Yesterday I posted an article on the passing of Kellye Nakahara, Nurse Kellye on M*A*S*H. To not be remiss, I feel compelled to also notify you of other TV stars who recently passed.
R.I.P. Ja'Net Dubois, singer of The Jeffersons theme song and star of Good Times
She worked with a young Janet Jackson and created a theme song still referenced today by the likes of Jeff Goldblum
Image: The Everett Collection
Ja'Net Dubois, who many know from her role as the neighborhood gossip Willona Woods in the All in the Family spin-off Good Times, passed away on February 18, 2020.
She worked with a young Janet Jackson. Jackson, as Penny Gordon Woods, joined Good Times as an abandoned girl adopted by Willona. Ja'Net already had belted the recognizable Jeffersons theme, so perhaps she gave some singing pointers to the young Janet.
Others might know her from that easily recognizable theme song from another spin-off, The Jeffersons. The song, "Movin' on Up," is possibly one of the most iconic TV theme songs. Four decades later, "Movin' On Up" remains one of the few TV themes that just about every American can sing. It has stayed remarkably relevant.
As recently as 2016 there was a visual joke based on the song in a Super Bowl commercial for Apartments.com. Jeff Goldblum plays "Movin' On Up" on a piano as he is hoisted by a crane up the side of a luxury apartment building.
Dubois was working on Good Times at CBS Television City when she bumped into series producer Norman Lear. As she later recalled to Jet Magazine, she told her boss she was pleased with her success but was aching to branch out, to show off her other skills.
Lear suggested she work on the theme song to his upcoming series The Jeffersons. Dubois talked with her mother about the family's dream of moving on up in the world. "I moved my whole family," Dubois recalled. "I bought [my mom] a house, bought her a mink coat. I did everything, retired her. I did everything I ever promised her." The song would later become the closing track to her debut solo album, 1980's Queen of the Highway.
The 1998 Marlon Wayans and David Spade comedy Senseless is probably largely forgotten today. But the closing credits, and its soundtrack, did offer up a Nineties remake of "Movin' On Up" — "Gotta Be...Movin' on Up" by Prince Be of spiritual hip-pop group P.M. Dawn. And here's where it gets a little small-world-ish. Ja'Net Dubois played Grandma Ellington on the sitcom The Wayans Brothers around the time the film was made.
The actress and singer was 74 years old.
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R.I.P. Paula Kelly, dancer and Night Court star
She earned Night Court its first Emmy nomination.
Image: The Everett Collection
Christine Sullivan, as played by Markie Post, is perhaps the first public defender that comes to mind from Night Court. But she was not the first. When the legal sitcom kicked off in 1984, its central characters were Judge Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson), prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette) and public defender Liz Williams, as played by Paula Kelly.
Kelly began her career as a dancer, notably alongside the legendary Bob Fosse.
Kelly began her career as a dancer, notably alongside the legendary Bob Fosse.
The first Emmy nomination ever given to Night Court was for Kelly's work, as she earned a nod in 1984 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. After leaving the show, Kelly earned another Emmy nomination for performance in the miniseries The Women of Brewster Place..
In the late 1960s, Kelly, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, headed to London to perform in a West End production of Fosse's Sweet Charity. Her acclaimed work led to a key role in the 1969 film adaptation Sweet Charity.
Dancing gave Kelly her break on television, too. She made her screen debut in 1968, playing a dance instructor in a very early episode of The Carol Burnett Show.
That led to major roles in two cult-classic sci-fi films, The Andromeda Strain (1971) and Soylent Green (1973). Meanwhile, on the small screen, she landed guest spots on cop shows such as The Streets of San Francisco, Police Woman and Kojak.
Following Night Court, Kelly appeared in a recurring role on the soap opera Santa Barbara.
Kelly passed away on February 9, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She was 76.
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R.I.P. Orson Bean, voice of The Hobbit and Twilight Zone star
The Dr. Quinn and Being John Malkovich star was 91 years old.
Orson Bean first found fame as a regular on television variety and game shows. He was a favorite of Johnny Carson and appeared on The Tonight Show more than 200 times, as well as serving as a long-running panelist on To Tell The Truth.
Many know him from the iconic The Twilight Zone episode "Mr. Bevis." The episode follows Mr. Bevis, played by Bean, a warmhearted but eccentric man who loses his job, apartment and car on the same day. When his guardian angel intervenes, he has to choose between his quirks and material success. It's one of the episodes of Twilight Zone that leans more on warmth than eeriness, and Bean's portrayal of the hapless but kind Bevis does much to bring the character to life.
Kids of the '70s and '80s might recognize Bean's voice as the titular hobbit from the 1977 Rankin/Bass animated movie The Hobbit and its follow-up, Return of the King. Bean voiced the central characters Bilbo Baggins and Frodo Baggins.
Bean guest-starred on numerous shows, including How I Met Your Mother, The Love Boat and Modern Family. But one of his rare long-running roles was on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman as Loren Bray, the shrewd shopkeeper in the town. He would appear in nearly every episode.
Orson Bean as Loren Bray
More modern movie fans will recognize Bean from the Oscar-nominated 1999 film Being John Malkovich as LesterCorp founder, Dr. Lester. The role got Bean an additional nomination from the Screen Actors Guild Award, as part of the ensemble cast.
Bean was a mainstay in telvision, film and stage since he began acting in the 1950s. He was 91 years old when he passed away.
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