A lot of well-known people have left in the last month. A little crass to lump them together in one post, but there it is.

Frank Pierson (July 22nd) - Screenwriter of Dog Day Afternoon and producer on "Mad Men". Now that's a career.

Sherman Hemsley (July 24th) - George Jefferson. Deacon Ernest Frye. B.P. Richfield. However one knew him, he was always entertaining.

Chad Everett (July 24th) - Famous for the TV series "Medical Center", but I mainly remember him for bits in Airplane 2: the Sequel and "Just Shoot Me".

Lupe Ontiveros (July 26th) - Talented 'that girl' actress from a number of movies (Selena, The Goonies, As Good as it Gets).

R.G. Armstrong (July 27th) - Grizzled character actor with an impressive run of horror movies (Race with the Devil, The Car, Evilspeak, The Beast Within). Also appeared, however briefly, in Predator ("Lookin' good, Dutch.").

Gore Vidal (July 31st) - I confess. I know him more for his reputation than his work, but I hear his work was fantastic.

Marvin Hamlisch (August 6th) - The only composer to earn three Oscars in one year and (I'm pretty sure) the only one to own an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. His delightful scores for Take the Money and Run and The Informant can bring a smile to anyone's face.

Mel Stuart (August 9th) - The director of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Need I say more?

Carlo Rambaldi (August 10th) - Despite (personal opinion) rather hacky work on such masterpieces as Silver Bullet, Cat's Eye, 1976's King Kong and Cameron's Closet, he was one of the designers of E.T., so I suppose that deserves respect.

Ron Palillo (August 14th) - Best known as "Arnold Horshack, the Last...when they made me, they broke the mold."

They will all be missed.

Whenever things go bad, I should just look at this picture and chase the badness away. Matter of fact, that's a good idea for all of us.