As 2012 draws to its gloomy, wet close, it is time to remember all those familiar names and faces we lost during the year. There are a lot of names on the list...
[Click on the links for my tributes to many of them]
Ronald Searle (English author, St Trinian's)
Eve Arnold (US photographer)
Bob Holness (UK TV producer and host)
Johnny Otis (US musician and record producer, "Godfather of Rhythm and Blues")
James Farentino (US actor - Dynasty)
Colin Tarrant (British actor - The Bill)
Etta James (US blues diva):
Nicol Williamson (Scottish-English actor)
Jimmy Castor (US soul singer)
Dorothea Tanning (US surrealist artist and muse)
Ben Gazzara (US actor)
Whitney Houston (US wibbler)
Dory Previn (US singer-songwriter)
James Whitaker (English Royal correspondent)
Ken Goodwin (English comedian)
Frank Carson (Northern Irish comedian)
Davy Jones (English singer - Monkees)
Philip Madoc (Welsh actor)
Jocky Wilson (Scottish darts champion)
Earl Scruggs (US banjo musician)
Bert Weedon (English guitarist)
Norman St John-Stevas (Lord St John of Fawsley, UK politician)
Robert Sherman (US songwriter - Disney films)
Jack Ashley (Baron Ashley of Stoke, UK politician and disability campaigner)
Adam Yauch (US singer - Beastie Boys)
Brian Hibbard (Welsh singer - Flying Pickets)
Susan Tyrrell (cult US actress):
Richard Adler (US producer and composer - Pajama Game, Damn Yankees)
James Grout (English actor - Inspector Morse)
Yitzhak Shamir (former Israeli prime minister)
Nora Ephron (US screenwriter and film director)
Vidal Sassoon (English hairdresser and 60s trendsetter)
Donna Summer (US disco diva)
Robin Gibb (English-Australian singer, songwriter and BeeGee)
Nolan Miller (US fashion designer)
Ray Bradbury (US sci-fi author)
Victor Spinetti (Welsh actor-comedian)
Eric Sykes (English actor-comedian)
Ernest Borgnine (US actor)
Tony Scott (English film director - Top Gun)
Celeste Holm (US actress)
Sir Alastair Burnet (English journalist and TV newsreader)
Jean Morton (English children's TV personality - Tingha and Tucker)
Angharad Rees (Welsh actress)
Simon Ward (English actor - Young Churchill)
Mary Tamm (English actress - Dr Who)
Geoffrey Hughes (English actor - "Eddie Yeats" in Corrie, "Onslow" in Keeping Up Appearances)
Frank Wilson (US songwriter and producer)
Maeve Binchy (Irish author)
Carl Davis (US soul music producer)
Tony Martin (US crooner, Mr Cyd Charisse):
Gore Vidal (US author, social commentator and wit)
Chavela Vargas (Mexican singer)
Sir Bernard Lovell (UK astronomer)
Marvin Hamlisch (US songwriter and composer)
Anna Piaggi (Italian fashion writer and style icon)
Helen Gurley Brown (US author and editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan)
Scott McKenzie (US singer - San Francisco)
Phyllis Diller (US comedian and gay icon)
Nina Bawden (UK author - Carrie's War)
Neil Armstrong (first man on the Moon)
Allan Horsfall (UK gay rights activist)
Max Bygraves (UK comedian, singer and all-round entertainer)
Hal David (US songwriter and composer)
Terry Nutkins (UK naturalist and TV presenter)
Dorothy McGuire (US singer - McGuire Sisters)
Derek Jameson (UK journalist and TV presenter)
Michael Hurll (UK TV producer - Top of the Pops)
Andy Williams (US singer):
Herbert Lom (Czech-English actor - Pink Panther)
Sylvia Kristel (Dutch actress - Emanuelle)
Clive Dunn (UK comedian and actor - Dad's Army)
Joe Melia (English actor)
Han Suyin (Hong Kong writer)
Richard Robbins (US composer - Merchant Ivory films)
Bill Tarmey (English actor - "Jack Duckworth" in Corrie)
Dinah Sheridan (English actress)
Larry Hagman (US actor - Dallas)
Oscar Niemeyer (Brazilian architect)
Dave Brubeck (US jazz maestro)
Ravi Shankar (Indian musician)
Sir Patrick Moore (English astronomer, TV presenter and eccentric)
Jenni Rivera (Mexican singer)
Kenneth Kendall (English TV newsreader and presenter)
Jack Klugman (US actor - Quincy)
Charles Durning (US actor)
Gerry Anderson (English producer, director and writer - Thunderbirds)
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (UK composer and pianist)
Norman Schwarzkopf (American general)
William Rees-Mogg (UK journalist, former editor of the Times)
Fontella Bass (US soul singer):
RIP, all...
That really is quite a list.
ReplyDeleteStill can't believe that Donna Summer is gone...
There's a few very sad losses among them, indeed... Jx
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