While the best and
worst of everything lists are compiled by others as another year draws to a
close, The Free Choice
E-zine continues it annual
tradition of pausing to briefly look back and remember those that are sadly no
longer with us.
Unfortunately we cannot post the whole
list; but amongst our family, friends, and loved ones; as well as those
within law enforcement, the medical/emergency services, and the military who lost
their lives helping and/or protecting others during 2011, we have also lost...
ACTORS
James Arness (Gunsmoke)
Trevor Bannister (Are You Being Served? Last of the Summer
Wine)
Roberts Blossom (Home Alone, Close Encounters of the Third
Kind, Doc Hollywood
William Campbell (Love Me Tender, 1960s Star Trek)
Charlie Callas (Switch, History of the World: Part 1)
Jeff Conway (Grease, Taxi, Babylon
Jackie Cooper (The Little Tramp, Superman 1)
John Dye (Touched By An Angel)
Peter Falk (Columbo, The Princess Bride)
Michael Gough (Batman, Sleepy Hollow)
Farley
Granger (Rope, Strangers on a Train)
Edward Hardwicke (Watson to
Jeremy Britt’s Sherlock Holmes)
Len Lesser (Kelly’s Heroes, Seinfeld,
Everybody Loves Raymond)
Kenneth Mars (in the original
versions of The Producers and Young Frankenstein)
Harry Morgan (Dragnet, M*A*S*H)
Charles Napier (The Blues Brothers, Rambo: First Blood: Part
2)
David Nelson (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet)
Pete Postlehwaite (The Usual Suspects, Inception)
“Uncle Frank” Potenza
Francesco Quinn (Platoon)
Cliff Robertson (Charly, Spiderman 1, PT109)
Roy Skelton, long time
supporting voice actor on Doctor Who,
Rainbow
Karl Slover (The Wizard of Oz)
Leonard Stone (General Hospital
Andy Whitfield (Spartacus: Blood and Sand)
ACTRESSES
Annette Charles (Grease)
Mary Fickett (All My Children)
Betty Garrett (Take Me Out To The Ballgame, On The Town, Laverne
and Shirley)
Jane Russell (The Outlaw, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
Maria
Schneider (Last Tango In Paris)
Clarice Taylor (Sesame
Street
Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra, Butterfield 8)
Sada Thompson (Family)
ATHLETES/SPORTS
FIGURES
Margo Dydek, of the Connecticut
Suns Women’s Basketball Association
Joe Frazier, boxer
Greg Halman, professional
baseball player with the Seattle Mariners
Harmon Killebrew, former play
and announcer for the Minnesota Twins baseball team
Jack LaLanne, fitness guru
Randy “Macho Man” Savage,
professional wrestler
Bubba Smith, former professional
football player turned actor
Gene Smith, professional
baseball player with the “Negro” Leagues
Duke Snider, professional
baseball player with the Brooklyn and Los
Angeles Dodgers
CREATIVE
PERSONNEL
Eduardo Barreto, comic book
artist
John Barry, movie composer (From Russia
With Love, Out of Africa )
David Broder, journalist and
author
Joseph Brooks, songwriter (You Light Up My Life)
David Burton, artist
Sue Carroll, journalist
Gene Colan, long time comic book
artist
Ed Flesh, art director who
created the actual Wheel of Fortune
wheel
Helen Frankenthaler, painter
accredited with developing the color field style
Dolores Fuller, actress (Glen or Glenda, Jailbait) and songwriter
for Elvis Presley movies
Christopher Hitchens, author and
journalist
Bil Keane, creator of The Family Circus
Don Kirshner, record producer
(The Monkees, The Archies)
Jerry Lieber, songwriter of hits
including: Stand By Me, Hound Dog,
and Jailhouse Rock
Sidney Lumet, director (12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon)
Hugh Martin, songwriter (Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, The
Trolley Song)
Anne McCaffrey, author/creator
of Pern, Restoree, Acorna, and much
more
Dwayne McDuffie, comic book
writer/artist/editor (Milestone Media, DC Comics)
Barbara Orbison, record producer
and widow of Roy Orbison
Bill Rechin, created the comic
strips Out of Bounds and Crock
Jerry Robinson, comic book
artist who created Batman’s Joker
Sylvia Robinson; singer, record
producer, co-founder of Sugar Hill Records
Ken Russell, director (Tommy)
Sol Saks, child actor turned
writer who created Bewitched
Sherwood Schwartz, television
producer, creator of Gilligan’s Island and the Brady
Bunch
Joe Simon, comic book artist and
co-creator of Captain America with the late Jack Kirby
Jack Smith, artist
Leonard B. Stern, creator of The Honeymooners concept and creator of Mad Libs
Fred Steiner, composer of
original Perry Mason, Star Trek, and Twilight Zone television themes
Cy Twombly, artist
Lanford Wilson, playwright
Tom Wilson, Senior; Creator and
original artist on Ziggy comic strip
Laura Ziskin, movie producer and
co-founder of Stand Up 2 Cancer
ENTERTAINERS
Dolores Hope, singer and widow
of Bob Hope
“Heavy D”, rapper/actor (The Cider House Rules, Boston
Patrice O’Neal, comedian (Head of State, Scary Movie 4, Opie and
Anthony)
Andy Rooney, long time 60 Minutes commentator
HISTORIC
Warren Christopher, Secretary of
State for former United States President Bill Clinton
James Elliot, astronomer who
discovered the rings of Uranus
Geraldine Ferraro, first female
candidate for President of the United
States
Betty Ford, widow of former United States President Gerald Ford and founder of a famous clinic
Muammar Gaddafi, leader of Libya
Vaclav Havel, playwright and
former President of Czechoslovakia
Rusty Hevelin, noted name in
pulp and science fiction fandom
Steve Jobs, technology pioneer
and co-founder of Apple Computers
Kim Jong-il, leader of North Korea
Jack Kevorkian, aka “Doctor
Death”
Sargent Shiver, first director
of the Peace Corps
MUSICIANS
Nick Ashford of Ashford and
Simpson
Clarence Clemons, saxophonist of
The E Street Band
Nate Dogg, rapper
Andrew Gold, singer/songwriter (Lonely Boy, Thank You For Being A Friend)
Dobie Gray, singer/songwriter (Drift Away)
Gil Scott-Heron, poet and author
Paul Motain, jazz drummer
Gary Moore, Thin Lizzy guitarist
Joe Morello, jazz drummer
“Pinetop” Perkins, blues man
Johnny Preston, singer (Running Bear)
Gerry Rafferty, former member of
Stealers Wheel and solo artist (Baker Street
Gerard Smith, bassist with TV on
the Radio
Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, blues
man
Phoebe Snow, blues
performer/writer
Mikey Welsh, bassist for Weezer
Vesta Williams, rhythm and blues
singer (Once Bitten, Twice Shy)
Amy Winehouse, singer
Snooky Young, jazz trumpeter
DISHONORABLE MENTION
Osama bin Laden, terrorist
founder of al-Qaeda responsible for September 11, 2001 attack against America and other acts of terrorism against the world
NOTE: Except for the last one, all
categories and the names within them are alphabetical.
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