Celebrities We've Lost in 2017

Tom Petty

2017 has been a whirlwind of a year, and while we are reaching the final stretches, it’s hard not to look back at all of the celebrities we have lost. Some from old age, some from medical complications, some completely out of left field, but all way too early.

Let’s look at the Celebrities we lost in 2017.

Tom Petty, whose Florida-bred quintet the Heartbreakers was one of the defining arena-rock acts of the 1970s with hits like “Breakdown,” died of a heart attack Oct. 2, the longtime manager of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers confirmed.

Hugh Hefner

He was 66.

Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner died on Sept. 27 at the Playboy Mansion in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of West Los Angeles.

Harry Dean Stanton

He was 91.

Harry Dean Stanton, the actor with a gaunt, bedraggled look who labored in virtual obscurity for decades until a series of roles increased his visibility, including his breakthrough in Wim Wenders’ “Paris, Texas,” died of natural causes on Sept. 15.

Jay Thomas

He was 91.

Jerry Lewis

Actor Jay Thomas, best known for his roles in the classic sitcoms “Murphy Brown” and “Cheers,” died after a battle with cancer at the age of 69.

erry Lewis, the brash slapstick comic who teamed with Dean Martin in the 1950s and later starred in “The Nutty Professor” and “The Bellboy” before launching the Muscular Dystrophy telethon, has died in Las Vegas.

Dick Gregory

He was 91.

Dick Gregory, the pioneering standup comedian and civil rights activist who made his advocacy work a key component of his on-stage persona, died Aug. 19 in Washington, D.C.

Glen Campbell

He was 84.

Country legend Glen Campbell, whose crossover hits “Gentle on My Mind,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Rhinestone Cowboy” forged a lasting bridge between country and pop music, died August 8..

John Heard

He was 81.

John Heard, best known as Peter McAllister in the “Home Alone” movies who appeared in a wide range of TV and film roles, died on July 21.

Chester Bennington

He was 71.

Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington was found dead on July 20. The coroner later confirmed his death as suicide by hanging.

Nelsan Ellis

He was 41.

“True Blood” star Nelsan Ellis died after complications from heart failure on July 8.

Michael Nyqvist

He was 39.

Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist, who starred in the original “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” films alongside Noomi Rapace, died on June 27 following a battle with lung cancer.

Prodigy

He was 56.

Prodigy, the rapper best known for his work as half of long-running New York duo Mobb Deep, died in Las Vegas on June 20, after a hospitalization due to complications from sickle-cell anemia.

John Avildsen

He was 42.

John G. Avildsen, who won an Oscar for directing the original “Rocky” (1976), starring Sylvester Stallone, and also directed all three of the original “Karate Kid” films, died on June 16.

Adam West

He was 81.

Adam West, an actor defined and also constrained by his role in the 1960s series “Batman,” died on June 9 in Los Angeles after a short battle with leukemia.

Glenne Headly

He was 88.

Roger Moore

Emmy-nominated actress Glenne Headly died on June 8 at age 62.

Roger Moore, the English actor who appeared in seven films as James Bond — the most of any Bond actor — died in Switzerland after a short battle with cancer, his family annouced on May 23.

Roger Ailes

He was 89.

Roger Ailes, a towering figure in TV news and politics whose long run was tarnished by the sexual harassment scandal that forced him out last year as head of Fox News, died May 18.

Chris Cornell

He was 77.

Chris Cornell died by suicide on May 18 in Detroit after performing with his longtime band Soundgarden the night before.

Brad Grey

He was 52.

Brad Grey, the former Paramount Pictures chairman and CEO, died on May 14 of cancer.

Powers Boothe

He was 59

Powers Boothe, a prolific character actor on the small and big screen, died May 14 in Los Angeles.

Christopher “Big Black” Boykin

He was 68.

Christopher “Big Black” Boykin, half of MTV’s “Rob & Big” duo, died on May 9.

Mary Tyler Moore

He was 45.

TV icon Mary Tyler Moore — the star of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” — died on Jan. 25.

Don Rickles

She was 80.

Abrasive comic Don Rickles, the honorary Rat Pack member and celebrity roast guest whose career spanned six decades, died on April 6.

Charlie Murphy

He was 90.

Charlie Murphy, a performer on “The Chappelle Show” and Eddie Murphy’s older brother, died after a battle with leukemia on April 12.

Bill Paxton

He was 57.

Bill Paxton, the versatile actor who appeared in films including “Aliens” and “Titanic,” and played a polygamist on HBO’s “Big Love,” died on Feb. 25 from complications following heart surgery.

Paul O’Neill

He was 61.

Rock producer Paul O’Neill, who founded the progressive American rock band Trans-Siberian Orchestra, died on April 5.

Erin Moran

He was 61.

The actress who played Joanie Cunningham on the 1970s sitcom “Happy Days” died on April 22.

Miguel Ferrer

She was 56.

“NCIS: Los Angeles” and “Crossing Jordan” actor Miguel Ferrer died on Jan. 19 from throat cancer.

Chuck Berry

He at 61.

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Chuck Berry, the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer who established the form and the themes of the music with his slyly funny, rhythmically propulsive ’50s hits, such as “Maybellene,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” and “Johnny B. Goode,” died on March 18.

Darlene Cates

He was 90.

Darlene Cates, known for playing the mother in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” died on March 26.

Richard Hatch

She was 69.

Richard Hatch, star of the original “Battlestar Galactica” and the Syfy remake, died on Feb. 7.

John Hurt

He was 71.

John Hurt, the wiry English actor who played a drug addict in “Midnight Express,” Kane in “Alien,” the title character in “The Elephant Man,” and Winston Smith in “1984,” died on Jan. 25.