A look at some of the most influential people we have lost this year…

JANUARY
2 Ken Block, 55. A motorsports icon known for his stunt driving and for co-founding the action sports apparel brand DC Shoes.

3 Walter Cunningham, 90. The last surviving astronaut from the first successful crewed space mission in NASA’s Apollo program.

10 Constantine, 82. The former and last king of Greece, who won an Olympic gold medal in sailing and spent decades in exile after becoming entangled in his country’s volatile politics in the 1960s.

12 Lisa Marie Presley, 54. The only child of Elvis Presley and a singer-songwriter dedicated to her father’s legacy.

15 Lloyd Morrisett, 93. The co-creator of the beloved children’s TV series Sesame Street, which has used empathy and fuzzy monsters like Elmo and Cookie Monster to charm and teach generations around the world.

FEBRUARY

5 Pervez Musharraf, 79. The general who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban.

10 Amjad Islam Amjad, 78. Sitara-e-Imtiaz and Pride of Performance recipient was a Pakistani Urdu poet, screenwriter, playwright, lyricist and the author of more than 70 books.

13 Zia Mohyeddin, 91. British-Pakistani film actor, producer, director, and television broadcaster who appeared in both, Pakistani as well as British cinema and television throughout his career. Mohyeddin became famous for his Pakistani talk show The Zia Mohyeddin Show.

Leiji Matsumoto, 85. The anime creator known for Space Battleship Yamato and other classics using a fantastical style and antiwar themes.

MARCH

1 Just Fontaine, 89. The French soccer great who scored a record 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup.

6 Qavi Khan, 80. Pakistani film, radio, theatre and television actor, director and playwright who has acted in over 200 films and some 1,000 television plays.

28 Ryuichi Sakamoto, 71. A world-renowned Japanese musician and actor who composed for Hollywood hits such as The Last Emperor and The Revenant.

APRIL

7 Ben Ferencz, 103. The last living prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials, who tried Nazis for genocidal war crimes and was among the first outside witnesses to document the atrocities of Nazi labor and concentration camps.

13 Khalid Saeed Butt, 85. Actor Osman Khalid Butt’s father and former PTV actor who served as DG National Council of Arts and DG Lok Virsa. He has received Pride of Performance from Pakistan and the Officer de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the Government of France.

22 Len Goodman, 78. A long-serving judge on Dancing with the Stars and Strictly Come Dancing who helped revive interest in ballroom dancing on both sides of the Atlantic.

27 Jerry Springer, 79. The onetime mayor and news anchor whose namesake TV show featured a three-ring circus of dysfunctional guests willing to bare all – sometimes literally – as they brawled and hurled obscenities before a raucous audience.

MAY
2 Tori Bowie, 32. The sprinter who won three Olympic medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

6 Shoaib Hashmi, 84. Pakistani actor, host, writer and academic.

24 Tina Turner, 83. The unstoppable singer and stage performer who teamed with husband Ike Turner for a dynamic run of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and ’70s and survived her horrifying marriage to triumph in middle age with the chart-topping What’s Love Got to
Do With It.

JUNE

16 Daniel Ellsberg, 92. The history-making whistleblower who by leaking the Pentagon Papers revealed longtime government doubts and deceit about the Vietnam War and inspired acts of retaliation by President Richard Nixon that helped lead to his resignation.

25 John Goodenough, 100. He shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work developing the lithium-ion battery that transformed technology with rechargeable power for devices ranging from cellphones, computers, and pacemakers to electric cars.

29 Yousaf Shakeel, 85. Veteran television and film actor best known for his roles in the PTV drama series Uncle Urfi, Aangan Terha and Ankahi.

Alan Arkin, 89. The wry character actor who demonstrated his versatility in everything from farcical comedy to chilling drama, receiving four Academy Award nominations and winning an Oscar in 2007 for Little Miss Sunshine.

JULY

16 Jane Birkin, 76. An actor and singer who made France her home and charmed the country with her English grace, natural style and social activism. The famous Birkin bag is named after her.

30 Paul Reubens, 70. The actor and comedian whose Pee-wee Herman character – an overgrown child with a tight gray suit and an unforgettable laugh – became a 1980s pop cultural phenomenon.

AUGUST
3 Mark Margolis, 83. The Emmy-nominated actor who played murderous former drug kingpin Hector Salamanca in Breaking Bad and then in the prequel Better Call Saul.

16 Michael Parkinson, 88. The renowned British broadcaster who interviewed some of the world’s most famous celebrities of the 20th century from Muhammad Ali to Miss Piggy.

19 Howard Hubbard, 84. A retired Catholic bishop who acknowledged covering up allegations of sexual abuse in his upstate New York diocese and later married a woman in a civil ceremony.

26 Bob Barker, 99. The enduring, dapper game show host who became a household name over a half century of hosting Truth or Consequences and The Price Is Right.

SEPTEMBER
9 Ian Wilmut, 79. The cloning pioneer whose work was critical to the creation of Dolly the Sheep in 1996.

28 Michael Gambon, 82. The Irish-born actor knighted for his storied career on the stage and screen who gained admiration from a new generation of moviegoers with his portrayal of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films.

OCTOBER

21 Bobby Charlton, 86. An English soccer icon who survived a plane crash that decimated a Manchester United team destined for greatness to become the heartbeat of his country’s 1966 World Cup triumph.

23 Bishan Bedi, 77. The India cricket great whose dazzling left-arm spin claimed 266 test wickets.

28 Matthew Perry, 54. The Emmy-nominated Friends actor who’s sarcastic, but lovable Chandler Bing was among television’s most famous and quotable characters.

NOVEMBER

19 Rosalynn Carter, 96. The former first lady was the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians.

25 Terry Venables, 80. A charismatic and tactically innovative English soccer coach who led his national team to the European Championship semifinals in 1996 after winning trophies at club level with Barcelona and Tottenham. Nov. 25.

27 Frances Sternhagen, 93. The veteran character actor who won two Tony Awards and became a familiar maternal face to TV viewers later in life in such shows as Cheers, ER and The Closer.

DECEMBER

4 Juanita Castro, 90. The sister of Cuban rulers Fidel and Raúl Castro, who worked with the CIA against her siblings’ communist government.

11 Andre Braugher, 61. Emmy-winning actor best known for his roles on the series Homicide: Life on The Street and Brooklyn 99.