Goodbye to 2009 and some old faces…Part 1
So the final day of 2009 is here…and as always we look back on the year with some fond memories and also some not so fond times. 2009 will probably best be known for the economic situation around the globe but it was also a year when we lost some of the people who gave us all pleasure. Here’s our tribute to them:
PATRICK SWAYZE
After courageously battling pancreatic cancer, the dancer, actor and devoted husband of 34 years passed away on Sept. 14 at age 57. “Patrick was a really good man, a funny man and one to whom I owe much that I can’t ever repay,” said Whoopi Goldberg, who starred with Swayze in his most memorable film, Ghost, a role she says he lobbied for her to win. “I believe in Ghost’s message, so he’ll always be near.”
FARRAH FAWCETT
With her famous hair gone, a visibly frail Farrah Fawcett didn’t flinch at publicly documenting her brave battle with anal cancer in Farrah’s Story. But the Charlie’s Angels star, who died at age 62 on June 25, will forever be remembered as a ’70s golden girl, full of light and laughter. “When I think of Farrah I will remember her kindness, her cutting dry wit and, of course, her beautiful smile.” said her Angels costar and friend Kate Jackson.
PATRICK MCGOOHAN
He was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man (renamed Secret Agent when exported to the US),and The Prisoner. He died January 13th.
BRITTANY MURPHY
Her starmaking turn was as the charmingly goofy Tai in the 1995 comedy Clueless – but Murphy had a striking talent for drama, churning out jaw-dropping performances in Girl, Interrupted (as a suicidal mental patient) and Don’t Say a Word. But after reportedly battling the flu, the 32-year-old actress died of cardiac arrest after collapsing on Dec. 20 at her home in Los Angeles.
DJ AM
It was a scene no one expected: The celebrated deejay – who had survived a fatal plane crash a year ago – was discovered dead of an overdose in his New York City apartment on Aug. 28. Before his death, the 36-year-old (real name: Adam Goldstein) had filmed the MTV addiction series Gone Too Far.
ED MCMAHON
The TV personality, who emceed Star Search and famously introduced Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show for 30 years with his signature opening cry “Heeeeeere’s Johnny!” died of cancer on June 23 at age 86. Britney Spears – who appeared on Star Search as a young girl – Tweeted about the loss, saying, “He is responsible for giving so many artists their first shot including myself. He was a wonderful man and will be greatly missed.”
JANE GOODY
She first shot to fame as a hard-drinking contestant on the U.K. version of Big Brother. But it was Goody’s very public battle with cervical cancer – which she learned about while appearing on the Indian version of the reality show – that captivated the British public. After discovering that her illness was terminal, Goody wed longtime boyfriend Jack Tweed in a televised event (proceeds went to a fund for her two children). A month later, the 27-year-old died in her sleep on March 22 in her Upshire, Essex, home.
BILLY MAYS
Products like Oxi Clean and Kaboom became household must-haves thanks to infomercial pitchman Billy Mays, who always prided himself on the fact that he never endorsed a product he didn’t believe in. That voice was silenced when Mays, 50, died in his sleep June 28 due to a pulmonary embolism. “The news of Billy’s death came as a total shock to me,” Anthony Sullivan, Mays’s costar on Discovery Channel series Pitchmen said.
TED KENNEDY
The iconic Democratic senator from Massachusetts – and the last brother from the Kennedy political dynasty – died August 25 at age 77 after battling a malignant brain tumor. “For his family, he was a guardian,” said President Obama, who was among four Presidents who came out to commemorate the statesman for his life and public service at his burial at Arlington Cemetery. “For America, he was the defender of a dream.”
MARY TRAVERS
Following a long battle with leukemia, the Peter, Paul and Mary singer died Sept. 16 at age 72. The singer had won five Grammys with the trio, whose folk songs include “Puff, the Magic Dragon” and “Blowin’ in the Wind.” “Mary helped awaken mainstream America to the humanizing message of folk music. She reached millions of people in the struggle to guarantee social justice for all and has left a profound and lasting impact on all of us,” her bandmates and friends said in a statement.
KARL MALDEN
Oscar winner Malden – who won Best Supporting Actor in the 1951 classic A Streetcar Named Desire – died of natural causes July 1, at age 91, in his Brentwood, Calif., home. Michael Douglas, who costarred with Malden in 1972’s The Streets of San Francisco, said “[Karl] was my surrogate father. I love this man with all of my heart.”
