Remembering the Classic TV Stars We Lost in 2025
What To Know
- In 2025, the entertainment industry lost several beloved classic TV stars, including James McEachin, Leslie Charleson, Jack De Mave, and Bob Uecker.
- Notable actors and actresses such as Michelle Trachtenberg, Richard Chamberlain, Jean Marsh, Ruth Buzzi, George Wendt, Loretta Swit, and others passed away due to various causes including illness, natural causes, and accidents.
- Their contributions to iconic shows like M*A*S*H, Cheers, General Hospital, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In left a lasting legacy in television history.
2025 was a year in which some of the greatest stars in modern TV history took their final bow. From Anthony Geary, who captivated a nation as Luke on General Hospital, to Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who grew up before our eyes at Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, to Michelle Trachtenberg, who made a permanent mark on millennial culture with her roles on Buffy, Gossip Girl and The Adventures of Pete & Pete, to Rob Reiner, who began his career on screen as Mike “Meathead” Stivic on All in the Family before jumping behind the camera and becoming one of the most celebrated directors of our era, there was no shortage of icons for TV fans to mourn.
Read on as we honor some of the stars who left us in 2025, in the order in which they passed.
James McEachin (94)
Born: May 20, 1930
Died: Jan. 11, 2025
Actor, All in the Family, Every Which Way but Loose, Tenafly
Sherman Weisburd/TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection
Leslie Charleson (79)
Born: Feb. 22, 1945
Died: Jan. 12, 2025 (sequelae of blunt head trauma)
Actress, General Hospital, Port Charles
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General
Jack De Mave (91)
Born: Dec. 8, 1933
Died: Jan. 16, 2025 (heart attack)
Actor, Wagon Train, Lassie
Everett Collection
Bob Uecker (90)
Born: Jan. 26, 1934
Died: Jan. 16, 2025 (lung cancer)
Sportscaster best known for calling Milwaukee Brewers games; Actor Major League, Mr. Belvedere
Gene Trindl / TV Guide / courtesy Everett Collection
Olga James (95)
Born: Feb. 16, 1929
Died: Jan. 25, 2025 (complications following a fall)
Actress/Singer, Carmen Jones, The Bill Cosby Show
Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Lynne Marie Stewart (78)
Born: Dec. 14, 1946
Died: Feb. 21, 2025 (cancer)
Actress, The Pee-Wee Herman Show, Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Always Sunny in Philadelphia
CBS /Courtesy Everett Collection
Michelle Trachtenberg (39)
Born: Oct. 11, 1985
Died: Feb. 26, 2025 (complications from diabetes)
Actress, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Harriet the Spy
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy: Everett Collection.; Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty Images
Richard Chamberlain (90)
Born: March 31, 1934
Died: March 29, 2025
Actor, Dr. Kildare, The Thorn Birds, Shogun
Everett Collection
Jay North (73)
Born: Aug. 3, 1951
Died: April 6, 2025 (colorectal cancer)
Actor, Dennis the Menace
Richard Hewett/TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection
Jean Marsh (90)
Born: July 1, 1934
Died: April 13, 2025 (complications of dementia)
Actress, Upstairs, Downstairs, Doctor Who, The Changeling, Willow, Return to OZ
Buena Vista/courtesy Everett Collection
Wink Martindale (91)
Born: Dec. 4, 1933
Died: April 15, 2025 (lymphoma)
Gameshow Host, Gambit, Tic-Tac-Dough, Trivial Pursuit
CBS/Courtesy: Everett Collection
Ruth Buzzi (88)
Born: July 24, 1936
Died: May 1, 2025 (complications of Alzheimer’s)
Actress/Comedian, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, The Garry Moore Show
Everett Collection
George Wendt (76)
Born: Oct. 17, 1948
Died: May 20, 2025 (cardiac arrest)
Actor, Cheers, The George Wendt Show
NBC/Everett Collection
Valerie Mahaffey (71)
Born: June 16, 1953
Died: May 30, 2025 (cancer)
Actress, Northern Exposure, ER, Desperate Housewives
Palisades Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Loretta Swit (87)
Born: Nov. 4, 1937
Died: May 30, 2025 (natural causes)
Actress, M*A*S*H
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection
Jonathan Joss (59)
Born: Dec. 22, 1965
Died: June 1, 2025 (murdered)
Actor, Walker, Texas Ranger, voice of John Redcorn on King of the Hill
Peacock/NBC; 20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection
Chris Robinson (86)
Born: Nov. 5, 1938
Died: June 9, 2025 (heart failure)
Actor, General Hospital, Another World
Harris Yulin (87)
Born: Nov. 5, 1937
Died: June 10, 2025 (cardiac arrest)
Actor, Doc, Scarface, Ozark
Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection
Betsy Gay (96)
Born: Feb. 2, 1929
Died: June 13, 2025
Actress, Our Gang, famous yodeler
MGM
Anne Burrell (55)
Born: Sept. 21, 1969
Died: June 17, 2025 (suicide)
Celebrity Chef, Food Network’s Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, Worst Cooks in America
Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images for NYCWFF
Bobby Sherman (81)
Born: July 22, 1943
Died: June 24, 2025 (kidney cancer)
Musician, “Julie, Do Ya Love Me,” “Easy Come, Easy Go;” Actor, Here Come the Brides
Everett Collection
Lalo Schifrin (93)
Born June 21, 1932
Died June 26, 2025 (pneumonia)
Composer of theme songs for Mission Impossible, Mannix
Rick Hurst (79)
Born: Jan. 1, 1946
Died: June 26, 2025
Actor, The Dukes of Hazzard
Everett Collection
Julian McMahon (56)
Born: July 27, 1968
Died: July 2, 2025 (cancer)
Actor, Charmed, Nip/Tuck, Fantastic Four
Warner Bros. Television/Courtesy Everett Collection
Tom Troupe (97)
Born: July 15, 1928
Died: July 20, 2025 (natural causes)
Character Actor: Kelly’s Heroes, Mission: Impossible, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Photo by Andy Hanson; Everett Collection
Malcolm-Jamal Warner (54)
Born: Aug. 18, 1970
Died: July 20, 2025 (drowning)
Actor, The Cosby Show, Malcolm & Eddie, Major Crimes
Everett Collection
Eileen Fulton (91)
Born: Sept. 13, 1933
Died: July 14, 2025 (heart failure)
Actress, As the World Turns
TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection
Loni Anderson (79)
Born: Aug. 5, 1945
Died: Aug. 3, 2025 (prolonged illness)
Actress, WKRP in Cincinnati, Nurses, Stroker Ace
Everett Collection
David Ketchum (97)
Born: Feb. 4, 1928
Died: Aug. 10, 2025 (heart failure)
Actor/screenwriter, Get Smart
Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Danielle Spencer (60)
Born: June 24, 1965
Died: Aug. 11, 2025 (cancer)
Actress, What’s Happening!!
Everett Collection
Tristan Rogers (79)
Born: June 3, 1946
Died: Aug. 15, 202 (lung cancer)
Actor, General Hospital
Scott Enyart/TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection
Jerry Adler (96)
Born: Feb. 4, 1929
Died: Aug. 23, 2025
Actor, Hudson Street, The Sopranos
HBO/Everett Collection
Floyd Levine (93)
Born: Feb. 23, 1932
Died: Aug. 24, 2025
Actor, Kojak, Death Wish, Cagney & Lacey
YouTube; Tracy Robbins Instagram
Graham Greene (73)
Born: June 22, 1952
Died: Sept. 1, 2025 (natural causes)
Actor, Dances With Wolves, 1883
Spike Nannarello/Universal Television/Courtesy: Everett Collection
Lee Weaver (95)
Born: April 10, 1930
Died: Sept. 22, 2025 (natural causes)
Actor, The Bill Cosby Show, Easy Street, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Patricia Routledge (96)
Born: Feb. 17, 1929
Died: Oct. 3, 2025 (natural causes)
Actress, Keeping Up Appearances, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
BBC/Courtesy: Everett Collection
June Lockhart (100)
Born: June 25, 1925
Died: Oct. 23, 2025 (natural causes)
Actress, Lassie, Lost in Space
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection
Dawn Little Sky (95)
Born: April 17, 1930
Died: Oct. 24, 2025
Actress/Disney Animation Artist, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Rawhide
TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection
Prunella Scales (93)
Born: June 22, 1932
Died: Oct. 27, 2025 (vascular dementia)
Actress, Fawlty Towers
©BBC / Courtesy: Everett Collection
Betty Harford (98)
Born: Jan. 28, 1927
Died: Nov. 2, 2025
Actress, The Paper Chase, Dynasty
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Danny Seagren (81)
Born: Nov. 15, 1943
Died: Nov. 10, 2025
Puppeteer/Actor Spider-Man on The Electric Company
John Eimen (76)
Born: Oct. 2, 1949
Died: Nov. 21, 2025 (prostate cancer)
Child Actor, Leave it to Beaver, McKeever and the Colonel
Everett Collection
Jeff Garcia (50)
Born: May 3, 1975
Died: December 10, 2025 (multiple health complications including brain aneurysm and pneumonia)
Comedian/Voice Actor, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Everett Collection
Jim Ward (66)
Born: May 19, 1959
Died: December 10, 2025 (Alzheimer’s disease)
Voice Actor, The Fairly OddParents
Nickelodeon / Courtesy: Everett Collection
Anthony Geary (78)
Born: May 29, 1947
Died: Dec. 14, 2025 (complications from surgery)
Actor, Luke on General Hospital
Everett Collection
Rob Reiner (78)
Born: March 6, 1947
Died: Dec. 14, 2025 (murdered)
Actor/Writer/Director, All in the Family, Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, Misery
Everett Collection
Gil Gerard (82)
Born: Jan. 23, 1943
Died: Dec. 16, 2025 (cancer)
Actor, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Airport ’77
Universal Television/ Courtesy: Everett Collection.
James Ransone (45)
Born: June 2, 1979
Died: Dec. 19, 2025 (suicide)
Actor, The Wire
Steve Dietl/Focus World/courtesy Everett Collection
Remind 
Toys & Games
November/December 2025
Fire up the Easy-Bake Oven, dust off that pogo stick, tickle that Elmo and get ready to blast back to a time when batteries were not included
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