Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2023

From a hot dog vendor to head of the formidable mercenary army Wagner Group, his rise through Russian society could easily be described as meteoric. But it all came to a sudden end when the plane carrying him and others mysteriously exploded.

The Aug. 23 death of Yevgeny Prigozhin put an exclamation point on what had already been an eventful year for the brutal mercenary leader. His Wagner troops brought Russia a rare victory in its grinding war in Ukraine, successfully capturing the city of Bakhmut. But internal friction with Russian military leaders later burst into the open, with Prigozhin briefly mounting an armed rebellion — the most severe challenge yet to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule.

The rebellion was called off and a deal was struck after less than 24 hours. However, just two months later, Prigozhin joined the list of those who have run afoul of the Kremlin and died unnatural deaths.

He was just one of many noteworthy people who died in 2023.

The world also said goodbye to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who died Nov. 29. Serving under two presidents, Kissinger’s shadow loomed large in the foreign policy arena, prompting both admiration and criticism from around the globe. And he continued his involvement in global affairs even in his final months.

Another political figure who died this year was former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Nov. 19. She was the closest adviser to her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, during his one term in the White House and then across four decades of global humanitarian work.

Others from the world of politics who died this year include: former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi; former U.S. senators Dianne Feinstein, James Buckley and James Abourezk; former British treasury chief Nigel Lawson; former Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf; former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang; former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari; former New Mexico governor and American ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson; former New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver; and former Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos.

Among the entertainers who left the world this year was singer Tina Turner, who died May 24. Turner’s powerful voice and stage presence brought her fame across multiple decades, first with her abusive husband, Ike Turner, in the 1960’s and 70’s. But after leaving their marriage, she found fame again in the 1980’s with her hit “What’s Love Got to Do With It.”

Others in the world of arts and entertainment who died this year include: actors Suzanne Somers, Matthew Perry, Raquel Welch, Richard Belzer, Chaim Topol, Jacklyn Zeman, Lance Reddick, Alan Arkin, Paul Reubens, David McCallum, Richard Roundtree and Tom Sizemore; musicians Jimmy Buffett, Sinéad O’Connor, Rita Lee Jones, Burt Bacharach, David Crosby, Fito Olivares, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Astrud Gilberto, Coco Lee and Tony Bennett; civil rights activist and entertainer Harry Belafonte; author Cormac McCarthy; filmmaker William Friedkin; TV hosts Bob Barker and Jerry Springer; poet Louise Glück; guitarist Jeff Beck; fashion designer Mary Quant; wrestler The Iron Sheik; composer Kaija Saariaho; and “Sesame Street” co-creator Lloyd Morrisett.

Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2023 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):

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JANUARY

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Fred White, 67. A drummer who backed up his brothers Maurice and Verdine White in the Grammy-winning ensemble Earth, Wind & Fire. Jan. 1.

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

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

Fay Weldon, 91. A British author known for her sharp wit and acerbic observations about women’s experiences and sexual politics in novels including “The Life And Loves Of A She-Devil.” Jan. 4.

Russell Pearce, 75. A Republican lawmaker who was the driving force behind Arizona’s landmark 2010 anti-immigration legislation known as the “show me your papers” law. Jan. 5.

Charles Simic, 84. The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who awed critics and readers with his singular art of lyricism and economy, tragic insight and disruptive humor. Jan. 9.

Lynette “Diamond” Hardaway, 51. An ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump and one half of the conservative political commentary duo Diamond and Silk. Jan. 8.

Jeff Beck, 78. A guitar virtuoso who pushed the boundaries of blues, jazz and rock ‘n’ roll, influencing generations of shredders along the way and becoming known as the guitar player’s guitar player. Jan. 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. Jan. 10.

Tatjana Patitz, 56. She was one of an elite group of supermodels who graced magazine covers in the 1980s and ’90s and appeared in George Michael’s “Freedom! ’90” music video. Jan. 11.

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

Robbie Knievel, 60. An American stunt performer who set records with daredevil motorcycle jumps following in the tire tracks of his thrill-seeking father Evel Knievel. Jan. 13.

Ray Cordeiro, 98. He interviewed music acts including the Beatles during a six-decade career on Hong Kong radio that earned him the title of the world’s longest-working disc jockey. Jan. 13.

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. Jan. 15.

Gina Lollobrigida, 95. An Italian film legend who achieved international stardom during the 1950s and was dubbed “the most beautiful woman in the world” after the title of one of her movies. Jan. 16.

Chris Ford, 74. A member of the Boston Celtics 1981 championship team, a longtime NBA coach and the player credited with scoring the league’s first 3-point basket. Jan. 17.

David Crosby, 81. The brash rock musician who evolved from a baby-faced harmony singer with the Byrds to a mustachioed hippie superstar and troubadour in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Sept. 18.

Cindy Williams, 75. She was among the most recognizable stars in America in the 1970s and 1980s for her role as Shirley on the beloved sitcom “Laverne & Shirley.” Jan. 25.

Billy Packer, 82. An Emmy award-winning college basketball broadcaster who covered 34 Final Fours for NBC and CBS. Jan. 26.

Sylvia Syms, 89. She starred in classic British films including “Ice Cold in Alex” and “Victim.” Jan. 27.

Barrett Strong, 81. One of Motown’s founding artists and most gifted songwriters who sang lead on the company’s breakthrough single “Money (That’s What I Want)” and collaborated with Norman Whitfield on such classics as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “War” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.” Jan. 28.

Tom Verlaine, 73. The guitarist and co-founder of the seminal proto-punk band Television who influenced many bands while playing at ultra-cool downtown New York music venue CBGB alongside the Ramones, Patti Smith and Talking Heads. Jan. 28.

Bobby Hull, 84. A Hall of Fame forward who helped the Chicago Blackhawks win the 1961 Stanley Cup Final. Jan. 30.

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FEBRUARY

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Paco Rabanne, 88. The Spanish-born designer known for perfumes sold worldwide but who made his name with metallic space-age fashions that put a bold, new edge on catwalks. Feb. 3.

Harry Whittington, 95. The man who former Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot while they were hunting quail on a Texas ranch more than 17 years ago. Feb. 4.

Hsing Yun, 95. A Buddhist abbot who established a thriving religious community in southern Taiwan and built universities overseas. Feb. 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. Feb. 5.

Burt Bacharach, 94. The singularly gifted and popular composer who delighted millions with the quirky arrangements and unforgettable melodies of “Walk on By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” and dozens of other hits. Feb. 8.

Carlos Saura, 91. Spain’s celebrated filmmaker who earned three Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film during his seven-decade career. Feb. 10.

Hugh Hudson, 86. A British filmmaker who debuted as a feature director with the Oscar-winning Olympics drama “Chariots of Fire” and made other well-regarded movies including “My Life So Far” and the Oscar-nominated “Greystroke.” Feb. 10.

Hans Modrow, 95. He served as East Germany’s last communist leader during a turbulent tenure that ended in the country’s first and only free election. Feb. 11.

David Jude Jolicoeur, 54. Widely known as Trugoy the Dove, he was one of the founding members of the Long Island hip hop trio De La Soul. Feb. 12.

Huey “Piano” Smith, 89. A beloved New Orleans session musician who backed Little Richard, Lloyd Price and other early rock stars, and with his own group made the party favorites “Don’t You Just Know It” and “Rockin’ Pneumonia and Boogie Woogie Flu.” Feb. 13.

Leiji Matsumoto, 85. The anime creator known for ”Space Battleship Yamato” and other classics using a fantastical style and antiwar themes. Feb. 13.

Raquel Welch, 82. Her emergence from the sea in a skimpy, furry bikini in the film “One Million Years B.C.” propelled her to international sex symbol status in the 1960s and ’70s. Feb. 15.

Tim McCarver, 81. The All-Star catcher and Hall of Fame broadcaster who during 60 years in baseball won two World Series titles with the St. Louis Cardinals and had a long run as one of the country’s most recognized, incisive and talkative television commentators. Feb. 16.

Stella Stevens, 84. A prominent leading lady in 1960s and 70s comedies perhaps best known for playing the object of Jerry Lewis’s affection in “The Nutty Professor.” Feb. 17.

Richard Belzer, 78. The longtime stand-up comedian who became one of TV’s most indelible detectives as John Munch in “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Law & Order: SVU.” Feb. 19.

Ahmed Qureia, 85. A former Palestinian prime minister and one of the architects of interim peace deals with Israel. Feb. 22.

James Abourezk, 92. A South Dakota Democrat who grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, became the first Arab American U.S. senator and was known for his quick wit as he advocated for populist causes. Feb. 24.

Betty Boothroyd, 93. The first female speaker of Britain’s House of Commons. Feb. 26.

Ricou Browning, 93. A skilled swimmer best known for his underwater role as the Gill Man in the quintessential 3D black-and-white 1950s monster movie “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” Feb. 27.

Gérard Latortue, 88. A former interim prime minister of Haiti who helped rebuild and unite the country after a violent coup in the mid-2000s. Feb. 27.

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MARCH

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

Barbara Everitt Bryant, 96. The first woman to run the U.S. Census Bureau and its leader during the contentious debate over how to compensate for undercounts of minority groups in the 1990 census. March 2.

Tom Sizemore, 61. The “Saving Private Ryan” actor whose bright 1990s star burned out under the weight of his own domestic violence and drug convictions. March 3.

Kenzaburo Oe, 88. The Nobel literature laureate whose darkly poetic novels were built from his childhood memories during Japan’s postwar occupation and from being the parent of a disabled son. March 3.

Judy Heumann, 75. A renowned activist who helped secure legislation protecting the rights of people with disabilities. March 4.

Gary Rossington, 71. A co-founder and last surviving original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd who helped write the classic answer song “Sweet Home Alabama” and played unforgettable slide guitar on the rock anthem “Free Bird.” March 5.

Georgina Beyer, 65. A trailblazing New Zealand politician who in 1999 became the world’s first openly transgender member of Parliament. March 6.

Traute Lafrenz, 103. She was the last known survivor of a German group known as the White Rose that actively resisted the Nazis. March 6.

Peterson Zah, 85. A monumental Navajo Nation leader who guided the tribe through a politically tumultuous era and worked tirelessly to correct wrongdoings against Native Americans. March 7.

Chaim Topol, 87. A leading Israeli actor who charmed generations of theatergoers and movie-watchers with his portrayal of Tevye, the long-suffering and charismatic milkman in “Fiddler on the Roof.” March 8.

Robert Blake, 89. The Emmy award-winning performer who went from acclaim for his acting to notoriety when he was tried and acquitted in the killing of his wife. March 9.

Jiang Yanyong, 91. A Chinese military doctor who revealed the full extent of the 2003 SARS outbreak and was later placed under house arrest for his political outspokenness. March 11.

Bud Grant, 95. The stoic and demanding Hall of Fame coach who took the Minnesota Vikings and their mighty Purple People Eaters defense to four Super Bowls in eight years and lost all of them. March 11.

Dick Fosbury, 76. The lanky leaper who revamped the technical discipline of high jump and won an Olympic gold medal with his “Fosbury Flop.” March 12.

Pat Schroeder, 82. A pioneer for women’s and family rights in Congress. March 13.

Gloria Bosman, age unknown. A smooth-voiced South African jazz musician who was lauded for her contribution to the country’s music industry in a career spanning more than two decades. March 14.

Jacqueline Gold, 62. She helped make lingerie and sex toys a female-friendly mainstream business as head of Britain’s Ann Summers chain. March 16.

Lance Reddick, 60. A character actor who specialized in intense, icy and possibly sinister authority figures on TV and film, including “The Wire,” ″Fringe” and the “John Wick” franchise. March 17.

John Jenrette, 86. The former U.S. congressman was a colorful politician who was convicted in the Abscam bribery scandal in the late 1970s and whose wife talked to Playboy about an in-session dalliance on the U.S. Capitol steps. March 17.

Fito Olivares, 75. A Tejano musician known for songs that were wedding and quinceanera mainstays, including the hit “Juana La Cubana.” March 17.

Willis Reed, 80. He dramatically emerged from the locker room minutes before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to spark the New York Knicks to their first championship and create one of sports’ most enduring examples of playing through pain. March 21.

Darcelle XV, 92. The iconic drag queen who was crowned the world’s oldest working drag performer in 2016 by the Guinness Book of World Records. March 23.

Paul O’Grady, 67. An entertainer who achieved fame as drag queen Lily Savage before becoming a much-loved comedian and host on British television. March 28.

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

Hedda Kleinfeld Schachter, 99. A bridal industry pioneer and Holocaust survivor who decided over a half century ago that brides deserved better than cookie-cutter dresses. March 29.

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APRIL

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Nigel Lawson, 91. The tax-cutting U.K. Treasury chief under the late Margaret Thatcher and a lion of Conservative politics in the late 20th century. April 3.

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. April 7.

Elisabeth Kopp, 86. An advocate of equal rights and the environment who was the first woman elected to Switzerland’s seven-member executive branch. April. 7.

Michael Lerner, 81. The Brooklyn-born character actor who played a myriad of imposing figures in his 60 years in the business, including monologuing movie mogul Jack Lipnick in “Barton Fink,” the crooked club owner Bugsy Calhoun in “Harlem Nights” and an angry publishing executive in “Elf.” April 8.

Anne Perry, 84. The best-selling crime novelist known for her Thomas Pitt and William Monk detective series, and for her own murderous past that inspired the movie “Heavenly Creatures.” April 10.

Al Jaffee, 102. Mad magazine’s award-winning cartoonist and ageless wise guy who delighted millions of kids with the sneaky fun of the Fold-In and the snark of “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions.” April 10.

Mary Quant, 93. The visionary fashion designer whose colorful, sexy miniskirts epitomized Swinging London in the 1960s and influenced youth culture around the world. April 13.

Charles Stanley, 90. A prominent televangelist who once led the Southern Baptist Convention. April 18.

Richard Riordan, 92. A wealthy Republican businessman who served two terms as Los Angeles mayor and steered the city through the Northridge earthquake and the recovery from the deadly 1992 riots. April 19.

Todd Haimes, 66. He led the Roundabout Theatre Company from an off-off-Broadway company teetering on the edge of bankruptcy into a major theatrical force with works on five stages — including three Broadway theaters — and dozens of Tony Awards. April 19.

Barry Humphries, 89. A Tony Award-winning comedian internationally renowned for his garish stage persona Dame Edna Everage, a condescending and imperfectly-veiled snob whose evolving character delighted audiences over seven decades. April 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. April 22.

Harry Belafonte, 96. The civil rights and entertainment giant who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian and conscience of the world. April 25.

Carolyn Bryant Donham, 88. The white woman who accused Black teenager Emmett Till of making improper advances leading to his lynching in Mississippi in 1955. April 25.

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. April 27.

LeRoy “Lee” Carhart, 81. He emerged from a two-decade career as an Air Force surgeon to become one of the best-known late-term abortion providers in the United States. April 28.

Larry “Gator” Rivers, 73. He helped integrate high school basketball in Georgia before playing for the Harlem Globetrotters and becoming a county commissioner in his native Savannah. April 29.

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MAY

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Gordon Lightfoot, 84. The legendary folk singer-songwriter known for “If You Could Read My Mind” and “Sundown” and for songs that told tales of Canadian identity. May 1.

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

Vida Blue, 73. A hard-throwing left-hander who became one of baseball’s biggest draws in the early 1970s and helped lead the brash A’s to three straight World Series titles before his career was derailed by drug problems. May 6.

Grace Bumbry, 86. A pioneering mezzo-soprano who became the first Black singer to perform at Germany’s Bayreuth Festival during a more than three-decade career on the world’s top stages. May 7.

Rita Lee Jones, 75. Brazil’s million-selling “Queen of Rock” who gained an international following through her colorful and candid style and such hits as “Ovelha Negra,” “Mania de Você” and “Now Only Missing You.” May 8.

Denny Crum, 86….