TVSquad

• Tim Russert
• Majel Barrett Roddenberry
• Bernie Mac
• George Carlin
• Estelle Getty
• Jack Narz
• Tony Snow
• Nina Foch
• Beverly Garland
• Bill Melendez
• Jeff MacKay
• Julius Carry
• George Furth
• Bernie Brillstein

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

• Will Schaefer: He wrote background music for a number of TV shows over the years, including The Flintstones, I Dream of Jeannie, Hogan's Heroes, The Jetsons, The Tonight Show, Disneyland, The Super Friends, The Phil Silvers Show, Barnaby Jones, and The Flying Nun. He also did music for over 700 commercials (!). He died of cancer near Palm Springs, CA at age 78.

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

• Boots Randolph: He was a renowned sax player best known for his early 60s hit "Yakety Sax," which was later used as the theme song on Benny Hill. Randolph recorded dozens of albums and played in many bands, and was part of the Million Dollar Band on Hee-Haw for many years. He died after suffering a brain aneurysm and falling into a coma two weeks ago. He was 80.

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

• Mala Powers: She was probably best known for playing Roxanne in the 1950 film version of Cyrano de Bergerac, but she also made a ton of guest appearances on TV shows, including Murder, She Wrote, Perry Mason, Ironside, Charlie's Angels, Here Come The Brides, Bewitched, Mission: Impossible, The Wild, Wild West, Rawhide, Thriller, 77 Sunset Strip, Maverick, and many more. She died of leukemia at age 76 in Santa Monica.

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

• Gretchen Wyler: She was a veteran TV, Broadway, and film actress and animal rights activist. On TV she had regular stints on Dallas and On Our Own, and guest starred on many series: MacGyver, Charlie's Angels, Judging Amy, Providence, Designing Woman, Who's The Boss, Falcon Crest, Remington Steele, Benson, St. Elsewhere, The Wonderful World of Disney, Hart to Hart, Naked City, and a ton more. The show I'll always remember her for is Friends. In the episode where Monica and Phoebe catered a funeral, she was the widow who wouldn't pay them and sang a song. She died at age 75 of complications from breast cancer.

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

(Part 1 of 5) It's the time of year when we talk about what happened over the past year, and that unfortunately includes the deaths of many notable personalities. After the jump is a list of the celebrities and other TV-related people we lost in 2006, in no particular order. (Note: it's not easy to compile a list like this and I'm sure I forgot someone. Let me know in the comments and I'll try to add them.)