A tribute to some of the great talent we lost in the year almost gone, 2017. You may not know some of the names, while others would have bought great sorrow to hear of their passing. Whether you knew them or not, you can be sure they all made great contributions to their industries and will be remembered for different reasons, by different people. Sadly some were intentional and self inflicted.
For me personally (which I don’t normally do in articles), some of the most heartfelt losses were Len Wein, creator of one of Marvel’s most famous characters; Adam West, I have fond memories of watching him as the first on-screen actor of the caped crusader, the same bat time, same bat channel; Carrie Fisher, a very late 2016 passing, it feels like this year, the heroine of the Star Wars films; Malcolm Young, being an Aussie, it was hard to see one of our most iconic rockstars go; Chris Cornell probably hit me the hardest, as I was a huge fan of the Seattle Grunge scene, what he did for it and his talent; Chester Bennington followed shortly after Cornell, as they were great friends, again the talent we lost here from a more modern genre, Linkin Park made there mark on the Rock/Nu-Metal scene. Here is a list of some of the celebrities and talent we lost this year in no particular order.
Comic/Animation Industry
Len Wein: Writer/Co-Creator Of Wolverine And Swamp Thing
Jim Galton: Publisher-CEO of Marvel Entertainment Group (‘75-‘91)
Joan B. Lee: Voice actress and wife of Stan Lee
Victor Llamas: Inker at Top Cow, also worked on Batman, X-Men, G.I. Joe
June Foray: Voice actress, “Rocky” of Rocky and Bulwinkle, “Aunt May” in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Adam West: Original Batman TV actor, Family Guy Mayor
Bob Givens: Creator of original Bugs Bunny
Actors/Celebrities
Sir Roger Moore: “James Bond” actor
Robert Guillaume: Voice of “Rafiki” in The Lion King, first African-American Phantom of the Opera, Star of tv’s Benson
Brent Briscoe: Actor from Twin Peaks and Park’s and Rec.
Warren Frost: Twin Peaks actor
Hugh Hefner: Playboy Founder
Frank Vincent: Soprano’s actor
George Steele: One of WWE’s most notorious villains
Bill Paxton: Aliens and Terminator actor
Sonny Landham: Co-starred in The Warriors and Predator
Robert Hardy: Played Minister of Magic “Cornelius Fudge” in four Harry Potter films
John Bernecker: Stuntman for The Walking Dead died from on-set accident
Nelsan Ellis: True Blood’s “Lafayette”
Jim Nabors: Played “Gomer Pyle”
Richard Hatch: Battlestar Galactica original and reboot series star
Sir John Hurt: Alien, Star Wars, and Harry Potter Actor
Mary Tyler Moore: Star of her own show
Henry ‘Hank’ Deutschendorf: Played baby Oscar in Ghostbusters 2
Erin Moran: Happy Days Actress
David Cassidy: Actor/singer/songwriter in The Partridge Family
Neil Fingleton: Actor “47 Ronin” “Apollo 13”
Frank Pellegrino: Actor from Good Fellas
Christopher Boykin: Entertainer co-star on Rob & Big TV show
Chuck Harris: Game show creator/ host The Gong Show, The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game
Bob Holiday: Stage actor portrayed Superman in ‘Its A Bird.., Its a plane…Its Superman’
Powers Booth: Deadwood, Sin City, and Avengers actor
Michael Parks: Kill Bill, Django Unchained and From Dusk Till Dawn actor
Carrie Fisher: “Princess Leia”, Star Wars Actress (Honourable mention from late 2016)
Film Executives
Tobe Hooper: Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Poltergeist director
George Romero: Director of Night of the Living Dead
John G. Avildsen: Director of Rocky (Stalone)
William Peter Blatty: Writer and producer of The Exorcist
Jonathan Demme: Director of Silence of the Lambs
Comedians
Jerry Lewis: King of comedy
Don Rickles: Legendary comedian, voiced “Mr. Potato Head” in Toy Story
Charlie Murphy: Comedian, Eddie Murphy’s older brother
Rose Marie: Actress, Showbiz legend, “Sally” on The Dick Van Dyke Show
Musicians
Malcolm Young: AC/DC Guitarist and co-founder
Chuck Berry: King of Rock and Roll
Gord Downie: Lead singer of Tragically Hip
Tom Petty: Legendary rock artist
Chris Cornell: Co-founder/singer of Temple of the Dog (Which became Pearl Jam), Soundgarden and Audioslave
Chester Bennington: Lead singer of Linkin Park and best friend of Chris Cornell
Fats Domino: 1950’s Mississippi singer helped usher in Rock and Roll/R&B
Fresh Kid Ice: First prominent Asian rapper
Prodigy: Hip-hop group Mobb Deep
Walter Becker: Steely Dan
Greg Allman: Allman Bros
Butch Trucks: Allman Brothers
Glen Campbell: Solo old country singer
Sylvester Potts: Hit Motown singer
Geoff Nichols: Keyboardist for Black Sabbath
Guitar Gable: Musician/Songwriter – blues
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