1941 Actors You May Not Know Passed Away

"1941" could easily be referred to as the Steven Spielberg movie you've probably never seen. While audiences fondly remember his greatest hits like "Jaws," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," and "Jurassic Park," his 1979 wacky World War II comedy doesn't readily jump to mind when reminiscing on the filmmaker's best works. It's a zany screwball comedy featuring a massive cast, staggering set pieces, and a relentless pace that inspired film critic Roger Ebert to write, "It's an attempt at that most tricky of genres, the blockbuster comedy, and it tries so hard to dazzle us that we want a break."

Given the strain it puts on audience members, it's no wonder the film is rarely mentioned in general movie conversation. One thing that cannot be denied, however, is the film's incredible cast. From comedy titans of the time like John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd to cinema legends like Christopher Lee and Toshirô Mifune, the film is stuffed with performers at the top of their game.

To honor the many talents in front of the screen, let's take a look at some of the cast members you may not know passed away, while discussing their roles in the film and careers as a whole.

If you weren't familiar with Frank McRae's time in the NFL on both the Chicago Bears and the Los Angeles Rams, you probably remember him from movies like "*batteries not included," where he played the quiet but tough Harry Noble, or "Last Action Hero," where he played Dekker, the perfect parody of the overworked, underpaid lieutenant who is always furious with his subordinates. 

In "1941," he played Pvt. Ogden Johnson Jones, a man of few words, but big facial expressions and high intensity. One of the first times he's seen on screen is rising from a tank and yelling at the top of his lungs during a riot outside of a USO event in the middle of Los Angeles. Without hesitation, he slaps on a catcher's mask and clocks some guy trying to scale the armored vehicle. It's a visual gag that works really well.

It was his second film with actor Warren Oates. Although they don't share the screen in Spielberg's comedy, the two did work opposite one another in the 1973 film "Dillinger." As reported by Variety, the actor passed away from a heart attack on April 30th, 2021.

The only way to describe Wendie Jo Sperber's Maxine Dexheimer in "1941" is "man-crazy." From the moment she appears on screen, the young woman is dancing and audibly fantasizing about all the men in uniform she and her friend Betty Douglas are going to meet and dance with at the USO event later that night. The minute she encounters Treat Williams' problematic Corporal Chuck "Stretch" Sitarski, she has to have him, despite his obsession with Betty. The majority of her storyline sees her chasing him in various ridiculous ways.

Sperber's first role was in the Robert Zemeckis-directed Beatlemania film "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." She must have made quite an impression on Zemeckis (who co-wrote "1941"), who went on to cast her in his films "Used Cars" and as Marty McFly's older sister Linda in "Back to the Future." In 1980, she played Amy Cassidy alongside Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in the sitcom "Bosom Buddies." She would appear with Tom Hanks again in the raunchy 1984 comedy "Bachelor Party." Her comedic roles continued through the rest of her career, with Sperber showing up in "Babes," "Married...with Children," "Parker Lewis Can't Lose," "Home Improvement," and "8 Simple Rules."

According to Today, she founded the weSpark Cancer Support Center in 2001, four years after her 1997 breast cancer diagnosis. Although she unfortunately succumbed to the disease, her incredible career and activism has kept her alive in the hearts and minds of millions.

Perhaps the outright silliest section of "1941" is dedicated to the characters Claude and Herbie, who are stationed at the top of a Ferris wheel to look for approaching enemy planes. The two men couldn't be more different: While Claude (played by Murray Hamilton) is a fairly average American man who happens to be terrified of heights, Herbie (played by Eddie Deezen) is a Jerry Lewis-type buffoon who is thrilled to be helping his country by sitting on a Ferris Wheel.

The dynamic is a traditional odd couple, with Claude wanting nothing more than to complete his task in peace while Herbie rocks their car, never shuts up, and is a general pain. Things take a strange turn when Herbie produces a ventriloquist dummy out of nowhere that seems to be able to operate independently of its owner. 

Most readers would recognize Murray Hamilton as the mayor who desperately wants to keep the summer dollars flowing in "Jaws," but he was also known for his role as Mr. Robinson in "The Graduate." Like Warren Oates, he had a fairly short, but impressive career from 1944 until his death in 1986. Hamilton died of cancer at the too-young age of 63.

As demonstrated in many of his films, most notably in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," Steven Spielberg is very good at directing child actors. While they can sometimes come off as stilted in various movies and TV shows, Spielberg has a knack for picking strong young actors and getting the very best out of them. This is certainly true in the case of "1941" with Steven Mond and Christian Brackett-Zika, who play brothers Gus and Stevie Douglas.

The two kids are rambunctious troublemakers who are always dressed like the Lost Boys (reminiscent of Spielberg's "Hook") and constantly getting underfoot of their parents. Brackett-Zika, who played Stevie Douglas, is a particular standout as he has one of the best-timed deliveries in the entire film. While his father (Ned Beatty's Ward Douglas) is firing a cannon in their home, little Stevie yells, "You're ruining Christmas!"

While Christian may only have 14 credits to his name on IMDb, he showed up on some legendary programs like "Fantasy Island," "CHIPs," "The Jeffersons," "Night Court," "Diff'rent Strokes," and "Silver Spoons." There isn't much information out there regarding his life after his acting career or his passing, but IMDb lists his date of death as February 18, 2019. 

During Captain Wild Bill Kelso's introductory scene, he rambles about the dangers of impending war, while snagging things off the shelf of the convenience store. While he monologues, two men are seen having a meal. One of them has a stained shirt and pasta hanging from his fork. The nervous expression on his face while telling Kelso he's wrong, plus the sight of that dangling pasta, is one of the funnier images in the entire film. All the guy wanted was to finish his food and this bull of man stampedes in and starts shooting a gun.

That man was Elisha Cook Jr. and he's got a mountain of credits that almost rivals Christopher Lee. Many of them come from TV appearances like "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Wagon Train," "Star Trek," "Magnum P.I.," and the mini-series "Salem's Lot." However, he's also got some great films on that list as well like the Humphrey Bogart classics "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Big Sleep," as well as horror titles such as "House on Haunted Hill" and "Rosemary's Baby."

Cook passed away in 1995 at the age of 91. The Washington Post stated that no cause of death was reported, but his entry on the Turner Classic Movies website, however, lists it as a stroke. At least he got to live a life almost as long and prosperous as his resume.

One of the shortest appearances in the film is that of David L. Lander. Simply credited as Joe, he mans a great big gun alongside Willy, played by Michael McKean. As most folks reading this will know, this isn't the first time the two actors had been paired together. At the time of filming, they were already well-known for playing Lenny and Squiggy on the '70s sitcom "Laverne and Shirley."

While playing Andre "Squiggy" Squiggman might have been Lander's most recognizable role, it was one of many the actor took on. Over the course of his 47 years in show business, Lander popped up all over the place, especially as a voice actor. Those credits included lending his voice as Doc Boy Arbuckle in "A Garfield Christmas Special" and "The Garfield Show," in addition to Don Bluth's "Titan A.E." and animated series "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy." 

After 37 years of dealing with the disease, Lander died from multiple sclerosis, as reported in The Los Angeles Times.

Even if you don't know his name (although you probably should), you know the work of actor Ned Beatty. This actor's career is so astonishing that his resume doesn't even begin with bit parts in tiny films or guest spots on barely-remembered TV shows; the very first film listed on his IMDb is John Boorman's intense, disturbing thriller "Deliverance." 

By the time he was cast in "1941" as a man so determined to protect his family that he is willing (and able) to destroy his home in the process, he'd already been in the Robert Altman classic "Nashville," Sidney Lumet's "Network," and Richard Donner's seminal comic book epic "Superman." Intermingled with his movie work, the actor also appeared on shows like "M*A*S*H," "The Rockford Files," "Murder She Wrote," and "Roseanne."

While reporting on his death in 2021, The Guardian did an excellent job of summarizing the scope of this memorable actor's lengthy career.