Notable Showbiz Deaths of 2017

1939 – January 1, 2017

Film producer and co-founder of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF); was producer of the acclaimed, landmark Canadian comedy 'Outrageous!' (1977) and served as executive producer on many films for Australian writer-director Paul Cox, including 'Golden Braid' (1990), 'A Woman's Tale' (1991), 'Lust and Revenge' (1996), 'Innocence' (2000) and 'The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky' (2001); hailed as a pioneer in the Canadian film industry for his role in establishing TIFF and for helping to expand Canadian filmmaking into a major, nationwide artistic and financial enterprise

September 28, 1929 – January 1, 2017

Toronto-based pianist, operatic vocal coach, radio broadcaster, artistic director and producer perhaps best known as the longtime quiz master for CBC Radio’s 'Saturday Afternoon at the Opera'; also taught opera repertoire and diction at the University of Toronto and was internationally recognized as a panelist for the 'Metropolitan Opera Quiz' broadcast from New York; coached and toured with coached and toured with the acclaimed Canadian vocalists Lois Marshall and Maureen Forrester and also accompanied such celebrated artists as Isabel Bayrakdarian, Ben Heppner, Richard Margison, Stuart Howe and Mary Lou Fallis; was founding director of the annual Opera in Concert and the first music director of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble; was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1984 and received many other honors, including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012

died January 1, 2017

November 5, 1926 – January 2, 2017

1965 – January 2, 2017

March 24, 1935 – January 3, 2017

May 27, 1936 – January 3, 2017

January 16, 1929 – January 3, 2017

August 14, 1924 – January 4, 2017

Debonair French conductor (or, as he considered himself, an "interpreter") whose seven-decade career included close associations with Maria Callas and many of the world’s top orchestras

October 2, 1941 – January 6, 2017

Sound mixer who earned Oscar nominations for his work on Martin Scorsese's 'Raging Bull' (1980) and Sydney Pollack's 'Tootsie' (1982), as well as a BAFTA nomination for John Badham's 'Saturday Night Fever' (1977); received his first credit as a sound recordist on Alan Arkin's 'Little Murders' (1971), which was followed by uncredited work as a boom operator on Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Godfather' (1972); first worked with Scorsese on 'Taxi Driver' (1976) and would do so one last time on 'The King of Comedy' (1983); worked with Woody Allen on 'Hannah and Her Sisters' (1986) and reteamed with the prolific filmmaker for several projects in the '90s, including the TV movie 'Don't Drink the Water' (1994) and the features 'Deconstructing Harry' (1997), 'Celebrity' (1998) and 'Sweet and Lowdown' (1999); collaborated with Brian De Palma on the films 'Wise Guys' (1986), 'Bonfire of the Vanities' (1990) and 'Carlito's Way' (1993) and was Penny Marshall's sound mixer on 'Big' (1988), 'Awakenings' (1990), 'A League of Their Own' (1992), 'Renaissance Man' (1994) and 'The Preacher's Wife' (1996); other sound-mixing credits include John D. Hancock's 'Bang the Drum Slowly' (1973), Michael Winner's 'The Sentinel' (1977), Allan Moyle's 'Times Square' (1980), Arthur Hiller's 'Author! Author!' (1982), Frank Oz's 'The Muppets Take Manhattan' (1984), Robert Mandel's 'F/X' (1986), Jonathan Demme's 'Something Wild' (1986), Adrian Lyne's 'Fatal Attraction' (1987), Mike Nichols' 'Working Girl' (1988) and Harold Ramis' 'Groundhog Day' (1993) and 'Analyze This' (1999)

October 18, 1950 – January 6, 2017

Veteran Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 300 feature and amde-for-TV films, with perhaps his most prominent credits being his leading roles in 'Sadgati' ('Deliverance,' 1981), 'Arohan' ('The Ascent,' 1982), 'Ardh Satya' ('Half Truth,' 1983), 'Tamas' ('Darkness,' 1988), 'Maachis' ('Matches,' 1996), 'East Is East' (1999), 'Malamaal Weekly' (2006) and 'The Hundred-Foot Journey' (2014) and his supporting roles in 'Aakrosh' ('Cry of the Wounded,' 1980), Best Picture Oscar winner 'Gandhi' (1982), 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro' (1983), 'Wolf' (1994), 'The Ghost and the Darkness' (1996), 'Chachi 420' (1997), 'Hera Pheri' (2000), 'Rang De Basanti' ('Color It Saffron,' 2006) and 'Charlie Wilson's War' (2007); won a Filmfare Award for his performance in 'Aakrosh,' won National Film Awards for his performances in 'Arohan' and 'Ardh Satya' and received a BAFTA nomination for his work in 'East Is East'; earned Filmfare nominations for his villainous turn in 'Narasimha' (1991), his comedic work in 'Chachi 420' and his supporting performance in the suspense thriller 'Gupt: The Hidden Truth' (1997); other notable film credits include 'Bhavni Bhavai' ('The Tale of the Life,' 1980), 'Sparsh' ('Touch,' 1980), 'Mandi' ('Market Place,' 1983), 'Mirch Masala' ('Hot Spice,' 1987), 'Ghayal' (1990), 'City of Joy' (1992), 'Dharavi' ('City of Dreams,' 1992), 'Droh Kaal ('Times of Treason,' 1994), 'Ghatak: Lethal' (1996), 'My Son the Fanatic' (1997), 'China Gate' (1998), 'Hey Ram' ('Oh God,' 2000), 'Maqbool' (2003), 'Lakshya' ('Aim,' 2004) 'Don' (2006) and 'Don 2' (2011), 'OMG – Oh My God!' (2012), 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' ('Brother Bajrangi,' 2015) and 'Actor in Law' (2016); was awarded Padma Shri--the fourth highest civilian award of India--in 1990 and was made an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2004

August 26, 1936 – January 6, 2017

Statuesque actress perhaps best known for playing The Bookworm’s henchwoman Lydia Limpet in two episodes of the 1960s BATMAN television series and for starring in the cult low-budget action film THE DOLL SQUAD

September 2, 1954 – January 7, 2017

October 13, 1949 – January 7, 2017

June 10, 1925 – January 7, 2017

Longtime music columnist and jazz critic for THE VILLAGE VOICE and an outspoken advocate of free speech

July 9, 1930 – January 8, 2017

July 11, 1925 – January 8, 2017

Celebrated operatic tenor who, with his strong, attractive voice, masterful tonal control and ability to perform fluently in a spate of languages, became one of the most widely recorded opera singers in history

December 10, 1941 – January 8, 2017

Singer-songwriter and musician best known for writing and performing the hit single "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?"

November 15, 1926 – January 9, 2017

1948 – January 9, 2017

July 18, 1955 – January 9, 2017

August 14, 1926 – January 10, 2017

1943 – January 10, 2017

Makeup artist who won an Oscar for DRIVING MISS DAISY and an Emmy for LONESOME DOVE and whose many other credits include ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, THE AGE OF INNOCENCE, GANGS OF NEW YORK and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

December 26, 1954 – January 10, 2017

July 5, 1961 – January 12, 2017

January 7, 1928 – January 12, 2017

Novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker best known for his 1971 novel 'The Exorcist' and for writing the screenplay for its 1973 film adaptation, which won him an Oscar and a Golden Globe; was also the producer of 'The Exorcist' and thus received the film's Oscar nomination for Best Picture; wrote or co-wrote a number of screenplays prior to adapting 'The Exorcist,' including those four with director Blake Edwards: the comedies 'A Shot in the Dark' (1964) and 'What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?' (1966), the detective mystery 'Gunn' (1967) and the musical comedy 'Darling Lili' (1970); went on to write, produce and direct the acclaimed satirical horror film 'The Ninth Configuration' (1980), an adaptation of his 1968 novel 'Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane' that won him a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay; made one last foray into filmmaking to write and direct 'The Exorcist III' (1990), a sequel based on his 1983 'Exorcist' follow-up novel 'Legion'; more recently authored the novels 'Elsewhere' (2009), 'Dimitar' (2010) and 'Crazy' (2010)

February 22, 1928 – January 12, 2017

ca. 1923 – January 13, 2017

October 30, 1931 – January 13, 2017

Actor, comedian, voice-over performer, singer and caricaturist best known for playing Hymie the Robot on TV's 'Get Smart' and for starring as Robin Hood in Mel Brooks' short-lived comedy series 'When Things Were Rotten'

May 15, 1925 – January 13, 2017

November 3, 1927 – January 13, 2017

May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017

The professional wrestler and (former?) WWE Hall of Famer known as "Superfly" for his high-flying—and high-risk—leaps from the ring's top rope that flattened his opponents

November 24, 1930 – January 17, 2017

Production designer, art director and painter who brought a fine-arts sensibility to such films as THE GRADUATE, ROSEMARY’S BABY, LENNY, THE MAN IN THE GLASS BOOTH, THE MUPPET MOVIE and MURPHY’S ROMANCE

March 11, 1931 – January 18, 2017

December 15, 1955 – January 18, 2017

May 4, 1930 – January 18, 2017

June 3, 1953 – January 19, 2017

February 7, 1955 – January 19, 2017

Prolific, beloved character actor best known for his roles as Bob Morton in Paul Verhoeven's 'RoboCop' (1987), FBI Agent Albert Rosenfield on David Lynch and Mark Frost's series 'Twin Peaks' (1990-91) and film 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me' (1992), the voice of Shan-Yu in Disney's animated feature 'Mulan' (1998), Eduardo Ruiz in Steven Soderbergh's Oscar-winning 'Traffic' (2000), Dr. Garret Macy on Tim Kring's NBC crime drama 'Crossing Jordan' (2001-07), and Assistant Director Owen Granger on CBS' hit drama 'NCIS: Los Angeles' (2012-17); was still working on the latter series when he passed away and will also be seen reprising his role as Agent Rosenfield in the upcoming series revival of 'Twin Peaks'; shared a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture as part of the ensemble in 'Traffic'; early screen work included roles in films such as 'Star Trek III: The Search for Spock' and 'Flashpoint' (both 1984) and appearances on TV shows such as 'Magnum, P.I.,' 'CHiPs' and 'Hill Street Blues'; other film credits include playing the main villain in Disney's live-action 'Blank Check' (1994), the lead role in Stephen King's 'The Night Flier' (1997), the voice of Big Boss in 'Rio 2' (2014) and supporting roles in 'DeepStar Six' (1989), Tony Scott's 'Revenge' (1990), William Friedkin's 'The Guardian' (1990), John Badham's 'Point of No Return' and 'Another Stakeout' (both 1993), 'Hot Shots! Part Deux' (1993), John Sayles' 'Sunshine State' (2003) and 'Silver City' (2004), Jonathan Demme's 'The Manchurian Candidate' (2004) and Marvel's 'Iron Man 3' (2013); was a regular cast member on several short-lived TV series (besides 'Twin Peaks'), including the dramas 'Shannon's Deal' (1990-91), 'Broken Badges' (1990-91) and 'The Protector' (2011), the comedies 'On the Air' (1992 - from 'Twin Peaks' creators David Lynch and Mark Frost) and 'LateLine' (1998-99), and NBC's 2007 reboot of 'Bionic Woman'; also played Lloyd Henreid in Stephen King's miniseries 'The Stand' (1994), played the recurring role of Andre Zeller on ABC's 'Desperate Houeswives' (2011) and supplied the voices of recurring characters on the animated series 'Jackie Chan Adventures' (2003-04), 'Young Justice' (2011-13) and 'Adventure Time' (2011-14); won two Behind the Voice Actors Awards in 2014 for his voice work as Vandal Savage on 'Young Justice' -- one for Best Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role - Action/Drama, and another with his castmates for Best Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series - Action/Drama

May 13, 1926 – January 20, 2017

December 27, 1928 – January 20, 2017

Five-time Grammy-winning classical record producer and engineer

July 23, 1942 – January 21, 2017

1954 – January 21, 2017

August 7, 1930 – January 21, 2017

Prolific Estonian composer whose innovative, folk-inflected choral works helped propel his nation’s drive to restore independence in the 1980s and made him one of Estonia’s most important and iconic composers

May 26, 1938 – January 22, 2017

Drummer and founding member of the pioneering krautrock group Can

December 24, 1925 – January 22, 2017

May 13, 1947 – January 22, 2017

Bass guitarist and founding member of '70s rock band Mott the Hoople, best known for their David Bowie-penned song "All the Young Dudes"

October 1, 1975 – January 23, 2017

June 13, 1940 – January 23, 2017

April 7, 1941 – January 23, 2017

Comic actor best known for his role as René Artois, the lead character in the classic British TV comedy series ''Allo 'Allo!,' which earned him a BAFTA nomination in 1986

March 13, 1935 – January 23, 2017

May 22, 1937 – January 24, 2017

May 11, 1947 – January 24, 2017

Drummer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band

December 8, 1934 – January 25, 2017

November 7, 1952 – January 25, 2017

January 22, 1940 – January 25, 2017

Esteemed English actor with a wide variety of memorable roles to his credit, with his Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning portrayal of John Merrick in David Lynch's 'The Elephant Man' (1980) being perhaps his most definitive work; broke through with the role of Richard Rich in Fred Zinnemann's Oscar-winning drama 'A Man for All Seasons' (1966) and over the next three years worked with directors such as Tony Richardson (1967's 'The Sailor from Gibraltar'), John Huston (playing the title role in 1969's 'Sinful Davey') and J. Lee Thompson (1969's 'Before Winter Comes'); received his first BAFTA nomination for his performance as Timothy Evans in Richard Fleischer's true-life chiller '10 Rillington Place' (1971) and then played the title roles in the films 'Mr. Forbush and the Penguins' (1971) and 'Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs' (1974); won acclaim--and his first BAFTA--for his portrayal of Quentin Crisp in the TV movie adaptation of Crisp's autobiography 'The Naked Civil Servant' (1975) and received praise the following year for his performance as Caligula in BBC's landmark historical miniseries 'I, Claudius'; earned a second BAFTA win, his first Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe for playing the heroin-addicted prisoner Max in Alan Parker's 1978 prison drama 'Midnight Express' and was heard that same year in two animated films based on classic literary works: as the rabbit Hazel in Martin Rosen's adaptation of Richard Adams' 'Watership Down' and as Aragorn in Ralph Bakshi's take on J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings'; would reunite with Rosen for another animated Richard Adams adaptation, 1982's 'The Plague Dogs,' in which Hurt voices Snitter; played the now-iconic role of Kane in Ridley Scott's seminal sci-fi horror blockbuster 'Alien' (1979), which earned him yet another BAFTA nomination; would recreate his famous "chest-burster" scene from 'Alien' -- this time for laughs -- in Mel Brooks' sci-fi spoof 'Spaceballs' (1987), having previously played Jesus in Brooks' 'History of the World: Part I' (1981); other notable film roles throughout the 1980s included Billy Irvine in Michael Cimino's 'Heaven's Gate' (1980), Lawrence Fassett in Sam Peckinpah's 'The Osterman Weekend' (1983), hitman Braddock in Stephen Frears' 'The Hit' (1984), Winston Smith in Michael Radford's take on George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (1984), the voice of The Horned King in Disney's 'The Black Cauldron' (1985), and osteopath Stephen Ward in Michael Caton-Jones' 'Scandal' (1989); received yet another BAFTA nomination for his role in Jim Sheridan's 'The Field' (1990) and then co-starred in films such as David S. Ward's 'King Ralph' (1991), Gus Van Sant's 'Even Cowgirls Get the Blues' (1993) and Chris Menges' 'Second Best' (1994); reunited with Caton-Jones to play Montrose in 'Rob Roy' (1995) and would again work with the director ten years later as star of 'Shooting Dogs' a.k.a. 'Beyond the Gates' (2005); also worked with writer-director Jim Jarmusch on three occasions, starting with 'Dead Man' (1995) and followed years later by 'The Limits of Control' (2009) and 'Only Lovers Left Alive' (2013); may be best known to younger audiences for playing wandmaker Garrick Ollivander in the first 'Harry Potter' film, 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' (2001), and again in the franchise's two-part finale, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' (2010 & 2011); also known for his portrayal of Professor Trevor Bruttenholm ("Broom") in Guillermo del Toro's 'Hellboy' (2004) and 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army' (2008), for playing dictator Adam Sutler in James McTeigue's 'V for Vendetta' (2005) and for his role as Professor Oxley in Steven Spielberg's fourth 'Indiana Jones' adventure, 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' (2008); reprised the role of Quentin Crisp over 30 years after 'The Naked Civil Servant' for the feature film 'An Englishman in New York' (2009), for which he received his final BAFTA nomination; also starred or co-starred in such acclaimed films as Robert Zemeckis' 'Contact' (1997), Jeremy Thomas' 'All the Little Animals' (1998), Richard Kwietniowski's 'Love and Death on Long Island' (1997) and 'Owning Mahowny' (2003), John Hillcoat's 'The Proposition' (2005), Tom Tykwer's 'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer' (2006), Jay Roach's 'Recount' (2008), Lars von Trier's 'Melancholia' (2011), Tomas Alfredson' 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' (2011), Bong Joon-ho's 'Snowpiercer' (2013) and, most recently, Pablo Larraín's 'Jackie' (2016); notable recent TV roles included the title role in the series 'The Alan Clark Diaries,' the voice of the Great Dragon Kilgharrah in 'Merlin' and the role of the so-called War Doctor in 'Doctor Who,' all for the BBC; received a special BAFTA Film Award in 2012 for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema; was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2004 and was knighted in 2015 for his services to drama

November 8, 1926 – January 25, 2017

December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017

Iconic, trailblazing actress and producer best known for her roles as dancer-turned-homemaker Laura Petrie on 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' and as single local news producer Mary Richards in 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show,' the latter of which she also produced with her then-husband Grant Tinker through their company, MTM Enterprises; won two Emmy Awards out of three nominations for her work in 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' and won four more Emmys out of eight nominations for 'Mary Tyler Moore'; went on to receive Emmy nominations for her performances as Betty Rollin in the MTM-produced CBS telepic 'First, You Cry' (1978), as Martha Weinman Lear in ABC's TV movie 'Heartsounds' (1984) and as Mary Todd Lincoln in NBC's 1988 miniseries 'Lincoln' before winning one last last time for playing child trafficker Georgia Tann in the Lifetime movie 'Stolen Babies' (1993); also won one Golden Globe each for 'Dick Van Dyke' and 'Mary Tyler Moore' and six additional Globe nominations for the latter; reprised her role as Mary Richards in episodes of the 'Mary Tyler Moore' spin-offs 'Phyllis' and 'Rhoda' -- both of which she also produced -- and starred in several less-successful TV shows, including 'The Mary Tyler Moore Hour' (1979), 'Mary' (1985-86) and 'New York News' (1995); produced many other classic shows through MTM, including 'The Bob Newhart Show,' 'WKRP in Cincinnati,' 'Hill Street Blues,' 'Remington Steele,' 'St. Elsewhere,' and another 'Mary Tyler Moore' spin-off, 'Lou Grant'; notable theatrical film roles include Miss Dorothy Brown in George Roy Hill's musical romantic comedy 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' (1967) and the resentful, emotionally cold mother Beth in Robert Redford's Best Picture Oscar-winning drama 'Ordinary People' (1980), which earned Moore an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role; also had a supporting role in Richard Donner's feature directorial debut 'X-15' (1961), starred opposite Elvis Presley in 'Change of Habit' (1969), starred in '80s dramas 'Six Weeks' (1982) and 'Just Between Friends' (1986) and co-starred in David O. Russell's sophomore feature 'Flirting with Disaster' (1996); appeared on Broadway in 'Who's Life Is It Anyway?' in 1980, for which she received a Special Tony Award, and went on to win a Tony for Best Reproduction as producer (again, through MTM Enterprises) of the 1985 revival of 'Joe Egg' in addition to earning Tony nominations for the original productions of 'Noises Off' (1983-85) and 'Benefactors' (1985-86); continued making film and television appearances into the 21st century, which included reuniting with Dick Van Dyke in the PBS adaptation of 'The Gin Game' (2003) and starring in network TV movies such as 'Like Mother Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes' (2001) and 'Blessings' (2003); more recently made two appearances as high-strung TV host Christine St. George on 'That '70s Show' and reunited with her 'Mary Tyler Moore' castmates Betty White, Chloris Leachman and Valerie Harper for two episodes of 'Hot in Cleveland'; received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Comedy Awards in 1987 and from the Screen Actors Guild in 2012

August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017

Actor best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix in the CBS series 'Mannix' from 1967 to 1975; won a Golden Globe for his work on 'Mannix,' which also garnered him four Emmy nominations; had previously starred in the network's 1959-60 crime drama series 'Tightrope' and would later star in ABC's 1981-82 crime drama 'Today's FBI'; played Mannix for laughs in a 1971 episode of 'Here's Lucy' and reprised the role straight in a 1997 episode of 'Diagnosis Murder' that served as a sequel to a 1973 episode of 'Mannix'; other notable TV roles included Col. Harrison 'Hack' Peters on the 1989 miniseries 'War and Remembrance' and the voice of Chipacles in Disney's animated 'Hercules' series; made his screen debut (credited as "Touch Conners") in David Miller's acclaimed, Oscar-nominated film noir 'Sudden Fear' (1952), which was followed with roles in such films as William A. Wellman's 'Island in the Sky' (1953), Cecil B. DeMille's 'The Ten Commandments' (1956), Edward Dmytryk's 'Where Love Has Gone' (1964), David Swift's 'Good Neighbor Sam' (1964), Gordon Douglas' 'Harlow' (1965) and 'Stagecoach' (1966), and several films for Roger Corman (including 1955's 'Day the World Ended' and 1956's 'Swamp Women') and Edward L. Cahn (including 1956's 'Shake, Rattle & Rock!' and 1957's 'Voodoo Woman'); more recent film credits include Claudia Hoover's romantic tragicomedy 'Gideon' (1998), Peter MacDonald's direct-to-video comedy 'The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave' (2000) and William Tannen's comedy 'Nobody Knows Anything' (2003), in which he made a cameo appearance as Joe Mannix

September 13, 1916 – January 26, 2017

April 18, 1922 – January 26, 2017

Actress best known for her Emmy-winning role as long-suffering but loyal legal secretary Della Street on TV's 'Perry Mason' and in thirty 'Perry Mason' TV movies; had been a leading lady in films of the 1940s and '50s, perhaps most notably in Ted Tetzlaff's noir classic 'The Window' (1949); made her credited screen debut in Tim Whelan's musical 'Higher and Higher' (1943) and appeared the following year in two of the Falcon detective films starring Tom Conway, 'The Falcon Out West' and 'The Falcon in Hollywood'; starred opposite a young Robert Mitchum in the Western film 'West of the Pecos' (1945) and would go on to star in several more Westerns in the '50s, including 'The Lone Hand' (1953) and 'The Oklahoman' (1957) with Joel McCrea, 'Seminole' (1953) with Rock Hudson, and '7th Calvary' (1956) with Randolph Scott; also co-starred opposite James Stewart in Walter Lang's comedy 'The Jackpot' (1950) and James Cagney in Raoul Walsh's 'A Lion Is in the Streets' (1953); other notable film credits include playing the teacher Miss Brand in Joseph Losey's classic anti-war fable 'The Boy with Green Hair (1948), nurse Ellen Clark in Henry Levin's 'Jolson Sings Again' (1949), the title role in Phil Karlson's 'Lorna Doone' (1951) and Washington socialite Julia Hancock--the object of both Lewis and Clark's affections--in Rudolph Maté historical adventure 'The Far Horizons' (1955); played Della Street on 'Perry Mason' from 1957 to 1966, appearing in all 271 episodes of the series and winning an Emmy for the role in 1959; followed 'Perry Mason' with supporting roles in films such as George Seaton's disaster drama 'Airport' (1970), Bill Rebane's cult sci-fi horror feature 'The Giant Spider Invasion' (1975) and John Milius' coming-of-age surfing drama 'Big Wednesday' (1978); returned to the role of Della Street for the TV movie 'Perry Mason Returns' in 1985 and went on to play the part in 29 more telefilms over the next ten years, concluding with 1995's 'A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Jealous Jokester'; made her final onscreen appearance in the 'Biography' episode on her 'Perry Mason' co-star Raymond Burr in 2000

November 22, 1924 – January 26, 2017

December 19, 1919 – January 27, 2017

November 12, 1932 – January 27, 2017

Actor best known for playing Superman in the 1966 Broadway musical 'It's A Bird... It's A Plane... It's Superman,' which allowed him to play the Man of Steel more often than any other actor; at the time of his death was the oldest surviving person to have portrayed Superman on screen or stage

July 18, 1932 – January 27, 2017

Film and television director who helmed the Oscar-nominated movies THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER and REUBEN, REUBEN

February 24, 1927 – January 27, 2017

Iconic French actress best known for starring in Alain Resnais' landmark film 'Hiroshima mon amour' (1959) -- for which she received a BAFTA nomination -- and for her Oscar-nominated and BAFTA and César Award-winning performance in Michael Haneke's acclaimed romantic drama 'Amour' (2012); also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for playing the title role in the Georges Franju-directed adaptation of 'Thérèse Desqueyroux' (1962); starred or co-starred in several other acclaimed films, including Gillo Pontecorvo's 'Kapò' (1960), Antonio Pietrangeli's 'Adua and Friends' a.k.a. 'Hungry for Love' (1960), Jean-Pierre Melville's 'Léon Morin, Priest' (1961), Franju's 'Thomas the Impostor' (1965), André Cayatte's Risky Business' (1967), Fernando Arrabal's 'I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse' (1973), Philippe Garrel's 'Liberté, la nuit' (1984), Jean Delannoy's 'The Passion of Bernadette' (1989) and Krzysztof Kieslowski's 'Three Colors: Blue' (1993), in which she played the Alzheimer's-stricken mother of the lead character played by Juliette Binoche; more recent films include Tonie Marshall's 'Venus Beauty Institute' (1999), Jean-Pierre Améris's 'C'est la vie' (2001), Martial Fougeron's 'My Son' (2006), Julie Delpy's 'Skylab' (2011) and Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon's 'Lost in Paris' (2016)

ca. 1932 – January 27, 2017

Cinematographer best known for shooting Ridley Scott's acclaimed debut feature 'The Duellists' (1977), for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award and the British Society of Cinematographers' Best Cinematography Award; went on to shoot 'The Grey Fox' (1982), 'The Mean Season' (1985) and 'One Magic Christmas' (1985) for director Phillip Borsos and to shoot several films for director Andrew Davis, including 'Code of Silence' (1985), 'The Package' (1989), 'Under Siege' (1992) and 'Chain Reaction' (1996); other cinematography credits include Lamont Johnson's 'Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone' (1983), Alan Alda's 'Sweet Liberty' (1986), Bob Hoskins' 'The Raggedy Rawney' (1988), Roger Spottiswoode's 'Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot' (1992), Peter Markle's 'Wagons East!' (1994), Harvey Miller's 'Getting Away with Murder' (1996) and Bill Duke's 'Hoddlum' (1997)

February 19, 1931 – January 27, 2017

ca. 1928 – January 28, 2017

February 29, 1944 – January 28, 2017

Musician who spent 25 years as the keyboardist for legendary heavy metal band Black Sabbath

April 2, 1934 – January 28, 2017

Sound engineer who worked in the entertainment industry for nearly 50 years -- from 1957 to 2004 -- and was re-recording mixer on over 150 feature films, including George Lucas' 'Star Wars' (1977) and Michael Cimino's 'The Deer Hunter' (1978), the latter of which won him an Oscar for Best Sound; also received Oscar nominations in that category for his work on Jack Lemmon's 'Kotch' (1971), Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Godfather' (1972), Michael Ritchie's 'The Candidate' (1972), Peter Bogdanovich's 'Paper Moon' (1973), Mike Nichols' 'The Day of the Dolphin' (1973), Mel Brooks' 'Young Frankenstein' (1974), Herbert Ross' 'Funny Lady' (1975), Michael Apted's 'Coal Miner's Daughter' (1980) and Mark Rydell's 'On Golden Pond' (1981) and 'The River' (1984); also won BAFTA Awards for his sound work in 'Star Wars' and Robert Altman's 'Nashville' (1975) and was nominated for BAFTAs for 'The Deer Hunter,' 'Coal Miner's Daughter' and Martin Scorsese's 'New York, New York' (1977); worked on many other classics and audience favorites, including Hal Ashby's 'The Landlord' (1970), 'Harold and Maude' (1971) and 'The Last Detail' (1973), Arthur Penn's 'Little Big Man' (1970), Mel Stuart's 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,' (1971), Sam Peckinpah's 'The Getaway' (1972), Sydney Pollack's 'The Way We Were' (1973), Franklin J. Schaffner's 'Papillon' (1973), Cimino's 'Thunderbolt and Lightfoot' (1974) and 'Heaven's Gate' (1980), Altman's '3 Women' (1977) and 'A Wedding' (1978), Ulu Grosbard's 'Straight Time (1978), Lawrence Kasdan's 'Body Heat' (1981), Ron Howard's 'Splash' (1984), Ritchie's 'Fletch' (1985), Fred Dekker's 'The Monster Squad' (1987) Arthur Hiller's 'See No Evil, Hear No Evil' (1989), Alan J. Pakula's 'Presumed Innocent' (1990) and 'The Pelican Brief' (1993), Mick Jackson's 'L.A. Story' (1991), Curtis Hanson's 'The Hand That Rocks the Cradle' (1992) and Taylor Hackford's 'Dolores Claiborne' (1995); also worked on several acclaimed, high-profile made-for-TV movies, including 'The Morning After' (1974), 'Queen of the Stardust Ballroom' (1975), 'Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977) and 'Citizen Cohn' (1992), the last two of which earned him Emmy nominations

January 11, 1949 – January 29, 2017

Journalist and TV personality best known for hosting the cult 1983-85 Spanish musical program 'La edad de oro' ('The Golden Age'), which is considered to be the audiovisual epitome of the artistic, cultural and musical counterculture movement known as La Movida Madrileña (The Madrilenian scene)

c. 1944 – January 31, 2017

Actor who played racketeer Johnny Dio in GOODFELLAS but was perhaps best known for his role as FBI Chief Frank Cubitoso in THE SOPRANOS

1940 – January 31, 2017

Film preservationist and historian who restored hundreds of silent films by such master as Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and F.W. Murnau and brought them to the general public

December 28, 1979 – January 31, 2017

June 2, 1949 – January 31, 2017

Bassist, singer and progressive rock figurehead who played in bands such as King Crimson and Roxy Music before co-founding and leading the supergroup Asia

December 23, 1942 – February 1, 2017

May 23, 1926 – February 1, 2017

July 18, 1928 – February 1, 2017

August 14, 1955 – February 2, 2017

1936 – February 4, 2017

April 1, 1924 – February 4, 2017

Oscar-nominated screenwriter of SEPARATE TABLES who also wrote such films as RUN SILENT RUN DEEP, THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE’S FATHER, NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY and SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION

March 6, 1956 – February 4, 2017

January 11, 1945 – February 4, 2017

April 17, 1931 – February 5, 2017

Actual name: David Axelrod; influential composer, arranger and music producer who was one of the first recording artists to fuse elements of jazz, rock and R&B and whose work has been sampled by dozens of hip-hop artists, including Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Shadow, Wu-Tang Clan, Lil' Wayne and Eminem; not to be confused with the TV writer-producer David Axlerod

November 22, 1947 – February 5, 2017

April 5, 1946 – February 5, 2017

Doublespeaking comic genius and actor known as "Professor" Irwin Corey and often billed as "The World's Foremost Authority"

July 29, 1914 – February 6, 2017

December 15, 1923 – February 6, 2017

Actress who was a theater legend in her native Germany and one of the most prominent performers of the former German Democratic Republic

May 26, 1925 – February 6, 2017

Actor perhaps most well-known for his starring roles in the 1972 films 'Frenzy' (directed by Alfred Hitchcock) and 'Travels with My Aunt' (directed by George Cukor) and for his celebrated one-man stage performance of 'St. Mark's Gospel' (1978), which he brought from Riverside Studios in Hammersmith to two West End theaters and then to Broadway, where he received a Tony nomination for Best Actor in Play; had previously received a Tony nomination and won an Evening Standard award (the first of three) and a Drama Desk Award (the first of two) for his portrayal of Fr. William Rolfe in 'Hadrian the Seventh' (1967-69); also earned a Tony nomination and a Drama Desk Award for playing the title role in Christopher Hampton's 'The Philanthropist' (1970-71); won his second Evening Standard award for Best Actor for his work in Molière's 'The Misanthrope' (1973-75), for which he was also nominated for another Drama Desk Award; won a third Evening Standard Best Actor award -- a record equaled only by Laurence Olivier and Paul Scofield -- for Hampton's stage adaptation of George Steiner's novel 'The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H' in 1982; other notable stage works include originating the role of psychiatrist Martin Dysart in the world premiere of Peter Shaffer’s 'Equus' in 1973 and starring as poet Rudyard Kipling in Brian Clark's one-man play 'Kipling' in 1984, which earned him one last Drama Desk nomination; made his screen debut in 1953, appearing that year in both the feature film 'The Cruel Sea' and the television movie 'Escapade'; subsequently appeared in such films as 'A Divided Heart' (1954), 'The Deep Blue Sea' (1955), 'The Third Key' (1956), 'Time Without Pity' (1957) and, for director Roy Ward Baker, 'The One That Got Away' (1957) and 'A Night to Remember' (1958); played House Master Brown in Tony Richardson's classic drama 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner' (1962), co-starred opposite Joan Crawford and Kay Walsh in Cyril Frankel's 'The Witches' (1966) and appeared in Tom Gries' historical drama 'The Hawaiians' (1970) before landing his most famous film roles as Chief Inspector Oxford in Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate thriller 'Frenzy' and as Henry Pulling opposite Maggie Smith's Aunt Augusta in George Cukor's 'Travels with My Aunt,' both released in 1972; received a Golden Globe nomination for his role in 'Travels with My Aunt' and also placed fourth for the National Society of Film Critics' Best Actor award for that film; subsequent screen credits include BBC adaptations of Noël Coward's 'Private Lives' (1976), Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' (1980) and Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest' (1986), the title role in the 1984-85 drama series 'Mr Palfrey of Westminster,' and roles in theatrical films such as 'Stevie' (1978), 'Hanover Street' (1979), the unofficial James Bond adventure 'Never Say Never Again' (1983), Richard Attenborough's 'Cry Freedom' (1987) and Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of 'Henry V' (1989); played Sillerton Jackson in Martin Scorsese's big-screen take on Edith Wharton's 'The Age of Innocence' (1993) and co-starred in made-for-TV adaptations of Charles Dickens' 'David Copperfield' and Dava Sobel's 'Longitude' (both 2000) before concluding his acting career by reteaming with Scorsese to play Reverend Raleigh in 'Gangs of New York' (2002); was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1972 and was promoted to Commander within the Order in 1986

1929 – February 6, 2017

Production designer/art director whose credits include 'Far from the Madding Crowd' (1967), 'The Amazing Mr. Blunden' (1972), 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' (1975), 'Jabberwocky' (1977), 'Mrs. Soffel' (1984), 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure' (1989), 'Warlock' (1989), the three original live-action 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movies (1990-1993), Mel Brooks' 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' (1993) and 'Dracula: Dead and Loving It' (1995), 'The Pagemaster' (1994), 'Crossfire Trail' (2001) and 'The Lost Batallion' (2001); also collaborated on several projects with director John Gray, including the film 'Born to Be Wild' (1995), TV movies 'The Lost Capone' (1990), 'The Day Lincoln Was Shot' (1998), 'The Hunley' (1999), 'The Seventh Stream' (2001), 'Martin and Lewis' (2002) and 'Helter Skelter' (2004), and 44 episodes of the TV drama series 'Ghost Whisperer' (2005-07), which Gray created; earned Art Directors Guild Award nominations for his work on 'The Hunley' and 'Martin and Lewis'

February 28, 1916 – February 7, 2017

May 21, 1945 – February 7, 2017

Actor best known for starring Captain Apollo in the original 'Battlestar Galactica' series during the 1978-79 television season, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination in 1979; years later would recur as Tom Zarek in Ronald D. Moore's re-imagined 'Battlestar Galactica' that ran from 2004 to 2009; also remembered for playing Inspector Dan Robbins in 'The Streets of San Francisco' (1976-77) and Dean Caldwell in 'Dynasty' (1984-85)

January 10, 1941 – February 7, 2017

December 23, 1971 – February 8, 2017

November 27, 1929 – February 8, 2017

TV comedy scriptwriter who along with writing partner Ray Galton conceived and wrote the classic BBC sitcoms HANCOCK’S HALF HOUR and STEPTOE AND SON (the basis for U.S. series SANFORD AND SON)

May 18, 1927 – February 8, 2017

Actor whose 100+ film and television credits include the landmark drama FUNERAL PARADE OF ROSES and Akira Kurosawa classics such as SEVEN SAMURAI, THE HIDDEN FORTRESS, YOJIMBO, HIGH AND LOW and RED BEARD

June 20, 1937 – February 9, 2017

January 7, 1949 – February 11, 2017

Legendary professional wrestler known to WWE fans as Chavo Classic and who remains the oldest WWE Cruiserweight Champion in history

June 27, 1919 – February 11, 2017

TV writer and producer who worked on DIFF’RENT STROKES for most of its eight-year run and co-created the sitcoms THE FACTS OF LIFE and SILVER SPOONS

March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017

Seven-time Grammy-winning singer whose music spanned jazz, pop and R&B; perhaps best known for his 1981 landmark album 'Breakin' Away' and for performing the theme song for the 1985-89 TV series 'Moonlighting'; was also one of the performers in the 1985 charity song "We Are the World" and is the third soloist from that single to pass away following the deaths of Ray Charles in 2004 and Michael Jackson in 2009