Remembering 16 era-defining celebrities who died in 2023 Matthew Perry, Tina Turner, Coco Lee, A
1. Harry Belafonte, 96
A beloved singer, songwriter, actor and activist, Belafonte was beloved by millions for many reasons. Along with winning Emmy, Tony and Grammy awards, he also fought for civil rights alongside his late friends Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Sidney Poitier.
After claiming fame in 1954 as Joe in Carmen Jones, in which he was Oscar nominated, he then trail blazed a career both as an actor and a musician. And with his activism he did everything from marching with MLK to speaking about the apartheid in South Africa.
Belafonte died on April 25. The cause of death was congestive heart failure.
2. Tony Bennett, 96
Though born Anthony Dominick Benedetto in Queens, New York, the world knew him as Tony Bennett.
The crooner was timeless as he performed hits for generations of fans.
Bennett died on July 21 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
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3. Andre Braugher, 61
This Chicago-born actor was a force whether on the small or big screen.
The two-time Emmy winner was known best for his six years on the hit 1990s series Homicide: Life on the Street and more recently playing Captain Raymond Holt on the comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Braugher died on December 11. No cause was given.
4. Jimmy Buffett, 76
Thanks to his breezy music that made you feel you were laying on a white sand beach whenever hearing it, Jimmy Buffett transported fans of his music into holiday mode for decades thanks to songs like “Margaritaville”, “Cheeseburger in Paradise”, “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” and “Come Monday”.
Buffett died on September 1 due to Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare skin cancer.
5. Angus Cloud, 25
Cloud instantly became a fan favourite on the HBO series Euphoria playing the character of drug dealer Fezco, despite the fact that he had zero acting experience before joining the show.Cloud died on July 31 at his family’s home in Oakland, California. His death comes as he was struggling with the loss of his father, who was buried in Ireland a week prior.
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6. Ron Cephas Jones, 66
The veteran character actor was best known for this Emmy-winning performance on the TV series This is Us in which he played William Hill, the biological father of Randall Pearson (played by Sterling K. Brown).
Jones died on August 19 due to a long-standing pulmonary issue, according to People.
7. Norman Lear, 101
Lear was responsible for revolutionising television in the 1970s. Behind shows like All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Good Times and The Jeffersons, Lear’s storytelling brought the complicated world around us onto our TV screens every night.
According to critics, much of what we all enjoy on the small screen today has an element that can be traced back to Norman Lear.
Lear died on December 5 of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles.
8. Coco Lee, 48
Born in Hong Kong, Lee rose to fame as a pop star in the 1990s and 2000s. Then she found international acclaim when she voiced the lead character Mulan in Disney’s Mandarin release of 1998’s Mulan and for singing the Mandarin version of the song “Reflection” from the movie.
In 2001, Lee took the stage at the Oscars to sing a song from the soundtrack of the hit movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Lee died on July 5. According to the singer’s sisters, she was struggling with depression for the last few years and died while in a coma after she attempted suicide.
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9. Sinéad O’Connor, 56
The Irish singer found worldwide acclaim thanks to her 1990 rendition of the Prince song “Nothing Compares 2 U” and become the No 1 single in the world that year.
O’Connor’s son, Shane, died by suicide on 2022. She was hospitalised days later following a series of tweets saying that she planned to take her own life.
The singer died on July 26. No cause was given.
10. Ryan O’Neal, 82
In the 1960s and 70s Ryan O’Neal soared to stardom thanks to his incredible talents and heartthrob looks.
O’Neal worked steadily through his life in movies and TV, included stints on Bones and Desperate Housewives, but his was also known for showing up in the tabloids.
His 30-year relationship with actress Farrah Fawcett always kept him in the news, also his rocky relationship with his kids, including Tatum.
O’Neal died on December 8. No cause was given.
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11. Matthew Perry, 54
With his comedic talents and matinee idol looks, Matthew Perry was destined for stardom.
Being cast as Chandler Bing – the sarcastic member in a group of friends living in New York City – the NBC sitcom Friends over its 10 year run on the air became one of the biggest shows on television.
Fame was a double-edged sword for Perry. Though it led to him being the star of movies like Fools Rush In, The Whole Nine Yards, and 17 Again – plus getting a US$1 million per episode payday on Friends by the end of its run – he battled with alcoholism and drug addiction for years.
On October 28, Perry died after a fatal drowning at his Los Angeles-area home.
12. Lisa Marie Presley, 54
The beloved daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley was in the spotlight her entire life.
Presley made her last public appearance on January 10 at the 80th Golden Globes where a biopic on her father, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, was nominated for three awards. Austin Butler’s performance as Elvis Presley won best performance by an actor in a drama.Presley died on January 12 after experiencing cardiac arrest at her Calabasas home.
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13. Wayne Shorter, 89
“The greatest living jazz composer” relinquished the title he has earned over a peerless 70-year career in March. Born in New Jersey, Shorter was dubbed both “The Newark Flash” and “Mr Gone” at a young age – in recognition of both his lightning-fast playing and elliptical approach to composition.
After making his name as musical director of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the mid-60s, the saxophonist secured the hottest gig in jazz when he joined Miles Davis’ band in 1964, going on to write much of the material which would see the fabled “second great quintet” – alongside Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams – remembered as the most intuitive group the genre produced.
In the 70s, Shorter went on to co-found the arena-filling fusion group Weather Report, before enjoyed a surprise third act, leading his own peerless, fearless acoustic quartet from 2000 until his unofficial retirement in 2019.
14. Suzanne Somers, 76
An iconic actress and infomercial queen, Suzanne Somers is best known for playing Chrissy Snow in the hit 1970s TV series Three’s Company opposite John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt, then in the 1990s being the face of the popular exercise machine the Thighmaster.
However, she also was ahead of her time attempting to use her stardom and the popularity of the TV show she was on to leverage equal pay, and it led to a dramatic shift in her career.
Somers never landed a TV or movie role as big as Chrissy Snow after that, but over the decades she kept celebrity status thanks to infomercials and authoring books.
She died on October 15 due to a recurrence of breast cancer.
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15. Jerry Springer, 79
Jerry Springer will go down as one of the most controversial talk show hosts of all time.
Thanks to his show, Jerry Springer, he was a fixture on daytime TV in the late 1990s as his show featured people who didn’t like each other – sometimes it was domestic reasons, sometimes it was friends at odds – leading to physical altercations right on stage.
16. Tina Turner, 83
Regarded as the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, for decades Tina Turner was a force in the music world thanks to her powerful singing and endless energy when she performed.
Turner is one of the bestselling artists of all time with 12 Grammys, she is a member of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, and is the first black artist and first female to be on the cover of Rolling Stone.
Turner died on May 24, no cause was given.
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