Deaths in arts, entertainment in 2016
2016 was a year in which we lost a startling number of entertainment giants, from music stars George Michael and Sharon Jones to beloved actors including Milwaukee native Gene Wilder and Carrie Fisher.
Here is a roll call of some of the people in arts and entertainment who died in 2016 from July through December. (A listing of those who died in the first half of the year appeared on Friday’s Tap Daily page.)
Cause of death is cited for younger people, if available.
July
Michael Cimino, 77. Oscar-winning director whose film “The Deer Hunter” became one of the triumphs of Hollywood’s 1970s heyday and whose disastrous “Heaven’s Gate” helped bring that era to a close. July 2.
Abbas Kiarostami, 76. Iranian director whose 1997 film “Taste of Cherry” won the Palme d’Or and who kept working despite government resistance. July 4.
Alan Vega, 78. Punk pioneer who helped form the duo Suicide, widely regarded as a forerunner of punk and electronic music. July 16.
Marni Nixon, 86. Hollywood voice double whose singing was heard in place of the leading actresses’ in such movie musicals as “West Side Story,” “The King and I” and “My Fair Lady.” July 24.
Rev. Tim LaHaye, 90. Co-author of the “Left Behind” series, a multimillion-selling literary juggernaut that brought end-times prophecy into mainstream bookstores. July 25.Youree Dell Harris,
53. Actress who became famous playing the psychic Miss Cleo, claiming to know callers’ futures in ubiquitous TV infomercials and commercials. July 26.
Gloria DeHaven, 91. Daughter of vaudevillians who carved out her own career as the star of Hollywood musicals and comedies of the 1940s and ’50s. July 30.
August
Pete Fountain, 86. Clarinetist whose Dixieland jazz virtuosity and wit endeared him to his native New Orleans and earned him national television fame. Aug. 6.
Kenny Baker, 81. He played R2-D2 in the “Star Wars” films, achieving cult status and fans’ adulation without showing his face or speaking any lines. Aug. 13.
Fyvush Finkel, 93. Plastic-faced Emmy Award-winning actor who started in Yiddish theater and later had memorable roles in “Fiddler on the Roof” on Broadway and on TV in “Boston Public” and “Picket Fences.” Aug. 14.
Bobby Hutcherson, 75. One of jazz’s most inventive vibraphonists. Aug. 15.
John McLaughlin, 89. Conservative commentator and host of a long-running television show that pioneered hollering-heads discussions of Washington politics. Aug. 16.
Arthur Hiller, 92. Oscar nominee for directing “Love Story” during a career that spanned dozens of popular movies and TV shows. Aug. 17.
Toots Thielemans, 94. Belgian harmonica player whose career included playing with jazz greats like Miles Davis and whose solos have figured on numerous film scores. Aug. 22.
Sonia Rykiel, 86. French designer dubbed the “queen of knitwear” whose relaxed sweaters in berry-colored stripes and eye-popping motifs helped liberate women from stuffy suits. Aug. 25.
Gene Wilder, 83. Actor and Milwaukee native who brought his deft comedic touch to such roles as the neurotic accountant in “The Producers” and the mad scientist of “Young Frankenstein.” Aug. 28.
Juan Gabriel, 66. Mexican songwriter and singer. Aug. 28.
September
Jon Polito, 65. Raspy-voiced actor whose 200-plus credits ranged from “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Modern Family” to the movies “Barton Fink” and “The Big Lebowski.” Sept. 1.
Hugh O’Brian, 91. He shot to fame as Sheriff Wyatt Earp in what was hailed as television’s first Western for grownups. Sept. 5.
Johan Botha, 51. Tenor whose light but muscular voice dazzled audiences at the world’s top operatic stages. Sept. 8.
Lady Chablis, 59. Transgender performer who became a celebrity for her role in the 1994 bestseller “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” Sept. 8.
Jack Hofsiss, 65. Stage and screen director who won a Tony Award for directing “The Elephant Man” on Broadway and kept working despite an accident that left him without the use of his arms and legs. Sept. 13.
Edward Albee, 88. Three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who challenged theatrical convention in masterworks such as “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “A Delicate Balance.” Sept. 16.
W.P. Kinsella, 81. Canadian novelist who blended magical realism and baseball in the book that became the movie “Field of Dreams.” Sept. 16.
Charmian Carr, 73. Actress best known for sweetly portraying the eldest von Trapp daughter in “The Sound of Music.” Sept. 17.
Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural Jr., 68. Musician who introduced zydeco music to the world through his band Buckwheat Zydeco. Sept. 24.
Jean Shepard, 82. “The grand lady of the Grand Ole Opry” who had a long recording career in country music. Sept. 25.
October
Joan Marie Johnson, 72. A founding member of the New Orleans girl group The Dixie Cups, who had a No. 1 hit in 1964 with “Chapel of Love.” Oct. 3.
Andrzej Wajda, 90. Poland’s leading filmmaker, whose career maneuvering between a repressive communist government and an audience yearning for freedom won him international recognition and an honorary Oscar. Oct. 9.
Dario Fo, 90. Italian playwright whose energetic mocking of Italian political life, social mores and religion won him praise, scorn and the Nobel Prize for literature. Oct. 13.
Jack T. Chick, 92. His cartoon tracts preached fundamentalist Christianity while vilifying secular society, evolution, homosexuality, and the beliefs of Catholics and Muslims. Oct. 23.
Bobby Vee, 73. Boyish, grinning 1960s singer whose career was born when he took a stage as a teenager to fill in after the 1959 plane crash that killed rock ‘n’ roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. Oct. 24.
November
Jean-Jacques Perrey, 87. French composer and pioneer of electronic pop music best known for co-writing “Baroque Hoedown,” used as the music for the Main Street Electrical Parade at Disney theme parks. Nov. 4.
Leonard Cohen, 82. Canadian singersongwriter who blended spirituality and sexuality in such songs as “Hallelujah” and “Suzanne.” Nov. 7.
Robert Vaughn, 83. Oscar-nominated actor whose many film roles were eclipsed by his popular turn in television’s “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” Nov. 11.
Gwen Ifill, 61. Co-anchor of PBS’ “News-Hour” and a veteran journalist who moderated two vice presidential debates. Nov. 14.
Holly Dunn, 59. Country singer who had a hit in 1986 with “Daddy’s Hands,” about her minister father. Nov. 14.
Mose Allison, 89. Pianist and singer whose witty lyrics delivered over a backdrop of boogie-woogie blues and jazz piano influenced musicians across a wide spectrum. Nov. 15.
Mentor Williams, 70. Award-winning songwriter behind the 1970s hit “Drift Away.” Nov. 16.
Sharon Jones, 60. Powerhouse singer who shepherded a soul revival despite not finding stardom until middle age. Nov. 18. Cancer.
Florence Henderson, 82. Broadway star who became one of America’s most beloved television moms in “The Brady Bunch.” Nov. 24.
Fritz Weaver, 90. Tony-winning actor who played Sherlock Holmes and Shakespearean kings on Broadway while also creating memorable roles on TV and film. Nov. 26.
Grant Tinker, 90. He brought new polish to the TV world with beloved shows including “Hill Street Blues” as both a producer and a network boss. Nov. 28.
December
Jayaram Jayalalithaa, 68. South Indian actress who turned to politics and became the highest elected official in the state of Tamil Nadu. Dec. 4.
Esma Redzepova, 73. One of the most powerful voices in the world of Gypsy music. Dec. 11.
Joe Ligon, 80. Singer and frontman of the Grammy-winning gospel group Mighty Clouds of Joy. Dec. 11.
E.R. Braithwaite, 104. Guyanese author, educator and diplomat whose years teaching in the slums of London’s East End inspired the international bestseller “To Sir, With Love” and the movie of the same name. Dec. 12.
Alan Thicke, 69. Versatile performer who gained his greatest renown as the beloved dad on the sitcom “Growing Pains.” Dec. 13.
Zsa Zsa Gabor, 99. Jet-setting Hungarian actress and socialite who helped invent a new kind of fame out of multiple marriages, conspicuous wealth and jaded wisdom about the glamorous life. Dec. 18.
Richard Adams, 72. Author of classic adventure novel “Watership Down.” Dec. 24.
George Michael, 53. Singer and songwriter who shot to stardom at an early age in the teen duo WHAM! and moved smoothly into a solo career. Dec. 25.
Ricky Harris, 54. Comedian and actor who had a recurring role on TV’s “Everybody Hates Chris” and contributed to several hiphop albums. Dec. 26.
Carrie Fisher, 60. Daughter of actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher who became an indelible part of pop culture with her role as Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” movies, and later through a series of humorous memoirs. Heart attack. Dec. 27.
Debbie Reynolds, 84. Actress and entertainer whose career started at the end of Hollywood’s golden age with such classics as “Singin’ in the Rain,” and continued for a half-century, inexorably linked in the final decades to that of her daughter, Carrie Fisher. Stroke. Dec. 28.