Celebrity deaths 2015

[quantumleap]

As it is my custom to do, I present this year's list of celebrity deaths courtesy the Dead People Server (dpsinfo.com):

[h=2]January[/h] Donna Douglas (actress) -- Dead. Died January 1, 2015. Born September 26, 1933. Eternally typecast as Elly Mae Clampett, later sang gospel music. IMDb Obituary
Edward W. Brooke (lawyer/senator) -- Dead. Died January 3, 2015. Born October 26 1919. First post-Reconstruction black person elected to the Senate, Republican from Massachusetts. IMDb Obituary
Rod Taylor (actor) -- Dead. Died January 7, 2015. Born January 11, 1930. The Time Machine, The Birds. IMDb Obituary
Anita Ekberg (actress) -- Dead. Died January 11, 2015. Born September 29, 1931. La Dolce Vita. IMDb Obituary
Charles Townes (physicist) -- Died January 27, 2015 Born July 28, 1915. An inventor of the laser (with Arthur L. Schawlow), he won the Nobel Prize, and later a Templeton Prize. Obituary
Suzette Haden Elgin (writer, lignuist, poet) -- Dead. Died January 27, 2015. Born November 18, 1936. Wrote science fiction, poetry and the classic non-fiction work The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense IMDb
Colleen McCullough (writer) -- Dead. Died January 29, 2015. Born June 1, 1937. Author of the best-selling novel The Thorn Birds which went on to be a huge miniseries, also wrote Mary and Tim IMDb Obituary
Rod McKuen (poet/songwriter) -- Dead. Pneumonia. Died January 29, 2015. Born April 29, 1933. Nominated for an Oscar for the song "Jean," wrote many books of poetry. IMDb Obituary
Geraldine McEwan (actress) -- Dead. Stroke. Died January 30, 2015. Born May 9, 1932. Miss Marple in the late 2000s, Alice in Henry V. IBDB IMDb Obituary
Lizabeth Scott (actress) -- Dead. Congestive heart failure. Died January 31, 2015. Born September 29, 1922. Star of film noir movies like Dead Reckoning, Pitfall and I Walk Alone. IMDb Obituary
[h=2]February[/h] Anne Moody (writer/activist) -- Dead. Dementia Died February 5, 2015. Born September 15, 1940. Fought for civil rights in the South, wrote The Coming of Age in Mississippi. Obituary
Gary Owens (announcer) -- Dead. Diabetes. Died February 12, 2015. Born May 10, 1936. Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, many commercials and cartoons, inventor of the catchphrase "Beautiful Downtown Burbank." IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
Louis Jourdan (actor) -- Dead. Died February 13, 2015. Born June 19, 1921. Gigi, Octopussy, read the Babar books for Caedmon recordings, part of the French resistance during World War II. IBDB IMDb FindAGrave
Lesley Gore (singer/songwriter) -- Dead. Cancer. Died February 16, 2015. Born May 2, 1946. Her songs from the '60s include "It's My Party" and "You Don't Own Me." IBDB IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
Leonard Nimoy (director/actor/writer) -- Dead. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Died February 27, 2015. Born March 26, 1931. The first-ever Mr. Spock, he went on to write I Am Not Spock and I Am Spock he directed several Star Trek movies, 3 Men and a Baby and The Good Mother. IBDB IMDb Obituary
[h=2]March[/h] Terry Pratchett (writer) -- Dead. Alzheimer's. Died March 12, 2015. Born April 28, 1948. The creator of the Discworld universe, announced in late '07 that he has a version of Alzheimer's - posterior cortical atrophy. Make contributions to: Match It For Pratchett. IMDb Obituary
[h=2]April[/h] Sarah Brady (activist) -- Dead. Pneumonia. Died April 3, 2015. Born February 6, 1942. Became a tireless advocate for hand gun control after her husband James was shot by Reagan's would-be assassin. IMDb Obituary
Richard Dysart (actor) -- Dead. Cancer. Died April 5, 2015. Born March 30, 1929. Leland in LA Law, Being There, starred as the Coach in the original Broadway production of That Championship Season. Make memorial donation to Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum. IBDB IMDb Obituary
James Best (actor) -- Dead. Pneumonia. Died April 6, 2015. Born July 26, 1926. The Sheriff on The Dukes of Hazzard and hundreds of other TV roles. IMDb Obituary
Stan Freberg (comic/cartoon voice/adman) -- Dead. Died April 7, 2015. Born August 7, 1926. Loads of cartoon characters, especially for Warner Brothers, won 21 Clio awards as a satiric advertising writer. IMDb Obituary
Günter Grass (writer) -- Dead. Died April 13, 2015. Born October 16, 1927. Tin Drum, Nobel Prize winner for literature for 1999. IMDb Obituary
Sawyer Sweeten (actor) -- Dead. Suicide. Died April 24, 2015. Born May 12, 1995. Grew up on Everybody Loves Raymond as Geoffrey Barone. IMDb Obituary
Jayne Meadows (actress) -- Dead. Died April 26, 2015. Born September 27, 1919. Performed in many Broadway plays and on TV, married to Steve Allen for over 40 years. IBDB IMDb Obituary
Andrew Lesnie (cinemetographer) -- Dead. Died April 27, 2015. Born circa 1956. Won an Oscar for cinemetography for Fellowship of the Ring, worked on all of Jackson's Tolkein movies, his last movie The Water Diviner, was released days before his death. IMDb Obituary
Suzanne Crough (office manager/child actress) -- Dead. Died April 27, 2015. Born March 6, 1963. Played Tracy, the youngest daughter on The Partridge Family, retired from show business before she turned 20. IMDb Obituary
Jean Nidetch (businesswoman/weight loss guru) -- Dead. Died April 28, 2015. Born October 12, 1923. A formerly overweight housewife who turned support-group weight loss into Weight Watchers. IMDb Obituary
Ben E. King (singer/songwriter) -- Dead. Died April 30, 2015. Born September 28 1938. Sang and co-wrote one of the great songs of the 20th century, "Stand by Me," a member of The Drifters. IMDb Obituary
Nigel Terry (actor) -- Dead. Emphysema. Died April 30, 2015. Born August 15, 1945. Mostly a theater actor but had major roles in at least two memorable movies - Prince John in The Lion in Winter and King Arthur in Exalibur. IMDb Obituary
[h=2]May[/h] Grace Lee Whitney (actress) -- Dead. Died May 1, 2015. Born April 1 1930. Yeoman Janice Rand on Star Trek. IMDb Obituary
Elizabeth Wilson (actress) -- Dead. Died May 9, 2015. Born April 4, 1921. Mrs. Braddock in The Graduate, Roz in 9 to 5 and President Roosevelt's mother in Hyde Park on Hudson, many, many bit parts on TV and in the movies. IBDB IMDb Obituary
B. B. King (blues great/guitarist) -- Dead. Died May 14, 2015. Born September 16, 1925. Released a compilation album of duets with other famous singers in honor of his 80th birthday. IMDb Obituary
Mary Ellen Trainor (actress) -- Dead. Pancreatic cancer. Died June 8, 2015. Born July 8, 1950. Mom in The Goonies, the kidnapped sister in Romancing the Stone & the psychatrist in the Lethal Weapon movies, ex-wife of Robert Zemeckis. Make memorial contribution to Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation or The Wounded Warrior Project. IMDb Obituary
John Nash (mathematician) -- Dead. Car crash on New Jersey Turnpike. Died May 23, 2015. Born June 13, 1928. Game theorist who won the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences in 1994; he also suffered from schizophrenia for many years, which served as the basis for A Beautiful Mind, died same day as Anne Meara. IMDb Obituary
Anne Meara (actress) -- Dead. Died May 23, 2015. Born September 20, 1929. Lots of TV since the fifties, won Emmy awards, appeared on Broadway, comic partner of husband Jerry Stiller (married for 61 years) and mother of Ben and Amy Stiller. IBDB IMDb Obituary
Tanith Lee (writer) -- Dead. Cancer. Died May 24, 2015. Born September 19, 1947. Fantasy novel & short story writer. Wrote two episodes of Blakes 7. IMDb Obituary
Betsy Palmer (actress) -- Dead. Died May 29, 2015 Born November 1, 1926. Theatrical actress, sometimes appeared in films (The Fear: Resurrection), probably best-known for I've Got a Secret IBDB IMDb Obituary
[h=2]June[/h] Kate Chappell (Special effects artist) -- Dead. Lion attack. Died June 1, 2015. Born December 19, 1985. Special effects artist for Game of Thrones and Divergent, killed while on a photo safari. IMDb Obituary
Margaret Juntwait (Radio announcer/singer) -- Dead. Ovarian cancer. Died June 3, 2015. Born March 18, 1957. The voice of the Metropolitan Opera for 10 years. IMDb Obituary
Vincent Bugliosi (DA/lawyer/writer) -- Dead. Cancer. Died June 6, 2015. Born August 18, 1934. Prosecuted Charles Manson, co-wrote Helter Skelter on the murders. IMDb Obituary
Ronnie Gilbert (singer/psychologist) -- Dead. Died June 6, 2015. Born September 7, 1926. A member of the influential and politically active folk group The Weavers (with Pete Seeger), she later became a psychologist. IMDb Obituary
Christopher Lee (actor) -- Dead. Died June 7, 2015. Born May 27, 1922. After a lifetime of little movies, he appeared in two of the biggest movies of 2002: Attack of the Clones and The Two Towers, and was unceremoniously edited out of one of the biggest movies of 2003, Return of the King. He said he was in more movies than any other actor - should we doubt Saruman's word? Acted professionally well into his 90s; his last movie will be released in 2016. IMDb Obituary
Ron Moody (actor) -- Dead. Died June 11, 2015. Born January 8, 1924. Fagin in Oliver!, Eastenders, was once considered to play Doctor Who, but he turned it down. IMDb Obituary
Rick Ducommun (comic/actor) -- Dead. Complications of diabetes. Died June 12, 2015. Born July 3, 1952. The 'burbs, Groundhog Day and many other movies/TV shows in addition to many years of stand-up. IMDb Obituary
James Horner (composer) -- Dead. Small plane crash. Died June 22, 2015. Born August 14, 1953. Oscar-winning composer for the score of Titanic, also composed score for The Wrath of Khan, Apollo 13 and Avatar. While better known for the ubiquitous "My Heart Will go On," he also co-wrote the lovely and underrated "Somewhere, Out There." IMDb Obituary
Dick Van Patten (actor) -- Dead. Complications of diabetes. Died June 23, 2015 Born December 9, 1928. Eight is Enough, a bunch of Mel Brooks movies, brother of Joyce Van Patten, half-brother of Timothy Van Patten. IBDB IMDb Obituary
Patrick Macnee (actor) -- Dead. Died June 25, 2015. Born February 6, 1922. Steed in The Avengers. IBDB IMDb Obituary
Jack Carter (comic) -- Dead. Died June 28, 2015 Born June 24, 1922. Acerbic comic, appeared on many Friar's Club Roasts.

 

[quantumleap]

[h=2]July[/h] Sir Nicholas Winton (humanitarian) -- Dead. Died July 1, 2015. Born May 19, 1909. In 1939, he helped over 600 children to flee Czechoslovakia to foster homes in England, part of Kindertransport before the Nazis closed the borders. Most of the children's parents were later murdered in concentration camps. IMDb Obituary
Omar Sharif (bridge expert/actor) -- Dead. Heart attack/Alzheimer's. Died July 10, 2015 Born April 10, 1932. Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago - a great-looking man into his 70s - perferred to play bridge rather than be in a bad movie. IMDb Obituary
Roger Rees (actor/director/writer) -- Dead. Died July 10, 2015. Born May 5, 1944. Robin in Cheers, Frida's father in Frida, co-writer of Peter and the Starcatcher, died same day as Omar Sharif. IBDB IMDb Obituary
Claudia J. Alexander, Ph.d. (NASA Project Manager) -- Dead. Died July 11, 2015. Born May 30, 1959. Managed the Galileo mission to Jupiter and was the NASA representative for the 2014 Rosetta mission where a rocket landed on a comet for the first time. IMDb Obituary
Alex Rocco (actor) -- Dead. Died July 18, 2015. Born February 29, 1936. Over 50 years of movie/TV credits, played Moe Green in The Godfather, won an Emmy for The Famous Teddy Z. IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
Theodore Bikel (Actor/singer) -- Dead. Died July 20, 2015. Born May 2, 1924. Born in Vienna, part of the Jewish diaspora before WWII, he grew up in Israel, studied in England, starred in the original Broadway production of The Sound of Music as Captain von Trapp, was a founder of the Newport Folk Festival, played Worf's adoptive father on Star Trek: The Next Generation, made a documentary about Sholom Aleichem just before his death at 91. Make memorial contributions to The Actors Fund or Mazon IBDB IMDb Obituary
E. L. Doctorow (writer) -- Dead. Lung cancer. Died July 21, 2015. Born January 6, 1931. Wrote great historical fiction, in particular Ragtime and The Book of Daniel. IBDB IMDb Obituary
James Jude (doctor) -- Dead. Parkinson's Died July 28, 2015. Born June 7, 1928. Inventor of CPR. Obituary
Lynn Anderson (singer) -- Dead. Heart attack/pneumonia. Died July 30, 2015. Born September 26, 1947. Sang the popular "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," made something of a comeback in mid-2015 when her gospel album "Bridges" was released. IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
Louis Sokoloff (doctor) -- Dead. Died July 30, 2015. Born Octoboer 14, 1921. Developed the PET scanner. Obituary
Howard Jones (obstetrician/fertility specialist) -- Dead. Died July 31, 2015 Born December 30, 1910. With his wife Georgeanna, he helped develop in vitro fertilization and they oversaw the first in vitro babies in the US. He was also the doctor who treated Henrietta Lacks in the 1950s and was able to develop the first line of tumor cells that survived in the laboratory from her cancer. Obituary
[h=2]August[/h] Herbert Wise (director) -- Dead. Died August 5, 2015. Born August 31, 1924. British TV director who directed I, Claudius, Upstairs, Downstairs, Elizabeth R and Breaking the Code. IMDb Obituary
Frances Oldham Kelsey (doctor/pharmacologist) -- Dead. Died August 7, 2015. Born July 24, 1914. Drug reviewer for the FDA who prevented thalidomide from being released in America. Obituary
Julian Bond (civil rights activist) -- Dead. Vascular disease. Died August 15, 2015. Born January 14, 1940. Founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commitee in the '60s, served many years in the Georgia legislature and chaired the NAACP. IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
Yvonne Craig (actress/real estate agent) -- Dead. Cancer. Died August 17, 2015. Born May 16, 1937. Batgirl, first wife of Jimmy Boyd. IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
Bud Yorkin (TV producer/director) -- Dead. Dementia. Died August 18, 2015. Born February 22, 1926. Developed All in the Family, Maude and Sanford and Son with his business partner Norman Lear, directed comedies like Come Blow Your Horn and Divorce American Style. IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
Melody Patterson (actress) -- Dead. Multiple organ failure. Died August 21, 2015. Born April 16, 1949. F Troop's Wranger Jane, once married to James MacArthur. IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
Wes Craven (writer/director) -- Dead. Cancer. Died August 30, 2015. Born August 2, 1939. Mostly wrote/directed horror movies like the Nightmere on Elm Street and Scream series, he directed Meryl Streep to an Oscar nomination in Music of the Heart. IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
Oliver Sacks (neurologist/author) -- Dead. Cancer. Died August 30, 2015. Born July 9, 1933. Neurologist whose work inspired Awakenings, he also wrote The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (and other clinical tales) and his memoir On The Road: A Life. IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
[h=2]September[/h] Dean Jones (actor) -- Dead. Parkinson's Disease. Died September 1, 2015. Born January 25, 1931. Lots of Disney flicks - That Darn Cat, The Love Bug, but also gave an amazing performance of the song "Being Alive" for the original Broadway cast recording of "Company." IBDB IMDb Obituary
Judy Carne (comic) -- Dead. Pneumonia. Died September 3, 2015. Born April 27, 1939. Laugh-In's "Sock-it-to-Me" girl, an ex-wife of Burt Reynolds, returned to England after a difficult time in the States. IMDb Obituary
Martin Milner (actor, radio host) -- Dead. Died September 6, 2015. Born December 28, 1931. Adam 12, co-hosted a radio show on fishing for a few years. IMDb Obituary
Dickie Moore (writer/actor/public relations) -- Dead. Died September 10, 2015. Born September 12, 1925. Very famous child star of the '30s and '40s (briefly in "Our Gang") who went into writing and public relations, married to Jane Powell from 1988 until his death. IMDb Obituary
Jack Larson (producer/playwright/actor) -- Dead. Died September 20, 2015. Born February 8, 1933. Jimmy Olsen in the '50s version of Superman, was once Montgomery Clift's boyfriend, longtime companion of screenwriter James Bridges. IMDb Obituary
[h=2]October[/h] Kevin Corcoran (assistant director/kid actor) -- Dead. Cancer. Died October 6, 2015. Born June 10, 1949. Lots of Disney movies including Old Yeller, Toby Tyler and Pollyanna, served as first asssistant director for many TV shows in the '80s and '90s, producer of Sons of Anarchy. IMDb Obituary
Paul Prudhomme (early celebrity chef) -- Dead. Born July 13, 1940. Cajun cookbook writer and owner of K-Paul's, a great New Orleans restaurant. IMDb Obituary
Marty Ingels (comic/publicist) -- Dead. Died October 21, 2015. Born March 9, 1936. I'm Dickens, He's Fenster married to Shirley Jones from 1977 until his death. IMDb Obituary
Maureen O'Hara (actress) -- Dead. Died October 24, 2015. Born August 17, 1920. Wonderfully bold actress with Technicolor red hair, The Quiet Man and the original The Parent Trap IBDB IMDb Obituary
Al Molinaro (actor) -- Dead. Gall stones. Died October 29, 2015. Born June 24, 1919. Murray the Cop on TV's The Odd Couple, Happy Days, later did Encore commercials. IMDb Obituary
[h=2]November[/h] Melissa Mathison (screenwriter) -- Dead. Neuroendocrine cancer. Died November 4, 2015. Born June 3, 1950. Wrote the classic script for ET, married to Harrison Ford in the '80s and '90s. IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
Saeed Jaffrey (actor) -- Dead. Brain hemmorhage Died November 14, 2015. Born January 8, 1929. Prolific actor in international cinema, he was probably best-known in the US for Billy Fish in The Man Who Would Be King, Patel in Gandhi, Nasser in My Beautiful Launderette.

 

[quantumleap]

I'll update with December's Celebrity Deaths as soon as it becomes available.

 

[quantumleap]

I'll update with December's Celebrity Deaths as soon as it becomes available.

November (continued)

Marjorie Lord (actress) -- Dead. Born July 26, 1918. Died November 28, 2015. Kathy in Make Room for Daddy, loads of movies and Broadway plays, Anne Archer's mom, fundraiser for many cultural organizations in her retirement. IBDB IMDb Obituary

December

Robert Loggia (actor) -- Dead. Alzheimer's. Died December 4, 2015. Born January 3, 1930. Lots of bit-parts on TV, Scarface, Big, nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Jagged Edge. IBDB IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
Nicholas Smith (actor) -- Dead. Complications after a fall. Died December 6, 2015. Born March 5, 1934. Mr. Rumbold on Are You Being Served?, did various voices for Wallace and Grommit cartoons and video games. IBDB IMDb Obituary FindAGrave
Peter Dickinson (YA writer) -- Dead. Died December 16, 2015. Born December 16, 1927. Wrote dozens of YA books, including Tulku. IMDb Obituary
George Clayton Johnson (writer) -- Dead. [[premature death rumors]] Cancer. Died December 25, 2015. Born July 7, 1929. Wrote many episodes of TV for shows like Twilight Zone and Star Trek, co-wrote the novel of Logan's Run. IMDb Obituary
Meadowlark Lemon (basketball player/minister) -- Dead. Died December 27, 2015. Born April 25, 1932. The "Clown Prince of Basketball," he was the member of the Harlem Globetrotters (1955-1980) who always seemed to have the most fun on court. IMDb Obituary
Wayne Rogers (businessman/actor) -- Dead. Pneumonia. Died December 31, 2015. Born April 7, 1933. Trapper John on TV's M*A*S*H. IMDb Obituary

 

[Hamilbet]

First for 2016... Natalie Cole

 

[quantumleap]

First for 2016... Natalie Cole

I'm reading that she died last Thursday so I'll have to update this list when the source updates their list.

 

[slapshot]

guess Lemmy was to big to make the list

 

[quantumleap]

guess Lemmy was to big to make the list

It's odd that they would leave him out. I'll have to watch for updates and will post them here.

 

[FairWarning]

guess Lemmy was to big to make the list

Legend

 

[pocketrockets]

guess Lemmy was to big to make the list

yep what a disgrace, Lemmy is a fucking rock God