'Nashville' actor Allen Garfield dies of coronavirus at 80

Nashville and The Stunt Man actor Allen Garfield died on Tuesday due to the coronavirus. He was 80. Ronee Blakely, Allen's Nashville co-star shared the news of his death in a Facebook post on Tuesday. "RIP Allen Garfield, the great actor who played my husband in Nashville, has died today of Covid; I hang my head in tears; condolences to family and friends; I will post more later; cast and crew, sending love," she wrote. 

For the uninformed, before he became an actor, Allen was an amateur boxer and worked as a sports journalist. On-screen, Allen was popular for playing corrupt and villainous men of authority such as businessmen and politicians. In his wide career span, Allen has collaborated with directors such as Woody Allen on Bananas, A State of Things and Until the End of the World both directed by Wim Wenders and Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation and The Cotton Club. His final film appearance was in Chief Zabu, which was released in 2016 but filmed in 1986. 

Apart from Allen, on Tuesday, music producer and longtime Saturday Night Live music supervisor, Hal Willner died on Tuesday. He was 64. A representative for Hal, Blake Zidell confirmed the news of the passing and said that Hal had symptoms that were consistent with those caused by the coronavirus, but he had not been diagnosed with the virus.

For the uninformed, Wil had a colourful career and had selected music for skits on Saturday Night Live since 1980. He also produced albums for Lucinda Williams, Lou Reed and Marianne Faithfull, who incidentally is being treated for the coronavirus in a London hospital.