The Grim Reaper's Date With Hollywood

As the last few days of 2009 wind down, there is probably a collective sigh of relief echoed by anyone who is anyone. And it's just plain gratitude that they're still alive.

2009 was NOT a good year for celebrities.


Michael Jackson (entertainer, musician, music legend)

Dolla (Atlanta-based rap artist)

Ed McMahon (TV Personality)

Danny Gans (Las Vegas entertainer)

Jon Hager (musician and actor of "The Hager Twins")

Andy DeMize (drummer for "Nekromantix")

Pedro Aguilar (famous mambo dancer)

Gordon "Whitey" Mitchell (jazz musician and Hollywood TV writer)

David "Fathead" Newman (jazz saxophonist and original Ray Charles band member)

Billy Powell (piano play for Lynard Skynyrd)

Blossom Dearie (jazz and cabaret singer)

Louie Bellson (jazz drummer)

Molly Bee (singer)

Coleman Mellett (guitarist for Chuck Mangione's band)

Gerry Niewood (flugehorn player for Church Mangione's Band)

Estelle Bennett (singer)

John Martyn (guitarist, songwriter and singer)

Robert Woodruff Anderson (playwright and screenwriter)

Former Sen. Claiborne Pell (namesake of the college Pell Grant Program)
Griffen Bell (former presidential attorney general)

Natasha Richardson (actress)

Farrah Fawcett (actress)

Brittany Murphey (actress and singer)

Billy Mays (TV pitchman)

Erik Gates (Mythbusters Show Host)

Dorm DeLuise (actor)

Jett Travolta (Actor John Travolta's son)

Tom O'Horgan (Broadway and film director and composer)

Steven Gilborn (actor)

Cheryl Holdridge (actress, singer, dancer, former "Mouseketeer")

Pat Hingle (actor)

Henry Endo (actor)

Clint Ritchie (actor)

Bob May (actor)

Philip Carey (actor)

Susanna Foster (actress)

Ricardo Montalban (actor of "Fantasy Island")

Don Galloway (actor)

Patrick McGoohan (actor)

James Whitmore (actor)

Olga San Juan (actress and dancer)


Carl Pohlad (self-made billionaire)

Andrew Wyeth (popular American painter)

Martin Delaney (San Francisco activist)

James Brady (Korean War hero, New York writer and editor)

John Updike (Pulitzer Prize winning author)

Millard Fuller (founder and longtime president of Habitat for Humanity International)

Alison Des Forges (author, historian and human rights activist)

Beverly Eckert (9/11 widow, safer America activist)


Jeremy Lusck (freestyle motocross racer)

Nick Adenhart (Los Angeles Angels baseball player)

Payton Jordan (track star and Olympic track and field team coach)

Kay Yow (North Carolina State women's basketball coach)

Ingermar Johansson (boxer)

Harry Kalas (sportscaster for CBS)

Betty Jameson (one of first female American Pro golfers)

Billy Werber (oldest living Major League Baseball paler and teammate of Babe Ruth)