Johnny Seven, a character actor who appeared in countless TV series and feature films, has died at age 83. Among his credits: Ironside, Bonanza, CHIPS, Sgt. Bilko, Gunsmoke, The Apartment and the Western Navajo Run, which he wrote produced and directed. In recent years, he ran a successful real estate business. For details click here

Zelda Rubinstein, who played the eccentric psychic in Poltergeist, has died at age 76. For more click here. For more details about her life and career, check out Kasey Dickerson's tribute here.

Pernell Roberts, the last remaining cast member of Bonanza, has died from cancer at age 81. Roberts played the role of Adam, brother of Dan Blocker and Michael Landon, on the smash hit TV series between 1959 and 1965. He felt frustrated that his character was never fully developed and thought it was ridiculous that a man in his 30s would constantly defer to his father's (Lorne Greene) wishes. Like so many other stars who left hit TV series, Roberts' career stagnated for many years. However, in 1979 he was back in a hit, playing the title role of Trapper John, M.D., based on a character from the M*A*S*H TV series. The show lasted until 1986. For more click here

Actress Jean Simmons has died from cancer at age 80. Simmons began acting in the mid-1940s and won acclaim for her performance as Ophelia in Laurence Olivier's Oscar-winning screen version of Hamlet in 1948. Major roles followed in films such as The Blue Lagoon, The Robe, Guys and Dolls, The Big Country, Spartacus, Elmer Gantry and The Happy Ending. By the late 1960s, however, the major roles in big screen productions stopped coming her way, although she did continue to act (often in independent films) up until last year.In the 1980s, she won an Emmy for her performance in the hit TV mini-series The Thorn Birds.  Simmons had been married to Stewart Granger, and later to director Richard Brooks. For more click here

Erich Segal, whose razor-thin romance novel Love Story became a pop culture phenomenon, has died at age 72 from a heart attack in London. Segal's modest story about two love-struck Harvard college students resonated with a generation that was beset by civil unrest and the protest movement. The story is the ultimate soap opera, with the lead female character developing a terminal illness. Still, Segal's skillful prose tore at women's heartstrings and elevated the book to being a publishing sensation. Segal wrote the screenplay for the 1970 big screen adaptation which was a massive box-office hit and scored key Oscar nominations for the principals involved and elevated Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw to stardom. The film's tag-line "Love means never having to say you're sorry" is still widely quoted today, though often in a satiric context.  Segal, who also wrote the screenplay for The Beatles' Yellow Submarine, never enjoyed success on this level again. His sequel to Love Story, titled Oliver's Story, didn't  approach the kind of sales that the first book did and a screen version starring Ryan O'Neal was neither a box-office or critical success. Segal continued to write the occasional screenplay but his name remains synonymous with Love Story. For more click here

Beverly E. Fisher, who became the centerpiece of a scandalous love affair with Errol Flynn when she was ony 15 years old, has died at age 67. Fisher began the affair with Flynn when the legendary screen star's career was in decline after years of alcohol abuse. Flynn was married but separated at the time. Flynn's previous flings with under-age women resulted in a notorious trial for statutory rape in the 1940s in which he was acquitted. For more on the Flynn/Fisher relationship click here

Juliet Anderson, who rose to fame in the world of adult films under the screen name Aunt Peg, has died peacefully at age 71. Anderson got into the industry relatively late in life but made her age an asset. Cinema Retro contributor Graham Hill was a personal friend of Anderson's and profiled her in a piece for our web site last year. Click here to read

Erich Rohmer, the legendary director of many classic French films, is dead at age 89. Rohmer's work was acclaimed for its concentration on character development and long, conversation-driven sequences that sparkled with great dialogue. His two most famous films were released in English-language cinemas under the titles My Night at Maud's and Claire's Knee. In praising Rohmer, President Sarkozy said, "Classic and romantic, wise and iconoclastic, light and serious, sentimental and moralistic, he created the 'Rohmer' style, which will outlive him." For more click here