From prominent “Friends” star Matthew Perry to style legend Jane Birkin, fans have lost the arts and entertainment stars this year. Here’s a tribute to some of the most prominent figures in the domains of art and entertainment who bid us farewell over the past twelve months.
It’s unthinkable to do justice to all the people who left a memorable mark on our lives either through their accomplishments, performances, or stability of character but we liked to celebrate the joy they spread and, the fun, fear, sadness, or excitement they made us feel.
Lisa Loring (1958 – 2023)
Lisa Loring, the first actress to play the iconic role of Wednesday, the youngest member of the mysterious, kooky, creepy, spooky, and kooky Addams Family, died aged 64.
At the mere age of five, Loring played the princess of all things morbid from 1964 to 1966 in The Addams Family, the first adaptation of Charles Addams’ New Yorker cartoons.
Paco Rabanne (1934 – 2023)
Famous designer Paco Rabanne, one of the most seminal fashion figures of the 20th century, died at the age of 88.
Over decades the Franco-Spanish couturier made special designs and created several enticing scents that obtained him success both on the catwalk and on the high streets, making him a household name.
Raquel Welch (1940 – 2023)
Hollywood icon Raquel Welch, whose appearance from the sea in a skimpy, furry bikini in the film ‘One Million Years B.C.’ made her a global sex symbol throughout the 1960s and ’70s, died aged 82.
Her curves and looks also caught pop culture’s attention, with Playboy crowning her the “most desired woman” of the ’70s, despite never being completely naked in the magazine.
Welch was also a singer and dancer.
She shocked many analysts and attracted positive reviews when she starred in the 1981 musical ‘Woman of the Year’ on Broadway, replacing Lauren Bacall.
Lance Reddick (1962 – 2023)
Lance Reddick, the prolific and charismatic actor who emerged in prominent TV series like ‘The Wire’, ‘Fringe’ and ‘Bosch’, as well as in the John Wick franchise, died of natural causes at the age of 60.
The actor had been in the middle of a press tour for the fourth installment of the John Wick movie, John Wick: Chapter 4.
He played a frequent character named Charon, the concierge at the Continental Hotel who works alongside Keanu Reeves’ infamous hitman.
Reddick was also slated to occur in the upcoming Ballerina spinoff, starring Ana de Armas.
Michael Lerner (1941 – 2023)
Michael Lerner, the Academy Award-nominated American actor, died at the age of 81. The late actor was best known for his role as the film producer, Jack Lipnick, in Barton Fink (1991) which acquired him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards.
He has also starred and emerged in other films and series: The Warden in No Escape (1994), Mel Horowitz on the television series Clueless (1996-97), Jerry Miller in The Beautician and the Beast(1997), Mayor Ebert in Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla (1998), Mr. Greenway in Elf (2003), and Senator Brickman in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).
Barry Humphries (1934 – 2023)
Best known for his comic creation Dame Edna Everage, Barry Humphries died at the age of 89. The Australian entertainer, who was incredibly famous in the UK, occurred in West End shows including Maggie May and Oliver!.
His star rose further when the character of Dame Edna, a parody of suburban housewives, became a sensation in the 1970s, even landing her TV chat show, the Dame Edna Everage Experience, in the late 1980s.
Known for her flamboyant glasses, wittily condescending attitude, lilac-rinsed hair, and catchphrase “Hello possums!”, Humphries even wrote a biography called My Gorgeous Life, as the character.
Jerry Springer (1944 – 2023)
Jerry Springer, the former mayor of Cincinnati and news anchor turned legendary TV host, died at the age of 79.
The American presenter was well-known for his wild talk show, The Jerry Springer Show, which featured a three-ring circus of dysfunctional families keen to bare all on weekday afternoons including brawls, obscenities, bleep-filled arguments, and blurred images of nudity.
At its peak, it was a ratings powerhouse and a US cultural pariah, synonymous with lurid drama.
Well in advance of Donald Trump’s political advancement from reality TV stardom, Springer considered a Senate run in 2003 that he surmised could draw on “non-traditional voters,” people “who believe most politics are bull.”
Martin Amis (1949 – 2023)
Famous British author Martin Amis, known for his seminal novels, Money and London Fields, died at the age of 73.
Amis’ works were rebellious, witty, and fearless and made him one of the most well-known writers of his generation.
Money: A Suicide Note, a satire published in 1984, is viewed as one of his finest early works. It was included as one of the 100 best novels written in English by the Guardian which defined it as a “zeitgeist book that remains one of the dominant novels of the 1980s.”
A film adaption of Amis’s novel The Zone of Interest directed by Jonathan Glazer premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
Glenda Jackson (1936 – 2023)
The British trailblazer and former MP Glenda Jackson died at the age of 87. The Oscar-winning actress, who won two Academy Awards for Women In Love and A Touch of Class, as well as two more nominations, was a global star in the 1970s.
At the peak of her career, she offered it all up for politics, acting as a Labour MP in north London from 1992 until 2015.
Alan Arkin (1934 – 2023)
Oscar-winning actor Alan Arkin, who had a decades-long career and bagged the Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role in 2006’s Little Miss Sunshine, died at 89.
In the movie about a dysfunctional family on their path to a beauty pageant, he played a frail, foul-mouthed grandfather who was suffering from years of drug abuse.
Throughout his lengthy career, Arkin was very prolific, occurring in more than 100 films and TV shows, nominated for four Oscars in total, including for his roles in The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming and Argo, and was also a renowned director and author.
Jane Birkin (1946 – 2023)
Jane Birkin, the Franco-British actress, singer, and style icon died at 76. She first came to the attention of the public in Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Blow Up, where her nude caused a scandal.
Birkin gained global fame through her enduring musical and romantic collaboration with Serge Gainsbourg spanning a decade.
In addition to her musical success, she enjoyed a prolific acting career, especially in French cinema, working with some of the world’s finest filmmakers, including Jacques Rivette and Agnès Varda.
Angus Cloud (1998 – 2023)
Angus Cloud, the actor who starred as the drug dealer Fezco “Fez” O’Neill on the HBO series “Euphoria” alongside Zendaya, died at the age of 25.
To some, Cloud seemed so natural as Fez that they suspected he was identical to the character – a notion that Cloud pushed back against.
The part made Cloud the breakout star of one the buzziest shows on television. He was also cast to co-star in Scream 6 before his death.
Mark Margolis (1939 – 2023)
Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul actor Mark Margolis, renowned for his portrayal of Hector Salamanca, passed away at the age of 83.
Margolis, a versatile actor with a career spanning over five decades and more than 60 films, achieved widespread recognition for his role as the resentful former drug lord Salamanca.
The role earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2012.
Margolis also had notable roles in Scarface, Ace Ventura, and The Wrestler.
Matthew Perry (1969 – 2023)
Friends star Matthew Perry, the Emmy-nominated actor whose sarcastic, but lovable Chandler Bing was among television’s most famous and most quotable characters, died at 54.
Perry’s 10 seasons on Friends made him one of Hollywood’s most recognizable actors, starring opposite Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, and David Schwimmer as a friend group in New York.
As Chandler, he played the quick-witted, insecure, and neurotic roommate of LeBlanc’s Joey and a close friend of Schwimmer’s Ross.
The series was one of television’s biggest hits and has taken on a new life – and found surprising popularity with younger fans – in recent years on streaming services.
Perry also had several notable film roles, starring opposite Salma Hayek in the rom-com Fools Rush In and Bruce Willis in the crime comedy The Whole Nine Yards.
Ryan O’Neal (1941 – 2023)
Hollywood actor Ryan O’Neal, who worked across genres with many of the era’s most celebrated directors, including Peter Bogdanovich on Paper Moon and _What’s Up, Doc?_and Stanley Kubrick on Barry Lyndon, died aged 82.
The heartthrob actor went from a TV soap opera to an Oscar-nominated role in Love Story and delivered a wry performance opposite his charismatic nine-year-old daughter Tatum in Paper Moon.
Ryan O’Neal was nominated for best actor for the 1970 tear-jerker drama Love Story, co-starring Ali MacGraw, about a young couple who fall in love, marry, and discover she is dying of cancer.
The romantic melodrama was the highest-grossing film of 1970, became one of Paramount Pictures’ biggest hits, and collected seven Oscar nominations, including one for best picture. It won for best music.
Andre Braugher (1962 – 2023)
Andre Braugher, the Emmy-winning actor known for his role in the US comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine and the gritty cop drama Homicide, Life on the Streets, died at the age of 61.
Known for his instantly recognizable deep voice, Braugher’s career spanned gritty drama and modern comedy, earning him critical acclaim and accolades, including two Emmys.
He won his first career Emmy for his role as Detective Frank Pembleton in Homicide: Life on the Street, a dark police drama based on a book by David Simon.
He went on to play a very different kind of cop on a very different kind of show, shifting to comedy as Capt. Ray Holt on the beloved Andy Samberg-starring Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
It would run for eight seasons from 2013 to 2021 on Fox and NBC.
