By Shalene White shalene@madillrecord. net
Theyear2022ismorethan halfway over, and fans are already reeling from all the celebrities who have passed away this the year. According to Entertainment Weekly, the world has already lost over 100 celebrities.
The most recent and probably one that stings the most was Olivia Newton-John. Newton-John passed away August 8 after a decadeslong battle with cancer. The British-Australian pop star was 73 years old, and her husband said she passed away after repeated treatments for cancer.
“Dame Olivia Newton-John ... passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends,” John Easterling, her husband, said in a Facebook post. “We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.” “Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer,” Easterling continued. “Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated toresearchingplantmedicine and cancer.”
The actress rose to fame as Sandy in the musical “Grease,” and had a successful career that spanned five decades. She was an actress and a singer.
She was born in Cambridge, England in 1948. Her father was a War World II hero with the British military and a German Literature professor. Her maternal grandfather, Max Born, was aphysicistwhowontheNobel Prize in 1954 for his fundamental research in quantum physics.
The world has lost many celebrities since January.
Max Julien- starred in the classic 1973 Blaxploitation film The Mack, died New Year’s Day at age 88.
Jay Wolpert - producer and screenwriter known for hisworkonThePriceIsRight and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, died Jan. 3 in Los Angeles after a battle with Alzheimer’s
Jessie D - Jessie Lee Daniels, a.k.a. Jessie D, a founding member of the R&B and hip-hop group Force MDs, who helped paved the way for new jack swing, died Jan. 5 at 57.
Calvin Simon - founding member of the pioneering funk music group Parliament- Funkadelic, died Jan. 6 at the age of 79.
Sidney Poitier – a trailblazing actor who paved the way for Black stars in Hollywood by becoming the first Black man to win the Best Actor Oscar died Jan. 7.
Michael Lang - concert promoter, producer and cocreator the 1969 Woodstock festival, died Jan. 8 at 77.
Dwayne Hickman - TV executive and actor best known for his role as girlinfatuated teen Dobie Gillis in the CBS sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, died on Jan. 9 from complications of Parkinson’s disease..
Bob Saget - actor and comedian best knowns as DannyTanneronFullHouse and as host of America’s Funniest Home Videos, died Jan. 9. He was 65.
Robert Durst - New York real estate scion who was convicted of murdering his best friend to prevent her from telling authorities she helped cover up his wife›s killing, and whose participation in the high-profile true-crime miniseries The Jinx helped seal his fate, died in custody Jan. 10, at 78, while serving a life sentence. In addition to being convicted in the execution-style slaying of his close confidante Susan Berman in 2000, Durst was long suspected of foul play in the mysterious disappearance of his wife, Kathleen (née Mc-Cormack), in New York in 1982, and the death and dismemberment of his neighbor Morris Black in Texas later that year. In one of the most shocking and consequential moments in true-crime television, The Jinx ended with a hot-mic bombshell in which Durst could be heard muttering to himself in the bathroom, “That’s it, you’re caught,” and saying he “killed them all, of course.”
Rosa Lee Hawkins - member of the musical girl group the Dixie Cups, died Jan. 11 due to complications from surgery at the age of 76.
Fred Parris - leader of the doo-wop group the Five Satins who penned their signature hit “In the Still of the Night,” died Jan. 13 at the age of 85 after a brief illness.
Wavy Navy Pooh – Shandler Beaubien, better known as Miami rapper Wavy Navy Pooh, died Jan. 14 at the age of 28 from a reported drive-by shooting.
Yvette Mimieux - 1960s star of The Time Machine and Where the Boys Are died Jan. 8 at the age of 80.
Dick Halligan - founding member of the jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears, died Jan. 18 at the age of 78 of natural causes.
AndréLeonTalley–afashion journalist for Vogue for more than 40 years, died Jan. 18 at age 73.
Gaspard Ulliel – a French actor, died on Jan. 19 at age 37 in a skiing accident.
Hardy Krüger – the German actor died “suddenly and unexpectedly” on Jan. 19 at age 93.
Meat Loaf – Marvin Lee Oday, better known as the singer behind the 1977 Bat Out of Hell rock opera album, died Jan. 20, at the age of 74.
Louie Anderson - the TV star, stand-up comedian, and formerFamilyFeudhostdied Jan. 21, due to complications from cancer. He was 68.
Howard Hesseman, beloved for his sitcom roles in WKRP in Cincinnati and Head of the Class, died Jan. 29 in Los Angeles due to complications from colon surgery. The 81-year-old Hesseman first made his mark in TV with his role as radio disc jockey Johnny Fever in CBS’ WKRP in Cincinnati, which garnered him two Emmy nominations.
Chelsie Kryst, Miss USA 2019 and Extra correspondent at the age of 30. According to reports, Kryst died after jumping from a 60-story building in New York City. She was an attorney andwascrownedMiss USA as Miss North Carolina in May 2019. She and three other women — Nia Imani Franklin (Miss America) Kaliegh Garris(MissTeenUSA) and Zozibini Tunzi (Miss Universe) — became the first group of Black women to hold the titles in a single year.
Moses J. Moseley, an actor known for playing one of Michonne’s zombie companions on the popular AMC series TheWalkingDead,wasfound dead on Jan. 26. He was 31.
Betty Davis, a singer/ songwriter, died Feb. 9 at the age of 65.
Ian McDonald, a founding member of the rock bands KingCrimsonandForeigner, died at his home in New York on Feb. 9 at the age of 75 Lindsey Pearlman, a TV actresswhoappearedonGeneral Hospital and Chicago Justice, was found dead in Los Angeles on Feb. 18 after going missing days before at 43 years old.
Brad Johnson - famous for starring in Steven Spielberg’s romantic drama Always and for his turn on the Fox series Melrose Place, died Feb. 18 in Fort Worth, Texas. He was 62.
Gary Brooker, the Procol Harum frontman who cowrote and sang the pro-rock band’s biggest hit, “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” died Feb. 19 at 76.
Nightbirde, a breakout contestant on season 16 of America’s Got Talent, died on Feb. 19 after a battle with cancer. She was 31.
Mark Lanegan, the baritone- voiced grunge pioneer who fronted the rock band Screaming Trees and later served as a member of Queens of the Stone Age and the Gutter Twins, died Feb. 22 at 57.
Ralph Ahn, a character actor best known for portraying the largely silent but everinsightful Tran on New Girl, died Feb. 26 at 95.
Ned Eisenberg, a veteran character actor best known for his role as defense attorney Roger Kressler on the long-running crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, died of cancer Feb. 27. He was 65.
Johnny Brown, the actor, comedian, and singer best remembered for his role as housing project superintendent Nathan Bookman on Good Times, died March 2 at age 84.
John Stahl, the Scottish actor known for playing Rickard Karstark on Game of Thrones, died March 2 on the Scottish Isle of Lewis. He was 68.
Tim Considine, an actor best known for his roles on The Adventures of Spin and Marty and My Three Sons, died March 3 at 81.
Mitchell Ryan, a veteran character actor whose credits included the original Lethal Weapon, the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, and the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg, died March 4 of congestive heart failure. He was 88.
Emilio Delgado, best known for playing Luis, owner of The Fix-It Shop on Sesame Street, died Mar. 10 at age 81.
William Hurt, Oscarwinning actor best known for his roles in films such as Body Heat, Broadcast News, Children of a Lesser God, and A History of Violence, died March 13 from prostate cancer.
Taylor Hawkins, longtime Foo Fighters drummer, died March 25 at the age of 50.
Paul Herman, best known for playing club owner Peter “Beansie” Gaeta on The Sopranos and for his roles in mob films like Goodfellas and The Irishman, died March 29. He was 76.
Two members of the Mighty Diamonds, a pioneering reggaetrioformedin1969 thatrosetoprominenceinthe ‘70s, died within a few days of oneanother.TabbyDiamond, born Donald Shaw, was shot and killed outside his home in Kingston,JamaicaonMar.29 at age 66. Three days later, on April 1, Bunny Diamond, born Fitzroy Simpson, died April 1, at age 70.
EstelleHarris,bestknown for her role as pushy sitcom mom Estelle Constanza on the Emmy-winning series Seinfeld, died April 2 from natural causes at the age of 93.
Arthur “Archie” Eversole, the Atlanta rapper best known for his 2002 hit “We Ready,” died April 3 after being shot at a gas station nine days earlier. He was 37. DeKalb County police said that Eversole’s brother, Alexander Kraus, has been arrested and charged with his murder.
Bobby Rydell, teen idol of the late-’50s and early-’60s, died April 5 at age 79.
Rae Allen, best known for her memorable supporting roles in The Sopranos and A League of Their Own, died April 6 of natural causes at age 95.
Gilbert Gottfried died on April 12 at age 67, following a previously undisclosed illness.
Liz Sheridan, the veteran actress best known for playing Jerry’s adoring mother on Seinfeld and the nosy neighbor Mrs. Ochmonek on ALF, died April 15 of natural causes. She was 93.
Jim Hartz, the NBC news correspondent and anchor who co-hosted Today with Barbara Walters in the 1970s, died April 17 according to The New York Times. He was 82.
Robert Morse, the Tonyand Emmy-winning actor who memorably portrayed Bertram Cooper on seven seasons of the AMC drama Mad Men, died on April 20 at age 90.
Jossara Jinaro, an actress who appeared on such TV shows as ER, The Young and the Restless, and Judging Amy, died April 27 following a battle with cancer. She was 48.
Joanna Barnes, the actress and writer best known for her roles in The Parent Trap and Auntie Mame, died April 29. She was 87.
Naomi Judd, the singer known for her Grammy-winning work as half of country music duo the Judds, and the mother of Ashley and Wynonna Judd, died April 30 at age 76.
Mike Hagerty, the character actor best known for his recurring role as Mr. Treeger on Friends, died May 5. He was 67.
Kenneth Welsh, the prolific Canadian actor best known for his role as Twin Peaks villain Windom Earle, died May 5.
Bruce MacVittie, a veteran ofthestagewhowasalso known for roles in television including in The Sopranos and the Law & Order franchise, died May 7 at the age of 65.
Mickey Gilley, the country singer whose famous honky-tonkinspiredthe1980 filmUrbanCowboy,diedMay 7 in Branson, Missouri. He was 86.
Fred Ward, the longtime character actor known for appearing in a diverse spectrum of films, died May 8. He was 79. His family declined to release a cause of death.
JohnAylward,theveteran stageandscreenactorknown for his work on ER, The West Wing, and more, died May 16 at 75.
Marnie Schulenburg, the Daytime Emmy-nominated actress known for her work on TV series including As the World Turns and One Life to Live, died May 17 in Bloomington, N.J., from metastatic breast cancer. She was 37.
Lee Lawson, a veteran actress perhaps best known for portraying tbe no-nonsense mother, Bea Reardon, of seven on the popular soap Guiding Light, died May 22 after a battle with cancer and COVID-19. She was 80.
Ray Liotta, star of Goodfellas and other beloved films, died May 26 in his sleep while filming a movie in the Dominican Republic.Hewas67.
AndyFletcher,akeyboardist and founding member of the English electronic band Depeche Mode, died in late May at 60. Fletcher played on all the group’s studio albums since its inception.
Kailia Posey, who garnered fame as a young child on TLC’s reality show Toddlers & Tiaras died May 2 from suicide. She was 16.
Paul Vance - the songwriter behind “Itsy Bisty Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” and hundreds of other songs, died May 30 at the age of 92.
Alec John Such - founding member of Bon Jovi on June 5. They did not disclose his cause of death.
Jim Seals - half of 1970s soft rock duo Seals and Crofts, died June 7 at the age of 80. Seals and musical partner Darrell “Dash” Crofts first joined rock band the Champs, already known for their 1958 hit “Tequila,” alongside Glen Campbell before forming Seals and Crofts in the late ‘60s.
James Caan, an actor who starred in movies like “Misery” and “Elf,” passed away on July 6. He was 82.
Tony Sirico, famous for playing multiple gangster roles like Tony Stacks in “Goodfellas,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 8.
Ivana Trump, former President Donald Trump’s first wife, passed away on July 14. She was 73.
TonyDow,anactorknown for playing Wally Cleaver on “Leave it to Beaver,” passed away on July 27. He was 77.
Pat Carroll, the voice of Ursula in “The Little Mermaid,” passed away on July 29 at the age of 95.
Nichelle Nichols made famous for playing Lt. Nyota Uhura on “Star Trek” passed away on July 30. She was 89 Bill Russell, an NBA legend, passed away on July 31. He was 88.
Vin Scully, Los Angeles Dodgers’ Hall of Fame announcer passed away on August 2. The 94-year-old was the longest tenured broadcaster for a single team in history, 67 years.
Olivia Newton-John, one of America's sweethearts, who ironically was born in England, passed away on August 8 at the age of 73 to cancer.
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