PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — They came from every walk of life to make ours better, richer, more rounded. They were Oscar winners in front of and behind the camera. Legendary journalists, rock stars, country stars, Deadheads. They were comedians, politicians, firebrands, scientists. There were athletes, famous and infamous. An astronaut, a sex therapist, and a fitness guru. Game show hosts and talk show hosts. Humanitarians, World War II heroes, and poets. Here's a look at those we lost in 2024. January 2024 Glynis Johns, Jan, 12, 1973. (AP Photo/Jerry Mosey, File) Glynis Johns, January 4, 2024: A Tony Award-winning stage and screen star, Johns played the mother opposite Julie Andrews in the classic movie “Mary Poppins” and introduced the world to the bittersweet standard-to-be “Send in the Clowns” by Stephen Sondheim, died. She was 100. David Soul, Dec. 6, 1983. (AP Photo/Wally Fong, File) David Soul, January 4: Actor-singer David Soul, a 1970s heartthrob who co-starred as the blond half of the crime-fighting duo “Starsky & Hutch” and topped the music charts with the ballad “Don’t Give Up on Us,” died at the age of 80. Soul portrayed detective Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson alongside dark-haired Paul Michael Glaser as detective David Starsky in “Starsky & Hutch, which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1979 and grew so popular it spawned a line of children’s toys. Joyce Randolph, center, in a scene from the television show "The Honeymooners," undated. (AP Photo) Joyce Randolph, January 14: Joyce Randolph, a veteran stage and television actress whose role as the savvy Trixie Norton on “The Honeymooners” provided the perfect foil to her dimwitted TV husband, died at 99. She was the last surviving main character of the beloved comedy from television’s golden age of the 1950s. After five years as a member of Gleason’s on-the-air repertory company, Randolph virtually retired, opting to focus full-time on marriage and motherhood. Norman Jewison on April 6, 2017. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) Norman Jewison, January 20: Norman Jewison, the acclaimed and versatile Canadian-born director whose Hollywood films ranged from Doris Day comedies and “Moonstruck” to social dramas such as the Oscar-winning “In the Heat of the Night,” died at age 97. Jewison was a three-time Oscar nominee who in 1999 received an Academy Award for lifetime achievement. Dexter King, Dec. 28, 1994. (AP Photo/Leita Cowart, File) Dexter Scott King, January 22: Dexter Scott King, who dedicated much of his life to shepherding the civil rights legacy of his parents, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, died after battling prostate cancer. He was 62. The third of the Kings’ four children, Dexter King was named for the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where his father served as a pastor when the Montgomery bus boycott launched him to national prominence in the wake of the 1955 arrest of Rosa Parks. Charles Osgood, March 28, 1999. (AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett, File) Charles Osgood, January 23: Charles Osgood, a five-time Emmy Award-winning journalist who anchored “CBS Sunday Morning” for more than two decades, hosted the long-running radio program “The Osgood File” and was referred to as CBS News’ poet-in-residence, died at 91 of dementia. Osgood was an erudite, warm broadcaster with a flair for music who could write essays and light verse as well as report hard news. He worked radio and television with equal facility, and signed off by telling listeners: “I’ll see you on the radio.” Chita Rivera, June 30, 2021 (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) Chita Rivera, January 30: Chita Rivera, the dynamic dancer, singer and actor who garnered 10 Tony nominations, winning twice, in a long Broadway career that forged a path for Latina artists and shrugged off a near-fatal car accident, died at 91. Rivera first gained wide notice in 1957 as Anita in the original production of “West Side Story” and was still dancing on Broadway with her trademark energy a half-century later in 2015’s “The Visit.” In August 2009, Rivera was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor the U.S. can give a civilian. Carl Weathers, Feb. 28, 2023 (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File) Carl Weathers, January 30: A former NFL linebacker who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star, he played nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the “Rocky” movies, faced off against Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Predator” and taught golf in “Happy Gilmore.” Most recently, Weathers starred in the Disney+ hit “The Mandalorian,” appearing in all three seasons. He died in his sleep at 76. February 2024 Director Guillermo del Toro (L) and Mark Gustafson, March 12, 2023. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) Mark Gustafson, February 1: Portland animator Mark Gustafson, best known for his work on “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” died at the age of 64. Gustafson started his career in a Portland animation studio owned by late animator Will Vinton. There, he worked on projects such as “Claymation Christmas Celebration,” “Mr. Resistor,” and “Meet the Raisins!” Gustafson took home the Oscar in 2022 for his work on “Pinocchio.” Guitarist Wayne Kramer, January 16, 2012 (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File) Wayne Kramer, February 2: Wayne Kramer, the co-founder of the protopunk Detroit band the MC5 that thrashed out such hardcore anthems as “Kick Out the Jams” and influenced everyone from the Clash to Rage Against the Machine, died of pancreatic cancer. He was 75. The band had little commercial success and its core lineup did not last beyond the early 1970s, but its legacy endured, both for its sound and for its fusing of music to political action. Kramer, who had a long history of legal battles and substance abuse, would tell his story in the 2018 memoir “The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities.” Toby Keith, July 5, 2019 (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP, File) Toby Keith, February 5: Toby Keith, the country singer who immortalized the humble plastic cups in his 2011 hit “Red Solo Cup," died of stomach cancer at age 62. “Red Solo Cup” was featured on Keith’s 2011 album “Clancy’s Tavern.” Keith didn’t write the song, and in a 2014 interview, he said he wasn’t even sure he would release it. But whenever he played it, he noticed people would start singing along almost immediately. “It is the stupidest song I ever heard in my life, but it’s so stupid it’s good,” Keith told The Boot at the time. Red Barber, left, with NPR’s Bob Edwards on Oct. 22, 1992. (AP Photo, File) Bob Edwards, February 10: Bob Edwards, who anchored National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” for just under 25 years and was the baritone voice who told many Americans what had happened while they slept, died at age 76. He became co-host of “All Things Considered” with Susan Stamberg in 1974 shortly after joining NPR, and was the founding anchor of “Morning Edition” in 1979. He left NPR after being replaced on the show in 2004 — a programming move that led to protests by thousands of listeners — and he joined SiriusXM satellite radio. Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, July 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File) Alexei Navalny, February 16: Alexei Navalny, who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests as President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe, died in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence. He was 47. Navalny had been jailed since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow to face certain arrest after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. He was later convicted three times, saying each case was politically motivated. After the last verdict, Navalny said he understood he was “serving a life sentence, which is measured by the length of my life or the length of life of this regime.” Richard Lewis, Dec. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo, File) Richard Lewis, February 27: Richard Lewis, an acclaimed comedian known for exploring his neuroses in frantic, stream-of-consciousness diatribes while dressed in all-black, leading to his nickname “The Prince of Pain,” died of a heart attack at age 76. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2023. Comedy Central named Lewis one of the top 50 stand-up comedians of all time and he earned a berth in GQ magazine’s list of the “20th Century’s Most Influential Humorists.” He lent his humor to charity causes, including Comic Relief and Comedy Gives Back. Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in Ottawa, Ontario, Sept. 19, 2022. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP, File) Brian Mulroney, February 29: Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who forged close ties with two Republican U.S. presidents through a sweeping free trade agreement that was once vilified but is now celebrated, died at 84. Leader of the Progressive Conservative party from 1983 to 1993, Mulroney served almost a decade as prime minister after he was first elected in 1984 after snagging the largest majority in Canadian history with 211 of 282 seats. March 2024 ESPN reporter Chris Mortensen interviews Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, Nov. 5, 2019 (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File) Chris Mortensen, March 3: Chris Mortensen, the award-winning journalist who covered the NFL for close to four decades, including 32 as a senior analyst at ESPN, died at 72. Mortensen announced in 2016 that he had been diagnosed with Stage IV throat cancer. Even while undergoing treatment, he was the first to confirm the retirement of Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. Mortensen joined ESPN in 1991, and for years helped shape the network’s coverage as the NFL exploded into year-round coverage. Singer Steve Lawrence, left, and his wife Eydie Gorme, May 30, 1998. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon, File) Steve Lawrence, March 7: Steve Lawrence, a singer and top stage act who, as a solo performer and in tandem with his wife Eydie Gorme, kept Tin Pan Alley alive during the rock era, died from complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was 88. Steve & Eydie were known for their frequent appearances on talk shows, in nightclubs and on the stages of Las Vegas. The duo took inspiration from George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and other songwriters. Eric Carmen, November 10, 1975 (Photo by Tom Hill/WireImage) Eric Carmen, March 10: Singer-songwriter Eric Carmen, known for hit songs including “Hungry Eyes” and “All By Myself,” died in his sleep at age 74. Carmen, who was born in the Cleveland suburbs in 1949, had been a member of the pop rock band “Raspberries,” known for the hit song “Go All The Way.” As a solo artist, he was known for such singles as “All By Myself,” “Never Gonna Fall In Love Again,” and “Hungry Eyes,” which would appear in the 1987 film “Dirty Dancing.” M. Emmet Walsh, March 1, 2014 (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP, File) M. Emmet Walsh, March 19: M. Emmet Walsh, the character actor who brought his unmistakable face and unsettling presence to films including “Blood Simple” and “Blade Runner,” died at age 88. He was still working into his late 80s, making recent appearances on the TV series “The Righteous Gemstones” and “American Gigolo.” His more than 100 film credits included director Rian Johnson’s 2019 family murder mystery, “Knives Out” and director Mario Van Peebles’ Western “Outlaw Posse,” released in 2024. Former Sen. Joe Lieberman of Conn., June 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Joe Lieberman, March 27: Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut senator who became the first Jewish vice-presidential candidate of a major party when Al Gore selected him as his running mate in the 2000 election, died at age 82 after suffering complications from a fall. His independent streak factored into Gore’s decision to select him as a running mate, which enabled the then-vice president to put some distance between himself and the scandals of the Clinton administration. Despite his differences with fellow Democrats, Lieberman was highly respected within the Senate for his high integrity and pragmatism. Louis Gossett Jr., April 11, 1983. (AP Photo, File) Louis Gossett Jr., March 29: Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries “Roots,” died. He was 87. Gossett became the third Black Oscar nominee in the supporting actor category in 1983. But he said winning an Oscar didn’t change the fact that all his roles were supporting ones. He played an obstinate patriarch in the 2023 remake of “The Color Purple.” April 2024 Joe Flaherty as Harold Weir in Freaks and Geeks, 1999 (NBCU Photo Bank via Getty) Joe Flaherty, April 1: Comedian Joe Flaherty, a founding member of the Canadian sketch series “SCTV,” died. He was 82. Born in Pittsburgh, he spent seven years at The Second City in Chicago before moving north of the border to help establish the theater’s Toronto outpost. He was introduced to later generations through memorable turns as a jeering heckler in the 1996 film “Happy Gilmore” and as an old-fashioned dad in the TV comedy “Freaks and Geeks,” which ran from 1999 to 2000. John Sinclair, December 26, 2018, in Detroit. (Junfu Han/Detroit Free Press via AP, File) John Sinclair, April 2: John Sinclair, a poet, music producer and counterculture figure whose lengthy prison sentence after a series of small-time pot busts inspired a John Lennon song and a star-studded 1971 concert to free him, died. He was 82. Sinclair drew a 9 1/2-to-10-year prison sentence in 1969 from Detroit Recorder’s Court Judge Robert Colombo for giving two joints to undercover officers. He served 29 months but was released a few days after Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, and others performed in front of 15,000 attendees at the University of Michigan’s Crisler Arena. “They gave him 10 for two/What else can Judge Colombo do/We gotta set him free,” Lennon sang in “John Sinclair,” a song the ex-Beatle wrote that immortalized its subject. Clarence “Frogman” Henry, June 12, 2003. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File) Clarence "Frogman" Henry, April 7: Clarence “Frogman” Henry, who was one of New Orleans’ best known old-time R&B singers and scored a hit at age 19 with “Ain’t Got No Home,” died. He was 87. Henry, who had been scheduled to perform at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, imitated the voice of a frog in “Ain’t Got No Home.” It was a hit in 1956 and later brought Henry renewed fame when it was featured on the “Forrest Gump” and “Mickey Blue Eyes” soundtracks. Professor Peter Higgs at the Science Museum, London, Dec. 11, 2013. (Sean Dempsey/PA via AP) Peter Higgs, April 9: Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of the so-called “God particle” that helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang, died at age 94. Higgs predicted the existence of a new particle, which came to be known as the Higgs boson, in 1964. He theorized there must be a subatomic particle of certain dimension that would explain how other particles — and therefore all the stars and planets in the universe — acquired mass. Without something like this particle, the set of equations physicists use to describe the world, known as the standard model, would not hold together. O.J. Simpson holds up his hands before the jury after putting on a new pair of gloves similar to the infamous bloody gloves during his double-murder trial in Los Angeles, June 21, 1995 (AP Photo/Vince Bucci, Pool, File) OJ Simpson, April 11: OJ Simpson, the NFL Hall of Fame running back and TV sportscaster who will forever be remembered as the accused killer of his ex-wife and her friend in 1994, died of prostate cancer at the age of 76. His death came just a few months before the 30th anniversary of the 1994 killings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. Attorney Gloria Allred, who once represented Nicole’s family, told ABC News: “I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere. I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do mourn for Nicole Brown Simpson and her family and they should be remembered.” This Feb. 1978 photo shows Robert MacNeil, executive editor of "The MacNeil/Lehrer Report". (AP Photo/FILE) Robert MacNeil, April 12: Robert MacNeil, who created the even-handed, no-frills PBS newscast “The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour” in the 1970s and co-anchored the show for with his late partner, Jim Lehrer, for two decades, died at 93. MacNeil first gained prominence for his coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings for the public broadcasting service and began his half-hour “Robert MacNeil Report” on PBS in 1975 with his friend Lehrer as Washington correspondent. The broadcast became the “MacNeil-Lehrer Report” and then, in 1983, was expanded to an hour and renamed the “MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour.” Whitey Herzog, July 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File) Whitey Herzog, April 15: Whitey Herzog, the gruff and ingenious Hall of Fame manager who guided the St. Louis Cardinals to three pennants and a World Series title in the 1980s and perfected an intricate, nail-biting strategy known as “Whiteyball,” died. He was 92. A crew-cut, pot-bellied tobacco chewer who had no patience for the “buddy-buddy” school of management, Herzog joined the Cardinals in 1980 and helped end the team’s decade-plus pennant drought by adapting it to the artificial surface and distant fences of Busch Memorial Stadium. Florida Gov.-elect Bob Graham Nov. 8, 1978 (AP Photo/Jennings, File) Bob Graham, April 16: Former U.S. Sen. and two-term Florida Gov. Bob Graham, who gained national prominence as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks and as an early critic of the Iraq war, died at 87. Graham, who served three terms in the Senate, made an unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, emphasizing his opposition to the Iraq invasion. Graham was a man of many quirks. He perfected the “workdays” political gimmick of spending a day doing various jobs from horse stall mucker to FBI agent and kept a meticulous diary, noting almost everyone he spoke with, everything he ate, the TV shows he watched, and even his golf scores Dickey Betts (left) with Duane Allman, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, Gregg Allman and Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson, Macon, Ga., undated (The Macon Telegraph via AP, File) Dickey Betts, April 18: Dickey Betts, who left home at 16 to join the circus and became a renowned guitarist touring the world with the Allman Brothers Band, died at 80 from cancer. He wrote the group’s biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man,” and remained on the road until he reached the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Betts shared lead guitar duties with Duane Allman in the original Allman Brothers Band to help give the group its unique sound and create a new genre, Southern rock. The band blended blues, country, R&B and jazz with ’60s rock to produce a distinct sound that influenced a host of major acts, including Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Phish, Jason Isbell and Chris Stapleton, among many others. Former hostage Terry Anderson, Dec. 6, 1991, in Damascus, Syria. (AP Photo/Santiago Lyon, File) Terry Anderson, April 21: Terry Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, died at 76. After returning to the United States in 1991, Anderson led a peripatetic life, giving public speeches, teaching journalism at several prominent universities and, at various times, operating a blues bar, Cajun restaurant, horse ranch and gourmet restaurant. He also struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, won millions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets after a federal court concluded that country played a role in his capture, then lost most of it to bad investments. Lt. William L. Calley, Jr., April 23, 1971. (AP Photo/Joe Holloway, Jr., File) William Calley, April 28: William Laws Calley Jr., who as an Army lieutenant led the U.S. soldiers who killed hundreds of Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre, the most notorious war crime in modern American military history, died. He was 80. Calley had been living in an apartment in Gainesville. His death was first reported by The Washington Post on July 29, 2024, citing his death certificate. On March 16, 1968, Calley led American soldiers of the Charlie Company on a mission to confront a crack outfit of Vietcong enemies. Instead, over several hours, the soldiers killed 504 unresisting civilians, mostly women, children and elderly men, in My Lai and a neighboring community. Calley was convicted in 1971 for the murders of 22 people during the rampage. He was sentenced to life in prison but served only three days because President Richard Nixon ordered his sentence reduced. He served three years of house arrest. Duane Eddy Sept. 18, 2013 (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) Duane Eddy, April 30: Duane Eddy, a pioneering guitar hero whose reverberating electric sound on instrumentals such as “Rebel Rouser” and “Peter Gunn” helped put the twang in early rock ‘n’ roll and influenced George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen and countless other musicians, died of cancer at age 86. With his raucous rhythms, and backing hollers and hand claps, Eddy sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and mastered a distinctive sound based on the premise that a guitar’s bass strings sounded better on tape than the high ones. May Bernard Hill, July 30, 2022 (Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images) Bernard Hill, May 5: Bernard Hill, well-known for his roles in “Titanic” and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy died at 79. His most notable roles were as Captain Edward Smith in the 1997 film “Titanic” and as King Théoden in the “Lord of the Rings.” Hill also appeared in the 1999 film “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Valkyrie,” a 2008 Tom Cruise film. In addition to “The Responder,” Hill’s more recent roles were in “The Moor” and “Forever Young,” both of which were released last year. Roger Corman, Oct. 24, 2019 (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File) Roger Corman, May 9: Roger Corman, the Oscar-winning “King of the Bs” who helped turn out such low-budget classics as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and gave many of Hollywood’s most famous actors and directors early breaks, died. He was 98. Starting in 1955, Corman helped create hundreds of films as a producer and director, among them “Black Scorpion,” “Bucket of Blood” and “Bloody Mama.” A remarkable judge of talent, he hired such aspiring filmmakers as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, James Cameron and Martin Scorsese. In 2009, Corman received an honorary Academy Award. Saxophonist David Sanborn, July 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Keystone/Martial Trezzini) David Sanborn, May 12: David Sanborn, known for playing the saxophone on tracks with David Bowie, Stevie Wonder and other iconic artists, died at age 78 after a years-long battle with prostate cancer. Sanborn became known as a renowned session saxophonist and released some albums of his own. His credits include the 1972 Stevie Wonder track “Tuesday Heartbreak,” David Bowie’s 1975 album “Young Americans” and the James Taylor rendition of “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You).” Actor Dabney Coleman, Nov. 14, 1988. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File) Dabney Coleman, May 16: Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in “9 to 5” and the nasty TV director in “Tootsie,” died. He was 92. Coleman went on to make his mark in numerous popular films, including as a stressed out computer scientist in “War Games,” Tom Hanks’ father in “You’ve Got Mail” and a fire fighting official in “The Towering Inferno.” Some of his recent credits include “Ray Donovan” and a recurring role on “Boardwalk Empire,” for which he won two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Morgan Spurlock, April 22, 2004, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) Morgan Spurlock, May 23: Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar nominee whose most famous works skewered America’s food industry and who notably ate only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, died from cancer complications at the age of 53. Spurlock made a splash in 2004 with his groundbreaking film “Super Size Me,” which was nominated for an Academy Award. The film chronicled the detrimental physical and psychological effects of Spurlock eating only McDonald’s food for 30 days. He gained about 25 pounds, saw a spike in his cholesterol and lost his sex drive. The film grossed more than $22 million on a $65,000 budget and preceded the release of Eric Schlosser’s influential “Fast Food Nation,” which accused the industry of being bad for the environment and rife with labor issues. Grayson Murray, April 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) Grayson Murray, May 25: Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial. In a statement the next day, his parents said, “Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson, and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now.” Murray, who had dealt with alcohol and mental health issues in the past, made a massive turnaround in 2024 and won the Sony Open. Richard M. Sherman, July 30, 2018, in Burbank, Calif. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP) Richard M. Sherman, May 25: Richard M. Sherman, one half of the prolific, award-winning pair of brothers who helped form millions of childhoods by penning the instantly memorable songs for “Mary Poppins,” “The Jungle Book” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” — as well as the most-played tune on Earth, “It’s a Small World (After All)” — died. He was 95. Their hundreds of credits as joint lyricist and composer also include the films “Winnie the Pooh,” “The Slipper and the Rose,” “Snoopy Come Home,” “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Magic of Lassie.” Their Broadway musicals included 1974’s “Over Here!” and stagings of “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” in the mid-2000s. Their awards include 23 gold and platinum albums and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They became the only Americans ever to win first prize at the Moscow Film Festival for “Tom Sawyer” in 1973 and were inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2005. Television analyst Bill Walton, Jan. 2, 2020, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) Bill Walton, May 27: Bill Walton, the “Big Redhead” who earned every accolade in college and professional basketball was also known as the greatest Trail Blazer ever whose love for Portland was unmatched, died after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 71. He was the NBA’s MVP in the 1977-78 season, the league’s sixth man of the year in 1985-86 and a member of the league’s 50th anniversary and 75th anniversary teams. That followed a college career in which he blossomed while playing under coach John Wooden at UCLA, becoming a three-time national player of the year. Walton was an Emmy winner, eventually was named one of the top 50 sports broadcasters of all time by the American Sportscasters Association and even appeared on The New York Times’ bestseller list for his memoir, “Back from the Dead.” In this Aug. 26, 2008 file photo, Michelle Obama, right, stands beside her mother Marian Robinson (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) Marian Robinson, May 31: Marian Shields Robinson, the mother of Michelle Obama who moved with the first family to the White House when son-in-law Barack Obama was elected president, died. She was 86. She was a widow and lifelong Chicago resident when she moved to the executive mansion in 2009 to help care for granddaughters Malia and Sasha. Malia and Sasha were just 10 and 7, respectively, when the White House became home in 2009. In Chicago, Mrs. Robinson had become almost a surrogate parent to the girls during the 2008 presidential campaign. She retired from her job as a bank secretary to help shuttle them around June Janis Paige, January 1, 1946 (Photo by John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) Janis Paige, June 2: Janis Paige, a popular actor in Hollywood and in Broadway musicals and comedies who danced with Fred Astaire, toured with Bob Hope and continued to perform into her 90s, died of natural causes at her Los Angeles home. She was 101. Paige’s big break came in wartime when she sang an operatic aria for servicemen at the Hollywood Canteen. MGM hired her a day later for a brief role in “Bathing Beauty” — she spoke two lines in the film, which starred Esther Williams and Red Skelton — then dropped her. The same day, Warner Bros. signed her and cast her in a dramatic segment of the all-star movie “Hollywood Canteen.” She had recurring roles in “Flamingo Road,” “Santa Barbara,” “Eight Is Enough,” “Capitol,” “Fantasy Island” and “Trapper Jon, M.D.” Larry Allen, left, with Jerry Jones, October 13, 2013. (Ron Jenkins/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images Larry Allen, June 3: Former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Larry Allen died while on vacation with his family in Mexico. He was 52. Allen is considered one of the best offensive linemen the franchise has ever had. He was a first-ballot Hall of Famer inducted in 2013 and a member of the All-Decade team in both the 1990s and 2000s. Some of his other notable statistics include 11 Pro Bowls, seven All-Pro selections and inclusion on the NFL’s Top 100 players list in 2019. This Dec. 24, 1968 photo shows the Earth behind the surface of the moon during the Apollo 8 mission, taken by Apollo 8 astronaut Maj. Gen. William Anders. (William Anders/NASA via AP, File) William Anders, June 7: William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic “Earthrise” photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was 90. Anders, a retired major general, has said the photo was his most significant contribution to the space program along with making sure the Apollo 8 command module and service module worked. The photograph, the first color image of Earth from space, is one of the most important photos in modern history for the way it changed how humans viewed the planet. Jerry West, Oct. 1, 2012. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Jerry West, June 12: Jerry West, who was selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame three times in a storied career as a player and executive, and whose silhouette is considered to be the basis of the NBA logo, died at 86. West, nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his late-game exploits as a player, was an NBA champion who went into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1980 and again as a member of the gold medal-winning 1960 U.S. Olympic Team in 2010. He was enshrined for a third time in 2024 as a contributor. He was an All-Star in all 14 of his NBA seasons, a 12-time All-NBA selection, part of the 1972 Lakers team that won a championship, an NBA Finals MVP as part of a losing team in 1969 and was selected as part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team. West was general manager of eight NBA championship teams with the Los Angeles Lakers, helping build the “Showtime” dynasty. Willie Mays, centerfielder for the New York Giants. Undated photo. (Getty Images) Willie Mays, June 18: Willie Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, died surrounded by his loved ones. He was 93. The center fielder was baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer. His signature basket catch and his dashes around the bases with his cap flying off personified the joy of the game. His over-the shoulder catch of a long drive in the 1954 World Series is baseball’s most celebrated defensive feat. Over 22 seasons, virtually all with the New York/San Francisco Giants, Mays batted .302, hit 660 home runs, totaled 3,283 hits, scored more than 2,000 runs and won 12 Gold Gloves. He was Rookie of the Year in 1951, twice was named the Most Valuable Player and finished in the top 10 for the MVP 10 other times. Donald Sutherland, Oct. 13, 2017. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) Donald Sutherland, June 20: Donald Sutherland, the Canadian actor whose wry, arrestingly off-kilter screen presence spanned more than half a century of films from “M.A.S.H.” to “The Hunger Games,” died in Miami after a long illness. He was 88. Before transitioning into a long career as a respected character actor, Sutherland epitomized the unpredictable, antiestablishment cinema of the 1970s. He never stopped working, appearing in nearly 200 films and series. His breakthrough was “The Dirty Dozen” (1967), in which he played Vernon Pinkley, the officer-impersonating psychopath. 1970 saw the release of the World War II yarn “Kelly’s Heroes” and “M.A.S.H.,” a smash hit that catapulted Sutherland to stardom. Bill Cobbs Nov. 12, 2012 (Photo by Todd Williamson/Invision/AP Images, File) Bill Cobbs, June 25: Bill Cobbs, the veteran character actor who became a ubiquitous and sage screen presence as an older man, died. He was 90. A Cleveland native, Cobbs acted in such films as “The Hudsucker Proxy,” “The Bodyguard” and “Night at the Museum.” Cobbs appeared on TV shows including “The Sopranos,” “The West Wing,” “Sesame Street” and “Good Times.” He was Whitney Houston’s manager in “The Bodyguard” (1992) among the 200 or so film and TV roles to his credit. Cobbs later said acting resonated with him as a way to express the human condition, in particular during the Civil Rights Movement in the late ’60s. Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, left, Gov. Rick Perry, Oct. 6, 2006. (AP Photo/Smiley N. Pool, File) Kinky Friedman, June 27: Singer, songwriter, satirist and novelist Kinky Friedman, who led the alt-country band Texas Jewboys, toured with Bob Dylan, sang with Willie Nelson, and dabbled in politics with campaigns for Texas governor and other statewide offices, died at his family’s Texas ranch near San Antonio. He was 79. In the 1970s, his satirical country band Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys wrote songs with titles such as “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in Bed.” Friedman’s run at politics brought his brand of irreverence to the serious world of public policy. Campaign slogans included “How Hard Could It Be?” and “He ain’t Kinky, he’s my Governor.” Martin Mull, Aug. 2, 2018 (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP) Martin Mull, June 27: Martin Mull, an actor known for various TV and film roles, including “Clue,” “Roseanne,” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” died at age 80. Mull made his television debut in 1976 in the comedic soap opera “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” for which he appeared in 49 episodes. His further TV work included sitcoms like “Taxi,” “The Golden Girls,” “Two and a Half Men” and “The Cool Kids.” His final television role was in two episodes of the Apple TV+ sitcom “The Afterparty” in 2022. Millennials may best know Mull as the nosy principal Willard Kraft from ABC’s “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” for which Mull appeared in over 70 episodes. Mull was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor for his role as Bob Bradley in four episodes of HBO’s “Veep.” The actor’s first film role was in 1978’s “FM” and his final film appearance was in 2018’s “A Futile and Stupid Gesture,” alongside comedian Will Forte. July Robert Towne, March 7, 2006 (AP Photo/Jim Cooper, File) Robert Towne, July 1: Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning screenplay writer of “Shampoo,” “The Last Detail” and other acclaimed films whose work on “Chinatown” became a model of the art form and helped define the jaded allure of his native Los Angeles, died at the age of 89. Recognizable around Hollywood for his high forehead and full beard, Towne won an Academy Award for “Chinatown” and was nominated three other times, for “The Last Detail,” “Shampoo” and “Greystoke.” In 1997, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Writers Guild of America. Towne’s success came after a long stretch of working in television, including “The Man from U.N.C.L.E” and “The Lloyd Bridges Show,” and on low-budget movies for “B” producer Roger Corman (who died May 9, 2024). From left, director Robert Rodriguez, actress Rosa Salazar and producer Jon Landau, Jan. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) Jon Landau, July 6: Jon Landau, an Oscar-winning producer who worked closely with director James Cameron on three of the biggest blockbusters of all time, “Titanic” and two “Avatar” films, died. He was 63. Landau’s career began in the 1980s as a production manager, and he gradually rose through the ranks, serving as a co-producer on “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” and “Dick Tracy.” “Titanic” became the first movie to cross $1 billion in global box-office earnings and went on to win 11 Oscars, including best picture. Joe Bonsall (Courtesy: Photo by Brandon Wood/Indie Bling Studio) Joe Bonsall, July 9: Joe Bonsall, Grammy award winner and celebrated tenor of the country and gospel group the Oak Ridge Boys, died from complications of ALS. He was 76. “For 50 years, Joe Bonsall was the Oak Ridge Boys’ sparkplug. He was as exciting a performer as any who ever hit a gospel or country stage,” Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a written statement. “His tenor voice was high and clear, and his jovial spirit always provided a jolt of energy, immediately rousing audiences to come on in and take a load off. He certainly lightened our cares every time he sang.” Shelley Duvall, Oct. 27, 1983, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac, File) Shelley Duvall, July 11: Shelley Duvall, the intrepid, Texas-born movie star whose wide-eyed, winsome presence was a mainstay in the films of Robert Altman and who co-starred in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” died from complications of diabetes at the age of 75. Duvall, gaunt and gawky, was no conventional Hollywood starlet. But she had a beguilingly frank manner and exuded a singular naturalism. The film critic Pauline Kael called her the “female Buster Keaton.” At her peak, Duvall was a regular star in some of the defining movies of the 1970s. In “The Shining” (1980), she played Wendy Torrance, who watches in horror as her husband, Jack (Jack Nicholson), goes crazy while their family is isolated in the Overlook Hotel. It was Duvall’s screaming face that made up half of the film’s most iconic image, along with Jack’s axe coming through the door. Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Feb. 11, 2019 (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File) Dr. Ruth Westheimer, July 12: Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the diminutive sex therapist who became a pop icon, media star and best-selling author through her frank talk about once-taboo bedroom topics, died. She was 96. “I still hold old-fashioned values and I’m a bit of a square,” she told students at Michigan City High School in 2002. “Sex is a private art and a private matter. But still, it is a subject we must talk about.” Westheimer’s giggly, German-accented voice, coupled with her 4-foot-7 frame, made her an unlikely looking — and sounding — outlet for “sexual literacy.” The contradiction was one of the keys to her success. She soon became a regular on the late-night television talk-show circuit, bringing her personality to the national stage. Her rise coincided with the early days of the AIDS epidemic, when frank sexual talk became a necessity. Fitness personality Richard Simmons, 2013 (Photo by Rodrigo Vaz/Getty Images) Richard Simmons, July 13: Richard Simmons, the legendary fitness instructor that reached massive celebrity status, died at the age of 76, just one day after his birthday. In March, Simmons announced he was diagnosed with skin cancer after finding a bump under his right eye. On the morning he died, Simmons’ official Facebook page posted a final message, which featured a Barbra Streisand-referencing caption reading, “Hello, gorgeous! Please don’t rain on my parade.” It’s a fitting signoff for a legendary presence who will long be remembered for the positivity and motivation Simmons was known for. Shannen Doherty, undated (Photo by: Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty Images) Shannen Doherty, July 13: Shannen Doherty, known for her roles in the ’90s hit shows “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Charmed” died after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. She was 53. Doherty has long been in the public eye, starting her acting career when she was still a child with roles in “Voyagers!” and “Little House on the Prairie.” Her first major role came with the 1988 dark comedy movie “Heathers.” Not long after, she was back on TV with the hit show “Beverly Hills, 90210” as Brenda Walsh. In recent years, even amid her battle with cancer, Doherty continued acting. She made guest appearances in popular TV shows like “Riverdale,” as well as in reboots of “90210” and “Heathers.” Naomi Pomeroy on Top Chef Masters, undated (Photo by Nicole Wilder/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images) Naomi Pomeroy, July 13: Naomi Pomeroy, a noted Portland chef and a James Beard Award winner, died in a tragic accident on the Willamette River. The author and contestant on “Top Chef Masters” was floating on the Willamette River in Benton County when she drowned. “She was a rock star chef,” said Portland foodie Gary Okazaki. “When they write the history of the Portland culinary scene, she’s going to have her own chapter.” Actor James Sikking, Dec. 1, 1986. (AP Photo/Avery, File) James Sikking, July 14: James Sikking, who starred as a hardened police lieutenant on “Hill Street Blues” and as the titular character’s kindhearted dad on “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” died at 90 from complications of dementia. His early acting ventures included an uncredited part in Roger Corman’s “Five Guns West” and a bit role in an episode of “Perry Mason.” He also secured guest spots in a litany of popular 1970s television series, from the action-packed “Mission: Impossible,” “M.A.S.H.” “The F.B.I.,” “The Rockford Files,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “Charlie’s Angels” to “Eight is Enough” and “Little House on the Prairie.” After the end of “Hill Street Blues,” he acted in nearly 100 episodes of “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” reuniting with Steven Bochco, who co-created both “Hill Street Blues” and the Neil Patrick Harris-starring sitcom. Bob Newhart, June 25, 2003. (AP Photo/Jerome T. Nakagawa, File) Bob Newhart, July 18: Bob Newhart, the deadpan accountant-turned-comedian who became one of the most popular TV stars of his time after striking gold with a classic comedy album, died at 94. Newhart, best remembered now as the star of two hit television shows of the 1970s and 1980s, launched his career as a stand-up comic in the late 1950s. Newhart was an anomaly. His outlook was modern, but he rarely raised his voice above a hesitant, almost stammering delivery. His only prop was a telephone, used to pretend to hold a conversation with someone on the other end of the line. Lou Dobbs, Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) Lou Dobbs, July 18: Lou Dobbs, the conservative political pundit and veteran cable TV host who was a founding anchor for CNN and later was a nightly presence on Fox Business Network for more than a decade, died. He was 78. He hosted “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on Fox Business from 2011 to 2021, following two separate stints at CNN. Dobbs spent more than two decades at CNN, joining at its launch in 1980 and hosting the program “Moneyline.” He left CNN in 2009 to help media mogul Rupert Murdoch launch Fox Business. When he joined Fox, he said he considered himself the underdog. A few years later his show was highly rated and he was a key figure on the right-leaning network. Duke Fakir of the Four Tops, Sept. 3, 2022. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File) Duke Fakir, July 22: Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving original member of the beloved Motown group the Four Tops that was known for such hits as “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” and “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” died at age 88 of heart failure at his home in Detroit. “Duke was first tenor — smooth, suave, and always sharp,” Berry Gordy said. “For 70 years, he kept the Four Tops’ remarkable legacy intact.” Fakir, lead singer Levi Stubbs, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton had been together for a decade when Gordy signed them up in 1963 (after the group had turned him down a few years earlier) and they already had a polished stage act and versatile vocal style that enabled them to perform anything from country songs to pop standards like “Paper Doll.” August Chi Chi Rodriquez, May 2, 1996. (AP Photo/Peter A. Harris, File) Chi Chi Rodriguez, August 8: Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez, a Hall of Fame golfer whose antics on the greens and inspiring life story made him among the sport’s most popular players during a long professional career, died at the age of 88. Rodriguez said he learned to play golf by hitting tin cans with a guava tree stick and then found work as a caddie. He claimed he could shoot a 67 by age 12. His playing record doesn’t look like Hall of Fame material. His contributions to the game with his showmanship and charity and devotion to youth development was gigantic. Wally Amos, June 12, 2007 in Kailua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lucy Pemoni) Wally Amos, August 14: Wally Amos, the founder of the renowned chocolate chip cookie brand Famous Amos, died at the age of 88 after a years long battle with dementia. Amos created the Famous Amos cookie empire and eventually lost ownership of the company — as well as the rights to use the catchy Amos name. In his later years, he became a proprietor of a cookie shop called Chip & Cookie in Hawaii, where he moved in 1977. It wasn’t until 1975 that his famed cookies would take shape at a bakery in Hollywood, California. He became famous for his bite-sized cookies at a time when most other brands were going big. Actor Gena Rowlands, Dec. 4, 2014. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) Gena Rowlands, August 14: Gena Rowlands, hailed as one of the greatest actors to ever practice the craft and a guiding light in independent cinema as a star in groundbreaking movies by her director husband, John Cassavetes, and who later charmed audiences in her son’s tear-jerker “The Notebook,” died. She was 94. Rowlands made 10 films across four decades with Cassavetes, including “Minnie and Moskowitz” in 1971, “Opening Night” in 1977 and “Love Streams” in 1984. She earned two Oscar nods for two of them: 1974’s “A Woman Under the Influence,” in which she played a wife and mother cracking under the burden of domestic harmony, and “Gloria” in 1980, about a woman who helps a young boy escape the mob. In addition to the Oscar nominations, Rowlands earned three Primetime Emmy Awards, one Daytime Emmy and two Golden Globes. Tom Bergeron, left, and Peter Marshall April 29, 2018. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File) Peter Marshall, August 15: Peter Marshall, the actor and singer turned game show host who played straight man to the stars for 16 years on “The Hollywood Squares,” died at 98. Marshall helped define the form of the smooth, professional, but never-too-serious modern game show host on more than 5,000 episodes of the series that ran on NBC from 1966 to 1981. “It was the easiest thing I’ve ever done in show business,” Marshall said in a 2010 interview for the Archive of American Television. “I walked in, said ‘Hello stars,’ I read questions and laughed. And it paid very well.” Phil Donahue, Jan. 27, 1993. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) Phil Donahue, August 18: Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre that brought success to Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, Ellen DeGeneres and many others, died. He was 88. Dubbed “the king of daytime talk,” Donahue was the first to incorporate audience participation in a talk show, typically during a full hour with a single guest. The format set “The Phil Donahue Show” apart from other interview shows of the 1960s and made it a trendsetter in daytime television, where it was particularly popular with female audiences. The show was syndicated in 1970 and ran on national television for the next 26 years, racking up 20 Emmy Awards for the show and for Donahue as host, as well as a Peabody for Donahue in 1980. In May, President Joe Biden awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Donahue, who was cited as a pioneer of the daytime talk show. John Amos, May 11, 2016 (Photo by Amy Sussman/Invision/AP, File) John Amos, August 21: John Amos, who starred as the family patriarch on the hit 1970s sitcom “Good Times” and earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the seminal 1977 miniseries “Roots,” died. He was 84. He played James Evans Sr. on “Good Times,” which featured one of television’s first Black two-parent families. Among Amos’ film credits were “Let’s Do It Again” with Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier, “Coming to America” with Eddie Murphy and its 2021 sequel, “Die Hard 2,” “Madea’s Witness Protection” and “Uncut Gems” with Adam Sandler. He was in Ice Cube and Dr. Dre’s 1994 video “Natural Born Killaz.” Amos’ first major TV role was as Gordy Howard, the weatherman on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” from 1970-73. As the show’s only Black character, he played straight man to bombastic anchor Ted Baxter. United States’ Johnny Gaudreau, right, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, file) Johnny Gaudreau, August 29: Johnny Gaudreau, August 29: NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and his younger brother were killed on the eve of their sister’s wedding when they were hit by a suspected drunken driver while riding bicycles in their home state of New Jersey. Gaudreau, 31, and brother, Matt, 29, are Carneys Point, New Jersey, natives and were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding that was scheduled for the next day. Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. September Associated Press reporter Linda Deutsch is shown in Los Angeles in 1978. (AP Photo, File) Linda Deutsch, September 1: Linda Deutsch, a special correspondent for The Associated Press who for nearly 50 years wrote glittering first drafts of history from many of the nation’s most significant criminal and civil trials — Charles Manson, O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, among others — died at the age of 80. One of America’s best-known trial reporters when she retired in 2015, Deutsch’s courts career began with the 1969 trial and conviction of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin, Sirhan Sirhan. She went on to cover a who’s who of criminal defendants — Manson, Simpson, Jackson, Patty Hearst, Phil Spector, the Menendez Brothers, “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez, “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski and the police officers charged in the beating of motorist Rodney King. She was in a Los Angeles courtroom in 1995 for the conclusion of “The Trial of the Century” that saw Simpson, an NFL Hall of Famer, acquitted of killing his ex-wife and her friend. Thirteen years later, Deutsch was in a Las Vegas courtroom when Simpson was convicted of kidnapping and robbery and sentenced to prison. Her work, always written with verve, was not limited to celebrity — other trials involved fraud, conspiracy, environmental disasters and immigration — and eventually earned her the title of special correspondent, the most prestigious byline for an AP reporter. James Darren, left, chats with Nancy Sinatra, center, and Claudia Martin, August 13, 1963. (AP Photo, File) James Darren, September 2: James Darren, a teen idol who helped ignite the 1960s surfing craze as a charismatic beach boy paired off with Sandra Dee in the hit film “Gidget,” died in his sleep at 88. In his long career, Darren acted, sang and built up a successful behind-the-scenes career as a television director, helming episodes of such well-known series as “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place.” But to young movie fans of the late 1950s, he would be remembered best as Moondoggie, the dark-haired surfer boy in the smash 1959 release “Gidget.” James Earl Jones, seen in this undated photo, died at the age of 93 on September 9, 2023 (AP) James Earl Jones, September 9: James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, “The Lion King” and Darth Vader — died at the age of 93. The pioneering Jones, who in 1965 became one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama (“As the World Turns”) and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honors. He was also given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor. He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader (“No, I am your father,” commonly misremembered as “Luke, I am your father”), as well as the benign dignity of King Mufasa in both the 1994 and 2019 versions of Disney’s “The Lion King” and announcing “This is CNN” during station breaks. He won a 1977 Grammy for his performance on the “Great American Documents” audiobook. Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, right, July 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) Frankie Beverly, September 10: Frankie Beverly, who with his band Maze inspired generations of fans with his smooth, soulful voice and lasting anthems including “Before I Let Go,” died. He was 77. Beverly, whose songs include “Joy and Pain,” “Love is the Key,” and “Southern Girl,” finished his farewell “I Wanna Thank You Tour” in his hometown of Philadelphia in July. That same month, the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans included a special tribute to Beverly and Maze, who closed out the event for its first 15 years. Tito Jackson, July 24, 2019 (Photo by Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP, File) Tito Jackson, September 15: Tito Jackson, one of the brothers who made up the beloved pop group the Jackson 5, died at age 70. Tito was the third of nine Jackson children, which includes global superstars Michael and sister Janet, part of a music-making family whose songs are still beloved today. Tito Jackson was the last of the nine Jackson siblings to release a solo project with his 2016 debut, “Tito Time.” JD Souther, June 13, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File) JD Souther, September 17: John David “JD” Souther, a prolific songwriter and musician who helped shape the country-rock sound that took root in Southern California in the 1970s with his collaborations with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, died at the age of 78. Souther, who collaborated on some of the Eagles’ biggest hits, such as “Best of My Love,” “James Dean,” “New Kid in Town,” and “Heartache Tonight,” also worked with James Taylor, Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt and many more, and also found success as a solo artist. When he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013, Souther was described as “a principal architect of the Southern California sound and a major influence on a generation of songwriters.” Dick Moss, Nov. 1, 1994 (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File) Dick Moss, September 21: Dick Moss, the lawyer who won the arbitration case that created free agency for baseball players and revolutionized pay for professional athletes, has died. He was 93. Hired by union executive director Marvin Miller as general counsel in 1967, Moss argued the 1975 case involving pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally that led to arbitrator Peter Seitz striking down the reserve clause. That provision for a unilateral one-year renewal had been included in every contract since 1878 and had enabled teams to control players by maintaining those agreements could be extended perpetually. Moss quit the union in July 1977 to become an agent, and his clients included future Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan, Jack Morris and Gary Carter. Miami Dolphins running back Eugene “Mercury” Morris Nov. 13, 1972 (AP Photo/Jim Bourdier) Mercury Morris, September 22: Eugene “Mercury” Morris, who starred for the unbeaten 1972 Miami Dolphins as part of a star-studded backfield and helped the team win two Super Bowl titles, died at 77. Morris was the starting halfback and one of three go-to runners that Dolphins coach Don Shula used in Miami’s back-to-back title seasons of 1972 and 1973, alongside Pro Football Hall of Famer Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick. Morris led the Dolphins in rushing touchdowns in both of those seasons, finishing with an NFL-best 12 in 1972 and then 10 more in 1973. John Ashton, June 20, 2024 (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, file) John Ashton, September 26: John Ashton, the veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films, died at the age of 76. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Ashton was a regular face across TV series and films, including “Midnight Run,” “Little Big League” and “Gone Baby Gone.” In the “Beverly Hills Cop” films, Ashton played an essential part of an indelible trio that included Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold. Ashton played a more unscrupulous character in Martin Brest’s 1988 buddy comedy “Midnight Run.” Maggie Smith on the set of Spielberg's film Hook, 1 January 1991 (Photo by Murray Close/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images) Maggie Smith, September 27: Maggie Smith, the masterful, scene-stealing actor who won an Oscar for the 1969 film “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in "Downton Abbey” and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films, died at 89. Smith was frequently rated the preeminent British female performer of a generation that included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench. She made her film debut in the 1950s, won Oscars for work in the '60s and '70s and had memorable roles in each subsequent decade, including an older Wendy in Peter Pan story “Hook” (1991) and a mother superior of a convent in Whoopi Goldberg’s comedy “Sister Act” (1992). Kris Kristofferson, Oct. 9, 2005 (AP Photo/Ric Francis, File) Kris Kristofferson, September 28: Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and A-list Hollywood actor, died at his home on Maui, Hawaii. He was 88. Starting in the late 1960s, the Brownsville, Texas native wrote such classics standards as “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” “Help Me Make it Through the Night,” “For the Good Times” and “Me and Bobby McGee.” Kristofferson was a singer himself, but many of his songs were best known as performed by others, whether Ray Price crooning “For the Good Times” or Janis Joplin belting out “Me and Bobby McGee.” He also starred opposite Ellen Burstyn in director Martin Scorsese’s 1974 film “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” starred opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1976 “A Star Is Born,” and acted alongside Wesley Snipes in Marvel’s “Blade” in 1998. The Atlanta Hawks’ Dikembe Mutombo, left, Chicago Bulls’ Dennis Rodman, May 8, 1997 (AP Photo/Michael S. Green, File) Dikembe Mutombo, September 30: Dikembe Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game, died from brain cancer. He was 58. “Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “On the court, he was one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players in the history of the NBA. Off the floor, he poured his heart and soul into helping others.” He spoke nine languages and founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997, concentrating on improving health, education and quality of life for the people in the Congo. Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds, Aug. 2, 1978. (AP Photo, File) Pete Rose, September 30: Pete Rose, baseball’s career hits leader and fallen idol who undermined his historic achievements and Hall of Fame dreams by gambling on the game he loved and once embodied, died at 83. For fans who came of age in the 1960s and ‘70s, no player was more exciting than the Cincinnati Reds’ No. 14, “Charlie Hustle,” the brash superstar with the shaggy hair, puggish nose and muscular forearms. No milestone approached his 4,256 hits, breaking his hero Ty Cobb’s 4,191 and signifying his excellence no matter the notoriety which followed. It was a total so extraordinary that you could average 200 hits for 20 years and still come up short. In August 1989, at a New York press conference, Commissioner Bart Giamatti announced that Rose had agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball, a decision that in 1991 the Hall of Fame would rule left him ineligible for induction. October Cissy Houston, Jan. 22, 2013. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP, File) Cissy Houston, October 7: Cissy Houston, a two-time Grammy-winning soul and gospel artist who sang with Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley and other stars and knew triumph and heartbreak as the mother of Whitney Houston, died in her New Jersey home while under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease. She was 91. Houston became an in-demand session singer and recorded more than 600 songs in multiple genres throughout her career. Her vocals can be heard on tracks alongside a wide range of artists including Chaka Khan, Donny Hathaway, Jimi Hendrix, Luther Vandross, Beyoncé, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack and Whitney Houston. Cissy Houston sang backup on Whitney’s eponymous, multi-platinum first album, and the two shared the lead on “I Know Him So Well,” from the 1987 mega-seller “Whitney.” Boston Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant, 1974. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin, File) Luis Tiant, October 8: Luis Tiant, the charismatic Cuban with a horseshoe mustache and mesmerizing windup who pitched the Red Sox to the brink of a World Series championship and pitched himself to the doorstep of the baseball Hall of Fame, died at his home in Maine. He was 83. With a swaggering style and an iconic wiggling windup that froze batters in the box, “El Tiante” was a three-time All-Star and four-time 20-game winner whose greatest individual season came with Cleveland in 1968, when he went 21-9 with 19 complete games and nine shutouts — four of them in a row. His 1.60 ERA was the best in the AL in half a century and he finished fifth in AL Most Valuable Player voting. The son of a Negro Leagues star, the younger Tiant was 229-172 in all with a 3.30 ERA and 2,416 strikeouts. He had 187 complete games and 47 shutouts in a 19-year career spent mostly with Cleveland and the Red Sox. Ethel Kennedy, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) Ethel Kennedy, October 10: Ethel Kennedy, the wife of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, who raised their 11 children after he was assassinated and remained dedicated to social causes and the family’s legacy for decades thereafter, died at the age of 96. President Joe Biden called her “an American icon — a matriarch of optimism and moral courage, an emblem of resilience and service.” The Kennedy matriarch, mother to Kathleen, Joseph II, Robert Jr., David, Courtney, Michael, Kerry, Christopher, Max, Douglas and Rory, was one of the last remaining members of a family generation that included President John F. Kennedy. Ethel Kennedy founded the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights soon after her husband’s death and advocated for causes including gun control and human rights. She rarely spoke about her husband’s assassination. When her filmmaker daughter Rory brought it up in the 2012 HBO documentary, “Ethel,” she couldn’t share her grief. Lilly Ledbetter, April 8, 2014 (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) Lilly Ledbetter, October 12: Lilly Ledbetter, a former Alabama factory manager whose lawsuit against her employer made her an icon of the equal pay movement and led to landmark wage discrimination legislation, died at 86. Ledbetter’s discovery that she was earning less than her male counterparts for doing the same job at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Alabama led to her lawsuit, which ultimately failed when the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that she had filed her complaint too late. The court ruled that workers must file lawsuits within six months of first receiving a discriminatory paycheck — in Ledbetter’s case, years before she learned about the disparity through an anonymous letter. Two years later, former President Barack Obama signed into the law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which gave workers the right to sue within 180 days of receiving each discriminatory paycheck, not just the first one. “Lilly Ledbetter never set out to be a trailblazer or a household name. She just wanted to be paid the same as a man for her hard work,” Obama said in a statement. “Lilly did what so many Americans before her have done: setting her sights high for herself and even higher for her children and grandchildren.” Liam Payne, May 26, 2018. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP, File) Liam Payne, October 16: Former One Direction singer Liam Payne, 31, whose chart-topping British boy band generated a global following of swooning fans, was found dead after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires. Payne had been vocal about struggling with alcoholism, posting a video in July 2023 to his YouTube channel where he said he had been sober for six months after receiving treatment. Payne was one of five members of One Direction, which formed when they each auditioned for the British singing competition series “The X Factor” in 2010, two years after Payne’s first attempt to get on the show. After each singer failed to make it through the competition as solo acts, Simon Cowell and his fellow judges combined Payne, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson into what would become one of the most successful boy bands — even though they lost the competition. Mitzi Gaynor, May 26, 2021, in Beverly Hills, California. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) Mitzi Gaynor, October 17: Mitzi Gaynor, the effervescent dancer and actor who starred as Nellie Forbush in the 1958 film “South Pacific” and appeared in other musicals with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, died of natural causes. She was 93. Gaynor was among the last survivors of the so-called golden age of the Hollywood musical. Her entertainment career spanned eight decades across film, television and the stage, and appeared in several notable films including “We’re Not Married!” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” but she is best remembered for her turn in “South Pacific.” Navajo Code Talker John Kinsel Sr., Aug. 14, 2007 (AP Photo/Donovan Quintero, File) John Kinsel Sr., October 19: John Kinsel Sr., one of the last remaining Navajo Code Talkers who transmitted messages during World War II based on the tribe’s native language, died at the age of 107. With Kinsel’s death, only two original Navajo Code Talkers are still alive. Hundreds of Navajos were recruited by the Marines to serve as Code Talkers during the war, transmitting messages based on their then-unwritten native language. The Code Talkers sent thousands of messages without error on Japanese troop movements, battlefield tactics and other communications crucial to the war’s ultimate outcome. They confounded Japanese military cryptologists during World War II and participated in all assaults the Marines led in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945, including at Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Peleliu and Iwo Jima. Kinsel enlisted in the Marines in 1942 and became an elite Code Talker, serving with the 9th Marine Regiment and the 3rd Marine Division during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Fernando Valenzuela, Aug. 11, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File) Fernando Valenzuela, October 22: Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, died as the Dodgers prepared to open the World Series at home against the New York Yankees. He was 63. Valenzuela was one of the most dominant players of his era and a wildly popular figure in the 1980s, although he was never elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Valenzuela left his color commentator job on the Dodgers’ Spanish-language television broadcast in September without explanation. Phil Lesh of The Grateful Dead, Aug. 3, 2002. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File) Phil Lesh, October 25: Phil Lesh, a classically trained violinist and jazz trumpeter who found his true calling reinventing the role of rock bass guitar as a founding member of the Grateful Dead, died at age 84. Although he kept a relatively low public profile, rarely granting interviews or speaking to the audience, fans and fellow band members recognized Lesh as a critical member of the Grateful Dead whose thundering lines on the six-string electric bass provided a brilliant counterpoint to lead guitarist Jerry Garcia’s soaring solos and anchored the band’s famous marathon jams. He took part in a 2009 Grateful Dead tour and again in 2015 for a handful of “Fare Thee Well” concerts marking both the band’s 50th anniversary and what Lesh said would be the last time he would play with the others. Teri Garr, April 1987 (AP Photo/Mark Terrill, File) Terri Garr, October 29: Teri Garr, the quirky comedy actor who rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star of such favorites as “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie,” died of multiple sclerosis. She was 79. Her big film break came as Gene Hackman’s girlfriend in 1974’s Francis Ford Coppola thriller “The Conversation.” That led to an interview with Mel Brooks, who said he would hire her for the role of Gene Wilder’s German lab assistant in 1974’s “Young Frankenstein” — if she could speak with a German accent. Her big smile and off-center appeal helped land her roles in “Oh, God!” opposite George Burns and John Denver, “Mr. Mom” (as Michael Keaton’s wife) and “Tootsie” in which she played the girlfriend who loses Dustin Hoffman to Jessica Lange and learns that he has dressed up as a woman to revive his career. (She also lost the supporting actress Oscar at that year’s Academy Awards to Lange.) November Quincy Jones, Sept. 7, 2018, in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) Quincy Jones, November 3: Quincy Jones, the multitalented music titan whose vast legacy ranged from producing Michael Jackson’s historic “Thriller” album to writing prize-winning film and television scores and collaborating with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other recording artists, died at 91. Jones kept company with presidents and foreign leaders, movie stars and musicians, philanthropists and business leaders. He toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged records for Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, composed the soundtracks for “Roots” and “In the Heat of the Night,” organized President Bill Clinton’s first inaugural celebration and oversaw the all-star recording of “We Are the World,” the 1985 charity record for famine relief in Africa. The list of his honors and awards fills 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography “Q,” including 27 Grammys at the time (now 28), an honorary Academy Award (now two) and an Emmy for “Roots.” He also received France’s Legion d’Honneur, the Rudolph Valentino Award from the Republic of Italy and a Kennedy Center tribute for his contributions to American culture. He was the subject of a 1990 documentary, “Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones,” and a 2018 film by daughter Rashida Jones. Tony Todd, December 9, 2018 (Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images) Tony Todd, November 6: Actor Tony Todd, best known for playing horror icon Candyman in the film series of the same name, died at the age of 69. The Washington, D.C.-born actor appeared in over 200 films and TV shows. Todd’s debut role was in 1986’s fantasy-drama “Sleepwalk,” which he followed up with roles in 80s hits like “Platoon” and “Lean on Me” before his breakout role in 1992’s “Candyman.” Todd reprised his role in three film sequels, including Nia DaCosta’s 2021 sequel of the same. But his role as Candyman was especially important to Todd. Bobby Allison Aug. 2, 1975, in Long Pond, Pa. (AP Photo/File) Bobby Allison, November 9: Bobby Allison, founder of racing’s “Alabama Gang” and a NASCAR Hall of Famer, died. He was 86. “Bobby was the ultimate fan’s driver,” Allison’s family said in a statement. He helped put NASCAR on the map with more than his driving. His infamous fight with Cale Yarborough in the closing laps of the 1979 Daytona 500 served as one of the sport’s defining moments. Allison retired in 1988 following a crash that nearly killed him. In June 1987, he wrecked on the opening lap at Talledega Superspeedway. He hit the outside wall and then got T-boned in the driver’s side door. He was initially declared dead upon reaching a local hospital but was later resuscitated. John Robinson, Jan. 3, 1992. (AP Photo/Chris Martinez, File) John Robinson, November 11: John Robinson, the veteran football coach who enjoyed many years of success at the University of Southern California and with the Los Angeles Rams, died from complications of pneumonia. He was 89. Robinson is high on the short list of football coaches who enjoyed significant success in both the college and pro ranks. He went 104-35-4 at USC and 75-68 with the Rams, winning postseason games and contending for championships regularly with both teams. Robinson was a member of the College Football Hall of Fame for his two successful tenures at USC. Ted Olson, Sept. 7, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) Ted Olson, November 13: Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, who served two Republican presidents as one of the country’s best known conservative lawyers and successfully argued on behalf of same-sex marriage, died at the age of 84. Olson was at the center of some of the biggest cases of recent decades, including a win on behalf of George W. Bush in the 2000 Florida presidential election recount dispute that went before the U.S. Supreme Court. Bush made Olson his solicitor general, a post the lawyer held from 2001 to 2004. During his career, Olson argued 65 cases before the Supreme Court. Those included the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a 2010 case that eliminated many limits on political giving, and a successful challenge to the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. U.S. gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi carries injured Kerri Strug, July 23, 1996 (AP Photo/Susan Ragan, File) Bela Karolyi, November 16: Bela Karolyi, the charismatic if polarizing gymnastics coach who turned young women into champions and the United States into an international power, died. He was 82. Karolyi and wife Martha trained multiple Olympic gold medalists and world champions in the U.S. and Romania, including Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton. The Karolyis defected to the United States in 1981 and over the next 30-plus years became a guiding force in American gymnastics, though not without controversy. Bela helped guide Retton — all of 16 — to the Olympic all-around title at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and memorably helped an injured Kerri Strug off the floor at the 1996 Games in Atlanta after Strug’s vault secured the team gold for the Americans. Chuck Woolery, October 13, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Chuck Woolery, November 23: Chuck Woolery, the affable, smooth-talking game show host of “Wheel of Fortune,” “Love Connection” and “Scrabble” who later became a right-wing podcaster, skewering liberals and accusing the government of lying about COVID-19, hdied. He was 83. Woolery, with his matinee idol looks, coiffed hair and ease with witty banter, was inducted into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007 and earned a daytime Emmy nomination in 1978. After his TV career ended, Woolery went into podcasting. In an interview with The New York Times, he called himself a gun-rights activist and described himself as a conservative libertarian and constitutionalist. Barbara Taylor Bradford, April 9, 2006 in New York. (AP Photo/Dima Gavrysh, File) Barbara Taylor Bradford, November 24: Barbara Taylor Bradford, a British journalist who became a publishing sensation in her 40s with the saga “A Woman of Substance” and wrote more than a dozen other novels that sold tens of millions of copies, died at age 91. Starting with “A Woman of Substance,” published in 1979, Bradford averaged nearly a book a year as one of the world’s most popular and wealthiest writers, her net worth estimated at more than $200 million and her fame so high that her image appeared on a postage stamp in 1999. In 2007, Queen Elizabeth II awarded her an OBE (The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire). Earl Holliman, Jan. 20, 2015, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) Earl Holliman, November 25: Award-winning actor Earl Holliman, best known for his roles in “Forbidden Planet”, “Giant”, and “The Rainmaker”, in which he won the Golden Globe for ‘Best Supporting Actor,' died at the age of 96. Holliman is also well known for his TV work, having starred in the very first episode of “The Twilight Zone” and the TV mini-series, “Delta”. He was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1977. Marshall Brickman, Jan. 22, 2008 in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) Marshall Brickman, November 29: The Oscar-winning screenwriter Marshall Brickman, whose wide-ranging career spanned some of Woody Allen ‘s best films, the Broadway musical “Jersey Boys” and a number of Johnny Carson’s most beloved sketches, died. He was 85. Brickman was best known for his extensive collaboration with Allen, beginning with the 1973 film “Sleeper.” Together, they co-wrote “Annie Hall” (1977), “Manhattan” (1979) and “Manhattan Murder Mystery” (1993). December Nikki Giovanni, April 17, 2007. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File) Nikki Giovanni, December 9: Nikki Giovanni, the poet, author, educator and public speaker who rose from borrowing money to release her first book to decades as a literary celebrity sharing her blunt and conversational takes on everything from racism and love to space travel and mortality, died. She was 81. Poetry collections such as “Black Judgement” and “Black Feeling Black Talk” sold thousands of copies, led to invitations from “The Tonight Show” and other television programs and made her popular enough to fill a 3,000-seat concert hall at Lincoln Center for a celebration of her 30th birthday. For a time, she was called “The Princess of Black Poetry.” Oakland Athletics’ Rickey Henderson dives for third base to steal his 939th career base to set the all-time stolen base record against the New York Yankees, May 1, 1991, in Oakland. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) Rickey Henderson, December 20: Rickey Henderson, the man who changed Major League Baseball with his blazing, unbeatable speed, died, after a bout with pneumonia, TMZ reports. Best known for his time with the Oakland Athletics, Henderson played for nine teams between 1979 and 2003, including brief stints with the Anaheim Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. He won the 1990 American League MVP award and was a two-time World Series champion — with Oakland in 1989 and the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993. “The Man of Steal” stole a record-shattering 1,406 bases in his career. St. Louis Cardinals legend Lou Brock is a distant second with 938. Greg Gumbel, April 1, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) Greg Gumbel, December 27: Greg Gumbel, best known for his long career with CBS Sports, died after a long battle with cancer. He was 78. Gumbel was considered a trailblazer for all of his career. He was the first Black play-by-play announcer to broadcast a major championship when he called Super Bowl XXXV in January 2001. Though he’d previously appeared on CBS Sports programming, his long tenure at the network didn’t begin until 1998, where he served as a play-by-play announcer for college basketball and NFL games. Olivia Hussey, June 15, 2005. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara, File) Olivia Hussey, December 27: Olivia Hussey, who was 15 when she starred as Juliet in the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet,” died at age 73. She also starred as Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the 1977 television series “Jesus of Nazareth,” as well as the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile” and horror movies “Black Christmas” and “Psycho IV: The Beginning.” She is survived by her husband, David Glen Eisley, her three children and a grandson. Linda Lavin, March 19, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File) Linda Lavin, December 29: Linda Lavin, a Tony Award-winning stage actor who became a working class icon as a paper-hat wearing waitress on the TV sitcom “Alice,” died from complications of lung cancer. She was 87. A success on Broadway, she was chosen to star in a new CBS sitcom based on “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” the Martin Scorsese-directed film. The title was shortened to “Alice” and Lavin become a role model for working moms as Alice Hyatt, a widowed mother with a 12-year-old son working in a roadside diner outside Phoenix. The show ran from 1976 to 1985. When asked for guidance from up-and-coming actors, Lavin stressed one thing. “I say that what happened for me was that work brings work. As long as it wasn’t morally reprehensible to me, I did it,” she told the AP in 2011. Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter waves to a crowd gathered in Atlanta on Dec. 12, 1974, where he announced officially that he is a Democratic candidate for the presidency. (AP file photo) Jimmy Carter, December 29: Jimmy Carter, who rose from a Georgia peanut farmer to become President of the United States, died at the age of 100 -- the oldest former president in US history. Jimmy Carter was the first president to be born in a hospital. He joined the US Navy, became a nuclear engineer, then governor of Georgia in 1970. He ran for and won the presidency in 1976, but lost a re-election bid to Ronald Reagan. In his post-presidency, Carter worked with Habitat for Humanity and established the Carter Center, earning a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. It is for his service to others that Carter will be most remembered. In his personal life, he was a man dedicated to family and faith. In his public life, he lived out the promise of his faith by serving others, in Plains, across America and across the globe. The Associated Press contributed to this report.