Remembering the ‘Bad News Bears’ Stars We’ve Lost—Walter Matthau to Jeffrey Louis Starr
We honor all the cast members who have passed away from the films and TV series
The Bad News Bears was a family-friendly (sometimes) story that followed a rugged man tasked with turning a ragtag children’s baseball group into an award-winning team. It was originally made into a movie back in 1976 and has since spawned sequels, been remade into a TV show and even produced as a musical—all of which were just as heartwarming and fun as you would expect. Behind the scenes, though, it was an entirely different story filled with tragedy and unexpected deaths. Below, we have rounded up all of the Bad News Bears cast members we’ve lost, including the late Jeffrey Louis Starr. Read on for more.
‘Bad News Bears’ cast members we’ve lost from the films
There have been three Bad News Bears films over the years, with the most recent one having been released in 2005—fun fact, it starred Landman’s leading man, Billy Bob Thornton. Over the years, several different cast members from all the films have passed away and you can read more about them below.
Walter Matthau (Coach Morris Buttermaker)
Walter Matthau was an Oscar winning actor best known for things like Tallahassee 7000 (1961), The Odd Couple (originating the role of Oscar Madison on Broadway in 1965 and bringing it to the big screen in the 1968 film adaptation), The Fortune Cookie (1967), Kotch (1972), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), The Sunshine Boys (1975), JFK (1991), How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1992), Dennis the Menace (1993), Grumpy Old Man (1993) and Hanging Up (2000). In the first film of the series, 1976’s The Bad News Bears, he played Coach Morris Buttermaker, the man tasked with training a children’s baseball team.
Matthau died in 2000 from a heart attack. He was 79 years old and had been married twice. He is survived by his three children: Charles, Jenny and David.
Vic Morrow (Roy Turner)
Born and raised in New York City, Vic Morrow was a beloved Emmy-nominated actor who had 99 credits to his name at the time of his death. Highlights include King Creole (1958), Combat! (1962 to 1967), Roots (1977), 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982) and Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). He was also in the 1976 Bad News Bears and his character of Roy Turner, was considered to be the plot’s antagonist.
Morrow died in 1982 in a helicopter crash during the making of Twilight Zone: The Movie at age 53. He was survived by his two kids and two ex-wives.
Ben Piazza (Councilman Bob Whitewood)
Ben Piazza’s acting credits include Forever Fernwood (1977), The Waverly Wonders (1978), Dallas (1982 to 1983), The Blues Brothers (1980), Mask (1985), Santa Barbara (1986) and Guilty by Suspicion (1991). He played Councilman Bob Whitewood in 1976’s The Bad News Bears.
Piazza died in 1991 at age 58 from cancer, and at the time of his death, he was believed to have been in a very serious relationship with a man named Wayne Tripp.
Jeffrey Louis Starr (Mike Engelberg)
The most recent Bad News Bears cast member we’ve lost is Jeffrey Louis Starr. His only acting credits were as a child in the 1977 and 1978 sequels The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan, in which he played Mike Engelberg. He then left Hollywood and married a woman named Linda Darlene Webb. He had two children and was 61 at the time of his death.
‘Bad News Bears’ cast members we’ve lost from the TV show
The Bad News Bears TV show ran for a single season from 1979 to 1980 and a total of 26 episodes. As of publication, only one member of the cast has passed and we have the must-know information on him below.
Jack Warden (Coach Morris Buttermaker)
Jack Warden is an American actor best known for such projects such as Mister Peepers (1952 to 1954), 12 Angry Men (1957), The Asphalt Jungle (1961) N.Y.P.D (1967 to 1969), All The President’s Men (1976), Being There (1979), Crazy Like a Fox (1984 to 1986) and While You Were Sleeping (1995). He played Coach Morris Buttermaker in the Bad News Bears TV show, appearing in every episode.
Warden died in 2006 from heart and kidney failure. He was 85.
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