Motion picture actors and actresses

Christopher Lee died Sunday in London at the age of 93. He had more than 250 TV and film appearances, and was best known for his roles in Dracula and Star Wars. In 1990 he was working on Gremlins 2.

The comedian and actor died Monday at age 63. In 2006, Williams spoke with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about improvising, his training and how people expected him to act crazy.

We listen back to interviews with Hoffman from 1999 and 2008, when he told Fresh Air's Terry Gross that carrying the emotional life of a character could be "burdensome." He was found dead on Sunday at age 46.

Hollywood stuntman Hal Needham — one of the most famous practitioners of his dangerous craft — died of cancer on Oct. 25 at age 82. We'll listen back to a conversation with Needham from Feb. 7, 2011, when he had just published a memoir, called Stuntman!: My Car-Crashing, Plane-Jumping, Bone-Breaking, Death-Defying Hollywood Life.

Fresh Air remembers director Sidney Lumet — who died Saturday at age 86 — with excerpts from a 1988 interview. One of Hollywood's most prolific directors, Lumet created more than 40 films, including Network, Serpico, Fail-Safe, Dog Day Afternoon, The Wiz, The Verdict and Prince of the City.

The beloved actor from Airplane! and the Naked Gun franchise died Sunday. Fresh Air remembers Nielsen with highlights from a 1993 interview, in which he discussed his transition from dramatic roles in The Poseidon Adventure and Forbidden Planet to starring in spoofs and parodies.

Actress Natasha Richardson died Mar. 18 after suffering head injuries in a skiing accident. Richardson won a Tony for her work in Cabaret and appeared in many films. Fresh Air remembers the actress with an interview from 1992.

Oscar Award-winning actor Paul Newman died on Sept. 26 of complications from lung cancer. In this 2003 interview, the star of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Cool Hand Luke discusses his early work — both as an actor and as a salesman.

Film director and actor Sydney Pollack died Monday. He was 73. Pollack is known for his many films including Out of Africa, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Academy Award-winning actor Charlton Heston died Saturday at the age of 84. Heston, who starred in epic films such as Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments, later made a name for himself as a conservative activist.