Notable deaths in 2017

In this Sept. 29, 2016 photo San Diego Padres broadcaster Dick Enberg waves to crowd at a retirement ceremony prior to the Padres’ final home baseball game of the season. Enberg died Dec. 21, 2017, at his home in La Jolla, Calif., at age 82. Read more. (Lenny Ignelzi / AP)

Pat DiNizio, vocalist-guitarist-songwriter for the tough yet tuneful New Jersey rock band the Smithereens, died on Dec. 12, 2017. He was 62. Read more. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

In this Sept. 29, 2017, photo, actor Rance Howard flashes a fake pistol prop for the film “Appleseed,” in which Howard is costarring, in St. Johnsbury, Vt. Director Ron Howard says his father Rance Howard died Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017 at age 89. Read more. (Dana Gray / AP)

Former teen idol David Cassidy, who starred in the 1970s sitcom “The Partridge Family,” died on Nov. 21, 2017. He was 67. Read more. (Ellidge / Getty Images )

Della Reese, who segued from pop and jazz singing stardom in the ‘50s and ‘60s to a long career as a popular TV actress on “Touched By an Angel” and other shows, died Nov. 19, 2017, at her home in California. She was 86. Read more (Paul Warner/AP)

Former NFL wide receiver Terry Glenn died on Nov. 20, 2017 after a car crash in Irving, Texas. Glenn played for the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys during his 12-year career. He was 43. Read more. (Chris O’Meara / AP)

Mel Tillis, a longtime country star who wrote hits for Kenny Rogers, Ricky Skaggs and many others, and overcame a stutter to sing on dozens of his own singles, died on Nov. 19, 2017, in Florida. He was 85. Read more. (Cliff Schiappa / AP)

Gossip columnist Liz Smith, whose column ran in more than 70 newspapers in the 1980s and 1990s and who publicly feuded with Donald Trump and Frank Sinatra, died at in New York City on Nov. 12, 2017. She was 94. Read more. (Dave Kotinsky / Getty Images)

John Hillerman, shown in 1985 with Betty White, died Nov. 9, 2017, at age 84. He was known for the 1980s TV series “Magnum, P.I.” Read more. (LIU / AP)

Actor Brad Bufanda, known for his role in the TV show Veronica Mars, died Nov. 1, 2017, at age 34 of an apparent suicide. Read more. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Fats Domino, whose steady, pounding piano and easy baritone helped change popular music, died Oct. 24, 2017, in Harvey, La. He was 89. Read more. (Doug Parker / AP)

John Dunsworth, best known for his role as an alcoholic trailer park supervisor in the Netflix comedy series “Trailer Park Boys” died on Oct. 16, 2017. He was 71. Read more (Andrew Vaughan / AP)

Ralphie May performs at the Paradise Cove at the River Spirit Hotel and Casino on Aug. 18, 2017. In a statement Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, publicist Stacey Pokluda says May died of cardiac arrest. She said he had been fighting pneumonia, which caused him to cancel a few appearances in the past month. Read more. (Tom Gilbert / AP)

Former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, left, seen with then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in 2005, was Iraq’s first Kurdish president. Talabani died on Oct. 3, 2017, at 83. Read more. (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)

Tom Petty is shown performing at Wrigley Field on June 29, 2017, in Chicago. Petty died Oct. 2, 2017, after being taken to UCLA Medical Center the night before. He was 66. Read more. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

In this Jan. 4, 2014, photo, Monty Hall arrives at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala at the Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, Calif. Former “Let’s Make a Deal” host Hall died after a long illness at age 96. His daughter Sharon Hall says he died Sept. 30, 2017, at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. Read more (Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP)

In this Aug. 14, 2014, photo, Anne Jeffreys arrives at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Grants Banquet in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jeffreys, an actress and opera singer who starred as Marion Kerby in the 1950s TV series “Topper,” died Sept. 27, 2017, at age 94. Read more. (Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP)

Hugh Hefner, the Chicago-born founder of Playboy who built a publishing and entertainment empire on the idea that Americans should shed their puritanical hang-ups and enjoy sex, died from natural causes at his home on Sept. 27, 2017. He was 91. Read more. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Bernie Casey, seen here in 2014, was an NFL player for the Rams and 49ers before turning to painting and acting, known for roles in films such as “Revenge of the Nerds,” “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” and “Brian’s Song.” He died on Sept. 19, 2017, after a brief illness at 78. Read more. (Ryan Miller / Invision / AP)

Legendary character actor Harry Dean Stanton died of natural causes on Sept. 15, 2017, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Read more. (Chris Pizzello / AP)

Edith Windsor, who brought a Supreme Court case that struck down parts of a federal law that banned same-sex marriage, died Sept. 12, 2017, in New York. She was 88. Read more. (Richard Drew / AP)

American feminist, writer and activist Kate Millett has died at the age of 82. She suffered a heart attack while on a visit to Paris on Sept. 6, 2017. Her best-selling “Sexual Politics” was a landmark of cultural criticism and a manifesto for the modern feminist movement. Read more. (Ulf Andersen / Getty Images)

Walter Becker, guitarist, bassist and co-writer for the sophisticated, dark-humored band Steely Dan, has died, his website confirmed Sept. 3, 2017. He was 67. Read more. (Kathy Willens / AP)

Shelley Berman, whose groundbreaking comedy routines in the 1950s and 1960s addressed the annoyances of everyday life, died Sept. 1, 2017. He was 92. Read more. (Chris Pizzello / AP)

Richard Anderson, known for costarring simultaneously in the popular 1970s television shows “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “The Bionic Woman,” died at age 91 on Aug. 31 2017. Read more. (Paul Buck / EPA)

Tobe Hooper, the horror-movie pioneer whose low-budget sensation “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” took a buzz saw to audiences with its brutally frightful vision, died Aug. 26, 2017. He was 74. Read more. (Nocturna International Fantastic / EPA)

Thomas Meehan, left, the three-time Tony Award-winning book writer died Aug. 21, 2017, at the age of 88. Read more. (Mary Altaffer / AP)

Comedy legend Jerry Lewis laughs during his guest appearance on “Larry King Live,” in 1999. Lewis died Aug. 20, 2017, at the age of 91. Read more. (Chris Pizzello / AP)

Country music legend Glen Campbell, known for “Rhinestone Cowboy” and more among his 75 chart hits, died on Aug. 8, 2017, after a long and public battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. He was 81. Read more. (Robyn Beck / Getty-AFP)

Haruo Nakajima, who portrayed Godzilla in the original 1954 classic, died Aug. 7, 2017 of pneumonia. He was 88. Read more. (Junji Kurokawa / AP)

Barbara Cook, whose shimmering soprano made her one of Broadway’s leading ingenues and later a major cabaret and concert interpreter of popular American song, died Aug. 8, 2017. She was 89. Read more. (Kevin Wolf / AP)

Veteran British stage and screen actor Robert Hardy, who recently played Cornelius Fudge in the “Harry Potter” movies, died on Aug. 3, 2017, at age 91. Read more. (Nick Ansell / AP)

The French actress Jeanne Moreau, who became one of the most popular and bewitching film stars of the 1960s, died July 31, 2017, at 89 in Paris. Read more. (Franka Bruns / AP)

Sam Shepard, the bard of America’s flat highways, wide-open spaces and wounding, dysfunctional families died July 27, 2017, in his home in Kentucky from complications from Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 73. Read more (Jakub Mosur/Associated Press)

Voice actress June Foray, voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and hundreds of other characters, passed away on July 26, 2017, at her home in Los Angeles. She was 99 years old. (Mark Davis / Getty Images)

Actor John Heard, best known for playing the father in the “Home Alone” movie series, died on July 22, 2017. He was 72. Read more. (Brian Kersey / AP)

Chester Bennington, frontman of the band Linkin Park, died in his home near Los Angeles on July 20, 2017. He was 41. Read more. (John Shearer/Invision/AP)

George Romero, whose classic “Night of the Living Dead” and other horror films turned zombie movies into social commentaries and who saw his flesh-devouring undead spawn countless imitators, remakes and homages, died at age 77. Romero died July 16, 2017 following a battle with lung cancer. Read more. (Amy Sancetta / AP)

Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese dissident who won the Nobel Peace Prize while jailed for his pro-democracy writings died in a hospital in China on July 13, 2017, from organ failure due to liver cancer. Xiaobo had been on medical parole while serving an 11-year sentence for “inciting subversion of state power.” He was 61. Read more. (AFP/Getty Images)

In this June 21, 2011 file photo, Nelsan Ellis arrives at the premiere for the fourth season of HBO’s “True Blood” in Los Angeles. Ellis, a Harvey, Ill., native best known for playing the character of Lafayette Reynolds on “True Blood,” died July 8, 2017, at the age of 39. Read more. (Matt Sayles / AP)

Michael Bond, who created the marmalade-loving teddy Paddington bear, died at the age of 91, his publisher said June 28, 2017. Read more. (Sang Tan / AP)

Rapper Prodigy, a member of the New York hip-hop duo Mobb Deep, died on June 20, 2017. He was 42. Read more. (Mark Lennihan / AP)

Bill Dana, a comedy writer and performer who won stardom in the 1950s and ‘60s with his character Jose Jimenez died June 15, 2017, at his home in Nashville, Tenn. He was 92. Read more. (Kevork Djansezian / AP)

Helmut Kohl, the German chancellor whose reunification of a nation divided by the Cold War put Germany at the heart of a united Europe, died on June 16, 2017. He was 87. Read more. (Frank Leonhardt / AP)

Actor Roger Smith, left, with his wife, Ann-Margret in 1972, died June 4, 2017, in Los Angeles at 84. Smith starred in the TV series “77 Sunset Strip” and later managed his wife’s career. Read more. (Fotos International / Getty Images)

Award-winning sports writer and commentator Frank Deford, six-time Sports Writer of the Year and a member of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame, died May 28, 2017, at 78. Read more. (Susan Ragan / AP)

Gregg Allman, the Southern rock trailblazer and gravel-voiced singer who led the Allman Brothers Band, died on May 27, 2017. He was 69. Read more. ( George Rose / Los Angeles Times)

Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman Cortez Kennedy, who spent his entire NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks, died on May 23, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. He was 48. Read more. (Cheryl Hatch / AP)

Former MotoGP world champion “Kentucky Kid” Nicky Hayden died in hospital on May 22, 2017, five days after he was hit by a car while training on his bicycle. Hayden was 35. Read more. (Franco Origlia / Getty Images)

Singer Chris Cornell of Audioslave and Soundgarden died on May 18, 2017, while on tour in Detroit, at age 52. A medical examiner ruled the cause of his death as suicide. Read more. (Gian Ehrenzeller / EPA)

Former MTV reality show star Christopher “Big Black” Boykin died May 9, 2017, in Texas. He was 45. Boykin starred alongside former pro skater Rob Dyrdek in MTV’s “Rob and Big” from 2006 to 2008. Read more (Stephen Chernin / AP)

Actor Michael Parks, known for his roles in “Kill Bill” and “Tusk,” died May 9, 2017. He was 77. Read more (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Leo K. Thorsness, seen here in 2016, was a highly decorated Vietnam War pilot who was shot down and held for six years at the “Hanoi Hilton” prisoner camp, where he shared a cell with Sen. John McCain. He died on May 2, 2017, at 85. Read more. (Kiichiro Sato / AP)

Best known for directing the Oscar-winning “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia,” Jonathan Demme died April 26, 2017, from complications from esophageal cancer. He was 73. Read more. (Joel Ryan / AP)

Abrasive comic Don Rickles, honorary Rat Pack member and celebrity roast guest whose career spanned six decades, died on April 6, 2017, in Los Angeles. He was 90. Read more. (Rose M. Prouser/ Associated Press)