JEAN ARTHUR, 90, top Hollywood leading lady in the ’30s and ’40s, died June 19. After a decade of secondary parts, Arthur emerged a star in Frank Capra’s 1936 “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.” “The Plainsman,” “You Can’t Take It With You,” “Only Angels Have Wings” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” followed. Other memorable roles included “The Devil and Miss Jones,” “The Talk of the Town” and “The More the Merrier.” Arthur reduced her workload considerably after leaving Columbia in 1944, and retired from the screen following her role in 1953’s “Shane.” She returned in a 1966 TV series for CBS, retiring permanently when the show was cancelled after a half-season run.

MICHAEL LANDON, 54, died July 1, less than three months after he was diagnosed with inoperable cancer of the pancreas. Landon became a television icon during his 28 years in three series on NBC, an unprecedented run both in successful drama series and with a single network. He appeared in several features, and in numerous westerns and other TV roles in the late ’50s — as well as starring in the camp classic, “I Was a Teen-Age Werewolf” — before he was cast as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza (1959-73). During that show’s long run Landon also began writing and directing. He later created, produced and starred in Little House on the Prairie (1974-82) and Highway to Heaven (1984-88), and created but didn’t appear in the less successful Father Murphy (1981-82). Another new series, Us, was scheduled to premiere this fall (this time on CBS).

JAMES FRANCISCUS, 57, one of television’s most popular and durable leading men, died July 8. After brief turns in Naked City (1958-59) and The Investigators (1961), he gained stardom as TV’s empathetic English teacher, Mr. Novak (1963-65). He was also the blind insurance investigator in Longstreet (1971-72), which co-starred Bruce Lee as his self-defense trainer, a country doctor in Doc Elliott (1974) and a secret agent in Hunter (1976). Between series he made dozens of guest shots, and appeared in such features as “Youngblood Hawke,” “The Valley of Gwangi,” “Beneath the Planet of the Apes,” “Marooned” and “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” (as the voice of the avian title character).

RONALD LACEY, 55, British actor whose roles included the evil Toht in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” died May 15. He also appeared as Himmler in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” His many British TV roles included episodes of The Avengers and The New Avengers.

JOY BATCHELOR, 77, who with husband John Halas played a major role in the development of the British animation industry, died May 14. Halas & Batchelor Cartoon Films, established in 1940, produced countless shorts but is best known for the feature-length animated version of “Animal Farm” (1955).

BRENDAN J. STAFFORD, 76, director of photography in British films and television, died July 16. He worked on The Prisoner and many other internationally popular ITC series, including Secret Agent, Space: 1999, Danger Man, The Saint, The Third Man and The Invisible Man.

JAMES McCALLION, 72, veteran character actor, died July 11. His many film roles included “North By Northwest” and “PT 109.” He co-starred in the TV version of National Velvet in the trainer role created by Mickey Rooney, and appeared in countless episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., Hawaiian Eye, The Fugitive, Perry Mason and many others.

On-line Correction: The Third Man, the British TV series among Brendan J. Stafford’s credits, was not produced by ITC. It was co-produced by the BBC and the American syndication company NTA.