Alice Actors You May Not Know Passed Away

"Alice" was a popular sitcom that ran from 1976 to 1985, and it's easy to see why it lasted as long as it did. Everyone loves an underdog story, and TV audiences rooted for Alice, a single mother who worked at a diner while raising a teenage son and dreaming of a singing career. Linda Lavin, who played Alice, also sang the show's catchy theme song, "There's a New Girl in Town."

The hit CBS show was based on the 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," in which Ellen Burstyn gave an Oscar-winning performance as the title character. Burstyn set up the project at Warner Bros. and picked the then up-and-coming Martin Scorsese to direct. The film opened to good reviews and helped put Scorsese on the Hollywood map, but it's the television show that people best remember today.

"Alice" took the story in a much lighter direction. It had a strong ensemble cast that included the likes of Polly Holliday, Beth Howland, Vic Tayback, and Philip McKeon. While several "Alice" alumni are still alive today, we've said goodbye to many of them since the show wrapped. Here are the "Alice" actors you may not know passed away.

Mel Sharples was the ever-grouchy owner of the Arizona diner where Alice toiled away. A successful sitcom needs an annoying boss, landlord, neighbor, or pest to create conflict, and Mel was a great comedy antagonist. Even though he could be a hard boss at times, he was a likable curmudgeon that viewers grew to love.

Vic Tayback played the character in the original movie, and he reprised the role for the show, the only actor to do so. The New Yorker had been in the business for a long time when he landed the part. He started in low-budget films like "Door to Door Maniac" and "T-Bird Gang" before moving up to more respectable fare, like guest appearances on "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and "Star Trek." He would go on to land featured roles in the likes of "Bullitt," "Papillon," "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," and "The Gambler."

Tayback's Mel became such a popular character that the actor was nominated for three Golden Globes, winning on two occasions: He scooped best supporting actor in a TV show in 1980 and again in 1981. Tayback died of a heart attack in 1990 at the age of 60, per the Los Angeles Times.

Dave Madden was known for his turn as prickly band manager Reuben Kincaid on "The Partridge Family," but he also had a memorable recurring role on "Alice." The Ontario native played Earl Hicks, Tommy's basketball coach. As Madden told "The Partridge Family" fan site Cmon Get Happy, Earl was initially a guest role. "The producers liked what I did so much that they decided to make me a semi-regular," he explained. "I ended up doing about 70 to 80 episodes. It was a whole different kind of show. It was done before a live audience. It was like doing a one-act play."

Madden got his big break as a regular performer on the sketch show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" and went on to make appearances in "Bewitched," "Barney Miller," "Happy Days," and "The Love Boat," among others. The Canadian became a romantic foil on "Alice," at first as a boyfriend of Flo. He then began dating Alice herself before settling down and marrying a girl named Marge. His character was a father figure to Tommy, who looked up to him as a mentor. Madden died in 2014 at the age of 82. The cause of death was congestive heart and kidney failure, his agent told TMZ.

Another key component of the show was the character Tommy, Alice's son, played by Philip McKeon. Some of the best episodes of "Alice" dealt with Tommy's growing pains and Alice's struggles raising him as a single mother. Alfred Lutter played Tommy in the movie and initially reprised the role, but McKeon took over following the pilot episode.

McKeon is the brother of another famous TV star, Nancy McKeon, who played Jo on "The Facts of Life." Like many sitcom moms, Linda Lavin developed a bond with McKeon as if he was her own son. "Philip was the endearing, loving boy, always willing and eager to connect with others," she told People. "Although we were performing a show, the dynamic of creating that relationship made our connection very real and deep. He taught me how to be a good mom, just by being the wondrous boy he was."

After his "Alice" heyday, McKeon had roles on shows like "CHiPs," "Fantasy Island," and "The Love Boat." In terms of feature films, he popped up in "Return to Horror High," "Red Surf," and "Sandman" before he reinvented himself with a radio career: McKeon worked for KFWB, a Los Angeles news station. He died in 2019 at the age of 55 following a lengthy, undisclosed illness. "We are all beyond heartbroken and devastated over Phil's passing," his agent told People.

If you ever wondered why Mel was such a piece of work, well, the apple didn't fall far from the tree. His mother, Carrie Sharples (played by comedian and screen veteran Martha Raye), was a sharp-tongued woman who would often drive him up the wall. Raye had a long and storied career before she joined the "Alice" crew, making her name on Broadway and as a featured player at Paramount. The three-time Emmy winner also became known as the female Bob Hope, performing in USO shows in England and, later, in Africa.

Raye plied her trade on a lot of television shows in the 1970s. Before joining "Alice," the Montana native co-starred on the likes of "The Bugaloos" and "McMillan & Wife." Raye's "Alice" character was a great foil for Mel, proving that a pain-in-the-butt parent is one of the best components of a successful sitcom. She died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in 1994, aged 78. "Her death follows a lengthy illness," a spokesperson for the hospital told the Los Angeles Times.