Those Who Left Us In 2011

For the last few years, I have posted about the people (at least those well-known) who died during the year. It is once again time for that unpleasant task. Here, without further comment, is the list of well-know people who left us in 2011 (age in parentheses):

JANUARY
2 -- Major Richard Winters (92), whose leadership in World War II was made into the TV miniseries "Band of Brothers".
9 -- Peter Yates (81), British filmmaker (made the movie "Bullitt").
10 -- Margaret Whiting (86), singer (very popular in the 40s and 50s).
11 -- David Nelson (74), introduced to Americans on his parents' TV show ("Ozzie and Harriet").
15 -- Susannah York (72), British actress.
17 -- Don Kirshner (76), music promoter.
18 -- Sargent Shriver (95), first Peace Corp director (and in-law to President Kennedy).
23 -- Jack LaLanne (96), fitness guru.

FEBRUARY
3 -- Maria Schneider (58), French actress (best known for "Last Tango in Paris").
11 -- Christian J. Lambertson (93), scientist who invented the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (known as SCUBA).
14 -- George Shearing (91), jazz pianist who wrote "Lullaby of Birdland".
25 -- Suze Rotolo (67), artist (also girlfriend and muse of Bob Dylan in the 60s).
27 -- Duke Snider (84), baseball player.
28 -- Jane Russell (89), Hollywood actress.

MARCH
5 -- Alberto Granado (88), accompanied "Che" Guevara on a trip through South America, later immortalized as "The Motorcycle Diaries".
12 -- Owsley Stanley (76), counterculture hero and prolific producer of LSD.
12 -- Joe Morello (82), jazz drummer (played with Dave Brubeck).
17 -- Ferlin Husky (85), country music singer.
20 -- Farley Granger (85), actor.
21 -- Pinetop Perkins (97), Grammy-winning bluesman.
23 -- Elizabeth Taylor (79), actress.
25 -- Warren Christopher (85), Secretary of State in Clinton administration.
26 -- Geraldine Ferraro (75), first woman to run for vice-president on a major party ticket.
26 -- Harry Wesley Coover Jr. (94), inventor of Super Glue.


APRIL
9 -- Sidney Lumet (86), American film director.
19 -- Grete Waitz (57), Norwegian runner who won 9 New York City marathons.

MAY
2 -- Osama bin Laden (54), terrorist leader of al-Queda.
3 -- Jackie Cooper (88), actor (most famous as a child star).
5 -- Arthur Laurents (93), director and playwright (wrote "West Side Story" & "Gypsy")
7 -- Seve Ballesteros (54), champion golfer.
17 -- Harmon Killebrew (74), baseball player.
25 -- Leonora Carrington (94), British painter, writer, and sculptor.
27 -- Gil Scott-Heron (62), musician.

JUNE
3 -- Jack Kevorkian (83), doctor and proponent of assisted-suicide.
3 -- James Arness (88), actor.
4 -- Lawrence Eagleburger (80), former Secretary of State.
18 -- Clarence Clemons (69), musician (played with Bruce Springsteen).
23 -- Peter Falk (83), actor.

JULY
7 -- Manuel Galbon (80), Cuban musician (member of Buena Vista Social Club).
8 -- Betty Ford (93), former U.S. First Lady.
23 -- Amy Winehouse (27), singer.
24 -- John Shalikashvili (75), Army General and former head of Joint Chiefs of Staff.

AUGUST
3 -- Bubba Smith (66), football player and actor.
7 -- Hugh Carey (92), former governor of New York.
22 -- Jack Layton (61), Canadian leader of New Democrat party.
28 -- David "Honey Boy" Edwards (96), blues musician.

SEPTEMBER
10 -- Cliff Robertson (88), actor.
17 -- Charles Percy (91), former U.S. Senator.

OCTOBER
3 -- Arthur Nielsen Jr. (92), responsible for the "Nielsen ratings".
5 -- Steve Jobs (56), Apple founder and chief executive.
5 -- Rev Fred Shuttlesworth (89), civil rights activist.
16 -- Dan Wheldon (33), two-time winner of the Indy 500.
20 -- Moammar Gadhafi (69), Libyan dictator.

NOVEMBER
1 -- Dorothy Rodham (92), mother of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
4 -- Andy Rooney (92), TV commentator.
7 -- Joe Frazier (67), champion boxer.
8 -- Bil Keane (89), creator of "family Circus" comic strip.
8 -- Heavy D (44), rapper and musician.
20 -- John Lawrence (68), responsible for case of "Lawrence v. Texas" which gave Texas gays privacy rights and oulawed sodomy laws.
25 -- Tom Wicker (85), columnist and reporter.
27 -- Ken Russell (84), film director.

DECEMBER
7 -- Harry Morgan (86), actor.
15 -- Christopher Hitchens (62), author and defender of atheism.
17 -- Kim Jong Il (69), North Korean dictator.
18 -- Vaclav Havel (75), Czech dissident, playwright, and leader of "Velvet Revolution".
28 -- Kaye Stevens (79), singer.