IT’S been a tumultuous year in many respects, but when it comes to the number of great and good we’ve lost, 2016 has been a real shocker.
Right from the outset the Grim Reaper got to work claiming some of the brightest stars in the showbiz firmament.
It all began with the Thin White Duke himself, David Bowie, whose unexpected death on January 10 sent shockwaves among music fans around the globe.
Although he’d been ill for some time, he guarded his privacy so ferociously that few realised the end was imminent.
Within just four days celebrated British actor Alan Rickman followed him to the great auditorium in the sky, with Sir Terry Wogan joining them by the end of the first month of the year.
Giants of music and comedy, such as Sir George Martin and Ronnie Corbett passed in March, while two untimely deaths in the form of Prince and Victoria Wood a day apart in April left people stunned.
Add Muhammad Ali and Gene Wilder into the mix, among many others, and you can see why 2016 will be remembered for all the wrong reasons as far as celebrity deaths are concerned.
February 21 – Captain Eric “Winkle” Brown, 97
February 28 – Frank Kelly, 77
March 8 – George Martin, 90
March 17 – Paul Daniels, 77
March 24 – Johan Cruyff, 68
March 31 – Denise Robertson, 83
April 12 – David Gest, 62
April 20 – Victoria Wood, 62
May 31 – Carla Lane, 87
June 19 – Anton Yelchin, 27
July 2 – Caroline Ahern, 52
August 29 – Gene Wilder, 83
October 14 – Jean Alexander, 90
October 23 – Pete Burns, 57
October 24 – Bobby Vee, 73
November 7 – Jimmy Young, 95
November 7 – Leonard Cohen, 82
November 11 – Robert Vaughn, 83
November 23 – Andrew Sachs
November 25 – Fidel Castro, 90
December 24 – Rick Parfitt, 68
December 24 – Liz Smith, 95
December 25 – George Michael, 53
December 27 – Carrie Fisher, 60
December 28 – Debbie Reynolds, 84
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