Dead People Server
Celebrities and Notable People Who Died in the Year 2004
Dead People Server Sitemap
2003 * * 2005
January
Lynn Cartwright (actress) -- Dead. Died January 2, 2004. Born February 27, 1927. Played the older Dottie in A League of Their Own, appeared in many B movies. IMDb FindAGrave
Francesco Scavullo (photographer) -- Dead. Heart failure. Died January 6, 2004. Born January 16, 1921. Fashion photographer, published many books of actress photographs. IMDb
Spalding Gray (actor/writer) -- Dead. Suicide (drowning). Died January 10, 2004. Born June 5, 1941. Wrote and starred in Swimming to Cambodia, played bit parts in many movies and on TV; disappeared on January 10, and likely died the same day, though his body wasn't found for nearly two months. IMDb
Uta Hagen
(actress/teacher) -- Dead. Died January 14, 2004.
Born June 12, 1919. Won a Tony for playing Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, she taught acting for many years in New York City, her first husband was Jose Ferrer. 
IBDB IMDb
Ron O'Neal (actor) -- Dead. Cancer. Died January 14, 2004. Born September 1, 1937. Superfly. IMDb
Olivia Goldsmith (writer) -- Dead. Heart attack during cosmetic surgery. Died January 15, 2004. Born 1949. Wrote The First Wives Club. IMDb
Noble Willingham (actor/teacher) -- Dead. Died January 17, 2004. Born August 31, 1931. C. D. Parker on Walker, Texas Ranger. IMDb
Ann Miller (dancer) -- Dead. Cancer. Died January 22, 2004. Born April 12, 1919. Bianca in Kiss Me Kate. IBDB IMDb
Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo/Clarabell the Clown) -- Dead. Died January 23, 2004. Born June 27, 1927. Children's television advocate Obituary IMDb FindAGrave
Helmut Newton
(photographer) -- Dead. Car accident. Died January 23, 2004. Born October 31, 1920. "Erotic" and Vogue photographer.
Obituary
IMDb
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Jack Paar
(TV host) -- Dead. Died January 27, 2004.
Born May 1, 1918. Early talk show host. IMDb
Mary-Ellis Bunim
(TV producer) -- Dead. Breast cancer. Died January 29, 2004. Born July 9, 1946. Created The Real World, the pre-cursor of the "reality" show trend.
IMDb
Obituary
Joe Viterelli (mob actor) -- Dead. Died January 29, 2004. Born March 10, 1937. Jelly in the Analyze... movies, brought into movies by Sean Penn. IMDb
February
Julius Schwartz
(comic editor/agent) -- Dead. Died February 8, 2004.
Born June 19, 1915. Edited many DC comics for many years, including Superman IMDb
Jan Miner (pitchwoman/stage actress) -- Dead. Died February 15, 2004. Born October 15, 1917. Her catchphrase "You're soaking in it" for Palmolive supported her to her perform on Broadway for many years.. IBDB IMDb
Carl Anderson (actor/singer) -- Dead. Leukemia. Died February 23, 2004. Born February 27, 1945. Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ, Superstar. IMDb
John Randolph (actor) -- Dead. Died February 24, 2004. Born June 1, 1915. Many movies including Prizzi's Honor and the Vacation movies. IMDb
March
Mercedes McCambridge (actress) -- Dead. Died March 2, 2004. Born March 17, 1918. Won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for All the King's Men, voiced the demon in The Exorcist. IMDb
Cecily Adams
(casting director/actress) -- Dead. Lung cancer. Died March 3, 2004.
Born February 6, 1958. One of the actresses who played Moogie on Deep Space Nine, casting director for That '70s Show, daughter of Don Adams.
Make memorial contributions to: Cecily Adams Fund IMDb
Frances Dee (actress) -- Dead. Stroke. Died March 6, 2004. Born November 26, 1907. In the original Little Women, Of Human Bondage, married to Joel McCrea for 57 years. IMDb
Paul Winfield (actor) -- Dead. Heart attack/diabetes. Died March 7, 2004. Born May 22, 1941. Played a memorable Martin Luther King, Jr. in a '70s miniseries, nominated for an Oscar for Sounder . IMDb
Robert Pastorelli (actor/boxer) -- Dead. Drug-related. Died March 8, 2004. Born June 21, 1954. Eldin, the painter in Murphy Brown, died five years after his girlfriend's mysterious shooting death in the same house. IMDb
William H. Pickering
(rocket scientist) -- Dead. Pneumonia. Died March 16, 2004.
Born 1910. Manager of the Mariner missions to Venus and Mars in the '60s Obituary
J. J. Jackson (DJ/VJ) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died March 17, 2004. Born April 8, 1941. The first VJ on MTV. IMDb Obituary
Brian Maxwell (entreprenuer/runner) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died March 19, 2004. Born March 1953. Developed the Powerbar with his nutritionist wife in 1986, runner for Canada in the late '70s. Obituary FindAGrave
Jan Berry
(singer) -- Dead. Died March 26, 2004.
Born April 3, 1941. Part of the early '60s duo Jan and Dean who brought you
"Little Old Lady from Pasadena"
. IMDb
Jan Sterling (actress) -- Dead. Strokes. Died March 26, 2004. Born April 3, 1921. Star of many '50s dramas, Oscar-nominated for The High and the Mighty. IMDb
Art James
(game show host/announcer) -- Dead. Died March 28, 2004.
Born July 11, 1929. Hosted shows such as The Who, What, Where Game, longtime announcer for Concentration . IMDb
Peter Ustinov (actor/writer) -- Dead. Heart failure. Died March 28, 2004. Born April 16, 1921. Spartacus, wrote Monsieur Rene, good will ambassador for the UN. IMDb
Alistair Cooke
(radio commentator/author) -- Dead. Died March 29, 2004.
Born November 20, 1908. Retired from doing a weekly radio show for the BBC after doing it for over 60 years weeks before he died; host for Masterpiece Theater for over 20 years
IMDb
April
Carrie Snodgress (actress) -- Dead. Died April 1, 2004. Born October 27, 1946. Oscar-nominated for Diary of a Mad Housewife, she appeared as Mrs. Paul in Iron Jawed Angels just before her death. IMDb
Joseph James Zimmerman (inventor) -- Dead. Died April 2, 2004. Born 1912. Invented the first electronic telephone answering machine in 1948. Obituary FindAGrave
Austin Willis (actor) -- Dead. Died April 4, 2004. Born 1917. Hosted Cross-Canada Hit Parade in the '50s, many bit barts in movies and on TV, married to Kate Reid. IBDB IMDb
Norris McWhirter (Guinness World Records curator/commentator) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died April 19, 2004. Born August 12, 1925. For the first 50 years of his life, shared an almost identical biography with his brother and frequent collaborator Ross. IMDb
Mary McGrory
(writer) -- Dead. Died April 21, 2004. Born August 22, 1918. Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, wrote for the Washington Post for the last 20 years of her life.
IMDb Obituary
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Pat Tillman
(soldier/pro football player) -- Dead. War (killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan). Died April 22, 2004.
Born November 6, 1976. Football player who gave up the game to go into the Army
Estee Lauder
(entrepreneur) -- Dead. Cardiopulmonary failure. Died April 24, 2004. Born July 1, 1906. Created and marketed high quality, expensive cosmetics.
Obituary
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May
Virginia Capers
(actress) -- Dead. Pneumonia. Died May 6, 2004. Born September 22, 1925. Won a Tony for Raisin, played many supporting roles on TV.
IBDB
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Alan King (comic/producer) -- Dead. Lung cancer. Died May 9, 2004. Born December 25, 1927. Borscht belt comic who was a common figure on TV, particularly on Friar's Club roasts, bit part as a golfer in Sunshine State. IMDb
Syd Hoff (cartoonist/children's book illustrator) -- Dead. Pneumonia. Died May 12, 2004. Born 1913. Cartoonist for The New Yorker, later did a number of childrens books. IMDb
Charlotte Benkner (the world's second oldest person for a few years) -- Dead. Died May 14, 2004. Born November 16, 1889. Midwest housewife, she lived with her sister, who was 15 years younger (but predeceased her older sister by four months)
Anna Lee (actress) -- Dead. Died May 14, 2004. Born January 2, 1914. Starred as Lila Quartermaine on General Hospital and Port Charles, appeared in many movies including The Sound of Music and How Green Was My Valley IMDb
June Taylor (choreographer) -- Dead. Died May 16, 2004. Born 1918. Started a troupe of dancers in the '40s who went on to great fame on the Jackie Gleason Show. IMDb
Tony Randall
(actor) -- Dead. Died May 17, 2004. Born February 26, 1920. Best-known for the television version of The Odd Couple's Felix, great as many characters in The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao, became a first-time father at 77(!), making him older than other famous first-time fathers like Cary Grant at age 62.
IBDB
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Obituary
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Richard Biggs (actor) -- Dead. Torn aorta (see John Ritter). Died May 22, 2004. Born March 18, 1960. Starred on Babylon 5 as Dr. Stephen Franklin, soaps, and recently on Tremors Make memorial contributions to: Richard Biggs' Children College Fund. IMDb
Archibald Cox (Watergate prosecutor) -- Dead. Died May 29, 2004. Born May 17, 1912. Fired by Nixon during the Watergate hearings
Sam Dash (lawyer) -- Dead. Died May 29, 2004. Born 1924. Senate counsel during Watergate
Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan
(formerly world's oldest person) -- Dead. Died May 29, 2004.
Born August 31, 1889. Was the world's oldest person
June
William Manchester (biographer) -- Dead. Strokes. Died June 1, 2004. Born 1922. Wrote lauded biographies of Douglas McArthur and Winston Churchill
Ronald Reagan
(actor/president/governor (CA)) -- Dead. Pneumonia/Alzheimer's disease. Died June 5, 2004.
Born February 6, 1911. Helped America "to believe in itself again" while ignoring America's flouting of international law during the Iran Contra scandal, an ex-husband of Jane Wyman, helped to bring Alzheimer's out of the closet,
IMDb
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Ray Charles (blues legend) -- Dead. Died June 10, 2004. Born September 23, 1930. Cultural icon, singer, pianist. "Georgia on My Mind." IMDb
Egon Von Furstenberg
(fashion designer) -- Dead. Cause is debatable (Cancer in some sources, AIDS in others - honest cause is unclear!). Died June 11, 2004. Born December 29, 1946. Banker turned men's fashion designer, married to Diane Von Furstenberg from the late '60s to the ealry '80s.
IMDb
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Danny Dark
(voice) -- Dead. Died June 13, 2004.
Born 1940. Voice of Superman in the '70s and '80s, did voiceovers for NBC and Bewitched
IMDb
Mattie Stepanek
(poet) -- Dead. Complications of muscular dystrophy. Died June 22, 2004.
Born July 17, 1990. Heartsongs author, spokesman for muscular dystrophy
Bob Bemer
(Pioneering geek) -- Dead. Cancer. Died June 22, 2004.
Born February 4, 1920. Helped to develop the ASCII character set, COBOL and the ESC sequence
Hugh Cave
(pulp writer) -- Dead. Died June 27, 2004.
Born July 11, 1910. A professional writer for over 70 years, he was writing fiction well into his 90s. Obituary
July
Marlon Brando
(actor) -- Dead. Died July 1, 2004. Born April 3, 1924. Played iconic
characters including the Godfather and Stanley Kowalski.
IBDB
IMDb
Obituary
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Syreeta Wright (singer) -- Dead. Cancer. Died July 5, 2004. Born February 28, 1946. The only woman Stevie Wonder ever married, she later sang with Billy Preston in "Don't You Know With You I'm Born Again." IMDb
Jeff Smith (cookbook writer) -- Dead. Heart disease. Died July 7, 2004. Born January 22, 1939. An entertaining cook and frugal gourmet who wrote usable cookbooks; he screwed his career by "alledgedly" screwing others.... IMDb
Paula Danziger
(writer) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died July 8, 2004.
Born August 18, 1944. The Amber Brown books and other kids' books
Paul Klebnikov
(journalist) -- Dead. Assassinated. Died July 9, 2004. Born 1963. Forbes writer dedicated to exposing corruption in Russian businesses, one of eleven journalists murdered in Russia in recent years. Make memorial contributions to: Paul Klebnikov Fund Supporting Courage in Journalism and Civil Society in Russia
IMDb
Obituary
Isabel Sanford (actress) -- Dead. Died July 9, 2004. Born August 29, 1917. Louise Jefferson in The Jeffersons and bit parts on many other TV shows. IMDb
Laurance Rockefeller (venture capitalist/philanthropist) -- Dead. Pulmonary fibrosis. Died July 11, 2004. Born May 26, 1910. Helped arrange financing for companies like American Airlines and Apple Computer, founded the American Conservation Association
Carlos Kleiber (conductor) -- Dead. Died July 13, 2004. Born July 3, 1930. Conductor famous for conducting Strauss and Beethoven and for being very erratic. IMDb
Jerry Goldsmith
(composer) -- Dead. Cancer. Died July 21, 2004.
Born February 10, 1929. Wrote the score for Planet of the
Apes, won an Oscar for The Omen.
IMDb
Obituary
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William Mitchell (food scientist) -- Dead. Died July 26, 2004. Born 1912. Chemist for General Foods who invented (non-fatal!) Pop Rocks, and helped develop Cool Whip Obituary
Jackson Beck (voice over actor) -- Dead. Old age. Died July 28, 2004. Born July 23, 1912. Performed Bluto in '40s and '50s Popeye cartoons, did "It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Superman!" for many Superman cartoons. IMDb
Eugene Roche (actor) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died July 28, 2004. Born September 22, 1928. Edgar Derby in Slaughterhouse Five, many TV parts, peddled Ajax on commercials. IMDb
Francis Crick, Ph. D
(DNA researcher) -- Dead. Colon cancer. Died July 28, 2004.
Born June 8, 1916. Co-discoverer of DNA, co-winner of a Nobel Prize for medicine for 1962, wrote The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul
August
Alexandra Scott
(young philanthropist) -- Dead. Neuroblastoma. Died August 1, 2004.
Born January 17, 1996. Starting running lemonade stands as a way to raise money to fight her rare form of cancer when she was just four years old, she helped to raise over $700,000 before she died.
Make memorial contributions to: Alex's Lemonade Stand
Henri Cartier-Bresson
(Photographer) -- Dead. Died August 3, 2004.
Born August 22, 1908. Primary photographer of French realism, particularly after World War II
IMDb
Rick James
(Singer) -- Dead. Unknown. Died August 6, 2004. Born February 1, 1948. Early '80s hit "Super Freak".
IMDb
Obituary
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Paul
"Red" Adair
(Oil well fire expert) -- Dead. Died August 7, 2004. Born June 18, 1915. Famous before the Gulf War - John Wayne played him in 1968's Hellfighters.
IMDb
Obituary
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David Raksin (composer) -- Dead. Heart failure. Died August 9, 2004. Born August 4, 1912. Wrote the music for many movies, including Laura and Forever Amber IMDb
Robert
"Gypsy Boots" Bootzin
(actor/gadfly) -- Dead. old age. Died August 8, 2004.
Born August 19, 1914. A Steve Allen Show regular and organic food promoter, he wrote several books, The Gypsy in Me.
IMDb
Fay Wray
(actress) -- Dead. Died August 8, 2004.
Born September 10, 1907. King Kong .
IMDb
Julia Child
(French Chef) -- Dead. Kidney failure. Died August 13, 2004. Born August 15, 1912. Early PBS star who popularized French cooking in America and lived into her '90s while eating meat, desserts and drinking wine-my kind of woman!
IMDb
Obituary
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Carl Mydans
(photographer) -- Dead. Died August 17, 2004.
Born May 20, 1907. Life magazine photogapher, mostly known for iconic WWII photographs like MacArthur returning to the Phillipines in 1945
IMDb
Elmer Bernstein
(composer) -- Dead. Died August 18, 2004.
Born April 4, 1922. Oscar nominations for movies including To Kill a Mockingbird and Far from Heaven, won for Thoroughly Modern Millie .
IMDb
Emiel Petrone (CD/DVD developer) -- Dead. Died August 23, 2004. Born 1943. One of the pioneers behind CD/DVD technology
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
(writer/physician) -- Dead. Strokes. Died August 24, 2004. Born July 8, 1926. She helped to bring death "out of the closet" with On Death and Dying in 1969.
IMDb
Obituary
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Laura Branigan
(singer) -- Dead. Aneurysm. Died August 26, 2004. Born July 3, 1952. "Gloria" and "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?". Make memorial contributions to: American Cancer Society or Children Affected by AIDS Foundation.
IMDb
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September
Caitlin Clarke
(actress/teacher) -- Dead. Ovarian cancer. Died September 9, 2004.
Born May 3, 1952. Memorable as Valerian in Dragonslayer, she played a supporting role in the Broadway show Titanic and spent much of her life teaching drama to young people
Make memorial contributions to: Pittsburgh Musical Theater
IBDB
IMDb
Fred Ebb (lyricist) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died September 11, 2004. Born April 8, 1933. Professional partner of composer John Kander, he wrote the words for musicals like Cabaret and Chicago IBDB IMDb
Katharina Dalton (doctor/writer) -- Dead. Died September 17, 2004. Born 1917. Doctor who coined the phrase pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) and wrote extensively about its treatment. Obituary
Russ Meyer (maker of busty movies) -- Dead. Pneumonia. Died September 18, 2004. Born March 21, 1922. Vixen movies and many other "uplifting" flicks IMDb Obituary
Francoise Sagan (writer) -- Dead. Heart/lung failure. Died September 24, 2004. Born June 21, 1935. A Certain Smile IMDb
Tim Choate
(actor) -- Dead. Motorcycle accident. Died September 24, 2004.
Born October 11, 1954. Zathras on Babylon 5, bit player in many Merchant-Ivory movies. Make memorial contributions to: The Tim Choate Memorial Fund, PO Box 861355, Los Angeles, CA 90086
IMDb
October
Richard Avedon
(photographer) -- Dead. Stroke. Died October 1, 2004. Born May 15, 1923. One of the last of the great fashion photographers who shot mostly in black and white.
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Janet Leigh (actress) -- Dead. Vasculitis. Died October 3, 2004. Born July 6, 1927. She didn't take a take a shower for years, once married to Tony Curtis, mother of Jamie Lee Curtis. IMDb Obituary
Gordon Cooper
(astronaut/businessman) -- Dead. Died October 4, 2004.
Born March 6, 1927. Flew on Mercury and Gemini spacecraft
IMDb
Obituary
Rodney Dangerfield
(comic) -- Dead. Heart disease. Died October 5, 2004.
Born November 22, 1922. Finally getting respect?
IMDb
Max Faget
(engineer) -- Dead. Died October 9, 2004.
Born August 26, 1921. Led the design of the Gemini space capsule
Obituary
Christopher Reeve
(director/actor/advocate) -- Dead. Systemic infection/heart failure. Died October 10, 2004. Born September 25, 1952. Superman, Somewhere in Time, became an activist for paralysis research after his 1995 accident.
[[ I hated updating this record almost more than anyone else's over the last seven years - he was a man of great courage and was an example to the rest of us. ]]
Make memorial contributions to: Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.
IMDb
Obituary
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Pierre Salinger (journalist/political press officer) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died October 16, 2004. Born June 14, 1925. Kennedy's press secretary, he later went to work for ABC. IMDb Obituary
Robert Merrill (opera singer) -- Dead. Baseball?. Died October 24, 2004. Born June 4, 1919. Met baritone and occasional movie actor. IMDb Obituary
John Peel (DJ) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died October 26, 2004. Born August 30, 1939. Legendary British DJ and voice-over presenter. IMDb Obituary
Vaughn Meader
(comic/musician) -- Dead. Pulmonary disease. Died October 29, 2004. Born March 20, 1936. Kennedy mimic whose The First Family was a major craze in late '62 and most of '63 but who sank into obscurity after the Kennedy assassination.
IMDb
Obituary
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November
Theo van Gogh
(director) -- Dead. Murdered by terrorists. Died November 2, 2004.
Born July 23, 1957. Dutch filmmaker who made a controversial film about abuse of Islamic women and received death threats for it, great grandnephew of Vincent van Gogh.
IMDb
Obituary
Howard Keel (actor, singer) -- Dead. Colon cancer. Died November 7, 2004. Born April 13, 1919. Kiss Me Kate, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. IBDB IMDb Obituary
Ed Kemmer
(actor) -- Dead. Stroke. Died November 9, 2004. Born October 29, 1921. Buzz Corry in Space Patrol, many guest appearances on TV, many soap operas in the '70s.
IMDb
Obituary
Yasser Arafat
(Political leader/former terrorist) -- Dead. Blood disorder. Died November 11, 2004. Born August 24, 1929. PLO then Palestinian leader.
Obituary
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Margaret Hassan
(humanitarian) -- Dead. Murdered by terrorists. Died November 2004.
Born 1945. Director of Care in Iraq who'd worked in country for 30 years until she was abducted.
Obituary
Terry Melcher (record producer) -- Dead. Melanoma. Died November 19, 2004. Born February 8, 1942. Wrote "Kokomo," produced albums for many '60s groups, Doris Day's son. IMDb Obituary
Larry Brown (writer) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died November 24, 2004. Born July 7, 1951. Wrote Big Bad Love, won Southern Book Critics Circle Award. IMDb
Arthur Hailey (writer) -- Dead. Stroke. Died November 24, 2004. Born April 5, 1920. He wrote big bestsellers like Hotel and Airport, wrote for TV in the '40s, '50s and '60s. IMDb
David Bailey
(actor) -- Dead. Drowning. Died November 25, 2004. Born October 27, 1933. Soap actor who played various incarnations of Russ Matthews on Another World and was playing the ruthless Alistair Crane on Passions when he died. Make memorial contributions to: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
IMDb
Philippe de Broca (director) -- Dead. Cancer. Died November 26, 2004. Born March 15, 1933. Director of many films, probably best-known outside of France for King of Hearts. IMDb
Pierre Berton (journalist/historian) -- Dead. Congestive heart failure. Died November 30, 2004. Born July 12, 1920. Klondike Fever, TV commentator. IMDb
December
Renata Tebaldi
(opera singer) -- Dead. Died December 19, 2004. Born February 1, 1922. Italian soprano, probably best known for Desdemona, active from 1946-1976.
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Reggie White
(football player) -- Dead. Heart attack. Died December 26, 2004. Born December 19, 1961. One of the all-time sackers in the NFL.
IMDb Obituary
Susan Sontag
(writer, activist) -- Dead. Acute myelogenous leukemia. Died December 28, 2004. Born January 28, 1933. Novelist and essayist, On Photography.
IMDb
Jerry Orbach (actor) -- Dead. Prostate cancer. Died December 28, 2004. Born October 20, 1935. Law & Order, Baby's dad in Dirty Dancing. IBDB IMDb
Artie Shaw
(clarinetist/bandleader) -- Dead. Died December 30, 2004. Born May 23, 1910. Married many stars, but stayed married to Evelyn Keyes from 1957 until his death.
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