List of deaths that occurred in 2026 to those who made various contributions to the medium of American television.
January Date Name Age Notes Sources January 1 Victoria Jones 34 Actress and daughter of Tommy Lee Jones. She made a guest appearance on One Tree Hill. January 2 Edith Renfrow Smith 111 Supercentenarian. She was featured on Today during a segment on superagers. January 4 Michael Reagan 80 Conservative commentator. He was an actor during the 1980s (including on Falcon Crest alongside his mother Jane Wyman) and hosted the first season of the game show Lingo. January 5 Tom Cherones 86 Director and producer best known for his work on Seinfeld. Elle Simone 49 Chef best known for hosting America's Test Kitchen. January 8 Guy Moon 63 Composer best known for Oh Yeah! Cartoons, The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, 2 Stupid Dogs, Cow and Chicken, Grim & Evil, Back at the Barnyard, and Big Time Rush. January 9 T. K. Carter 69 Actor (Just Our Luck, Punky Brewster, Good Morning, Miss Bliss, The Sinbad Show) Ted Nichols97Composer for Hanna-Barbera cartoons. January 10 Manolo Villaverde 91 Cuban-American actor best known as Pepe Peña on ¿Qué Pasa, USA? January 11 Thomas Causey 76 Sound engineer (Dallas and Police Story) Erich von Daniken 90 Swiss author and ancient alien astronaut theorist (Ancient Aliens) January 13 Scott Adams 68 Creator and executive producer of the UPN animated series Dilbert, which was adapted from his comic strip of the same name.Scott Adams, Creator of the ‘Dilbert’ Comic Strip, Dies at 68 Doug McConnell 80 Journalist best known for hosting Bay Area Backroads on KRON.January 16 Bruce Bilson 97 Director (worked on Get Smart, Hogan's Heroes, Barney Miller, and several other television programs) Mark Jones 72 Writer, director, and producer (Ark II, The Skatebirds, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels) January 17 Roger Allers 76 Director, writer, animator, and storyboard artist (Animalympics) January 22 Guy Hovis 84 Singer (The Lawrence Welk Show) Floyd Vivino 74 Actor and musician best known for hosting The Uncle Floyd Show on public access television. January 23 Ed Bernard 86 Actor (Police Woman, The White Shadow) Yvonne Lime 90 Actress (Father Knows Best, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Happy) January 25 Geoffrey Mason 85 Television sports producer (several networks, most notably for ABC and its coverage of the terrorist attack at the 1972 Summer Olympics) January 26 Frederick King Keller 75 Director, producer, and screenwriter (Hey Dude, New York Undercover, The Pretender) Produce Pete 80 Television personality (WNBC and WCAU) and commercial spokesperson (Pathmark Supermarkets) January 30 Catherine O'Hara 71 Canadian-born actress (Schitt's Creek, Second City Television, The Studio), Emmy winner (1982, 2020) Demond Wilson 79 Actor (Sanford and Son, Baby... I'm Back!, The New Odd Couple)
February Date Name Age Notes Sources February 2 Chuck Negron 83 Singer-songwriter and founding member of Three Dog Night. He was featured in a season 2 episode of Intervention about his son Chuckie. February 3 Lamonte McLemore 90 Singer and founding member of The 5th Dimension. He and his groupmates made numerous television appearances, including on The Ed Sullivan Show. February 6 John Wheeler 95 Actor (various recurring or guest roles, notably the "Journey to Babel" episode of Star Trek, as well as the 1971 "Grab a Bucket and a Mop" commercial for McDonald's) February 7 Brad Arnold 47 Lead vocalist and founding member of 3 Doors Down. He and his bandmates made numerous television appearances. February 10 Shelly Desai 90 Indian-born actor (Men of a Certain Age, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) February 11 Bud Cort 77 Actor (Columbo, Bernice Bobs Her Hair, Brave New World) James Van Der Beek 48 Actor best known as Dawson Leery on Dawson's Creek and as a fictionalized version of himself in Don't Trust the B— in Apartment 23 February 14 Tom Noonan 74 Actor (Tales from the Darkside, The Equalizer, Monsters) February 15 Robert Duvall 95 Actor best known as Augustus "Gus" McCrae on Lonesome Dove February 16 Jane Baer 91 Animator (Hot Wheels, The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, The Smurfs) February 17 Jesse Jackson 84 Civil rights activist, politician, ordained minister, and host of CNN's Both Sides with Jesse Jackson (1992–2000) February 19 Eric Dane 53 Actor (Charmed, Grey's Anatomy, Euphoria) February 20 Ismael Kanater 69 Moroccan actor (Babylon 5, Alias, Sleeper Cell)وفاة الفنان أبو القناطر في أمريكا February 21 Willie Colón 75 Salsa musician and social activist. He guest starred in a season 3 episode of Miami Vice. February 23 Robert Carradine 71 Actor best known as Sam McGuire on Lizzie McGuire Gary Dontzig 79 Actor (guest roles on The Waltons, Chico and the Man, and other series) and writer/producer (Murphy Brown, Suddenly Susan, State of Grace) Sondra Lee 97 Actress (Starlit Time, The Voice of Firestone, Hansel and Gretel)Monti Rock86Hairdresser best known for his "famous for being famous" guest appearances on The Merv Griffin Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; appeared on The Midnight Special as his alter-ego Disco-Tex February 24 Lauren Chapin 80 Actress best known as Kathy "Kitten" Anderson on Father Knows Best Maria O'Brien 75 Actress and acting coach for Days of Our Lives February 27 Neil Sedaka 86 Singer-songwriter. He made appearances as himself on shows like The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Midnight Special, The Carol Burnett Show, American Idol, and The King of Queens and created and hosted the web series Today's Mini-Concert February 28 Annabel Schofield 62 Welsh-born model and actress best known as Laurel Ellis on Dallas.
March
Date Name Age Notes Sources March 2 Stephen Hibbert 68 British-American actor (Newhart, Just Shoot Me!, Jericho) and writer (Late Night with David Letterman, Darkwing Duck, Animaniacs) March 4 Lou Holtz 89 Football coach (Notre Dame, South Carolina, New York Jets) and color commentator for CBS and ESPN March 5 Corey Parker 60 Actor (Thirtysomething, Flying Blind, Will & Grace) and acting coach Sandy Wernick 86 Producer (ALF, Def Comedy Jam) March 6 Jennifer Runyon 65 Actress (Another World, Charles in Charge, A Very Brady Christmas) March 7 Country Joe McDonald 84 Singer-songwriter. He appeared in Tales of the City. March 11 Ernie Anastos 82 News anchor for New York's WABC-TV, WCBS-TV, WWOR-TV, and WNYW-TV March 15 Matt Clark 89 Actor (Ben Casey, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, T.H.E. Cat) Sam Kieth 63 Comics artist and writer (co-writer of the Cow and Chicken pilot, "No Smoking", with his cousin and series creator David Feiss).March 16Eric Overmyer74Writer/producer (several series, notably Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire, Treme, and Bosch)Orion Samuelson91Farming news broadcaster (U.S. Farm Report, This Week in Agribusiness)Kiki Shepard74Television host (Showtime at the Apollo) and actress (recurring/guest roles on Thunder in Paradise, NYPD Blue, and other series) March 19 Chuck Norris 86 Actor best known for playing Cordell Walker on the original Walker, Texas Ranger and as a spokesman for Total Gym Fitness. March 20 Nicholas Brendon 54 Actor best known as Xander Harris on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Jessie Jones 75 Actress (Murphy Brown, Melrose Place, Night Court) March 23 Valerie Perrine 82 Actress (Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills, CBS Summer Playhouse, Northern Exposure) March 25 Dash Crofts 87 Singer-songwriter and member of Seals & Crofts. He and his partner Jim Seals performed the theme song, "First Years", for the first season of The Paper Chase. March 26 James Tolkan 94 Actor (Naked City, Remington Steele, Miami Vice) March 28 Alex Duong 42 Actor and comedian best known as Sonny Le on Blue Bloods. Mary Beth Hurt 79 Actress (Kojak, Great Performances, Tattingers) March 29 Laurie Webb 101 Welsh actor (Sid Caesar Invites You)
April