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SAD FAREWELLS OF 2017


I have been keeping track of celebrity passings for many years, as I have found it helpful for research purposes. My lists are alphabetical by last name and also offer the age at the time of death. Now, 2016 ws THE worst year for celebrity passings thus far. We couldn’t wait for 2016 to end, as it seemed another legend died each week. More than 300 names were on that year’s list, over 100 more than this year. But we lost plenty of legends in 2017 and from all fields of show business.

The big one for me was Jerry Lewis. He was the catalyst for my life’s work, and later became a personal friend. He was one of my true heroes in life, and despite a long life of over 90 years, I was still not ready to see him go.

Other personal friends who I lost this year were actresses Francine York and Lorna Gray (aka Adrian Booth), film archivist and restoration champion David Shepard, and Elvis Presley’s friend Marty Lacker who was so helpful on my Elvis book. I will miss them all.

Music took an enormous hit with the passing of Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Tom Petty, Al Jarreau, Glen Campbell, Mel Tillis, David Cassidy, Bobby Freeman, both George and Malcolm Young.

We mourned the loss of TV favorites like Rose Marie, Mary Tyler Moore, Jim Nabors, cartoon voiceover artist June Foray, Mike Connors, Monty Hall, Erin Moran, Della Reese, Robert Guillaume,and Adam West.

The world is less funny with the loss of Don Rickles, Dick Gregory, Patti Deutsch, and Ralphie May. Less creative with the loss of directors George Romero and John Avildsen.

Old timers who reached the 100 mark include Danielle Darreaux, Jean Rouvenol, and 102 year old Professor Irwin Corey, the oldest showbiz star to die this past year.

Film critic Richard Schickel. TCM ost Robert Osborne, Longtime actor Harry Dean Stanton. The first of the James Bond actors to pass on happened with the death of Roger Moore. Ron Howard’s father, the daughters of Chico Marx and Stan Laurel, and Cuba Gooding, Sr. all left us in 2017. Pro wrestlers Bobby Heenan, Ivan Koloff, Otto Wanz, Nicole Bass, Tom Zenk, Jimmy Snuka, and George The Animal Steele took their final count. Hugh Hefner and Charles Manson were other notable deaths that made headlines.

Here is a complete list of performers we lost in 2017.

Roger Ailes, 77

Lola Albright 92

Gregg Allman 69

Richard Anderson 91

Harvey Atkin 74

Gary Austin 75

George Avakian 98

John Avildsen, 81

Jack Bannon 77

Chuck Barris 87

Nicole Bass, 52

Elizabeth Bauer 70

Chris Bearde 80

Jimmy Beaumont 76

Walter Becker 67

Chester Benington 40

Hywell Bennett 73

Shelley Berman 92

Chuck Berry 90

William Peter Blatty 89

Jack Blessing 66

Joseph Bologna 82

Michael Bond 91

Adrian Booth (see Lorna Gray)

Powers Boothe, 68

Danny Breen 67

Buddy Bregman 86

Jimmy Breslin 86

Brent Briscoe 56

Conrad Brooks 86

Lonnie Brooks 83

Chelsea Brown 69

Juan Luis Buñuel 83

Brad Bufanda 34

Sonny Burgess 86

Wendell Burton 69

Joy Byers 82

Glen Campbell 81

Bernie Casey 78

David Cassidy 67

Darlene Cates 69

Lawrence J. Cohen 82

Alan Colmes 66

Miriam Colon 80

Mike Connors 91

Barbara Cook 89

Professor Irwin Corey 102 **

Chris Cornell 52

Larry Coryell 73

Kathleen Crowley 87

Peggy Cummins 92

Holger Czukay, 79

Bill Dana, 92

Mireille Darc 79

Danielle Darrieux 100

Gary DeCarlo 75

Paula Dell 90

Patti Deutsch 73

Pat DiNizio 62

Fats Domino 89

Karen Dor 79

Roy Dotrice 94

Gord Downey 53

Peter Duffell 95

Lou Duva 94

Nelsan Ellis 39

Dick Enberg 82

Vincent Falcone 78

Suzan Farmer 75

Lee Farr 89

Miguel Ferrer 61

June Foray 99

Bruce Forsythe 89

Treva Frazee 94

Patti Freedman 64

Bobby Freeman 76

Warren Frost 91

Stephen Furst 63

Dick Gautier 86

John Gay 92

Nicolai Gedda, 91

J. Geils, 71

Sonny Geraci 69

Bob Givens 99

Basil Gogos 78

Cuba Gooding Sr 72

Don Gordon 90

Sue Grafton 77

Lorna Gray 99

Buddy Greco 90

Dick Gregory 84

Chavo Guerrero sr, 68

Robert Guillaume 89

Monty Hall 96

Johnny Hallyday 74

Rosie Hamlin, 71

Ben Hammer 93

Ty Hardin 87

Robert Hardy 91

Joe Harris, 89

Grant Hart 56

Anthony Harvey 87

Sib Hashian 67

Richard Hatch 71

Tony Haygarth 72

Glenn Headly 63

John Heard 72

Bobby Heenan 73

Hugh Hefner 91

John Hendricks 96

Blake Heron 35

John Hillerman 82

Skip Homeier 87

Tobe Hooper 74

Rance Howard 89

Sean Hughes 51

Thomas Hunter 85

John Hurt 77

Dimitri Hvorostovsky 55

Earle Hyman 91

Clifford Irving 87

Loren Janes 85

Al Jarreau 76

Anne Jeffreys 94

Christine Kaufmann 71

Gorden Kaye 75

Christine Keeler 75

Elizabeth Kemp 65

Bobby Knutt 71

Ivan Koloff 74

George Kosana 81*

Marty Lacker 80

Jake LaMotta 95

Mark LaMura 68

Sonny Landham

Leonard Landy 82

Bruce Lansbury 87

Betty Lasky 89

Lois Laurel 89

Daliah Lavi, 74

Suzanna Leigh 72

Murray Lerner 90

Jerry Lewis, 91

Hiep Thi Le, 46

Ray Lovelock 67

Chuck Low 89

Ginni Mack 90

Charles Manson 83

Rose Marie 94

Jared Martin 75

Miriam Marx 90

Ralphie May 45

Alec McCowan 91

Thomas Meehan 88

Heather Menzies 68

Madge Meredith 96

Dina Merrill, 93

Tomás Milián 84

Kenny Miller 85

Mary Tyler Moore 80

Roger Moore 89

Erin Moran 56

Stewart Moss 79

Charlie Murphy 57

Jim Nabors 87

Heather North 71

Michael Nyqvist 56

Quinn O’Hara 76

Robert Osborne 84

Tommy Page 46

Anita Pallinberg 73

Bill Paxton 61

Roberta Peters 86

Tom Petty 66

Prodigy, 42

Om Puri 66

Juanita Quigley 87

Tim Quill 54

Martin Ransohoff 90

Della Reese 86

Don Rickles 90

Tiger Joe Robinson 90

Maggie Roche 65

George Romero 77

Tony Rosato 62

Richard Roth 76

Jean Rouvenol 100

Stevie Ryan 33

Steve Sandor 79

Teresa Ann Savoy 61

Richard Schikel 84

Ken Shapiro 75

David Shepard 76

Alan Simpson 87

Barbara Sinatra 90

Marty Sklar 83

Joni Sledge 60

Keely Smith 89

Liz Smith 94

Jimmy Snuka 73

Doug Somers 65

Harry Dean Stanton 91

George “The Animal” Steele 79

Rick Stevens 77

David Storey 83

Clyde Stubblefield 73

Seijun Suzuki 93

Grady Tate 85

Jay Thomas 69

Mel Tillis 85

Butch Trucks 69

Lembit Ulfsack 69

Heather Menzies Urich (see Heather Menzies)

Dave Valentin 64

Paolo Villagio, 84

Carol Vogel 75

Otto Wanz 74

Beverly Warren 92

Deborah Watling 69

Moray Watson, 88

Peter Overend Watts 69

Mary Webster 81

Ann Wedgeworth 83

Adam West 88

Red West 82

John Wetton 67

Christopher Wiggins 86

Les “Buddy” Wolfe 76

William Woodson 99

George Young 71

Malcolm Young 64

Francine York 78

Tom Zenk 59

Farewell 2017!

James L. Neibaur
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