Every year, we lose several famous people. Some are expected due to illness and advanced age, but others are snatched from us to leave a gaping hole. They live on in our memories and we send our support to those close to them who have to deal with their own individual loss of loved ones.
Patrick McGoohan (1928-January 13, 2009) wrote and directed many episodes of the original cult classic The Prisoner, he had a memorable role as Edward Longshanks in Mel Gibson's Braveheart.Ricardo Montalban (1920-January 14, 2009) will be forever remembered for his role of Mr Rourke on television's Fantasy Island, but Montalban had a lengthy film career from the 1940s. He was the infamous Khan from the Star Trek series in the 1960s and reprised the role for 1982's Star Trek ll: The Wraith Of Khan. Montalban had been comfined to a wheelchair since 1993, paralyzed from the waist down following lengthy surgery to repair spinal injuries that plagued the actor after a fall while filming Across the Wide Missouri in 1951.
James Whitmore (1921-February 6, 2009) will probably be best remembered by younger folks as the old con Brooks Hatlen who ran the library in the critically acclaimed movie The Shawshank Redemption, but Whitmore had an extensive theatre background, with many television appearances including everything from The Twilight Zone to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He was also nominated for an Oscar for his one man portrayal of President Harry S. Truman in 1975.
Ron Silver (1946-March 15, 2009) seemed to be everywhere on television, first appearing for 2 years as the downstairs neighbor of Valerie Harper on Rhoda from 1976-78, followed by numerous television and film roles including The West Wing, and Veronica's Closet.
Natasha Richardson (1963-March 18, 2009) died following a skiing accident with her family. Natasha Richardson was a member of the famous Redgrave family and had been an actress since the mid-1980s, protraying Mary Shelley, and Patty Hearst, up to 2008's Wild Child. She was married to actor Liam Neeson.
Bea Arthur (1922-April 25, 2009) was probably best known for 2 major television roles: Maude from 1972-78, and The Golden Girls (1985-92), winning Emmys for both series.
Dom DeLuise (1933-May 4, 2009) one of my personal favorite actors started out working with Burt Reynolds in several films in the 1970s after appearing with Dean Martin on Martin's television show. DeLuise also lent his voice to many animated films and was a regular contributer to movies by Mel Brooks.
David Carradine (1936-June 3, 2009) first rose to fame as Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s acclaimed series Kung Fu, which was supposed to be a vehicle for Bruce Lee, but Carradine made it his own. Carradine made over 100 movies and appeared in several television shows, including reprising his role of Caine in the 1990s. Most recently he was in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill series, as Bill. Carradine was also the son of noted character actor John Carradine (1906-1988).
Farrah Fawcett (1947-June 25, 2009) received massive popularity for her role as private investigator Jill Munroe in the 1970s television series Charlie's Angels, becoming a cultural icon for beauty at the time. She received acclaim for later dramatic roles such as an abused wife in The Burning Bed. She died from cancer after a lengthy battle.
Michael Jackson (1959-June 25, 2009) was the self-proclaimed "King of Pop" and one of the most successful musical artists of all time. The first half of his life was showered with acclaim from his multi-million selling albums, but later life was marred by near-bankruptcy, plastic surgery disasters and rumors of the sexual abuse of children. Jackson death was surprising, but details would follow outlining massive drug usage which possibly played had a part in his death from cardiac arrest.
Karl Malden (1912-July 1, 2009) had a remarkable career in film and television, appearing with such greats as Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (receiving an Oscar for that movie) and On The Waterfront (nominated for another Oscar) in the 1950s, as well as 1970's Patton, and on television for The Streets Of San Francisco with a youthful Michael Douglas. Maldon was nominated 4 times for Emmys for his role of Mike Stone. Maldon was also married to Mona Greenberg for 70 years, notable not only inside Hollywood circles, but also in the world at large.
Patrick Swayze (1952-September 14, 2009) had his breakthrough role with 1987's Dirty Dancing opposite Jennifer Grey, but he had been making movies for several years prior to that massively successful hit movie, including Red Dawn (which is currently being re-done, with newcomer Chris Hemsworth taking Swayze's role) and The Outsiders. Following Dirty Dancing, he also appeared in another famous role opposite Demi Moore in Ghost. Most recently, Swayze was on the television series The Beast. Swayze passed away following a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Al Martino (1927-October 13, 2009) was perhaps been remembered as singer Johnny Fontane in the movie The Godfather, but Martino also was a great singer in his own right, with several hits from the 1950s including many successful albums.
Joseph Wiseman (1918-October 19, 2009) was the very first Bond villan, appearing as the infamous Dr. No in 1962, opposite Sean Connery as James Bond. Other films included The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and Viva Zapata! opposite Marlon Brando. He also played against Sir Laurence Olivier in The Betsy in 1978.
Richard Todd (1919-December 3, 2009) was primarily an actor on the English stage and film. His film career stretched from 1949's The Hasty Heart to 1983's House of the Long Shadows. He was also a captain during the D-Day landings. He also appeared in the classic D-Day film The Longest Day.
Gene Barry (1919-December 9, 2009) was an actor on television, stage and screen. His film career was from 1952 up to 2005 when he had a cameo in Steven Spielberg's 2005 War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise. Barry had been in the original classic War of The Worlds in 1953 as Dr. Clayton Forrester. Barry also had several successful television series, with a recurring role in the Eve Arden series, Our Miss Brooks. It was after this series that he was cast as the lead character in Bat Masterson. Barry would appear in two more television series, The Name of the Game, and Burke's Law; winning the 1965 best actor Golden Globe for Burke's Law. The series returned to television in 1993-94 with Barry again as the title character of Burke.
Jennifer Jones (1919-December 17, 2009) was an Oscar winner for her 1943 role in The Song of Bernadette. Jones was also nominated 4 more times for an academy award. Her career spanned from 1939 up til her final movie, 1974's The Towering Inferno where she danced with Fred Astaire, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.
Brittany Murphy (1977-December 20, 2009) was a youthful actress, best known for movies such as 1995's Clueless with Alicia Silverstone and Girl, Interrupted with Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. For more on Murphy, see The Shocking Death Of Brittany Murphy.
