We’re only two months into 2026, and the year has already hit fans hard. Between headline-grabbing scandals, we’ve barely had a moment to breathe, let alone grieve. Several beloved actors have already passed away this year, some in their 80s after long, celebrated careers, others far too young, still getting their stride. A few names dominated timelines for a day or two before the algorithm moved on. Others? You probably didn’t even see the tributes. So here we are, pausing the scroll. Remembering the faces, the films, the work. Because careers that spanned decades shouldn’t disappear in 24 hours. Here is a list of Hollywood actors who died in 2026 (so far).
Sidney Kibrick – 2 January
Sidney Henry Kibrick will always be Woim to anyone who grew up on Our Gang shorts.
Born in Minneapolis, he got spotted by an agent at five while out watching a movie. Acting paid the bills, but he treated it like a job. By 11, he walked away, studied at the University of Southern California, and built a career in real estate.
He stayed close to George “Spanky” McFarland, showed up for reunions, and outlived every regular member of the gang.
He died in Los Angeles at 97.
Bret Hanna-Shuford – 3 January
Broadway lost actor and creator Bret Hanna-Shuford, 46, who died after a 2025 diagnosis of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and peripheral T-cell lymphoma. His husband, Steven R. Hanna, shared the news on Instagram.
A Wagner College theatre grad, Hanna-Shuford hustled in the early 2000s on Beauty and the Beast, Wicked, The Little Mermaid, and Cirque Du Soleil’s Paramour, plus tours like South Pacific and Dreamgirls.
His children’s book, Good Night, Break a Leg, lands summer 2026.
T.K. Carter – 9 January
Born in New York City and raised in Southern California, Thomas Kent “T.K.” Carter did stand-up at 12, Neil Simon plays in high school, and kept grinding in the industry. Horror fans remember him as Nauls in The Thing. Sitcom viewers remember him on Punky Brewster.
He died at 69.
Kianna Underwood – 16 January
Kianna Underwood, who showed up on All That’s final season in 2005, died after a hit-and-run in January in Brooklyn, New York. She was 33. WABC7 reported she crossed an intersection in Brownsville when an SUV struck her, then a second car hit her and dragged her several feet. Police said the drivers kept going.
Underwood also voiced Fuchsia Glover on Little Bill and Dakota in the 2001 animated musical Santa Baby! She even stepped onstage as Little Inez during the first national tour of Hairspray.
Charles C. Stevenson Jr. – 19 January
Charles C. Stevenson Jr. ‘s first onscreen credit came in a 1982 episode of Voyagers!, and he kept rolling for nearly 40 years, stacking 115 screen credits across Dynasty, L.A. Law, Cheers, The West Wing, Will & Grace, Six Feet Under, and Scandal.
Casting loved him in a collar, too. He played clergy at least two dozen times. “In his own words, his job was ‘marrying or burying people,’” his son Scott said.
Stevenson died of natural causes on Jan. 19 in Camarillo, California. He was 95.
Floyd Vivino – 22 January
If you grew up in the Northeast with a TV that pulled in weird UHF channels, you probably met Floyd “Uncle Floyd” Vivino before you learned what “cult classic” meant. In 1974 he launched The Uncle Floyd Show, mixing piano, puppets, sketches, and that checkered jacket with the clashing porkpie hat.
In 1999 he played piano for 24 hours and 15 minutes to fund cystic fibrosis bills.
He died on January 22, 2026, at 74, after years of health problems.
Yvonne Lime – 23 January
Yvonne Glee Lime Fedderson, born April 7, 1935, in Glendale, trained at Pasadena Playhouse and got noticed in Ah, Wilderness!. Hollywood kept her busy from 1956 to 1968, with The Rainmaker, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, and TV stops like Father Knows Best and The Andy Griffith Show.
In 1959, at 24, she and Sara O’Meara founded International Orphans, Inc., which became Childhelp and later helped more than 14 million children.
She died January 23, 2026, at 90.
John Stamos said, “Her smile, her warmth, and her fierce unwavering dedication to protecting children left an imprint on my heart and on the world. Through Childhelp, she helped save and protect millions of children who never would have had a voice without her. That is not just a legacy, it is a living miracle.”
Alexis Ortega – 24 January
The friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man just lost one of his own. Alexis Ortega, the Mexican voice actor who brought Tom Holland’s Peter Parker to life for Latin American audiences, has died at 38.
If you watched Captain America: Civil War in Spanish back in 2016 and heard that nervous, fast-talking teen swing into the MCU, that was Ortega. He continued voicing Holland’s Spidey in Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017 and Avengers: Infinity War in 2018, helping introduce a new generation to Marvel’s youngest Avenger.
Ortega also voiced Tadashi Hamada in Big Hero 6, worked on the Spanish dubs of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Finding Dory, and Cars 3, and even stepped in for recent MrBeast content adapted for Spanish-speaking viewers.
Catherine O’Hara – 30 January
Comedy lost one of its sharpest minds on January 30, 2026. Catherine O’Hara, 71, died at her Los Angeles home after a pulmonary embolism following a battle with rectal cancer. And yes, there was only one of her. As Michael McKean put it, “Only one Catherine O’Hara, and now none.”
Born March 4, 1954, in Toronto, she once told The New Yorker, “Everybody in my family’s funny. Being funny was highly encouraged in our family, I think.”
From Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice to Kate McCallister in Home Alone, from Christopher Guest mockumentaries with Eugene Levy to Moira Rose’s wigs on Schitt’s Creek, she stayed unpredictable. “[W]hen in doubt, play insane,” she said. She did.
Demond Wilson – 30 January
Demond Wilson, the man who kept his cool while everyone else lost theirs on Sanford and Son, has died at 79. He passed away on January 30, 2026, at his home in Palm Springs, California, from complications related to prostate cancer.
Sanford and Son ranked in the Top 10 for five of its six seasons and peaked at No. 2 behind All in the Family. In 1974, when Foxx walked out over a salary dispute, Wilson carried the show himself. Not bad for a guy who debuted on Broadway at 4, danced at the Apollo at 12, and served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968 with the 4th Infantry Division, where he was wounded.
He later headlined Baby… I’m Back! in 1978 and played Oscar Madison on The New Odd Couple from 1982 to 1983.
Off-screen, Wilson became a pastor and author, writing Christian books and his memoir, “Second Banana: The Bittersweet Memoirs of the Sanford & Son Years.”
Blake Garrett – 8 February
Blake Garrett, the former child actor you probably remember from How to Eat Fried Worms, has died at 33. His mom, Carol, confirmed to TMZ that he passed away on Sunday, just days after undergoing emergency surgery in Oklahoma. The family is still waiting for autopsy results. Carol said he’d been in intense pain, diagnosed with shingles, and had been self-medicating. She believes the death may have been accidental.
Born in Dallas, Texas, he started acting young, performing in local stage productions before landing a spot at age 10 on Barney’s Colorful World International Tour, tied to Barney & Friends.
In 2006’s How to Eat Fried Worms, he played the bully’s henchman and won a Young Artist Award. “I play the bully’s henchman,” he told The Oklahoman in 2006. “There were rows of bicycles, and they let me have first pick… The guys who could ride worked on that scene.”
Tom Noonan – 14 February
Tom Noonan, born April 12, 1951, in Greenwich, Connecticut, died on February 14, 2026, aged 74, leaving behind a career you’ve definitely seen, even if you didn’t clock the name. Trained at Yale School of Drama, the 6’6” actor terrified audiences as Francis Dollarhyde in Michael Mann’s Manhunter and broke hearts as Frankenstein in The Monster Squad. As Fred Dekker said, he was “the proverbial gentleman and scholar,” delivering an “indelible performance.” From Heat to What Happened Was…, he never phoned it in.
Robert Duvall – 15 February
Robert Duvall has died at 95. His wife, Luciana, confirmed he passed peacefully at home on February 15, 2026. Born January 5, 1931, in San Diego and raised in Annapolis, he studied at New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse with Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman, even sharing an apartment.
From Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) to Tom Hagen in The Godfather and Lt. Col. Kilgore’s “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” in Apocalypse Now, he built a career on precision. He won an Oscar at 52 for Tender Mercies (1983), later wrote and directed The Apostle (1997) and Wild Horses (2015), and earned the National Medal of Arts in 2005. As Luciana wrote, “To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything.”
Eric Dane – 19 February
On February 19, 2026, Eric Dane died at 53 from ALS complications, and Hollywood lost its resident troublemaker with a grin. Born November 9, 1972, in San Francisco, he went from Sequoia High to Seattle Grace Hospital, turning Dr. Mark “McSteamy” Sloan on Grey’s Anatomy into a fan obsession in 2006. “He was the funniest man,” said Patrick Dempsey. After announcing his ALS diagnosis in 2025, Dane fought publicly, partnering with I AM ALS while filming Euphoria from a wheelchair.
Robert Carradine – 23 February
Robert Carradine has died at 71. You knew him as Lewis Skolnick in 1984’s Revenge of the Nerds, the unlikely hero who turned pocket protectors into pop culture. He stuck with the franchise through three sequels, but his résumé ran deeper. Born to actors Sonia Sorel and John Carradine, he debuted on Bonanza in 1971 and hit the big screen in 1972’s The Cowboys with John Wayne.
Daughter Ever Carradine wrote, “I knew my dad loved me… I always knew he had my back.” Hilary Duff added, “My heart aches for him.” From Mean Streets to Lizzie McGuire, he kept showing up.
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