From Chandler Bing to Pee-wee Herman, these actors who died in 2023 played iconic roles

Saying goodbye to the stars we lost in 2023 is sometimes a double jolt of emotions. It’s not just a matter of mourning the talented people who’ve entertained us with their performances. In many instances, it's a time to appreciate all over again the signature roles they played on film and TV.

Whether they're awe-inspiring heroes, complex villains or ordinary individuals just struggling to get by, these fictional characters have been our companions through the decades. Sometimes it’s hard to separate the role from the actor. But that’s OK, because such melding is what makes acting so special.

Here are some of the men and women who deserve one final thanks for their indelible onscreen characters. Oh, how we'll miss them — and how we'll keep watching their unforgettable roles over and over in streaming and syndication.

Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing ('Friends,' NBC)

On his TV Guide address label, he was known as Chanandler Bong. To the rest of us, Perry’s Chandler tapped into the authentic anxieties and hopes of someone who fears he is not worthy of love or success, but finds it anyway through his essential kindness and decency. Who didn’t want to put a turkey over their heads and do a silly dance to win his heart?

Andre Braugher as Capt. Raymond Holt ('Brooklyn Nine-Nine,' Fox and NBC)

Braugher’s depth as a serious actor was obvious in works like “Glory” and NBC’s “Homicide.” But as talented as he was at drama, Braugher brought something special to comedy. Stern on the outside, compassionate and quirky inside, Braugher's Capt. Holt was perfection. What else is there to say? As Marc Evan Jackson (who played Holt's husband, Kevin Cozner) tweeted after Braugher’s death, using a line from Walt Whitman’s poem about the death of Abraham Lincoln, “O Captain. My Captain.”

Suzanne Somers as Chrissy Snow ('Three’s Company,' ABC)

In the disco era, things didn’t get wink-winkier on network television than “Three’s Company,” the sitcom about a straight man pretending to be gay in order to room with two women. As Christmas “Chrissy” Snow, Somers brought an endearing, goofy naivete to her stereotypical dumb blonde role. She became an overnight sensation as — and eternally will be — Chrissy, whose pure heart and impeccable comic timing turned a cartoon into a woman you’d be proud to have as a roommate or significant other.

Ryan O’Neal as Oliver Barrett IV ('Love Story,' 1970)

When O’Neal’s impossibly dashing Oliver, a Harvard student and heir to an old money fortune, fell for Ali MacGraw’s working-class Jenny Cavilleri, it was a romance for the ages — or at least the best tearjerker of the Vietnam era. Somewhere, Oliver is still sitting alone on snow-covered bleachers, mourning the loss of his vibrant young wife. Love means never having to say you’re sorry for falling hard for him.

David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin ('The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,' NBC)

In the midst of the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union, a Russian spy for global law enforcement heated up the prime-time ratings. Long before his "NCIS" days, Scottish actor McCallum made secret agent Illya Kuryakin — who worked alongside Robert Vaughn’s elegant Napoleon Solo — an unlikely sex symbol. An enigmatic figure in turtlenecks and a Beatle-esque haircut, Illya did as much for detente as Gorbachev would years later.

Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman ('Pee-wee's Playhouse,' CBS, 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure,' 1985 and more)

Impatient, fun-loving, spoiled and yet devoted to friends like Chairy, Jambi, Miss Yvonne, Cowboy Curtis and all the others who populated his world of talking objects and whimsical gadgets, Pee-wee was a colossal pop-culture figure of the 1980s. Beloved by kids and grownups, Pee-wee created a world where being different was not only tolerated, but embraced. Everyone — humans, animals, robots, tiny claymation dinosaurs, talking clocks, etc. — was welcome at Pee-wee’s playhouse.

Ron Cephas Jones as William Hill ('This Is Us,' NBC)

The talented character actor got his moment in the spotlight in the series that explored how family relationships fracture and evolve over time. As the biological father of Randall Pearson (Sterling K. Brown), William was compelling as he reunited with his adult son and faced their complicated relationship with honesty, apologizing for “doing everything wrong by you.” Jones won two Emmys and a Screen Actors Guild Award for a role that demonstrated wisdom sometimes comes with pain and age.

Alan Arkin as Edwin Hoover ('Little Miss Sunshine,' 2006).

The veteran actor played everyman Yossarian in 1970’s “Catch-22,” a lonely deaf man in 1968’s “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” and a sadistic drug dealer who menaced a blind Audrey Hepburn in 1967’s “Wait Until Dark." But he won his only Oscar for a supporting role as a heroin-taking, hard wisdom-spewing grandfather in the unconventional family comedy. Heartwarming highlight? When Arkin's Edwin — who teaches his anxious granddaughter, Olive, a strip-club dance to “Superfreak” for her child beauty pageant competition — tells her she is beautiful inside and out.

Frances Sternhagen as Bunny MacDougal ('Sex and the City,' HBO)

A Tony winner who already had conquered TV as Cliff Claven’s mom in “Cheers,” Sternhagen made insufferable arrogance fun as the upper-crust mother of Charlotte’s (Kristin Davis) husband, Trey (Kyle MacLachlan). Rich, privileged and unwilling to concede her primary role in her son’s life, Sternhagen almost made you root for the mother-in-law from hell.

Lance Reddick as Lt. Cedric Daniels ('The Wire,' HBO)

From “Lost” to “Bosch” to the “John Wick” franchise, Reddick stole scenes regularly with his intense, intimidating presence. In "The Wire" (arguably the best TV series ever),  Reddick brought command and depth to his part as a respected Baltimore police officer who refuses to succumb to corruption. In the end, Lt. Daniels was too upstanding for a broken policing system. Yet he kept fighting for justice, a quality the real world needs now more than ever.

Tom Sizemore as Sgt. Mike Horvath ('Saving Private Ryan,' 1998)

While the Detroit native's inner turmoil, addiction and arrests marked his personal life, it didn’t stop Sizemore from leaving a legacy of important screen roles in the 1990s. His one for the ages was his war-weary World War II soldier in director Steven Spielberg’s epic about the sacrifices of the greatest generation. In a key scene, Horvath shares his thoughts about the dangerous mission to find a soldier whose three brothers have died in combat. “Someday, we might look back on this and decide that saving Private Ryan was the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole godawful, sh---- mess,” says Horvath. “Like you said, Captain, maybe we do that, we all earn the right to go home.”

Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch ('Homicide' and 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,' NBC)

A tough-talking standup comic with a heart of gold. Belzer put a similar spin on his long-running detective. With his fondness for acerbic comments and conspiracy theories, Munch usually hid how deeply he cared for the victims he encountered. But care he did. In one heartbreaking episode of "SVU," Munch was pictured reading a children's book out loud to an abused little girl in a coma. Given how many hours of reruns that series gets across cable, Munch will continue to keep us safe around the clock.

Cindy Williams (Shirley Feeney, 'Laverne & Shirley,' ABC )

As one-half of the female duo in the “Happy Days” spinoff that became a massive hit, Williams was no Ethel to Penny Marshall’s 1970s version of Lucy. Her Shirley may have tried to be more prim and proper than Laverne, but Williams was as gifted as Marshall in the goofy physical comedy that kept the sitcom at the top of the Nielsen charts. For a lot of young girls of the era, Shirley was proof that you simultaneously could be nice and hysterically funny -- and have more gumption than the guys.

Richard Roundtree ('Shaft,' 1971)

They say this cat Shaft is a bad mother, and they were right. Nobody was hipper than New York detective John Shaft, who’s assigned to save a kidnapped mobster’s daughter in Harlem in this landmark film. With his smoldering self-assurance, Roundtree’s Shaft is often described as the first Black action hero. Like the film's theme song says, Shaft “would risk his neck for his brother man,” but his most memorable feat was creating a dynamic icon who could take on — and knock out — Hollywood bias in a fight.

Piper Laurie as Margaret White ('Carrie,' 1976)

Born Rosetta Jacobs in Detroit in 1932, Laurie was an actor’s actor acclaimed for performances like the alcoholic woman who connects with Paul Newman’s pool shark in 1961’s “The Hustler.” Laurie was that rare star who brought empathy to troubled, unlikeable characters. And, oh, could she be fierce. As a ferociously religious mother in '70s horror classic "Carrie," she was almost scarier than her daughter’s supernatural (and super-destructive) gifts.

Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore (the 'Harry Potter' movies)

Born in Ireland and raised in England, the knighted actor had one of those glorious acting careers that spans playing everything from British kings and U.S. presidents to gangsters. When Richard Harris, who was Dumbledore in two "Harry Potter" films died, Gambon took over the role of the Hogwarts headmaster in six movies. Even more than his stellar turns in “Gosford Park,” “The King’s Speech” and “Judy,” his Dumbledore will forever be remembered for battling the forces of evil.

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Actors who died in 2023 played iconic roles