December 2008 in Film & Television History

Events in Film & TV

Dec 5 Former NFL star O.J. Simpson is sentenced to 33 years in prison for kidnapping and armed robbery

Dec 6 American pin-up model Bettie Page (85) is hospitalized in critical condition after suffering a heart attack

Dec 6 "Lonestar" bass guitarist John Rich (34) weds former model Joan Bush in Nashville
Dec 12 Fashion mogul Tommy Hilfiger (57) weds former model Dee Ocleppo (42) in Greenwich, Connecticut

Dec 21 Talk show host Craig Ferguson (46) weds art dealer Megan Wallace Cunningham (26) in Chester, Vermont

Dec 28 "Cheers" actor Woody Harrelson (47) weds longtime girlfriend Laura Louie (43) in Maui Island, Hawaii

Dec 31 Former American Idol finalist Gina Glocksen (24) weds teacher Joe Ruzicka (32) at the Century Memorial Chapel at Naperville Settlement in Naperville, Illinois

Dec 1 "CSI" actress Marg Helgenberger (50) divorces actor Alan Rosenberg (58) due to irreconcilable differences after 19 years of marriage

Dec 15 Pop singer Madonna (50) divorces film director Guy Ritchie (40) due to unreasonable behavior after almost 8 years of marriage

Dec 1 Paul Benedict, American actor (Harry-Jeffersons), dies at 70
Dec 5 Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (The Ten Commandments, Spartacus, An American in Paris), dies from complications of myelodysplastic syndrome at 84
Dec 5 Beverly Garland [Fessenden], American actress (My Three Sons, Scarecrow and Mrs. King), dies at 82
Dec 7 Marky Cielo, Filipino and Igorot dancer and actor (b. 1988)
Dec 8 Robert Prosky, Polish-American actor and comedian (Christine, Thief), dies at 77
Dec 8 Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer and writer, dies at 83

Dec 11 Bettie Page, American pinup model considered the 'Queen of Pinups' and the 'Dark Angel', dies at 85

Dec 11 Maddie Blaustein, American voice actress (b. 1960)
Dec 12 (Charles) Van Johnson, American actor (in A Guy Named Joe; Brigadoon) always wore red socks, dies at 92
Dec 13 Horst Tappert, German director, actor and former SS member (Derrick), dies of diabetes at 85
Dec 13 Kathy Staff [Minnie Higginbottom], British actress (Mary Reilly, Last of the Summer Wine, Open All Hours), dies from a brain tumour at 80
Dec 18 Jack Douglas, English actor (Carry On films), dies at 81
Dec 18 Majel Barrett, American actress and producer (Star Trek), and the widow of Gene Roddenberry, dies at 76
Dec 20 Dorothy Sarnoff, American operatic soprano, Broadway actress (Rosalinda), author and pioneer of the self-help movement (Speech Can Change Your Life, Speech Dynamics), dies at 94

Dec 24 Harold Pinter, British playwright and screenwriter (The Birthday Party, The Homecoming), dies at 78

Dec 25 Eartha Kitt, American singer (Santa Baby), dancer, comedian, actress and activist (Catwoman-Batman), dies at 81
Dec 26 Gösta Krantz, Swedish actor (b. 1925)
Dec 30 Dick Green, Canadian actor