Notable deaths of 2023
Published: 06:12 AM,Dec 19,2023 | EDITED : 10:12 AM,Dec 19,2023
HENRY KISSINGER, 100, US diplomat who helped shape the post-War II world
Paris - From Italy's ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi to rock queen Tina Turner and Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, here are some of 2023's most notable deaths.
January
07: RUSSELL BANKS, 82, prolific and acclaimed US novelist whose work charted the interior lives of marginalized people
10: JEFF BECK, 78, British guitar virtuoso and innovator who rose to rock and roll fame with the 1960s group the Yardbirds
10: CARDINAL GEORGE PELL, 81, Australian archbishop, giant of the Catholic Church, who was jailed for child sexual abuse but later cleared
12: LISA MARIE PRESLEY, 54, singer-songwriter and only child of Elvis Presley, dies of a bowel condition caused by weight loss surgery
16: GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA, 95, Italian film diva, one of the last icons of Golden Age Hollywood
17: LUCILE RANDON, 118, French nun, who was the world's oldest known person
18: DAVID CROSBY, 81, American folk-rock pioneer
February
03: PACO RABANNE, 88, Spanish fashion designer famed for his eccentric designs and fragrances
05: PERVEZ MUSHARAFF, 79, Pakistan's former military ruler
08: BURT BACHARACH, 94, legendary pop composer of hits including "Walk on By" and "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"
10: CARLOS SAURA, 91, the acclaimed Spanish director who critiqued Franco's dictatorship
15: RAQUEL WELCH, 82, US actress and global sex symbol who famously donned a fur bikini in a 1960s caveman epic
March
03: KENZABURO OE, 88, Nobel-winning Japanese novelist
09: CHAIM TOPOL, 87, Israeli actor best known for his role as milkman Tevye in the 1971 classic "Fiddler on the Roof"
12: DICK FOSBURY, 76, an athlete who revolutionized the high jump with a leap backward over the bar, known as the "Fosbury flop", that replaced the scissor kick approach
21: CLAUDE LORIUS, 91, French glaciologist and climate science pioneer who helped prove humanity's role in global warming
28: RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, 71, Japanese composer who pioneered electronic music
April
13: MARY QUANT, 93, rule-breaking British fashion designer and pioneer of the miniskirt
16: AHMAD JAMAL, 92, US pianist, composer, and band leader who released some 80 albums and helped transform jazz, pop and hip-hop
19: MOONBIN, 25, K-Pop megastar and member of boy band Astro, found dead at his home in an apparent suicide
22: BARRY HUMPHRIES, aka DAME EDNA EVERAGE, 89, Australian comedian who invented the iconic lilac-haired parody of a suburban housewife
25: CAROLYN BRYANT, 88, US woman whose claim of unwanted attention from Black teenager Emmett Till led to his lynching in 1955
25: HARRY BELAFONTE, 96, superstar American music performer and activist
27: JERRY SPRINGER, 79, the popular US talk show host, whose rowdy programme symbolised low-brow TV
May
19: MARTIN AMIS, 73, a leading voice in modern British fiction
24: TINA TURNER, 83, US rock icon famed for her electrifying stage presence
June
05: ASTRUD GILBERTO, 83, Brazilian "Girl from Ipanema" singer
05: ROBERT HANSSEN, 79, US double agent who fed Russia some of America's deepest secrets
06: FRANCOISE GILOT, 101, French artist and longtime lover of Pablo Picasso, with whom she had two children
10: TED KACZYNSKI, 81, "Unabomber" who terrorized America with a two-decade bombing campaign aimed at halting the advance of modern technology and society
12: SILVIO BERLUSCONI, 86, larger-than-life, scandal-tainted former Italian premier and billionaire media mogul
13: CORMAC McCARTHY, 89, titan of American fiction with novels including "The Road" and "No Country for Old Men"
15: GLENDA JACKSON, 87, British Oscar-winning actress and politician
July
01: VICTORIA AMELINA, 37, the rising star of Ukrainian literature, dies from injuries sustained in a Russian missile attack
11: MILAN KUNDERA, 94, Czech-French novelist who criticized Czechoslovakia's communist regime. Best known for "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"
16: JANE BIRKIN, JANE BIRKIN76, British-born singer and actress famous for her creative and romantic relationship with French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg
21: TONY BENNETT, 96, last of the classic American crooners
26: SINEAD O'CONNOR, 56, iconoclastic Irish pop singer, best known for her 1990 global hit "Nothing Compares 2 U"
30: PAUL REUBENS, 70, US comic famed for his beloved man-child "Pee-wee Herman" character
August
07: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN, 87, US director of "The Exorcist" and "The French Connection"
09: SIXTO RODRIGUEZ, 81, cult American singer-songwriter who was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary "Searching for Sugar Man"
15: BINDESHWAR PATHAK, 80, Indian social reformer and revolutioniser of national sanitation, known as "toilet man"
23: YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, 62, head of Russian para-military group Wagner, killed in a plane crash after leading a mutiny against Moscow's military leadership
30: MOHAMED AL-FAYED, 92, Egyptian ex-owner of Harrods department store and the Ritz in Paris, whose son Dodi died alongside Princess Diana in a car crash in 1997
September
02: SALIF KEITA, 76, Mali, Marseille and Saint-Etienne footballer
09: MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI, 95, Zulu prince and veteran South African politician
10: IAN WILMUT, 79, pioneering British embryologist who led team that in 1996 created Dolly, the cloned sheep
15: FERNANDO BOTERO, 91, Colombian sculptor famous for his voluptuous forms
27: MICHAEL GAMBON, 82, British actor, played Albus Dumbledore in many "Harry Potter" films
25: MATTEO MESSINA DENARO, 61, one of the most ruthless Sicilian mafia bosses dies in prison
29: DIANNE FEINSTEIN, 90, trailblazing politician dubbed the "Lioness of the US Senate"
October
13: HUBERT REEVES, 91, Canadian-French astrophysicist, renowned for popularising space science
13: LOUISE GLUCK, 80, American poet, winner of Nobel and Pulitzer prizes
15: GISELLE KHOURY, 67, grande dame of Arab journalism
21: BOBBY CHARLTON, 86, English football hero, World Cup winner, Manchester United legend
27: LI KEQIANG, 68, Chinese premier during the first two five-year terms of President Xi Jinping
28: MATTHEW PERRY, 54, a US star who played Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom "Friends" dies after a long battle with addiction
November
19: ROSALYNN CARTER, 96, former US first lady who championed human rights, democracy and public health
29: HENRY KISSINGER, 100, US diplomat whose unapologetic promotion of raw American power helped shape the post-World War II world
30: SHANE MACGOWAN, 65, Irish singer-songwriter and booze-fuelled bard who fronted Celtic folk-punk band The Pogues
December
11: BULELWA MKUTUKANA aka ZAHARA, 36, South African afro-pop sensation, who suffered from liver damage due to alcoholism, dies in hospital
01: SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR, 93, the first woman to serve as a justice on the US Supreme Court, appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1981
08: RYAN O'NEAL, 82, US actor and heartthrob of "Love Story" and "Barry Lyndon" fame.
January
07: RUSSELL BANKS, 82, prolific and acclaimed US novelist whose work charted the interior lives of marginalized people
10: JEFF BECK, 78, British guitar virtuoso and innovator who rose to rock and roll fame with the 1960s group the Yardbirds
10: CARDINAL GEORGE PELL, 81, Australian archbishop, giant of the Catholic Church, who was jailed for child sexual abuse but later cleared
12: LISA MARIE PRESLEY, 54, singer-songwriter and only child of Elvis Presley, dies of a bowel condition caused by weight loss surgery
16: GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA, 95, Italian film diva, one of the last icons of Golden Age Hollywood
17: LUCILE RANDON, 118, French nun, who was the world's oldest known person
18: DAVID CROSBY, 81, American folk-rock pioneer
February
03: PACO RABANNE, 88, Spanish fashion designer famed for his eccentric designs and fragrances
05: PERVEZ MUSHARAFF, 79, Pakistan's former military ruler
08: BURT BACHARACH, 94, legendary pop composer of hits including "Walk on By" and "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"
10: CARLOS SAURA, 91, the acclaimed Spanish director who critiqued Franco's dictatorship
15: RAQUEL WELCH, 82, US actress and global sex symbol who famously donned a fur bikini in a 1960s caveman epic
March
03: KENZABURO OE, 88, Nobel-winning Japanese novelist
09: CHAIM TOPOL, 87, Israeli actor best known for his role as milkman Tevye in the 1971 classic "Fiddler on the Roof"
12: DICK FOSBURY, 76, an athlete who revolutionized the high jump with a leap backward over the bar, known as the "Fosbury flop", that replaced the scissor kick approach
21: CLAUDE LORIUS, 91, French glaciologist and climate science pioneer who helped prove humanity's role in global warming
28: RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, 71, Japanese composer who pioneered electronic music
April
13: MARY QUANT, 93, rule-breaking British fashion designer and pioneer of the miniskirt
16: AHMAD JAMAL, 92, US pianist, composer, and band leader who released some 80 albums and helped transform jazz, pop and hip-hop
19: MOONBIN, 25, K-Pop megastar and member of boy band Astro, found dead at his home in an apparent suicide
22: BARRY HUMPHRIES, aka DAME EDNA EVERAGE, 89, Australian comedian who invented the iconic lilac-haired parody of a suburban housewife
25: CAROLYN BRYANT, 88, US woman whose claim of unwanted attention from Black teenager Emmett Till led to his lynching in 1955
25: HARRY BELAFONTE, 96, superstar American music performer and activist
27: JERRY SPRINGER, 79, the popular US talk show host, whose rowdy programme symbolised low-brow TV
May
19: MARTIN AMIS, 73, a leading voice in modern British fiction
24: TINA TURNER, 83, US rock icon famed for her electrifying stage presence
June
05: ASTRUD GILBERTO, 83, Brazilian "Girl from Ipanema" singer
05: ROBERT HANSSEN, 79, US double agent who fed Russia some of America's deepest secrets
06: FRANCOISE GILOT, 101, French artist and longtime lover of Pablo Picasso, with whom she had two children
10: TED KACZYNSKI, 81, "Unabomber" who terrorized America with a two-decade bombing campaign aimed at halting the advance of modern technology and society
12: SILVIO BERLUSCONI, 86, larger-than-life, scandal-tainted former Italian premier and billionaire media mogul
13: CORMAC McCARTHY, 89, titan of American fiction with novels including "The Road" and "No Country for Old Men"
15: GLENDA JACKSON, 87, British Oscar-winning actress and politician
July
01: VICTORIA AMELINA, 37, the rising star of Ukrainian literature, dies from injuries sustained in a Russian missile attack
11: MILAN KUNDERA, 94, Czech-French novelist who criticized Czechoslovakia's communist regime. Best known for "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"
16: JANE BIRKIN, JANE BIRKIN76, British-born singer and actress famous for her creative and romantic relationship with French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg
21: TONY BENNETT, 96, last of the classic American crooners
26: SINEAD O'CONNOR, 56, iconoclastic Irish pop singer, best known for her 1990 global hit "Nothing Compares 2 U"
30: PAUL REUBENS, 70, US comic famed for his beloved man-child "Pee-wee Herman" character
August
07: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN, 87, US director of "The Exorcist" and "The French Connection"
09: SIXTO RODRIGUEZ, 81, cult American singer-songwriter who was the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary "Searching for Sugar Man"
15: BINDESHWAR PATHAK, 80, Indian social reformer and revolutioniser of national sanitation, known as "toilet man"
23: YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, 62, head of Russian para-military group Wagner, killed in a plane crash after leading a mutiny against Moscow's military leadership
30: MOHAMED AL-FAYED, 92, Egyptian ex-owner of Harrods department store and the Ritz in Paris, whose son Dodi died alongside Princess Diana in a car crash in 1997
September
02: SALIF KEITA, 76, Mali, Marseille and Saint-Etienne footballer
09: MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI, 95, Zulu prince and veteran South African politician
10: IAN WILMUT, 79, pioneering British embryologist who led team that in 1996 created Dolly, the cloned sheep
15: FERNANDO BOTERO, 91, Colombian sculptor famous for his voluptuous forms
27: MICHAEL GAMBON, 82, British actor, played Albus Dumbledore in many "Harry Potter" films
25: MATTEO MESSINA DENARO, 61, one of the most ruthless Sicilian mafia bosses dies in prison
29: DIANNE FEINSTEIN, 90, trailblazing politician dubbed the "Lioness of the US Senate"
October
13: HUBERT REEVES, 91, Canadian-French astrophysicist, renowned for popularising space science
13: LOUISE GLUCK, 80, American poet, winner of Nobel and Pulitzer prizes
15: GISELLE KHOURY, 67, grande dame of Arab journalism
21: BOBBY CHARLTON, 86, English football hero, World Cup winner, Manchester United legend
27: LI KEQIANG, 68, Chinese premier during the first two five-year terms of President Xi Jinping
28: MATTHEW PERRY, 54, a US star who played Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom "Friends" dies after a long battle with addiction
November
19: ROSALYNN CARTER, 96, former US first lady who championed human rights, democracy and public health
29: HENRY KISSINGER, 100, US diplomat whose unapologetic promotion of raw American power helped shape the post-World War II world
30: SHANE MACGOWAN, 65, Irish singer-songwriter and booze-fuelled bard who fronted Celtic folk-punk band The Pogues
December
11: BULELWA MKUTUKANA aka ZAHARA, 36, South African afro-pop sensation, who suffered from liver damage due to alcoholism, dies in hospital
01: SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR, 93, the first woman to serve as a justice on the US Supreme Court, appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1981
08: RYAN O'NEAL, 82, US actor and heartthrob of "Love Story" and "Barry Lyndon" fame.