October 2002 in Film & Television History

Events in Film & TV

Television Premiere

Oct 20 Motoring TV series "Top Gear premieres on the BBC, starring Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and Jason Dawe (replaced after the first season by James May)

Film Release

Oct 24 Wuxia film "Hero" directed by Zhang Yimou, starring Jet Li released in China (US release 2004)

Oct 27 The British ITV Network airs a regional service for the last time in England and Wales, LWT loses its identity completely
Oct 30 British Digital terrestrial television (DTT) Service Freeview begins transmitting in parts of the United Kingdom.

Weddings in Film & TV

Oct 5 "Angel" actress Charisma Carpenter (32) weds Damian Hardy

Jessica Simpson

Oct 26 American singer-songwriter and TV personality Jessica Simpson (22) weds singer-songwriter Nick Lachey (28) at Riverbend Church in Austin, Texas

Divorces in Film & TV

Drew Barrymore

Oct 15 Comedian Tom Green (30) divorces actress Drew Barrymore (26) due to irreconcilable differences after less than a year of marriage

Deaths in Film & TV

Oct 3 Bruce Paltrow, American television and film producer (b. 1943)
Oct 4 André Delvaux, Belgian film director and screenwriter (Benvenuta), dies at 76
Oct 4 William "Buddy" Lester, American comedian and actor (Barney Miller, Phil Silvers Show), dies at 85
Oct 8 Phyllis Calvert [Bickle], British actress (Crash of Silence, The Man in Grey), dies at 87
Oct 9 Charles Guggenheim, American film director and producer (b. 1924)
Oct 10 Teresa Graves, American actress (Laugh-in, Get Christie Love!), dies in a fire at her home at 54
Oct 11 Dina Pathak [Ghandi], Indian Gujarati theatre actress, director and activist (President-National Federation of Indian Women), dies of a heart attack at 80
Oct 13 Dennis Patrick, American actor (Dear Dead Delilah, Dallas, Rituals), dies in a house fire at 84
Oct 13 Keene Curtis, American character actor (The Rothschilds, Cheers, Amanda's), dies at 79
Oct 14 Norbert Schultze, German songwriter (Lili Marleen), opera and film score composer and reformed propagandist, dies at 91
Oct 18 Kam Fong Chun, American actor (Hawaii Five-0, Magnum, P.I.), dies of lung cancer at 84
Oct 20 Barbara Berjer, American soap opera actress (Another World), dies at 82
Oct 20 Bernard Fresson, French actor (Hiroshima Mon Amour), dies at 71

Oct 23 American screenwriter (On The Town; Singin' in the Rain), lyricist ("Bells Are Ringing"; "Just In Time"), and playwright (It's Always Fair Weather) - all usually with collaborator Betty Comden, dies at 87

Oct 23 Marianne Hoppe, German theater and film actress (Der Schimmelreiter), dies at 93
Oct 24 Mary Jeanette "Peggy" Moran, American actress (Double Date, Horror Island), dies from injuries at 84