Will Eisner, 87, cartoon pioneer/graphic novelist (The Spirit, A Contract With God), 1/3
Spencer Dryden, 66, Jefferson Airplane drummer, 1/10
Jimmy Griffin, 61, Bread founder, 1/11
Thelma White, 94, actress (Reefer Madness), 1/11
Lamont Bentley, 31, actor (Moesha), 1/19
Consuelo Velázquez, 88, songwriter (”Bésame Mucho”), 1/22
Eric Griffiths, 64, Quarrymen guitarist, 1/29
David Lerchey, 67, first white member of doo-wop group the Dell Vikings, 1/29
Merle Kilgore, 70, Hank Williams Jr.’s manager, co-writer of ”Ring of Fire,” 2/6
Keith Knudsen, 56, Doobie Brothers drummer, 2/8
Najai Turpin, 23, contestant on NBC’s The Contender, 2/14
Peter Foy, 79, inventor (made Peter Pan fly on Broadway in 1950), 2/17
John Raitt, 88, Broadway actor (Carousel), father of Bonnie, 2/20
Simone Simon, 93, actress (Cat People), 2/22
Chris LeDoux, 56, rodeo star-turned-country singer, 3/9
George Scott, 75, cofounder of the Blind Boys of Alabama, 3/9
Lalo Guerrero, 88, ”Father of Chicano Music,” 3/17
Barney Martin, 82, actor (Seinfeld) 3/21
Bobby Short, 80, cabaret performer, 3/21
Paul Henning, 93, creator of The Beverly Hillbillies, 3/25
Johnnie Cochran, lawyer, 3/29
”We’d gone to the same barber-shop in L.A. so I knew Johnnie when he was an assistant DA. All of my imitation was the sincerest form of flattery.” — PHIL MORRIS (Jackie Chiles on Seinfeld)
Robert Creeley, 78, poet, 3/30
Frank Conroy, 69, author (Stop-Time), 4/6
Andrea Dworkin, 58, feminist author (Intercourse), 4/9
Faith McNulty, 86, author (The Burning Bed), 4/10
Johnnie ”Johnny B. Goode” Johnson, 80, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame pianist, 4/13
Ruth Hussey, 93, actress (The Philadelphia Story), 4/19
Tristan Egolf, 33, author (Lord of the Barnyard), 5/7
Jay Marshall, 85, master magician, 5/10
Jimmy Martin, 77, ”King of Bluegrass,” 5/14
Frank Gorshin, actor, 5/17
”He was a man of 1,000 voices and 1,000 faces. When he put on that Riddler outfit, he instilled that character with an emotional honesty I have spent my career hoping to express.” — ADAM WEST
Henry Corden, 85, voice of Fred Flintstone, 5/19
Linda Martinez, 29, piano prodigy, 5/19
Thurl Ravenscroft, 91, voice of Tony the Tiger, 5/22
Eddie Albert, 99, actor (Green Acres), 5/26
Ronald Winans, 48, gospel singer, 6/17
Renaldo ”Obie” Benson, 69, Four Tops original member, songwriter (”What’s Going On”), 7/1
Ernest Lehman, 89, screenwriter (Sabrina, North by Northwest, The Sound of Music), 7/2
”Big” Al Downing, 65, country artist, 7/4
Ray Davis, 65, Parliament-Funkadelic bass vocalist, 7/5
Evan Hunter, 78, crime novelist (a.k.a. Ed McBain), 7/6
Freddy Soto, 35, comedian, 7/10
Joe Harnell, 80, composer (”Fly Me to the Moon Bossa Nova”), 7/14
Geraldine Fitzgerald, 91, actress (Wuthering Heights, Arthur), 7/17
Edward Bunker, 71, San Quentin inmate-turned-crime writer, 7/19
James Doohan, 85, Star Trek‘s Scotty, 7/20
John Baldry, 64, blues musician, 7/21
Eugene Record, 64, Chi-Lites leader, 7/22
The Incomparable Hildegarde, 99, cabaret star of the 1930s and ’40s, 7/29
Bill Moss, 69, godfather of the 1970s ”Columbus Soul” sound, 8/2
”Little Milton” Campbell, 70, blues guitarist, 8/4
Ibrahim Ferrer, singer, 8/6
”You could see by looking at this guy that he was somebody, like an aging cougar. He had a fantastic sound that you don’t hear anymore.” — RY COODER
Matthew McGrory, 32, Big Fish‘s Karl the Giant, 8/9
Judith Rossner, 70, novelist (Looking for Mr. Goodbar), 8/9
Joe Ranft, 45, Pixar specialist, 8/16
Robert Moog, 71, synthesizer inventor, 8/21
Brock Peters, 78, actor (To Kill a Mockingbird), 8/23
Clarence ”Gatemouth” Brown, 81, guitarist-singer, 9/10
Robert Wise, director, 9/14
”He was an old pro and a gentleman, which is rare in our business.” — CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER
Don Adams, actor, 9/25
”Don was really smart. Not Maxwell Smart. He was Don Adams smart.” — MEL BROOKS
M. Scott Peck, 69, author (The Road Less Traveled), 9/25
Nipsey Russell, actor, 10/2
”On the Car 54, Where Are You? remake he was fresh, wonderfully present, and sparkled with an adolescent energy in his eyes.” — JOHN C. MCGINLEY
Shirley Horn, 71, jazz singer, 10/20
Tara Correa-McMullen, 16, actress (Judging Amy), 10/21
Skitch Henderson, 87, Tonight Show band leader, New York Pops founder, 11/1
Fanny McConnell Ellison, 93, founding director of Chicago’s Negro People’s Theater, wife of Ralph Ellison, 11/19
Wendie Jo Sperber, 47, actress (Bosom Buddies, Back to the Future), 11/29
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