2014 was a memorable year in many ways, but just like every other year, there were man famous names and faces who died over the past 12 months, leaving us with only the memories. Today, we look back on those we lost in the arts and entertainment:
HE SHOT TO STARDOM ON HAPPY DAYS AND MORK AND MINDY, BUT ROBIN WILLIAMS BECAME A LEGEND ON THEBIG SCREEN, IN UNFORGETTABLE ROLES IN FILMS SUCH AS‘DEAD POETS SOCIETY’, ‘MRS. DOUBTFIRE’, ‘ALADDIN’ AND‘GOOD WILL HUNTING’, FOR WHICH WILLIAMS WON A BEST SUPPORTING OSCAR. WILLIAMS STUNNED THE WORLD WHEN HE TOOK HIS OWN LIFE IN AUGUST. HE WAS 63.
UNTIL WILLIAMS’ SUICIDE, THE MOST SHOCKING HOLLYWOOD DEATH WAS THAT OF PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN. HIS OUTSTANDING ACTING WAS SEEN IN COUNTLESS ROLES FROM FILMS SUCH AS ‘SCENT OF A WOMAN’ TO ‘THE BIG LEBOWSKI’ TO ‘CAPOTE’, FOR WHICH HIS WON AN ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR. HOFFMAN DIED OF A DRUG OVERDOSE IN FEBRUARY. HE WAS 46.
IN THE 1930S, THE BIGGEST MOVIE STAR IN THE WORLD WAS A PRECOCIOUS LITTLE GIRL NAMED SHIRLEY TEMPLE. ONE OF THE FIRST CINEMATIC CHILD STARS, TEMPLE WOULD LEAVE ACTING IN THE LATE 1940S BUT WOULD RE-EMERGE AS A DIPLOMAT DECADES LATER. SHE SERVED AS AMBASSADOR TO GHANA AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA UNDER TWO DIFFERENT PRESIDENTS. TEMPLE DIED IN FEBRUARY AT THE AGE OF 85
ONE DAY AFTER ROBIN WILLIAMS DIED, WORD CAME THAT THE LEGENDARY LAUREN BACALL DIED AT AGE 89. KNOWN AS MUCH FOR HER MAY-DECEMBER ROMANCE AND MARRIAGE WITH HUMPHREY BOGART AS FOR ROLES IN CLASSICS SUCH AS ‘TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT’, THE BIG SLEEP’, ‘HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE’ AND ‘THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES.’
MICKEY ROONEY ENJOYED ONE OF THE LONGEST CAREERS IN HOLLYWOOD. VAULTING TO FAME AS THE TEENAGE LEAD IN THE “ANDY HARDY’ MOVIES, ROONEY WAS A FIXTURE ON STAGE AND SCREEN FOR OVER 80 YEARS – ALL THE WAY UP TO A ROLE IN ‘NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM.’ MICKEY ROONEY WAS 93.
ANOTHER ACTOR WITH DECADES OF EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES WAS JAMES GARNER. FIRST FINDING FAME AS BRET MAVERICK ON TELEVISION, GARNER ATTRACTED LEGIONS OF FANS WITH HIS TURN AS ROBERT HENDLEY, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE SCROUNGER IN THE SCREEN CLASSIC ‘THE GREAT ESCAPE.’ GARNER WENT ON TO MORE TV SUCCESS IN ‘THE ROCKFORD FILES’ ALONGSIDE MEMORABLE ROLES IN FILMS FROM ‘SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF’ TO SPACE COWBOYS.’ JAMES GARNER DIED IN JULY AT AGE 86.
ONE OF GARNER’S GREAT CO-STARS IN ‘THE GREAT ESCAPE’WAS RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH. THE BRITISH ACTOR STAYED ACTIVE FOR MANY YEARS, AND IS ALSO REMEMBERED FOR HIS ROLE IN BOX OFFICE SMASH ‘JURASSIC PARK’. ATTENBOROUGH WAS 90.
ELI WALLACH STARRED IN TWO OF THE MOST PROLIFIC MOVIES OF THE 1960S, ‘THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN’ AND ‘THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.’ WORKING ALL THE WAY UP TO THE RECENT ‘WALL STREET’ SEQUEL, WALLACH DIED IN JUNE AT THE AGE OF 98.
ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE FILMS OF THE EARLY 1960S WAS ‘JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG’, TELLING THE STORY OF THE NAZIS TRIED AND CONVICTED OF WAR CRIMES FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II. THE OSCAR-WINNING LEAD WAS THE WORK OF MAXIMILIAN SCHELL. ALSO AN ACCOMPLISHED PIANIST, SCHELL WAS 83 WHEN HE DIED IN FEBRUARY.
RUBY DEE WAS AS WELL KNOWN FOR HER ACTIVISM FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE 1960S AS SHE WAS FOR HER WORK ON SCREEN. BEST KNOWN FOR HER ROLES IN ‘A RAISIN IN THE SUN’ AND ‘DO THE RIGHT THING’, DEE DIED IN JUNE AT AGE 91.
HAROLD RAMIS WAS EITHER IN FRONT OF OR BEHIND THE CAMERA FOR SOME OF THE MOST BELOVED MOVIES OF THE 1980S AND 90S. RAMIS DIRECTED ‘CADDYSHACK’, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION,
ANALYZE THIS’ AND ‘GROUNDHOG DAY’ AND HAD KEY ROLES IN CLASSICS LIKE ‘STRIPES’ AND ‘GHOSTBUSTERS’. RAMIS WAS 69.
MIKE NICHOLS WAS ANOTHER ACCLAIMED DIRECTOR. BEST KNOWN FOR ‘THE GRADUATE’, WHICH EARNED HIM AN ACADEMY AWARD, NICHOLS WAS ALSO BEHIND ‘WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, SILKWOOD, WORKING GIRL AND THE BIRDCAGE. NICHOLS WAS 83 WHEN HE DIED IN NOVEMBER.
BOB HOSKINS WAS OFTEN SEEN IN SUPPORTING ROLES, INCLUDING ‘HOOK’ ALONGSIDE ROBIN WILLIAMS. HOSKINS’ GREATEST ACCLAIM CAME IN ‘WHO FRAMED ROGERRABBIT?’ HOSKINS WAS 71.
ONE THE MOST ACCLAIMED MOVIE MUSICALS WAS ‘THE SOUND OF MUSIC’, WHICH ADAPTED THE STORY OF THE REAL-LIFE VON TRAPP FAMILY. ONE OF THE MANY REAL- LIFE VON TRAPP CHILDREN DIED THIS YEAR. MARIA VON TRAPP WAS 99.
JOAN RIVERS WAS ONE THE MOST INSULTING PERSONALITIES ON TELEVISION BUT SHE ALSO MADE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE LAUGH AND WAS A TRAILBLAZER FOR WOMEN BOTH IN TELEVISION AND IN COMEDY.
BEST KNOWN LATER IN LIFE FOR HER FONDNESS FOR PLASTIC SURGERY AND FOR CRITIQUING THE RED CARPET ATTIRE OF CELEBRITIES, RIVERS DIED IN SEPTEMBER AFTER SHE STOPPED BREATHING DURING A
THROAT PROCEDURE. JOAN RIVERS WAS 81
IN THE 1950S TELEVISION COMEDY BROKE NEW GROUND WITH ‘YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS’. SID CAESAR WAS THE STAR WHO ENJOYED A LONG SHOW BUSINESS CAREER IN THE DECADES THAT FOLLOWED. CAESAR WAS 91.
ON GILLIGAN’S ISLAND, THE PROFESSOR’S EXPERTISE ON JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING GOT THE CASTAWAYS OUT MANY DIFFICULT SPOTS AND GAVE THEM THEIR BEST CHANCES TO BE RESCUED UNTIL GILLIGAN INEVITABLY MESSED THINGS UP. THE PROFESSOR WAS PORTRAYED BY RUSSELL JOHNSON, WHO DIED IN JANUARY AT AGE 89.
GILLIGAN’S ISLAND WAS THE CREATIVE WORK OF SHERWOOD SCHWARTZ. HIS OTHER TV CLASSIC WAS ‘THE BRADY BUNCH’. ALICE WAS THE BRADYS’ LOVABLE BUT SOMEWHAT ECCENTRIC HOUSEKEEPER, PLAYED BY ANN B. DAVIS. DAVIS DIED AFTER A FALL IN JUNE. SHE WAS 88.
BUT NO TV BUNCH WAS MORE ECCENTRIC THAN THE ADDAMS FAMILY. KEN WEATHERWAX PLAYED YOUNG PUGSLEY ADDAMS. WEATHERWAX DIED IN DECEMBER. HE WAS 59.
EFREM ZIMBALIST WAS A BELOVED STAR OF MULTIPLE SERIES. ZIMBALIST WAS THE LEADING MAN IN ’77 SUNSET STRIP’ AND ‘THE FBI’. A DEVOUT CHRISTIAN, HE DIED IN MAY AT AGE 95.
THE 1970S BROUGHT US SOME OF THE MOST BELOVED DRAMATIC CHARACTERS. ONE OF THOSE WAS PA WALTON ON ‘THE WALTONS’, WELL-PORTRAYED BY RALPH WAITE. WAITE DIED IN FEBRUARY. HE WAS 85.
AMERICANS ALSO HAD GREAT AFFECTION FOR NELS OLESON, THE HEN-PECKED YET KINDLY MERCHANT ON ‘LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE.’ OLESON’S CHARACTER WAS THE WORK OF ACTOR RICHARD BULL, WHO DIED IN FEBRUARY AT THE AGE OF 89.
ANY MUSICALLY TALENTED FAMILY TAKING THE SHOW ON THE ROAD NEEDS A GOOD MANAGER. FOR THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY THAT JOB WAS HANDLED BY REUBEN KINCAID, WHO WAS PORTRAYED BY DAVE MADDEN. MADDEN APPEARED ON MANY OTHER TELEVISION SERIES AS WELL. HE DIED IN JANUARY AT THE AGE OF 82.
ON WELCOME BACK KOTTER, MR. KOTTER HAD TO KEEP THE SWEATHOGS UNDER CONTROL. HIS WIFE, JULIE, HAD TO LISTEN TO HIS SILLY STORIES AT THE START OF MOST EPISODES. JULIE WAS PORTRAYED BY MARCIA STRASSMAN, WHO DIED IN OCTOBER. SHE WAS 66.
DESIGNING WOMEN WAS A POPULAR SITCOM IN THE 1980S AND 90S. THE ONLY MAN REGULARLY COMMISERATING WITH THE WOMEN WAS ANTHONY BOUVIER, PLAYED BY ACTOR MESHACH TAYLOR. TAYLOR
DIED IN JUNE AT THE AGE OF 67.
DON PARDO’S VOICE WAS SYNONYMOUS WITH SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. HIS OLD SCHOOL DELIVERY NOT ONLY INTRODUCED THE CAST MEMBERS BUT ALSO INTRODUCED COUNTLESS SKETCHES AND PARODIES. WORKING RIGHT UP UNTIL HIS DEATH IN AUGUST, DON PARDO WAS 96.
ONE OF THE MANY CAST MEMBERS PARDO ANNOUNCED OVER THE YEARS WAS THE TALENTED JAN HOOKS. SHE DIED SUDDENLY OCTOBER. HOOKS WAS 57.
JIM LANGE WAS A VERY POPULAR DISC JOCKEY WHO GAINED EVEN MORE FAME AS A GAME SHOW HOST. BEST KNOWN FOR THE DATING GAME, LANGE WAS ALSO HOST OF THE SECOND INCARNATION OF NAME THAT TUNE. JIM LANGE WAS 81.
MARY ANN MOBLEY WAS MISS AMERICA AND THEN HELD A VARIETY OF T-V JOBS, INCLUDING A ROLE ON THE FINAL SEASON OF DIFF’RENT STROKES. MOBLEY DIED OF BREAST CANCER IN DECEMBER. SHE WAS 77.
NO ONE ROCKED HARDER THAN JOE COCKER. BEST KNOWN FOR SONGS LIKE ‘UNCHAIN MY HEART’ AND ‘YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL TO ME’, COCKER LOST A BATTLE WITH LUNG CANCER IN DECEMBER. HE WAS 70.
FOLK SINGERS WERE ALL THE RAGE IN THE 1960S AND MOST OF THEM ROSE TO FAME FOR THEIR MUSIC PROTESTING THE VIETNAM WAR. PETE SEEGER WAS NO DIFFERENT, BUT MANY POLITICALLY ACTIVE MUSICIANS VIEW HIM AS A TRAILBLAZER IN THAT ARENA FOR HITS LIKE ‘TURN,TURN,TURN.’ SEEGER WAS 94.
THE EVERLY BROTHERS PERSONIFIED THE CLEAN CUT, FAST-PACED MUSIC OF THE EARLY ROCK AND ROLL ERA. WITH HITS RANGING FROM ‘BYE BYE LOVE’ TO ‘WAKE UP LITTLE SUZY’, FANS LOVED THE HARMONIES OF DON AND PHIL EVERLY. PHIL DIED IN JANUARY. HE WAS 74.
FOR DECADES, YOU COULDN’T GET TO THE TOP OF THE CHARTS WITHOUT HEARING IT FROM CASEY KASEM. NOTED FOR HIS DISTINCTIVE VOICE, HIS REQUESTS AND DEDICATIONS AND FOR BEING THE VOICE OF SHAGGY ON THE SCOOBY DOO TELEVISION SERIES, KASEM WAS SYNONYMOUS WITH THE TOP 40 COUNTDOWN. KASEM DIED IN JUNE AT THE AGE OF 82 IN THE MIDST OF A VERY UGLY CUSTODY DISPUTE BETWEEN HIS CHILDREN AND HIS SECOND WIFE.
FEW POETS EVER ACHIEVED THE ACCLAIM AS MAYA ANGELOU. THE WRITER TURNED PROFESSOR EVEN RECITED A POEM AT THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF BILL CLINTON. SHE DIED IN MAY AT THE AGE OF 86.
