Desmond Tutu
(Archbishop & Anti-Apartheid Activist)
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7 October 1931 – 26 December 2021 (Aged 90)
Desmond Tutu was a South African Anglican cleric and one of the world’s most revered campaigners against apartheid.
Born in Klerksdorp, he trained as a teacher like his father before entering the priesthood, and was ordained in 1961. He rose to become the first Black person to serve as Bishop of Johannesburg and, in 1986, Archbishop of Cape Town.
Through the 1970s and 1980s he became a leading voice against South Africa’s system of racial segregation, advocating non-violent resistance and international sanctions.
Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his role in the struggle against apartheid.
After apartheid ended, President Nelson Mandela appointed him to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated abuses committed under the old regime.
He coined the phrase “Rainbow Nation” to describe a democratic, multi-racial South Africa.
Known for his warmth and humour, he continued to campaign for human rights around the world throughout his life. He received numerous honours, including the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
Tutu died in Cape Town on 26 December 2021, having lived for years with prostate cancer.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
(Royal Consort)
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10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021 (Aged 99)
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II and the longest-serving royal consort in British history.
Born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark on the island of Corfu, he was a member of the Greek and Danish royal families and was forced into exile with his family as an infant.
Phillip was educated in France, Germany and Britain, and later trained at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. He served in the British Royal Navy during the Second World War, seeing action in the Mediterranean and Pacific.
He married the then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947 and was created Duke of Edinburgh. When Elizabeth became queen in 1952, he gave up his naval career to support her as consort, a role he held for nearly 70 years.
In 1956 he founded the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, a youth development programme that spread to more than 100 countries.
A patron or president of more than 780 organisations, he was closely associated with conservation and served as president of the World Wide Fund for Nature. He retired from public duties in 2017 after completing more than 22,000 solo engagements.
Prince Philip died at Windsor Castle on 9 April 2021, two months short of his 100th birthday.
Colin Powell
(U.S. General & Statesman)
U.S. Department of State / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain
5 April 1937 – 18 October 2021 (Aged 84)
Colin Powell was an American statesman and four-star general who became the first Black U.S. Secretary of State.
Born in Harlem, New York, to Jamaican immigrant parents, he was raised in the South Bronx and joined the army through the ROTC programme at the City College of New York.
Powell served two tours of duty in Vietnam and rose steadily through the military and government over a 35-year army career. He served as National Security Adviser to President Ronald Reagan from 1987 to 1989.
In 1989 he became the first Black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the United States.
In that role he oversaw U.S. forces during the 1991 Gulf War, developing an approach that became known as the “Powell Doctrine”. He served as Secretary of State under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005.
His 2003 presentation to the United Nations making the case for the Iraq War later became a source of controversy and personal regret. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice.
Powell died on 18 October 2021 of complications from COVID-19, having also been treated for cancer.
Betty White
(Actress & Comedian)
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17 January 1922 – 31 December 2021 (Aged 99)
Betty White was an American actress and comedian whose career in television spanned almost seven decades.
Born in Oak Park, Illinois, she began working in radio and early television in the late 1930s and 1940s. She became the first woman to produce a sitcom, with Life with Elizabeth in the early 1950s.
White won a wide following as the man-crazy Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970s. She reached new heights of fame as the sweetly naive Rose Nylund on the hit sitcom The Golden Girls (1985–1992).
A regular on game shows and talk shows, she held the Guinness World Record for the longest television career by a female entertainer.
She enjoyed a late-career resurgence, hosting Saturday Night Live in 2010 after a viral fan campaign and starring in Hot in Cleveland.
A lifelong advocate for animal welfare, she supported numerous zoos and animal charities. She won several Emmy Awards over her long career.
Betty White died on 31 December 2021, just weeks before her 100th birthday.
Christopher Plummer
(Actor)
13 December 1929 – 5 February 2021 (Aged 91)
Christopher Plummer was a Canadian actor whose career on stage and screen spanned some seven decades.
Born in Toronto and raised in Montreal, he was the great-grandson of a former Canadian prime minister, John Abbott. He built an early reputation as a Shakespearean actor on stage in Canada, Britain and the United States.
Plummer became internationally famous for playing Captain von Trapp opposite Julie Andrews in the 1965 film The Sound of Music. His extensive film work included The Insider, A Beautiful Mind, Up and The Last Station.
In 2012 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Beginners, becoming, at 82, the oldest person to win a competitive acting Oscar.
In 2017 he stepped in at short notice to replace Kevin Spacey in All the Money in the World, earning another Oscar nomination at 88.
He won two Tony Awards and two Emmy Awards, completing the so-called “Triple Crown of Acting”. He continued acting into his 90s.
Plummer died at his home in Connecticut on 5 February 2021.
Charlie Watts
(Musician)
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2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021 (Aged 80)
Charlie Watts was an English musician who served as the drummer of the Rolling Stones for nearly 60 years.
Born in London, he trained as a graphic artist and developed an early passion for jazz. He was playing in London’s rhythm-and-blues scene with Blues Incorporated when he was recruited by the fledgling Rolling Stones.
Watts joined the band in January 1963 and made his first appearance as a permanent member the following month. Alongside Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, he was one of only three members to play on every one of the band’s studio albums.
His understated, jazz-influenced style made him one of the most admired and reliable drummers in rock music. Away from the Stones, he led his own jazz groups and designed record sleeves and stage sets for the band.
He was known for his elegant dress sense and quiet manner, in contrast to the band’s rock-and-roll image. The Rolling Stones became one of the most successful and enduring bands in history.
Watts died in a London hospital on 24 August 2021, weeks after withdrawing from a tour to recover from a medical procedure.
Stephen Sondheim
(Composer & Lyricist)
22 March 1930 – 26 November 2021 (Aged 91)
Stephen Sondheim was an American composer and lyricist widely regarded as the most important figure in modern musical theatre.
Born in New York City, he was mentored as a young man by the lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. He first came to prominence writing the lyrics for Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story in 1957, followed by Gypsy in 1959.
As both composer and lyricist he went on to create a string of landmark musicals, including Company, Follies and A Little Night Music. His most famous song, “Send in the Clowns”, has been recorded hundreds of times.
His later works, such as Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods, tackled unusually dark and sophisticated subjects. Sunday in the Park with George won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1985.
He won more Tony Awards than any other composer, along with an Academy Award, multiple Grammy Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His work influenced several generations of theatre writers.
Sondheim died at his home in Connecticut on 26 November 2021, the day after celebrating Thanksgiving with friends.
Hank Aaron
(Baseball Player)
5 February 1934 – 22 January 2021 (Aged 86)
Hank Aaron was an American baseball player regarded as one of the greatest hitters in the history of the sport.
Born in Mobile, Alabama, and nicknamed “Hammerin’ Hank”, he began his professional career in the Negro Leagues before joining Major League Baseball.
He made his major-league debut with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954 and played 23 seasons, mostly with the Braves in Milwaukee and later Atlanta.
On 8 April 1974 he broke Babe Ruth’s long-standing career home run record, a pursuit during which he endured racist threats and abuse.
Aaron retired in 1976 with 755 career home runs, a record that stood until 2007. He still holds the major-league records for career runs batted in and total bases.
A 25-time All-Star, he was the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1957 and a World Series champion the same year. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 in his first year of eligibility.
After retiring he became one of baseball’s first Black senior executives and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.
Aaron died in Atlanta on 22 January 2021.
Michael Collins
(Astronaut)
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31 October 1930 – 28 April 2021 (Aged 90)
Michael Collins was an American astronaut best known as the command module pilot of Apollo 11, the first crewed mission to land on the Moon.
Born in Rome, Italy, the son of a U.S. Army general, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and became an Air Force test pilot.
Collins was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 1963. His first spaceflight was Gemini 10 in 1966, during which he performed spacewalks.
On the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969, he remained in orbit aboard the command module Columbia while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the lunar surface.
He orbited the Moon alone for more than 21 hours, spending part of that time out of radio contact on the far side. Often described as the “forgotten astronaut”, he wrote thoughtfully about the experience in his acclaimed memoir Carrying the Fire.
After leaving NASA he served as the first director of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Collins died on 28 April 2021 after a battle with cancer.
DMX
(Rapper)
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18 December 1970 – 9 April 2021 (Aged 50)
DMX, born Earl Simmons, was an American rapper and actor who became one of the biggest hip-hop stars of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Born in Mount Vernon, New York, and raised in nearby Yonkers, he took his stage name from an early drum machine.
DMX broke through in 1998 with his debut album It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, which topped the U.S. album chart. His first five studio albums all debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, a record achievement at the time.
He was known for his gruff, forceful delivery, his gospel-inflected themes and his recurring use of dog imagery. His best-known songs included “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem”, “Party Up (Up in Here)” and “X Gon’ Give It to Ya”.
DMX also built a successful acting career, appearing in films such as Belly, Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds and Cradle 2 the Grave.
He sold tens of millions of records and received several Grammy nominations. He was also named favourite rap/hip-hop artist at the 2000 American Music Awards.
DMX died on 9 April 2021 in White Plains, New York, after suffering a heart attack.
F.W. de Klerk
(Former South African President)
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18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021 (Aged 85)
F.W. de Klerk was a South African politician who served as the last president of the apartheid era.
Born in Johannesburg into a prominent Afrikaner political family, he trained as a lawyer before entering parliament for the National Party. He held a series of ministerial posts before becoming state president in 1989.
In a landmark speech to parliament in February 1990, he announced the unbanning of the African National Congress and other opposition groups.
Days later he ordered the release of Nelson Mandela, who had been imprisoned for 27 years. He then led negotiations that dismantled the apartheid system of racial segregation and moved South Africa towards democracy.
De Klerk and Mandela were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their efforts. After the country’s first democratic elections in 1994, he served as a deputy president under Mandela until 1996.
He remained a controversial figure, and in a video released after his death he apologised for the pain caused by apartheid.
De Klerk died at his home in Cape Town on 11 November 2021 after being diagnosed with cancer.
Larry King
(Television & Radio Host)
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19 November 1933 – 23 January 2021 (Aged 87)
Larry King was an American television and radio broadcaster known for his conversational interviewing style over a career of more than six decades.
Born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish immigrant parents, he adopted the name “King” early in his broadcasting career.
King got his start as a radio announcer in Miami in the late 1950s before building a national following. From 1978 he hosted a popular nationwide late-night radio programme.
His signature show, Larry King Live, aired nightly on CNN from 1985 to 2010, becoming one of the network’s longest-running programmes.
Recognisable by his suspenders and glasses, he interviewed presidents, world leaders, celebrities and ordinary people alike.He is estimated to have conducted tens of thousands of interviews over his career.
King interviewed every sitting U.S. president from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama. He won two Peabody Awards and an Emmy Award for his broadcasting.
King died in Los Angeles on 23 January 2021 of sepsis, having been hospitalised weeks earlier with COVID-19.