Stars From ER You Didn't Know Died

Medical dramas have been a staple on primetime television for decades, but it wasn't until the '90s when hospital settings really dominated time slots, with such outings as "Chicago Hope," "Third Watch," and even 19th-century entry, "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," dominating the ratings. But the runaway victor in the genre remained "ER," which launched in 1994 and surpassed its competition in the triage sweepstakes. Much of the credit had to do with the show's pacing, given that an emergency room setting warranted a rapid delivery that kept viewers attentive. The show also willingly trotted out the eye candy in the form of George Clooney, Noah Wyle, Julianna Margulies, John Stamos, and Sherry Stringfield.

"ER" has been widely touted for extending the lens to feature the Cook County Hospital staff's humanity, an ingredient that Vulture claimed wasn't merely limited to the doctors dominating the lineup. "The most radical thing about 'ER' — the element of the show that no subsequent medical show has replicated or improved upon — is that it was always also a show about nurses," wrote Kathryn VanArendon. Its photogenic players also proved their mettle after the show ended in 2009, with Clooney, Margulies, Stamos, and subsequent stars like William H. Macy and Jorja Fox ascending Hollywood's ladder toward greater prosperity. The series also enabled luminaries from Sally Field to Ving Rhames to stretch their acting chops, while a bevy of well-known actors, including some who have since died, made their own mark on this classic drama.

Throughout the 15 seasons that "ER" ran, several episodes involved family members of characters in subplots that would weave their way throughout the series. But one instance turned out to be the real deal, when singer Rosemary Clooney shared screen time with her famous nephew, George Clooney. The opportunity took place during two episodes in the hospital drama's inaugural season, when she played a patient who leaves the emergency unit only to be found singing in the streets of Chicago, a role that earned her an Emmy nomination. Rosemary had already generated her own notoriety in her career, though, starting with vocalizing the sultry 1951 hit, "Come On-A My House," which led to a Paramount deal involving four pictures, including "White Christmas," per CBS News. Rosemary's recording and movie career was short-lived, however, as she soon retired after she married director and actor José Ferrer, with whom she raised five children. 

They eventually divorced and Rosemary tried to stage a comeback, which ultimately failed due to her mental illness that affected her for most of her life. "Many people live in mental anguish but refuse to seek help because of the stigma attached," she once said to the Ladies Home Journal. Rosemary sadly died of lung cancer when she was 74. In a Calgary Sun interview, George credited Rosemary for him staying on the straight and narrow, saying, "My aunt taught me a lot by example about what mistakes not to make because she made them all."

In the first two seasons of "ER," actor and comedian Red Buttons played Jules Rubadoux, a character who blamed the loss of his wife on Dr. Carter (portrayed by Noah Wyle), a gig that would be his last before succumbing to vascular disease at 87. A veteran of upstate New York's Borsht Belt comedy scene, Buttons first drew national attention with his own TV show during the early '50s, and — after a lengthy unemployment period after the program was axed — a prominent role in the 1957 flick "Sayonara," which earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. While changing entertainment trends often threatened to make him obsolete, Buttons frequently bounced back, starring in the box office smash, "The Poseidon Adventure," and guesting on the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roast" specials facilitated by NBC in the 1970s. "I've been a performer all my life," Buttons said, per The New York Times. "It's a very satisfactory profession. You get paid off on the spot. When they cheer, that's payment."

Evidently, Buttons found his profession to be so satisfactory that he worked right to the end. Besides "ER," he also scored cameos on "Roseanne," "It's Garry Shandling's Show," "Knot's Landing," and even "The Love Boat." When asked about Buttons' longevity in show business, fellow comedian and colleague Jack Carter said to the Associated Press (via Today), "Red never had an actual act. His act was his life, and that's why it came so naturally. He was brilliant at it."

During two episodes of "ER," Tom Bosley paired up with "Newhart" star Tom Poston to play a couple of sardonic seniors, a scenario that might have been out of character for someone who portrayed one of the most reasonable TV dads in pop culture history. To fans, Bosley was "Mr. C," aka Howard Cunningham, the kind, yet grounded, patriarch on the retro comedy, "Happy Days." Revisiting a post-war period when rock 'n' roll was in its infancy, the '70s sitcom placed Cunningham as a moralistic, yet amenable, guiding force to the more youthful and restless characters, from his son Ritchie to flamboyant mechanic Arthur Fonzarelli. More than a decade later, Bosley would play an entirely different father, a priest with a thirst for solving crimes in the drama, "Father Dowling Mysteries."

He'd often play reminders of his "Happy Days" role, including a guest appearance on yet another retro sitcom, "That '70s Show," and a satirized Mr. C cameo on "Family Guy." But to colleagues, he was a model actor and human being. "A great father and husband, and a wonderful artist, Tom led by example, and made us all laugh while he was doing it," Ron Howard recalled, who played Ritchie on "Happy Days," per the Los Angeles Times. "My last conversations with Tom reflected the love of life and peace of mind that he always maintained throughout his full and rewarding life. I miss him already." Bosley died at 83 of lung cancer.

James Farentino enjoyed a three-episode arc during the third season of "ER," and it was a significant one. He landed the role of Ray Ross, the estranged father to Doug, played by George Clooney. During the '80s and '90s, Farentino was everywhere on television, almost always as a pivotal supporting character who had a significant story arc in such dramas as "Melrose Place," "Police Story," and "Dynasty." He managed to get a lead role in "The Bold Ones: The Lawyers," which launched in 1969, but the show only lasted three seasons. He fared worse as a private eye in 1972's "Cool Million," which was yanked after only five episodes. But Farentino was rewarded for some of his efforts, winning an Emmy for Saint Peter in the miniseries "Jesus of Nazareth" and a Golden Globe for a role in the film comedy, "The Pad (and How To Use It)."

According to People, Farentino led a tempestuous life, having been married four times. But the biggest headline-grabber concerned his stormy relationship with occasional girlfriend Tina Sinatra, daughter of Frank Sinatra, which saw authorities arrest him for several infractions, from badgering phone calls to restraining order violations. He also locked horns with Universal Studios, which withheld his pay every time the actor rejected movie roles he claimed were "garbage." It wasn't long before everyone in Hollywood started labeling him "Mr. Suspension." Ironically, his last job was starring in a low-budget film called "Drive/II," before he died of heart failure at 73.

Charlotte Rae was a breath of fresh air to fans of "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life" as caregiver and housemother Edna Garrett, first to two adopted children of a well-to-do businessman, and second at a boarding school overseeing the lives of four reluctant, but impressionable, students. Her goofiness made her endearing to viewers, although she wasn't afraid to play the morality card when topics from teenage pregnancy to alcohol abuse surfaced on the latter series. Rae first emerged in the public eye performing live theater on the small screen when television was still in its infancy, before landing roles in early TV classics like "Car 54, Where Are You?" and "The Defenders." She also landed numerous bit parts, like when she played Molly the Mail Lady during the early years of "Sesame Street." Her genre-crossing acting skills enabled her to star in four episodes of "ER" and other primetime fodder like "Sisters" and "The King of Queens." Her later years saw her venture more toward voiceover work on animated projects like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "101 Dalmations: The Series."

More remarkably, Rae managed to work when she became seriously ill. She faced pancreatic cancer and later bone cancer, with the latter eventually ending her life at 92. Colleagues mourned her loss, including "Diff'rent Strokes" star Todd Bridges. "You were loved by everyone on our show and you were loved by everyone on the 'Facts of Life,'" Bridges tweeted in part. "Rest in peace, my friend."

In the latter years of his life, it's quite likely that actor Bill Macy faced the predicament of differentiating himself from another namesake, William H. Macy. When Bill Macy — best known as Walter, the long-suffering spouse to feminist Maude Findlay in the topical '70s sitcom "Maude" — died at 97, the show's producer, Norman Lear, set the record straight about the actor's legacy. "He was a rare and great comic actor," Lear said in a statement released by the AP News. "There was only one Bill Macy." It so happened that Macy had a cameo on one 2004 episode of "ER," a series that also starred William H. Macy, although the latter had left the lineup by 1998. 

Bill Macy garnered sympathy from viewers opposite Bea Arthur, who played the passionate, yet aggravating, Maude in a comedy that was on the cusp of social change in the U.S. From the rise of the women's liberation movement to growing anger toward the Vietnam War, no topic seemed off limits. And if there was any peace to be had, it certainly wasn't going to be found in the Findlay household. But Macy proved himself to be anything but a wallflower in the rest of his work, from Steve Martin's "The Jerk" to the Art Carney whodunit comedy "The Late Show." Daringly, he also performed in the 1969 Off-Broadway production "Oh! Calcutta!," a show that was performed in the nude and where, interestingly, Macy met his future wife, Samantha Harper (per Variety).

In his extensive portfolio, Hal Holbrook played at least four U.S. presidents, but film-goers will likely remember him best as Deep Throat, an enigmatic White House insider who helped bring down President Richard Nixon in the political drama, "All the President's Men." His penchant for playing authority characters is legendary, earning him five Emmys, including one for the miniseries "Lincoln," and another for a televised Broadway portrayal of humorist and author Mark Twain. Still, his only Oscar nomination was for playing a kind-hearted companion to Christopher McCandless in the 2007 film, "Into the Wild."

Despite many of his lofty portrayals, Holbrook wasn't afraid to mix things up, like when he portrayed a terminal cancer patient in two "ER" episodes, a retired scientist in "The Sopranos," and an Alzheimer's-plagued father of a biker in "Sons of Anarchy." His recurring appearances on sitcoms like "Designing Women" and "Evening Shade" also proved him to be equally adept at comedy. News of Holbrook's death at 95 reverberated through the acting community. "Seinfeld" star Jason Alexander tweeted, in part, "We lost another giant today," and Steven Spielberg — who worked with the actor in the movie "Lincoln" — had nothing but great things to say. "Hal was, quite simply, an American classic who brought Mark Twain and so many of our nation's most memorable characters back to life," Spielberg said in a statement, per Variety. "He was unforgettable in 'All the President's Men,' 'Into the Wild,' and so many, many more roles over the years."