s sitcoms Sanford and Son and Barney
Miller, died of cancer in January 2021.
His widow, Helen Tabor, told CNN,
"He was doing the best he could and just couldn't do it anymore.
He was quite wonderful, and my heart is broken into 400 million pieces."
He was 83.
According to Deadline, Sierra began his career as a member of the National Shakespeare Company,
appearing in a number of off-Broadway productions during the 1960s.
He made his screen debut in a 1969 episode of the Robert Wagner spy series, It Takes a Thief.
He would go on to become a mainstay of the American TV in the years that followed, popping
up in numerous sitcoms and cop shows.
New York-born actor Yaphet Kotto, who appeared opposite Roger Moore as a corrupt Caribbean
politician in the James Bond film Live and Let Die and later played engineer Dennis Parker
in Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi flick, Alien – died in the Philippines in March 2021.
His wife confirmed the news in a Facebook post writing,
"You played a villain on some of your movies but for me you're a real hero.
A good man, a good father, a good husband and a decent human being."
He was 81.
Kotto made his movie debut aged 23 in Nothing but a Man, a film about a Black couple dealing
with racial discrimination in 1960s Alabama.
His sheer size led to him being cast in a variety of hardman roles in the years that
followed, something that always bothered him.
He once told The Baltimore Sun,
"I want to try to play a much more sensitive man.
There is an aspect of Black people's lives that is not running or jumping."
Other notable credits include the Stephen King adaptation The Running Man, in which
Kotto fought for his freedom alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the '90s police procedural
series Homicide: Life on the Street.
British character actor Paul Ritter, who won praise for his powerful performance in HBO's
Golden Globe-winning miniseries Chernobyl, died of a brain tumor in April 2021 at the
age of 54.
Ritter was well known in theater communities on both sides of the Atlantic, having been
nominated for both an Olivier Award and a Tony Award in his time.
He made his on-screen bow in 1992, with an appearance in the long-running police procedural The Bill.
He went on to carve out a career as a prolific TV actor.
Alongside his appearance in Chernobyl, his best-known performance came in the British
sitcom Friday Night Dinner, where he played oddball dad Martin Goodman.
Robert Popper, creator of Fright Night Dinner, said that he was "devastated at this terribly
sad news" in a tribute tweet.
"Paul was a lovely, wonderful human being.
Kind, funny, super caring and the greatest actor I ever worked with."
Comedian and actor Paul Mooney – who regularly collaborated with Richard Pryor in the 1970s
and '80s and later became known for his work on "In Living Color" and "Chappelle's Show"
— died of a heart attack in May 2021.
He was 79.
Mooney met Pryor at a party in the late 1960s, and the pair quickly hit it off.
They ended up penning an episode of "Sanford and Son" together and would collaborate many
more times in the years that followed, including on the variety series "The Richard Pryor Show,"
the stand-up film "Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip," and on Pryor's biographical
vehicle "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling."
Mooney brought his patented style of comedy to Keenen Ivory Wayans' "In Living Color"
in the '90s, coming up with characters like Homey D. Clown.
And in the following decade, he became a writer on another hit sketch show, "Chappelle's Show."
Mooney also appeared on-screen in "Chappelle's Show," playing characters such as a very opinionated
movie critic and a Nostradamus parody.
Notable big-screen credits include "The Buddy Holly Story," in which he played seminal singer
Sam Cooke, Spike Lee's "Bamboozled," and the Mike Epps-led comedy "Meet the Blacks," Mooney's
final film.
Philadelphia-born actress Marion Ramsey, best known for playing soft spoken Officer Laverne
Hooks in the Police Academy movies, died in January 2021, her agency told The Hollywood Reporter.
The statement read,
"Marion carried with her a kindness and permeating light that instantly filled a room upon her arrival.
The dimming of her light is already felt by those who knew her well.
We will miss her and always love her."
No cause of death was released.
She was 73.
Ramsey made her first appearance as Officer Hooks in 1984's Police Academy after spending
more than a decade in the theatre world.
She remained a mainstay of the wacky comedy franchise over the coming years, working on
six installments.
Former child actor Houston Tumlin, who played Will Ferrell's trash-talking son Walker Bobby
in 2006 speedway comedy "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,"died at his home
in Alabama in March 2021.
The Shelby County coroner confirmed to TMZ that his death was ruled a suicide.
Tumlin's girlfriend, Charity Robertson, said in a Facebook post that she would miss the
actor's "big heart, caring spirit [and] infectious laughter."
She wrote,
"I love you so much Houston Lee, and thank you for loving me so passionately and unapologetically
for the time we had each other."
He was 28.
Will Ferrell's "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" was Tumlin's one and only
acting credit.
"I like to picture Jesus as a ninja, fighting off evil samurai."
The film's director, Adam McKay, said in a tweet that he was, quote, "truly heartbroken
and stunned at Houston's passing."
He wrote,
"He was a joyful and talented person.
Will never forget the laughs and good times we had.
Sending love and prayers to his family and friends."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please dial or text 988 to speak
with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
You can also seek help by visiting 988lifeline.org.