January
Marc Davis (Disney cartoonist) -- Dead. Old age. Died Jan 1, 2000. Born 1914. (Animated Cruella de Vil, designed the "Pirates of the Carribean" ride.)

Victor Serebriakoff (genius) -- Dead. Old age. Died Jan 1, 2000. Born 1913. (Helped build MENSA and designed IQ tests.)

Patrick O'Brian (author of sea-faring novels) -- Dead. Old age. Died Jan 2, 2000. Born Dec 12, 1914. (Wrote the very popular Aubrey-Maturin series.)

Don Martin (Mad cartoonist) -- Dead. Cancer. Died Jan 6, 2000. Born 1931.

Marguerite Churchill (actress) -- Dead. Old age. Died Jan 10, 2000. Born Dec 25, 1909. (Appeared in many westerns, starred on Broadway in Dinner at Eight.)

Fran Ryan (actress) -- Dead. Old age. Died Jan 15, 2000. Born Nov 26, 1916. (Maybe best-known as Mrs. Ziffel in Green Acros but did lots of TV besides.)

Robert Rathburn Wilson (nuclear physicist) -- Dead. Stroke complications. Died Jan 16, 2000. Born Mar 4, 1917. (A leader of the Manhattan Project.)

Jester Hairston (actor/composer) -- Dead. Old age. Died Jan 18, 2000. Born Jul 9, 1901. (Amos 'n' Andy, dubbed Sidney Poitier's singing voice in Lillies of the Field, bit part in Being John Malkovich.)

Hedy Lamarr (actress/inventor) -- Dead. Died Jan 19, 2000. Born Sep 11, 1913.

Craig Claiborne (food author) -- Dead. Old age. Died Jan 22, 2000. Born Sep 4, 1920. (Writer for the New York Times and author of over 20 books about food.)

A. E. van Vogt (writer) -- Dead. Pneumonia/Alzheimer's. Died Jan 26, 2000. Born Apr 26, 1912. (Slan and The World of Null-A)

February
Carl Albert (politician) -- Dead. Old age. Died Feb 4, 2000. Born Mar 10, 1908. (Speaker of the House from 1971-1977.)

Doris Kenner-Jackson (singer) -- Dead. Breast cancer. Died Feb 4, 2000. Born 1941. (A Shirelle, lead singer of "Dedicated to the One I Love.")

Todd Karns (actor/theater director and founder) -- Dead. Cancer. Died Feb 5, 2000. Born 1920. (Remembered as George's kid brother in It's a Wonderful life.)

Deborah Laake (writer) -- Dead. Breast cancer. Died Feb 6, 2000. Born 1952. (Wrote Secret Ceremonies: A Mormon Woman's Intimate Diary of Marriage and Beyond and was ex-communicated as a result.)

Doug Henning (magician) -- Dead. liver cancer. Died Feb 7, 2000. Born May 3, 1947. (The funny magician of the '70s and '80s.)

Jim Varney (actor) -- Dead. Lung cancer. Died Feb 10, 2000. Born Jun 15, 1949. (Ernest, Jed in the Hillbillies remake and the voice of Slinky Dog in the Toy Story movies.)

Roger Vadim (director) -- Dead. Cancer. Died Feb 11, 2000. Born Jan 26, 1928. (Famous for And God Created Woman, ex-husband of Bridgitte Bardot and Jane Fonda.)

"Screamin'" Jay Hawkins (R and B singer) -- Dead. Hemmorhage. Died Feb 12, 2000. Born Jul 17, 1929. ("I Put a Spell on You")

Charles M. Schulz (cartoonist) -- Dead. Heart attack/effects of colon cancer. Died Feb 12, 2000. Born Nov 26, 1922. (No longer drawing for Peanuts.)

William "Oliver" Swofford (singer) -- Dead. Cancer. Died Feb 12, 2000. Born 1945. "Good Morning, Starshine"

Ofra Haza (singer) -- Dead. AIDS/Complications of pneumonia. Died Feb 23, 2000. Born Nov 19, 1957. (One of Israeli's most famous singers, she recorded songs for Prince of Egypt and The Governess.)

March
John Colicos (actor) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died Mar 6, 2000. Born Dec 10, 1928. (A Shakespearean actor probably best-known as Baltar on Battlestar Gallactica.)

Charles Gray (actor) -- Dead. Died Mar 7, 2000. Born Aug 29, 1928. (Best-known as the narrator of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and as Blofeld in a James Bond movie.)

John Sladek (writer) -- Dead. Lung disease. Died Mar 10, 2000. Born Dec 15, 1937. (Science fiction satirist.)

Durward Kirby (sidekick) -- Dead. Congestive heart failure. Died Mar 15, 2000. Born Aug 24, 1912. (Candid Camera and The Garry Moore Show.)

Alex Comfort (writer) -- Dead. Complications of strokes. Died Mar 26, 2000. Born Feb 10, 1920. (The New Joy of Sex)

Helen Martin (actress) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died Mar 25, 2000. Born Jul 23, 1909. The Grandmother in Bulworth, Pearl on 227

Ian Dury (rocker) -- Dead. Cancer. Died Mar 27, 2000. Born May 12, 1942. (The Blockheads and a surprising number of movies.)

April
Terence McKenna (novel writer and mystic) -- Dead. Brain cancer. Died Apr 3, 2000. Born 1946.

Claire Trevor (actress) -- Dead. Died Apr 8, 2000. Born Mar 8, 1909. (Appeared in the Oscar reunion segment in '98, Stagecoach, won an Oscar for Key Largo.)

Catherine Crook de Camp (writer) -- Dead. Surgical complications/Alzheimer's. Died Apr 9, 2000. Born Nov 6, 1907. The Day of the Dinosaur Make memorial contributions to: Alzheimer's Association

Christopher Pettiet (actor) -- Dead. Extreme stupidity (drug overdose). Died Apr 12, 2000. Born Feb 12, 1976. Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead Make memorial contributions to: Christopher Pettiet Memorial Scholarship Fund

Larry Linville (actor) -- Dead. Pneumonia/lung cancer. Died Apr 10, 2000. Born Sep 29, 1939. (Frank on the M*A*S*H TV show.)

Edward Gorey (cartoonist/author) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died Apr 15, 2000. Born Feb 22, 1925. (Amphigorey)

Renato Di Paolo (obscure method actor) -- Dead. Hanged himself accidentally. Died Apr 23, 2000. Born 1977. Italian actor who died on Easter while performing the part of Judas a bit too convincingly...

Vickie Sue Robinson (disco diva) -- Dead. Died Apr 27, 2000. Born circa 1955. ("Turn the Beat Around")

May
Steve Reeves (actor) -- Dead. Lymphoma. Died May 1, 2000. Born Jan 21, 1926. (Former Mr. Universe, mostly made Italian toga epics.)

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (actor) -- Dead. Old age. Died May 7, 2000. Born Dec 9, 1909.

Craig Stevens (actor) -- Dead. Cancer. Died May 10, 2000. Born Jul 8, 1918. (Peter Gunn; married to Alexis Smith for many years.)

David B. Guralnik (Webster's lexicographer) -- Dead. Colon cancer. Died May 12, 2000. Born 1920. Chief wordmeister for Websters for almost 40 years, introduced "ain't" to the dictionary

Paul Bartel (director/actor) -- Dead. Heart attack (days after learning he had liver cancer). Died May 13, 2000. Born Aug 6, 1938. Eating Raoul

Edward L. Bernds (Stooge director) -- Dead. Old age. Died May 20, 2000. Born Jul 12, 1905. Directed a bunch of the shorts and some of the full-length movies

Jean-Pierre Rampal (flutist) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died May 20, 2000. Born Jan 7, 1922.

Barbara Cartland (romance writer) -- Dead. Old age. Died May 21, 2000. Born Jul 9, 1901. Wrote at least 723 books, step-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales, but suffered from the same disease as Tammy Faye Bakker (morbidly obese eyelashes).

Sir John Gielgud (British actor) -- Dead. Old age. Died May 21, 2000. Born Apr 14, 1904. Gave a last performance just a month before he died.

Mark Reynolds Hughes (entreprenuer) -- Dead. Unexpected. Died May 21, 2000. Born 1956. Helped launch the herbal/dietary supplement craze in 1980 with Herbalife, but ya gotta wonder if it's so good for you, why did he die so early-middle-age... Make memorial contributions to: Herbalife Family Foundation

Randolph Walker (theater actor) -- Dead. Hit by a tour bus in Manhattan. Died May 22, 2000. Born 1927. Appeared in many plays in New York and the occassional soap opera

Gordon "Tex" Beneke (band leader/saxophonist) -- Dead. Died May 30, 2000. Born Feb 12, 1914. Let the Glenn Miller Orchestra for years after Miller's death, lead singer for "Chattanooga Choo Choo"

Tito "The Mambo King" Puente (bandleader/percussionist) -- Dead. Heart disease. Died May 31, 2000. Born Apr 20, 1923. Led the Tito Puente Orchestra since 1948, recorded over 100 albums

Mary Jenkins Langston (cook) -- Dead. Stroke. Died May 30, 2000. Born 1922. Elvis Presley's famed peanut butter and banana sandwich cook

Johnnie Taylor (singer) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died May 31, 2000. Born May 5, 1938. "Who's Makin' Love?" and "Disco Lady"

June
Major, the Bear (hairy entertainer) -- Dead. Old age. Died Jun 3, 2000. Born Jan 1967. A polar bear who lived at Zoo New England/Old Stone Zoo

Jack Kroll (theater critic) -- Dead. Colon cancer. Died Jun 8, 2000. Born 1926. Longtime Newsweek writer

Jeff MacNelly (cartoonist) -- Dead. Lymphoma. Died Jun 8, 2000. Born Sep 17, 1947. Shoe and many great political cartoons. Make memorial contributions to: Jeff MacNelly Award, University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Joe Mayhew (cartoonist/reviewer) -- Dead. Suspected Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Died June 10, 2000. Born Aug 1942. Make memorial contributions to: The Washington Home

Frank Patterson (Irish tenor) -- Dead. Brain cancer. Died Jun 10, 2000. Born 1938. Make memorial contributions to: St. Patrick's Home for the Aged and Infirm

Michaela Odone (creative mother) -- Dead. Lung cancer. Died Jun 10, 2000. Born 1939. Her attempts to treat her fatally ill son inspired the movie Lorenzo's Oil (and her son has outlived her)

Judd Rose (journalist) -- Dead. Brain cancer. Died Jun 10, 2000. Born 1955. Worked for CNN and ABC

Robert Trent Jones (golf course architect) -- Dead. Old age/after-effects of stroke. Died Jun 14, 2000. Born Jun 20, 1906. Designed over 300 golf courses, including the Augusta National and Spyglass Hill (Pebble Beach)

Peter McWilliams (writer) -- Dead. governmental stupidity/AIDS/lymphoma. Died Jun 16, 2000. Born 1950. Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do, a great book on dumb laws.

Nancy Marchand (actress) -- Dead. Lung cancer/emphysema. Died Jun 18, 2000. Born Jun 19, 1928. Mrs. Pynchon on Lou Grant, Livia on The Sopranos

David Tomlinson (actor) -- Dead. Strokes. Died Jun 24, 2000. Born May 7, 1917. Best-known as the father in Mary Poppins

Leslie Arthur Sirkin (geologist) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died Jun 25, 2000. Born 1934.

Vittorio Gassman (actor) -- Dead. heart attack. Died Jun 29, 2000. Born Sep 1, 1922. Made many Italian movies, briefly married to Shelley Winters

July
Walter Matthau (actor) -- Dead. Cardiac arrest. Died Jul 1, 2000. Born Oct 1, 1920. Oscar in the movie version of The Odd Couple, co-starred with Jack Lemmon in many films

Harold Nicholas (dancer) -- Dead. Heart failure. Died Jul 3, 2000. Born Mar 27, 1921. Great dancer, one of the Nicholas Brothers, married to Dorothy Dandridge

FM-2030 (futurist) -- Dead and frozen. Pancreatic cancer (first time...). Died Jul 8, 2000. Born 1930. Born "F.M. Esfandiary," he felt he was a "21st century man born in the 20th century"

Justin Pierce (actor) -- Dead. Suicide (hanging). Died Jul 10, 2000. Born Mar 21, 1975. Kids

Meredith MacRae (actress) -- Dead. Brain cancer. Died Jul 14, 2000. Born May 30, 1944. The blonde sister on Petticoat Junction Make memorial contributions to: United Cerebral Palsy Foundation; she was the telethon host for many years

Raymond E. Portwood, Jr. (game creator) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died Jul 17, 2000. Born 1934. Helped to develop "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?"

Thea Porter ('60s Soho designer) -- Dead. Died Jul 24, 2000. Born 1928. Popularized flashy caftcans in the '60s

John W. Tukey (professor/computer theorist) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died Jul 25, 2000. Born Jun 16, 1915. Invented terms like "software" and "bit," helped develop election polls The Practice of Data Analysis

Jaime Cardriche (actor/wrestler) -- Dead. Complications of gall bladder surgery. Died Jul 28, 2000. Born 1968. Many bit parts, probably best known as Tim in Malcolm and Eddie

Dr. Rene Favaloro (doctor) -- Dead. Possible suicide. Died Jul 29, 2000. Born 1923. Invented by-pass surgery

August
Sir Alec Guinness (actor) -- Dead. Liver cancer. Died Aug 5, 2000. Born Apr 02, 1914. Won an Oscar for Bridge on the River Kwai, played Obi-Wan in the first three Star Wars movies

Joan Marsh (actress) -- Dead. Old age. Died Aug 10, 2000. Born Jul 10, 1914. Dimples in Road to Zanzibar

Loretta Young (actress) -- Dead. Ovarian cancer. Died Aug 12, 2000. Born Jan 6, 1913. The Bishop's Wife

Edward Craven Walker (gadfly) -- Dead. Cancer. Died Aug 15, 2000. Born 1918. Invented the lava lamp, opened a nudist resort in southern England

John Milford (actor) -- Dead. Melanoma. Died Aug 13, 2000. Born Sep 7, 1929. Appeared in dozens of TV shows; played at least ten different characters on different episodes of The Rifleman, helped to create the Hollywood

-- Walter Matthau, 79. Oscar-winning actor whose hangdog looks and grouchy, slouchy demeanor transformed him from an early screen tough guy into a beloved comic film star.

-- Jason Robards, 78. Gravelly voiced actor famed for his portrayal of disturbed characters. The winner of back-to-back Oscars for his supporting roles as Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee in "All the President's Men" and writer Dashiell Hammett in "Julia," he gained fame interpreting the works of Eugene O'Neill on stage.

-- Sir John Gielgud, 96. Quintessential British stage actor who delivered legendary performances as Macbeth, Hamlet and Romeo and later earned an Oscar for his supporting role as Dudley Moore's foul-mouthed butler in the film comedy "Arthur."

-- Sir Alec Guinness, 86. The versatile actor's career stretched from Shakespeare to "Star Wars" and included memorable performances in such films as "The Bridge on the River Kwai," which won him an Oscar, and "Lawrence of Arabia."

-- Ring Lardner Jr, 85. Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter who was the last surviving member of the "Hollywood Ten," the group of filmmakers imprisoned and blacklisted during the anti-communist witchhunt era of the 1940s and '50s.

-- Loretta Young, 87. Glamorous, Oscar-winning actress who broke into movies as a child extra during the silent era and became one of the first major Hollywood stars to move into TV. In death, she broke her silence about one of Hollywood's greatest open secrets, acknowledging in a book that her "adopted" daughter was the product of a 1935 affair with Clark Gable.

-- Gwen Verdon, 75. The third wife and longtime collaborator with legendary choreographer/director Bob Fosse, she overcame a series of childhood illnesses to become a Broadway sensation and danced her way to four Tonys.

-- Victor Borge, 91. Pianist, conductor and musical humorist heralded as the "unmelancholy Dane" of show business.

-- Hedy Lamarr, 86. An Austrian banker's daughter billed as "the world's most beautiful woman" when she rose to silver screen stardom in the 1930s and '40s.

-- Steve Allen, 78. Comedian, composer, author, actor and television pioneer who started TV talking as the first host of NBC's "Tonight Show."

-- Douglas Fairbanks Jr., 90. Swashbuckling American leading man who starred in such film classics as "Gunga Din."

-- Charles Schulz, 77. Creator of cartoon characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy as the man behind the "Peanuts" comic strip.

-- Richard Farnsworth, 80. Veteran stuntman and actor Oscar nominated for "Comes a Horseman" and "The Straight Story."

-- Tito Puente, 77. Five-time Grammy-winning Latin jazz bandleader whose dance numbers delighted fans over six decades.

-- Gwendolyn Brooks, 83. A poet who grew up in Chicago slums to become the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize.

-- Doug Henning, 52. Illusionist who helped spark a renewed interest in magic with TV shows during the 1970s and '80s.

-- Werner Klemperer, 80. German-born Jewish actor who escaped Hitler's Germany and became best known for his portrayal of the bumbling German prison camp commandant on "Hogan's Heroes."

-- Larry Linville, 60. Played the whining surgeon Maj. Frank Burns, who carried on an extramarital affair with nurse "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit) on hit TV show "M*A*S*H."

-- Jean Peters, 73. Midwestern farm girl who won a Hollywood screen test as Miss Ohio State in the 1940s and went on to become a movie star and wife of billionaire Howard Hughes.

-- Claire Trevor, 91. An Oscar winner for 1948's "Key Largo," she was famous for playing sympathetic women of ill repute.

-- Rose Hobart, 94. Known for playing the "other woman" in a two-decade film career cut short by the Hollywood blacklist.

-- Muriel Evans, 90. Actress who quickened the gallop of such cowboy stars as Buck Jones, John Wayne and William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd in a string of popular Westerns.

-- Julie London, 74. Smoky-voiced actress and singer who had a hit record with the 1950s "Cry Me a River" and was once married to "Dragnet" producer Jack Webb.

-- Richard Mulligan, 67. Comic actor who won Emmy awards for his roles in television sitcoms "Soap" and Empty Nest."

-- Jim Varney, 50. The grinning, hayseed handyman Ernest in TV ads and a popular series of slapstick films and the voice of Slinky Dog in the "Toy Story" movies.

-- Rick Jason, 74. Starred as the infantry officer commanding a platoon of battle-weary, mud-spattered GIs in the World War II television drama "Combat!"

-- Meredith MacRae, 56. TV actress best known as a talk show host and for her role as Billie Jo in the series "Petticoat Junction." Daughter of Sheila and Gordon MacRae.

-- Steve Reeves, 74. Actor and bodybuilder who made a career of playing muscled heroes in low-budget sword-and-sandal films during the 1950s and early '60s.

-- George Montgomery, 84. Dashingly handsome cowboy actor who made 87 movies and later gained recognition for sculpting Western-themed bronze pieces.

-- Nancy Marchand, 71. Actress best known for playing a newspaper publisher on the "Lou Grant" show and a Mafia matriarch on "The Sopranos."

-- Durward Kirby, 88. Sidekick/announcer/performer on "The Garry Moore Show" and "Candid Camera."

-- Helen Martin, 88. Pioneering black Broadway actress who helped found the American Negro Theater in Harlem.

-- Thomas Yohe, 63. Co-creator of the Emmy-winning "Schoolhouse Rock" rock television cartoons.

-- Hoyt Curtin, 78. Longtime musical director for animation giant Hanna-Barbera who composed TV theme songs for such classic cartoon series as "The Flintstones" and "The Jetsons."

-- Roebuck "Pops" Staples, 85. Patriarch of the Staples Singers whose lyrics on "Respect Yourself" and other hits delivered a civil rights message with a danceable soul beat.

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