In Memoriam: Influential People We've Lost in 2019
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Take a look back at the people we've lost in 2019, including politicians, artists and other public figures.
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“Mean” Gene Okerlund circa 1998 during a WCW braodcast. The commentator and interviewer died at age 76, according to a statement provided by the WWE on Jan. 2.
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Bob Einstein, the comedic writer and performer known for his acting on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and for his character as Super Dave Osborne, died on Jan. 2 at the age of 76, according to a statement from his brother, filmmaker Albert Brooks. He is seen here on June 27, 2018, in Hollywood, California.
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Daryl Dragon, one half of husband-and-wife pop act Captain and Tennille, died on Jan. 2, at the age of 76, according to his publicist. He is seen here at the Bellagio on July 27, 2005, with his ex-wife and bandmate Toni Tennille.
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Photoshot via Getty Images
American actress, singer, comedian and Broadway icon Carol Channing kickstarted a career that spanned decades with her portrayal of Dolly Levi in “Hello, Dolly.” The Tony Award winner died on Jan. 15, according to her publicist. Channing would have turned 98 on Jan. 31.
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French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist Michael Legrand recording with Phil Woods in London, Feb. 17, 1975. The Oscar-winner died on Jan. 26, 2019, at the age of 86.
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Actor Kristoff St. John as seen in this 2018 promotional photo for “The Young and the Restless.” The star played Neil Winters in the long-running CBS drama since 1991. He was found in his San Fernando Valley home on Feb. 3, at the age of 52.
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British actor Albert Finney at the Deauville Festival of American Film in France. Finney’s acting career spanned five decades, first with his breakthrough role as the titular character in the 1963 movie “Tom Jones” to the James Bond 2012 flick “Skyfall.” Finney died at the age of 82, according to his family.
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Christophe Ena/AP
Chanel’s iconic couturier, Karl Lagerfeld, whose accomplished designs as well as trademark white ponytail, high starched collars and dark enigmatic glasses dominated high fashion for the last 50 years, has died. He was around 85 years old.
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Peter Tork, bassist and singer of famed pop band The Monkees, in concert at The Stadium in Sydney on Sept. 21, 1968. Tork died on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, at the age of 77.
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ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images
Katherine Helmond as seen in a shoot for the sitcom “Soap” on Sept. 1, 1978. Helmond, an Emmy-nominated and two-time Golden Globe-winning actress, also starred in “Who’s the Boss?” and “Everybody Loves Raymond. She died on Feb. 23, at the age of 89.
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FilmMagic
“Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Riverdale” star Luke Perry died at age 52 Monday, March 4, 2019, after being hospitalized for a massive stroke.
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Julia Ruth Stevens, daughter of Babe Ruth, throws out a ceremonial first pitch before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays on July 9, 2016 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Stevens died at age 102 on Saturday, March 9, 2019.
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Editor-in-chief of Thrasher magazine Jake Phelps at the Museum of Modern Art on October 15, 2009, in New York City. Phelps died on March 14, 2019, at 56 years old.
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Dick Dale, known as “The King of the Surf Guitar,” performs at B.B. King Blues Club in New York on May 27, 2007. The surf rocker, who was credited with the invention of surf music by Rolling Stone magazine two months before Beach Boys released their first hit, died at the age of 81 after decades of performances.
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Agnes Varda poses next to her installation “La serre du bonheur”, presented as part of her exhibition at the Chaumont-sur-Loire castle on March 23, 2019. The artist, activist and new wave film director was a fixture in the European film scene as one of the few women directors around. Varda died at age 90.
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Actress Georgia Engel arrives at the 2005 Creative Arts Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on Sept. 11, 2005, in Los Angeles, Calif. Engel, best known for her role as Georgette on ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show,’ died April 12 in Princeton, New Jersey, at the age of 70, a friend confirmed.
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Nipsey Hussle performs onstage at the Warner Music Pre-Grammy Party in Los Angeles on Feb. 7, 2019. The Grammy-nominated rapper was shot and killed outside an L.A. clothing store he owns on Sunday, March 31, 2019. He was 33.
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WireImage
Actor Ken Kercheval and wife Ava Fox attend the ‘Fifth Anniversary Celebration of USA Today’ on Sept. 10, 1987, at Culver Studios in Culver City, California. Kercheval, who played Cliff Barnes on the hit TV series “Dallas” has died at age 83.
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In this Sept. 2, 2015, file photo, former Republican Senator Richard Lugar waits backstage before introducing Secretary of State John Kerry for a speech on the nuclear agreement with Iran at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Lugar passed away on April 28, 2019. He was 87.
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John Singleton arrives to the premiere Of FX’s “Snowfall” Season 2 at July 16, 2018, in Los Angeles, California. Singleton’s family said Monday, April 29, 2019, that he died after being taken off life support.
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WireImage
Peter Mayhew’s family announced on Thursday, May 2, 2019 he had died at age 74. Mayhew was best known for his role as Chewbacca in the ‘Star Wars’ series.
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Hollywood icon and animal rights activist Doris Day, as seen in this portrait taken for “The Doris Day Show,” in 1968. Day, born Doris Mary Kappelhoff, died at the age of 97.
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Actor and comedian Tim Conway as seen in this 1965 portrait. Conway, best known for his guest spots on “The Carol Burnett Show” and as Ensign Charles Parker on “McHale’s Navy,” died at the age of 85 following an illness.
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Architect I.M. Pei Speaks after being honored with an Ellis Island Family Heritage Awards at the Ellis Island Museum, April 21, 2004 in New York City. A spokesman confirmed on Thursday, May 16, 2019, that Pei died at age 102.
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Former Boston Red Sox player Bill Buckner throws out the ceremonial first pitch at the MLB baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers on April 8, 2008, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Buckner’s family announced his death on Monday, May 27, 2019.
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Dr. John (Malcolm John “Mac” Rebennack) performs on Feb. 9, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. The New Orleans singer and piano player who blended black and white musical styles with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl, died June 6, 2019, his family said. He was 77.
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Rapper Bushwick Bill of The Geto Boys performs at the Beach Goth Festival at Los Angeles State Historic Park, Aug. 5, 2018, in Los Angeles. The diminutive, one-eyed rapper who with The Geto Boys helped put the South’s stamp on rap died June 9, 2019, at the age of 52.
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Activist and socialite Gloria Vanderbilt was a household name through sensational headlines that followed from a childhood custody battle to her life through four marriages and three divorces. She “lived her entire life in the public eye,” her son, journalist Anderson Cooper said, during a CNN segment announcing her death. She died at the age of 95 on June 17.
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Ford Motor Co. President Lee A. Iacocca, leaning against a Ford Mustang. The ex-Chrysler CEO died at age 94 on July 2, 2019, in Bel Air, California.
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US billionaire Ross Perot waves as he enters the Reform Party national convention July 24, 1999, in Dearborn, Michigan. NBC 5 has confirmed on Tuesday, July 9, 2019, Ross Perot died at age 89.
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Actor Rip Torn attends the world premiere of the Twentieth Century Fox film “Dodgeball” at the Mann Village Theater June 14, 2004, in Westwood, California. The Emmy winner died at the age of 88 on July 9, 2019, his publicist confirmed.
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In this May 21, 2012, file photo, retired U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens addresses the American Law Institute’s annual meeting at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. Stevens, the bow-tied, independent-thinking, Republican-nominated justice who unexpectedly emerged as the Supreme Court’s leading liberal, died Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., after suffering a stroke Monday.
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Rutger Hauer, the Dutch leading man of the ’70s who went on star in the 1982 “Blade Runner” as Roy Batty, died at age 75 on July 19, 2019, at his home in the Netherlands after a short illness.
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Broadway director and producer Harold “Hal” Prince died at age 91 on July 31, 2019 in Reykjavik, Iceland.
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Actor Peter Fonda poses during the red carpet prior the opening ceremony of the Guadalajara International Film Festival 2019 at Auditorio Telmex. The two-time Oscar nominee, brother of Jane Fonda and son of Hollywood legend Henry Fonda, died at age 79, his family said on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019.
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Actress Valerie Harper poses for a portrait in circa 1975. Harper, who scored guffaws and stole hearts as Rhoda Morgenstern on back-to-back hit sitcoms in the 1970s, has died, Friday, Aug. 30, 2019. She was 80.
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Eddie Money, the rocker that swept the 80s with “Two Tickets to Paradise,” “Take Me Home Tonight,” and “Baby Hold On” died at 70, according to his family. He had revealed he had stage 4 esophageal cancer on Twitter last month.
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Ric Ocasek of The Cars performs during the 33rd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Public Auditorium on April 14, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. Ocasek died on Sept. 15, 2019. He was 75.
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Long-time ABC and NPR news analyst Cokie Roberts died at 75, according to ABC. Roberts joined the network in 1988, at a time when prominent roles in journalism were dominated by men.
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Legendary actor Diahann Carroll, seen as her character Julia Baker here, died at the age of 84, according to her daughter. Carroll died of cancer, her daughter said.
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In this Sept. 13, 2016 file photo, ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., listens during a hearing on “Examining Preservation of State Department Federal Records” before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Cummings has died from complications of longtime health challenges, his office said in a statement on Oct. 17, 2019.
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AP
In this Dec. 21, 2009, file photo, John Witherspoon leaves a taping of “The Late Show with David Letterman” in New York. Actor-comedian Witherspoon, who memorably played Ice Cube’s father in the “Friday” films, has died at age 77. Witherspoon’s manager Alex Goodman confirmed late Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019, that Witherspoon died in Los Angeles.
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Psychic Walter Mercado poses for a portrait in 2001 in Los Angeles, California. Mercado died at age 87 on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019.
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Marie Fredriksson of Swedish Pop band Roxette performs during a concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, April 16, 2011. Fredriksson died at the age of 61 on Dec. 10, according to her management agency.
