Six Television Celebrities that Passed Away from Pneumonia

Pneumonia is a leading cause of death among the elderly, an inflammation of the lungs caused by bacteria, viruses, or other organisms. Sixty thousand Americans succumb each year to pneumonia, and older celebrities are no more immune than the next person. Among some well-known people that have caught pneumonia and died are a man who played Perry Mason's private eye, the father of three sons on "Bonanza", another dad from "My Three Sons", the fellow everyone tuned into for music every week, the sixth of "The Three Stooges", and the man who played Jed Clampett and then Barnaby Jones.

William Hopper was the only child of Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, a man who resisted getting into acting but wound up doing it anyways. As a Navy frogman, Hopper was awarded a Bronze Star in the Pacific Theatre. He played in a number of films, movies like "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Track of the Cat", but he is best known as private investigator Paul Drake on the popular "Perry Mason." Hopper was on the series from 1957 until 1966, the year his mother died of pneumonia. Ironically, Hopper himself caught pneumonia after he was hospitalized with a stroke in 1970 and died from it on March 6th in Palm Springs, California.

Lorne Greene was a Canadian-born actor who played Ben Cartwright on the long-running NBC Western series "Bonanza." Greene was the father of three sons on the drama, each from a different wife who had passed away. They were played by Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon, only Roberts still survives today. Greene had formerly worked as a radio announcer in Canada, and after "Bonanza" went off the air, he worked narrating documentaries and played a commander in the short-lived sci-fi series "Battlestar Gallactica." Greene became ill and died from pneumonia on September 11th, 1987 in Santa Monica, California.

Fred MacMurray was a highly successful motion picture star before he took on the part of Steve Douglas in the CBS show "My Three Sons" in 1960. Featured in movies such as "Double Indemnity" in 1944 and "The Apartment" in 1960, MacMurray made over one hundred films. In "My Three Sons", Fred was the widowed father of a trio of boys, and the sit-com ran for 380 episodes; only "Ozzie and Harriet" ran longer as a family comedy. MacMurray suffered from leukemia, and while battling that disease he caught pneumonia and passed away in 1991 at 83 years of age.

Lawrence Welk was born in North Dakota, but didn't learn English until he was 21 years old. He spoke German at home and always retained his German accent. Welk became a bandleader in the 1920s and eventually was able to headline his own television music show in the 1950s. "The Lawrence Welk Show" ran until 1971 and then went into syndication with new shows until 1982. Welk was famous for his "A one and a two...." while leading his orchestra. Married to the same woman for 61 years, Welk died of pneumonia at 89 in 1992.

Joe DeRita was an accomplished comedian who did work in USO tours as well as Burlesque before he joined the "Three Stooges" after Joe Besser, Shemp Howard's replacement, passed away. DeRita was Curly-Joe for twelve years, beginning in 1958, and was in movies with the act like "Have Rocket, Will Travel" and "Snow White and the Three Stooges." DeRita, as well as the other two men in the act, Moe Howard and Larry Fine, were older and there was not as much physical slapstick involved in their farcical antics. DeRita died from pneumonia in 1993 from pneumonia after fighting diabetes for quite some time, nine days short of his 84th birthday. On his tombstone are the words "The Sixth Stooge"

Buddy Epsen was an accomplished dancer, being cast as the tin man in the "Wizard of Oz" before an allergic reaction to the makeup forced him to relinquish the role. He played opposite Fess Parker in Walt Disney's "Davy Crockett" before hitting it big as Jed Clampett in the long running CBS sit-com "The Beverly Hillbillies", portraying a rural hick who makes millions when he finds oil in the backwoods and them relocates his family to the wealthy California neighborhood. Epsen then went on to play "Barnaby Jones" from 1973 until 1980. Buddy was 95 years old in 2003 when pneumonia finally claimed his life.