LOST IN 2019
children with her iconic book, among other classics, like the Mog series.
NIKI LAUDA: The Formula One racer was a three-time world champion, taking the F1 title for Ferrari in 1975 and 1977, and for McLaren in 1984. Lauda was badly burned in 1976 in a crash and later became an airline entrepreneur with Lauda Air. He also underwent a double lung transplant.
DORIS DAY: The legendary singer and actress died after a showbiz career of more than 80 years. One of Day’s bestloved roles was the title role of Oscar award-winning 1953 western-themed musical Calamity Jane.
FREDDIE STARR: The comedian and impressionist, who became famous in the early 1970s, was also a singer. Well known for a tabloid headline, in 2011 he was also a contestant on I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here.
JONATHAN ALI: A hugely-respected BBC journalist and historian, Ali passed away aged 50 after an illness. In 2018 a survey of journalists named him one of the most respected reporters in the country. And in April 2017, when a fire broke out at the Christie Hospital while he was being treated, ‘Jali’ was first on the scene to report live on radio and TV.
ALAN TAYLOR: The former Rochdale council leader was 75. Mr Taylor first became leader of the Liberal Group in Rochdale in the 1980s before serving as Lib Dem council leader from 2006 to 2010.
JUNE
JOSE ANTONIO REYES: The ex-Arsenal and Spain forward died in a car crash at the age of 35. He was part of the club’s famous ‘Invincibles’ side of 2004 that won the Premier League without losing a match.
JUSTIN EDINBURGH: Leyton Orient manager Edinburgh died at the age of 49. The former Tottenham Hotspur defender had travelled to Spain to watch his beloved Spurs, in the Champions League Final. But he was taken to hospital after suffering cardiac arrest shortly after returning home.
JULY
PAULA WILLIAMSON: The former Coronation Street actress was found dead at her home in Stoke-on-Trent. She was 38. Williamson married infamous prisoner Charles Bronson but had filed for divorce at the time of her death.
TANYA JONES: Footballer-turnedfilm star Vinnie Jones’ wife Tanya died after a six-year battle with cancer. She was 53 and passed away at home in Los Angeles surrounded by her loved ones.
JOHN MCCRIRICK: Sports broadcaster McCririck was 79. Known as ‘Big Mac’ to many in the racing world, he was a familiar face on Channel 4’s coverage of the sport for many years.
ECHO THE DOG: Echo was the most decorated fire service dog in the country. He carried out more than 70 missions with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service over 10 years and left a life-saving legacy behind him. The specialist search and rescue Labrador was 16 and lived in Bolton with his owner.
COLIN BLANEY: Tributes were paid in July to former United football hooligan turned author Colin Blaney following his death. Colin’s 2004 book Grafters exposed gang crime in Europe in the late 1970s and Undesirables: The Inside Story of the Inter City Jibbers, published 10 years later in 2014, chronicled his life as a member of a United hooligan firm. The lifelong United fan, who turned his back on crime two decades ago and was known to many as ‘Beaner’, had been battling cancer.
He was 63.
AUGUST
PETER FONDA: Hollywood acting legend and star of Easy Rider, Fonda was 79. He died after suffering respiratory failure, brought on by lung cancer. The 1960s icon was part of an acting dynasty; the son of Henry Fonda, the brother of Jane and the father of Bridget.
SEPTEMBER
ROBERT MUGABE: Former Zimbabwean prime minister Mugabe liberated Zimbabwe from the injustices of a racist minority rule system. But by the time he was ousted, after nearly 40 years in power, he had himself been condemned as a tyrant against a backdrop of land seizures, violence, corruption and economic decline.
JACQUES CHIRAC: The former French president was 86. The leader was in office for 12 years, but saw his legacy tarnished when he was convicted of corruption in 2011.
LEAH BRACKNELL: The actress, famous for playing Zoe Tate in Emmerdale, died from lung cancer. Aside from starring on our TV screens, she was also a yoga teacher. The soap star was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2016 and died just three years later, leaving behind her husband and two children. She was 55.
VIC LEZAL: Manchester music impresario Vic was 73. He made his name as the leader of Vic Lezal And the Professionals, which was the house band at The Ritz nightclub from 1973 for 37 years. His 16-piece covers band performed behind pop stars such Little Richard, Andy Williams and Engelburt Humperdinck when they came to Manchester. Although he never left his modest home in New Moston, he made his fortune not as a band leader but by acting as the manager for a series of other bands. And he joked about how he once turned down The Stone Roses.
OCTOBER
PETER SISSONS: Sissons was the face of shows including the BBC Nine O’Clock News and the Ten O’Clock News for a decade from 1993 until 2003. He’d previously read the news on both ITV and Channel 4, and he was also well known as a host of Question Time. He was 77.
DAVID MEEK: David spent 38 years as the M.E.N.’s United reporter, taking over the role when his predecessor Tom Jackson was killed in the Munich air disaster.
He went on to cover United’s first European Cup win on the famous night at Wembley in 1968 when the Red Devils became the first English team to win the trophy, as well as the club’s 1974 relegation to the Second Division following Sir Matt Busby’s retirement and the first decade of Sir Alex
Ferguson’s trophy-laden reign. Following his retirement from the M.E.N., David, of Sale and later Milton Keynes, went on to write Fergie’s programme notes, helped set up the United museum at Old Trafford and scripted the panels for the Munich memorial tunnel at the ground.
SHAHED MOHAMMED: Tributes were paid in October to the much-loved owner of a clothes shop who kitted out generations of south Manchester school children. Shahed Mohammed, who owned uniform shop Shareen Fashions in Chorlton, passed away after a long battle with cancer. The dad-of-three ran the business for decades, and was well known for his sense of humour and kind and generous nature. When Shahed, 54, retired on health grounds and closed the shop in 2018, it marked the end of an era for Chorlton’s high street.
NOVEMBER
GARY RHODES: The flamboyant TV chef, famed for his spiky hair, fell ill suddenly while filming a new show and died at home in Dubai. He was 59.
CLIVE JAMES: James, the Australiaborn TV star, died aged 80 almost 10 years after he was diagnosed with leukaemia. He moved to England in 1961 and shot to fame as a book critic and TV columnist. After studying in Cambridge he went on to write for The Times and The Observer as a TV critic. He became a small screen star himself in 1982 by delivering cutting criticism on TV shows on his own ITV programme, Clive James On Television.
DECEMBER
BOB WILLIS: Former England cricket captain Willis was 70. The pace bowler played 90 Tests for England and was a popular figure in broadcasting following his retirement from cricket in 1984. Willis’ most famous moment as a player came in the 1981 Ashes series as his eight for 43 fired England to a remarkable win at Headingley.
JEFFREY WORRALL: Jeffrey Worrall, known to everybody as Jeff, sold ice-creams to customers from his van in Partington and Urmston for more than 15 years. The 53-year-old died after suffering from a bleed on the brain. He was known for giving out free ice creams to families struggling for money.
DAVID BELLAMY: The iconic TV and naturalist was 86. The larger than life character inspired a generation who grew up with his enthusiastic, eccentric presenting style on a host of BBC shows from the 1970s onwards.
MARTIN PETERS: England’s 1966 World Cup-winning hero Martin Peters died before Christmas at the age of 76. Peters won 67 caps for England, scoring 20 goals from midfield including one on July 30, 1966, as England beat West Germany 4-2 to win the World Cup at Wembley.