Deaths So Far (and it's just July)

[IceWizard]

JANUARY 2026




Roger Allers in 2023.

Animator, screenwriter, and filmmaker Roger Allers died on Jan. 17. He was 76.
Allers co-directed 1994's animated blockbuster The Lion King, and later co-wrote
the libretto for the movie's Broadway musical adaptation, which was nominated
for Best Book of a Musical at the 1998 Tony Awards. He also worked on films like
Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Lilo & Stitch as an animator,
storyboard artist, and story editor.





Rob Hirst of Ghostrighters and Midnight Oil
performs in 2007.

Midnight Oil co-founder and drummer Rob Hirst died on Jan. 20 after a battle with
pancreatic cancer. He was 70. Hirst helped write many of the Aussie band's hit songs,
including "Beds Are Burning," "Blue Sky Mine," "Forgotten Years," "The Dead Heart,"
and "King of the Mountain."





Defensive lineman Kevin Johnson
played with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1995.


Former NFL player Kevin Johnson was found dead on Jan. 21 from blunt head trauma
and stab wounds. He was 55. Johnson played as a defensive lineman for the
Philadelphia Eagles and the then-Oakland Raiders in the 1990s.






Jardyn 'Pee Wee' Walker.

Former reality TV star Jardyn Walker was found shot to death in Missouri on Jan. 21.
He was 23. Under the nickname "Pee Wee," Walker was a contestant on Zeus Network
reality dating series Two Ways With Erica Mena, featuring Love & Hip Hop: New York
and Atlanta alum Erica Mena looking for love. Walker placed fourth
overall on the competition in 2025.






Francis Buchholz and Rudolph Schenker
of Scorpions in 1984.

Bassist Francis Buchholz, a member of German rock band Scorpions,
died on Jan. 22 of cancer. He was 71. Buchholz played with the band
behind hits like "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "Wind of Change"
for nearly two decades.







Sly Dunbar in 1984.

Sly Dunbar, a Grammy-winning reggae drummer, died on Jan. 26 at 73.
As one half of the duo Sly & Robbie, along with late bassist Robbie Shakespeare,
the Jamaican musicians created reggae rhythms used by the likes of
Bob Marley, Mick Jagger, and Bob Dylan.






Catherine O'Hara
at the Emmy Awards in 2024.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, known for her roles in Home Alone,
Beetlejuice, Schitt's Creek, and several Christopher Guest mockumentaries,
died on Jan. 30. She was 71. After beginning her comedy career as a
member of Second City Television (SCTV) — and passing on starring on
Saturday Night Live, O'Hara further made a name for herself with roles in
After Hours, Heartburn, stepmother Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice and its sequel,
Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration,
and, of course, the Home Alone movies. She most recently appeared in the
action film Argylle, and TV shows The Last of Us and The Studio.





Demond Wilson,
Lamont on ‘Sanford and Son,’ Dies at 79

Demond Wilson, who starred alongside Redd Foxx and answered to “Hey, Dummy” for six seasons on the wildly popular
1970s NBC sitcom Sanford and Son, has died. He was 79. Wilson died Friday of complications from cancer at his home in
Palm Springs, his son Demond Wilson Jr. told TMZ. On the strength of his performance on the 1971 All in the Family episode
“Edith Writes a Song” — he and Cleavon Little are burglars from Harlem who hold the Bunkers hostage in their home — Wilson
was hired as Lamont Sanford, the son of aging widower Fred G. Sanford,
proprietor of Sanford and Son Salvage at 9114 South Central Ave. in Watts.

“After learning about the series format, I was doubtful about my involvement in the project. I thought about it long and hard
and decided to take a chance,” Wilson says in the 2011 book Black and Blue: The Redd Foxx Story. “Redd and I thought we
could grab some quick cash, plus notoriety, then move on to the next project.” Developed by All in the Family executive producer
Bud Yorkin and based on the British TV comedy Steptoe and Son, the show debuted on Jan. 14, 1972, as a midseason replacement
for the Robert Conrad-starring The D.A. Airing Friday nights at 8 p.m., Sanford and Son was soon clobbering CBS’
The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and ABC’s The Brady Bunch in the ratings. It reached No. 2 in 1972-73 and 1974-75
and was a top-10 hit in each of its last five seasons.

In 1974, Wilson kept the show humming after Foxx walked off in a salary dispute
(the writers sent Fred to St. Louis to attend the funeral of his cousin). However, Foxx was gone for good after the 1976-77 season,
quitting to host his own (short-lived) ABC variety show. Wilson turned down an offer to go it alone, then signed what he called a
“million-dollar contract” to star in CBS’ Baby … I’m Back. In another midseason replacement, he played a man who abandons his
family but returns seven years later when he discovers his wife (Denise Nicholas) is about to remarry (Kim Fields played one of their kids).
That sitcom, however, lasted just 13 episodes.

Foxx was back as Fred in 1981 on a new NBC series titled Sanford, but Wilson and Lamont were missing, and it was done after a season.
Later, Wilson played Kenneth Miles, the father of Persia White’s character, on UPN’s Girlfriends and wrote a 2009 book, Second Banana:
The Bitter Sweet Memories of the Sanford & Son Years.

He married stewardess turned model Cicely Johnston in May 1974, and they had six children.