Famous People Who Died In 2024

Veteran English actress, Maggie Smith, has an extensive career spanning almost seven decades. One of Britain's most recognizable actresses, she has appeared in more than 60 films and over 70 plays. Making her debut as a stage actress in the 1950s, she quickly moved on to TV and cinema. She has been honored with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Legacy Award.

A veteran actor with a career spanning more than seven decades, James Earl Jones has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors. He initially aspired to be a doctor but fate had other plans for him. He began his career as a stage actor and soon joined films as well.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of USA, is one of the rare Presidents whose legacy continues even after leaving office. He is known as a champion of human rights and a mediator of peace efforts across the world. His humanitarian works earned him the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Regarded as one of the most popular and influential jazz musicians of the previous century, Quincy Jones is known for his work with other legendary artists like Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra. As the first African-American to find success at the Academy Awards ceremony, Quincy has influenced a host of black musicians and songwriters.

Liam Payne is a popular English singer-songwriter who is part of the world-renowned boy band One Direction. Also a well-known philanthropist, Liam Payne has supported Comic Relief and Unicef. In 2020, he helped raise over $10 million for charitable organizations fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to his charity work, he serves as an inspiration to many youngsters across the world.

American stand-up comedian Bob Newhart is renowned for his slightly stammering delivery style and dry humor for which he was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2002. Over the years, his comedic style has influenced many comedians. Also an actor, he was ranked 17th on TV Guide's list of 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.

Kris Kristofferson is a popular singer-songwriter and actor. Over the years, Kris has played a major role in the success of many famous singers, having contributed to their musical albums as a songwriter. For his achievements in the field of music, Kris Kristofferson was made a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee in 2004.

Carl Weathers began his career as a football player, playing for the NFL team Oakland Raiders and the CFL team B.C. Lions. He stepped into acting with Arthur Marks’s blaxploitation films. He is best known as Apollo Creed from the Rocky films and as Greef Karga from The Mandalorian.

Donald Sutherland is arguably the greatest Canadian actor of all time. In an illustrious career, that spans over more than five decades, Sutherland has played an influential role in both Canadian and American entertainment industries. He won an Academy Honorary Award in 2017 for his immense contribution to cinema. He is the father of actors Kiefer, Rossif, and Angus Sutherland.

Basketball player Jerry West, also known as Mr. Clutch, for his ability to snatch games in clutch situations, is known for his stint with the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA. He was part of the US squads that won an Olympic gold in 1960 and a Pan American Games gold in 1959.

Akira Toriyama is a Japanese character designer and manga artist. The creator of one of the most popular manga series of all time, Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama is widely considered one of the most influential artists to have changed the history of manga; his creation Dragon Ball is often cited as a source of inspiration by several manga artists.

Willie Mays is considered one of the all-time greats of baseball. His breathtaking catch of Vic Wertz’s fly ball is etched as a great movement in the history of the sport. Associated with New York / San Francisco Giants for about two decades, the former center fielder with record Major League Football putouts, features in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Teri Garr is best known for her Academy Award-nominated role of Sandra Lester in Tootsie. Fans also loved her in Mr. Mom, One from the Heart, and After Hours. After revealing her long struggle with multiple sclerosis, she began raising awareness about the condition and retired from acting.

Toby Keith is a record producer, country music singer, songwriter, and actor. He is credited with founding a record label named Show Dog Nashville which was renamed Show Dog-Universal Music in 2009 after merging with Universal South Records. Also a philanthropist, Keith supports many non-profit organizations like Ally's House. In 2021, he was honored with the National Medal of Arts.

Described by The Wall Street Journal as the man Vladimir Putin fears most, Alexei Navalny is widely regarded as Russia's opposition leader. He is famous for his accusations of corruption in Russia and Putin's government. In 2011, he created the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which was dissolved in 2020. In August 2020, there was an attempt to assassinate him, when he was poisoned during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow.

Shannen Doherty is an American actress who established herself in the entertainment industry after starting out as a child actress. Thanks to her bad-girl reputation, she was described by People magazine as the iconic Hollywood bad girl of the nineties. Shannen Doherty is also an avid animal rights activist and a patron of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

William Theodore Walton III, popularly known as Bill Walton, is a former basketball player. In 1977, he helped the Portland Trail Blazers win an NBA championship and won another NBA championship in 1986 while playing for the Boston Celtics. In 1993, Walton was made an inductee to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Ratan Tata is a well-known Indian industrialist and the former charman of Indian multinational conglomerate Tata Sons. His reign as chairman was marked by acquisitions of iconic global brands, such as Tetley, Jaguar Land Rover and Corus by the Tata Group. Ratan Tata was instrumental in turning Tata Group from a largely India-centrist group into a global business.

Tito Jackson is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is one of the members of the famed Jackson family, which has produced popular musicians, including Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. An original member of the popular pop band, The Jackson 5, Tito Jackson reached the peak of his success in the 1960s and 1970s.

Gena Rowlands had an expansive screen and stage career spanning over six-decades. Her remarkable performances won her several accolades including four Emmy and two Golden Globe awards and an Honorary Academy Award. Two of her memorable performances includes in films A Woman Under the Influence and Gloria, both written-directed by her late-husband John Cassavetes and earned her Academy Award nominations.   

Richard Lewis is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Well-known for his self-deprecating humor, Lewis was named in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Standups of All Time list. He has also written comic articles for popular publications like Playboy. As an actor, Richard Lewis is best known for playing Marty Gold in the popular sitcom, Anything But Love.

The 13th Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh became the first Sikh in office when he took office in 2004. A prominent economist and academic, he held several key posts in the Government of India in the 1970s and 1980s. Known for his humility, he  has been described by the media as "one of the world's most revered leaders."

Richard Simmons is a semi-retired American actor, fitness instructor, and video producer. Renowned for his energetic, flamboyant, and eccentric personality, Simmons has promoted several weight-loss programs. Over the years, he has been helping thousands of Americans lose weight through his aerobics videos. Often parodied for his eccentricity, Simmons has also appeared in TV shows like Late Show with David Letterman.

Daniel Kahneman is an Israeli economist and psychologist. He was honored with the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on behavioral economics. In 2011, Kahneman was named among the top global thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine. In 2015, Daniel Kahneman was ranked seventh in the most influential economist in the world list published by The Economist.

Fernando Valenzuela is a Mexican former baseball pitcher who participated in 17 Major League Baseball seasons, playing for popular teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. He achieved super-stardom during the 1981 season, which was dubbed Fernandomania. He became the first player to receive both Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards in the same season.

The veteran British actress who belongs to the Golden Age of Hollywood is known for her stellar roles in films like Miranda, Third Time Lucky and State Secret. Glynis Johns is also a singer, distinguished by her husky voice. She acted on the stage and the television. The daughter of actor, Mervyn Johns, has a son from her first marriage.

Lou Dobbs is an American author, political commentator, and former TV host. He is best known for hosting the popular political and financial talk program Lou Dobbs Tonight. For his immense contribution to television journalism, Dobbs has won major awards including an Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement. He has also won the George Foster Peabody Award and Eugene Katz Award.

Phil Donahue is best known for his long stint as the host and creator of The Phil Donahue Show, later named Donahue, the first talk show that involved audience participation. He inspired iconic talk show host Oprah. He also hosted an MSNBC show and co-directed the documentary Body of War.

Alain Delon is a French actor, screenwriter, singer, filmmaker, and businessman. One of the most prominent actors and sex symbols in Europe during the 1960s and 1970s, Delon achieved critical acclaim for his performance in films like Rocco and His Brothers. In 1985, he was honored with the prestigious César Award for his portrayal of Robert Avranches in Our Story.

Brian Mulroney is a Canadian politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada. He was in office from September 1984 to June 1993. He is a lawyer by qualification. As the prime minister, he implemented major economic reforms and championed immigration. His tenure also saw the addition of significant new national parks. 

Her mother’s struggle with Parkinson's disease pushed Alice Munro into reading as an escape route. Munro later became a housewife, but soon soared to fame for her short story collections such as Too Much Happiness. The Canadian author later won the Nobel Prize and the Man Booker Prize, too.