In 2021, we said goodbye to stars of stage and screens big and small, with luminaries like groundbreaking actress Cicely Tyson, Emmy winning Lou Grant star Ed Asner, and legendary broadcaster Larry King. Here’s a look back at those we lost:
January
January 23 — Larry King, 87 – Emmy-winning journalist; Hal Holbrook, 95 – Stage and screen actor, Wall Street
January 27 — Cloris Leachman, 94 – Actress, Young Frankenstein, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
January 28 — Cicely Tyson, 96 – Actress, Sounder, The Help
February
February 1 — Dustin Diamond, 44 – Actor and comic, Saved by the Bell
February 5 — Christopher Plummer, 91 – Actor, The Sound of Music, Knives Out
February 8 — Mary Wilson, 76 – Supremes singer
February 17 — Rush Limbaugh, 70 – Firebrand conservative broadcaster
March
March 23 — George Segal, 87 – Actor, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Just Shoot Me!, The Goldbergs
March 24 — Jessica Walter, 80 – Actress, Play Misty for Me, Arrested Development, Archer
April
April 9 — Prince Phillip, 99 – Husband of Queen Elizabeth II; DMX, 50 – rapper, actor
April 11 — Joseph Siravo, 64 – Actor, Sopranos co-star
April 16 — Helen McCrory, 52 – Actress, Peaky Blinders, Harry Potter films; Felix Silla, 84 – Cousin Itt on TV’s original The Addams Family
May
May 1 — Olympia Dukakis, 89 – Moonstruck actress
May 7 — Tawny Kitaen, 59 – actress, Whitesnake music video icon
May 18 — Charles Grodin, 86 – actor, Midnight Run, Heaven Can Wait, talk show host
May 19 — Paul Mooney, 79 – Legendary writer and comedian, Chappelle’s Show star
May 24 — Samuel E. Wright, 74 – Stage and screen actor; voice of Sebastian in The Little Mermaid
May 26 — Kevin Clark, 32 – Freddy Jones in 2003’s School of Rock
May 29 — Gavin MacLeod, 90 – Actor, The Love Boat; BJ Thomas, 78 – singer
June
June 6 — Clarence Williams III, 81 – Actor, The Mod Squad, Tales from the Hood
June 13 — Ned Beatty, 83 — actor, Back to School, Deliverance, 1978’s Superman, TV’s Homicide: Life on the Street
July
July 5 — Richard Donner, 91 – Superman, Scrooged, Lethal Weapon series director
July 7 — Robert Downey Sr., 85 – filmmaker dad of Robert Downey, Jr.
July 16 — Biz Markie, 57 – “Just a Friend” rapper and Men in Black II actor
July 24 — Jackie Mason, 93 – Emmy- and Tony-winning comedian
August
August 7 — Markie Post, 70 – Actress, Night Court, Hearts Afire
August 12 — Una Stubbs, 84 – Actress, Sherlock‘s Mrs. Hudson
August 28 — Matthew Mindler, 19 – My Idiot Brother co-star
August 24 — Charlie Watts, 80 – Rolling Stones drummer
August 29 — Ed Asner, 91 – Actor, Lou Grant, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Elf, Up
September
September 1 — Gregg Leakes, 66 – husband of Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes
September 4 — Willard Scott, 87 – Today weatherman
September 6 — Michael K. Williams, 54 – Actor, The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, Lovecraft Country
September 8 — Michael Constantine, 94 – Actor, Room 222, My Big Fat Greek Wedding
September 14 — Norm Macdonald, 61 – SNL cast member, stand-up comic
September 15 — Gavan O’Herlihy, 70 – Actor, Happy Days, Willow
October
October 4 — Alan Kalter, 78 – Former Late Show with David Letterman announcer
October 10 — Ruthie Tompson, 101 – veteran Disney animator
October 18 — William Lucking, 80 — Actor, Sons of Anarchy
October 22 — Peter Scolari, 66 – Bosom Buddies, Newhart
October 21 — Halyna Hutchins, 41 – cinematographer fatally shot by Alec Baldwin on Rust set; Willie Garson, 57 – actor, Sex and the City, …And Just Like That
October 24 — James Michael Tyler, 59 – Actor, Gunther on Friends
November
November 6 — Peter Aykroyd, 66 – SNL writer, brother of Dan
November 17 — Art LaFleur, 78 – Actor, Field of Dreams
November 26 — Stephen Sondheim, 91 – Lyricist and composer, Broadway icon
November 27 — Eddie Mekka, 69 – Actor, Laverne and Shirley
November 28 — Virgil Abloh, 41 – Louis Vuitton designer
December
December 10 — Michael Nesmith, 78 – Musician, The Monkees
December 23 — Joan Didion, 87 – Author, The Year of Magical Thinking
December 25/26 — Jean-Marc Vallée, 58 – Director, Dallas Buyers Club, Big Little Lies
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