Whether it is their films, books, songs, TV shows or the way they play sports, their lives have impacted us in deep ways. They pulled at our heartstrings. They inspired us to challenge ourselves. They made us cry and laugh, sometimes all at once. Even if we don’t know them personally, the connection is there and so is the loss. “Entertainers and famous people give voice to unarticulated thoughts. They take action in domains where we dare to dream,” says Nancy Winston, LCSW, a noted psychotherapist and human behavior expert who studied with the pioneering therapist Milton Erickson. “They go beyond what we thought imaginable.” While those celebrities we lost in 2021 may not be with us, their indelible imprint on our lives remains. Especially since these stars left us with so much. Parade.com pays tribute to those celebrities who have died in 2021.
Celebrity deaths in 2021
Betty White
January 17, 1922-December 31, 2021 Just days shy of her 100th birthday, legendary comedic actress Betty White passed away on New Year’s Eve at the age of 99. Over a career that spanned eight decades, White gained acclaim and legions of fans for her hilarious sitcom characters—most notably, Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls, Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Elka Ostrovsky on Hot in Cleveland. White’s agent and close friend, Jeff Witjas, said in statement after her passing, “I thought she would live forever. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband, Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.”
John Madden
April 10, 1936-December 28, 2021 John Madden, the legendary NFL coach-turned-broadcaster, died unexpectedly at the age of 85. In addition to leading the Oakland Raiders to the title of Super Bowl champions in January 1977, Madden also elevated the art of sports commentary and became a huge video game mogul thanks to his astonishingly successful Madden NFL game series. In 2006, Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Markie Post
November 4, 1950-August 7, 2021 Markie Post, the veteran actress known for her work on Night Court, The Fall Guy and decades of TV shows and films, died August 7, 2021. Her manager, Ellen Lubin Sanitsky, confirmed her death. Post had been battling cancer for 3 years and 10 months. She was 70. “With great sadness, the family of actress Markie Post tonight shares her passing after a three year, ten month battle with cancer,” wrote her family in statement.
Jay Pickett
February 10, 1961-July 30, 2021 Jay Pickett, the veteran actor who starred in General Hospital, Days of our Lives, Port Charles and NCIS: Los Angeles died on July 30, 2021. He was 60 years old. Pickett, who wrote, produced and was starring in the film Treasure Valley, was on set in Idaho, on the seventh day of filming that movie, when he died. No official cause of death has been released. According to Treasure Valley director Travis Mills, Pickett became sick when he was getting ready to shoot near Oreana, Idaho. As Mills shared, Pickett was sitting on a horse ready to shoot a scene when he suddenly slumped over. Minutes later paramedics arrived, but Pickett was declared dead at the scene.
Ron Popeil
May 3, 1935-July 28, 2021 What do the Chop-O-Matic hand food processor, the Ronco Pocket Fisherman, the Electric Pasta Maker, Mr. Microphone, the Showtime Rotisserie & BBQ and the GLH-9 Spray On Hair have in common? They are all the creations of Ron Popeil. The inventor, gadget guru, marketing icon and infomercial star died July 28, 2021. According to a release from a family representative at The Ortner Group, Popeil peacefully passed away at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 86.
Joey Jordison
April 26, 1975-July 26, 2021 Joey Jordison, a drummer and founding member of the hard rock band Slipknot, died July 26, 2021. He was 46. A rep representative for the family shared that Jordison died peacefully in his sleep. No other cause of death was given. During his time with Slipknot, the ’90s-era heavy metal band earned three Top 10 hits on the Billboard 200, including one No. 1 “All Hope Is Gone” and a No. 2 hit with “Snuff.”
Charles Robinson
November 9, 1945 - July 11, 2021 Actor Charlie Robinson, who was best known for his role as Mac on Night Court, died July 11, 2021. He was 75. He had long battled cancer. His manager, Lisa DiSante, said Robinson died of cardiac arrest with multi-system organ failures due to septic shock and metastatic adenocarcinoma.
Robert John Downey Sr.
June 24, 1936-July 9, 2021 Filmmaker Robert John Downey Sr., whose son is Robert Downey Jr. died July 6, 2021. For the past five years he had been living with a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. The director, actor, producer, cinematographer and writer died in his sleep at his home in New York City. He was 85. “Last night, dad passed peacefully in his sleep after years of enduring the ravages of Parkinson’s,” wrote Robert Downey Jr. on his Instagram page. “He was a true maverick filmmaker, and remained remarkably optimistic throughout.”
Ned Beatty
July 6, 1937-June 13, 2021 Ned Beatty, the beloved actor, known for his roles in Network, Superman, Deliverance and many other films and TV shows died Sunday, June 13, 2021, from natural causes. He was 83. According to his manager, Deborah Miller, Beatty passed away Sunday amid loved ones at his home in Los Angeles. In a career that lasted more than four decades, Beatty was a well-known character actor who was nominated for an Academy Award for the Paddy Chayefsky film Network, playing corporate executive Arthur Jensen, who delivers a stirring three-minute monologue. In its review, The New York Times declared his performance “beautifully played” and called him “the mouthpiece for some of Mr. Chayefsky’s bluntest thoughts about the current state of the wealth of nations.”
B.J. Thomas
August 7, 1942-May 29, 2021 B.J. Thomas, the voice behind colossal hits like “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” and “Hooked On A Feeling” died on May 29, 2021. Thomas was 78. This past March the Five-time Grammy winner and Grammy Hall of Fame inductee announced his stage four lung cancer diagnosis. According to his representatives, Thomas passed away from lung cancer complications at his home in Arlington Texas.
Lisa Banes
July 9, 1955-June 14, 2021 Actress Lisa Banes who was known for roles in Gone Girl and Cocktail and had a career that spanned four decades, died Monday, June 14, 2021—10 days after she was struck by a scooter while the street in Manhattan. She was 65. In the 1980s, Banes made a big splash in the film Cocktail playing Tom Cruise’s girlfriend. She was also a standout as the complex mother in Gone Girl
Eric Carle
June 25, 1929-May 23, 2021 Eric Carle, the author and illustrator behind more than 70 children’s books died on Sunday, May 23, 2021. Carle who wrote The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other beloved classics like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Pancakes, Pancakes!was 91. On his Instagram, page his team shared Carle’s reflections on the success of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “I think it is a book of hope,” Carle had said. “Children need hope. You, little insignificant caterpillar can grow up into a beautiful butterfly and fly into the world with your talent.”
Helen McCrory
August 17, 1968-April 16, 2021 Helen McCrory, the great stage and screen actress, passed away after a very private battle with cancer. Her husband, actor Damian Lewis, announced the news on Twitter. McCrory was 52. “I’m heartbroken to announce that after a heroic battle with cancer, the beautiful and mighty woman that is Helen McCrory has died peacefully at home, surrounded by a wave of love from friends and family,” wrote Lewis on Friday. “She died as she lived. Fearlessly. God we love her and know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives.” The couple have a daughter, Manon and a son, Gulliver. She was known for her roles as Polly Gray in Peaky Blinders and Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise. McCrory also starred in the James Bond movie Skyfall, in Martin Scorsese’s beloved film Hugo and played Cherie Booth Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife in The Queen.
G. Gordon Liddy
November 30, 1930-March 30, 2021 G. Gordon Liddy, the ex-FBI agent who was a key player behind the burglary that resulted in the Watergate scandal Died March 30, 2021, at his daughter’s home in Mount Vernon, Virginia. He was 90. According to his son, his cause of death was Parkinson’s disease. In the 1970s, during President Nixon’s re-election campaign, Liddy masterminded all kinds of dirty tricks to bungle the 1972 Democratic National Convention and take down the president’s adversaries. He was the force behind the Watergate scandal which led to Nixon’s 1974 resignation. Refusing to testify, Liddy was convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping and sentenced to 6 to 20 years in jail. After serving 52 months, President Jimmy Carter, in 1977, commuted his sentence. Liddy ultimately became a celebrity—writing books, including a memoir, Will, and spoke on the lecture circuit. He appeared on Miami Vice and in 1992, began his successful radio show, The G. Gordon Liddy Show. His program was on the air until he retired in 2012. Years later, when reflecting on his crimes he said, “I’d do it again for my president.”
Beverly Cleary
April 12, 1916-March 25, 2021 Beverly Cleary, the children’s author who gave us characters we love like Ramona Quimby, Ralph S. Mouse and Henry Huggins, died March 25, 2021. She was 104. HarperCollins, her publisher, announced her death. She passed away at in Carmel, California where she had lived since the 1960s. Born in McMinnville, Oregon, Cleary grew up Yamhill, a small town that didn’t have a library. However, her mother was able to get the state library to send books to the community. Cleary fell in love with books. When the family settled in Portland, Cleary was placed in a low reading level. She felt a strong sense of compassion for readers who struggled that never left her.
Rush Limbaugh
January 12, 1951-February 17, 2021 Rush Limbaugh, the outspoken conservative talk radio host died Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, at the age of 70 after a battle with lung cancer. At the beginning of his radio show on Wednesday, his wife, Kathryn Limbaugh, told listeners that he had died in his Palm Beach home. Limbaugh had announced his diagnosis in February 2020. “I am extremely grateful to be able to come here to the studio and to maintain as much normalcy as possible,” he shared. The next day he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom during President Trump’s State of the Union address. Like Alex Trebek who worked until just days before his death, Limbaugh’s last day on the air was on Feb. 2, 2021.
Carman
January 19, 1956-February 10, 2021 Carman, the beloved contemporary Christian singer, passed away in Las Vegas on Feb. 16, 2021. He died at age 65 after complications from surgery to repair a hiatal hernia. Nominated for four Grammy awards, Carman had 16 platinum and gold albums and was a member of the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame. A native of New Jersey, Carman’s first album to hit the Christian music charts was in 1989 with “Revival in the Land.” He was known for “talk-singing” as he rhymed spoken word. “I think an artist owes it to his audience to thrill them and impress them,” he once told Christianity Today. “It lets people know there is joy in being Christian.”
Larry Flynt
November 1, 1942-February 10, 2021 Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine, passed away on Feb. 10, 2021, at age 78 in his Los Angeles home. According to his brother Jimmy Flynt, his cause of death was heart failure. Flynt, who dropped out of high school in the ninth grade, built the Hustler brand into a $400 million business. He was famously immortalized in Milos Forman’s semi-fantastical film The People vs. Larry Flynt. Woody Harrelson, who played him was nominated for an Academy Award. Constantly sued for charges of libel and obscenity, it has been said that Flynt spent over $50 million fighting those charges. In 1996 when Terry Gross asked the publishing mogul about his legacy on NPR’s Fresh Air he said, “You know, a free press is not freedom for the thought you love, but rather for the thought you hate the most. People need to tolerate the Larry Flynts of the world so they can be free.”
Chick Corea
June 12, 1941-February 9, 2021 Legendary Jazz keyboardist Chick Corea, who was a force in the fusion of rock and jazz, died on Feb. 9, 2021 after having a rare form of cancer. He was 78. During his half-century playing jazz, he excelled at different styles of jazz, electric jazz, fusion, Latin music and more. Corea played with the finest artists including Mongo Santamaria, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Miles Davis and Sarah Vaughan. He had won 23 Grammys and recorded close to 90 albums. Corea was also given the highest honor to a jazz musician in the United States when he was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master. His mantra was to celebrate your uniqueness: “It’s all right to be yourself,” he told graduates of the Berklee College of Music during his 1997 commencement speech. “In fact, the more yourself you are, the more money you make.”
Mary Wilson
March 6, 1944-February 8, 2021 Mary Wilson, an original and founding member of The Supremes, passed away on Feb. 8, 2021 at her home in Henderson, Nevada. She was 76. According to the Clark County medical examiner, she died from natural causes from hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. At the age of 15, when she was living at the Brewster-Douglass Projects in Detroit, Wilson, along with singers Betty McGlown, Florence Ballard and Diana Ross, who also lived at the public housing apartments and had known one another since childhood, formed the group the Primettes. Smokey Robinson, who was Ross’s former neighbor, connected them with Motown titan Berry Gordy. After singing backup and clapping on other artists’ albums, in 1961 they released their first record and were called The Supremes. The group had a dozen No. 1 hits like “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “Baby Love” and “Come See About Me.” In a statement after her death, Gordy said, “Mary, along with Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, came to Motown in the early 1960s. After an unprecedented string of No. 1 hits, television and nightclub bookings, they opened doors for themselves, the other Motown acts, and many, many others… She was a trailblazer, a diva, and will be deeply missed.”
Christopher Plummer
December 13, 1929-February 5, 2021 Christopher Plummer, who was considered to be acting royalty, died on Feb. 5, 2021, at his Weston, Connecticut home. He was 91. According to his wife, Elaine Taylor, Plummer sustained a blow to the head resulting from a fall. A veteran of more than 120 films, the Canadian-born Plummer was known for playing villains, writers, kings and detectives. His portrayal of Captain von Trapp in The Sound Of Music, one of the world’s most popular films, gave him iconic status from the time he was in his thirties. Plummer was the winner of two Emmys and two Tony awards, and in 2011, he became the oldest person to win an Oscar in an acting category for the film Beginners. Plummer won Best Supporting Actor playing a gay man coming out. When he won a lifetime achievement award at the Canadian Screen Awards he offered some wise words to live by. “Never be ashamed of making a fool of yourself. Just enjoy it all, have fun,” he advised. “I’ve spent almost 70 years making a fool of myself in this crazy, mad profession of ours. And I’ve had the time of my life.”
Dustin Diamond
January 7, 1977-February 1, 2021 Dustin Diamond, who played Samuel “Screech” Powers in the NBC hit comedy Saved by the Bell, passed away on Feb. 1, 2021, from small-cell carcinoma, a form of lung cancer. He was 44. The actor who was on the beloved sitcom for all four seasons began acting when he was 8. He first played the character “Screech” in the series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, a precursor to Saved by the Bell. As Mario Lopez, his co-star from the show, Tweeted, “Dustin, you will be missed, my man. The fragility of this life is something never to be taken for granted. Prayers for your family will continue on…”
Cicely Tyson
December 19, 1924-January 28, 2021 Cicely Tyson, the legendary actress who dazzled on stage and screen, died Jan. 28, 2021 at age 96. The groundbreaking actress was the first African American woman to win an Emmy Award as a lead actress (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman) and the first Black actress to receive an honorary Oscar. She collected three Emmys, a Tony, a Peabody award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. Working until the very end, Tyson acted in more than 100 roles on stage in film and television. Some of her most memorable ones were Sounder, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Trip to Bountiful and How to Get Away With Murder. “Cicely decided early on that her work as an actor would be more than a job. She used her career to illuminate the humanity of Black people,” Tweeted Oprah Winfrey. “The roles she played reflected her values; she never compromised. Her life so fully lived is a testimony to Greatness.”
Cloris Leachman
April 30, 1926-January 27, 2021 Acting veteran Cloris Leachman died on Jan. 27, 2021. No cause of death was given. Leachman had notably starred in countless movies including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Lovers and Other Strangers, Young Frankenstein and The Last Picture Show. In The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Leachman was masterfully playing Mary’s neighbor Phyllis Lindstrom. She won two Emmys playing for the role and also won an Oscar for The Last Picture Show. Quite the competitor, Leachman appeared on Dancing With the Stars when she was 82 and was ranked seventh out of 13 contestants. She was the oldest contender in the show’s history. But that didn’t bother Leachman one bit. She was never a rules follower. As she once said, ”Since my childhood, I have disliked rules and for the most part have avoided them.”
Hall Holbrook
February 17, 1925-January 23, 2021 The actor who thrived on stage and screen passed away at his Beverly Hills home on Feb. 23, 2021, at 95. No cause of death was revealed. Considered a titan of his craft, he had memorable roles in All the President’s Men, Into the Wild, Lincoln and loads of others. For six decades, he traveled the world in his solo show playing the great wordsmith Mark Twain in Mark Twain Tonight. A character actor to the core, he made many appearances on TV, including on the hit show, Designing Women, which starred his wife Dixie Carter. “I’ve always wanted to just be an actor. …,” he once shared with NPR. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to be, playing different roles.” Luckily for us, he was.
Larry King
November 19, 1933-January 23, 2021 Larry King, the 87-year-old talk show heavy hitter, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. His company, Ora Media, made the announcement on Twitter. Although no cause of death was mentioned, this past December as CNNreported, King was hospitalized for COVID-19. For over 60 years King was a force in television and radio racking up more than 50,000 interviews in his conversational laid-back style. He won an Emmy and two Peabody Awards for broadcasting excellence.
Hank Aaron
February 5, 1934-January 22, 2021 Hank Aaron, the record-smashing baseball legend, died Jan. 22, 2021, after a massive stroke. Aaron was 86. Even for those who don’t know baseball well, April 8, 1974, the date that Aaron made his 715th home run, remains monumental. The Atlanta Braves slugger beat the all-time record that Babe Ruth made nearly 40 years before. “I’m hoping someday that some kid, black or white, will hit more home runs than myself,” Aaron reportedly said afterward. “Whoever it is, I would be pulling for him.” Born in Mobile, Alabama, Aaron would hit 755 homers, holding this record for more than three decades.
Siegfried Fischbacher
June 13, 1939-January 12, 2021 81-year-old magician Siegfried Fischbacher, who was part of the sparkly duo Siegfried & Roy, died Jan. 12, 2021, following a battle with pancreatic cancer. Just eight months earlier his business partner and lifelong friend Roy Horn had died from COVID-19. (The pair did not publicly share details about their romantic relationship.) Their show at the Mirage Resort and Casino featured the wildest illusions was a mainstay on the Las Vegas strip. They made elephants disappear, levitated giant tigers and performed magic tricks with rare white lions and snakes. The German-born Fischbacher met Horn on a cruise ship in 1957 where they joined forces as entertainers. They ended up in Las Vegas in 1967. The pair ended their show and retired in 2010. But they always maintained a deep connection. In a statement after Horn’s death, Siegfried said, “From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world. There could be no Siegfried without Roy, and no Roy without Siegfried.”
John Reilly
November 11, 1934-January 10, 2021 John Reilly, who famously played Sean Donely on General Hospital for more than a decade, died Jan. 10, 2021 at 86. The cause of his death was not revealed. In addition to General Hospital, Reilly had a thriving career that began in the 1960s. His credits include Beverly Hills 90210, Marvel’s Iron Man animated series, As the World Turns, Sunset Beach, Passions and Dallas. “The brightest light in the world has gone out. Imagine the best person in the world. Now imagine that person being your dad,” wrote his daughter actress and writer Caitlin Reilly on Instagram. “I’m so grateful he was mine. I’m so grateful I got to love him. I’m so grateful I made it in time to hold him and say goodbye.”
Caroly Wilcox
May 16, 1931-January 9, 2021 The great Muppet designer and builder Caroly Wilcox died on Jan. 9, 2021. No cause of death has been released. Wilcox had worked on Sesame Street from the beginning in 1969. She made cameos on the show as the bus driver and was sometimes a puppeteer. A puppet pioneer, she played a key role in creating so many Muppets, including Elmo. She was an integral part of all the Sesame Street and Muppet productions until she retired in 1990.
Ed Bruce
December 29, 1939-January 8, 2021 Singer-songwriter and actor Ed Bruce died on Jan. 8, 2021, at age 81. Among his many talents, he had a knack for writing hit country songs for others. Some of those artists included Tanya Tucker (“The Man That Turned My Mama On” and “Texas (When I Die)”) and Crystal Gayle (“Restless”). Bruce also recorded his own songs which made the top ten like “My First Taste of Texas,” “After All” and “You’re the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had.” His most iconic song was “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.” The song was catapulted into the stratosphere in 1978 when Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings recorded the tune for their album Waylon & Willie. In addition to a thriving songwriting and recording career, Bruce was an actor who co-starred with James Garner in the television series Bret Maverick. He also hosted Truckin’ USA for seven seasons and appeared in many films including Fire Down Below with Steven Seagal and Public Enemy.
Angie Jakusz
March 27, 1980-January 8, 2021 On Jan. 8, 2021 Survivor contestant Angie Jakusz died of cancer at age 40. She had been diagnosed three years ago with a rare form of squamous cell colorectal cancer. A contestant on Survivor: Palau in 2005, Jakusz was known as a fierce competitor—a groundbreaker. Back then, female contestants with tattoos like hers were seldom seen on the show. Jakusz is survived by her husband. A GoFundMe page was started by her loved ones to help pay for her medical costs. She’s not the first Survivor: Palau competitor to die. In 2010, another Survivor: Palau contestant, Jean Lyon, succumbed to breast cancer.
Neil Sheehan
October 27, 1936-January 7, 2021 Neil Sheehan, a pioneering Vietnam War reporter and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, died at 84 after a battle with Parkinson’s Disease. A talented war correspondent, Sheehan was able to obtain the Pentagon Papers for The New York Times. The Pentagon Papers revealed the behind-the-scenes secret history of how the United States was involved in the Vietnam war. For a reporter, it was the ultimate get. Those 7,000 pages of documents allowed Sheehan to shine a light on massive government deceptions that took place during the Vietnam War. Accepting an award later that year, Sheehan said that The New York Times, in publishing the papers, had given “to the American people, who had given to those who governed us 45,000 of their sons and $100 billion of their treasure, a small accounting of a debt that can never be repaid.”
