Those We Lost In 2016—Part 2 of 2

John Glenn

Welcome back to part 2 of this 2-part blog.  Last week I showed a cross section of those who died January through July.  Here in part 2, I'm covering August through December.

David Huddleston, 85 years old, died August 2:  character actor probably best known for his roles in The Big Lebowski and Santa Claus: The Movie.

Pete Fountain, 86 years old, died August 6:  world renowned clarinetist famous for his New Orleans Dixieland jazz.

Kenny Baker, 81 years old, died August 13:  played the lovable R2-D2 in the Star Wars films, achieving cult status without showing his face or speaking any lines.

John McLaughlin, 89 years old, died August 16:  conservative commentator and head of the long running television about Washington politics.

Steven Hill, 94 years old, died August 23:  character actor who achieved his greatest success late in life as District Attorney Adam Schiff on the long running television series Law & Order. I remember him from the very first season of the Mission Impossible television series then Peter Graves took over as head of the Impossible Mission's Force at the start of season 2 for the rest of the series run.

Gene Wilder, 83 years old, died August 28:  the actor who brought his deft comedic touch to such marvelous zany films as Mel Brooks' The Producers and also Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein as well as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He was married to Gilda Radnor of Saturday Night Live until her death from cancer.

Jon Polito, 65 years old, died September 1:  his 200+ credits range from television series Homicide: Life on the Street and Modern Family to films Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski.

Phyllis Schlaffly, 92 years old, died September 5:  outspoken conservative activist who worked to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.

Lady Chablis, 59 years old, died September 8:  transgender performer who became an unlikely celebrity after being included in the 1994 best-seller Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil.

Edward Albee, 88 years old, died September 16:  three time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright who gave us such masterworks as Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? and A Delicate Balance.

W.P. Kinsella, 81 years old, died September 16:  Canadian novelist who gave us Field Of Dreams.

Arnold Palmer, 87 years old, died September 25:  the golfing great who brought what had basically been a country club sport to the masses.

Shimon Peres, 93 years old, died September 28:  former Israeli president and prime minister celebrated around the world as a Nobel prize-winning visionary.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 88 years old, died October 13:  the world's longest reigning monarch who was revered in Thailand as an anchor of stability through decades of upheaval at home and abroad. When I read 'longest reigning monarch' my first thought was that honor belonged to Elizabeth II of England. So, I had to look it up…the king reigned for 70 years, 126 days. Elizabeth has been on the throne since February 6, 1952 which is 65 years next month.

Janet Reno, 78 years old, died November 7:  the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney General.

Robert Vaughn, 83 years old, died November 11:  Oscar nominated actor with many film roles but was most famous for the television series The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Leon Russell, 74 years old, died November 13:  singer-songwriter who found his own rock'n'roll spotlight in the 1970s after playing anonymously on dozens of pop hits as an in-demand studio pianist.

Florence Henderson, 82 years old, died November 24:  Broadway star who was most famous for The Brady Bunch television series.

Fidel Castro, 90 years old, died November 25:  revolutionary who was Cuba's dictator for 5 decades.

Ron Glass, 71 years old, died November 25:  Emmy nominated for his portrayal of Detective Ron Harris, another of the Barney Miller cast who died in 2016. He also appeared in the sci-fi cult series Firefly as preacher Derrial Brook.

Grant Tinker, 90 years old, died November 28:  former NBC television network chairman who brought such shows as Hill Street Blues to the network. Also co-founded MTM Enterprises with then wife Mary Tyler Moore.

John Glenn, 95 years old, died December 8:  first American to orbit the earth in 1962 followed by a long career as the U.S. Senator from Ohio. Returned to space in 1998 for a 7 day mission, making him the oldest man to go into space.

E.R. Braithwaite, 104 years old, died December 12:  Guyanese author, educator and diplomat whose years teaching in the slums of London's East End inspired the best seller To Sir, With Love, later made into a movie.

Alan Thicke, 69 years old, died December 13:  actor best known for playing the dad on the television series Growing Pains.

Zsa Zsa Gabor, 99 years old, died December 18:  Hungarian born beauty queen, married 9 times, sister of Eva Gabor. Served 3 days in jail for slapping a Beverly Hills policeman.

George Michael, 53 years old, died December 25:  pop singer whose career started with Wham! in the 1980s before he went out on his own for a solo career.

Carrie Fisher, 60 years old, died December 27: daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, most famous as Princess Leia from the Star Wars movies.

Debbie Reynolds, 84 years old, died December 28:  to everyone's shock, she died the day after her daughter, Carrie Fisher's, surprise death. Came to fame starring with Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor in Singing In The Rain.

William Christopher, 84 years old, died December 31:  best known for his role as Father Mulcahy in the long running M*A*S*H* television series.

There were many more that we lost in 2016.  They will all be missed.

Those We Lost In 2016—Part 1 of 2

Elie Wiesel

The world lost many notable people from the entertainment industry, politics, news/media, literature, and sports during the last year. I've compiled a cross section (most certainly not all of them) listed chronologically. I've divided it into two lists with part 1 (January through July) this week and part 2 (August through December) for next week's blog posting on January 22.

Pat Harrington, Jr., 86 years old, died January 6:  actor and comedian who first garnered attention as one of Steve Allen's television comedy troop (along with Don Knotts, Tom Poston, Louie Nye, and Bill Dana). He later starred as the apartment superintendent on the hit television series One Day At A Time.

David Bowie, 69 years old, died January 10:  musician who crossed pop and rock boundaries with a career that spanned 6 decades along with his persona of Ziggy Stardust.

Alan Richman, 69 years old, died January 14:  classically trained British stage actor, remembered for his Harry Potter villain, Die Hard, and many other films.

Abe Vigoda, 94 years old, died January 26:  character actor whose sad-eyed face made him the perfect selection for the over-the-hill detective on the Barney Miller television series and the doomed Mafia soldier in The Godfather.

Antonin Scalia, 79 years old, died February 13:  influential conservative and member of the U.S. Supreme Court. As of this date, his position on the Supreme Court has not been filled and the 9 person Court has been operating 1 person short for almost a year.

Harper Lee, 89 years old, died February 19:  novelist who wrote the best selling novel To Kill A Mockingbird about racial injustice in a small southern town. Her novel was turned into an Oscar winning film starring Gregory Peck.

George Kennedy, 91 years old, died February 28:  tough guy actor who won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in the classic Paul Newman film, Cool Hand Luke.

Pat Conroy, 70 years old, died March 4:  author of The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides, and other best selling novels many of which drew on his difficult childhood.

Nancy Reagan, 94 years old, died March 6:  an actress who became Ronald Reagan's second wife and ultimately First Lady when he became President of the United States.

Frank Sinatra, Jr., 72 years old, died March 16:  followed in his father's footsteps with his own music career. His kidnapping as a young man added a bizarre chapter to his father's legendary life.

Rob Ford, 46 years old, died March 22:  former mayor of Toronto (Canada) whose political career crashed in a drug-driven, obscenity-laced scandal.

Jim Harrison, 78 years old, died March 26:  fiction writer and poet who had mainstream success in middle age with his historical work Legends of the Fall.

Patty Duke, 69 years old, died March 29:  won an Oscar as a teenager for her portrayal of Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker and maintained a long and successful career in both films and television.

Merle Haggard, 79 years old, died April 6:  country music giant who came from poverty, did time in prison, and went on to international fame with songs about outlaws, underdogs, and an abiding sense of national pride.

Doris Roberts, 90 years old, died April 17:  character actress probably best known for her role as the endlessly meddling mother on Everybody Loves Raymond. Those of us who are 'older' remember her as the secretary on the Remington Steele series.

Prince, 57 years old, died April 21:  inventive and influential musician with hits such as When Doves Cry.

Michelle McNamara, 57 years old, died April 21:  crime writer and founder of the True Crime Diary website.

Jane Little, 87 years old, died May 15:  less than 5 ft. tall, played the double bass for 71 consecutive years which earned her the Guinness World Record as the world's longest serving symphony player.

Morley Safer, 84 years old, died May 19:  newsman and veteran 60 Minutes correspondent who exposed a military atrocity in Vietnam that played an early role in changing the American public's view of the war.

Alan Young, 96 years old, died May 19:  actor-comedian who played straight man to a talking horse in the television series Mr. Ed. Did that theme song suddenly pop into your head? "A horse is a horse, of course of course, unless that horse…"

Muhammad Ali, 74 years old, died June 3:  champion boxer and civil rights crusader whose beliefs cost him his championship, a 3 year suspension and in 1967 resulted in him being sentenced to 5 years in prison yet he never waivered from those beliefs and returned to boxing when his suspension ended.

Anton Yelchin, 27 years old, died June 19:  rising young actor best known for his role of Chekov in the new Star Trek films.

Ralph Stanley, 89 years old, died June 23:  known as the godfather of traditional bluegrass music, he found a whole new generation of fans thanks to his Grammy-winning music for the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Alvin Toffler, 87 years old, died June 27:  a guru of the post-industrial age whose book, Future Shock, anticipated the disruptions and transformations brought about by the rise of digital technology.

Pat Summitt, 64 years old, died June 28:  winningest coach in Division I college basketball history who, during her 38 year career at Tennessee, lifted the women's game from obscurity to national prominence.

Elie Wiesel, 87 years old, died July 2:  Romanian-born Holocaust survivor whose classic book, Night, became a landmark testament to the Nazis' crimes and launched his career as one of the world's foremost witnesses and humanitarians.

Michael Cimino, 77 years old, died July 2:  Oscar winning director of The Deer Hunter, a great triumph in Hollywood's 1970s heyday, and also the director of the disastrous Heaven's Gate.

Noel Neill, 95 years old, died July 3:  first actress to play Superman's girlfriend, Lois Lane, in the 1948 movie serial Superman.

Garry Marshall, 81 years old, died July 19:  writer and producer responsible for many highly successful television series such as Happy Days and its 2 spin-off series, Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy, as well as producing Neil Simon's The Odd Couple as a television series. He also directed 18 movies including Pretty Woman, Beaches, and The Princess Diaries.

Check back next week for part 2 of my blog showing a cross section of those we lost in 2016.