Entertainment and arts figures we lost in 2021

As the year draws to a close, it is time to remember figures from the worlds of arts and entertainment who died in 2021. Here is a look back at some of those we said goodbye to.

January

The year began with the deaths of three Hollywood veterans - All the President's Men actor Hal Holbrook, the Oscar-winning Cloris Leachman and pioneering actress Cicely Tyson. We also lost:

• Film director Michael Apted

• Media billionaire David Barclay

• US TV producer Allan Burns

• Rock Follies actress Charlotte Cornwell

• Circus owner Gerry Cottle

• Former BBC journalist Chris Cramer

• US author Eric Jerome Dickey

• Coronation Street actor Mark Eden

• Siegfried Fischbacher of Siegfried and Roy

• Babylon 5 and Lost actress Mira Furlan

• Scottish actor Andy Gray

• South African jazz musician Jonas Gwangwa

• Former BBC One controller Alan Hart

• Stunt performer Rémy Julienne

• US talk show host Larry King

• Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers

• Theatre and opera director Elijah Moshinsky

• The Only Way Is Essex star Mick Norcross

• Police Academy actress Marion Ramsey

• Irish Eurovision singer Liam Reilly

• James Bond actress Tanya Roberts

• Chef and restaurateur Albert Roux

• Hammer Horror star Barbara Shelley

• Experimental musician and producer Sophie

• Music producer and murderer Phil Spector

• New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain

• ER actor Dearon Thompson, aka Deezer D

• The Animals guitarist Hilton Valentine

February

This was the month we said farewell to Coronation Street's Johnny Briggs, The Sound of Music star Christopher Plummer and Supremes co-founder Mary Wilson. We also lost:

• Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti

• Crossroads and stage actress Jean Bayless

• Jazz composer and keyboardist Chick Corea

• Saved by the Bell actor Dustin Diamond

• US poet and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti

• Hustler founder and free-speech activist Larry Flynt

• Engelbert Humperdinck's wife Patricia Healey

• US radio host and commentator Rush Limbaugh

• Singer Nicki Minaj's father Robert Maraj

• Chart-topping fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore

• Film, theatre and TV actor Ronald Pickup

• Jamaican reggae artist U-Roy, aka Ewart Beckford

• Midnight Train to Georgia songwriter Jim Weatherly

March

We paid our respects to Bond villain and Alien actor Yaphet Kotto, The Vicar of Dibley actor Trevor Peacock and A Touch of Class star George Segal. We also lost:

• British jazz trombonist Chris Barber

• Australian music impresario Michael Gudinski

• Glastonbury Pyramid Stage designer Bill Harkin

• Dismissed conductor James Levine

• Watergate mastermind and radio host G Gordon Liddy

• Lonesome Dove author Larry McMurtry

• Audio cassette tape inventor Lou Ottens

• Upstairs, Downstairs actress Nicola Pagett

• Eddie Rothe, Liquid Gold and Searchers drummer

• Driver and Top Gear presenter Sabine Schmitz

• Cliff Simon, South African star of Stargate SG-1

• Footballer turned broadcaster Ian St John

• French film director Bertrand Tavernier

• Jamaican reggae musician Bunny Wailer

• Formula 1 commentator Murray Walker

• Arrested Development star Jessica Walter

April

Big Brother contestant Nikki Grahame, Peaky Blinders actress Helen McCrory and Friday Night Dinner actor Paul Ritter were among those we mourned this month. We also lost:

• Azaylia Cain, daughter of reality star Ashley

• Rapper and actor DMX, aka Earl Simmons

• Fashion designer Alber Elbaz

• Irish broadcaster Shay Healy

• Nigerian film-maker Ladi Ladebo

• German opera star Christa Ludwig

• Former Bay City Rollers star Les McKeown

• Louie Louie guitarist Mike Mitchell

• British composer Anthony Payne

• Bollywood composer Shravan Rathod

• Ballet choreographer Liam Scarlett

• Rapper Shock G, aka Gregory Jacobs

• Sopranos and Jersey Boys actor Joseph Siravo

• Bat Out of Hell composer Jim Steinman

• Zigger Zagger playwright Peter Terson

May

This was the month that Steel Magnolias actress Olympia Dukakis, Beethoven actor Charles Grodin and model and singer Nick Kamen died. We also lost:

• Very Hungry Caterpillar author Eric Carle

• School of Rock drummer Kevin Clark

• True Milli Vanilli singer John Davis

• Irish author and poet Seamus Deane

• Tarzan actor and singer Joe Lara

• Rapper Lil Loaded, aka Dashawn Robertson

• St Elsewhere actor Norman Lloyd

• BBC Radio Derby presenter Tony Lyman

• Freddy Marks of Rod, Jane and Freddy

• Belfast blues musician Rab McCullough

• Berserk manga creator Kentaro Miura

• BBC Radio Newcastle presenter Lisa Shaw

• Countdown creator Marcel Stellman

• Little Mermaid actor Samuel E Wright

June

The death of Deliverance and Superman star Ned Beatty this month robbed us of one of Hollywood's most versatile and hard-working actors. We also lost:

• Gone Girl actress Lisa Banes

• Welsh musician David R Edwards

• Gogglebox star Pete McGarry

• The Bill actor Ben Roberts

• British film-maker Menelik Shabazz

• Mod Squad actor Clarence Williams III

July

This was the month we said goodbye to two famous funny-men - US comedian Jackie Mason and British comic Tom O'Connor. We also lost:

• Home and Away actor Dieter Brummer

• Radio and TV presenter Jonathan Coleman

• Superman director Richard Donner

• Parent 'Hood actress Suzzanne Douglas

• Film-maker and actor Robert Downey Sr

• ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill

• Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison

• Legendary Indian actor Dilip Kumar

• US actor Jay Pickett

• Indian actress Surekha Sikri

• Dominican singer Johnny Ventura

• Opera director Sir Graham Vick

• Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard

August

This was the month we paid our respects to the comedian Sean Lock, Sherlock actress Una Stubbs and Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. We also lost:

• Lou Grant and Up actor Ed Asner

• Scottish artist Dame Elizabeth Blackadder

• Welsh rock drummer Charli Britton

• Martial arts great Sonny Chiba

• Gogglebox star Mary Cook

• Don Everly of The Everly Brothers

• Frankie and the Heartstrings drummer Dave Harper

• Pat Hitchcock, actress daughter of director Alfred

• House music DJ Paul Johnson

• Gogglebox star Andrew Michael

• The Worst Witch author Jill Murphy

• Jamaican singer and producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry

• Kool & The Gang founder Dennis Thomas

• UB40 saxophonist and co-songwriter Brian Travers

• Songwriter Johnny Worth

September

French film star Jean-Paul Belmondo, Only Fools and Horses star John Challis and Girls Aloud member Sarah Harding died this month. We also lost:

• Newsround creator Edward Barnes

• Archbishop and former singer Carl Bean

• Lady Marmalade singer Sarah Dash

• Last of the Summer Wine actor Robert Fyfe

• Sex and the City actor Willie Garson

• Greg Gilbert of indie band Delays

• Footballer turned broadcaster Jimmy Greaves

• Cabaret Voltaire member Richard H Kirk

• Status Quo bassist Alan Lancaster

• Canadian comic Norm Macdonald

• En Vogue songwriter Andrea Martin

• Notting Hill director Roger Michell

• Sri Lankan baila star Sunil Perera

• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers actress Jane Powell

• Manga artist Takao Saito

• Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? composer Matthew Strachan

• Music agent Steve Strange

• Film-maker Melvin Van Peebles

• Dialect coach Joan Washington

• The Wire actor Michael K Williams

October

This was the month we remembered the prolific songwriter Leslie Bricusse and Friends cast member James Michael Tyler. We also lost:

• Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink

• Countdown composer Alan Hawkshaw

• Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

• Irish poet and author Brendan Kennelly

• Jazz musician Gay McIntyre

• The Chieftains founder Paddy Moloney

• Businessman and broadcaster Sir Gerry Robinson

• Comedian and political satirist Mort Sahl

• Blue Peter host and film-maker Max Stahl

• Elvis Presley drummer Ronnie Tutt

November

Dancer and TV presenter Lionel Blair, and David Bowie photographer Mick Rock were among those we mourned this month. We also lost:

• Designer and Off-White founder Virgil Abloh

• Monster's Ball actor Coronji Calhoun Sr

• 1950s actress and beauty columnist Arlene Dahl

• Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge

• Popular Brazilian singer Marília Mendonça

• Musical theatre icon Stephen Sondheim

• Quantum leap actor Dean Stockwell

• Novelist Wilbur Smith

• The Gap Band founding member Ronnie Wilson

• British vocalist and former member of UB40 Terence 'Astro' Wilson

• US Rapper Young Dolph

December

This was the month we remembered BBC DJ and broadcaster Janice Long and Monkees star Michael Nesmith. We also lost:

• Bronski Beat founder Steve Bronski

• US literary icon Joan Didion

• LA rapper Drakeo the Ruler

• Mexico's king of ranchera Vicente Fernández

• Author and feminist bell hooks

• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star Sally Ann Howes

• Roots bassist Leonard "Hub" Hubbard

• Comedian Jethro

• Il Divo singer Carlos Marin

• Laverne & Shirley star Eddie Mekka

• Music singer-songwriter John Miles

• Wurzels drummer John Morgan

• Interview with a Vampire author Anne Rice

• Millennium Dome architect Richard Rogers

• Sly and Robbie bassist Robbie Shakespeare

• Classical actor Sir Antony Sher

• Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée

• Italian film director Lina Wertmüller

• TV's Call Centre boss Nev Wilshire

• The Marvelettes singer Wanda Young

• Model, actress and trans trailblazer April Ashely

Read more: Notable deaths of 2021