Stars From The Facts Of Life You Didn't Know Died

While most TV audiences would be familiar with Alan Alda, best known as Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the profound wartime sitcom "M*A*S*H," his father, Robert Alda, was also no slouch in the thespian department. Robert first distinguished himself in his movie debut as composer George Gershwin in the 1945 classic, "Rhapsody In Blue," and on Broadway as reckless gambler Sky Masterson in the original production of "Guys and Dolls" in 1950. That experience in front of an audience gave him the skills to tackle live televised theater shows during the '50s on such programs as "The Gulf Playhouse," "Lux Video Theatre," and "Playhouse 90." He garnered enough credentials to star in a program bearing his name, as well as a short-lived dramatic series called "Secret File: USA," both in 1955. 

His success rubbed off on son Alan, with whom he dueted in Abbott and Costello sendups. When his son wanted to go into acting full-time, his father made sure he first finished his drama studies at Fordham University. "And then he was ready," Robert said about his son, per the Los Angeles Times. The two would work periodically together, including on "M*A*S*H," where Robert featured in two episodes, playing visiting surgeon Dr. Anthony Borelli. He had one pivotal appearance on "The Facts of Life," playing Edna Garrett's ex-husband who wants to remarry her, until he's discovered teaching the boarding school girls how to gamble. Robert died at 72 from complications from a stroke.

For someone best known as an entertainment juggernaut on television in the 1950s, Orson Bean demonstrated a great deal of longevity in the trade. Back when TV was still trying to find its legs to enthrall an embryonic audience, Bean was right in the thick of things, as a comic for one gig, a magician for another stint, and anything else that might crop up. "People shouldn't get into show business because they want to become stars or become rich," he told the Los Angeles Times. "They should get into it because they can't help but put on a show." Those ventures included numerous Broadway stints, applying his wit to pioneering games shows like "What's My Line?" and "I've Got A Secret," and appearances on landmark programs from "The Tonight Show" to "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Even after those glory days, Bean remained prolific, appearing on "Love, American Style," "The Love Boat," and three episodes of "The Facts of Life," in which he played Oliver Thompson, a love interest of housemother Beverly Anne Stickle. He even received a Grammy for the soundtrack to a '70s animated version of "The Hobbit," where he voiced Bilbo Baggins. Subsequent roles in shows like "Two And A Half Men," "Superstore," and "Desperate Housewives" followed, until the 91-year-old was killed in a pedestrian-car accident in Venice, California. "For all who knew him, Orson leaves a legacy of love, true friendship and powerful work," his agency said, per Deadline.

If you're looking for a template for what set the standard for celebrity status, credit Zsa Zsa Gabor, who almost single-handedly crafted the mold that would eventually yield the likes of Paris Hilton and the Kardashian clan. More bluntly, the Los Angeles Times summed up the native Hungarian's notoriety as someone who "was famous for being famous." Granted, Gabor did a bit of acting, starting with appearances in '50s outings like "Lovely to Look At" and the original "Moulin Rouge." But her key to the gilded gates of glamour was to marry rich — nine times to be exact — to suitors that included hotel baron Conrad Hilton and German aristocrat and entrepreneur Frédéric von Anhalt. In short order, she became a high-society icon in constant demand on the talk show circuit, where she'd declare such eyebrow-raisers as, "I want a man who's kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a millionaire?" per Variety. 

Her relatively quieter sister, Eva Gabor, was equally glamorous, but acted regularly, playing socialite Lisa Douglas in sitcoms "Green Acres" and "Petticoat Junction." Zsa Zsa, on the other hand, was comfortable with the odd cameo playing herself on episodes of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," "Knot's Landing," and "Cybill." One exception was when she played Countess Calvet on an episode of "The Facts of Life," a role that arguably required little preparation. Gabor enjoyed the upper-crust lifestyle until she was 99, when TMZ first revealed her death from a heart attack.

Sheldon Leonard acted in dozens of movies in the 1940s and '50s in a lot of blink-and-you'll-miss-him roles. Within that extensive portfolio, however, Leonard was likely most memorable as the bartender Nick in Frank Capra's Yuletide classic, "It's A Wonderful Life," that starred Jimmy Stewart as hapless banker George Bailey. But the three-time Emmy Award winner's work behind the camera allowed Leonard to particularly distinguish himself as a director, producer, and writer. His first big coup was producing "The Danny Thomas Show," which ran for 11 seasons starting in 1953, before working on subsequent outings like "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Andy Griffith Show," and "Gomer Pyle, USMC." He even broke a social barrier with the production of "I Spy," the first series to have two actors of different races sharing lead responsibilities. 

In later years, Leonard eased off from his producer role and took on guest work, such as in an episode of "The Facts of Life," which saw him playing boarding school student Jo Polniaczek's Polish grandfather, as well as cameos on such programs as "Cheers," "Matlock," and "Murder, She Wrote." "Sheldon was one of the pioneers of situation comedy in television," Directors Guild of America spokesperson Chuck Warn said about Leonard, who died at 89 of natural causes, per The New York Times. Interestingly, another tribute exists in "The Big Bang Theory": Show creator Chuck Lorre paid homage to the man by naming his two lead characters Sheldon and Leonard. 

Hollywood outings have had scads of bullheaded oddballs in their casts, but few were as convincingly psychotic as Kenneth Mars. That bent towards insanity immortalized Mars, who played an intense Transylvanian detective sporting a monocle over a glass eye in the Mel Brooks classic comedy "Young Frankenstein" in 1972. But probably his most stunning turn under the lights was as maniacal playwright Franz Liebkind, whose Third Reich-inspired script launched a Broadway scam in another Brooks classic, "The Producers," in 1968. Mars recalled the measures he took to bring out the twisted personality of Liebkind, frequently seen during the show wearing a German uniform. "I got my costume and I don't know what possessed me, but I thought this will help me if I take this costume home and I sleep in it every night, which I did," Mars said in an interview.

But the emotional energy he put into those arcane bits were more hilarious than horrifying, which made Mars a go-to guy for television. He regularly appeared as William W.D. "Bud" Prize, the town nut-job on the satirical talk show, "Fernwood Tonight," and played headmaster Mr. Harris tasked with firing Mrs. Garrett over alleged alcoholism in "The Facts of Life." He also enjoyed recurring roles in other sitcoms like "Malcolm In the Middle" and "Will & Grace," even lending his voice to animated projects from "The Little Mermaid" to "The Land Before Time," his last gig before dying at 75 of pancreatic cancer.

For the most part, outings about boarding schools — from "Tom Brown's Schooldays" to "Goodbye Mr. Chips" — hardly portray the folks who are running them as having sunshine and lollipop personalities. So when Charlotte Rae's role as housekeeper Edna Garrett was spun off into being a dorm housemother on "The Facts of Life," her goofy, yet mature, disposition came across as a breath of fresh air. Before her turn in the prime-time spotlight, Rae initially scored parts in live theatrical dramas, a major staple of network television back in the 1950s. The following decade, she began to grab more consistent appearances on series like the romantic drama "From These Roots" and cop show "Car 54, Where Are You?" By the '70s, Rae enjoyed a recurring role as a postal worker during the early years of "Sesame Street," and guest bits on sitcoms like "All In the Family" and "Phyllis," before earning a regular paycheck on "Diff'rent Strokes."

When her Garrett character started to hold court on "The Facts of Life," Rae had already figured out her profile. "I want to bring in as much humanity as possible, as well as the humor," she said, per The Hollywood Reporter. "I've tried to make her a human being with dimensions." She left after seven seasons, finding subsequent work on shows like "ER" and "The King of Queens," as well as voiceovers for the animated TV series "101 Dalmatians." After facing many cancer-related illnesses, she died of bone cancer at 92.

You might not recall Alex Rocco by name, but you'll likely remember his portrayal of Moe Greene, a crooked casino magnate locking horns with the dreaded Corleone family who bump him off in the 1972 classic movie "The Godfather." While Rocco's gruesome exit will likely be the most anecdotal reminder of the actor's talents, it hardly eclipses a huge body of work he's accumulated after 50 years in show business. His steadiest lines of work remained a season in the 1990 series "The Famous Teddy Z," which garnered him an Emmy Award for playing sleazy talent agent Al Floss.

Many of his TV guesting gigs involved him as a sharp-witted tough guy in '70s cop shows like "The Rockford Files," "Police Story," "Cannon," and "Kojak," a demeanor he developed as a kid growing up among street gangs in Boston, per The Hollywood Reporter. But he wasn't afraid to show a more tender side, playing the patriarch in the short-lived 1975 family drama "Three For the Road," and several recurring appearances as Jo Polniaczek's father Charlie in "The Facts of Life." Additional roles included voice-over work for "The Simpsons," playing Roger Meyers Jr., an entertainment executive who created the cartoon Itchy and Scratchy, and portraying Matt LeBlanc's father Dick in Showtime's "Episodes." When Rocco died of cancer at 79, actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan — who starred with him in "Magic City" — said in part (via Variety), "For those of us lucky enough to get to know Rocco, we were blessed."

After years of playing in a series of screwball companies, actor Dick Van Patten turned his reputation around and became the ultimate father figure playing Tom Bradford in the '70s drama "Eight Is Enough." But he was also capable of playing in other familial scenarios, such as portraying the ex-husband of housemother Beverly Ann Stickle in one episode of "The Facts of Life" during the later years of the series. While he didn't have the chiseled looks of a matinee idol, Van Patten made up for it with a versatile set of acting chops honed since television's nascent days.

The first series he starred in was the 1949 show "Mama," a drama about a family of immigrants that lasted for eight seasons. He followed that up with appearances on shows like "Mike Hammer" and "Naked City," before landing a spot in the movie "Charly," which resulted in an Oscar for its star Cliff Robertson. But Van Patten came into his own playing oddball characters like Friar Tuck in the Robin Hood spoof "When Things Were Rotten" and recurring roles on "Happy Days." He was also a casting favorite for director Mel Brooks, who had him in comedic outings like "High Anxiety" and "Spaceballs." Van Patten died from complications with diabetes at 86. "He was the kindest man you could ever meet in life," his publicist Jeff Ballard said, per Entertainment Weekly. "A loving family man. They don't make them like him anymore."