Celebrity deaths in 2014

BERNARD McGHEE

Associated Press

Here is a roll call of some of the people who died in 2014, including politicians and national leaders, artists and entertainers, athletes, scientists and business leaders. The cause of death is cited for younger people, if available.

JANUARY

Juanita Moore, 99. Groundbreaking actress and an Academy Award nominee for her role as Lana Turner’s black friend in the classic weeper “Imitation of Life.” Jan. 1.

Saul Zaentz, 92. Music producer whose second career as a filmmaker brought him best picture Academy Awards for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” ‘’Amadeus” and “The English Patient.” Jan. 3.

Run Run Shaw, 107. Pioneering Hong Kong movie producer whose studio popularized the kung fu genre that influenced Quentin Tarantino and other Hollywood directors. Jan. 7.

Ariel Sharon, 85. Israeli general and prime minister who was admired and hated for his battlefield exploits and ambitions to reshape the Middle East. Jan. 11.

Russell Johnson, 89. Actor who played “The Professor,” the fix-it man who kept his fellow castaways on TV’s “Gilligan’s Island” supplied with gadgets. Jan. 16.

Pete Seeger, 94. Banjo- picking troubadour who sang for migrant workers, college students and star-struck presidents in a career that introduced generations of Americans to their folk music heritage. Jan. 27.

FEBRUARY

Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46. He won a best actor Oscar in 2006 for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in “Capote” and created a gallery of other vivid characters, many of them slovenly and slightly dissipated comic figures. Feb. 2. Apparent heroin overdose.

Ralph Kiner, 91. He slugged his way to the baseball Hall of Fame and then enjoyed a half-century career as a popular broadcaster. Feb. 6.

Shirley Temple, 85. Dimpled, curly-haired child star who sang, danced, sobbed and grinned her way into the hearts of Depression-era moviegoers. Feb. 10.

Sid Caesar, 91. Prodigiously talented pioneer of TV comedy who paired with Imogene Coca in sketches that became classics and who inspired a generation of famous writers. Feb. 12.

Ralph Waite, 85. He played the kind-and-steady patriarch of a tight-knit rural Southern family on the TV series “The Waltons.” Feb. 13.

Alice Herz-Sommer, 110. Believed to be the oldest Holocaust survivor. Feb. 23.

Harold Ramis, 69. Comedy actor, director and writer best known for his roles in movies such as “Ghostbusters” and “Stripes.” Feb. 24.

MARCH

Sheila MacRae, 92. Veteran stage, film and TV performer best known for playing Alice Kramden in the 1960s re-creation of “The Honeymooners.” March 6.

Jeremiah Denton, 89. Former Alabama senator who survived 7 Ω years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and alerted the U.S. military to conditions there when he blinked the word “torture” in Morse code during a television interview. March 28.

APRIL

Mickey Rooney, 93. Pint-size actor and all-around talent whose more than 80-year career spanned silent comedies, Shakespeare, Judy Garland musicals, Andy Hardy stardom, television and the Broadway theater. April 6.

Peaches Geldof, 25. Model and media personality who was a daughter of Irish singer Bob Geldof and member of a talented, troubled family who grew up in the glare of Britain’s tabloid press. April 7. Heroin overdose.

Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, 76. Boxer whose wrongful murder conviction became an international symbol of racial injustice. April 20.

Bob Hoskins, 71. British actor whose varied career ranged from noir drama “Mona Lisa” to animated fantasy “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” April 29.

Al Feldstein, 88. His 28 years at the helm of Mad magazine transformed the satirical publication into a pop-culture institution. April 29.

MAY

Jeb Stuart Magruder, 79. Watergate conspirator-turned-minister who claimed in later years to have heard President Richard Nixon order the infamous break-in. May 11.

H.R. Giger, 74. Swiss artist who designed the creature in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror classic “Alien.” May 12.

Jerry Vale, 83. Beloved crooner known for his high-tenor voice and romantic songs in the 1950s and early ’60s. May 18.

Don Meyer, 69. One of the winningest coaches in college basket- ball who came back from a near-fatal car accident and liver cancer before closing out his career. May 18.

Jack Brabham, 88. Three-time Formula One champion who famously pushed his car to the finish line to claim his first season title. May 19.

Maya Angelou, 86. Author and poet who rose from poverty, segregation and violence to become a force on stage, screen and the printed page. May 28.

JUNE

Ann B. Davis, 88. Emmy- winning actress who became America’s best-known housekeeper as the devoted Alice Nelson of TV’s “Brady Bunch.” June 1.

Chester Nez, 93. Last of the original group of Navajo Code Talkers who stumped the Japanese during World War II. June 4.

Bob Welch, 57. 1990 AL Cy Young Award winner with the Oakland Athletics and the last major leaguer to win at least 25 games in a season. June 9.

Ruby Dee, 91. Acclaimed actress and civil-rights activist whose versatile career spanned stage, radio, television and film. June 11.

Chuck Noll, 82. Hall of Fame coach who won a record four Super Bowl titles with the Pittsburgh Steelers. June 13.

Casey Kasem, 82. Radio broadcaster with a cheerful manner and gentle voice who became the king of the top-40 countdown with a syndicated show that ran for decades. June 15.

Daniel Keyes, 86. Author whose novel “Flowers for Algernon” became a classroom staple that explored the treatment of the mentally disabled and the ethics of manipulating human intelligence. June 15.

Tony Gwynn, 54. Hall of Famer whose sweet left-handed swing made him one of San Diego’s best-loved athletes and earned him the nickname “Mr. Padre.” June 16. Cancer.

Stanley Marsh 3, 76. Texas businessman, artist and eccentric (he used 3 rather than the conventional III after his name) whose partially buried row of Cadillacs became a roadside tourist attraction. June 17.

Eli Wallach, 98. Raspy-voiced character actor who starred in dozens of movies and Broadway plays and earned film immortality as a quick-on-the-draw bandit in the classic Western “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” June 24.

Howard H. Baker Jr., 88. Moderate Republican ex-senator who, during the 1973 Watergate hearings, sought to learn Richard Nixon’s role by asking what the president knew and when he knew it. June 26.

Meshach Taylor, 67. He played a lovable ex-convict surrounded by Southern belles on the sitcom “Designing Women” and appeared in numerous other TV and film roles. June 28.

JULY

Louis Zamperini, 97. Olympic distance runner who, during World War II, survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific after his bomber crashed, then endured two years in Japanese prison camps and hero of the book and movie “Unbroken.” July 2.

Richard Mellon Scaife, 82. Billionaire Mellon banking heir who published the Pittsburgh Tribune- Review and funded libertarian and conservative political causes. July 4.

Tommy Ramone, 65. Co-founder of the seminal punk band the Ramones and last surviving member of the original group. July 11.

Lorin Maazel, 84. World-renowned conductor whose career included seven years at the helm of the New York Philharmonic. July 12.

Alice Coachman Davis, 90. First black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. July 14.

James Garner, 86. Actor whose whimsical style in the 1950s TV Western “Maverick” led to a career in TV and films such as “The Rockford Files” and his Oscar-nominated “Murphy’s Romance.” July 19.

Theodore “Dutch” VanKirk, 93. Last surviving member of the crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, hastening the end of World War II and forcing the world into the atomic age. July 28.

AUGUST

Chung Eun-yong, 91. Ex-policeman whose half-century quest for justice for his two slain children led the U.S. Army in 2001 to acknowledge the Korean War refugee massacre at No Gun Ri. Aug. 1.

James Brady, 73. Affable, witty press secretary who survived a devastating head wound in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, then undertook a personal crusade for gun control. Aug. 4.

Robin Williams, 63. Academy Award winner and comic supernova whose explosions of pop-culture riffs and impressions dazzled audiences for decades. Aug. 11. Apparent suicide.

Lauren Bacall, 89. Slinky, sultry-voiced actress who created on-screen magic with Humphrey Bogart in “To Have and Have Not” and “The Big Sleep” and off-screen magic in one of Hollywood’s most storied marriages. Aug. 12.

Don Pardo, 96. TV and radio announcer whose booming baritone became as much a part of the cultural landscape as the shows he touted, including “Saturday Night Live.” Aug. 18.

Richard Attenborough, 90. Actor and Oscar- winning director whose film career on both sides of the camera spanned 60 years. Aug. 24.

SEPTEMBER

Joan Rivers, 81. Raucous, acid-tongued comedian who crashed the male-dominated realm of late-night talk shows and turned Hollywood red carpets into danger zones for badly dressed celebrities. Sept. 4. Fatal complication during a medical procedure.

Bob Suter, 57. Member of the “Miracle On Ice” team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1980 and the father of Minnesota Wild star Ryan Suter. Sept. 9.

Richard Kiel, 74. Towering actor best known for portraying steel-toothed villain Jaws in a pair of James Bond films. Sept. 10.

James Traficant, 73. Colorful Ohio politician whose conviction for taking bribes and kickbacks made him only the second person to be expelled from Congress since the Civil War. Sept. 27.

Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock, 88. First female pilot to fly solo around the world. Sept. 30.

OCTOBER

Jean-Claude Duvalier, 63. He presided over what was widely acknowledged as a corrupt, brutal regime as the self-proclaimed “president for life” of Haiti until an uprising sent him into a 25-year exile. Oct. 4. Heart attack.

Jan Hooks, 57. Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member. Oct. 9.

Tim Hauser, 72. Founder and singer of the Grammy-winning vocal troupe The Manhattan Transfer. Oct. 16.

Oscar de la Renta, 82. Worldly gentleman designer who shaped the wardrobe of socialites, first ladies and Hollywood stars for more than four decades. Oct. 20.

Ben Bradlee, 93. Hard-charging editor who guided The Washington Post through its Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Watergate scandal and invigorated its newsroom for more than two decades. Oct. 21.

Jack Bruce, 71. British musician best known as the bass player and vocalist of the power blues trio Cream. Oct. 25.

NOVEMBER

Tom Magliozzi, 77. He was one half of the brother duo who hosted National Public Radio’s “Car Talk,” where they bantered with callers and commiserated over their car problems. Nov. 3.

Mike Nichols, 83. Director of matchless versatility who brought fierce wit, caustic social commentary and wicked absurdity to such film, TV and stage hits as “The Graduate,” ‘’Angels in America” and “Monty Python’s Spamalot.” Nov. 19.

Marion Barry, 78. Former District of Columbia mayor whose four terms were overshadowed by his 1990 arrest after being caught on videotape smoking crack cocaine. Nov. 23.

DECEMBER

Ralph Baer, 92. Video-game pioneer who created both the precursor to “Pong” and the electronic memory game Simon and led the team that developed the first home video-game console. Dec. 6.

Norman Bridwell, 86. Illustrator whose story about a girl and her puppy marked the birth of the supersized franchise Clifford the Big Red Dog. Dec. 12.

Joe Cocker, 70. The raspy-voiced British singer known for his frenzied cover of “With a Little Help From My Friends,” the teary ballad “You Are So Beautiful” and a contorted performing style. Dec. 22.

Luise Rainer, 104. A star of cinema’s golden era who was the first to win back-to-back Oscars but then walked away from a glittering Hollywood career. Dec. 30.