The Final Weekly Death Blog of 2016 · 1:05am Jan 1st, 2017
2016 has seen many treasured and beloved celebrities pass away. In the past year, just to name a few, we've lost Carrie Fisher, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Gene Wilder, William Christopher, Florence Henderson, Prince, and Muhammad Ali. So many more great people have died in this nightmare of a year.
Fortunately, 2016 has now come to an end. This will be the final installment of the Weekly Death Blog. I am hopeful that there will be no need for a weekly death blog in 2017, and pray that the coming year will not give me cause to resurrect it.
(By the way, I missed this one, but the inventor of the Big Mac died back at the end of November.)
Here are the notable deaths for the past week from North America, Japan, and select parts of Europe. As usual, please see Wikipedia for a complete list of notable 2016 deaths.
Note: This blog primarily covers actors, writers, and musicians. With few exceptions, notable sports figures are usually not covered in this blog. Political figures are also not covered unless they are exceptionally noteworthy.
PLEASE do not call me out for failing to include this person or that person in the comments. If I haven't heard of them, I haven't heard of them. If my not having heard of someone you have great respect for upsets you, I'm sorry, but I know who I know and I don't know who I don't know.
December 25:
- George Michael, 53, British singer (Wham!) and songwriter ("Careless Whisper", "Last Christmas").
December 26:
- Duck Edwing, 82, American cartoonist (Mad).
- Ricky Harris, 54, American comedian and actor (Heat, Dope, Everybody Hates Chris), heart attack.
- George S. Irving, 94, American actor (Underdog, Irene, The Year Without a Santa Claus).
December 27:
- Richard Adams, 96, author of Watership Down.
- Carrie Fisher, 60, American actress (Star Wars, When Harry Met Sally...), novelist and screenwriter (Postcards from the Edge), complications from a heart attack.
- Barbara Tarbuck, 74, American actress (General Hospital, Short Circuit, American Horror Story).
December 28:
- Debbie Reynolds, 84, American actress (Singin' in the Rain, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Irene), stroke.
December 31:
- William Christopher, 84, American actor (M*A*S*H, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.).
- David Meltzer, 79, American poet and musician.
- The year 2016, and good riddance to it.
My mom, who is a nurse, said that Carrie Fisher might not have died from those heart complications just yet if she hadn't gotten on the plane.
4363342 It's useless to speculate.
Just great, 2016 couldn't pass off without taking another life. I think that GoFundMe campaign to protect Betty White from 2016 isn't was absurd after all.
4363367 There's been a death watch around Betty White for years, ever since she was the last surviving Golden Girl.
I'm trying my hardest to look at the positive of this year.
You missed the Bambi artist, Tyrus Wong.
I think the only thing on the list that anyone is happy about is the damn year.
4363342 Hindsight's a bitch, let's leave it at that. She had a history of drug abuse and for a long time she and her mother had a complicated relationship. All that stress was bound to catch up to her eventually, and I suppose it was just a cruel stroke of fate that the complications occurred when they did.
4363371 it wouldnt be too hard pressed to say shes immortal though.
4363492 I didn't miss it, but those movies have so many people working on them I wasn't sure how notable it was. He was over 100, though, so I should've included him.
You didn't miss it. I would have said something otherwise.