Celebrity Deaths 2005

by abossolaComment — Updated August 3, 2023
Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
January 23
Ossie Davis died
Ossie Davis
February 1
Sandra Dee died
Sandra Dee
February 20
Johnnie Cochran died
Johnnie Cochran
March 29
Terri Schiavo died
Terri Schiavo
March 31
Pope John Paul died
Pope John Paul II
(Karol Wojtyla)
April 2
Prince Rainier died
Prince Rainier III
April 6
Eddie Albert died
Eddie Albert
May 26
Anne Bancroft died
Anne Bancroft
June 6
Luther Vandross died
Luther Vandross
July 1
Hank Stram died
Hank Stram
July 4
June Haver died
June Haver
July 4
L. Patrick Gray died
L. Partick Gray
July 5
General William Westmoreland died
Gen. William Westmoreland
July 18
James Doohan died
James Doohan
July 20
Peter Jennings died
Peter Jennings
August 7
Barbara Bel Geddes
Barbara Bel Geddes
August 8
Bob Denver died
Bob Denver
September 2
William Rehnquist
William Rehnquist
September 3
Don Adams died
Don Adams
September 25
Rosa Parks died
Rosa Parks
October 24
Richard Pryor died
Richard Pryor
December 10
Eugene McCarthy died
Eugene McCarthy
December 10

Gone But Not Forgotten – 2005

January 15 – Ruth Warrick, actress, (Phoebe Wallingford on “All My Children”) age 89

January 17 – Virginia Mayo, actress (“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”) age 84

January 22 – Rose Mary Woods, secretary to Richard Nixon who took blame for 18 ½ minute gap in tapes, age 86

January 23 – Johnny Carson, comedian (“The Tonight Show”) age 79

January 25 – Ray Peterson, singer (“Tell Laura I Love Her”) age 69

February 1 – John Vernon, actor (Dean Wormer in “Animal House”) age 72

February 4 – Ossie Davis, actor (Ponder Blue in “Evening Shade”) husband of Ruby Dee, age 87

February 8 – Keith Knudsen, musician (drummer for the Doobie Brothers) age 57

February 10 – Arthur Miller, playright (“Death of a Salesman”) once married to Marilyn Monroe, age 89

February 12 – Jewel “Sammi” Smith,country singer (” Help Me Make It Through The Night”) age 62

February 14 – Brian Kelly, actor (Porter Ricks on “Flipper”) age 73

February 20 – Sandra Dee, actress (“A Summer Place” and “Gidget”) wife of Bobby Darin, age 62

February 20 – Hunter S. Thompson, writer (“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”) age 67

February 20 – John Raitt, Broadway actor (“Pajama Game” and “Carousel” ) father of singer Bonnie Raitt, age 88

March 6 – Teresa Wright, actress (“Mrs. Miniver”, “Shadow of a Doubt”, “The Best Years of Our Lives”), age 86

March 19 – John DeLorean,auto magnate, made time-traveling vehicle for “Back to the Future” films, age 80

March 21 – Bobby Short, pianist, for 35 years at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City, age 80

March 29 – Johnnie Cochran, star attorney, age 67

March 30 – Mitch Hedberg, comedian, age 37

March 31 – Terri Schiavo, age 41

April 1 – Frank Perdue, the chicken guy, age 84

April 2 – Pope John Paul II, age 84

April 5 – Dale Messick, cartoonist (“Brenda Starr, Reporter”) age 98

April 5 – Saul Bellow, author (“The Adventures of Augie March”) age 89

April 6 – Prince Rainier III, of Monaco, was married to Grace Kelly, age 81

April 19 – Ruth Hussey, actress (“The Philadelphia Story”) age 93

April 19 – Rick Lewis, pop singer (The Silhouettes) age 71

April 22 – Norman Bird, actor (British) age 80

April 23 – Sir John Mills, actor (“Ryan’s Daughter”) age 93 * Note: Unconfirmed sources report his age as 97

April 26 – Mason Adams, actor (Charlie Hume on “Lou Grant”) age 86

April 29 – William J. Bell, soap opera writer & creator (“The Young and the Restless”) age 78

April 30 – Sherman Loudermilk, host of “Cowboy Slim” TV Show, age 92

May 7 – Peter Rodino, House Judiciary Committee chairman who directed the impeachment investigation of Richard Nixon; age 95

May 17 – Frank Gorshin, actor (Riddler on TV’s “Batman“) age 72

May 20 – J.D. Cannon, actor (NYPD Chief Peter Clifford on “McCloud”) age 83

May 21 – Howard Morris, actor/director (Ernest T. Bass on the “Andy Griffith Show“) age 85

May 22 – Thurl Ravenscroft, actor (voice of Tony the Tiger) age 91

May 25 – Ismail Merchant, producer (“Howards End”, “The Remains of the Day”) age 68

May 26 – Eddie Albert, actor (Oliver Douglas in “Green Acres”) age 97

June 1 – George Mikan, Minneapolis Lakers basketball player; age 80

June 3 – Leon Askin, actor (General Burkhalter on Hogan’s Heroes) age 97

June 6 – Anne Bancroft, actor (Mrs. Robinson in “The Graduate”) age 73; survived by husband Mel Brooks

June 6 – Dana Elcar, actor (Pete Thornton on “MacGyver”) age 77

June 11 – Lon McCallister, actor (“Winged Victory”) age 82

June 13 – Lane Smith, actor (Perry White in “Lois & Clark:The New Adventures of Superman”) age 69

June 18 – Georgie Woods legendary Philadelphia radio broadcaster (“The Guy With the Goods” on WDAS and WHAT) age 78

June 23 – Shana Alexander, pioneering journalist (“Point-Counterpoint” segments on “60 Minutes”) age 79

June 24 – Paul Winchell, ventriloquist (voice of Tigger in Walt Disney’s “Winnie-the-Pooh”; “The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show”) age 82

June 25 – John Fieldler, actor (voice of Piglet in Walt Disney’s “Winnie-the-Pooh”; Mr. Peterson on “The Bob Newhart Show”) age 80

June 27 –Shelby Foote, novelist and historian ( “The Civil War: A Narrative”) age 88

June 27 – John Walton, Wal-Mart heir, Sam Walton’s son, age 58

July 1 – Luther Vandross, R&B singer (“Never Too Much”) age 54

July 2 – Obie Benson, bass singer, The Four Tops (“Baby, I Need Your Lovin’ “) age 69

July 2 – Ernest Lehman, screenwriter (“North by Northwest,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “The Sound of Music,”) age 89

July 4 – Hank Stram, innovative coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and Pro Football Hall of Famer, age 82

July 4 – June Haver, actress (“The Dolly Sisters”) known as the “pocket Grable” who was married to Fred MacMurray, age 79

July 5 – L. Patrick Gray, F.B.I. Director (May 3, 1972 – April 27, 1973) known as a Nixon loyalist during the Watergate years, who totally missed the fact that his former deputy, W. Mark Felt, was Deep Throat, age 88

July 5 – Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale, Medal of Honor recipient for resisting his North Vietnamese captors; Ross Perot’s running mate president in 1992, age 81

July 9 – Kevin Hagen, actor (Doc Baker on “Little House on the Prairie”) age 77

July 11 – Frances Langford, actress (“Broadway Melody”), singer (“I’m in the the Mood for Love”) and frequent entertainer for the USO known as “Sweetheart of the Fighting Fronts,” age 92

July 17 – Geraldine Fitzgerald, actress (“Wuthering Heights”), age 91

July 18 – Ret. Gen. William Westmoreland, soldier with the dubious distinction of having been leader of the U.S. forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, age 91

July 20 – James Doohan, actor (Commander Montgomery “Scotty” Scott on “Star Trek”), age 85

July 31 – King Fahd, Saudi Arabian monarch since 1982, age 82 or 84

August 6 – Ibrahim Ferrer, musician (Buena Vista Social Club), age 78

August 7 – Peter Jennings, journalist, anchor & senior editor ABC World News Tonight, age 67

August 8 – Barbara Bel Geddes, actress (Miss Ellie on “Dallas”) age 82

August 8 – John H. Johnson, publisher of “Ebony” and “Jet” magazines, age 87

August 9 – Judith Rossner, author (“Looking for Mr. Goodbar”) age 70

August 11 – James Booth, actor(UK) Private Henry Hook in “Zulu” age 77

August 23 – Brock Peters, actor (Tom Robinson in “To Kill a Mockingbird”) age 78.

September 2 – Bob Denver, actor (Maynard G. Krebs on “Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” and Gilligan on “Gilligan’s Island”) age 70

September 3 – William Rehnquist,Chief Justice, United States Supreme Court, age 80

September 11 – Chris Schenkel, sportscaster, age 82

September 14 – Robert Wise, producer/director (“West Side Story” and “Sound of Music”) age 91

September 20 – Simon Wiesenthal, Holocaust survivor who devoted his life to hunting Nazi war criminals, age 96

September 25 – Don Adams, actor (Maxwell Smart on “Get Smart”) age 82

September 25 – M. Scott Peck, author (“The Road Less Traveled”) age 69

October 2 – August Wilson, playwright , Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner (“Fences” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) age 60

October 2 – Nipsey Russell, “poet laureate of television” (“Hollywood Squares,” “The $50,000 Pyramid,” and “Match Game”) age 80

October 24 – Rosa Parks, activist and “the mother of civil rights” in America, age 92

October 31 – Skitch Henderson, composer, conductor, bandleader (“The Tonight Show”) age 87

November 1 – Michael Piller, writer/producer (Star Trek TNG, DS9 and Voyager), age 57

November 13 – Eddie Guerrero, WWE wrestler, age 38
November 13 – Ruth Siems, invented Stove Top Stuffing, age 74
November 16 – Ralph Edwards, early TV pioneer and host (“This Is Your Life”), age 92

November 21 – Hugh Sidey, journalist covered the White House and the American Presidency for “Time”) age 78

November 24 – Pat Morita, actor (Arnold on “Happy Days” and Mr. Miyagi in “The Karate Kid”) age 73

November 26 – Stan Berenstain, Co-creator of the Berenstain Bears, age 82

November 29 – Wendie Jo Sperber, actress (“Bosom Buddies”) age 46

December 10 – Richard Pryor, actor, comedian (“Silver Streak”) age 65

December 10 – Eugene McCarthy, presidential candidate (1968) and U.S. Senator (1959-1971), age 89

December 15 – William Proxmire, U.S. Senator (1957-1989) known for “Golden Fleece” awards, age 90

December 16 – John Spencer, actor ( Leo McGarry on the “West Wing”) age 58

December 17 – Jack Anderson, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, age 83

December 24 – Michael Vale,actor (Dunkin’ Donuts – “Time to make the doughnuts”) age 83

December 26 – Vincent Schiavelli, actor (Subway ghost in “Ghost”) age 57

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