PASSAGES: NETTLETON & LEDGER

Two more actors have passed away who made their presence known in Toobworld. And although the two of them couldn't have been more different, one thing they might have in common is that their best known characters in the TV Universe have predeceased them.

Lois Nettleton was 80 years old when she passed away from cancer. She had been a regular on 'In The Heat Of The Night', 'General Hospital', and had a recurring role in 'Crossing Jordan'. She made memorable appearances on many other TV shows including (for me) 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', 'Seinfeld', 'Murder, She Wrote', and 'The Golden Girls'.

But it was her role as Norma in the 'Twilight Zone' episode "The Midnight Sun" which I think was her best known role. Throughout most of the episode, the Earth was being drawn closer to the Sun, and Norma and the other last inhabitants of New York were facing a brutal death from the heat. By the end of "The Midnight Sun" we learned the truth and it was no less disturbing.

"The Midnight Sun" took place in an alternate dimension, on a Toobworld that probably no longer houses human life at this point in Time.

The big shocker was the news this afternoon that Heath Ledger was found dead in a SoHo apartment. He was only 28.

Ledger was best known as a movie actor, with an Oscar nomination for playing one of the two leads in "Brokeback Mountain"; he was soon to be seen in the next "Batman" film as The Joker. But he first made his mark as Conor in the fantasy/historical epic 'Roar', which was created by Shaun Cassidy for the FOX network back in the mid-1990s.

Conor was a warrior/prince who lived in Ireland during the Fifth Century, and unlike his nemesis in that series, Longinus, there was no way he might still be alive today.

January of 2008 has certainly been taking its toll on the acting community, hasn't it?

BCnU.....
Toby OB