It’s one of only two guarantees in life, so it’s never too surprising when a star leaves us. But this year was quite unlike most others in terms of celebrity deaths, both in terms of pure volume and in the nature in which some passed away.
From some of the biggest celebrities on the planet to those we barely got to know, and from older stars to those who were taken from us far too soon, 2009 marked a sad farewell to so many memorable names and faces.
Here’s a list of notable celebrity deaths of 2009. If we left anyone off, it was just a mistake. Just leave a comment and we’ll add them ASAP …
Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein
Bea Arthur
Billy Mays
Chris Henry
David Carradine
Dominick Dunne
Don Hewitt
Ed McMahon
Erik Gates
Farrah Fawcett
Henry Gibson
Jack Kemp
Jasmine Fiore
Jett Travolta
John Hughes
John Updike
Les Paul
Michael Jackson
Natasha Richardson
Paul Harvey
Robert Novak
Ron Silver
Roy Disney
Ryan Alexander Jenkins
Sahel Kazemi
Soupy Sales
Steve McNair
Ted Kennedy
Walter Cronkite