Each year, we mourn the loss of beloved entertainers who are no longer with us. Here’s a look at the TV comedy notables who passed away in 2010, whose work we’ll continue to remember even after they’re gone.
Andrew Koenig
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Koenig was found dead in a Vancouver park on February 25 after having been missing for over a week. Koenig, 41, played Mike Seaver’s best friend Boner on Growing Pains, and was later a fixture on the Los Angeles comedy scene. He took his own life after struggling with depression.
Dixie Carter
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Carter starred as the intelligent, well-spoken Julia Sugarbaker on the sitcom Designing Women for seven seasons in the 1980s and ’90s. She passed away on April 10 at age 70.
Gary Coleman
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Coleman died on May 28 at age 42 after suffering a brain hemorrhage following a fall at his home in Utah. Coleman spent eight seasons playing sassy kid Arnold Drummond on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes in the 1980s.
Rue McClanahan
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McClanahan passed away on June 3 following a stroke, at age 76. McClanahan played Blanche on the classic sitcom The Golden Girls, as well as its spinoff The Golden Palace.
Robert Schimmel
Schimmel was a writer for the sketch-comedy series In Living Color in the 1990s and made frequent talk-show appearances as a stand-up comedian. He survived both a heart attack and cancer before dying on September 3 at age 60 following a car accident.
Greg Giraldo
Photo courtesy of Comedy Central
Giraldo was a fixture on various Comedy Central shows, including the network’s roasts, Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn and Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil. The veteran stand-up comedian died of a drug overdose on September 29 at age 44.
Barbara Billingsley
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Billingsley, one of TV’s most iconic moms, passed away on October 16 at age 94 after a long life that included an acting career of more than six decades. She played perfect housewife and mother June Cleaver on six seasons of Leave It to Beaver from 1957-1963, as well as the sequel series The New Leave It to Beaver in the 1980s.
Tom Bosley
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Bosley had a long and varied TV career, but in the world of sitcoms he’s best known for playing Howard Cunningham, patriarch of the Cunningham family, on Happy Days for all 10 seasons of the show. Bosley passed away on October 19 at age 83.
Leslie Nielsen
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Nielsen is best known for his work in movie parodies, but that career started out with his role on the iconic but short-lived ABC cop-drama parody Police Squad! in 1982. Nielsen died November 28 at age 84.
Steve Landesberg
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Landesberg played many roles on many TV shows throughout his long career, but is best known for playing Detective Arthur P. Dietrich on the 1970s cop sitcom Barney Miller. He passed away on December 20 at age 74.
