Stage and screen

Norman Jewison, director who helmed instant classics like In the Heat of the Night and Moonstruck, died Jan. 20, age 97. 

Chita Rivera, Broadway icon who starred as Anita in the original West Side Story, died Jan. 30, age 91. 

Carl Weathers, ex-linebacker who brought his imposing physicality to Rocky, Predator, Happy Gilmore, and more, died Feb. 2, age 76. 

Richard Lewis, acerbic stand-up who laughed at his pain and mocked his dour image on Curb Your Enthusiasm, died Feb. 27, age 76. 

Louis Gossett Jr., Emmy winner who became the first Black performer to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, for An Officer and a Gentleman, died March 29, age 87. 

Donald Sutherland, shape-shifter who played almost 200 roles in everything from M*A*S*H to the Hunger Games films, died June 20, age 88. 

Shelley Duvall, doe-eyed actress of quirky vulnerability who haunted audiences in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, died July 11, age 75.

Shannen Doherty, “bad girl” specialist who starred as Brenda Walsh on the teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210, died July 13, age 53. 

Bob Newhart, comedy legend who played the everyman in two hit CBS sitcoms, The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, died July 18, age 94. 

Gena Rowlands, actress of raw vulnerability who helped birth independent cinema with her husband, director John Cassavetes, died Aug. 14, age 94. 

John Amos, NFL player turned actor who expanded opportunities for Black men on TV with roles on Good Times and Roots, died Aug. 21, age 84. 

James Earl Jones, thunder-voiced EGOT who earned legions of fans voicing Mufasa in The Lion King and Darth Vader in Star Wars, died Sept. 9, age 93. 

Maggie Smith, grande dame of theater and film who bewitched audiences for seven decades, including in Downton Abbey and Harry Potter, died Sept. 27, age 89. 

Teri Garr, zany comic actress who stole scenes in Tootsie and Young Frankenstein, died Oct. 29, age 79. 

Media and publishing 

Charles Osgood, award-winning newsman who anchored CBS Sunday Morning for 22 years and had a soft spot for bow ties and human-interest stories, died Jan. 23, age 91. 

Bob Edwards, radio broadcaster who delivered the day’s stories to millions as host of NPR’s Morning Edition for nearly 25 years, died Feb. 10, age 76. 

Terry Anderson, AP journalist who spent six years imprisoned by Hezbollah militants during Lebanon’s civil war, died April 21, age 76. 

Alice Munro, Nobel laureate whose short stories found meaning in everyday life, died May 13, age 92. 

Morgan Spurlock, Super Size Me director who sparked a fast-food backlash, then fell from favor after admitting to sexual misconduct, died May 23, age 53. 

Ruth Westheimer, feisty therapist whose TV, radio, and book empire taught Americans to talk about sex, died July 12, age 96. 

Richard Simmons, sequin-clad “Pied Piper of Pounds” who ruled as the country’s top fitness guru in the 1980s, died July 13, age 76. 

Lou Dobbs, Fox News host who peddled conspiracy theories like birtherism and 2020 election fraud on Lou Dobbs Tonight, died July 18, age 78. 

Phil Donahue, broadcaster who forever changed daytime talk shows by letting audience members ask questions on The Phil Donahue Show, died Aug. 18, age 88. 

Arthur Frommer, publisher who started a travel-book empire with 1957’s Europe on 5 Dollars a Day, died Nov. 18, age 95. 

Music and the arts 

Toby Keith, burly singer who ruled the country charts with 20 No. 1 hits including a jingoistic anthem, died Feb. 5, age 62. 

Seiji Ozawa, Japanese conductor who led the Boston Symphony Orchestra with boyish charisma and norm-busting outfits for nearly 30 years, died Feb. 6, age 88. 

Richard Serra, artist whose larger-than-life steel sculptures made minimalism monumental, died March 26, age 85. 

Faith Ringgold, painter, sculptor, and quilt maker who advocated for better representation of women and Black people in the arts, died April 12, age 93. 

Frank Stella, painter whose use of stark geometric patterns and shapes made him the father of minimalism, died May 4, age 87. 

Tito Jackson, founding member of the Jackson 5 who later launched a solo career as a blues musician, died Sept. 15, age 70. 

Kris Kristofferson, Oxford-educated Army Ranger who became a legendary songwriter and movie star, died Sept. 28, age 88. 

Cissy Houston, two-time Grammy-winning soul and gospel singer who toured with Elvis Presley and mentored daughter Whitney, died Oct. 7, age 91.

Liam Payne, one-fifth of the hit British boy band One Direction who struggled with drugs and alcohol, died Oct. 16, age 31. 

Phil Lesh, founding Grateful Dead bassist whose freewheeling style helped define the band’s trippy sound, died Oct. 25, age 84. 

Quincy Jones, musical giant whose work as a performer, composer, arranger, and producer spanned genres and earned 28 Grammys, died Nov. 3, age 91. 

Politics 

Alexei Navalny, inspiring anti-corruption crusader who led the opposition against Russian President Vladimir Putin, died Feb. 16, age 47. 

Joe Lieberman, Democratic senator who became the first Jewish vice-presidential nominee but later soured on his party, died March 27, age 82. 

James Lawson, Freedom Rider who preached nonviolence and became Martin Luther King Jr.’s main strategist, died June 9, age 95. 

Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Democrat who championed the effort to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, died July 19, age 74. 

Ethel Kennedy, matriarch who morphed into an activist after her husband Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination, died Oct. 10, age 96. 

Lilly Ledbetter, factory manager who brought her fight for equal pay to the Supreme Court and President Obama’s desk, died Oct. 12, age 86. 

Ted Olson, solicitor general who argued for conservative causes at the Supreme Court but championed gay marriage, died Nov. 13, age 84. 

Sports 

Bud Harrelson, slick shortstop who anchored the “Miracle Mets” in their improbable 1969 World Series win, died Jan. 11, age 79. 

O.J. Simpson, fallen football star whose murder trial transfixed the country and ended in his acquittal, died April 10, age 76. 

Jerry West, Lakers great nicknamed Mr. Clutch who gave the NBA’s logo its silhouette, died June 12, age 86. 

Willie Mays, legendary center fielder who thrilled baseball fans with his speed, grace, and showmanship for 22 seasons, died June 18, age 93. 

Chi Chi Rodriguez, dapper Puerto Rican golfer who brought excitement to a staid sport, died Aug. 8, age 88. 

Dikembe Mutombo, Hall of Fame defender known as Mount Mutombo who spent 18 years in the NBA and gave back to his native Congo, died Sept. 30, age 58. 

Pete Rose, baseball great who became MLB’s all-time hit leader before getting banned for betting, died Sept. 30, age 83. 

Bela Karolyi, Romanian coach who made stars of gymnasts like Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton but allowed abuse to go unchecked, died Nov. 15, age 82. 

Business 

Iris Apfel, interior designer with owlish glasses who became a fashion maverick and modeled in her 90s, died March 1, age 102. 

Gerald Levin, HBO visionary who led the AOL–Time Warner merger, aka the worst deal in history, died March 13, age 84. 

Susan Wojcicki, Silicon Valley titan who led Google’s massive ad business and headed YouTube, died Aug. 9, age 56. 

Wally Amos, entrepreneur who started the cookie empire bearing his famous name, died Aug. 13, age 88. 

Leonard Riggio, businessman who took Barnes & Noble from a Manhattan bookstore to an empire, died Aug. 27, age 83. 

Murray McCory, JanSport designer who made backpacks omnipresent in classrooms, died Oct. 7, age 80. 

Bernie Marcus, Home Depot co-founder who became a Republican megadonor and philanthropist, died Nov. 4, age 95. 

Science 

Roger Guillemin, Nobel-winning neuroscientist who helped develop birth-control pills and cancer treatments while feuding with rivals, died Feb. 21, age 100. 

Daniel Kahneman, psychologist whose groundbreaking research on decision-making and behavioral economics earned him a Nobel Prize, died March 27, age 90. 

Peter Higgs, Nobel physicist who predicted the Higgs boson, also known as the ‘God particle,’ that underpins the Standard Model of physics, died April 8, age 94. 

Daniel Dennett, widely read atheist philosopher who made science accessible with his playful writing style, died April 19, age 82. 

William Anders, astronaut who took the Earthrise photo as one of the first three people to leave the planet’s orbit, died June 7, age 90. 

George Berci, Holocaust survivor who revolutionized surgery by pioneering the use of laparoscopy, died Aug. 30, age 103. 

Philip Zimbardo, psychologist who said his Stanford prison experiment showed anyone could turn evil, died Oct. 14, age 91. 

Richard Cash, physician whose rehydration recipe saved millions from cholera and dysentery, died Oct. 22, age 83. 

Leon Cooper, Nobel physicist who revealed the secrets of superconductivity, died Oct. 23, age 94.