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!