Former astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, says his prediction of when humans would reach Mars “was a little off.” Cernan died on Jan. 16 at age 82.
Actor Miguel Ferrer, who brought stern authority to his featured role on CBS’ hit drama “NCIS: Los Angeles” and, before that, to “Crossing Jordan,” died Jan. 19 of cancer at his Los Angeles home. He was 61.
Actress Mary Tyler Moore is shown as TV news producer Mary Richards in a scene from the "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in August 1970. Moore, whose comic timing and all-American beauty made her a leading TV star and Emmy Award-winning actress before she took on dramatic roles in films, and whose 1970s situation comedy about the life of a professional single woman was considered a cultural and feminist milestone, died in January at age 80.
Butch Trucks at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in February 2012. A drummer, Trucks was one of the founding members of the Southern rock legend The Allman Brothers. He died Jan. 24 at age 69.
Stuart McLean hosted the public radio show "The Vinyl Cafe." McLean, who was Canadian, took yearly trips to Biddeford Pool to plan the upcoming season of the popular show, in which he told folksy stories. He died in February at age 68.
Bill Paxton, the prolific and charismatic actor whose many memorable roles included an astronaut in “Apollo 13” and a treasure hunter in “Titanic,” died in February from complications due to surgery. He was 61. Paxton, shown in 2015, received three Golden Globe nominations for his role as a polygamist in the HBO series “Big Love.” He was famously genial and well-liked in Hollywood.
Neil Fingleton, the tallest man in Britain and a "Game of Thrones" actor, died in February at the age of 36, apparently of heart failure. Fingleton, shown in 2013, played Mag The Mighty in the "Thrones" fantasy series and also took on roles in "X-Men: First Class" and "Jupiter Ascending."
Don Rickles, shown in 2008, was a comedic master whose fast-paced, high-volume mockery was considered shocking in the 1950s. He died in April at age 90. Rickles appeared in films and television series and was the voice of Mr. Potato Head in the popular “Toy Story” series of animated features from 1995 to 2010. His brash style became a major influence on many younger performers.
Frank Deford, in a 1984 photo, is often considered the finest sportswriter of his generation. He died May 28 at age 78. Deford, who joined Sports Illustrated in 1962, was known for his detailed psychological profiles of athletes and coaches. He also won acclaim for his novels, his television and radio commentaries and for a heartfelt book about his daughter’s struggle with cystic fibrosis. His stories helped raise sportswriting from the daily chronicle of victory and defeat to something with more literary ambition.
Roger Ailes, who mastered the art of selling political candidates like Hollywood celebrities and was the architect of conservative-oriented TV news, died in May at 77. Ailes, shown in 2006, was chairman and CEO of the Fox News Channel. He combined news from a conservative perspective with the rabble-rousing of right-wing talk radio to produce a singularly influential media machine. His reign there ended abruptly in 2016 amid allegations by dozens of women that they had been sexually harassed while working at the network.
Chris Cornell, shown performing with Soundgarden in 2010, died unexpectedly in May shortly after playing a show. He was 52. Alongside bands such as Nirvana and Alice in Chains, Soundgarden was one of the seminal bands of the grunge rock movement that began in Seattle and ushered in a new era of rock music. Soundgarden, which Cornell founded in 1984, was particularly important to this movement for being one of the first grunge rock bands to sign with a major label. He also founded Audioslave. Cornell was known for his throaty voice.
Actor Roger Moore, shown on location in England in 1972, died in May at age 89. The English actor portrayed James Bond in seven films. Moore’s relaxed style and sense of whimsy relied heavily on the arched eyebrow, seemingly a commentary on the essential ridiculousness of the Bond films.
Gregg Allman, shown playing the organ at a concert in Macon, Ga., in 1978, died in May at age 69. His bluesy vocals and soulful touch on the Hammond B-3 organ helped propel the Allman Brothers Band to superstardom and spawn Southern rock.
Adam West, who played TV's Batman, died at age 88 on June 9 after a short battle with leukemia. He was best known for playing the DC Comics superhero in the 1960s series and later voiced Quahog Mayor Adam West on "Family Guy."
Erin Moran shot to stardom for her role as Joanie Cunningham on the ‘70s sitcom "Happy Days" with Ron Howard and Henry Winkler. She also starred in the spinoff "Joanie Loves Chachi" with former boyfriend Scott Baio. More recently she was often in the news for her personal and financial struggles. She died April 22 from complications from stage IV cancer.
Anita Pallenberg with Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones in 1968. The model and actress was sometimes called the muse of the Rolling Stones and had affairs with three of the band’s key members, including a 12-year relationship with Richards. Pallenberg died June 13 at a hospital in Chichester, England. She was believed to be 75. Richards confirmed her death to the Associated Press through a spokesperson. The strikingly beautiful Pallenberg had such a magnetic presence – an “evil glamour,” in the words of Stones frontman Mick Jagger’s onetime paramour, Marianne Faithfull – that she was credited with helping mold the group’s lasting image.
Chester Bennington, the frontman for Linkin Park, performs in 2015 during the MMRBQ Music Festival 2015 at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J. Bennington, who sold millions of albums with a unique mix of rock, hip-hop and rap, died in his home near Los Angeles in July. He was 41. His death was being investigated as a suicide. The Grammy Award-winning Linkin Park performed an ever-changing mix of hard rock, hip-hop and rap.
American actor Sam Shepard, who wrote at least 44 plays and was nominated for an Oscar as pilot Chuck Yeager in 1983's "The Right Stuff," died in July at age 73. His plays chronicled the explosive fault lines of family and masculinity in the American West.
American country music artist Glen Campbell performs during the Country Music Association Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2012. He died in August at age 81 after a battle with Alzheimer's disease. His hits included "Rhinestone Cowboy" and his appeal spanned country, pop, television and movies.
Entertainer Jerry Lewis makes his opening remarks at the 25th anniversary of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon fundraiser in Los Angeles in 1990. Lewis, the comedian whose fundraising telethons became as famous as his hit movies, died Aug. 20 at 91.
Comedian and activist Dick Gregory's commentary on racial injustice was biting, but it was funny, and his humor began to win over white audiences in the '60s. He died Aug. 19. Gregory rose from an impoverished childhood in St. Louis to win a college track scholarship and become a celebrated satirist who deftly commented upon racial divisions at the dawn of the civil rights movement.
Jake LaMotta, left, shown fighting Ray Robinson at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1945, died Sept. 20 at age 95. LaMotta was a middleweight champion whose life in and out of the ring was depicted in the film “Raging Bull.” The Bronx Bull, as he was known in his fighting days, compiled an 83-19-4 record with 30 knockouts, in a career that began in 1941 and ended in 1954. LaMotta fought the great Sugar Ray Robinson six times, handing Robinson the first defeat of his career and losing the middleweight title to him in a storied match.
Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, shown in 1977, died Sept. 20 at age 91. The pipe-smoking hedonist revved up the sexual revolution in the 1950s and built a multimedia empire of clubs, mansions, movies and television, symbolized by bow-tied women in bunny costumes.
Singer Tom Petty, shown performing in 2006 in Glendale, Arizona, died in October at age 66. Petty and his longtime band the Heartbreakers had recently completed a 40th anniversary tour. Petty, an old-fashioned rock superstar and everyman, drew upon the Byrds, the Beatles and other bands he worshipped as a boy and produced new classics such as “Free Fallin,’ “Refugee” and “American Girl.”
Music legend Fats Domino, shown in 1956, died Oct. 24. The jovial New Orleans entertainer's bluesy singing and boogie-woogie piano style helped launch rock-and-roll in the 1950s with such rollicking songs as “Blueberry Hill,” “Ain’t That a Shame” and “I’m Walkin’.” He was 89.
The members of AC/DC, Malcolm Young, from left, Brian Johnson, Angus Young, Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams, pose in 2003 at the Apollo Hammersmith in London. Young, the rhythm guitarist and guiding force behind the bawdy hard rock band AC/DC who helped create such head-banging anthems as “Highway to Hell,” “Hells Bells” and “Back in Black,” was reported to have died in November. He was 64 and had suffered from dementia for years.
Boston Red Sox second baseman Bobby Doerr poses in Boston in this 1946 photo. Doerr, a Hall of Fame second baseman who was dubbed the "silent captain" by longtime Red Sox teammate and lifelong friend Ted Williams, died Nov. 13. He was 99. He finished with 2,042 hits, 223 home runs and 1,247 RBIs and he once went 414 games without an error — a record at the time. His six seasons with at least 100 RBIs was not matched by another second baseman for 25 years.
Actress Della Reese, shown in 1991, was an actress and gospel-influenced Grammy-winning singer who in middle age found her greatest fame as Tess, the wise angel in the long-running television drama "Touched by an Angel." She died Nov. 19 at age 86.
Country Star Mel Tillis, who wrote hits for Kenny Rogers, Ricky Skaggs and many others, and overcame a stutter to sing on dozens of his own singles, died Nov. 19. He was 85. Tillis, the father of country singer Pam Tillis, recorded more than 60 albums and had more than 30 top 10 country singles, including “Good Woman Blues,” “Coca Cola Cowboy” and “Southern Rain.”
David Cassidy, seen in April 1972, was a teen idol and a co-star of "The Partridge Family" television show. He died in November of liver failure after being admitted to a Fort Lauderdale area hospital in critical condition. He had revealed earlier this year that he was in the early stages of dementia.
Roy Halladay, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who pitched a perfect game and a playoff no-hitter, died Nov. 7 when his private plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. He was 40.
Singer and actor Jim Nabors, shown in 1967, was best known for his role as Gomer Pyle on "The Andy Griffith Show." He died at his home in Honolulu on Nov. 30. He was 87. Nabors was a shy Alabaman whose down-home comedy made him a TV star as Gomer Pyle and whose surprisingly operatic voice kept him a favorite in Las Vegas and other showplaces.
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