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Taking a moment to remember those in the public eye who passed in 2019.

by | Dec 30, 2019 | News

  • Dick Miller, 90, was a star of 1980s classics such as Gremlins and The Terminator.
  • Michel Legrand, 86, was an Oscar-winning composer who worked with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Liza Minnelli, Edith Piaf and Barbra Streisand.
  • Windsor Davies, 88, was best known for starring as Battery Sergeant Major Williams in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. Aged 88.
  • Andre Previn, 89, worked on films such as Gigi, Porgy and Bess, My Fair Lady and Irma La Douce – and he won best music Oscars for all four.
  • Drummer Andy Anderson, 68, was best known for his time with The Cure in the 1980s, but also worked with Iggy Pop, Peter Gabriel, the Sex Pistols’ Glen Matlock and Mike Oldfield during his career.
  • Peter Tork was one of the founding members of 1960s pop band The Monkees, famed for hit songs such as Daydream Believer and I’m A Believer. He died aged 77.
  • Best known for his roles in The Sopranos and Casino, Vinny Vella, 72, starred in dozens of films throughout the 1990s and 2000s, often playing a gangster.
  • Instantly recognisable for his distinctive white ponytail, black sunglasses, gloves and high starched collars, Karl Lagerfeld, 85, was one of the world’s most famous fashion designers.
  • England’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper of 1966, Gordon Banks, 81, made 73 international appearances during his footballing career.
  • Jan-Michael Vincent, 73, rose to prominence in the 1980s, playing pilot Stringfellow Hawke in US TV series Airwolf, about a high-tech military helicopter and its crew.
  • A five-time Oscar nominee, British film legend Albert Finney, 82, was known for playing many different characters, with his list of films including Erin Brockovich, Big Fish, Scrooge, Annie and Murder On The Orient Express.
  • Clive Swift was best known for playing Richard Bucket, the long-suffering husband of Hyacinth Bucket, in the classic comedy Keeping Up Appearances. Clive died aged 82.
  • Comedian Jeremy Hardy, 57, was a regular guest on radio panel shows The News Quiz and I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue.
  • Mike Thalassitis was a footballer and one of the stars of season three of reality TV hit Love Island in 2017. Mike died aged 26.
  • TV presenter Magenta Divine, 61, was known for her trademark black sunglasses, stylish attire and husky voice.
  • Luke Perry became a household name for his role as heartthrob Dylan McKay in US teen show Beverly Hills 90210 between 1990 and 2000. Luke was 52.
  • Keith Flint, 49, was frontman of The Prodigy, the twisted firestarter who brought the sound of British rave music to an audience of millions across the world.
  • As Chewbacca, the 7ft 3ins Peter Mayhew, 74, was a fierce warrior with a soft heart; a loyal sidekick to Harrison Ford’s Han Solo and co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon.
  • Rowland ‘Boon’ Gould was a founding member of British band Level 42, alongside his brother Phil, Mark King and Mike Lindup. Rowland was 64.
  • Ken Kercheval, 83, was best known as oil tycoon Cliff Barnes, rival of Larry Hagman’s scheming oil baron JR Ewing, in US TV series Dallas.
  • Liverpool legend Tommy Smith, 74, played for the Merseyside football club for 18 years and was affectionately nicknamed the “Anfield Iron” by supporters.
  • Sandy Ratcliff, 70, was one of the original cast members of BBC soap EastEnders, playing cafe owner Sue Osman between 1985 and 1989.
  • The Tiger Who Came To Tea, by Judith Kerr, has never been out of print since being published in 1968, selling more than five million copies. It is the author’s best known book, among others including When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and the Mog The Cat series. Judith passed aged 95.
  • Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda,70, was a three-time world champion and the only man to have won the drivers’ title for both Ferrari and McLaren.
  • Grumpy Cat, real name Tardar Sauce, had 1.5 million followers on Twitter, more than 8 million followers on Facebook and 2.4 million on Instagram when she died in May 2019.
  • After retiring from acting, Doris Day had been very private, accepting the Cecil B DeMille award at the Golden Globes in 1989 and doing her last TV interview five years later. She died of pneumonia aged 97.
  • Former WCW wrestler Silver King, real name Cesar Barron, starred opposite Hollywood star Jack Black in the 2006 comedy Nacho Libre collapsed in the ring aged 51.
  • Brian Walden, 86, was a broadcaster and former Labour MP who was best known for an interview with Margaret Thatcher in 1989 which helped bring about the end of her time as prime minister.
  • Comedian Freddie Starr, 76, became a household name after rising to fame in the 1970s, but was undoubtedly best known for The Sun’s infamous 1986 front page, “Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster” – one of the best known headlines in the history of British tabloids.
  • Heartbeat actor William Simons, 79, played the role of PC Alf Ventress in the hit TV police drama for nearly two decades, starring in all 18 series of the show between 1992 and 2010.
  • Gloria Vanderbilt, 95, was a US fashion icon, author, actress and socialite, the great-great-granddaughter of financier Cornelius Vanderbilt, who made headlines throughout her life.
  • Ex-Arsenal striker Jose Antonio Reyes formed part of the iconic team who won the Premiership trophy without suffering any losses during what is now known as the club’s “invincible” season in 2003-04. Jose was 35.
  • “King of the Broadway musical” Harold ‘Hal’ Prince, 91, worked on shows including Phantom Of The Opera and Sweeney Todd, winning a record 21 Tony awards in a theatre career which spanned seven decades.
  • Actor Rutger Hauer, 75, appeared in more than 100 Dutch and international films and won a Golden Globe for his role in the 1988 film Escape from Sobibor.
  • Brendan Grace, 68, played Father Fintan Stack in the cult TV comedy series Father Ted, and was also a stand-up comedian.
  • Denise Nickerson, 62, played golden ticket winner Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s bestselling novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
  • Emmerdale star Freddie Jones was described as one of the TV soap’s “favourite human beings” following his death at 91. The father of fellow actor Toby Jones played Sandy Thomas in the ITV show
  • Rip Torn, 88, was an award-winning television, film and theatre actor who starred in Dodgeball and Men In Black following his film debut as a former prisoner of war in Time Limit in 1957.
  • John McCririck, 79, was the famous racing broadcaster known for his outlandish dress sense and provocative broadcasting style, who also achieved fame through appearances on entertainment programmes including Celebrity Big Brother and Celebrity Wife Swap.
  • Doctor Who writer and script editor Terrance Dicks wrote for the long-running TV science fiction series from 1968 to 1983, for the second, third and fourth Doctors; played by Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. Terrance was 84.
  • According to US magazine Car And Driver, jetcar racer Jessi Combs, 36, was widely known in racing circles as the “fastest woman on four wheels”, and broke a record in 2013 with a run of 393mph (632kmph).
  • Peter Fonda, 79, was born in New York in 1940 to Hollywood star Henry and his socialite wife Frances Ford Seymour, and was the younger brother of Jane Fonda.
  • Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, 88, was the first black woman to receive the prize for literature, which she was awarded in 1993.She also won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988 for her novel Beloved
  • Entertainer and impressionist Joe Longthorne, 64, performed to millions of people around the world and sang at the Royal Variety Show several times, in a career which spanned several decades. He also earned an MBE for his charity work in 2012.
  • Robert Mugabe was the former president of Zimbabwe ousted in a military coup after 37 years in power. The 95-year-old had ruled the country, a former British colony, from 1980 and was the world’s oldest head of state before his dramatic exit two years ago.
  • Nicknamed “Le Bulldozer” early in his career for his determination and ambition, former French president Jacques Chirac, 86, led the country between 1995 and 2007.
  • Former Glasgow Rangers footballer Fernando Ricksen, 43, spent six years playing for the club and earned 12 caps for the Netherlands at international level.
  • South Africa rugby legend Chester Williams, 49, was famously the only black player in the Springboks squad that won the Rugby World Cup on home soil in 1995.
  • German fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh, 74, was known for his dramatic but simple black and white portraits, having worked with supermodels including Kate Moss, Helena Christensen, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington.
  • In a journalistic career spanning 40 years, Peter Sissons, 77, became one of British television’s most experienced and influential newsreaders. He presented the BBC’s Nine O’Clock News from 1994 and was considered to be one of the UK’s longest-serving news presenters when he retired from broadcasting in 2009.
  • Ginger Baker, 80, was the drummer and co-founder of rock band Cream with Eric Clapton in 1966, and also performed with Hawkwind, Blind Faith and Fela Kuti.
  • Reg Watson’s “legacy lives on in Ramsay Street” – the fictional road on which the long-running Australian soap Neighbours has been set since it made its debut in 1985. As the creator of the series he helped launch the careers of some of the biggest stars in Australian entertainment before passing aged 93.
  • Belgian Paralympian Marieke Vervoort, 40, won gold and silver in wheelchair racing events at the London 2012 Paralympics, and two further medals at Rio 2016.
  • Robert Freeman, 82, was the man behind some of The Beatles’ most famous album covers, helping to define the band’s image with the 1963 cover for With The Beatles, their second album.
  • Gary Rhodes, 59, worked in restaurants around the world and was one of the first big TV chefs, starring in programmes including Rhodes Around Britain and MasterChef.
  • British theatre director and presenter Jonathan Miller, 85, was one of the most renowned figures in the arts, following a decades-long career that encompassed theatre, television and opera.
  • Beloved critic and broadcaster Clive James, 80, was admired for his wit and ability with words, both as a writer and broadcaster, and appeared frequently on radio as well as on TV from the 1970s to the 2010s.
  • Former England captain and Sky cricket expert Bob Willis, 70, was a mainstay of the England team for more than a decade, playing in 90 Tests and 64 one-day internationals after his debut in 1971.
  • Award-winning actor Ron Leibman, 82, was a star of stage and screen, but readily acknowledged he would perhaps always be best known for playing the father of Rachel Green in Friends.
  • Puppeteer Caroll Spinney, 85, portrayed the beloved Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch until he was well into his 80s.
  • Singer and actor Kenny Lynch, 81, was known for his 1960s hit Up On The Roof and appearance in Pinewood comedy Carry On Loving.