While 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 the innocents who died needlessly at the hands of others; our family, friends, and loved ones; as well as those within law enforcement, medical/emergency services, and the military personnel who lost their lives helping and/or protecting others during 2015, we have also lost...
ACTORS
Kinya Aikawa (Japanese actor and anime voice artist)
Peter Baldwin (
Coronation Street)
James Best (
The Dukes of Hazard, Sounder)
Theodore Bikel (
My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof)
Richard Bonehill (
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Doctor Who)
|
Martin E. Brooks |
Martin E. Brooks (
The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Dallas)
Edward Burnham (
To Sir With Love, Doctor Who)
Paul Campbell (
The Fighter, American Hustle)
David Canary (
Bonanza, All My Children)
Jonathan Crombie (
Anne of Green Gables)
Rick Docummun (
The Burbs, Groundhog's Day)
Richard Dysart (
L.A. Law, Wall Street)
Gabriele Ferzetti (
James Bond: On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Once Upon A Time In The West)
Bob Hornery (
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, The Importance of Being Ernest)
Actor/teacher Bruce Hyde (Lt. Kevin Riley on the original
Star Trek)
Saeed Jaffrey (
The Man Who Would Be King)
Dean Jones (
That Darn Cat, The Love Bug, Beethoven)
Louis Jordan (Gigi, James Bond's Octopussy)
Irwin Keyes (
House of 1000 Corpses, The Jeffersons, movie version of
The Flintstones)
Sir Christopher Lee (Too numerous to mention)
Geoffrey Lewis (
High Plains Drifter, Bronco Billy)
Stephen Lewis (
Last of the Summer Wine, Don't Drink the Water)
Robert Loggia (
Scarface, Jagged Edge)
Tony Longo (Too numerous to mention)
Nathaniel Marston (
One Life To Live)
Patrick Macnee (BBC's
The Avengers, the original
Battlestar: Galactica)
Windell Middlebrooks (
Body of Proof, Scrubs, Miller High Life commercials)
Martin Milner (
Route 66, Adam-12)
|
Al Molinaro |
Warren Mitchell (
Till Death Do Us Part, Death of a Salesman)
Al Molinaro (
Happy Days, The Odd Couple)
Ron Moody (
Oliver!, Eastenders)
Dickie Moore (Our Gang comedies,
Oliver Twist, Sgt. York)
Aubrey Morris (
A Clockwork Orange, The Wicker Man)
Taylor Negron (
Fast Times at Ridgemont High, One Crazy Summer)
Olaf Pooley (
Doctor Who, Star Trek: Voyager)
Roger Rees (
Cheers, The West Wing, Nicholas Nickleby)
Reynaldo Rey (
227, White Men Can't Jump, Friday)
Andrew Rubin (
Mary Hartman/Mary Hartman, Police Academy)
Omar Shariff (
Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, Funny Girl)
Nicholas Smith (
Are You Being Served?, Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Doctor Who)
Alan Steel (
Samson, Hercules Against the Moon Men)
Sawyer Sweeten (
Everybody Loves Raymond)
Rod Taylor (original versions of
The Time Machine and
101 Dalmatians, The Birds, Inglourious Basterds)
Nigel Terry (
Excalibur)
Fred Thompson (
Law and Order)
Tom Towels (
NYPD Blue)
Anthony Valentine (
Coronation Street, Escape to Athena)
Dick Van Patten (
Eight is Enough, Spaceballs)
Ben Woolf (
American Horror Story: Freak Show)
ACTRESSES
Laura Antoneilli (
Till Marriage Do Us Part, The Innocent)
Lynn Borden (
Bob and Carol & Ted and Alice, Hazel)
|
Yvonne Craig |
Catherine E. Coulson (best known as The Log Lady on
Twin Peaks)
Yvonne Craig (originated the role of Batgirl, and played a host of other parts)
Child actress Suzanne Crough (Tracy on
The Partridge Family)
Donna Douglas (
Frankie and Johnny, originated the role of Ellie May Clampett on
The Beverly Hillbillies)
Ellen Albertini Dow (
The Wedding Singer, Patch Adams, The Wedding Crashers)
Anita Ekberg (
La Dolce Vita, Paris Holiday, Back From Eternity)
Patricia Elliot (
A Little Night Music, One Life To Live)
Coleen Gray (
Nightmare Alley, The Killing, Kiss of Death)
Mary Healy (
Second Fiddle, Star Dust)
Joan Leslie (
High Sierra, Sgt. York, Yankee Doodle Dandy)
Marjorie Lord (
The Danny Thomas Show)
Anne Kirkbride (
Coronation Street)
Judith Malina (
Dog Day Afternoon, The Sopranos)
Jayne Meadows (
I've Got A Secret, City Slickers 1 and 2, Undercurrent)
Geraldine McEwan (
Miss Marple)
Kitty McGeever (
Emmerdale)
Maureen O'Hara (the original
Miracle on 34th Street, How Green Was My Valley)
Moira Orfei (
Scent of a Woman)
Natasha Parry (
Romeo and Juliet, OH! What A Lovely War!)
Melody Patterson (
F Troop, the original
Hawaii 5-0)
Amanda Peterson (
Can't Buy Me Love)
Luise Rainer (
The Good Earth, The Great Ziegfeld)
Telenovela actress Lorena Rojas
|
Grace Lee Whitney |
Lizabeth Scott (
I Walk Alone, Dark City)
Rose Siggins (
American Horror Story)
Mildred Joanne Smith (
No Way Out)
Shirley Stelfox (
Keeping Up Appearances, Coronation Street)
Lela Swift (
Dark Shadows, Ryan's Hope)
Mary Ellen Trainor (
The Goonies)
Alberta Watson (
24, Nikita)
Grace Lee Whitney (
Batman, original
Star Trek)
Elizabeth Wilson (
The Graduate, 9 to 5)
Stage Actress Julie Wilson (
Kismet, The Pajama Game)
Pauline Yates (
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Bachelor Father, Keep It In The Family)
ATHLETES/SPORTS FIGURES
|
Yogi Berra |
Former boxer and actor Frank Albanese (
The Sopranos, Goodfellas)
Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs.
Legendary baseball player/manager Yogi Berra.
Formula One driver Jules Bianchi.
Pioneer motorcycle racist Geoff Duke.
Former football player and sportscaster Frank Gifford.
Marques Haynes of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Meadowlark Lemon of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Professional basketball player Moses Malone.
Minnie Miñoso: Professional baseball player known as “The Cuban Comet” and “Mister (Chicago) White Sox”.
Earl Lloyd, first African-American player in professional basketball.
Wrestler/actor "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (born Roderick Toombs)
Wrestler Dusty Rhodes.
Stuart Scott of ESPN.
Professional racer Justin Wilson.
CREATIVE PERSONNEL
Hazel Adair, co-creator of the long running British soap opera
Crossroads.
|
Murphy Anderson |
Syrian archaeologist Khaled al-Asaad.
Legendary comic book artist Murphy Anderson.
Singer/actress Cilla Black (real name Priscilla White)
Screenwriter Michael Blake (
Dances With Wolves)
Film producer Larry Brezner (
Throw Momma From The Train, Good Morning Vietnam!)
Journalist David Carr (
The New York Times)
Songwriter Wayne Carson ("The Letter", "Always On My Mind", "Neon Rainbow")
Sculptor Robert Clatworthy.
Famed romance novelist Jackie Collins.
Screenwriter Douglas S. Cook (
The Rock, Double Jeopardy)
Actor/producer Kevin Corcoran (
Pete's Dragon, Old Yeller, Sons of Anarchy)
Horror film director Wes Craven (
A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream)
Author E. L. Doctorow (
Ragtime, Billy Bathgate)
Illustrator/Cartoonist Roy Doty (
Judy Blume books, comic strip adaption of
Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In)
Artist Brett Ewins (
Judge Dredd)
Author Dan Fante (
Chump Change, Mooch)
Artist Don Featherstone, creator of the plastic pink flamingo.
|
Don Featherstone and Friends |
Adrian Frutiger, designer of the fonts Univers, Frutiger, Avenir, and Vectora; amongst many others.
Sculptor/animator Blaine Gibson (Disney's versions of
Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, and
Peter Pan)
Director Richard Glatzer (
Still Alice)
Film producer Samuel Goldwyn, Junior.
Author Robert Gover ($100
Misunderstanding, On The Run With Dick and Jane)
Author Günther Grass (
The Tin Drum, Dog Years)
Film producer Michael C. Gross (
Ghostbusters 1, Heavy Metal 1, Beethoven 1)
Film director/producer John Guillermin (
The Towering Inferno, 1976 version of
King Kong)
Irwin Hasen (Golden Age comic book artist, creator of
Wildcat and
Dondi)
Singer Mariem Hassan, known as the Voice of the Sahara.
Novelist Hazel Holt (the
Sheila Malory series)
Composer James Horner (
Titanic, Field of Dreams, Apollo 13)
Comedian Marty Ingels (numerous TV appearances and voice acting roles)
Video game programmer and executive Satoru Iwata of Nintendo
Author George Clayton Johnson (
Ocean's 11, Twilight Zone and
Star Trek episodes, co-author of
Logan's Run)
Artist Alan Kupperberg (
Spiderman, Thor, Little Orphan Annie)
Playwright and actor Jack Larson, best remembered as Jimmy Olsen on
The Adventures of Superman.
Author Tanith Lee (
The Secret Books of Venus, Blake's 7)
Poet Philip Levine (
Stranger to Nothing, Not This Pig)
Author Henning Mankell (
Inspector Kurt Wallander mysteries)
Songwriter Michael Masser ("Saving All My Love For You", "Theme from Mahogany")
Author Hilary Masters (
The Common Pasture, Elegy for Sam Emerson)
Documentaryist Albert Maysles (
Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens)
Cartoonist Tom Moore (the Archie franchise)
|
Sir Terry Pratchett |
British novelist and comedy writer David Nobbs (
The Two Ronnies, Fairly Secret Army)
Reporters Alison Parker and Adam Ward of WDBJ-TV, assassinated on air by an ex-coworker.
Author Sir Terry Pratchett (The
Discworld series and other works)
Director David A. Prior (
Zombie Wars, Raw Justice, Deadly Prey)
Noted Creole/Cajun Chef Paul (Gene Autry) Prudhomme.
Author Ruth Rendell (The
Inspector Wexford Series and other mysteries)
Film Producer Jack Rollins (
The Purple Rose of Cairo, Midnight in Paris)
Actor/playwright/artist/poet Remo Remotti.
Director Francesco Rosi (
The Mattei Affair, The Truce)
The innocent victims of the San Bernardino, California shooting.
Journalist Bob Simon (
60 Minutes)
Producer Sam Simon (
The Simpsons, Cheers, The Drew Carey Show)
Bert Shavitz, founder of the environmentally friendly line of Bert's Bees products.
Voice actress Susan Sheridan (
The Black Cauldron, The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy)
Comic book writer Roger Slifer.
Leonard Starr (
Mary Perkins On Stage, Little Orphan Annie revival,
Thundercats)
Screenwriter Stewart Stern (
Rebel Without A Cause; Rachel, Rachel)
Author Anne Strieber (
An Invisible Woman, Little Town Lies)
Author Melanie Tem (
Prodigal, Blood Moon)
Songwriter Allan Toussaint ("Working In A Coal Mine", "Southern Nights")
Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer.
Comic book artist Herb Trimpe (co-creator of Wolverine character)
Carson Van Osten, musician (The Nazz) and Walt Disney Studios artist.
Movie producer Jerry Weintraub (George Clooney's version of
Ocean's 11, Diner, the original
Karate Kid)
Cinematographer and director Haskell Wexler (
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,
Bound for Glory, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
Film producer Elmo Williams (
High Noon, The Longest Day; Tora, Tora, Tora)
Producer Bud Yorkin (
All in the Family, Maude, Sanford and Son)
ENTERTAINERS
Big Band Leader/songwriter/composer Van Alexander (too numerous to mention)
Bobbi Kristina Brown.
Judy Carne of
Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.
Actor/Comedian Jack Carter (
Cavalcade of Stars, Dr. Kildare)
Gospel music legend Andrae Crouch.
Val Doonican ("Walk Tall", "Elusive Butterfly")
Comedian Stan Freberg (
Saint George and the Dragonet)
Jack Ely of The Kingsmen ("Louie Louie")
Singer/songwriter José Manuel Figueroa Figueroa.
Singer Frankie Ford ("Sea Cruise")
Lesley Gore (“It's My Party”, “California Nights”, “You Don't Own Me”)
Comedian Don Harron (
Hee Haw)
Blues Legend B. B. King.
Singer Ben E. King ("Stand By Me", "A Rose In Spanish Harlem")
Singer Johnny Kemp (“Just Got Paid”)
Country singer Red Lane ("Till I Get It Right")
Jazz singer Cynthia Layne
Singer/Actress Monica Lewis (
Earthquake)
Wally Lester of the singing do-wop group The Skyliners.
Singer Denise Lor ("I'll Give My Heart To You")
|
Leonard Nimoy |
Anne Meara (of Stiller and Meara)
Leonard Nimoy (Actor:
Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, writer, director:
Three Men and A Baby, photographer, singer)
Gary Owens (Famed radio announcer, originated voice of
Space Ghost,
Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In)
Game show emcee Jim Perry (
Card Sharks, Sale of the Century)
Rapper Sean Price.
Singer Billy Joe Royal ("Down in the Boondocks", "Cherry Hill Park")
Singer Percy Sledge (“When A Man Loves A Woman”)
Singer/songwriter P. F. Sloan ("Eve of Destruction", "Secret Agent Man")
Blaze Starr, noted burlesque performer.
HISTORIC
King Abdullah bin Abdulazuz al Saud of Saudi Arabia.
Egyptian Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat.
Jacob Bekenstein, a theoretical physicist of black hole thermodynamics.
Jeremy Carter, grandson of former President Jimmy Carter.
Beau Biden, American Vice President Joe Biden's son.
The victims of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooting: DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, State Senator Clementa Pinchkey, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson.
Mario Cuomo (Governor of New York State from 1983-1994)
Chandra Bahadur Dangi, the world's shortest man.
Famed trauma surgeon Doctor James "Red" Duke.
Former Nobel Prize laureate Alfred G. Gilman (co-discover of G-proteins)
|
Rosie the Riveter |
The victims of the Charlie Hebdo massacre: Frederic Boisseau, Philippe Braham, Franck Brinsolaro, Jean Cabut, Elsa Cayat, Stéphane Charbonnier (aka Charb), Yohan Cohen, Yoav Hattab, Philippe Honoré, Bernard Maris, Police Officer Ahmed Merabet, Mustapha Ourrad, Clarissa Jean-Phillipe, Michel Renaud, Francois-Michel Sadda, Tignous, Bernard Verlhac, Georges Wolinski.
2010 Chemistry Nobel Laureate Richard F. Heck.
Sylvia Hitchcock (Miss Universe 1967)
Former President of India P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Mary Doyle Keefe, the model for the iconic World War 2 image of Rosie the Riveter.
A suicide bombing in Attock, Pakistan killed 19 people, including the Punjab Province's Interior Minister Shuja Khanzada.
Cynthia Lennon, first wife of musician John Lennon.
Canada's first female Foreign Minister Flora MacDonald.
Mathematician John Forbes Nash, Junior (1994 Nobel Prize for Economics, his life story inspired the Oscar-winning film
A Beautiful Mind)
Former Prime Minister of Vanuatu Edward Natapei.
Boris Nemtsov, former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia.
The victims of the cowardly attacks on civilians in Paris, France November 13th.
Yevgeny Primakov, Russian Prime Minister from 1998-1999.
Elizabeth Brown Pryor, diplomat and historian.
Civil Rights Activist Amelia Boynton Robinson.
Avijit Roy, activist for peace and free speech in the Middle East.
Noted Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks.
Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, former Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia
Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of Germany from 1974-1982.
The victims of the Chattanooga, South Carolina shooting: Sgt. Carson A. Holmquist, Petty Officer Randall Smith, Gunnery Sgt. Thomas J. Sullivan, Lance Cpl. Squire K. Wells, Staff Sgt. David A. Wyatt.
Charles H. Townes, co-inventor of the Maser.
Nicolas Winton, known by many as "The British Schindler" for saving children from Nazi concentration camps during World War 2
Former Olympic athlete and member of the Tuskegee Airmen Mal Whitfield.
Lee Kuan Yew, the very first Prime Minister of Singapore.
Former South Korean President (1993-1998) Kim Young-sam.
MUSICIANS
Arthur Brooks of the musical Impressions.
Errol Brown of Hot Chocolate
“Little” Jimmy Dickens (Country Music Singer; “May the Great Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose”)
Jimmy Greenspoon of Three Dog Night.
Bassist Andy Fraser, who co-wrote “All Right Now”.
Bluegrass musician Ramona Jones (widow of Bluegrass musician "Grandpa" Jones)
Lemmy (born Ian Kilmister) of Motorhead.
Sam McClain, noted soul/blues singer.
Drummer A. J. Pero of Twisted Sister.
Mike Porcaro of Toto.
Rapper Pumpkin Head (Robert Alan Diaz)
Gary Richrath of REO Speedwagon.
Cynthia Robinson of Sly and the Family Stone.
Jazz artist Gunther Schuller.
Bob Simon, drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Chris Squire, singer/songwriter, founding bassist of YES
Dallas Taylor (Drummer for Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young)
Phil Taylor (Drummer for Motorhead)
Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots.
Cory Wells of Three Dog Night.
Famous session drummer Andy White (too many credits to mention)
DISHONORABLE MENTION
Suicide bombers, terrorists, and anyone else who would take another’s life without moral and/or legal justification.
NOTE: All categories and the names within them are alphabetical to the best of our human ability, except the last one.