Notable Deaths of 2026

[NT2C]

Actress Anne Schedeen, 77.  Most notable role was as Kate Tanner on Alf.  (I could find no link that didn't immediately dive into her politics, so no link is provided here)

I perused her Wikipedia entry and couldn't find any mentioning of her politics, so this may be a usable link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Schedeen

She was notable for hating one of the presidents who has served in this century. Hate being a very mild stative verb for whatever it is she felt.

Every article I found on her led with her Alf role and that hate.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Actress Anne Schedeen, 77.  Most notable role was as Kate Tanner on Alf.  (I could find no link that didn't immediately dive into her politics, so no link is provided here)

I perused her Wikipedia entry and couldn't find any mentioning of her politics, so this may be a usable link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Schedeen

She was notable for hating one of the presidents who has served in this century. Hate being a very mild stative verb for whatever it is she felt.

Every article I found on her led with her Alf role and that hate.

I must've been seeing the same articles because the majority I found seemed to focus more on that than her acting career.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Actress Daveigh Chase, best known for her roles in "The Ring" and the Disney movie "Lilo and Stitch" (the original animated one, not the recent live action version), passed away June 16th, 2026 at the age of 35.

Cause of death is listed as complications from meningitis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daveigh_Chase

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Teddie Beverley (born Hazel Pamela Chinery), the last surviving member of the 50's pop trio The Beverley Sisters, passed away June 17th, 2026 at the age of 99.

No cause of death has been released yet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beverley_Sisters

[EBuff75]

Walter Parazaider, the cofounding member and saxophonist for pop and jazz-infused rock band Chicago, has died. He was 81.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2026/06/17/walter-parazaider-death-chicago-band-cofounder-saxophone/90590906007/ 

[EBuff75]

Alan Greenspan, former head of Federal Reserve, dies at 100

https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/22/economy/alan-greenspan-obituary

[Uomo Senza Nome]

In the pendulum of free marketplace vs regulation Greenspan went a touch too far in his opposition to regulation due to his objectivist philosophical beliefs. This helped trigger the housing collapse and the dark days of 2008-2010.

Objectivism is fraught with basic failure that there is really no such thing as an enlightened self interest promoting some kind of greater good. Self interest can be benign in some ways but corporations will always act in ways which benefit themselves the most or they will fail. 

[majorhavoc]

In the pendulum of free marketplace vs regulation Greenspan went a touch too far in his opposition to regulation due to his objectivist philosophical beliefs. This helped trigger the housing collapse and the dark days of 2008-2010.

Objectivism is fraught with basic failure that there is really no such thing as an enlightened self interest promoting some kind of greater good. Self interest can be benign in some ways but corporations will always act in ways which benefit themselves the most or they will fail.

To elaborate a bit here - the "enlightened self interest" here was Greenspan's misplaced trust that lenders would exercise self-restraint in issuing mortgages that home buyers could actually afford.  Because it's obviously in a lender's best interest that the borrower actually be able to repay the loan. What Greenspan didn't account for (and arguably should have forseen) was that trust assumed the lender would hang on to the mortgage for all or at least a significant portion of the life of the loan. But that wasn't what was happening in the early to mid 2000s. Many of those mortgages were quickly bundled together and resold (at a tidy, short term profit) to investors as mortgage-backed securities. Investors who played exactly zero role in assessing an individual borrower's ability to keep up with those mortgages. That allowed lenders to wash their hands of risky home loans with balloon payments and unreasonable amounts and rates that the borrowers realistically were never going to be able to afford.

I got this from a talk by the CEO of a Fortune 500 company who gave what I've always considered the clearest explanation of what the hell actually happened in 2008.  My take away is that when assessing major market developments and the potential for widespread catastrophe (something many of us prepare for) is to consider (just by way of example <wink-wink> the current, gargantuan AI spending spree by exorbitantly valued companies that have yet to turn a dime in profit) whose interests are being served right now, what are the natural societal consequences and who's going to be left holding the bag if the whole thing goes sideways.

[aikorob]

Blood, Sweat, and Tears lead vocalist --David Clayton-Thomas
https://www.newser.com/story/391730/blood-sweat-tears-singer-is-dead-at-84.html

[Uomo Senza Nome]

Blood, Sweat, and Tears lead vocalist --David Clayton-Thomas
https://www.newser.com/story/391730/blood-sweat-tears-singer-is-dead-at-84.html

That dude could really blow in his prime. 

[EBuff75]

Michael Byrne, the English actor who portrayed key villains in the Indiana Jones and Harry Potter movies, has died.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/michael-byrne-indiana-jones-harry-191345526.html

He was only 46 when he was in The Last Crusade!

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Michael Byrne, the English actor who portrayed key villains in the Indiana Jones and Harry Potter movies, has died.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/michael-byrne-indiana-jones-harry-191345526.html

He was only 46 when he was in The Last Crusade!

I had to look up who he was in The Last Crusade since it's been awhile since I last watched it.

[EBuff75]

Michael Byrne, the English actor who portrayed key villains in the Indiana Jones and Harry Potter movies, has died.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/michael-byrne-indiana-jones-harry-191345526.html

He was only 46 when he was in The Last Crusade!

I had to look up who he was in The Last Crusade since it's been awhile since I last watched it.

Yeah, he played the head Nazi who was in the tank turret when it went over the cliff!  He also had the line, "And this is how we say goodbye in Germany, Dr. Jones," right before he punched Indy in the face. Of course, Indy got him back for that when he threw him out of the airship for, "No ticket!"  

[NT2C]

Victor Willis, Village People lead singer, dies at 74

[NT2C]

Okay, that wasn't on my bingo card; the afterlife putting together a 2026 band with a gospel singer and the lead singer of the Village People. 

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Lord Humungus is no more.

Kjell Nilsson, the actor who played Lord Humungus in 1981's "The Road Warrior" (aka Mad Max 2), passed away July 2, 2026 at the age of 76.

Cause of death is listed as kidney disease.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kjell_Nilsson_(actor)

[DarkAxel]

Lord Humungus is no more.

Kjell Nilsson, the actor who played Lord Humungus in 1981's "The Road Warrior" (aka Mad Max 2), passed away July 2, 2026 at the age of 76.

Cause of death is listed as kidney disease.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kjell_Nilsson_(actor)

Somehow I am reminded of an airplane, a megaphone, and the Meatworld Spice Weasel.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Lord Humungus is no more.

Kjell Nilsson, the actor who played Lord Humungus in 1981's "The Road Warrior" (aka Mad Max 2), passed away July 2, 2026 at the age of 76.

Cause of death is listed as kidney disease.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kjell_Nilsson_(actor)

Somehow I am reminded of an airplane, a megaphone, and the Meatworld Spice Weasel.

Every time I see the term "Meatworld", I think of Meat N'Taters and wonder whatever happened to him. Hope he's well.

[EBuff75]

Lauren Bennett, known for LMFAO's 'Party Rock Anthem,' dies at 37

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2026/07/06/lauren-bennett-dead-lmfao-party-rock-anthem/90823853007/

And if I have to have the song stuck in my head, so do you!  Enjoy the flashback to 15 years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ6zr6kCPj8

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Lauren Bennett, known for LMFAO's 'Party Rock Anthem,' dies at 37

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2026/07/06/lauren-bennett-dead-lmfao-party-rock-anthem/90823853007/

And if I have to have the song stuck in my head, so do you!  Enjoy the flashback to 15 years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ6zr6kCPj8

Apparently she passed sometime between May and June of this year (the exact time frame isn't known at the moment).