These are the stars we lost in 2024:
60. Joyce Randolph
She played Trixie on The Honeymooners, a once revered and beloved touchstone which is all but forgotten now.
59. Virgil
A minor figure in the original WWF boom of the the early 1980s as was Million Dollar Man’s lackey. Those memories loom large in my childhood.
58. Lou Dobbs
A longtime cable news talkshow host best known in recent years for his staunchly pro-Trump views.
57. Liam Payne
A member of One Direction, one of the biggest boy bands ever. Sadly, his solo career didn’t reach the heights of his bandmates and his tragic death at a young age is another reminder of the dangers of fame and addiction.
56. Chuck Woolery
The original host of Wheel of Fortune and countless other game shows including Love Connection, Scrabble, Lingo, The Dating Game and Greed.
There’s a good chance if you turn on the Game Show Network you’ll see his face.
55. Sid Eudy
I grew up on a steady diet of WWF (now WWE) in the early to mid-1990s and Sid Justice / Psycho Sid / Sid Vicious was all over the place.
His unhinged / over the top performance made an indelible impression on me.
54. Joe Lieberman
A longtime senator from Connecticut and running mate of Al Gore in the 2000 US Presidential election, the first Jew nominated on a ticket from a major US party.
53. Greg Gumbel
A longtime personality on CBS Sports. He anchored their Final Four coverage and a good bit of their NFL coverage for decades. A familiar face to many sports fans.
52. Paul Morrissey
An underground filmmaker known for his association with Andy Warhol. He was never a household name nor achieved mainstream success, but did have a productive decade in the 1960s.
51. Chris Mortensen
A longtime ESPN personality, to a lot of Generation X men, he was as much a part of their daily routine as anyone.
50. Alan Rachins
LA Law (1986 – 1994) was a big deal and his performance as Douglas Brackman Jr. was beloved. He went on to supporting roles in Dharma & Greg (1997 – 2002) and the infamous cult film Showgirls (1995).
49. Richard Simmons
One of the most unlikely household names. His dedication to losing weight and his offbeat workouts were a sensation in the 1980s.
“Sweating’ to the Oldies” was a big deal and ubiquitous in popular culture.
Because he was a deliciously over the top interview and always willing to do anything for a laugh he became a frequent guest on late night talk shows.
For Gen-Xers, he’s a preeminent figure in our popular consciousness.
48. Olivia Hussey
Her performance in Romeo and Juliet (1968) was a sensation. Later she became a Scream Queen with roles in Black Christmas (1974), It (1990) and Psycho IV (1990).
Just before her death, she ignited a mini-controversy suing Paramount for sexual exploitation based on a nude scene in Romeo and Juliet which was filmed when she was underage.
47. Shannen Doherty
Her work in Beverly Hills 90210 made her a household name and a generational icon. Between that and Charmed she developed a difficult reputation, but by the end of her life she had rehabilitated herself into everyone’s favorite bitch.
Heathers (1989) and Mallrats (1995) burnished her reputation as integral part of the Gen-X experience.
46. Morgan Spurlock
The rare documentarian who broke into the popular culture consciousness. Super Size Me (2004) continues to impact the way we think of food in this country (even if some of his methodology has been called into question).
45. Dr. Ruth Westheimer
A former Israeli sniper turned sex therapist. Her accent, age and unashamed attitude towards taboo subjects was a sensation in the 1980s and her numerous talk show appearances made her an icon of a generation.
44. David Soul
Starsky and Hutch made him briefly a famous person.
43. Richard Lewis
He had a career before (including headlining Anything but Love with Jamie Lee Curtis), but achieved his greatest renown in the 21st century as Larry David’s friend in Curb Your Enthusiasm (echoing their offscreen friendship). Their constant ball busting is what every male friendship aspires to be.
42. Toby Keith
Few people epitomized country music as an extension of conservatism as Toby Keith and his singable songs are still played nightly in many bars in the south.
He never crossed over to mainstream success, but didn’t seem to care, happy to be a huge fish in a smaller pond.
41. Linda Lavin
She had a distinguished career on the New York Stage, but it was her role as the titular Alice (1976 – 1985) in the television adaptation of Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974) which made her famous.
40. Rickey Henderson
He played twenty five years in Major League Baseball for nine different teams and made stealing bases electric; he remains the only player in American League history to steal one hundred bases in a season (a feat he accomplished three times).
MVP in 1990 and two World Series with the As. Most runs scored and most stolen bases in MLB history. Twenty five seasons with at least one home run.
His personality and quirky interview style were second only to Yogi Berra. He was one the greatest players and greatest characters in baseball’s storied history.
39. James B. Sikking
Between Hill Street Blues (1981 – 1987) and Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989 – 1993), he spent fifteen straight years on network television in an era before cable was king and audiences fractured.
He had a few prominent films roles sprinkled in as well including Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Fever Pitch (2005).
38. Mitzi Gaynor
She was in several films in the 1950s including There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954) and Anything Goes (1956), but South Pacific (1958) is her claim to fame. Sadly, by the 1960s her film career had dried up.
37. Charles Shyer
A director who specialized in the sort of middle of the road / basic cable comedies of the 1980s / 1990s. He frequently worked with his then wife Nancy Meyers, and played a part in bringing Private Benjamin (1980), Baby Boom (1987), the remake of The Parent Trap (1998) and the Steve Martin led Father of the Bride (1991) series to life.
His movies were mostly fluff, but they were enjoyable fluff.
36. Tony Todd
He had a lengthy career, but is defined by his role as the titular Candyman (1992), a horror film with a cult following and a fond place in the memory of Generation X.
35. John Amos
Kunta Kinte in Roots (1977); James Evans Jr. in Good Times (1974 – 1976).
Coming to America (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990), Coming 2 America (2021).
He was an A list character actor with pivotal roles in two of the biggest touchstones in 1970s Hollywood.
He courageously left Good Times after the third season because he disagreed with the direction of the show. His career suffered, but he continued to land supporting roles in a number of films and TV shows (including The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The West Wing).
34. Anouk Aimée
Fellini’s La dolce vita (1960) catapulted her to international stardom and became a symbol of arthouse cinema in the US, the kind of beautiful European woman who occupied a distinct place in the American imagination.
She continued to act for over sixty years in seventy different films, proving she was much more than a pretty face.
33. Martin Mull
He started as a musical parodist (a precursor to acts like Weird Al) then shifted to film work after a supporting role in the hugely influential soap parody Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
Mr. Mom (1983) and Clue (1985) were big impacts on my childhood comedic sensibility. My dad loved Mr. Mom and showed it to us several times. Clue was funny, chaotic and clever. Mull was excellent in both.
In his final decades, he worked in a supporting role in Roseanne and had a memorable turn as Gene Parmesan in Arrested Development.
Always a delight to see him on screen.
32. Carl Weathers
He was in Predator, Happy Gilmore, and gave a delightful turn as an exaggerated version of himself in Arrested Development. He had a late career run in the Star Wars universe and had recently transitioned into directing, but his obituary begins and ends with Apollo Creed.
31. Glynis Johns
She won a Tony and was Oscar nominated for The Sundowners, but is best remembered as the suffragette mother in Mary Poppins and was so memorable in the role she was honored as a Disney Legend.
30. Bernard Hill
A respected British actor who gained a Hollywood following for his roles as Captain Edward Smith in Titanic (1997) and Théoden in The Lord of the Rings.
29. Alain Delon
A lion of French cinema. Purple Noon (1960), Rocco and His Brothers (1960), L’eclisse (1962), The Leopard (1963), Le Cercle Rouge (1970).
For a decade, he was the the foremost French actor and became a sort of archetype.
He never really broke into mainstream Hollywood films, but his career could not have been bigger in his native France.
28. Chita Rivera
A Broadway legend appearing in productions of Chicago, West Side Story and many others. She was a ten-time Tony nominee. Sadly, her film career was less expansive, so she wasn’t as well known as she could have been.
27. Alice Munro
An acclaimed writer of short stories, she was one of the preeminent Canadian literary voices (along side Margaret Atwood) and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2013.
However, shortly after her death, her daughter accused her of covering up abuse perpetrated by her stepfather (Munro’s second husband). This revelation has forced critics to reexamine her work.
26. Joe Flaherty
SCTV (1976 – 1984), 1941 (1979), Johnny Dangerously (1984), Stripes (1981), Back to the Future Part II (1989), Detroit Rock City (1999), Happy Gilmore (1996), Freaks and Greeks (1999 – 2000).
He wasn’t a flashy name, and never a leading man, but an always funny utility man.
25. Louis Gossett Jr.
A Raisin in the Sun (1961), The Landlord (1970), the Iron Eagle series (1988 – 1995). An Emmy for Roots (1977); an Oscar for An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). He continued to act until the last years of his life in a pivotal role in Watchmen (2019), the remake of The Color Purple (2023), and IF (2024).
Jaws 3-D (1983) was one of those VHS tapes I grew up watching way too many times and is my fondest memory of him (Yes, I am aware of how bad the movie is).
24. John Landau
He helped produce many of James Cameron’s films, including Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009).
Three billion dollar movies on your resume is pretty exclusive company.
23. Marshall Brickman
A moderately successful banjo player who briefly played with John and Michelle Phillips, he achieved his greatest renown working with Woody Allen in the 1970s, co-writing the seminal films Sleeper (1973) and Annie Hall (1977).
He also cowrote Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) and the musical Jersey Boys.
22. Shelley Duvall
Another lion of my childhood bites the dust. I grew up watching Robert Altman’s Popeye (1980) where Duvall was perfection as Olive Oyl.
At my house, we rewatched Faerie Tale Theatre (1982 – 1987) all the time. It wasn’t until I was almost ten before I realized Shelley Duvall wasn’t the biggest star in the world.
Only much later, did I discover her seminal work in The Shining (1980).
Never a prototypical looking star, she was nonetheless hugely successful. From the mid 70s to mid 80s, she was on top of the world. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1970), Nashville (1975), Annie Hall (1977), Popeye (1980), The Shining (1980), Time Bandits (1981), and Roxanne (1987) is a murder’s row. Sadly towards the end of her life, her mental stability was questioned and she fell out of favor, but she will always have a special place in my memory.
21. O.J. Simpson
A Hall of Fame NFL Career; Heisman Trophy; prominent sideline reporter; respectable Hollywood career (especially in the Naked Gun movies); impressive career as a pitchman (most famously for Hertz).
All of this is overshadowed by the events of June 1994.
His arrest and trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman captivated a nation. For eighteen months, OJ was all we could think about and the trial coverage transformed the way we consume news.
The subject of numerous documentaries and fictional recreations, his story remains a cultural flashpoint thirty years later.
20. Dabney Coleman
9 to 5. Wargames. On Golden Pond. His movies were a huge part of my childhood; that gorgeous mustache looms large in many of my formative memories.
19. Dikembe Mutombo
There aren’t many men who grew up in the 1990s who don’t recognize him; his signature taunt (a wagging finger) was emulated thousands of times in playgrounds and backyards by a generation.
18. Bob Newhart
One of the best deadpan deliveries in showbiz history. He was a leading TV star for twenty years over several different programs, including two eponymous ones.
The ending of Newhart is rightly credited as one of the best series finales.
A 60 year career, a 70 year marriage. A lifelong friend in Don Rickles. The Mark Twain Prize.
Elf (2003) and The Big Bang Theory bought him renewed relevance in the 21st century.
One of the funniest and most unlikely stars of the Hollywood era.
17. Gena Rowlands
Two Oscar nominations for her work with husband John Cassavettes in A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980). An Honorary Oscar and a late career turn in The Notebook (1974).
She was indie before indie was cool and her seminal work helped define art house cinema in the US.
16. Terri Garr
The Conversation (1974). Young Frankenstein (1974). Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). An Oscar nominee for Tootsie (1982). A favorite guest of David Letterman and the lynchpin of many classic bits on his show. Phoebe’s mom in Friends and starred in one of the seminal films of my childhood, Mr. Mom (1983).
She was underrated perfection and will be sorely missed.
15. Bill Cobbs
A fifty year career which included The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich (1978), Trading Places (1983), Silkwood (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), The Color of Money (1986), The Bodyguard (1992), Demolition Man (1993), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), First Kid (1996), That Thing You Do (1996), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Hope Floats (1998), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), and A Mighty Wind (2003).
Late in life, he had his biggest brush with fame partnered with Mickey Rooney and Dick van Dyke in the Night at the Museum (2006) series.
14. Willie Mays
Among the first wave of superstar black players following Jackie Robinson into Major League Baseball, he was a transcendent player for the New York / San Francisco Giants, revered among baseball fans and as famous as any athlete in the 1960s. However, because he didn’t monetize his image or opportunities as much as some of his contemporaries and his post baseball life was relatively quiet, he’s not as well known by younger generations as he should be.
13. Norman Jewison
His eclectic oeuvre included The Cincinnati Kid (1965); The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966); Best Picture winner In the Heat of the Night (1967); The Thomas Crown Affair (1968); Fiddler on the Roof (1971); Jesus Christ Superstar (1973); A Soldier’s Story (1984); Moonstruck (1987), and Hurricane (1999) and earned him three Best Director nominations. He epitomized a type of middlebrow intellectualism and his socially conscious work was one of the primary drivers of the issue driven auteur of New Hollywood.
12. Pete Rose
He has more hits than anyone else in MLB history, but his name is forever linked to a gambling problem which resulted in a lifetime ban from the sport and has (so far) prevented him from enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He was always a controversial figure (even when he played), but this was exacerbated by his stubborn refusal to show contrition for his obvious lapse of judgment.
11. Phil Donahue
Long before Oprah, he invented the modern day time talk show and his pioneering work kept him on TV for nearly thirty years.
There’s countless shows which owe him a large debt.
10. Bill Walton
A transcendent college basketball player at UCLA, followed by a great pro (albeit semi-controversial) career in Portland, San Diego / LA, and Boston. In retirement, he settled into a broadcasting career where his offbeat goofiness and low-key demeanor made him a favorite announcer and he flourished for twenty plus years in the role.
9. M. Emmet Walsh
Midnight Cowboy (1969), Little Big Man (1970), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), What’s Up Doc? (1972), Serpico (1973), Bound for Glory (1976), Mike and Nicky (1976), Slap Shot (1977), Airport ’77 (1977), The Jerk (1979), Ordinary People (1980), Reds (1981), Blade Runner (1982), Blood Simple (1984), Fletch (1985), Back to School (1986), Harry and the Hendersons (1987), Raising Arizona (1987), Romeo + Juliet (1996), My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), Wild Wild West (1999), The Iron Giant (1999), Knives Out (2019).
And that’s just his film work.
In a fifty year career, he was never not working.
He was such a successful character actor Roger Ebert created the Walsh / Stanton corollary: “no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad.”
8. Roger Corman
The king of B movies. His ability to produce a movie on time and under budget was legendary. His artistic sensibility wasn’t as developed, but his craftsmanship was unparalleled.
His influence is enormous; many huge directors came up under his tutelage (including James Cameron, Jonathan Demme, and Ron Howard).
Cheap, quickly made movies were his specialty and he was special at making them.
7. Jimmy Carter
The 39th President of the United States, his loss to Ronald Reagan defined an era.
Like many politicians who leave the arena, he rehabilitated his image into a a grand old man whose failure as a president was because he was too virtuous for the mess of politics. Faith and humility became his defining characteristics.
He won a Nobel Peace Prize for his post presidency efforts and authored numerous books (winning several Grammys for the audiobook versions).
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6. Donald Sutherland
The Dirty Dozen (1967), MASH (1970), Klute (1971), Don’t Look Now (1973), The Day of the Locust (1975), Animal House (1978), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) (spawning one of the all time best GIFS), Ordinary People (1980), JFK (1990), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), Six Degrees of Separation (1993), Space Cowboys (2000), Cold Mountain (2003), Pride and Prejudice (2005), and President Snow in the Hunger Games series (2012 – 2015). And he was the best part inf the 2020 Nicole Kidman miniseries The Undoing.
Unbelievably, he was never nominated for an Oscar, although he did get an Honorary one.
One of the best to every grace a screen, his 70s output was a legendary run.
5. Kris Kristofferson
A legendary figure in country music who wrote “Me and Bobby McGee,” defined “outlaw country” in the 1970s, and starred in the blockbuster remake of A Star is Born (1976) alongside Barbra Streisand. Younger generations probably know him best from a key turn in the Wesley Snipes led Blade (1998) movies.
He defined a whole genre of masculinity, a cross between Clint Eastwood and Alan Alda.
4. Jerry West
One of the most influential figures in NBA history. While he only won a solitary championship with the Lakers as a player, his presence as a player / coach / executive defined the league for half a century and he’s immortalized as the alleged inspiration for the league’s logo.
3. Maggie Smith
Oscar nominated as Desdemona opposite Laurence Olivier’s Othello (1965). An Oscar win for the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), followed by a second one for California Suite (1978).
Clash of the Titans (1981), Hook (1991), Murder by Death (1976), Death on the Nile (1978), Sister Act (1992), The First Wives Club (1996), Gosford Park (2001).
Of course, she’s now most famous as the beloved Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter films and, as the acerbic Dowager Countess, Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey, she proved she knew how to deliver a pitch perfect snide remark.
She was a larger than life presence and elevated everything she was in.
2. James Earl Jones
Icon is a word used far too liberally, but Jones is one who fits the bill. The voice of the one of the defining characters of the last fifty years (Darth Vader), plus pivotal roles in generational movies Field of Dreams (1989) and The Lion King (1994).
Two Tonys. One Grammy. Two Emmys. an Oscar nomination. Honorary Oscar and Lifetime Achievement Tony.
There are very few people who don’t know who he was and instantly recognize his thunderous voice.
He was a true legend for every bit of his 60+ year career.
1. Quincy Jones
Twenty eight Grammys. Grammy Legend Award. One Emmy. One Tony. Seven Oscar nominations. Honorary Oscar. Kennedy Center Honors. National Medal of the Arts.
He composed countless film scores and produced everything from Lesley Gore to Frank Sinatra to the theme for Sanford and Son to Michael Jackson.
He was an eclectic (possibly crazy) personality, who, late in life, gave incredible interviews where he said insane stuff like he knew who killed Kennedy and claimed he dated Ivanka Trump (who was fifty years his junior).
Legend of legends.