TVSquad

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• Jeanne Bates: She was best known as Nurse Wills on the 1950s medical series Ben Casey. She appeared on many TV shows over the years, including That 70's Show, Wings, The Young and the Restless, Dallas, Three's Company, Quincy, M.E., Charlie's Angels, The Rockford Files, Cannon, The Saint, Hawaii Five-O, The Twilight Zone, and many others. She also appeared in several movies such as Die Hard 2, Grand Canyon, Eraserhead, the 1943 The Phantom serial, and the 1951 version of Death of a Salesman. She died of cancer at age 89.

Stuart Rosenberg is probably best known for directing big screen movies such as Cool Hand Luke, The Amityville Horror, Brubaker, The Pope of Greenwich Village, The Drowning Pool, and Voyage of the Damned, but he had an impressive TV resume as well.

Rosenberg directed several episodes of the original Twilight Zone, as well as episodes of The Untouchables, Ben Casey, The Defenders, Rawhide, For The People, Naked City, Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theater, The Nurses, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He also directed the TV movie Fame is the Name of the Game, which led to the TV series The Name of the Game.

Rosenberg died last week at his home in Beverly Hills of a heart attack.

Daryl Duke was probably best known for directing the miniseries The Thorn Birds, which starred Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward. But he had a long career as a director and writer, going all the way back to the early 50s.

Besides that classic 80s miniseries, Duke also directed episodes of Night Gallery, Harry O, Banacek, Ghost Story, and The Bold Ones, as well as two of the later Columbo TV movies in the 90s, Murder Can Be Hazardous To Your Health and Columbo Cries Wolf. He also directed a TV movie with a great title, The President's Plane Is Missing, in the early 70s, and actually acted in a few TV shows, including Ben Casey in the early 60s.

Duke died last week in Vancouver of pulmonary fibrosis.