Oh, the shame: ‘I didn’t know if these stars were dead or alive.’

I just made the ultimate faux pas.

I put Paul Newman into a post, labelling him ‘Still hot after all these years’. I can only offer a humbly, grovelling apology.

But somehow, I just completely missed his death. Was it because life moves so fast? Because there’s so much daily news to ingest?

Others have told me they missed the death of Farrah Fawcett – but for a completely different reason. After a long battle with cancer, she passed away on the same day as pop legend Michael Jackson. The news of her death was (for the most part) eclipsed by Jackson’s.

The passing of some celebrities is hard to miss (Jackson), but for many others, it’s hard to remember, off the top of our heads, if they are dead or alive.

So test your knowledge. Are these well-known actors still with us?

John Astin (Gomez Addams, The Addams Family)

Alive (age 85)

Adam West (the original Batman)

Alive (age 87)

Robert Guillaume (Benson and the voice of Rafiki in The Lion King)

Alive (age 87)

Elizabeth Montgomery (Samantha Stephens in Bewitched)

Died in 1995, aged 62, from colorectal cancer

Robert Reed (Mike Brady in The Brady Bunch)

Died in 1992, aged 59, from HIV/AIDS

Florence Henderson (Carol Brady in The Brady Bunch)

Alive (age 81)

Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing in Dallas)

Died in 2012, aged 81, from leukemia

Ted Danson (Sam Malone in Cheers)

Alive (age 67)

Linda Gray (Sue-Ellen Ewing in Dallas)

Alive (age 75)

Gary Coleman (Arnold Jackson in Diff’rent Strokes)

Died 2010, aged 42, from cerebral hemorrhage

Dana Plato (Kimberley Drummond in Diff’rent Strokes)

Died 1999, aged 34, from a drug overdose

Peter Boyle (Frank Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond)

Died 2006, aged 71, from cancer

Meredith Baxter (Elyse Keaton in Family Ties)

Alive (age 68)

John Mahoney (Martin Crane in Frasier)

Alive (age 75)

Barbara Feldon (Agent 99 in Get Smart)

Alive (age 82)

Don Adams (Maxwell Smart in Get Smart)

Died 2005, aged 82, from lymphoma

Tina Louise (Ginger in Gilligan’s Island)

Alive (age 81)

Bob Denver (Gilligan in Gilligan’s Island)

Died 2005, aged 70, from pneumonia 

Robert Duvall (actor)

Alive (age 84)

Bea Arthur (Dorothy on The Golden Girls)

Died 2009, aged 86, from cancer

Alan Thicke (Jason Seaver in Growing Pains)

Alive (age 68)

Tom Bosley (Howard Cunningham in Happy Days)

Died 2010, aged 83, from heart failure

Henry Winkler (The Fonz in Happy Days)

Alive (age 69)

Bob Crane (Col. Robert Hogan in Hogan’s Heroes)

Died 1978, aged 49, homicide

Barbara Eden (Jeannie in I Dream of Jeannie)

Alive (age 84)

Roger Moore (James Bond aka 007)

Alive (age 87)

Michael Landon (Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie and Jonathon Smith in Highway to Heaven)

Died 1991, aged 54, from cancer

Lucille Ball (Lucy in I Love Lucy)

Died 1989, aged 77, from an aortic dissection.

Mary Tyler Moore (Mary Tyler Moore Show)

Alive (age 78)

Alan Alda (Hawkeye in M*A*S*H)

Alive (age 79)

Martin Short (actor)

Alive (age 65)

William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek)

Alive (age 84)

Leonard Nimory (Dr. Spock in Star Trek)

Died 2015, aged 83, from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kinobi in Star Wars)

Died 2000, aged 86, from liver cancer.

Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker in Star Wars)

Alive (age 64)

Lisa Robin Kelly (Laurie from That 70s Show)

Died 2013, aged 43, from a drug overdose

Tommy Chong (one half of Cheech & Chong, and Leo from That ’70s Show)

Alive (age 77)

John Ritter (Jack Tripper on Three’s Company)

Died 2003, aged 54, from an aortic dissection

Katherine Helmond (Mona Robinson in Who’s The Boss?)

Alive (age 86)

Warren Beatty (actor)

Alive (age 78)

Sophia Loren (actress)

Alive (age 81)

 

Gary Busey (actor)

Alive (age 71)

Kirk Douglas (actor)

Alive (age 98)

Brigitte Bardot (actress/model/activist)

Alive (age 81)

Erik Estrada (‘Ponch’ in Chips)

Alive (age 66)

Denis Hopper (actor)

Died 2010, aged 74, from prostate cancer

Lauren Bacall (actress)

Died 2014, aged 89, from a stroke

Bernie Mac (actor)

Died 2008, aged 50, from sarcoidosis

Zsa Zsa Gabor (actress)

Alive (age 98)

Nick Nolte (actor)

Alive (age 74)

Joe Pesci (actor)

Alive (age 72)

Betty White (actress)

Alive (age 93)

 

Anthony Quinn (actor)

Died 2001, aged 86 from pneumonia 

Mickey Rooney (actor)

Died 2014, aged 93, from natural causes

Omar Sharif (actor)

Died 2015, aged 83, from a heart attack

Did any of these surprise you? Any you’d like add?

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