Johnny Delgado, Feb. 29, 1948 – Nov. 19, 2009, award winning Filipino movie and television actor, has died in his home surrounded by family after fighting a long battle with lymphoma according to his daughter Ina Feleo. He was 61.

Delgado is best known for being part of the 1980s television gag show “Going’ Bananas.” He was also recognized for his role in the family drama “Tanging Yaman.” That role won him the FAMAS Award and the Metro Manila Film Festival Award for Best Actor in 2000. He also appeared in “Ligalig” earning the award of Best Supporting Actor there.

Niku Kheradmand, 1932 – Nov. 17, 2009, actress and film dubber, has died in a Tehran hospital after suffering a heart attack several months ago. She was 77 years old.

Filmmaker Mehdi Sabbaghzadeh called her “The Mother of Iran’s Cinema”

She won several Best Supporting Actress Crystal Simorgh awards, first with “The Last Act” by Varuj KarimMasihi and then for her role in “The Plaything” by Turaj Mansuri. Other works include “Havana Dossier” (Alireza Raiisian), “Cafe Setareh” (Saman Moqaddam), and “How Much Do You Want to Cry” (Shahed Ahmadlu). She was also very well regarded with her role on the TV series “Thieves of the Grandmother.”

Sabbaghzadeh stated, “She was such a great actress in that respect. She had the potential and characteristics of a tremendous actress.”

Edward Woodward, June 1, 1930 – Nov. 16, 2009, British actor of film and numerous television episodes, has died at the Royal Cornwall Hospital after suffering from various illnesses including pneumonia. He was 79 years old.

He made a name for himself in feature film but it was his crime and political intrigue characters on television that earned him the most fame. Remember the ITV drama series “Callan” during the 1960s & 70s? Edward Woodward played the starring role of David Callan; his character is described in the series this way:

His weapons are theft, blackmail, murder. The tools of the trade are the knife, the gun and an icy courage no other man possesses. He is the Destroyer. His ordinariness is his protection. He is a highly-skilled cracksman, a master of unarmed combat, a dead-shot with a pistol. He is a killer. But he looks so much like everybody else he is invisible. It is only when you know him well that you realize his strength, his menace - and his charm.

And he played the Callan-character of the moody, violent and often unpleasant crack-shot killer charged with ridding the world of even more unpleasant undesirables to the hilt. “Callan” led Woodward into being much in demand for film while gaining him three Best Actor awards from the TV Times listings magazine.

When he left the series, it was to appear as police sergeant Neil Howie in occult thriller “The Wicker Man.” From there, he gained fame in the United States for his starring role in the 1980s television series "The Equalizer," for which he won a Golden Globe.

His agent, Janet Glass stated, "I knew him a very long time and he was a superb human being. That integrity shone through in the roles he played. I can't ever remember, in all the productions he undertook, anyone having a bad word to say about him and he never had anything bad to say about anyone else either… Universally loved and admired through his unforgettable roles in classic productions, he was equally fine and courageous in real life, never losing his brave spirit and wonderful humour throughout his illness…His passing will leave a huge gap in many lives."

Edward Woodward is survived by his wife Michele, two daughters and two sons.

Dennis Cole, July 19, 1940 – Nov. 15, 2009, ex-stuntman who appeared in dozens of guest-starring roles throughout the 1970s & 80s, has died at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was 69.

He played a hunk of a detective in “Felony Squad,” then appeared in “Bracken’s World” and “Bearcats!” along with a stint on the soap “The Young and The Restless.” Dennis Cole epitomized the blond surfer look of the day. He went on to some of the most memorable guest roles in all of the top television series of the day: "Medical Center," "Police Story," "The Love Boat." “Murder She Wrote,” "Charlie's Angels" and much, much more. And with those good looks, it is no wonder that he landed what my father would say is one of the most beautiful women in the world – Jaclyn Smith. They were married in 1978 though it only lasted until 1981.

Still good looks and being a television star didn’t absolve him of grief. His son from his first marriage was killed in an attempted robbery. The perpetrator was never arrested. Dennis Cole worked to raise awareness for victims of crime as well as other charities including the Cancer Society and the Arthritis and Cystic Fibrosis foundations.

He is survived by his brother.

Ken Ober, July 3, 1957 – Nov. 15, 2009, game show host of MTV’s “Remote Control,” has died unexpectedly of a heart attack after complaining of a headache and flu-like symptoms. He was only 52 years old.

He went on to fame after appearing as a contestant of “Star Search.” Really? Yes, apparently so. In 1987, he landed the host job for the MTV question & answer trivia contest “Remote Control.”

"I remember the first time it hit me," Ober said in a 1989 interview with the San Diego Union Tribune. "I was in a supermarket line reading 'TV Guide,' and it said 'Ken Ober, comma, TV game show host.' And I said, 'Oh, no, I'm a game show host.' "

The show was a hit. It tested contestants on their knowledge of music/video trivia while strapped into reclining lounge chairs. The atmosphere was much like a late night talk show with dialogue in dripping sarcasm. When contestants answered incorrectly, they were ridiculed and pitched backward in their chairs through the wall of the set.

Van Toffler, the president of MTV Networks, stated, “Ken was a great guy. His personality really brought ‘Remote Control’ to life, as well as a new style of programming for MTV. We were really flying by the seat of our pants then, and Ken was the reason it worked.”

Mara Manzan, May 28, 1952 – Nov. 13, 2009, notable Brazilian actress, has died at the Rios d'Or Hospital of pulmonary failure after battling lung cancer following a previous fight with cancer of the uterus and ovaries. She was 57.

Mara Manzan took on many roles in television ranging from the character Edmeia in “A Viagem” in 1994 up to her role as Amara in “Duas Caras” in 2007 & 2008 and Ashima in “Caminho dad Indias” in 2009.

Fellow actress Fernanda Paes Leme lamented Mara Manzan’s death, "Acordei com a triste noticia que a minha querida Mara Manzan faleceu! Dia triste!! Maldita doença!! Espero que ela descanse em paz!"

Paul Wendkos, Sept. 20, 1922 – Nov. 12, 2009, Emmy-nominated director who popularized surfing movies, has died at his home in Malibu. He was 87.

He directed more than 110 projects ranging from feature films, TV movies and mini-series. But it was the three “Gidget” movies that Paul Wendkos will be most likely remembered. The 1959 “Gidget” starred Sandra Dee and James Darren and was followed by “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” and “Gidget Goes to Rome.”

The movie and the two sequels, deals with teenage burgeoning sexuality. Remember, this was the 1950s! Sandra Dee plays Francie, a 16 year old girl, blonde, pretty and very young acting. She is convinced by her friends to go on a "man-hunt" at the beach in sunny California. Francie's friends try to lure the muscular college men over, while the guys refer to the girls as jailbait. Francie asks her mother, "when they start smoothing and pawing, UH doesn't it make you sick too mama?!" Her mother assures her that she just needs to find the right man. Nonetheless, the movies set the stage for future surfing movies, including those starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.

Paul Wendkos other works include "Playhouse 90," "Route 66," "Naked City," "The Untouchables," "Dr. Kildare," "Ben Casey," "The Big Valley," "The FBI," "I Spy," "Rawhide" and "Hawaii Five-O." In 1977, he produced and directed the miniseries "Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue" and he was nominated for an Emmy Award for directing "The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story," starring Lindsay Wagner in 1988.

He leaves behind his wife, Lin Bolen, his son, Jordan Wendkos and a granddaughter, Justine Wendkos.

John Joseph “Jack” Kissell, Sept. 24, 1930 – Nov. 12, 2009, character actor who was active in Alcoholics Anonymous, has died at the Little Company of Mary Transitional Care Center in Torrance where he had been suffering from Alzheimer’s and cancer. He was 79 years old.

He was 38 years sober when he died though he still referred to himself as “an alcoholic of the hopeless variety” according to his bio on his website. Still, his wife stay married to him for 55 years. That in itself is its own testament. He nevertheless appeared in small parts on television including “Wonder Woman,” “King of Queens” and three episodes of “Life with Bonnie.” He often sought out roles in Shakespeare’s works and participated in community theater productions. He also appeared in contemporary stage plays at West Coast Ensemble, Circus Theatricals, Odyssey Theater and the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Recently he appeared as Thomas Edison in “Camping with Henry and Tom.”

In addition to his wife, he is survived by four children, nine grandchildren and a great-grandson.

Ken Wlaschin, film historian, film programmer and author, has died at his home in Palm Springs after a short illness. He was 75.

He became the program director of the National Film Theater as well as the London Film Festival turning in the longest tenure of anyone in that position to date, exiting the role in 1984. Of interesting note, Wlaschin also appeared in two films, “The Tramplers” and “Mo.”

As an author, Ken Wlaschin wrote a variety of books ranging from fiction, poetry, travel, music and, of course film including “The Silent Cinema in Song, 1896-1929.” In the book, Wlaschin explains, “Most people are aware that silent movies were rarely silent, that there was live musical accompaniment. It is less well known that large numbers of popular songs were created in connection with silent films, played and sung during screenings, published as sheet music and often recorded… Many such songs, the author says, were written by noted composers, and even a few by movie stars, such as Charlie Chaplin. Some songs went on to become hits.”

Other works include, “Bluff Your Way in the Cinema,” “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World’s Great Movie Stars and Their Films,” “Encyclopedia of Opera on Screen,” “Gian Carlo Menotti on Screen” and “Silent Mystery and Detective Movies.”

He leaves behind his wife, son, two sisters, brother and half-brother.

David Lloyd, Emmy winning screenwriter and producer for television, has died after a long illness.

“It's a release, Murray. A kind of defense mechanism. It's like whistling in a graveyard. You try to make light of something because it scares you. We laugh at death because we know death will have the last laugh on us.”

Those words are a passage from the “Chuckles Bites the Dust” episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” that David Lloyd wrote and for which he won an Emmy. Now he himself has also passed away. So why do we recall this particular piece of writing when we think of Mr. Lloyd? The words, of course, could not be more fitting as he was an absolute giant in comedy television writing. But there is more to it than that.

Maybe we think of these words more often than we’d like or maybe it is that we should think of them more. They can be applied to so many of us as we look over our own lives and the lives of those we love. It is truly those moments of laughter that highlight in our memories, those moments of sheer happiness, where we feel the tensions of the world ease, feelings of contentment with ourselves and those around us rise and the world looks, at least for a moment, like it is going to all be ok.

If so, then laughter has got to be the greatest gift and that is the gift that David Lloyd has given. As a writer and producer of most of the best comedy shows of the last few decades; “Cheers,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” The Bob Newhart Show,” “Phyllis,” “Cheers,” “Frasier,” “The Tonight Show, ”Wings,” “Taxi,” on and on, David Lloyd is the one responsible for many moments of happiness for us all.

So, using Mr. Lloyd’s words, the words he wrote for the preacher to say to Mary at Chuckles funeral:

“You feel like laughing, don't you? Don't try to stop yourself. Go ahead. Laugh out loud. Don't you see? Nothing could have made Chuckles the happier. He lived to make people laugh. He found tears offensive. He hated to see people cry. Go ahead, my dear -- laugh.”