Stars We Lost In 2019
As we enter a new year and a new decade, it is time to remember the figures from the worlds of arts and entertainment who died in 2019.
Here is a look back at some of those to whom we said farewell.
January
The year was still young when we said goodbye to Broadway star Carol Channing, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum actor Windsor Davies and BBC presenter Dianne Oxberry.
We also lost:
Author and editor Diana Athill
Sitcom writer Kevin Barnett
Captain & Tennille singer Daryl Dragon
Curb Your Enthusiasm actor Bob Einstein
Marmalade singer Dean Ford
Transgender ‘pioneer’ Julia Grant
Original Hollies bass player Eric Haydock
R&B singer James Ingram
Composer John Joubert
Composer Michel Legrand
Actor Dick Miller
Wrestling interviewer Gene Okerlund
Producer Andrew G Vajna
Theatre producer Duncan Weldon
February
In February the curtain fell on acclaimed actor Albert Finney, much-loved comedian Jeremy Hardy and fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld.
We also lost:
Creature from the Black Lagoon star Julie Adams
British grime rapper Cadet
Director Stanley Donen
Swiss actor Bruno Ganz
Soap star Katherine Helmond
Talk Talk singer Mark Hollis
Small Island author Andrea Levy
Author Rosamunde Pilcher
Composer Andre Previn
Reality TV star Miriam Rivera
Keeping Up Appearances’ Clive Swift
Monkees musician Peter Tork
Airwolf star Jan-Michael Vincent
March
Stars We Lost In 2019
March was the month we bid a sad farewell to Keith Flint of The Prodigy, Beverly Hills 90210 actor Luke Perry and rock enigma Scott Walker.
We also lost:
Director Larry Cohen
Guitarist Dick Dale
TV presenter Magenta Devine
Rapper Nipsey Hussle
Goldfinger actress Tania Mallet
The Beat singer Ranking Roger
Thunderbirds actor Shane Rimmer
Studio executive Sidney Sheinberg
Director Agnes Varda
April
Star Wars actor Peter Mayhew, EastEnders actress Sandy Ratcliff and film-maker John Singleton were among those who left us in April.
We also lost:
Swedish actress Bibi Andersson
Character actor Seymour Cassel
Comedian Ian Cognito
Level 42 member Rowland ‘Boon’ Gould
Dallas actor Ken Kercheval
Actor John McEnery
CBBC actress Mya-Lecia Naylor
Studio executive David V Picker
Bond actress Nadja Regin
May
May saw actress and singer Doris Day, comedian Freddie Starr and newsreader Nan Winton depart at the ages of 97, 76 and 93 respectively.
We also lost:
Actor Tim Conway
Online feline Grumpy Cat
Coronation Street actor Andrew Hall
Author Judith Kerr
Twin Peaks actress Peggy Lipton
American Gangster inspiration Frank Lucas
Spider-Man screenwriter Alvin Sargent
Broadcaster Brian Walden
Author Herman Wouk Sho
June
Stars We Lost In 2019
Blake’s 7 actor Paul Darrow, fashion icon Gloria Vanderbilt and Italian director Franco Zeffirelli were among those who took their leave in June.
We also lost:
French DJ Philippe Cerboneschi
US actor Billy Drago
Telenovela actress Edith González
Musician Dr John
YouTube celebrity Etika
Z Cars actor Douglas Fielding
Actor Glyn Houston
Author Judith Krantz
Indian magician Chanchal Lahiri
Actor Bryan Marshall
US actress Sylvia Miles
Heartbeat actor William Simons
ALF actor Max Wright
July
The sudden death of Disney star Cameron Boyce at the age of 20 was one of a number of sad farewells in a month which also saw Blade Runner actor Rutger Hauer and Broadway producer Hal Prince depart.
We also lost:
Journalist Christopher Booker
Inspector Montalbano author Andrea Camilleri
Annie writer Martin Charnin
South African musician Johnny Clegg
Italian actress Valentina Cortese
Irish comedian Brendan Grace
TV presenter Emily Hartridge
James Bond actor David Hedison
Emmerdale actor Freddie Jones
British actor Jeremy Kemp
Japanese boy band mogul Johnny Kitagawa
Racing pundit John McCririck
Actress Danika McGuigan
Former child actress Denise Nickerson
Composer Barrington Pheloung
Irish actor Karl Shiels
This Country actor Michael Sleggs
Minnie Mouse voice actress Russi Taylor
Men in Black star Rip Torn
August
Easy Rider actor Peter Fonda, author Toni Morrison and Home and Away actor Ben Unwin were among those who departed in August.
We also lost:
Village People co-creator Henri Belolo
Doctor Who writer Terrance Dicks
Kinks keyboardist Ian Gibbons
Composer Jonathan Goldstein
US actress Valerie Harper
Australian actress Ningali Lawford-Wolf
Entertainer Joe Longthorne
Film-maker DA Pennebaker
Actress Anna Quayle
Actress Sheila Steafel
Animator Richard Williams
September
September saw the lights go down on playwright Peter Nichols, opera singer Jessye Norman and The Cars’ Ric Ocasek.
We also lost:
Star Trek actor Aron Eisenberg
Songwriter LaShawn Daniels
Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter
Porn star Jessica Jaymes
Cult musician Daniel Johnston
Photographer Peter Lindbergh
US singer Eddie Money
BBC journalist Hanna Yusuf
October
Emmerdale actress Leah Bracknell, Chinatown producer Robert Evans and newsreader Peter Sissons were among October’s dearly departed.
We also lost:
Ballet dancer Alicia Alonso
Cream drummer Ginger Baker
Literary critic Harold Bloom
Saved by the Bell creator Sam Bobrick
US actress Diahann Carroll
Sax player Malcolm ‘Molly’ Duncan
Jackie Brown actor Robert Forster
Czech singer Karel Gott
Last of the Summer Wine actress Juliette Kaplan
BBC World Service presenter Julian Keane
Eddie and the Hot Rods singer Barrie Masters
Hitchhiker’s Guide actor Stephen Moore
Journalist Deborah Orr
South Korean pop star Sulli
Neighbours creator Reg Watson
US actor-comedian John Witherspoon
November
On a single day in November, it was confirmed that Australian broadcaster Clive James, theatre director Jonathan Miller and celebrity chef Gary Rhodes had died.
We also lost:
News presenter Tazeen Ahmad
US composer Irving Burgie
Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne
Last of the Summer Wine actress Jean Fergusson
Glee actress Jane Galloway Heitz
Model and actor Godfrey Gao
Child star Laurel Griggs
K-Pop artist Goo Hara
Gladiator producer Branko Lustig
Photographer Terry O’Neill
Film producer Nik Powell
The Archers actor Colin Skipp
Singer-songwriter Iain Sutherland
Irish actor Niall Tóibín
Hedd Wyn director Paul Turner
December
In the last month of 2019, we said goodbye to nature broadcaster David Bellamy, actor Tony Britton and singer Kenny Lynch.
We also lost:
Do The Right Thing actor Danny Aiello
Star Trek actor Rene Auberjonois
James Bond actress Claudine Auger
Rev David Coles, Rev Richard Coles’s civil partner
Star Trek writer DC Fontana
Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson
Giffords Circus co-founder Nell Gifford
Scottish artist Norman Gilbert
TV producer Leonard Goldberg
TV actor Nicky Henson
Composer Jerry Herman
South Korean actor Cha In-ha
Monty Python songwriter Neil Innes
Latvian conductor Mariss Jansons
US rapper Juice Wrld
French actress Anna Karina
Screenwriter Barrie Keeffe
Blade Runner designer Syd Mead
Emmerdale actress Sheila Mercier
Will and Grace actress Shelley Morrison
Singer Andrew ‘Greedy’ Smith
Sesame Street puppeteer Caroll Spinney
Stars We Lost In 2019