Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant was killed in a private helicopter crash in Los Angeles. Photo / Getty Images
Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant was killed in a private helicopter crash in Los Angeles. Photo / Getty Images
In a year defined by a devastating pandemic, the world lost iconic celebrities and entertainers who helped define their genres.
Many of their names hold a prominent place in the collective consciousness — Eddie Van Halen, Little Richard, Sean Connery, Alex Trebek, Kenny Rogers — but pandemic restrictions often limited the public's ability to mourn their loss in a year that saw more than a million people die from the coronavirus.
Some of the year's deaths struck down relatively young people, leaving mourners with the heartbreak of a life gone too soon.
In a shock to fans, actor Chadwick Boseman, who inspired audiences with his portrayal of comic book superhero Black Panther, died of cancer in August at age 43.
Others in the world of arts and entertainment who died in 2020 include actors Olivia de Havilland, Kirk Douglas, Irrfan Khan, Max von Sydow, Diana Rigg, Ian Holm, Rishi Kapoor and Franca Valeri; musicians Ellis Marsalis Jr, John Prine, Bonnie Pointer, Juliette Greco and Toots Hibbert; filmmakers Nobuhiko Obayashi, Joel Schumacher and Ivan Passer; authors Mary Higgins Clark and Clive Cussler; TV hosts Regis Philbin and Jim Lehrer; magician Roy Horn; and fashion designer Kenzo Takada.
Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2020 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):
JANUARY
•Nick Gordon, 30. He was found liable in the death of his ex-partner, Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of singers Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. January 1. Heroin overdose.
•Neil Peart, 67. The renowned drummer and lyricist from the influential Canadian band Rush. January 7.
•Ivan Passer, 86. A leading filmmaker of the Czech New Wave who with Milos Forman fled Soviet-controlled Prague and forged a celebrated career in Hollywood. January 9.
Terry Jones from Monty Python. Photo / Getty Images
•Terry Jones, 77. A founding member of the anarchic Monty Python troupe who was hailed by colleagues as "the complete Renaissance comedian" and "a man of endless enthusiasms." January 21.
FEBRUARY
•Andy Gill, 64. The guitarist who supplied the scratching, seething sound that fuelled the highly influential British punk band Gang of Four. February 1.
Actor Kirk Douglas . Photo / File
•Kirk Douglas, 103. The intense, muscular actor with the dimpled chin who starred in Spartacus, Lust for Life and dozens of other films, helped fatally weaken the blacklist against suspected communists and reigned for decades as a Hollywood maverick and patriarch. February 5.
•Joseph Shabalala, 78. The founder of the South African multi-Grammy-Award-winning music group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. February 11.
MARCH
•James Lipton, 93. The longtime host of "Inside the Actors Studio." March 2. Cancer.
•Max von Sydow, 90. The actor known to art house audiences through his work with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman and later to moviegoers everywhere when he played the priest in the horror classic "The Exorcist." March 8.
•Lyle Waggoner, 84. He used his good looks to comic effect on "The Carol Burnett Show," partnered with a superhero on Wonder Woman and was the first centrefold for Playgirl magazine. March 17.
Kenny Rogers. Photo / File
•Kenny Rogers, 81. The Grammy-winning balladeer who spanned jazz, folk, country and pop with such hits as Lucille, Lady and Islands in the Stream and embraced his persona as The Gambler on records and TV. March 20.
•Bill Withers, 81. He wrote and sang a string of soulful songs in the 1970s that have stood the test of time, including Lean on Me, Lovely Day and Ain't No Sunshine. March 30.
APRIL
•Ellis Marsalis Jr., 85. The jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan. April 1. Coronavirus.
•Adam Schlesinger, 52. An Emmy and Grammy-winning musician and songwriter known for his work with his band Fountains of Wayne and on the TV show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. April 1. Coronavirus.
•Honor Blackman, 94. The potent British actress who took James Bond's breath away in Goldfingerand who starred as the leather-clad, judo-flipping Cathy Gale in The Avengers. April 5.
•Brian Dennehy, 81. The burly actor who started in films as a macho heavy and later in his career won plaudits for his stage work in plays by William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller. April 15.
•Irrfan Khan, 54. A veteran character actor in Bollywood movies and one of India's best-known exports to Hollywood. April 29.
•Rishi Kapoor, 67. A top Indian actor who was a scion of Bollywood's most famous Kapoor family. April 30.
MAY
•Roy Horn, 75. He was half of Siegfried & Roy, the duo whose extraordinary magic tricks astonished millions until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act's famed white tigers. May 8. Coronavirus.
•Little Richard, 87. He was one of the chief architects of rock 'n' roll whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black r'n'b to white America. May 9. Bone cancer.
•Betty Wright, 66. The Grammy-winning soul singer and songwriter whose influential 1970s hits included Clean Up Woman and Where is the Love. May 10.
Actor Jerry Stiller. Photo / File
•Jerry Stiller, 92. For decades, he teamed with wife Anne Meara in a beloved comedy duo and then reached new heights in his senior years as the high-strung Frank Costanza on the classic sitcom Seinfeld and the basement-dwelling father-in-law on The King of Queens. May 11.
•Astrid Kirchherr, 81. She was the German photographer who shot some of the earliest and most striking images of the Beatles and helped shape their trend-setting visual style. May 12.
•Fred Willard, 86. The comedic actor whose improv style kept him relevant for more than 50 years in films like This Is Spinal Tap, Best In Show and Anchorman. May 15.
•Christo, 84. He was known for massive, ephemeral public arts projects that often involved wrapping large structures in fabric. May 31.
•Bonnie Pointer, 69. She convinced three of her church-singing siblings to form the Pointer Sisters, which would become one of the biggest acts of the 1970s and 80s. June 8. Cardiac arrest.
•Vera Lynn, 103. The endearingly popular "Forces' Sweetheart" who serenaded British troops during World War II. June 18.
•Ian Holm, 88. An acclaimed British actor whose long career included roles in Chariots of Fire and The Lord of the Rings. June 19.
•Joel Schumacher, 80. The eclectic and brazen filmmaker who shepherded the Brat Pack to the big screen in St Elmo's Fire and steering the Batman franchise into its most baroque territory in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. June 22.
•Carl Reiner, 98. The ingenious and versatile writer, actor and director who broke through as a "second banana" to Sid Caesar and rose to comedy's front ranks as creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show and straight man to Mel Brooks' 2000 Year Old Man. June 29.
•Johnny Mandel, 94. The Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer, arranger and musician who worked on albums by Frank Sinatra, Natalie Cole and many others and whose songwriting credits included The Shadow of Your Smile and the theme from the film and TV show M*A*S*H. June 29.
JULY
•Nick Cordero, 41. A Tony Award-nominated actor who specialized in playing tough guys on Broadway in such shows as Waitress, A Bronx Tale and Bullets Over Broadway. July 5. Coronavirus.
•Ennio Morricone, 91. The Oscar-winning Italian composer who created the coyote-howl theme for the iconic spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and soundtracks for such classic Hollywood gangster movies as The Untouchables and Once Upon A Time In America. July 6. Complications of surgery after a fall.
•Charlie Daniels, 83. Country music firebrand and fiddler who had a hit with Devil Went Down to Georgia. July 6. Stroke.
Actress Naya Rivera in Glee. Photo / File
•Naya Rivera, 33. A singer and actor who played a gay cheerleader on the hit TV musical comedy Glee. July 8. Drowning.
•Kelly Preston, 57. She played dramatic and comic foil to actors ranging from Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Twins and was married to actor John Travolta. July 12. Cancer.
•Regis Philbin, 88. The genial host who shared his life with television viewers over morning coffee for decades and helped himself and some fans strike it rich with the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. July 24.
•Peter Green, 73. The dexterous blues guitarist who led the first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac in a career shortened by psychedelic drugs and mental illness. July 25.
•Olivia de Havilland, 104. The doe-eyed actress beloved to millions as the sainted Melanie Wilkes of Gone With the Wind, but also a two-time Oscar winner and an off-screen fighter who challenged and unchained Hollywood's contract system. July 26.
•Alan Parker, 76. A successful and sometimes surprising filmmaker whose diverse output includes Bugsy Malone, Midnight Express and Evita. July 31.
•Wilford Brimley, 85. He worked his way up from movie stunt rider to an indelible character actor who brought gruff charm, and sometimes menace, to a range of films that included Cocoon, The Natural and The Firm. August 1.
Actor Chadwick Boseman. Photo / AP
•Chadwick Boseman, 43. He played black American icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown with searing intensity before inspiring audiences worldwide as the regal Black Panther in Marvel's blockbuster movie franchise. August 28. Cancer.
SEPTEMBER
Actress Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in The Avengers. Photo / Getty Images
•Diana Rigg, 82. A commanding British actress whose career stretched from iconic 1960s spy series The Avengers to fantasy juggernaut Game of Thrones. September 10.
•Toots Hibbert, 77. One of reggae's founders and most beloved stars who gave the music its name and later helped make it an international movement through such classics as Pressure Drop, Monkey Man and Funky Kingston. September 11.
•Helen Reddy, 78. She shot to stardom in the 1970s with her rousing feminist anthem I Am Woman and recorded a string of other hits. September 29.
American musician Eddie Van Halen. Photo / Getty Images
•Eddie Van Halen, 65. The guitar virtuoso whose blinding speed, control and innovation propelled his band Van Halen into one of hard rock's biggest groups and became elevated to the status of rock god. October 6. Cancer.
•Johnny Nash, 80. A singer-songwriter, actor and producer who rose from pop crooner to early reggae star to the creator and performer of the million-selling anthem I Can See Clearly Now. October 6.
•Spencer Davis, 81. A British guitarist and bandleader whose eponymous rock group had 1960s hits including Gimme Some Lovin and I'm a Man. October 19.
•Sean Connery, 90. The charismatic Scottish actor who rose to international superstardom as the suave secret agent James Bond and then abandoned the role to carve out an Oscar-winning career in other rugged roles. October 31.
•Alex Trebek, 80. He presided over the beloved quiz show Jeopardy! for more than 30 years with dapper charm and a touch of schoolmaster strictness. November 8.
•Soumitra Chatterjee, 85. The legendary Indian actor with more than 200 movies to his name and famed for his work with Oscar-winning director Satyajit Ray. November 15. Coronavirus.
Actor David Prowse. Photo / AP
•Dave Prowse, 85. The British weightlifter-turned-actor who was the body, though not the voice, of archvillain Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy. November 28.
DECEMBER
•David L Lander, 73. An actor who played the character of Squiggy on the popular ABC comedy Laverne & Shirley. December 4.
