Sitcom Survivors: As TV Icons Dwindle, These Stars Endure
Anyone who has grown up since the invention of television understands the strangely blurred line between sitcom families and real families. Networks encourage us to accept these casts into our home as visiting neighbors, and generally we're happy to oblige.
The recent deaths of Rue McClanahan and Gary Coleman have thinned the ranks of these familiar guests. PopEater takes a look at the last remaining survivors from eight of your favorite TV sitcoms
'The Golden Girls'
Betty White is not only enjoying renewed popularity, she now has the onerous distinction of being the last Golden Girl left in the kitchen. Clearly the farm-life of her character Rose Nylund's girlhood in St. Olaf paid off.
'Family Affair'
The drug-related death of child-star Anissa 'Buffy' Jones at just 18 years old is not the only tragedy to have struck this cast. Brain Keith, who played Uncle Bill, committed suicide in 2002, two months after the suicide of his real-life daughter. Sebastian 'Mr. French' Cabot died of a stroke in 1977. Of the actors who played the children, Johnny 'Jody' Whitaker and Kathy 'Cissy' Garver survive.
'The Jeffersons'
After Isabel Sanford (Weezy) died in 2004, only two mainstays of the ground-breaking 11-season show remain. Sherman Hemsley--who played George Jefferson on four different series--and the irascible Marla Gibbs (Florence) survive, but even the neighbors (Franklin Cover and Roxie Roker, who played the Willies, and Paul Benedict, who played Harry Bentley) of that "deluxe apartment in the sky" have all passed away.
'The Honeymooners'
Take a bow, Joyce Randolph. The 86-year-old actress who played Trixie Norton is the last survivor of the landmark 1955 sitcom which many TV experts consider to be one of the best shows of its kind ever created. She survives her legendary castmates Jackie Gleason (who died in 1987), Art Carney (2003) and Audrey Meadows (1996.)
'Gilligan's Island'
We still have three of the seven stranded castaways who entertained us with their bamboo shopping cart, coconut contraptions and that transistor radio whose battery kept working for 99 episodes. Gilligan and the Skipper too (Bob Denver and Alan Hale Jr) have gone to their rest: so too the millionaire and his wife (Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer.) But the moo-oovie star (Tina Louise), the Professor (Russell Johnson) and Mary-Ann (Dawn Wells) are still on Gilligan's Isle.
'F-Troop'
This one may surprise you: despite being a hit way back in 1965, with the exception of the wonderful Forrest Tucker (Sgt. O'Rourke), practically all of the main cast of this 45-year-old show are still around to shoot another episode. That includes Larry Storch (Agarn), Ken Berry (Capt. Parmenter), Meldoy Patterson (Wrangler Jane) and James Hampton (Hannibal Dobbs). We did also lose Frank DeKova (Chief Wild Eagle), but otherwise 'F-Troop' is good to go for a new season. Any takers?
'The Munsters'
Even Pat Priest, who played the memorably curvy daughter Marilyn, is now an elderly woman. But she and TV-brother Butch Patrick are the last survivors of this creepy clan, after Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster), Yvonne De Carlo (Lilly) and Al Lewis (Grandpa) passed away.
'Diff'rent Strokes'
Who would have thought that the early-troubled Todd Bridges would the last child standing from the Drummond household? The 1999 death of Dana Plato, who played his adoptive sister, was tragically compounded last month when her son, Tyler Lambert, committed suicide at the age of 25. But perhaps the biggest surprise is that of the four principal cast members, Mr. Drummond himself is still ticking. The Canadian-born actor Conrad Bain turned 87 in February.
