John Paul Henson (April 25, 1965 – February 14, 2014)

(USA today) – John Paul Henson followed his father, Muppets creator
Jim Henson, into puppeteering, and sadly, to an early death.

The younger Henson, 48, fell victim to a sudden heart attack Friday
at his home in Saugerties, N.Y.

John was the puppeteer behind the ogre Sweetums (below).

Sweetums is perhaps the most popular and well known of 
the Muppet monsters from The Muppet Show.

Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening, High School Yearbook

Groening was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He attended
Ainsworth Elementary School and Lincoln High School. He went
on to Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington where he
served as the editor of the campus newspaper.

Matt Groening is the creator of two successful animated television
shows, The Simpsons (1989-present) and Futurama (1999-2003,
2008-2013).

Groening’s first cousin, Laurie Monnes Anderson, is a member of
the Oregon State Senate representing eastern Multnomah County.

          Ralph Waite (June 22, 1928 – February 13, 2014)

LOS ANGELES (AP)  –  Ralph Waite, who played the kind patriarch of
a tight-knit rural Southern family on the TV series "The Waltons," has
died, his manager said Thursday.

Waite, who lived in the Palm Springs area, died midday Thursday, said
his manager, Alan Mills.

Mills did not know the cause of death. He said he was taken aback because
Waite had been in good health and still working. He appeared last year in
episodes of the series "NCIS," "Bones" and "Days of Our Lives."

"He was a wonderful guy," Mills said. "He was always kind, always generous,
and a joy to work with."

"The Waltons," which aired on CBS from 1972 to 1981, starred Waite as
Ralph Walton, and Richard Thomas played his oldest son, John-Boy, an
aspiring novelist. The gentle family drama was set in the Blue Ridge
mountains of Virginia.

The show was narrated by its creator, Earl Hamner Jr., who based it on
his family memories.

Tork at age 14

Peter Tork (Peter Halsten Thorkelson)   

Tork is best known as the keyboardist and bass guitarist of The Monkees
and at one time played banjo on a George Harrison album.

Isaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar

(September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014)