Remembering the Stars We Lost in 2019

[IceWizard]

Don Imus
The iconic radio shock jock died at Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in College Station, Texas, on Friday, December 27, after he was admitted on Christmas Eve. His cause of death was not immediately publicized, but he was survived by his wife of 25 years, Deirdre, and children Wyatt, Zachary, Nadine, Ashley, Elizabeth and Toni. He was 79.



Danny Aiello (pictured here at Gigino restaurant in Manhattan) died Dec. 12 after a brief illness, according to his publicist. The blue-collar character actor's long career playing tough guys included roles in "Fort Apache: The Bronx," "The Godfather, Part II," "Once Upon a Time in America" and his Oscar-nominated performance as a pizza man in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing." He was 86.



Caroll Spinney, who gave Big Bird his warmth and Oscar the Grouch his growl for nearly 50 years on "Sesame Street," died Dec. 8 at age 85 at his home in Connecticut, according to the Sesame Workshop, which added in a statement that that the legendary puppeteer lived for some time with dystonia, which causes involuntary muscle contractions.



TV and film actor John Witherspoon (pictured left, with actor/rapper Ice Cube in 2005) died suddenly at his home in Sherman Oaks, Calif., on Oct. 29, according to a family statement to media outlets. Witherspoon, 77, appeared in all three films in the "Friday" franchise, as well as "The Wayans Bros." sitcom on The WB.



Actress/singer Diahann Carroll, who broke barriers when she starred on the TV series "Julia" by portraying American television's first black female leading character in a role other than a servant, died Oct. 4 at her home in West Hollywood, Calif. from breast cancer complications, according to her rep. Carroll was 84.



Long Island-raised rock star Eddie Money died on Sept. 13, after he recently announced he had stage 4 esophageal cancer. The husky-voiced, blue collar performer -- who grew up in Plainedge and is a Long Island Music Hall of Famer --was known for such hits as "Two Tickets to Paradise" and "Take Me Home Tonight."  He was 70.



Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, a pioneer and reigning giant of modern literature whose imaginative power in "Beloved," ''Song of Solomon" and other works transformed American letters by dramatizing the pursuit of freedom within the boundaries of race, died Aug. 5, 2019. Morrison, shown in a 1993 photo, was 88.



Harold Prince, the daring producer and director who earned a record 21 Tony Awards and helped shape much of the significant musical theater in the second half of the 20th century, died July 31, 2019. Prince, shown in a 1995 photo, was 91.



Rip Torn, the veteran actor of stage and screen and perhaps best known as Zed in "Men in Black" or Artie in "The Larry Sanders Show" died "peacefully" at his home in Lakeville, Connecticut on July. Torn, shown in this 1995 photo, was 88.



Beth Chapman, the wife and co-star of "Dog the Bounty Hunter" reality TV star Duane "Dog" Chapman, died on June 26. A family spokeswoman, Mona Wood-Sword, said in a statement that Chapman died early Wednesday at Queen's Medical Center after an almost 2-year battle with cancer. She was 51.



Gloria Vanderbilt, the heiress and "poor little rich girl" in a sensational 1930s custody trial who survived a famously disjointed childhood to become an actress, artist, designer and author, has died. She was 95. Her death was announced on June 17, via a CNN report voiced by anchor Anderson Cooper, her son.



Grumpy Cat, whose sour puss became an internet sensation, has died at age 7, according to her owners. Posting on social media May 17, her owners wrote Grumpy experienced complications from a urinary tract infection and died peacefully in the arms of her mother on May 14.




More to come