Celebrity Deaths in 2009: The Final Curtain Call

There were many passings in 2009, some left us quietly and perhaps you didn't notice they were gone. Others were paraded through the media and we watched for days on end, as their families were never allowed to mourn in private. Celebrities have that affect upon us. Whether they are screen actors or music legends, we weave them into our lives and when they depart, they often take a small piece of us with them.

This one is for them - the celebrities who have graced our lives over the years and have stepped from this life into eternity. I think it's important to remember them and the impact they have had upon us. Maybe you laughed with them or maybe you cried as they acted out their roles and played the part. The final curtain has fallen for these celebrities.

Pat Hingle
Maybe you don't recognize the name but you would surely recognize the man. He was a veteran film actor widely known as Commissioner Gordon in four of the feature Batman films. Hingle also starred with Clint Eastwood in Hang 'Em High and Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront. He succumbed to cancer at the age of 84 in January 2009.

Patrick McGoohan
This man achieved a sort of cult status as a retired secret agent who was abducted and taken prisoner in the The Prisoner. He also won two Emmys for his acting roles on Columbo. McGoohan died in January also following a brief illness. He was 80 yrs old.

Ricardo Montalban
Another January passing, Montalban played Mr. Rourke on Fantasy Island. Montalban went on to star as villain Khan in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. He left us in January at the age of 88 of natural causes.

Bob May
May was an endearing actor from one of my all-time favorite shows. Maybe you remember him as The Robot on the 1960s series, Lost in Space. He also worked as a stuntman on Cheyenne, Surfside 6, Hawaiian Eye, The Roaring 20s and Stagecoach. He was just 69 when he died of congenital heart failure in January of this year.

John Updike
We should all aspire to be like Mr. Updike, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist whose novel, The Witches of Eastwick, was adapted into a hit 1987 film. He succumbed to lung cancer at age 76 in January.

Clint Ritchie
If you watched the soap opera, One Life to Live, then this man should be familiar to you. He spent more than 20 years on the ABC soap before retiring in 1998 although he continued to make guest appearances up until 2004. He left us in January at age 70 after a brief illness.

Phil Carey
Carey, yet another One Life to Live star died in February at age 83 after a three-year battle with lung cancer. On One Life to Live, his character, Asa Buchanan, died in his sleep in 2007, but Carey made three subsequent appearances on the soap, most recently in December 2008. It was a hard year for the One Life to Live soap fans.

James Whitmore
One of my personal favorites, Whitmore was also a stage and film vet who was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of President Truman in Give 'Em Hell, Harry! Whitmore also played the librarian, Brooks Hatlen, in the critically acclaimed, The Shawshank Redemption. It would be his last major film production as the Emmy-winning actor died of lung cancer in February at age 87.

Ron Silver
Silver was a Tony-winning actor and political activist. He appeared in The West Wing, Chicago Hope and Veronica's Closet. In March, he succumbed to esophageal cancer at age 60.

Natasha Richardson
Who can forget that the wife of Liam Neeson died tragically from injuries sustained in a skiing accident while with her family in Montreal in March at the young age of 45? She was a Tony-award winning actress, wife and mother.

Andy Hallett
Hallett played a green-skinned demon named Lorne on Angel. He used his singing talents often on the show, and performed two songs on the series' 2005 soundtrack album, Angel: Live Fast, Die Never. It is ironic that when he left us he was just 33 years of age. His untimely death occurred in March after a five-year battle with heart disease.

Marilyn Chambers
Chambers claim to fame was found behind the porn door or should I say Behind the Green Door, a 1972 film that was central to the "porn chic" movement. She was only 56 years old when her daughter found her dead in her Los Angeles home in April.

Bea Arthur
She was an Emmy-award-winning actress who is best remembered for Maude and Golden Girls but Arthur also won a Tony for her acting in Mame. She left us in April at age 86.

Dom DeLuise
You either loved him or found him obnoxious. I enjoyed his performance with co-star Burt Reynolds in Cannonball Run. The always upbeat comedian departed in May at the age of 75.

David Carradine
Carradine's death in a Bangkok hotel room in June created a mystery surrounding the hanging that took his breath from him. The Kill Bill and Kung Fu star was 72 years of age. The investigation surrounding the hanging continues although suicide has apparently been ruled out.

Ed McMahon
Who will ever forget Johnny Carson's sidekick's trademark introduction, "Heeeere's Johnny." McMahon spent thirty years on The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992 with Carson. He went on to star in a Cash4Gold commercial in which he amended his signature Johnny Carson introduction to "Heeeere's Money." At age 86 he left us in June.

Farrah Fawcett
We fell in love with Farrah as one Charlie's Angels. Her long-time relationship with actor, Ryan O'Neal yielded a son, Redmond. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee she will best be remembered as a courageous woman who waged battle against cancer. In the end, the cancer won out and Farrah left us in June when she was just 62 years old.

Michael Jackson
I grew up listening and dancing to Michael and the Jackson Five. When he went solo and became "The King of Pop," I watched as he lived his life out-loud for all the world to see. As he changed his appearance before our eyes, I often wondered how lonely he must have been. Dead at the young age of 50 in June from an acute Propofol overdose the world mourns his passage.

Billy Mays
If you ever watched an OxiClean commercial, you would recognize his cheerful face. The OxiClean pitchman and Discovery Channel star died quietly in his sleep in June at age 50. It was announced that his autopsy showed cocaine in his blood that may have contributed to his heart disease.

Karl Malden
Now, here is an actor who was of Serbian descent but American born and raised. He went on to achieve Oscar- and Emmy-awards for his roles in A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, Patton and many others. He left us in July at the age of 97.

Walter Cronkite
Here is a man who once was dubbed "the most trusted man in America." The CBS Evening News anchor was a celebrity in his own right. His broadcast news coverage always ended with, "And that's the way it is." Cronkite was 92 years when he died in July.

Frank McCourt
Another Pulitzer Prize-winning author who left behind his published memoir, Angela's Ashes. Melanoma claimed his life in July at age 78. I will miss his writings.

Sen. Ted Kennedy
Nicknamed "Lion of the Senate," Kennedy was a liberal icon and the third-longest serving senator in all of U.S. history. Love him or hate him, he had an impact on America's government. The Lion sleeps, succumbing to brain cancer at age 77 in August.

DJ AM
I have to admit that I didn't know this fellow but was shocked to hear that he survived a horrendous plane crash just months before accidentally overdosing in August. He was only 36 years of age.

Larry Gelbart
You probably don't recognize the name and wouldn't know the face, but this Emmy-winning writer of M*A*S*H, also enjoyed success on the big screen and earned Oscar nominations for the George Burns comedy Oh, God! and Tootsie. Gelbart left us in September at the age of 81.

Patrick Swayze
Swayze was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1991 by People Magazine. This delightful actor and dirty dancer also won the respect of his producers when he insisted on doing his own stunts! He left behind classics such as Ghost, Dirty Dancin, Point Break and Christmas in Wonderland just to name a few. He succumbed to pancreatic cancer at age 57 ending his 20-month fight with the disease in September.

Henry Gibson
If you remember Laugh-In, then you remember Gibson. He also appeared in Magnolia, Wedding Crashers and recurred as Judge Clark Brown on Boston Legal. Cancer claimed his life in September at the age of 73.

Captain Lou Albano
This fellow was a wrestling icon who is credited with pioneering the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" after starring in Cyndi Lauper's music videos. He left us in October at age 76.

Soupy Sales
When I heard Soupy stepped from this life, the only thing that I could remember was his live broadcast on New Year's Day in 1965 when he instructed all of the children listening to tiptoe into their still-sleeping parents' bedrooms and remove those "funny green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. Presidents" from their pants and pocketbooks. Put them in an envelope and mail them to me". He received a suspension for that prank! At 83 years of age he left us in October.

Roy Disney
Walt Disney's nephew, Roy, was a longtime senior executive for The Walt Disney Company. He was 79 years of age and succumbed to stomach cancer. Interestingly enough, he died 43 years and one day after Walt Disney died from cancer.

Oral Roberts
The man was a pioneer television evangelist who began broadcasting his revivals by television in 1955. Controversy plagued his ministry and tragedy plagued his personal life. His daughter, Rebecca, died in a plane crash with her husband in 1977. His eldest son, Robert, committed suicide. When he left us in December he was semi-retired, 91 years of age and living in Newport Beach, California.

If I've left anyone out, please forgive me. We lost so many celebrities this year, may they all rest in peace.