And here it is… Nobody’s favorite recurring feature. Every year at year’s end, Daily Grindhouse attempts to remember the many talented and remarkable people that were lost to natural causes and otherwise. Sometimes it comes after year’s end because doing a post like this is a lot of work, checking various news sources and collecting images and formatting the post so it’s somewhat readable. Sometimes that’s why. And sometimes the delay comes because the guy doing the compiling, while he’s a manly macho tough guy who is unable to cry, not because of any posture but because that’s just how it is, just plain can’t take so much loss, and now we’re talking in his personal life and not just in his duties to an entertainment site.

In 2023, the world lost some bold-faced names, and I personally lost more than my share of essential people, not names you’d know, but names I can’t imagine a world without. And without tears to cry, I sort of shut down. So this post is late, and for the first time since I took the reins as editor at Daily Grindhouse, there hasn’t been much Daily Grindhouse to look at, since mid-October. I am sorry for that. A back can only take so much weight, especially metaphorically.

Skipping the middle part, here’s the part where I’m back, and here’s the massive post containing dozens and dozens of names and pictures of people from movies, TV, comics, comedy, sports, fine art, wrestling, books, modeling, cartooning, pornography, music, reality-TV, and just about every other kind of entertainment or artistic expression there is. Invariably there are names and pictures missing. Please feel free to comment or email or social-media-shame and this post will be updated accordingly. Last thing intended here would be to leave anyone out. If you want to see someone on here who isn’t, let us know.

 

M237, Swiss wolf who died in 2023

 

Please also allow me my indulgence of placing animals alongside human beings in this tribute. I do it not to undermine how important the lives of human beings are, but to attempt to elevate the importance of other creatures we share this world with.

 

All right? Cue the sad music.

 

 

Death is always waiting. Death is undefeated. Death always wins in the end. Nobody’s ever left and come back, even if saying that means dissenting from The Boss. Ain’t none of us getting off this planet alive. Baby, that’s a fact. Tomorrow is promised to no one, which is what a friend of mine always says. It’s maybe the best lesson any friend of mine ever taught me. Also. He and I are not friends any more. Friendship dies too. There is no forever. Even this Earth will one day die. We’ll all be long gone by then. Maybe the universe is infinite. But maybe it’s not! One thing is for certain: None of us, writer or reader, are going to make it that far.

All of that said… There is meaning in this life. Death is the end, but while we live, we can make an impact on each other. If we are worth a half a god-damn, we want that impact to be good. People, they do die. The people below, they are gone now. But they had an impact on the rest of us when they were here. Some of them made very much of a positive impact. Some of them may even have saved some lives, through their actions, or through their art. There are people here who have done that for me. I put a few people on here who saved me, in art, or in action. While I’m still here, for however long that might be, I hope I can yet follow their good example. They had a spark. We carry their spark.

And yeah, I do still hope, maybe at the end of the universe, that I will see some of them again some day.

 

IN MEMORIAM

…

 

 

 

Sharon Acker 

Canadian film actress and model

 

 

 

Joss Ackland

English actor

 

 

Alawa

American wolf

 

 

 

Alison

chimpanzee

 

 

 

 

Martin Amis

British novelist

 

 

 

Kenneth Anger

American underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and author

 

 

 

 

Alan Arkin

American actor and filmmaker

 

 

 

Clarence Avant

American music executive and film producer

 

 

 

Burt Bacharach

American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist

 

 

 

 

Russell Banks

American writer of fiction and poetry

 

 

 

Bob Barker

American television game show host

 

 

 

Jeff Beck

English guitarist

 

 

 

 

Harry Belafonte

American singer, actor, EGOT winner, and activist

 

 

 

Richard Belzer 

American comedian

Tony Bennett

American jazz and traditional pop singer

 

 

 

 

Helmut Berger

Austrian actor

Jane Birkin

British and French actress and singer

 

Robert Blake

American actor

 

 

 

 

 

Vida Blue

American professional baseball player

 

 

 

 

Bobi

Portugese dog, oldest dog ever at 31

 

 

 

Bokito

German-born Dutch western gorilla

 

 

 

 

 

Barbara Bosson

American actress

 

 

 

Fernando Botero

Colombian artist

 

 

 

Tori Bowie 

U.S. Olympic gold medalist

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kwame Brathwaite

American photojournalist and activist who made the phrase “Black is Beautiful”

 

 

 

Andre Braugher

one of the greatest American actors to ever live

 

 

 

Emory X. Brooks

President, CEO, and Founder of Community Counseling & Mediation, mentor to hundreds

 

 

Al Brown
American character actor

 

 

 

George “Funky” Brown

American drummer and co-founder of Kool & The Gang

 

 

 

Jim Br0wn

NFL legend, civil rights icon, action film star

 

 

 

Chris Browne
American cartoonist

 

 

 

Ricou Browning

American film director, actor, screenwriter, underwater cinematographer, and stuntman

 

 

 

Jimmy Buffett

American musician and singer-songwriter

 

 

 

 

Jeff Burr

American film director, writer, producer, and horror lifer

 

 

 

Dick Butkus

American football linebacker, sports commentator, actor, mustache legend

 

 

 

Bill Butler 

American cinematographer

 

 

A.S. Byatt

British novelist, short-story writer, and critic

 

 

 

Sergio Calderón

Mexican-born character actor

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dex Carvey

actor and editor, son of comedian and former “SNL” star Dana Carvey

 

 

 

Ron Cephas Jones

American actor

 

 

 

 

Dr. Matthew Charms

uncle, father, husband, radiologist, lifesaver 

 

 

 

 

Kathy Chow

 Hong Kong actress and singer 

 

 

 

 

Tyler Christopher

American soap actor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ralph Cirella

American radio personality, FX artist, and king-of-all-hangers-on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marlene Clark

American actress, animator, and fashion model

 

 

 

 

Angus Cloud

American actor 

 

 

 

Nichole Coats

American model

 

 

 

Van Conner

American bass guitarist

 

 

 

Pat Cooper

American comedian 

 

 

Michel Cordes

French actor, author, and stage director

 

 

 

 

 

James “Buster” Corley

co-founder of the Dave & Buster’s entertainment chain

 

 

 

 

 

David Crosby

American singer, songwriter, and guitarist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alessandro D’Alatri

Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor

 

 

 

Terence Davies

British film director

 

 

 

Karen Davis

American animal rights advocate

 

 

 

Kenny DeForest

American stand-up comedian

 

 

Melinda Dillon

American actress

 

 

 

 

Arnold Díaz

American television consumer watchdog journalist

 

 

 

Diego

Mexican gray wolf

 

Ian Falconer

American author and children’s book illustrator

 

Safi Faye

Senegalese film director and ethnologist

 

 

Benjamin B. Ferencz

American lawyer,  thinker, writer, advocate, Last Surviving Nuremberg Prosecutor

 

 

Amp Fiddler

American singer, songwriter, keyboardist, and record producer

 

 

 

 

David Finfer

American film editor

Frederic Forrest

American actor

 

William Friedkin

American film director

 

Terry Funk

American professional wrestler

 

 

Michael Gambon

Irish-English actor

 

 

 

Nicolas Gessner

Hungarian-born filmmaker

Joe Giella

American comic book artist 

 

 

 

 

John Giblin

British musician and acoustic and electric bass player

 

Ian Gibson

British comic book artist

 

 

Keith Giffen

American comic book artist and writer

Astrud Gilberto

Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer and songwriter

 

 

 

Brian “Brizz” Gillis

American pop singer

Lelia Goldoni

American actress

 

 

 

 

Len Goodman

English professional ballroom dancer, dance judge, and coach

 

 

Bert I. Gordon

American filmmaker and visual effects artist

 

 

Robert Gottlieb

American writer and editor/ editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf, and The New Yorker

 

 

Christina Ashten Gourkani

OnlyFans model

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Superstar” Billy Graham

American Hall of Fame professional wrestler 

 

Paul Grant

British actor and stuntman

 

 

 

 

Dan Green 

American comic book illustrator

 

Shecky Greene

American comedian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Terrence Hardiman

English actor

 

 

Johnny Hardwick

American voice actor

 

C.J. Harris

American singer and American Idol contestant

 

Steve Harwell

American musician and singer

 

 

Masanori Hata

Japanese zoologist, essayist, and film director

 

 

D.J. Hayden

American football cornerback

 

Linda Haynes

American actress 

 

 

He Ping

Chinese film director, screenwriter, and producer

 

 

Anthony Hickox

English film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter

 

 

 

Jim Hines

American Olympic track and field athlete and National Football League player

 

 

Mang Hoi

Hong Kong actor

 

 

 

Maurice Horn

American comics historian

 

 

Blake Hounshell

American journalist and editor 

 

 

Frank Howard

American professional baseball player, coach, and manager

 

Hugh Hudson

English film director

 

 

Barry Humphries (Dame Edna) 

Australian comedian, actor, author, satirist, and drag artist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leon Ichaso

Cuban-born American writer and film director

 

 

Ronald Isley

American singer-songwriter and record producer

 

Nathan Louis Jackson

American playwright

 

Al Jaffee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa Janti (Montell)

American actress and author

 

 

 

David Jude Jolicoeur aka Trugoy The Dove

American rapper

 

 

 

Kamau

African lion and star attraction at California’s Sacramento Zoo

 

 

 

Ken Kelsch

American cinematographer, teacher, and Vietnam veteran

 

 

 

Gary Kent

American film director, actor, and stuntperson

 

 

Bobby Knight

American basketball coach

 

 

 

Eugene Kozlovsky

Russian writer, screenwriter, theatre and film director

 

 

 

Frank Kozik

American graphic artist

 

 

Marty Krofft

Canadian puppeteer

 

 

 

Rabbi Harold S. Kushner

American rabbi, author, and lecturer

 

 

 

Rob Laakso

American musician, record producer, and engineer

 

 

 

Aldo Lado

Italian film director

 

 

 

Piper Laurie

American actress

 

 

 

Norman Lear

writer, producer, veteran, television visionary

 

 

 

Peggy Lee Leather

American professional wrestler

 

 

 

 

Bill Lee

American jazz musician and film composer and father of Spike

 

 

 

Coco Lee

Chinese-American singer and songwriter

 

 

 

Eugene Lee

American set designer

 

 

 

Ralph Lee

 American puppeteer and theatre artist

 

 

 

Lee Sun-kyun

South Korean actor

Stew Leonard Sr.

founder of Stew Leonard’s (if you haven’t ever been, you truly ought to go)

 

 

 

 

Michael Lerner

American character actor great

 

 

Linda Lewis

English singer, songwriter, and musician

 

 

 

 

Gordon Lightfoot

Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

 

 

 

 

Carol Locatell

American genre-film actress

 

 

 

Glen “SPOT” Lockett

American record producer

 

 

 

Gina Lollobrigida

Italian actress, screen icon, photojournalist, and politician

 

 

 

Patti Love

British actress

 

 

 

 

Shane MacGowan

English-born Irish singer

 

 

 

 

Brandi Mallory

American reality-TV star

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jessie Maple

American cinematographer, writer, producer, and film director most noted as a pioneer for the civil rights of African Americans and women in the film industry

 

 

 

 

 

Mark Margolis

American character actor

 

 

 

Leiji Matsumoto

Japanese manga artist

 

 

 

 

Joe Matt

American cartoonist

 

 

 

 

 

Ken Mattingly

American aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, rear admiral in the United States Navy, and astronaut who flew on Apollo 16

 

 

 

 

Burny Mattinson

American storyboard artist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James McCaffrey

American actor and video-game voiceover artist

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bruce McCall

Canadian author and illustrator

 

 

 

 

David McCallum

Scottish actor and musician

 

 

 

 

Cormac McCarthy

Great American novelist

 

 

Brian McKenna

Canadian documentary film director

 

 

 

 

 

J. Patrick McNamara

American actor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tony McPhee

 English guitarist & singer and founder of the Groundhogs

 

George T. Miller

Scottish-born Australian film director

 

 

Walter Mirisch

American film producer, president and executive head of production of The Mirisch Corporation

 

 

Gangsta Boo (Lola Chantrelle Mitchell)

American rapper, member of Three 6 Mafia

 

 

 

Richard Moll

American actor

 

 

 

Maleesa Marie Mooney

American model

 

Cindy Morgan

American actress

 

 

 

 

Angela Muto

American voice actor and comedian

 

Lawrence Steven Meyers

American film producer and actor

 

Ginnie Newhart

wife of comedy legend Bob Newhart for 6o years

daughter of veteran character actor Bill Quinn

 

 

Richard Ng Yiu-hon

Hong Kong actor

Mbongeni Ngema

South African playwright and lyricist

 

Mike Nussbaum

American actor and director 

 

 

Sandra Day O’Connor

American attorney, politician,  jurist, and former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

 

Sinéad O’Connor

Irish singer, songwriter, and activist

 

 

Jacky Oh

“Wild ‘N Out” cast member 

 

 

Enrico Oldoini

Italian director and screenwriter

 

 

Ryan O’Neal

American actor

 

 

Vincent Patrick

American author and screenwriter

 

 

 

Marisa Pavan

Italian actress

 

 

 

 

Jason Pearson

American comic book creator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Perkins

Harlem councilman and New York state senator

 

 

Matthew Perry

American television star

 

 

Jean-Louis Pesch

French cartoonist 

 

 

 

Phil Pister

California biologist, savior of the Owens Pupfish

,

 

Leo Plank

German stuntman and driver

 

 

 

Lisa Marie Presley

American singer and songwriter

 

 

 

Edward R. Pressman

American film producer

 

 

Taraja Ramsess

American stuntman

 

 

Michael Reaves

American writer, novelist, script writer, and story editor for a number of 1980s and 1990s animated television series

Jack Rebney

“The Angriest Man in the World”

 

 

 

Lance Reddick

American character-actor great

 

 

John Refoua

American film editor

 

Paul Reubens

American Pee-Wee Herman

 

Chris Reynolds

Welsh comics author

 

 

 

Bobby Rivers

American television and radio personality

 

 

 

Robbie Robertson

Canadian guitarist and songwriter

 

Brooks Robinson

American baseball player

 

Lolita Rodrigues

Brazilian television actress and presenter

 

Rodriguez

singer, songwriter, guitarist, subject of SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN (2012)

 

 

Owen Roizman

American cinematographer

 

 

Richard Romanus

American film and TV actor

 

 

John Romita Sr.

American comic book artist

 

 

 

 

 

Gerald Rose

British illustrator of children’s books

 

 

 

Al Rosenberg

American comedy writer and radio performer

 

 

Andy Rourke

English musician, bassist of the Smiths

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Roundtree

American icon, actor, model, superstar, trailblazer

 

 

 

 

 

Rusty

endangered Mexican gray wolf

 

 

Eileen Saki

Japanese-American actor

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Japanese composer and pianist

 

 

 

 

 

Julian Sands

British actor

 

 

Kenpachiro Satsuma

Japanese actor and stuntman

 

Herschel Savage

 

 

Ernesto Rudesindo García Seijas

Argentine comics artist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seve

New Mexico-born chimpanzee

 

 

Suzanne Shepherd

American actress and theater director

 

 

Wayne Shorter

American musician

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom Sizemore

American actor

Shelley Smith

American fashion model and actress

 

 

Tom Smothers

American comedian, actor, composer, and musician

 

 

 

 

 

Suzanne Somers

American TV icon

 

Jack Sonni

American writer, musician, and Dire Straits guitarist

 

 

Arleen Sorkin

American voice actress, screenwriter, television presenter, and comedian

 

Spike

chimpanzee

 

 

Jerry Springer

British-born American broadcaster, journalist, actor, producer, lawyer, and politician

 

 

 

 

Frances Sternhagen

American actress 

 

 

 

 

 

Stella Stevens

American actress

 

Ray Stevenson

Northern Irish actor

 

 

Leo D. Sullivan

American animation writer & director and a pioneer in Black animation

 

 

 

Robert Swan

American actor and opera singer

 

 

Buichi Terasawa

Japanese manga artist

 

 

Charlie Thomas

American singer, known for singing with The Drifters 

 

 

Evans Thompson

Afro-Cuban jazz pianist

 

 

 

Camden Toy

American actor, writer, film editor and psychotherapist

 

Vivian Trimble

American musician

 

 

Shawna Trpcic

American costume designer

 

 

 

Pema Tseden

Tibetan film director and screenwriter

 

 

 

 

Brian Tufano

English cinematographer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dwight Twilley

American singer and songwriter

 

 

Tina Turner

American-born Swiss singer, actor, and eternal icon

 

 

Mario Valdemarin

Italian actor

 

The Iron Sheik (born Khosrow Vaziri)

Iranian professional wrestler

 

Wei Wei

Chinese actress

 

 

Raquel Welch

American actor, businesswoman, and pop-culture supernova 

 

 

Annie Wersching

American actress

 

 

 

 

Fred White

American drummer and member of Earth, Wind & Fire

 

 

Paxton Whitehead

English actor, theatre director, and playwright

 

 

Jack Wilkins

American jazz guitarist

 

 

Tom Wilkinson

English character-actor superstar

 

Cindy Williams

American film and TV actor

 

Treat Williams

American actor

 

 

Gary Wright

American musician and composer 

 

 

Bray Wyatt (born Windham Rotunda)

American professional wrestler

 

 

Kiyoshi Yamazaki

Japanese sword master

 

 

Oliver Wood

British cinematographer

 

Burt Young

American actor, author, and painter

 

Rob Young

Canadian sound mixer

 

 

Jacklyn Zeman

American actress

 

Benjamin Zephaniah

British poet, writer, and actor

 

 

 

 

How about one more tune for the road…? 

 

 

jonnyabomb@gmail.com

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Tags: 2023, Raquel Welch, Tributes