For seemingly every year since I can remember, people have speculated that more celebrities than usuall were dying... but 2016 feels different. Perhaps compounded by social media and therefore our ability to know anything and everything that goes on, and in an instant, and certainly aided and abetted by the unfortuitous deaths of quite a few undisputed icons between last January and this December, this feels like the cruelest year on record for the unexpected demises of household names, as well as the inevitable ends of people who had lived long, full lives, and yet seemed as if they'd never die.
Me when 2016 ends. (GIF via Lucasfilm)
What follows is a list of some of the biggest names to check out in 2016, preceded by a fresh reminder of some of the non-icons who nonetheless made a great impact on especially LGBTQ fans and admirers, and whose passing I thought could use some highlighting.
Check Out Extra's Photo Gallery of 100+ 2016 Passings Here!
If this list interests or inspires you, please share it. If you have any names to add, please do not hesitate to let me know.
13 Notable LGBTQ & LGBTQ-Adjacent Deaths
Arquette as a Boy George fanatic in The Wedding Singer (Image via New Line Cinema)
Alexis Arquette (July 28, 1969—September 11, 2016)
Born into the acting family sired by director/The Waltons star Lewis Arquette, Alexis forged an acting career as a male over 15 years before coming out as trans. Following playing the wide-eyed child on an amusement park ride in the music video for “She's a Beauty” by the Tubes, Arquette fearlessly played trans in both Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) and in a memorable role in 1989's Last Exit to Brooklyn, in spite of the stigma associated with playing LGBTQ characters at the time. Already HIV-positive by then, Arquette went on to work frequently in the '90s, including in the oustanding gay films Grief (1993) and I Think I Do (1997), the latter of which cast Arquette as a romantic (male) lead. She came out as trans in 2004, underwent SRS in 2006 (which was documented in the 2007 film Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother) and became a visible trans activist. At the end of her life, Arquette seemingly went off HIV meds, leading to her death from HIV-related cardiac arrest. Via her family, there were conflicting reports as to whether she had gone back to presenting as a male in her final days.
*****
Hidden pleasures (Image via Pocket Books)
The Lady Chablis (March 11, 1957—September 8, 2016)
Described by author John Berendt as “everybody's favorite” real-life character from his sensationally successful 1994 book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and the 1997 Clint Eastwood-directed film adaptation of the same name, The Lady Chablis became one of the first trans people to whom many Americans were exposed in popular culture. Her distinctive demeanor made her both funny and imposing, and what Berendt told The New York Times was her “great repartee” helped sell her memorable 1996 memoir, Hiding My Candy. A long-term HIV survivor, she died of pneumonia less than a month after her final club performance.
*****
Cunningham in 2011 (Image by Matthew Rettenmund)
Bill Cunningham (March 13, 1929—June 25, 2016)
The ubiquitous man-on-the-street shooter of real-life fashion for The New York Times was a tireless chronicler of what people wore via his “On the Street” column. Noticed by the paper when he took a candid of Greta Garbo in 1978 — never realizing it was she, so focused was he on her fab nutria coat — Cunningham became a one-of-a-kind Manhattanite who haunted events as well as snapping people as they navigated NYC. In the fantastic 2010 doc Bill Cunningham New York, the photographer semi-addressed his presumed gay sexual orientation, stating, “That's probably why the family wanted to keep me out of the fashion world.” Warholian in the asexuality he projected, he also allowed in the documentary that he did have “body urges,” but that “you control them as best you can.” He worked right up until the stroke that put him out of commission and soon after killed him at age 87.
*****
True blue (Image via True Public Relations)
Joan Edwards (1928 or 1929—April 11, 2016)
I don't have much info on this attractive-looking lady, but she held the amazing position of being John Travolta's personal assistant from 1978 to 1994, a period when he was super hot and then cooling down and then super hot again. As such, she had unfettered access to the allegely closeted star, saying in 2012 (during his masseur sex scandal), “Of course I knew he was gay. It never bothered me.” Edwards went on the record confirming that Travolta had a long-term relationship with pilot Doug Gotterba. Oh, the stories that must've gone to the grave with her; she died after a battle with cancer at age 87.
*****
Call girl (Video still via MindAndSpirit.com)
Youree Dell Harris aka Miss Cleo (August 12, 1962—July 26, 2016)
You could hardly watch trash TV in the late '90s/early '00s without marveling at the blatant hucksterism embodied by Miss Cleo, who hawked pay-per-call psychic help. A young mother and failed playwright/actress, she took on the Miss Cleo persona to pay the bills, presenting herself as a Jamaican shaman. When her bosses were indicted, she was able to walk away, but did play the unforgettably cheesy character in a variety of other ads until being legally forced to stop. Not as widely known, Harris came out as a lesbian in 2006. I find her story interesting because it's a uniquely LGBTQ story of scrambling to stay afloat in a world where opportunity does not knock on as many doors as our culture pretends. She battled colon cancer in the final years of her life, succumbing in July.
*****
Seen here hanging out with Rita Ora, Irwin was also a special favorite of Lady Gaga & 1D. (Image via Rita Ora)
Matt Irwin (February 10, 1980—May 5, 2016)
The effervescent celeb photographer shot everyone from Nicki Minaj to One Direction. Cute, talented, in-demand, he seemingly had it all, but after breaking up with his boyfriend in May, he took a lethal dose of the party drug GHB, ending his life. In his suicide note, Irwin wrote that he felt he was letting people down, which only serves to underscore the illogical scourge of depression that haunts the LGBTQ community more so than others. Everyone liked the guy, but he didn't like himself, an irony we should remember and honor and try to figure out to spare us the loss of more innovators and artists and just plain good people.
*****
Me and Lou. No, those fingers did not smell funny. (Image by Matthew Rettenmund)
Lou Pearlman (June 19, 1954—August 19, 2016)
Like Bill Cunningham, Lou Pearlman was cagey about his sexuality. Like Miss Cleo, it didn't take a psychic to figure out he was not sincere. In my lengthy obit for the confoundingly affable, apparently amoral boy-band impresario, I wrote back in August, “Instead of outright accusations of indecency, there was just always this innuendo that while God must've spent a little more time on the girls *NSYNC was singing about, Lou probably spent a little too much time on at least one male member of each of his groups.” Tough stuff for a dude who'd just died in prison, but it was a remembrance, not a tribute, and while Pearlman was almost certainly gay, he was beyond the shadow of a doubt a terrible role model. Not only did he likely sexually entice a number of the young, sometimes too young, boys under contract to him (no charges were ever filed, very few specific, on-the-record accusations were ever made), he also robbed a ton of people blind, depleting their life savings. Lou's short life was more cautionary tale than story of a gay icon, but cautionary tales deserve to be told as well.
*****
Jon Polito (December 29, 1950—September 1, 2016)
This prolific character actor and voice artist worked on the stage, in film and on TV for over 30 years, becoming most familiar for his roles on Homicide: Life on the Street, Crime Story, Seinfeld, five Coen brothers movies and as the crotchety closet-king rival of Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill) on Modern Family. In real life, Polito — who died of multiple myeloma — was anything but a closet-king: He married his longtime boyfriend, fellow performer Darryl Armbruster, in 2015.
*****
Many of many faces (Image via Facebook @ Empress Musings)
David Frank Ray (?—December 28, 2016)
This longtime stylist and beauty expert, who had worked on the faces of everyone from Jaclyn Smith to the supermodels of the '70s and '80s, died unexpectedly last week after living with HIV for decades. Ray was unapologetically, outspokenly gay, and embraced flamboyance (his signature color was pink) and humor in a way that lit up the lives of all he encountered. At the time of his death, he was the EIC of an online magazine for women over 50, Irresistible Beauty, which also describes his own lasting impression. We corresponded on Facebook but, sadly, we never met in spite of living in the same town.
*****
Redman is pictured on the far right. (Image via APLA)
Matt Redman (1950—December 27, 2016)
This co-founder of the highly influential, life-saving org AIDS Project Los Angeles back in 1992 was an accomplished interior designer whose compromised T-cell count led to his death at 66 when an upper respiratory infection spread to his heart. “My friends and I were in New York in 1981, hearing stories among friends coming down with this mysterious disease. We realized that back home in L.A. there was no hotline, no medical care, and no one to turn to for emotional support,” Redman told The Advocate in 2001 about his journey as both an HIV/AIDS advocate and a survivor. Jim Vellequette, who served on APLA's Board of Directors, told ThePrideLA.com of Redman, “Let us not mourn a fake memory of Matt. Matt was a straight-up force of unbridled determination with a ‘my life and the lives of my friends are at risk son-of-a-bitch' [attitude] if you had to go up against him. Thankfully, he was our SOB and it is Matt Redman and the kindred rabble-rousing spirits from the generation just before mine that made it possible for so many of us to still be here and bid him a very respectful, well-earned, thank you. His fire will not soon fade from my memory.”
*****
This handsome devil's pool parties in the '60s up the road from Rock Hudson's place must've been something. (Image via James Sheldon)
James Sheldon (November 12, 1920—March 12, 2016)
Jim was a friend of mine, one I only had the pleasure of knowing from October 12, 2015 until his death on March 12 of the following year. In those five months, he became a close buddy, and knowing him such a short time truly made me realize how much I'd missed by not bumping into him sooner. We met at a screening of Tab Hunter Confidential — how much gayer can you get? Jim beckoned me to sit by him in the front row and squeezed my knee. He was 94 and had no shame in his game, but was the least sleazy player you could ever meet. When he talked about sex or attempted to get you to have it with him, he did it with kid-like zeal. He still had so much curiosity and passion, and in spite of what was an impressive dance card that dated back to the '30s, he was as boy-crazy as I am. I found his sexuality inspiring because he had been basically bisexual for much of his life (he had been married and had kids), divorced and came out to his family in the '60s and never made any bones about being with whomever he liked. He talked with me about sex after 70, 80, and 90, something gay men almost never discuss. His stories about directing over 1,000 episodes of TV (Twilight Zone among them) — and being the only person to direct James Dean twice (“No, I never slept with him.”) — were absolutely fascinating, stacked with technical details, the office politics of Hollywood and plenty of cheerfully salacious asides (“Troy Donahue may have been homophobic, but he sure didn't mind having his dick sucked.”). Jim was a consummate professional in his craft and remained 100% engaged in the arts right up until cancer crept up on him and killed him weeks after it was detected. I never knew him not to have an appointment on any given day, and that included going to see movies at the DGA screening room, the latest Broadway plays (he had apprentice-directed Bus Stop and had been to the opening nights of most of the classics of American theater) and yet he was the most down-to-earth person I've ever met and quite a fan himself of the Golden Age greats as well as new talent. I'll miss him, and I hope to be as much like him as I can be at this late date.
*****
I was with her. (Image via U.S. government)
Janet Reno (July 21, 1938—November 7, 2016)
Just two days before her boss's wife would unexpectedly lose the presidential election — and miss out on becoming the first woman president — trailblazer Janet Reno died of Parkinson's disease. She had never come out publicly as a lesbian, but the never-married Reno was not exactly trying to pass as straight; her butch appearance made her fodder for countless comics during her tenure as the first female Attorney General of the United States, as if her mannishness were the lede, as opposed to her glass-ceiling-breaking position. Serving under Bill Clinton from 1993 until 2001, she weathered some excruciating controversies, including the siege at Waco, the capture of the Unabomber and the return of Elián González to Cuba. Her dignity and work ethic were admirable — why shouldn't we claim her as one of our own, even if she decided against declaring herself while alive? Liberace never came out either.
*****
Will X. Walters decent and allegedly indecent (Images via Facebook)
Will X. Walters (1981—December 13, 2016)
This San Diego man was arrested and charged with public nudity — the only person ever arrested for that reason in his city's history — for wearing a loincloth over underwear at a Gay Pride celebration. He spent years fighting the obviously ridiculous arrest, racking up $1M in legal fees, only to lose his case. He was found dead December 28, an apparent suicide. He was last seen on December 13, when he learned he had lost his case.
*****
Noteworthy Names Who Died in 2016
Norman Abbott, prolific TV director, creator of Sugar Babies & nephew of Bud Abbott
Colonel Abrams, house music singer
Ken Adam, Oscar-winning James Bond production designer
Richard Adams, author of Watership Down
Kathryn Adams, last surviving cast member of 1939's The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Caroline Aherne, British TV writer/actress
Joe Alaskey, took over voicing Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck from Mel Blanc
(Image via HarringtonBooks.co.uk)
Edward Albee, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? playwright
Giorgio Albertazzi, acclaimed Italian actor
Jean Alexander, Coronation Street actress
Muhammad Ali, “The Greatest” boxing icon
(Image via Time)
Kathryn Reed Altman, widow of Robert Altman
Sylvia Anderson, Thunderbirds co-creator
René Angélil, producer/husband of Céline Dion
Eddie Applegate, The Patty Duke Show actor
Alice Arlen, Silkwood screen writer
Frank Armitage, Disney illustrator
(Image via FilmDallas)
Héctor Babenco, Kiss of the Spider Woman director
Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting author
Jimmy Bain, Scottish rocker
(Image via Lucasfilm)
Kenny Baker, R2-D2 in the first six Star Wars films
Robert Balser, Yellow Submarine animation artist
Gato Barbieri, jazz saxophonist
Lita Baron, actress & nightclub performer, I Love Lucy guest star
MORE AFTER THE JUMP ...
(Image via Trafalgar Square)
George Barris, shooter of those last, beachy images of Marilyn Monroe
Patricia Barry, ubiquitous '50s & '60s actress, soap star
Erik Bauersfeld, “Admiral Ackbar” voice in Star Wars films
Terence Bayler, Monty Python's Life of Brian & Harry Potter actor
(Image via Walt Disney)
Brian Bedford, theater actor, titular voice of Disney's Robin Hood
Robert Beecher, Dick Tracy actor
Dave Bell, reality TV pioneer
Barbara Allyne Bennet, character actress
(Image via Irving Benson)
Irving Benson, 101-year-old vaudeville vet & heckler of Milton Berle
David Berry, The Whales of August playwright/screenwriter
John Berry, original Beastie Boys member
Betsy Bloomingdale, L.A. style icon & socialite
Lennie Bluett, Gone with the Wind extra
Maggie Blye, The Italian Job actress
Shannon Bolin, original “Meg” in Damn Yankees
Joey Boots, Howard Stern personality
(GIF via Giphy.com)
David Bowie, persona-shifting glam-rock icon
Richard Bradford, The Untouchables actor
John Bradshaw, self-help guru
Herb Braha, Godspell actor
ER Brathwaite, To Sir, with Love author
Bobby Breen, boy soprano of the '30s
Charles Briles, The Big Valley actor
(Image via ABC)
Peter Brown, Lawman & Foxy Brown actor
Pete Burns, Dead or Alive singer
(GIF via Epic)
Tony Burton, Rocky actor
Don Calfa, The Return of the Living Dead actor
Virginia Campbell, Cecil B. DeMille player
Harriet Carell, Steve Carell's mother
Keion Carpenter, former NFL player
Charmian Carr, “Liesl” from The Sound of Music
Joan Carroll, child actress of the '40s
John Carson, prolific British actor of Sri Lankan descent
Fidel Castro, Cuban despot
Tonita Castro, Life in Pieces actress
Billy Chapin, child actor of the '50s
(Image via CBS)
William Christopher, M*A*S*H actor
(Image via WWE.com)
Chyna, wrestler
Michael Cimino, writer-director of The Deer Hunter, Heaven's Gate
Guy Clark, musician
Otis Clay, R&B singer
(GIF via YouTube @ LeonardCohenVEVO)
Leonard Cohen, legendary “Hallelujah” singer-songwriterPat Conroy, The Prince of Tides author
Ronnie Corbett, British TV personality
Noreen Corcoran, Bachelor Father actress
Adrienne Corri, actress gang-raped in A Clockwork Orange
(Video still of memorial via ITV.com)
Prince Filippo Corsini, member of Italian nobility
Scott Cosgrove, stuntman
(Image via Vogue)
André Courrèges, fashion designer
Paul Cox, Australian filmmaker
Wayne Crawford, actor, Valley Girl screenwriter & producer
C. Martin Croker, Aqua Teen Hunger Force voice talent, animator
(Image via Trinity Broadcasting)
Jan Crouch, Trinity Broadcasting televangelist
Ron Cummins, character actor
Kevin Curran, writer & producer on The Simpsons
Paul Daniels, British TV magician
Dick Darley, director of the original The Mickey Mouse Club
Richard Davalos, East of Eden actor
Deddie Davies, Pride actress
Howard Davies, theater director
(Images by Jack Davis for Time & Mad)
Jack Davis, Mad magazine & political illustrator
Phife Dawg, A Tribe Called Quest member
Jean Dawnay, '50s supermodel, later Princess George Galitzine
Frank De Filitta, author of Audrey Rose
(Image via MGM)
Gloria DeHaven, '40s musical star
Douglas Dick, Rope actor
Steve Dillon, comic book artist
James Douglas, Peyton Place actor
Nancy Dow, actress & Jennifer Aniston's mother
Jerry Doyle, Babylon 5 actor
Larry Drake, L.A. Law actor
Alice Drummond, character actress
(Image via MeTV)
Gary Dubin, '70s child actor
(GIF via 20th Century Fox)
Patty Duke, The Miracle Worker, The Patty Duke Show & Valley of the Dolls star, mental health advocate
Johnny Duncan, “Robin” in '40s Batman serials
Lois Duncan, I Know What You Did Last Summer author
Holly Dunn, country singer
Herman Echevarria Sr., The Real Housewives of Miami personality
Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose author
Ronnie Claire Edwards, The Waltons actress
Bob Elliott, Bob and Ray comic
Keith Emerson, founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Jon English, British-Australian singer
Joe Esposito, Elvis Presley confidant & publisher
Valerie Fairman, 16 and Pregnant personality
Harry Falk, TV director & ex-husband of Patty Duke
Ronald Falk, voice artist from Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones
Thaddeus Wilk Farrow, son of Mia and brother of Ronan Farrow
Joey Feek, Evangelical country singer
Abel Fernandez, The Untouchables actor
Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins pitcher
Fyvush Finkel, Picket Fences actor
Frank Finlay, Othello actor
(GIF via Lucasfilm)
Carrie Fisher, Star Wars icon, comic writer/memoirist, mental health advocate, daughter of Debbie Reynolds & Eddie Fisher
Joe Fleishaker, Troma movie actor
Dario Fo, Nobel Prize-winning writer
James R. Fonseca, guitarist
Rob Ford, combative, crack-smoking Toronto mayor
(Image via Warner Bros.)
Tommy Ford, Martin actor
Margaret Forster, Georgy Girl author
Pete Fountain, jazz clarinetist
(Image via CBS)
Bernard Fox, “Dr. Bombay” on Bewitched
Janet Frager, mother of Tom Hanks
Don Francks, actor & musician
(Video still via WGRamsey.com)
Glenn Frey, The Eagles guitarist, solo star
Greta Zimmer Friedman, female subject of Alfred Eisenstadt's V-J Day kiss photo
Makiko Futaki, Japanese animator
Rad Fulton aka James Westmoreland, '50s & '60s western actor
(Image via Allied Artists Pictures)
Zsa Zsa Gabor, TV & movie actress, larger-than-life personality
(GIF via Giphy.com)
Juan Gabriel, Mexican superstar singer
James Galanos, designer
Michael Galeota, The Jersey actor
Rita Gam, '50s glamourpuss
Joe Garagiola, baseball player & sportscaster
Trinity Gay, teenage daughter of Olympian Tyson Gay
Lisa Gaye, Rock Around the Clock actress & sister of Debra Paget
(Image via NBC)
George Gaynes, Punky Brewster actor
Daniel Gerson, Monsters, Inc. screenwriter
David Gest, producer/promoter & ex-husband of Liza Minnelli
Barbara Gibb, mother of The Bee Gees & Andy Gibb
Sandra Giles, '50s blond bombshell
David Gilkey, NPR journalist
A.A. Gill, British writer & critic
Gary Glasberg, NCIS showrunner
(Image via ABC)
Ron Glass, Barney Miller actor
Seamon Glass, character actor
Michael Gleason, writer & producer, co-creator of Remington Steele
John Glenn, NASA hero & former Democratic senator
Gogi Grant, '50s singer
Jerry Greer, country singer Craig Morgan's son
Julie Gregg, The Godfather actress
Tammy Grimes, Tony-winning actress
Christina Grimmie, The Voice pop singer
Reg Grundy, creator of iconic Australian show Neighbours
(Images via CBS)
Ann Morgan Guilbert, The Dick Van Dyke Show & The Nanny actress
Gene Gutowski, Roman Polanski producer
(Image via Rolling Stone)
Merle Haggard, country music legend
(Image via NBC)
Dan Haggerty, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams star
Gita Hall, Swedish bombshell
Guy Hamilton, James Bond director
Earl Hammer Jr., creator of The Waltons
Curtis Hanson, L.A. Confidential director
Robin Hardy, The Wicker Man director
(Image via CBS)
Pat Harrington Jr., One Day at a Time actor
Ricky Harris, comedian, Everybody Hates Chris
Jim Harrison, Legends of the Fall author
Cecilia Hart, actress & wife of James Earl Jones
Tom Hayden, anti-war activist & Jane Fonda's ex
Bridget Hedison, wife of David Hedison & mother-in-law of Jodie Foster
Henry Heimlich, inventor of the Heimlich Maneuver
(Image via PolyGram)
Bill Henderson, Clue actor & jazz singer
(GIF via CBS)
Florence Henderson, stage actress, singer & mom on The Brady Bunch
Drewe Henley, British movie & stage actor
Michael Herr, Full Metal Jacket screenwriter
Gil Hill, Beverly Hills Cop actor
(Image via NBC)
Steven Hill, Mission: Impossible & Law & Order actor
Arthur Hiller, Love Story director
Gwen Hiller, Arthur Hiller's wife
Bob Hoover, pilot
Robert Horton, Wagon Train actor
James Hostetter, Murphy Brown actor
James Houghton, NYC theater champion, Signature Theatre founder
(Image via CBS)
Ken Howard, The White Shadow actor & SAG-AFTRA president
Gordie Howe, hockey legend
David Huddleston, The Big Lebowski & Blazing Saddles actor
Gordon Hunt, acting coach & father of Helen Hunt
Gwen Ifill, veteran PBS journalist
George S. Irving, Tony winner & voice of the “Heat Miser”
Anne Jackson, acclaimed stage & screen actress, wife of Eli Wallach
Sonny James, country singer
Jayaram Jayalalithaa, actress & Indian politician
Fran Jeffries, The Pink Panther actress
Barry Jenner, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor
Sharon Jones, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings singer
Rocky Kalish, '60s & '70s sitcom scribe
Paul Kantner, founding member of Jefferson Airplane
Marvin Kaplan, Alice actor
Buck Kartalian, Planet of the Apes actor
RIP Dan Kay of Survivor Gabon pic.twitter.com/uN51cLiWfV
— FairplaysGrandma (@fairplaysgramma) January 4, 2017
Dan Kay, Survivor contestant
Frank Kelly, Irish actor
Tommy Kelly, '30s child actor with a bit part in Gone with the Wind
(Image via Warner Bros.)
George Kennedy, Oscar-winning Cool Hand Luke actor
Mohamed Khan, Egyptian filmmaker
Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian filmmaker
W.P. Kinsella, author of Shoeless Joe (on which Field of Dreams was based)
George Kosana Night of the Living Dead actor and investor
Jonathan D. Krane, Look Who's Talking producer & husband of Sally Kellerman
(Image via MGM)
Burt Kwouk, The Pink Panther actor
Julius La Rosa, '50s singer fired on live TV by Arthur Godfrey
Tim LaHaye, Left Behind co-writer
Greg Lake, Emerson, Lake & Palmer member
Dick Latessa, Tony winner for Hairspray
(Image via Warner Bros.)
Madeleine Lebeau, last surviving member of Casablanca cast
(Image via Lippincott)
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird author
Ron Lester, Varsity Blues actor
Daisy Lewellyn, Blood, Sweat & Heels personality
Herschell Gordon Lewis, the “Godfather of Gore” movies
Sagan Lewis, St. Elsewhere actress
Richard Libertini, character actor
China Machado, model
Lonnie Mack, singer
Larkin Malloy, soap opera actor
Stanley Mann, screenwriter
John B. Mansbridge, art director
David Margulies, Ghostbusters & The Sopranos actor
Micki Marlo, '50s nightclub singer
Bill Marshall, Toronto International Film Festival founder, Outrageous! producer
Don Marshall, Land of the Giants actor
(Image via Paramount)
Garry Marshall, TV vet, creator of Happy Days, director of Pretty Woman & The Princess Bride
Tony Martell, T.J. Martell Foundation founder
George Martin, producer of the Beatles
Jeanne Martin, model & ex of Dean Martin, mother of Ricci Martin
Ricci Martin, singer & son of Dean Martin
Leslie H. Martinson, '60s TV director
Joseph Mascolo, Days of Our Lives villain
Michael Massee, The Crow actor
Lisa Lynn Masters, TV actress
(GIF via BBC)
Denise Matthews aka Vanity, Vanity 6 singer & Prince protégée
Nicole Maurey, The Day of the Triffids actress
Maylia, '40s actress
Henry McCullough, Wings guitarist
Kim McGuire, “Hatchet-Face” from Cry-Baby
Joe McKnight, NFL player
John McLaughlin, The McLaughlin Group host
John McMartin, Broadway & film actor
Michelle McNamara, true crime writer & wife of Patton Oswalt
Kevin Meaney, stand-up comic
Gary Menteer, Music Man actor & Family Matters creative
Nick Menza, Megadeth drummer
(Image via Sony)
George Michael, pop icon & former Wham! singer
Micole Mercurio, While You Were Sleeping actress
Mihaly Meszaros aka Michu, actor who played “ALF”
Kathlee Miller, Hal Ashby player
Kristine Miller, '40s starlet
Mike Minor, Petticoat Junction actor
Dave Mirra, BMX rider
Edgar Mitchell, astronaut
Scotty Moore, early rock-and-roll guitarist
Michèle Morgan, French acting legend
Johnny Murphy, The Commitments actor
E.M. Nathanson, The Dirty Dozen author
Emilio Navaira, Tejano singer
James M. Nederlander, Broadway producing legend
William Needles, oldest working stage actor in Canada
Noel Neill, Adventures of Superman actress
Jan Nemec, Czech director
Stuart Nisbet, prolific character actor
Agnes Nixon, creator or co-creator of All My Children, One Life to Live & As the World Turns
Marni Nixon, dubbed the singing voices of Natalie Wood, Audrey Hepburn, Deborah Kerr & more
James Noble, Benson actor
Burt Nodella, Get Smart producer
Nicolas Noxon, Secrets of the Titanic documentarian
Bill Nunn, Do the Right Thing actor
(Image via ABC)
Hugh O'Brian, philanthropist & The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp actor
Kevin O'Morrison, Orson Welles player & Sleepless in Seattle actor
George Ortiz, makeup artist
Arnold Palmer, golf legend
Papa Wemba, King of Rumba Rock
Rick Parfitt, Status Quo guitarist
Angela Paton, Groundhog Day actress
Janet Patterson, Oscar-nominated costume designer
Billy Paul, singer
Julie Payne, Emmy-winning producer
Shimon Peres, former president of Israel
Robert Mason Pollock, Dynasty & The Colbys screenwriter
Kathryn Trosper Popper, last surviving Citizen Kane cast member
(Image via Warner Bros.)
Prince, pop/R&B icon
Willis Pyle, famed Disney animator
Jean Rabier, French cinematographer
Angela Raiola aka Big Ang, reality TV star
Dan Ranvaud, producer & academic
(Image via NBC)
Nancy Reagan, actress & former first lady
Lee Reherman, American Gladiators personality
Konrad Reuland, NFL tight end
(GIF via MGM)
Debbie Reynolds, Singin' in the Rain star, mother of Carrie Fisher, Hollywood memorabilia collector
Bill Richmond, Jerry Lewis's screenwriting partner
(Image via Warner Bros.)
Alan Rickman, accomplished stage & screen actor, Harry Potter regular
Dylan Rieder, pro skateboarder & model
Jack Riley, The Bob Newhart Show actor
Jacques Rivette, French filmmaker
Brian Rix, comic actor
(GIF via TVLand)
Doris Roberts, longtime character actress & Everybody Loves Raymond star
Matt Roberts, 3 Doors Down guitarist
Denise Robertson, British broadcaster
Teddy Rooney, '50s child actor, son of Mickey Rooney & Martha Vickers
Freda Rosen, '50s actress noted for a classic episode of The Honeymooners
Vera Rubin, astronomer
Leon Russell, rock-and-roller
Sonia Rykiel, designer
Andrew Sachs, Fawlty Towers actor
Morley Safer, longtime 60 Minutes correspondent
Craig Sager, veteran sports broadcaster
Beau St. Clair, Pierce Brosnan's producing partner
Theresa Saldana, Raging Bull actress & stalking victim
Josh Samman, UFC fighter
Joe Santos, The Rockford Files actor
John Saunders, ESPN commentator
Antonin Scalia, right-wing SCOTUS justice
(Image via CBS)
William Schallert, The Patty Duke Show actor & prolific TV guest star
Phyllis Schlafly, arch-conservative, anti-feminist activist
Earl Schuman, memorable on a classic Seinfeld episode
Ettore Scola, Italian director
Angus Scrimm, Phantasm actor
Peter Shaffer, Amadeus & Equus playwright
Afeni Shakur, activist, mother of Tupac
(GIF via Showtime)
Garry Shandling, The Larry Sanders Show star & comedy legend
Shawty Lo, rapper
Hazel Shermet, voice of “Henrietta Hippo”
Madeleine Sherwood, Tennessee Williams player
Fletcher Sloan Sillix, set designer
Sheila Sim, actress & widwo of Richard Attenborough
Jim Simpson, sportscaster
Frank Sinatra Jr., singer & son of Ol' Blue Eyes
Douglas Slocombe, Raiders of the Lost Ark & The Great Gatsby cinematographer
Jeffrey Slonim, red-carpet entertainment reporter
Brett Smiley, glam-rocker
Liz Smith, British actress
Willard Smith Sr., Will Smith's father
David Smyrl, Sesame Street actor
Franca Sozani, Vogue Italia EIC
Bud Spencer, spaghetti western actor
James Stacy, Lancer actor
Ralph Stanley, bluegrass musician
Len Steckler, Free to Be ... You and Me & Joe Namath pantyhose ad director
Larry Steinbachek, Bronski Beat keyboardist
Robert Stigwood, Grease producer
Cindy Stowell, terminal cancer patient who won big on Jeopardy
Craig Strickland, singer
Pat Summitt, NCAA coach
Peter Sumner, original Star Wars actor
Paul Sylbert, Oscar-winning production designer
Cynthia Szigeti, improv teacher & actress
Gordie Tapp, Hee Haw actor
Barbara Tarbuck, General Hospital actress
Rod Temperton, songwriter behind “Rock with You” & “Thriller”
Ruth Terry, western actress of the '40s
(Image via ABC)
Alan Thicke, Growing Pains dad & father of Robin Thicke
Toots Thielemans, jazz harmonica player
Grant Tinker, TV executive & ex of Mary Tyler Moore
Edith Tolkin, pioneering female studio exec
Adrianne Tolsch, female stand-up comic
Terry Tomalin, journalist, Susan Sarandon's brother
Bruce Toms, reality TV producer
(GIF via Universal)
Lupita Tovar, silent actress, Spanish-language Dracula star, mother of Susan Kohner, grandmother of the Weitz brothers
Richard Trentlage, Oscar Mayer wiener jingle writer
Barbara Turner, Georgia screenwriter & mother of Jennifer Jason Leigh
Ret Turner, wardrobe & costume designer who dressed Cher in her Bob Mackie Oscars outfit
Peter Vaughan, veteran actor & Game of Thrones star
(Image via NBC)
Robert Vaughn, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. actor
Bobby Vee, singer
Alan Vega, musician
James Victor, John Cassavetes protégé & Zorro actor
(Image via ABC)
Abe Vigoda, The Godfather & Barney Miller actor, frequent subject of premature death rumors
Janet Waldo, prolific voice talent, voice of “Judy Jetson”
Andrzej Wajda, Oscar-winning director
Darrell Ward, Ice Roads Truckers personality
Tony Warren, creator of Coronation Street
Fritz Weaver, Tony-winning stage actor
Miriam Weinstein, studio heads Bob & Harvey's mom
Kit West, effects artist who won the Oscar for that Raiders of the Lost Ark runaway boulder
Maurice White, Earth, Wind & Fire member
Michael White, The Rocky Horrow Picture Show producer
Margaret Whitton, Major League actress
Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, author of Night, Nobel Laureate
Lyne Wilde, of the '40s singing duo the Wilde Twins
(Image via Paramount Pictures)
Gene Wilder, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Young Frankenstein star
Douglas Wilmer, “Sherlock Holmes” actor
Allan Williams, first manager of the Beatles
(Image via ABC)
Van Williams, Surfside 6 & Green Hornet star
Nicholas Wiltgen, Weather Channel meteorologist
Terry Wogan, British TV host
Tyrus Wong, artist whose work inspired Bambi
Victoria Wood, British comic
(Image via CBS)
Keo Woolford, Hawaii Five-O actor
Bernie Worrell, Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist
Martha Wright, Broadway musical stand-in
Brock Yates, '80s screenwriter
(Image via Paramount)
Anton Yelchin, Star Trek films actor
(Image via CBS)
Alan Young, Mister Ed actor
John Zacherle, horror-movie TV host & Chiller Theatre mascot
Vladimir Zeldin, world's oldest working theater actor
Vilmos Zsigmond, Close Encounters of the Third Kind cinematographer
Andrzej Zulawski, Polish director
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