Notable deaths in 2011
Jazz legend Sam Rivers died Dec. 26, 2011 from pneumonia. Rivers was 88 years old. (David Zentz/Chicago Tribune)
North Korean leader
Former Czech President Vaclav Havel, a dissident playwright jailed by Communists who then became Czech president and a symbol of peace and freedom after leading the bloodless “Velvet Revolution,” died at 75. (Petr Josek Snr/Reuters)
Literary critic and writer Christopher Hitchens (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
TV on the Radio bassist Gerard Smith died on April 20 of lung cancer, the band announced on its Web site. He was 34. (Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images)
Comedian Patrice O’Neal passed away on Nov. 28, 2011 at the age of 41. He struggled with diabetes and suffered a stroke in Oct. 2011. O’Neal was known for several appearances on “The Office” and “Chapelle’s Show,” as well as an appearance on “Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen.” (Christopher Polk/Getty Images)
The only daughter of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, Svetlana Peters, who denounced communism but later said she regretted coming to the United States, has died in Wisconsin. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Long time New York Times journalist died at the age of 85. (Bloomberg/Getty Images)
British playwright Shelagh Delaney, best known for her debut work “A Taste of Honey” from 1958, has died aged 71, her agent said on Nov. 21, 2011. Her words were a major influence on Morrissey, lead singer of indie band The Smiths, who also grew up in Manchester. He used lyrics from her plays, notably A Taste of Honey, and featured her in the artwork for the “Louder Than Bombs” album. (Evening Standard/Getty Images)
Former heavyweight World boxing champion Joe Frazier died in Philadelphia a month after being diagnosed with liver cancer. He died at the age of 67 years old on Monday, Nov. 7. (Will Burgess/ Reuters)
Matty Alou won the
Notable sports deaths of 2011 (Diamond Images / Getty Images)
A legendary producer, director and impresario of the Geffen Playhouse,
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press)
Andy Rooney (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
Dorothy Rodham, Hilary Clinton’s mother, died this morning at age 92. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
Civil rights activist Shuttlesworth died at age 89. (Tami Chappell / Reuters)
Steve Jobs shows off the new Macbook Air ultra portable laptop during his keynote speech at the MacWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco. (TONY AVELAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Nobel prize for medicine winner Ralph Steinman. (Ho New/Reuters)
Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmentalist Wangari Maathai died in hospital where she was undergoing treatment for cancer; she was the founder of Green Belt Movement, a civil and women rights activist and also served as a Member of Parliament. (Scanpix Denmark / Reuters)
Kennedy speaks during her father’s funeral service in Boston in 2009. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
Actor Andy Whitfield, the former star of TV show “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” died on Sept. 11 of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Sydney, Australia at 39 years old. (Michael Caulfield/WireImage)
Grammy-winning Delta bluesman David “Honeyboy” Edwards died today at age 96. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)
June Wayne founded the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles in the 1960s, where leading artists collaborated with professional printers to create high-quality prints. She was also a prolific artist in her own right. She was 93. Full obituary
Notable deaths of 2010 (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
Jani Lane, former lead singer of the 1980s glam-band Warrant, was found dead in a hotel room in
Grand Ole Opry star Billy Grammer, best known for his 1959 hit “Gotta Travel On”, died at age 85. (Redferns/Getty Images)
Marshall Grant, who worked as
Notable deaths of 2010 (Wayne Risher / Associated Press)
Bernadine Healy, a cardiologist and educator, was the first woman to head the
Notable deaths of 2010 (Rick Bowmer / Associated Press)
Former
Actress Annette Charles, best known for playing Cha Cha DiGrigorio in the 1978 movie ‘Grease’, died at age of 63 from cancer. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
The Oscar-nominated art director was best known for her work on “The Last Picture Show” and “Paper Moon,” both directed by former husband
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)
He became the first foreign-born chairman of the
Notable deaths of 2010 (Rick Bowmer / Associated Press)
British singer
The British painter, whose works are highly prized by collectors, created subjects in anguished, anti-erotic poses. He used impasto, a technique involving the thick application of paint, to create his highly textured portraits. He was 88. Full obituary
Notable deaths of 2010 (Stephan Agostini / AFP/Getty Images)
Lillian Mobley, a tireless South Los Angeles activist, fought to establish the King/Drew hospital and its related medical school. Above, Mobley, right, looks on as Dr. George Locke greets Rep.
Notable deaths of 2010 (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
American painter and knight in
Famed British stage actress Anna Massey died July 2 of cancer at the age of 73. (David Montgomery/Getty Images)
Longtime
Former UNLV star, and
‘Jackass’ star Ryan Dunn died June 20, 2011, following a fiery car crash. He was 34. (Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
Former
Former
Stern, pictured with Marilyn Gleason and Jane Kean, was a television writer, director and producer for such programs as
Boxer Genero Hernandez (R) died June 7, 2011, from a rare form of cancer. The two-time world super featherweight champion retired in 1999 with a 38-2-1 record, 17 of those wins coming by knockout. Hernandez was 45. (Al Bello/ALLSPORT)
World Series hero Jose Pagan died June 7, 2011. A two-run double in Game Seven of the 1971 series led his
Pratt was a former Black Panther whose 1972 murder conviction was overturned after he spent 27 years behind bars for a crime he said he did not commit. He was 63. Full obituary
Notable deaths of 2010 (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
“Cosby Show” and
Pro football hall of famer
Actress Yvette Vickers was found dead in her Southern California home April 27, 2011. The coroner for the case says she may have been dead for up to a year. Known for her roles in “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” and “Attack of the Giant Leeches,” she lived in seclusion for the last several years. Vickers was 82. (Bobby Bank/WireImage)
Poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron died May 27, 2011, reportedly after becoming following a trip to Europe. Known for spoken-word poetry on such songs as “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” the Chicago-native put out a new album in 2010 following a 13 year hiatus. Scott-Heron was 62. (Samir Hussein/Getty Images)
Margo Dydek, a 7-foot-2-inch Polish-born former NBA player, died May 27, eight days after suffering a
Hall of Fame pitcher Paul Splittorff died May 26, 2011. He was being treated for oral
Former professional wrestler ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage died after losing control of his car due to a
Minnesota Twins great
Rapper M-Bone, real name Montae Talbert, was killed in a drive-by shooting on May 15. He was 22. M-Bone was a member of the The Cali Swag District, which is most well known for the hit song “Teach Me How to Dougie” (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Former
Former NBA player Robert “Tractor” Traylor was found dead of an apparent
Dolores Fuller, the onetime actress-girlfriend of schlock movie director Ed Wood, who co-starred with Wood in his low-budget 1950s cult classic “Glen or Glenda,” died on May 9. She was 88. (Archive Photos/Getty Images)
Musician John Walker (born John Maus) of the power-pop trio The Walker Brothers, died on May 7. He was 67. (Keystone/Getty Images)
Actress
Jackie Cooper, who came to prominence as a child star in the 1930s and went on to develop a long career as a director and character actor, died on May 3 in Beverly Hills. He was 88. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
He was considered a living god by millions of Hindus. After declaring himself the reincarnation of a Hindu saint in 1940, he built a loyal following, including politicians and celebrities, despite allegations of sexual abuse. He leaves a trust worth billions of dollars. He was 84. Full obituary
Notable deaths of 2010 (Mustafa Quraishi / Associated Press)
The architect incorporated aerodynamic designs into his whimsical midcentury “Googie” coffee shops, including the original Norms on La Cienega Boulevard in L.A. and Pann’s in Westchester, to attract passing motorists. He was 94. Full obituary | Photos: “Googie” architecture
Notable deaths of 2010 (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Grammy award and Broadway musical producer John Cossette died April 26 at the age of 54. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images for City of Hope)
Singer/songwriter Phoebe Snow died April 26 at the age of 60. During her career in the mid-70’s she graced the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and was nominated for a Grammy. She stepped back from the spotlight when her daughter, Valerie Rose Laub, was born in 1975. (Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images)
The developer of the Kendall-Jackson wine brand was a
Notable deaths of 2010 (Karen Tapia-Andersen / Los Angeles Times)
Gerard Smith (far right), bassist and keyboardist for TV on the Radio died of lung cancer on April 20. He was 36. (G. Gershoff/WireImage)
Sol Saks, a comedy writer who created the classic sitcom “Bewitched,” died in Los Angeles on April 16. He was 100. (Peter Kramer/Getty Images)
Michael Sarrazin, a tall, dark-eyed Canadian actor who starred opposite Jane Fonda in Sydney Pollack’s 1969 film “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”, died of cancer on April 17 at a Montreal hospital. He was 70. (Ron Galella/WireImage)
Dot Records founder
Dot Records founder Randy Wood, whose practice of having white singers such as Pat Boone cover rhythm and blues hits by black artists is credited with helping black musicians -- and early rock music -- break into the commercial mainstream, died on April 9. He was 94. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Farley Granger, who is best known for his work in the 1950s
Lanford Wilson, the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright of “The Hot L Baltimore,” “Burn This” and “Fifth of July” died on March 24 at his home in Sag Harbor, N.Y. He was 73. (Brian Ach/WireImage)
Filmmaker and documentarian Richard Leacock (center) died March 23 in Paris. Leacock was one of the first filmmakers to embrace the “cinema verite” genre. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
American Film Institute “Female Legend” and three-time Academy Award-winning actress
Loleatta Holloway, the disco singer best known for her 1980 hit ‘Love Sensation,’ died on March 21. She was 64. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Blues great Pinetop Perkins, who in 2011 became the oldest person to win a Grammy, died on March 21 in Austin, Texas. He was 97. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
British musician Jet Harris, who enjoyed a string of hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s with Cliff Richard’s band The Shadows, has died March 18 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 71. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Richard B. Wirthlin addresses a presidential primary task force in Utah in 1998. He was respected by colleagues in both major parties. (Allen Weed / Associated Press)
Rapper Nate Dogg (Nathaniel Dwayne Hale) died at the age of 41 of unknown causes. He’s best known for his 1990s rap hit “Regulate” and working with rappers like
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “The Trolley Song” composer Hugh Martin Jr. died of natural causes on March 11. He was 96. Martin was a successful songwriter and composer for Broadway and film in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s. (Jesse Grant/WireImage)
Comedian Mike DeStefano died of a
Director Gary Winick (pictured here with actress Amanda Seyfried) died Feb. 27 after a battle with brain cancer. He was 49. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Leading home run hitter and Hall of Fame baseball player
“
Hall of Fame football star
Former NFL defensive back Dave Duerson died Feb. 17 from a self-inflicted gun shot. The four-time Pro Bowl safety won Super Bowls with the 1985-1986 Chicago Bears and the 1990-1991 New York Giants. Duerson was 50. Duerson is shown in the photo in 2005. (Charles Cherney/Chicago Tribune) (Charles Cherney/Chicago Tribune))
Actor Kenneth Mars, here with Zero Mostel and
Blind jazz piano legend Sir George Shearing, best known for the 1952 classic “Lullaby of Birdland,” died in New York on Feb. 14 of congestive heart failure. He was 91. (Metronome/Getty Images)
Actress Maria Schneider, who starred opposite
Award-winning composer
Charlie Callas, a rubber-faced stand-up comedian and Mel Brooks regular who worked on television, in films and on stage for five decades, died Jan. 27 in a Las Vegas hospice. He was 86. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
Bernd Eichinger, who produced films such as “Downfall, the “Resident Evil” series and “The Neverending Story,” died of a heart attack on Jan. 24. He was 61. (AXEL SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)
Sargent Shriver, a lawyer who worked for JFK’s and Lyndon Johnson’s administrations, who launched social programs including the