Celebrity Obituaries 2024: A necrology of celebrities from the world of film, television, radio, theatre, dance, music, cartoons and pop culture Paperback – April 11, 2025

A listing of over 1250 celebrities in the fields of film, television, movies, music, dance, literature, wrestling, comic books, and popular culture that died in 2024. The entries for most listed contain the name, age, date and place of death, cause of death (when known), date and place of birth, a biographical sketch, and a filmography for most actors. A picture is also included for most entries. The year 2024 saw the passing of numerous luminaries in the field of films, television, music, literature, and the arts. The losses from the past year include James Earl Jones, who was noted for his voice roles as Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" films and Mufasa in "The Lion King"; producer and director Roger Corman, who helmed such cult classic horror and science fiction films as "It Conquered the World", "Attack of the Crab Monsters", "Little Shop of Horrors", "The Pit and the Pendulum", and "The Masque of the Red Death"; Dame Maggie Smith, who starred as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the "Harry Potter" film series, and as Violet Crawley in the "Downton Abbey" television series; Donald Sutherland, who starred in "The Dirty Dozen", "M*A*S*H", "Ordinary People", and "The Hunger Games" franchise; record producer, composer, and songwriter Quincy Jones; Kris Kristofferson, who starred with Barbra Streisand in the 1976 film "A Star Is Born"; Shelley Duvall, who starred as Wendy Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's horror classic "The Shining" and was Olive Oyl in Robert Altman's adaptation of the cartoon character "Popeye" in 1980; Teri Garr, who starred in Mel Brooks' comic horror film "Young Frankenstein"; Louis Gossett, Jr., who received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1982 film "An Officer and a Gentleman"; Shannen Doherty, who starred on television as Brenda Walsh in the teen drama series “Beverly Hills, 90210”; Jimmy Carter, who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981; Bob Newhart, who was star of several self-named television comedy series in the 1970s and 1980s; German-American sex therapist Ruth Westheimer, who hosted radio talk shows under the name Dr. Ruth; David Soul, who starred as Detective Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson on the television series "Starsky & Hutch"; Linda Lavin, who starred in the title role of the television sitcom "Alice"; screenwriter Robert Towne, who won an Academy Award for penning the 1974 neo-noir mystery film “Chinatown”; Dabney Coleman, who starred in the films "9 to 5" and "On Golden Pond"; Glynis Johns, who starred as Mrs. Banks in the 1964 Walt Disney classic "Mary Poppins"; singer and songwriter Melanie, who recorded such hit songs as “Brand New Key” and “Ruby Tuesday”; Gena Rowlands, who earned Academy Award nominations for her performances in the films "A Woman Under the Influence" and "Gloria"; Toby Keith, who was known for the songs “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” and “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue”; Martin Mull, who starred as Garth Gimble in the 1976 soap opera satire series “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman”; Carl Weathers, who starred as boxing champ Apollo Creed in the "Rocky" film franchise; British singer Liam Payne, who was a member of the boy band One Direction; mentalist Kreskin, who was a popular television entertainer on television from the 1970s; Olivia Hussey, who starred in the 1968 film adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet" and the cult slasher film "Black Christmas" in 1974; pioneering television talk show host Phil Donahue; actor Ron Ely, who starred in the "Tarzan" television series in the late 1960s; legendary baseball players Willie Mays and Pete Rose; iconic French actor Alain Delon; actor and singer James Darren, who starred as time traveling scientist Dr. Tony Newman in the television series "The Time Tunnel"; fitness guru Richard Simmons; football player O.J. Simpson, who became more notorious for being charged with the murder of his ex-wife than with his sports and film career, and many more. Read more