Mother and daughter, Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher, among the celebrities we lost in 2016
The year 2016 will go down as annus horribilis for the vast array of celebrity deaths. They started coming in January with the shocking loss of rock stars David Bowie and Glenn Frey and didn’t let up until the loss of the original famous-for-being-famous star Zsa Zsa Gabor and pop superstar George Michael on Christmas Day.
In the intervening months we lost more musicians including Prince and Leon Russell, actors Patty Duke and Alan Thicke, sports icons Muhammad Ali and Arnold Palmer and world figures Fidel Castro and Nancy Reagan.
Here’s a look back at some of the bold-face names who died in 2016:
Read a story on some of the South Florida notables we lost in 2016
January
6: Pat Harrington, 86. Actor, best known for playing the building superintendent Schneider on “One Day at a Time.”
10: David Bowie, 69. Rock singer/songwriter who released his mortality-minded final album, “Blackstar,” just days before his death.
14: Alan Rickman, 69. Actor in the “Harry Potter” series and “Eye in the Sky.”
18: Glenn Frey, 67. Musician/songwriter, co-founder of the Eagles who recorded hit songs like “Hotel California” and “One of These Nights,” in Miami.
26: Abe Vigoda, 94. Actor in TV sitcoms “Barney Miller,” “Fish.”
28: Paul Kantner, 74. Singer/songwriter. Founded Jefferson Airplane and its ’70s offshoot Jefferson Starship.
February
3: Maurice White, 74. Musician/songwriter, founder of Earth, Wind & Fire.
13: Antonin Scalia, 79. Supreme Court justice.
19: Harper Lee, 89. Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
28: George Kennedy, 91. Actor in “Cool Hand Luke,” the “Airport” films.
March
4: Pat Conroy, 70. Novelist, “The Prince of Tides.”
4: Joey Feek, 40. Singer in country duo Joey + Rory.
6: Nancy Reagan, 94. First lady, widow of President Ronald Reagan.
8: George Martin, 90. Beatles and America producer.
11: Keith Emerson, 71. Keyboardist-founder Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
19: Bob Adelman, 85. Civil rights movement photographer.
22: Rob Ford, 46. Scandal-plagued Toronto mayor.
23: Joe Garagiola, 90. Broadcaster, host of “Today” show, baseball player.
23: Ken Howard, 71. Actor (“The White Shadow,” “Dynasty”). President of SAG-AFTRA.
24: Garry Shandling, 66. Actor/comedian, star of “The Larry Sanders Show.”
29: Patty Duke, 69. Actress in her own sitcom, and movies “Valley of the Dolls” and “The Miracle Worker.”
Read a story on an artist’s ever-growing Sgt. Pepper image of 2016 celeb deaths
April
6: Merle Haggard, 79. Country music songwriter/singer.
17: Doris Roberts, 90. TV and movie character actress in “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Angie” and “The Rose.”
21: Prince, 57. Singer/songwriter/musician. “Purple Rain” and “1999” are among his classics. Performed at a memorably wet Super Bowl halftime show in Miami.
May
19: Morley Safer, 84. Longest-serving correspondent on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
June
3: Muhammad Ali, 74. Heavyweight boxing champion, formerly known as Cassius Clay. Trained at Miami Beach’s Fifth Street Gym with Angelo Dundee in the 1960s.
6: Kimbo Slice, 42. MMA fighter from Miami.
10: Gordie Howe, 88. Hall of Fame ice hockey virtuoso.
19: Anton Yelchin, 27. Actor “Star Trek” reboots.
July
2: Elie Wiesel, 87. Holocaust survivor, author of “Night,” and Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1986.
19: Garry Marshall, 81. TV producer, created “Happy Days,” “Laverne & Shirley” and “Mork & Mindy.”
August
16: John McLaughlin, 89. Speechwriter for President Richard Nixon and host of “The McLaughlin Group.”
28: Juan Gabriel, 66. Popular Mexican singer.
29: Gene Wilder, 83. Actor in film favorites like “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “Blazing Saddles.”
September
16: Edward Albee, 88. Playwright, fixture at the Coconut Grove Playhouse.
25: Arnold Palmer, 87. Golfer known in the sport as “The King.”
November
7: Leonard Cohen, 82. Singer/songwriter/poet. Canada’s answer to Bob Dylan wrote classics like “Hallelujah” and “Suzanne.”
11: Robert Vaughn, 83. Actor. Famous for the ’60s TV spy series, “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”
13: Leon Russell, 74. Singer/songwriter/musician. Co-wrote classics like “Superstar,” “A Song for You” and “This Masquerade.”
14: Gwen Ifill, 61. Prominent PBS news anchor.
18: Sharon Jones, 60. Singer.
24: Florence Henderson, 82. Actress. Beloved “Brady Bunch” mom.
25: Fidel Castro, 90. Cuban dictator who took power in 1959 and outlasted every U.S. president from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush.
December
7: Greg Lake, 69. Musician. Bassist with Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
8: John Glenn, 95. Astronaut. Senator. The first American to orbit the earth in 1962, and, in 1998 at 77, the oldest person in space.
13: Alan Thicke, 69. Actor, songwriter. “Growing Pains” and “Thicke of the Night” star.
18: Zsa Zsa Gabor, 99. Sometime actress (“The Story of Three Loves”), famous for being famous personality, socialite.
24: Richard Adams, 96. British author who wrote the popular 1972 novel about rabbits, “Watership Down.”
25: George Michael, 53. Pop star who had one of the biggest albums of the 1980s with “Faith” in 1987. As one-half of Wham!, Michael filmed part of the duo’s No. 1 1984 single, “Careless Whisper” in Coconut Grove at Grove Towers and also Watson Island in Miami. In 1985, at the height of Wham! mania, Michael and Andrew Ridgely sold 25,000 seats for a concert at the former Miami Baseball Stadium. The singer-songwriter’s manager told The Hollywood Reporter he died of heart failure.
27: Carrie Fisher, 60. Actress who entered pop culture lore for her role as Princess Leia in the classic “Star Wars” films died following a heart attack.
28: Debbie Reynolds, 84. Actress, Hollywood royalty and beloved star of “Singin’ in the Rain” dies of a stroke a day after her daughter, Carrie Fisher, 60, died of a heart attack.
This report was supplemented with material from the Washington Post.
Follow @HowardCohen on Twitter.
This story was originally published December 27, 2016 at 9:13 PM with the headline "Mother and daughter, Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher, among the celebrities we lost in 2016."