It's amazing how much of an impact someone we've never actually met can have on our lives.
But that's the magic of movies and television: sometimes the actors we grow up watching can
feel just like family, and it feels like they'll be there forever.
Sadly, however, we've had to say goodbye to many talented performers in 2018.
But thanks to the memorable characters they brought to life, these actors will never really
leave us.
Here are the unforgettable actors we've already lost in 2018.
Jerry Van Dyke
The younger brother of actor Dick Van Dyke and a four-time Emmy nominee, Jerry Van Dyke
passed away on January 5th, at the age of 86.
According to TMZ, Van Dyke was in hospice care before he succumbed to chronic heart
disease.
One of his earliest TV appearances was on a 1962 episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show,
playing the brother of his real-life sibling.
He then infamously turned down a starring role on Gilligan's Island to work on the sitcom
My Mother the Car, which ran for just one season in 1965.
Then in 1989, he landed the role of Assistant Coach Luther Van Dam on the ABC's Coach, earning
him four Emmy nominations for Best Supporting Actor.
He met up with his brother once again, on The Middle, in 2015.
"We are two of a kind…"
Reg E. Cathey
An Emmy-winning actor known for House of Cards and The Wire, Reg E. Cathey lost his battle
with lung cancer on February 9th in New York City.
A native of Alabama, Cathey landed small roles in Born on the Fourth of July, What About
Bob?, Seven, and American Psycho.
He then went on to star in HBO's Oz, and The Wire, but he received the most acclaim of
his career for playing Freddy Hayes on the Netflix series House of Cards.
The role brought him Emmy nominations for three straight years, and he won in 2015.
"Hey, in this joint I'm the president, the vice president, and the congress.
He just another customer."
John Mahoney
Famous for his turn as Frasier Crane's cranky dad on Frasier, John Mahoney passed away in
Chicago on February 4th, at 77.
Mahoney suffered from kidney disease and diabetes, and died of complications from lung cancer
and brain disease.
Born in England, Mahoney began his acting career with the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago
when he was nearly 40 years old, and won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play,
for 1986's The House of Blue Leaves.
Mahoney made his film debut in the early '80s, but he became a household name when he landed
the role of Marty Crane on Frasier from 1993 to 2004, receiving two Emmy and two Golden
Globe nominations.
"I'm afraid your magic box will rob me of my spirit."
David Ogden Stiers
Remembered as Major Charles Emerson Winchester the Third on MASH, 75-year-old David Ogden
Stiers lost his battle with bladder cancer on March 3rd at his home in Newport, Oregon.
Stiers' earliest TV credits include The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Charlie's Angels and Kojak,
but he rose to fame when he landed MASH, receiving two Emmy noms in '81 and '82.
He was also a talented musician, and was the resident conductor of the Newport Symphony.
"The point is you can aspire to a world that offers you a lot more than comic books."
DuShon Monique Brown
Best known for her role on Chicago Fire, DuShon Monique Brown passed away on March 23rd at
just 49, reportedly of natural causes.
Born in Chicago, Brown rose to fame playing Nurse Katie Welch on Prison Break from 2005
to 2007.
More recently, she portrayed Connie on NBC's Chicago Fire, co-starring in 53 episodes of
the series since its debut in 2012.
Donnelly Rhodes
The Canadian actor best known for playing Dr. Cottle on Battlestar Galactica, Donnelly
Rhodes succumbed to cancer on January 8th at the age of 80.
Rhodes initially became a contract player for Universal Pictures, landing him on TV
with Mission: Impossible in 1966 and in movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in
'69.
More recently, he played Agent Smith on The Flash and DC's Legends of Tomorrow in 2016.
Connie Sawyer
Once known as Hollywood's oldest working actress, Connie Sawyer passed away on January 22nd.
According to Deadline, she was 105.
Sawyer began acting at just eight years old, amassing over 140 film and television credits
to her name, and continued acting until late 2017.
In more recent years, Sawyer appeared in When Harry Met Sally, Dumb and Dumber and Pineapple
Express, and she guest-starred on Seinfeld, Will & Grace, and The Office.
"Kid, ya got talent.
Ya look great"
Robert Dowdell
A supporting actor on the '60s ABC series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Robert Dowdell
passed away on January 23rd, at 85.
Dowdell appeared frequently on Broadway and television, but he's perhaps best known for
playing Chip Morton in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea from 1964 to '68.
His final role was for American Masters on PBS.
Jon Paul Steuer
The former child actor who played a young Klingon on Star Trek: The Next Generation,
Jon Paul Steuer passed away on January 1st, at just 33.
Steuer is perhaps best known for appearing on Grace Under Fire from 1993 through 1996.
His passing was announced on the Facebook page of his rock band, PROBLEMS.
Emma Chambers
The British actress known for the romantic comedy Notting Hill, Emma Chambers passed
away on February 21st, at 53, due to natural causes.
A beloved star of British television, American audiences probably remember her best as Honey,
the eccentric younger sister of Hugh Grant's character in 1999's Notting Hill.
"Oh you gave me a present.
We're best friends already then."
John Gavin
Having played heartthrob Sam Loomis in Psycho, John Gavin died February 9th, at age 86.
Gavin's career also featured roles in Imitation of Life, Spartacus, and Fantasy Island.
And he was set to play James Bond in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever before Sean Connery reclaimed
the role from George Lazenby.
Debbie Lee Carrington
An actress and stuntwoman who appeared in Total Recall and Men in Black, 58-year-old
Debbie Lee Carrington passed away on March 23rd at her parents' home in California.
Carrington began her career in 1981 with the comedy Under the Rainbow, based on the Munchkins
from The Wizard of Oz.
Not long after, she landed the part of an Ewok in 1983's Return of the Jedi, then played
another Ewok in the 1984 TV movie, The Ewok Adventure.
Although she often served as a stuntwoman for child actors or stood in for characters
in films like the Child's Play franchise, Carrington is perhaps best known for playing
the character, Thumbelina, in 1990's Total Recall.
She also appeared on Seinfeld, Baywatch and The Drew Carey Show.
"Hey you look different, have you been workin out?
Not that I know of.
Well whatever it is you're doing, keep doing it.
You look great."
Dorothy Malone
Oscar-winning actress and star of Peyton Place, Dorothy Malone passed away on January 19th,
at 92.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, she had been ill for several years.
Malone had appeared in dozens of films through the mid-'60s when she took the role of Constance
MacKenzie on ABC's Peyton Place, the first primetime soap opera on U.S. television.
Malone later returned to the franchise for the 1977 TV movie Murder in Peyton Place.
Her final screen performance was in the 1992 thriller Basic Instinct.
"There's only so much a woman can do, and no more.
I speak from personal experience."
Joseph Wayne Miller
A former child actor who broke out with a role in the 1995 comedy Heavyweights, Joseph
Wayne Miller died on January 9th at the age of 36.
According to TMZ, Miller's mother said he passed away in his sleep.
Miller played Salami Sam in Heavyweights, co-written and produced by Judd Apatow, who
said in a statement to Page Six,
"Being around Joe Miller was pure joy.
We could not have loved spending time with him more.
He made everyone around him so happy.
What a terrible loss."
Vic Damone
The singer and actor who Frank Sinatra once said had "the best pipes in the business,"
Vic Damone passed at age 89 on February 11th, due to complications of a respiratory illness.
Damone began his career as winner of Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts in 1947.
His first single, "I Have But One Heart," hit Number 7 on the Billboard chart and he
released a string of hits including "You're Breaking My Heart" in 1949 and "On the Street
Where You Live" in 1955.
He moved into film acting in the '50s, and by the '70s, Damone was performing in Las
Vegas casinos when Francis Ford Coppola offered him the role of Johnny Fontane in The Godfather.
Damone reportedly turned down the part because he was afraid of provoking the mob, and Sinatra.
Harry Anderson
The actor and comedian best known for playing a young, unorthodox judge on Night Court,
Harry Anderson passed away on April 16th, at 65, due to natural causes.
Anderson began his career as a magician, and by 1984, he found mainstream fame as Judge
Harry T. Stone on the hit comedy Night Court, earning three Emmy nominations during the
show's nine-season run.
While he went on to land additional roles and multiple guest appearances on TV, Anderson's
final television appearance was an informal Night Court reunion on 30 Rock in 2008.
"Your hope and your chance is where you feel your heart is."
R. Lee Ermey
A military veteran and Golden Globe-nominated actor best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant
Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, R. Lee Ermey passed away on April 15th, at 74.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ermey died from complications of pneumonia.
After 11 years of service, Ermey retired from the military and transitioned into acting.
In 1978, he played a Marine drill instructor in The Boys in Company C, then landed a role
as a helicopter pilot in 1979's Apocalypse Now.
But it was Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket that made Ermey a star, earning him a Golden
Globe nom and a Best Supporting Actor award from the Boston Society of Film Critics.
He also played a similar character in Peter Jackson's 1996 horror-comedy The Frighteners
and appeared in Fletch Lives, Seven, and the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Ermey voiced several TV shows, video games and movies including SpongeBob SquarePants
and the Toy Story films.
"Hoo rah.
Semper Fi."
Margot Kidder
Margot Kidder, who played DC Comics character Lois Lane in the Superman film series, died
on May 13, 2018 at her home in Livingston, Montana.
She was 69 years old.
Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Kidder dreamed of acting from a young age.
She landed her first film role in 1969 and appeared in more than a hundred movie and
television roles over the course of her long career., including the horror classic The
Amityville Horror.
But she will always be best known for playing Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeve in four
Superman films between 1978 and 1989.
Kidder suffered from mental illness all of her life, and her struggle with bipolar disorder
at one point led to a high-profile disappearance.
She became a mental health advocate, and was also actively involved in causes she believed
in, protesting against war and the excesses of the energy industry.
"We're headed down the road to armageddon.
And so I've been working a lot with various peace groups around the country doing whatever
I can."