Deaths 2022

Deaths 2021

Deaths 2020

Deaths 2019

Deaths 2018

Deaths 2017

Deaths 2016

Deaths 2015

Deaths 2014

Deaths 2013

Deaths 2012

Deaths 2011

Deaths 2010

Deaths 2009


Full list by date of death

Ralph Waite

Actor/director

Born - 22 June 1928, White Plains, New York, USA
Died - 14 February 2014

An ex-Presbyterian minister who turned to acting in his early thirties, the multi-talented Waite also directed a few films and later twice ran unsuccessfully for Congress. Despite his other achievements, however, it's for his long-running role as the patriarch of TV's The Waltons that most will remember him. A solidly-built man with light-brown hair and placid features, he made his professional stage debut at 32, but it was not until he was nearly 40 that he began playing character roles in the movies: Cool Hand Luke (1967), A Lovely Way to Go (1968), Last Summer (1969), Five Easy Pieces (1970), Lawman (1971), Chato's Land (1972) and The Stone Killer (1973). Then the Waltons consumed his acting life, and there were only a few more films: On the Nickel (1980), The Bodyguard (1992), Cliffhanger (1993), Sioux City (1994), TimeQuest (2000), Silver City (2004), 25 Hill (2010) and Gabe the Cupid Dog (2012), his last. In his final years, he played running roles in more TV series, including NCIS and Days of Our Lives.