Memories have generations, too.
As each year passes, names, images and likenesses of the 20th century fade. About 30% of Americans were born after 9/11, raised on iPhones, viral videos and memes.
Little wonder that the late 1900s are obscure black-and-white history to so many, like dog-eared family albums flipped through for the holidays. “Who is that next to Grandma?”
That’s why USA TODAY’s Passages, our annual look at noteworthy deaths during the year, can serve as a reminder of those who made a difference, who changed our lives, who were not only influencers but true influentials.
People like music producer Quincy Jones, 91, whose legacy goes back to the roots of jazz, rock and pop with Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” His credits appear on more than 400 albums, and he helped herd dozens of superstars for the “We Are the World” charity album in 1985. “Leave your egos at the door,” he commanded.
“I just cannot believe all of this experience is contained in one human being who just happens to be my dad,” one of his daughters, actress Rashida Jones, told USA TODAY in 2018.
Influential in politics and charity work was Ethel Kennedy, 96, the final matriarch of the Kennedy family. She and her husband, Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968, raised 11 children, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to head the Department of Health and Human Services in his upcoming administration.
“Along with a lifetime’s work in social justice and human rights, our mother leaves behind nine children, 34 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren,” daughter Kerry Kennedy said in a family statement.
Often called the greatest baseball player of all time, Willie Mays, 93, was known for power at the plate (660 home runs, third of all time), grace in centerfield (his famous over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series “was a wide-receiver catch,” he remembered. “I knew I’d get it.”), and he quietly endured racial abuse after he joined the New York Giants in 1951.
Often filmed playing stickball with kids in Harlem, the so-called “Say Hey Kid” played in 24 All-Star games. “They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays,” Hall of Famer Ted Williams once said.
The “voice” of modern-day pop culture may well be James Earl Jones, 93, whose imperious threats as Darth Vader marked the “Star Wars” franchise, as well as work for “The Lion King” and “Field of Dreams” and commercials, came from someone born with a stutter.
Jones went on to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, and was praised for his dignified roles in “Dr. Strangelove,” “Fences” and “The Great White Hope.”
“I’ve done a King Lear, too! Do the kids know that? No, they have the Darth Vader poster to sign. But it’s OK,” he joked in 2010. Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the franchise, posted on social media, “#RIP dad,” with a broken-heart emoji.
Then there are pre-social media influencers such as exuberant and later reclusive exercise guru Richard Simmons, 76, and explicit sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, 96, who was wounded during Israel’s war for independence.
Some are remembered for special moments – Elwood Edwards, 74, the voice of AOL’s “You’ve Got Mail” greeting, or studio musician Vic Flick, 87, who played the distinctive guitar solo at the start of James Bond films.
Still others carry accomplishments beyond most understanding: British physicist Peter Higgs, 94, predicted a subatomic particle with no mass, sometimes called the “God particle”; or Japan’s Shigeichi Negishi, 100, inventor of the corporate retreat ice breaker, the first karaoke machine; or Michigan’s William Post, 96, who led the team that came up with Kellogg’s morning concoction “Pop-Tarts.” Science, after all, comes in many packages.
This year’s Passages cannot hope to capture the full panoply of those who died in 2024. But they include:
Britain’s Dame Maggie Smith, 89, was true acting royalty, whose long career included winning two Academy Awards and, in later years, portraying the Dowager Countess on “Downton Abbey” and a magical professor in the Harry Potter films.
Louis Gossett Jr., 87, who began as a folk singer, appeared in hundreds of plays, movies and TV series, winning an Emmy for “Roots” and becoming the first Black actor to win a male supporting role Oscar, for his role in “An Officer and a Gentleman.”
Other actors included “South Pacific” star Mitzi Gaynor, 93; Tony Award-winner Glynis Johns, 100, also known for “Mary Poppins”; Broadway’s Chita Rivera, 91, the original Anita in “West Side Story”; and Janis Paige, 101, who starred in “The Pajama Game”; and Donald Sutherland, 88, reliably stealing the scene in almost 200 films and TV shows.
Comedy lost the button-down mind and sitcom perennial Bob Newhart, 94, who woke in a series finale to realize it was just a dream. “As funny as they come. The best stand up, the best situation comedy star, the kindest soul,” said director Judd Apatow.
Also gone are the wonderfully neurotic Richard Lewis, 76, a foil of Larry David on “Curb Your Enthusiasm”; and Joe Flaherty, 82, memorable as horror host Count Floyd – “Whoooh. That’s pretty scary, kids” – on “SCTV”; and comic actors Martin Mull, 80, and Dabney Coleman, 92. From the Golden Age of Television, Joyce Randolph, 99, played Trixie on “The Honeymooners.”
Screen-stealing actresses Teri Garr, 79, of “Young Frankenstein,” and Shelley Duvall, 75, of “The Shining” and “Popeye,” riveted audiences, along with the intense dramatics of Gena Rowlands, 94, in “The Notebook” and “Gloria.”
Carl Weathers, 76, was unforgettable in four “Rocky” films as Apollo Creed; character actor M. Emmet Walsh, 88, was Harrison Ford’s sinister supervisor in “Blade Runner”; Tony Todd, 69, launched a horror franchise starring as “Candyman”; and reliable character actor Earl Holliman, 96, asked, “Where is everyone?” on the debut of “The Twilight Zone.”
South Africa’s Connie Chiume, 72, appeared in Marvel’s “Black Panther” and its sequel and Beyonce’s “Black Is King”; Cheng Pei-Pei, 78, was known as the queen of kung fu cinema; Silvia Pinal, 93, was a star of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema; French actresses Yvonne Furneaux, 98, and Anouk Aimée, 92, both appeared in “La Dolce Vida.”
A standout on “Beverly Hills, 90210” and numerous other shows, Shannen Doherty, 53, inspired fans with her long battle against cancer: “I try to treasure all the small moments that most people don’t see,” she said.
John Amos, 84, played the dad on “Good Times”; and the only Black actor in Sgt. Bilko’s TV platoon, Terry Carter, 95, broke similar barriers on shows like “Combat,” “McCloud” and “Battlestar Galactica.”
A television Tarzan was Ron Ely, 86, who did his own stunts, breaking two shoulders and suffering lion bites; TV cops included David Soul, 80, on “Starsky & Hutch” (he was Hutch); Michael Cole, 84, on “The Mod Squad”; and James Sikking, 90, on “Hill Street Blues.” On the other side of the legal system, Alan Rachins, 82, played a lawyer on “L.A. Law.”
Phil Donahue, 88, helped invent provocative and sometimes combative TV talk shows; game show audiences were overseen by Peter Marshall, 98 (“Hollywood Squares”) and Chuck Woolery, 83 (“Love Connection”).
B-movie maestro Roger Corman, 98, directed or produced more than 500 low-budget films, some of them cult favorites such as “Little Shop of Horrors.” “You can make a movie about anything,” Corman said, “as long as it has a hook to hang the advertising on.”
Other directors included Norman Jewison, 97, who could handle the socially-conscious “In the Heat of the Night” as well as comedies like “Moonstruck”; Paul Morrissey, 86, was a collaborator with pop artist Andy Warhol; documentary director Lourdes Portillo, 80, focused on human rights abuses in Central and South America.
Marshall Brickman, 85, shared several screenwriting credits with Woody Allen and an Oscar for “Annie Hall,” which was hailed as one of the funniest scripts ever written. Allen called Brickman “an authentically funny person – a wonderful wit.”
Screenwriter Robert Towne, 89, won an Oscar for “Chinatown,” and special effects expert Colin Chilvers, 79, won a special Oscar for convincing moviegoers Christopher Reeve could fly in “Superman.”
Also behind the scenes were Susan Backlinie, 77, who played the doomed midnight swimmer in the shock opening scene of “Jaws”; Toni Vaz, 101, the first Black stuntwoman and founder of the NAACP Image Awards; and Jeannie Epper, 83, who handled stunts for Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman. “A vanguard who paved the way for all other stuntwomen,” Carter said. “Jeannie was also a Wonder Woman.”
In December, word came that a frequent talk show guest, the mentalist The Amazing Kreskin, 89, had passed away. His family posted, “As Kreskin always said at the closing of his shows, ‘This is not goodbye, but to be continued.’ ’’
“Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” was just one of the songs written by Kris Kristofferson, 88, part of the country-outlaw movement and an Oscar-nominated actor. Known also for “Me and Bobby McGee,” he supported progressive causes such as Farm Aid. Across the political divide, country superstar Toby Keith, 62, delighted fans (40 million albums sold) with his patriotic singles and concerts. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame after his death.
Fans were shocked by the death of former One Direction member Liam Payne, 31, who fell from a hotel balcony in Argentina. Bandmate Harry Styles sobbed at Payne’s funeral and posted, “I will miss him always, my lovely friend.”
Other young losses included rappers Rich Homie Quan, 34; Texas rap queen Enchanting, 26; and Florida’s Foolio, 26.
The jam-band scene lost two of its earliest players: Phil Lesh, 84, a founding member of the Grateful Dead whose playful bass lines pushed musical boundaries; and Dickey Betts, 80, a co-founder of the Allman Brothers, who played guitar and wrote “Ramblin’ Man.”
John Mayall, 90, was known as the British blues godfather and his bands included Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor and members of Fleetwood Mac. Also lost were Electric Flag founder Nick Gravenites, 85; saxophonist David Sanborn, 78, of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band; Jim Beard, 63, the jazzy pianist for Steely Dan; and guitarist John Koerner, 85, an early influence for Bob Dylan. Another Dylan ally was Happy Traum, 86, a folksinger who roamed Greenwich Village in the 1960s.
Henry Fambrough, 85, the last surviving member of The Spinners is gone, as well as Mike Pinder, 82, last original member of The Moody Blues. Aston “Family Man” Barrett, 77, was bandleader for Bob Marley; and Brother Marquis, 57, was a distinctive member of 2 Live Crew.
Smoother sounds came from crooners Jack Jones, 86, who sang “The Love Boat” theme song; Steve Lawrence, 88, who shared a long career with his late wife, Eydie Gorme; and JD Souther, 78, who wrote songs for Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles.
Inspired by Cab Callaway, folksinger Ella Jenkins, 100, was known as the “first lady of children’s music”; crucial to hip-hop was New York City club DJ Eddie Cheeba, 67; bossa nova’s beat thrived from Brazil’s Sérgio Mendes, 83.
Baby boomers lost Mary Weiss, 75, lead singer of the angst-ridden girl group The Shangri-Las, whose 1960s hits included “Leader of the Pack”; Melanie, 76, found hippie fame after playing solo at Woodstock; and Abdul “Duke” Fakir, 88, the last surviving member of the Four Tops, helped forge the Motown radio sound. “For 70 years he kept the Four Tops’ remarkable legacy intact,” remembered Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr.
Also gone are Philadelphia’s funk master, Frankie Beverly, 77; Tito Jackson, 70, the third of 10 Jackson children; rock and roller Duane Eddy, 86; Joe Bonsall, 76, of The Oak Ridge Boys; and gospel star Cissy Houston, 91, mother of the late Whitney Houston.
From the classical world, also gone is Seiji Ozawa, 88, longtime conductor of the Boston Symphony who also led Toronto, San Francisco and other orchestras.
Some players make such a huge impact they become the symbol of their sport. The NBA has never confirmed the open secret that the silhouette on the league’s logo is indeed Jerry West, 86. West, known as “Mr. Clutch,” helped lead the L.A. Lakers to nine championships as a player or an NBA executive.
Other superstars find their achievements overshadowed by controversy. Pete Rose, 83, the all-time baseball leader with 4,256 hits, along with three World Series rings, was barred from the Hall of Fame for betting on baseball. “There has never been another player like Pete Rose,’’ said ESPN anchor Mike Greenberg. “Few athletes will leave behind more complicated legacies. Today isn’t the day for that. Today, let’s just say thanks to Charlie Hustle.”
Baseball also lost Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, 65, who stole the most bases and scored the most runs in history. “If my uniform doesn’t get dirty,” he said, “I haven’t done anything in the baseball game.”
Also gone are Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda, 86, of the San Francisco Giants, the first Puerto Rican ballplayer to start an All-Star Game; and Mexican pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, 63, who led the Los Angeles Dodgers to a World Series win in 1981.
Other baseball stars included Rico Carty, 85, of the Atlanta Braves; Boston’s Luis Tiant, 83, whose unorthodox delivery baffled hitters; Cincinnati Reds pitcher Don Gullett, 73, a three-time World Series winner; Ken Holtzman, 78, who threw two no-hitters for the Chicago Cubs and helped the Oakland A’s win three World Series; Cleveland slugger Rocky Colavito, 91; Hall of Fame player and manager Whitey Herzog, 92; and Carl Erskine, 97, the last member of the Brooklyn Dodgers “Boys of Summer” teams of the 1950s.
The NFL marked the losses of Miami Dolphins running back Mercury Morris, 77, a two-time Super Bowl champion; and Oakland Raiders linebacker Jack Squirek, 64, whose pick-six in Super Bowl XVIII helped defeat Washington. Also, quarterbacks Greg Landry, 77, of the Detroit Lions; Roman Gabriel, 83, of the Los Angeles Rams; and six-team player Norm Snead, 84.
Also gone are running back Duane Thomas, 77, who helped the Dallas Cowboys to their first Super Bowl victory; Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Andy Russell, 82; Detroit coach Joe Schmidt, 92; Dallas guard Larry Allen, 52; retired Buffalo Bills cornerback Vontae Davis, 35; and former Baltimore Ravens return specialist Jacoby Jones, 40.
The NBA’s self-described “Deadhead,” Bill Walton, 71, was a two-time champion and broadcaster; at 7-foot-2, Dikembe Mutombo, 58, was a defensive star for six NBA teams, his deep voice memorable in TV commercials; the father of Kobe Bryant, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, 69, played in the NBA in the 1970s and ’80s; Chicago Bulls forward Bob Love, 81; and point guard Alvin Attles, 87, of the Golden State Warriors.
The NHL lost Ron Ellis, 79, who played 16 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs; and the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Johnny Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, killed by a man accused of drunken driving.
Sport deaths also included NASCAR legend Bobby Allison, 86; 1963 Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones, 90; Vic Seixas, 100, who won 15 tennis grand slams in the 1950s; sprinter Otis Davis, 92, who battled racism before winning gold at the 1960 Olympics in Rome; golf’s Chi Chi Rodriguez, 88, and Susie Berning, 83, who won 11 LPGA tournaments; Mary McGee, 87, motorsport racing pioneer; and Rebecca Cheptegei, 33, Olympic marathon runner from Uganda who was set ablaze by her former boyfriend.
Fabled St. John’s University basketball coach Lou Carnesecca, 99, had a 526-200 record; John Robinson, 89, coached both University of Southern California football and the L.A. Rams; and Lefty Driesell, 92, coached University of Maryland hoops for 17 years with an overall career record of 786-394.
Novels by Barbara Taylor Bradford, 91, beginning with “A Woman of Substance,” have sold 90 million copies; novelist Nelson DeMille, 81, wrote global thrillers; Caleb Carr, 68, explored the roots of evil in books like “The Alienist”; John Barth, 93, created exploratory fictions such as “Lost in the Funhouse”; author Lynne Reid Banks, 94, wrote “The Indian in the Cupboard”; and writer Nell McCafferty, 80, was an outspoken Irish feminist.
Francine Pascal, 92, was best-known for her best-selling “Sweet Valley High” books; Barbara Howar, 89, was a socialite who angered President Lyndon B. Johnson with her descriptions of life in the White House; Alice Munro, 92, was a short story writer who won a Pulitzer in 2013;. Anne Edwards, 96, was a biographer of Hollywood and world figures; and horror historian David J. Skal, 71, explored the literary and film resurrections of Dracula.
Court reporter Linda Deutsch, 80, covered trials including the Charles Manson murders and Sirhan Sirhan for The Associated Press; Jim Hoagland, 84, foreign correspondent for the Washington Post; Wayne Barrett, 71, investigative reporter at New York’s Village Voice; political reporter Howard Fineman, 75; investigative journalist Donald Barlett, 88; and Lou Dobbs, 78, conservative political pundit, author and cable TV host.
Among columnists were the Washington Post’s sometimes fierce TV critic Tom Shales, 79; USA TODAY’s Rudy Martzke, 82, who pioneered coverage of sports media in the 1980s; L.A. Times sports columnist T.J. Simers, 73; and political columnist Walter Shapiro, 77.
In the world of dance, the elegance of Alvin Ailey choreographer Judith Jamison, 81, stretched the possibilities of ballet. “Judith’s spirit will live on in all the dancers she’s inspired,” said former first lady Michelle Obama.
Also gone is ballet dancer Michaela DePrince, 29, a star of the documentary “First Position.”
In graphic arts, manga artist Akira Toriyama, 68, was known for Dragon Ball; along with Babar the Elephant artist Laurent de Brunhoff, 98; fantasy artist Greg Hildebrandt, 85; and early female comic book artists Ramona Fradon, 97, who illustrated Brenda Starr and Aquaman; and Trina Robbins, 85, who co-produced the comic “It Ain’t Me Babe” in 1970.
Dead poets included David Shapiro, 77; Stanley Moss, 99; N. Scott Momaday, 89, Native American poet and novelist who won a Pulitzer Prize for “House Made of Dawn”; and Nikki Giovanni, 81, whose revolutionary zeal was tempered with a focus on Black joy.
Among fashion and design icons was Iris Apfel, 102, known for her oversized glasses and work with nine presidencies. “When you don’t dress like everybody else,” she said, “you don’t have to think like everybody else.”
Turbulent politics are not new. In 2000, Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, 82, of Connecticut was the running mate of presidential candidate Al Gore, who lost after a 35-day recount. Six years later, Lieberman switched to an independent.
Also gone are Fred R. Harris, 94, senator from Oklahoma who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976; Brian Mulroney, 84, Canadian prime minister from 1984 to 1993; and Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., 89, who served for almost 30 years. Also Marian Robinson, 86, mother of Michelle Obama, and Dexter Scott King, 62, son of Martin Luther King Jr.
A symbol of opposition to President Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, 47, survived an apparent poisoning only to die in a Russian prison.The gavel-to-gavel coverage of the murder trial and acquittal of former NFL star OJ Simpson, 76, in the death of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, changed the landscape of cable news and revealed deep racial divisions.
Many remember Bob Beckwith, 91, a New York City firefighter who stood with President George W. Bush at ground zero after 9/11; Moorhead Kennedy Jr., 93, one of the American hostages held in Iran for 444 days beginning in 1979; Terry Anderson, 76, an AP reporter held in Lebanon for almost seven years; John Kinsel Sr., 107, one of the last Navajo Code Talkers who served in World War II; and Lou Conter, 102, the last survivor of the attack on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.
Civil rights attorney Martin Stolar, 81, who defended Attica prisoners, anti-war protesters and Black Panthers; Rev. James M. Lawson Jr., 95, who fought for civil rights; Beverly LaHaye, 94, founder of the conservative Concerned Women for America; California gay rights activist David Mixner, 77; and Hydeia Broadbent, 39, an HIV/AIDS activist.
Roberta Karmel, 86, whose 1962 law school class at NYU was 4% female, in 1977 was named as the first female commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Mary Wells Lawrence, 95, an advertising pioneer; and Lilly Ledbetter, 86, a women’s right advocate who fought for equal pay.
Snack magnates Wally Amos, 88, founder of Famous Amos cookies, and David Liederman, 75, who reimagined the chocolate chip cookie with David’s Cookies; adman Howie Cohen, 81, whose commercials included, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”
Also Gerald M. Levin, 84, a cable visionary at Time Warner whose merger with AOL proved disastrous; Joe Louis Dudley, 86, whose hair-care line was aimed at African American salons; and Bob Kelley, 96, who turned a listing from a family car business into the definitive used-car buying guide, Blue Book.
Finally, in December 1968, astronaut William Anders, who died in a car crash in June at age 90, circled the moon in Apollo 8 and took the iconic photo known as “Earthrise.”
He wrote later, “It was ironic that we’d done all this work to explore the moon, but what we really discovered was the Earth.”
