SALT LAKE CITY — Jeffrey R. Holland, a high-ranking official in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was next in line to become the faith’s president, has died. He was 85.

Holland died early Saturday morning from complications associated with kidney disease, the church announced on its website.

Holland, who died in Salt Lake City, led a governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which helps set church policy while overseeing the many business interests of what is known widely as the Mormon church.

He was the longest-tenured member of the Quorum of the Twelve after President Dallin H. Oaks, making him next in line to lead the church under a long-established succession plan. Oaks, 93, became president of the church and its more than 17 million-strong global membership in October.

Henry B. Eyring, who is 92 and one of Oaks’ two top counselors, is now next in line for the presidency.

Holland had been hospitalized during the Christmas holiday for ongoing health complications, the church said. Experts on the faith pointed to his declining health in October when Oaks did not select Holland as a counselor.

His death leaves a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve that Oaks will fill in coming months, likely by calling a new apostle from a lower-tier leadership council. Apostles are all men in accordance with the church’s all-male priesthood.

Holland grew up in St. George, Utah, and worked for many years in education administration before his call to join the ranks of church leadership. He served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University, the Utah-based faith’s flagship school, from 1980 to 1989 and was a commissioner of the church’s global education system.

Under his leadership, the Provo university worked to improve interfaith relations and established a satellite campus in Jerusalem. The Anti-Defamation League later honored Holland with its “Torch of Liberty” award for helping foster greater understanding between Christian and Jewish communities.

Oaks, also a former BYU president, reflected Saturday on his more than 50 years of friendship and service with Holland, calling their relationship “long and loving.”

“Over the last three decades as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he lifted the weary, encouraged the faithful and bore a powerful witness of the Savior — even through seasons of significant personal trials,” Oaks said.

Holland was known as a dynamic orator whose sermons combined scholarship with tenderness. In 2013 he spoke to church members about supporting loved ones with depression and other mental illnesses, sharing openly about times when he felt “like a broken vessel.”

Holland is widely remembered for a 2021 speech in which he called on church members to take up metaphorical muskets in defense of the faith’s teachings against same-sex marriage. The talk, known colloquially as “the musket fire speech,” became required reading for BYU freshmen in 2024, raising concern among LGBTQ+ students and advocates.

Holland was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia Terry Holland. He is survived by their three children, 13 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.

Associated Press writer Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed.

NEW YORK (AP) — Perry Archangelo Bamonte, longtime guitarist and keyboardist for the influential goth band The Cure, has died. He was 65.

The band made the announcement on their official website on Friday.

“It is with enormous sadness that we confirm the death of our great friend and bandmate Perry Bamonte, who passed away after a short illness at home over Christmas,” the band wrote.

“Quiet, intense, intuitive, constant and hugely creative, ‘Teddy’ was a warm hearted and vital part of The Cure story,” the statement continued. “Our thoughts and condolences are with all his family. He will be very greatly missed.”

Bamonte worked with the band in various roles from 1984 to 1989, including as roadie and guitar tech. He officially joined the band in 1990, when keyboardist Roger O’Donnell quit. It was then that he became a full-time member of the group, playing guitar, six-string bass and keyboard.

Having joined just after the band’s mainstream breakthrough, 1989’s “Disintegration,” Bamonte is featured on a number of The Cure’s albums, including 1992’s “Wish” — which features the career-defining hits ″Friday I’m in Love″ and “High” — as well as the 1996’s “Wild Mood Swings,” 2000’s “Bloodflowers” and 2004’s self-titled release.

Bamonte was fired from The Cure by its singer and leader Robert Smith in 2005. At that point in time, he had performed at over 400 shows across 14 years. Bamonte rejoined the group in recent years, touring with the band in 2022 for another 90 gigs.

In 2019, Bamonte was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside the rest of The Cure.

His last performance with the band was on Nov. 1, 2024 in London for a special one-off event to launch their latest album and first in 16 years, “Songs of a Lost World.” The concert was filmed for “The Cure: The Show of a Lost World,” a film released in cinemas globally this month. It is also available to purchase on Blu-ray and DVD.

The Associated Press described “Songs of a Lost World” as “lush and deeply orchestral, swelling and powerful” — one of the best of the band’s career.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Mohammad Bakri, a Palestinian director and actor who sought to share the complexities of Palestinian identity and culture through a variety of works in both Arabic and Hebrew, has died, his family announced. He was 72.

Bakri was best known for “Jenin, Jenin,” a 2003 documentary he directed about an Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank city the previous year during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising. The film, focusing on the heavy destruction and heartbreak of its Palestinian residents, was banned by Israel.

Bakri also acted in the 2025 film “All That’s Left of You,” a drama about a Palestinian family through more than 76 years, alongside his sons, Adam and Saleh Bakri, who are also actors. The film has been shortlisted by the Academy Awards for the best international feature film.

Over the years, he made several films that spanned the spectrum of Palestinian experiences. He also acted in Hebrew, including at Israel’s national theater in Tel Aviv, and appeared in a number of famous Israeli films in the 1980s and 1990s. He studied at Tel Aviv University.

Bakri, who was born in northern Israel and held Israeli citizenship, dabbled in both film and theater. His best-known one-man-show from 1986, “The Pessoptimist,” based on the writings of Palestinian author Emile Habiby, focused on the intricacies and emotions of someone who has both Israeli and Palestinian identities.

During the 1980s, Bakri played characters in mainstream Israeli films that humanized the Palestinian identity, including “Beyond the Walls,” a seminal film about incarcerated Israelis and Palestinians, said Raya Morag, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who specializes in cinema and trauma.

“He broke stereotypes about how Israelis looked at Palestinians, and allowing someone Palestinian to be regarded as a hero in Israeli society,” she said.

“He was a very brave person, and he was brave by standing to his ideals, choosing not to be conformist in any way, and paying the price in both societies,” said Morag.

Bakri faced some pushback within Palestinian society for his cooperation with Israelis. After “Jenin, Jenin,” he was plagued by almost two decades of court cases in Israel, where the film was seen as unbalanced and inciting.

In 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court upheld a ban on the documentary, saying it defamed Israeli soldiers, and ordered Bakri to pay tens of thousands of dollars in damages to an Israeli military officer for defamation.

“Jenin, Jenin” was a turning point in Bakri’s career. In Israel, he became a polarizing figure and he never worked with mainstream Israeli cinema again, Morag said. “He was loyal to himself despite all the pressures from inside and outside,” she added. “He was a firm voice that did not change during the years.”

Local media quoted Bakri’s family as saying he died Wednesday after suffering from heart and lung problems. His cousin, Rafic, told the Arabic news site Al-Jarmaq that Bakri was a tenacious advocate of the Palestinians who used his works to express support for his people.

“I am certain that Abu Saleh will remain in the memory of Palestinian people everywhere and all people of the free world,” he said, using Mohammed Bakri’s nickname.

AP correspondent Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

The death of Pope Francis brought change to the Catholic Church, which counts 1.4 billion adherents and is now led — for the first time — by an American pope. The fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as he spoke before a crowd horrified many and prompted somber conversations about political violence.

And when trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre died by suicide, it brought additional scrutiny to the investigations of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. They were among the noteworthy and influential people who died in 2025 where the deaths themselves had a widespread impact.

RELATED: Obituaries: These Bay Area residents left us in 2025

The deaths of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife became a source of both sadness and mystery after their bodies were found in their home in February. Authorities ultimately determined that Hackman, who was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s, died of heart disease, likely unaware that Betsy Arakawa had died from hantavirus a week earlier.

Meanwhile, the death of heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne, which came just weeks after his farewell concert, marked the end of an era in music. The year also saw the death of boxing great George Foreman, who memorably lost a much-watched match to Muhammad Ali but whose career had inspiring second and third acts as a world champion and successful business owner.

And the world said goodbye this year to Dick Cheney, the hard-charging conservative whose long career in public service included becoming one of the most powerful vice presidents in U.S. history under President George W. Bush.

Here is a roll call of some influential figures who have died this year:

JANUARY

David Lodge, 89: The British novelist and critic gently satirized academia, religion and his own loss of hearing in such praised narratives as the Booker Prize finalists “Small World” and “Nice Work”; Jan. 1

Rosita Missoni, 93: She was the matriarch of the iconic Italian fashion house that made colorful zigzag-patterned knitwear high fashion and helped launch Italian ready-to-wear; Jan. 1

Wayne Osmond, 73: The singer and guitarist was a founding member of the family act The Osmonds, who were known for such 1970s teen hits as “One Bad Apple,” “Yo-Yo” and “Down By the Lazy River”; Jan. 1

James Arthur Ray, 67: He was a self-help guru whose multimillion-dollar business toppled after he led a sweat lodge ceremony in Arizona that left three people dead; Jan. 3

Mike Rinder, 69: He was a former spokesperson for Scientology who later became one of the church’s most outspoken critics; Jan. 5

Jean-Marie Le Pen, 96: The founder of France’s far-right National Front was known for fiery rhetoric against immigration and multiculturalism that earned him both staunch supporters and widespread condemnation; Jan. 7

Peter Yarrow, 86: The singer-songwriter best known as one-third of Peter, Paul and Mary, the folk-music trio whose impassioned harmonies transfixed millions as they lifted their voices in favor of civil rights and against war; Jan. 7.

Nancy Leftenant-Colon, 104: She was the first Black woman to join the U.S. Army Nurse Corps after the military was desegregated in the 1940s; Jan. 8

Mike Hynson, 82: The surf icon, who was known for his iconic style, starred in the definitive surf movie “The Endless Summer”; Jan. 10

José “Cha Cha” Jiménez, 76. The prominent civil rights and liberation movement figure was a founder of the Young Lords in Chicago and co-founder of the Rainbow Coalition; Jan. 10

Sam Moore, 89: The surviving half and higher voice of the 1960s duo Sam & Dave that was known for such definitive hits of the era as “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Comin’”; Jan. 10

Leslie Charleson, 79: The film and TV star was best known for playing Dr. Monica Quartermaine on “General Hospital” for nearly 50 years; Jan. 12

David Lynch, 78: The filmmaker was celebrated for his uniquely dark and dreamlike vision in such movies as “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive” and the TV series “Twin Peaks”; Jan. 16

Bob Uecker, 90: He parlayed a forgettable playing career into a punch line for movie and TV appearances as “Mr. Baseball” and a Hall of Fame broadcasting tenure; Jan. 16

Joan Plowright, 95: She was an award-winning British actor who with her late husband Laurence Olivier did much to revitalize the U.K.’s theatrical scene in the decades after World War II; Jan. 16

Jules Feiffer, 95: He was a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist whose prolific output ranged from a long-running comic strip to plays, screenplays and children’s books; Jan. 17

Cecile Richards, 67: She was a national leader for abortion access and women’s rights who led Planned Parenthood for 12 tumultuous years; Jan. 20

Mauricio Funes, 65: The former president of El Salvador spent the final years of his life in Nicaragua to avoid various criminal sentences; Jan. 21

Garth Hudson, 87: He was The Band’s virtuoso keyboardist and all-around musician who drew from a unique palette of sounds and styles to add a conversational touch to such rock standards as “Up on Cripple Creek,” “The Weight” and “Rag Mama Rag”; Jan. 21

Barry Goldberg, 83: The acclaimed blues-rock musician, who was part of the band that backed Bob Dylan during his electric outing at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, also performed with such stars as Steve Miller, Muddy Waters and Leonard Cohen; Jan. 22

Dick Button, 95: He was one of the most accomplished men’s figure skaters in history and one of his sport’s great innovators and promoters; Jan. 30

Marianne Faithfull, 78: She was a British pop star, muse, libertine and old soul who inspired and helped write some of the Rolling Stones’ greatest songs and endured as a torch singer and survivor of the lifestyle she once embodied; Jan. 30

February

Horst Köhler, 81: The onetime head of the International Monetary Fund who became a popular German president before stunning the country by resigning abruptly in a flap over comments about the country’s military; Feb. 1

Fay Vincent, 86: The former Major League Baseball commissioner served his three tumultuous years, and his tenure included the 1989 World Series between the Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants that was paused due to the Loma Prieta earthquake; Feb. 1

Barbie Hsu, 48: She was a Taiwanese actress who starred in the popular TV drama “Meteor Garden” that once swept Asia; Feb. 2

The Aga Khan, 88: He became the spiritual leader of the world’s millions of Ismaili Muslims at age 20 as a Harvard undergraduate, and poured a material empire built on billions of dollars in tithes into building homes, hospitals and schools in developing countries; Feb. 4

Kultida Woods, 80: She was the Thai-born mother of Tiger Woods, whom he credits with instilling in him a dominant spirit and encouraging him to wear a red shirt on Sunday as his power color; Feb. 4.

Irv Gotti, 54: He was a music mogul who founded Murder Inc. Records and was behind major hip-hop and R&B artists such as Ashanti and Ja Rule; Feb. 5.

Virginia McCaskey, 102: She inherited the Chicago Bears from her father, George Halas, but avoided the spotlight during more than four decades as the team’s principal owner; Feb. 6

Tony Roberts, 85: He was a versatile, Tony Award-nominated theater performer at home in plays and musicals and who appeared in several Woody Allen movies — often as Allen’s best friend; Feb. 7

Sam Nujoma, 95: The fiery, white-bearded freedom fighter led Namibia to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990 and served as its first president for 15 years, coming to be known as the father of his nation; Feb. 8

Tom Robbins, 92. The novelist and prankster-philosopher who charmed and addled millions of readers with such screwball adventures as “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” and “Jitterbug Perfume.” Feb. 9.

Paquita la del Barrio, 77: She was a Mexican musical legend known for her powerful voice and fierce defense of women; Feb. 17

Mabel Staton, 92: The Black track and field standout broke through racial barriers and became the only woman to compete for the United States in the long jump at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics; Feb. 20

Clint Hill, 93: He was the Secret Service agent who leaped onto the back of President John F. Kennedy’s limousine after the president was shot, then was forced to retire early because he remained haunted by memories of the assassination; Feb. 21

Roberta Flack, 88: The Grammy-winning singer and pianist had an intimate vocal and musical style that made her one of the top recording artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after that; Feb. 24

Michelle Trachtenberg, 39: She was a former child star who appeared in the 1996 “Harriet the Spy” hit movie and went on to co-star in two buzzy millennial-era TV shows — “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl”; Feb. 26

Boris Spassky, 88: He was a Soviet-era world chess champion who lost his title to American Bobby Fischer in a legendary 1972 match that became a proxy for Cold War rivalries; Feb. 27

David Johansen, 75: The wiry, gravelly-voiced singer was the last surviving member of the glam and protopunk band the New York Dolls who later performed as his campy, pompadoured alter ego, Buster Poindexter; Feb. 28

Joseph Wambaugh, 88: He was a former Los Angeles police officer who drew on his experiences to write the true-crime bestseller “The Onion Field” and numerous gritty but darkly humorous novels; Feb. 28

Betsy Arakawa, 65; She was a concert pianist who was married to actor Gene Hackman, and owned a home furnishing business in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gene Hackman, 95: He was an Oscar-winning actor whose studied portraits ranged from reluctant heroes to conniving villains and made him one of the industry’s most respected and honored performers

March

Angie Stone, 63: The Grammy-nominated R&B singer was a member of the all-female hip-hop trio The Sequence and known for the hit song “Wish I Didn’t Miss You”; March 1

Joey Molland, 77: He was a guitarist with the Welsh pop-rock band Badfinger, which had big hits in the 1970s with “No Matter What” and “Day After Day”; March 1

George Lowe, 67: The performer was best known for providing the voice behind the irreverent animated superhero on Adult Swim’s “Space Ghost Coast to Coast”; March 2.

Carl Dean, 82: He was Dolly Parton’s devoted husband of nearly 60 years, famously avoiding the spotlight, but inspiring her timeless hit “Jolene”; March 3

Oleg Gordievsky, 86: The Soviet KGB officer helped change the course of the Cold War by covertly passing secrets to Britain; March 4

Roy Ayers, 84: The legendary jazz vibraphonist, keyboardist, composer and vocalist was known for his spacy, funky 1976 hit “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” which has been sampled by such R&B and rap heavyweights as Mary J. Blige, N.W.A., Dr. Dre, 2Pac, Mos Def and Ice Cube; March 4

Sylvester Turner, 70: The longtime Texas lawmaker served as mayor of Houston during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, then became a U.S. congressman who held that job for two months before his death; March 5

D’Wayne Wiggins, 64: He was a founding member of the Grammy-nominated group Tony! Toni! Tone! behind the classic songs “Anniversary,” “It Never Rains (In Southern California)” and (Lay Your Head on My) Pillow”; March 7

Junior Bridgeman, 71: The basketball standout starred for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, then launched an even more successful career as a businessman with stakes in restaurants, publishing and the Bucks franchise; March 11

Ron Nessen, 90: He was a veteran broadcast journalist who was press secretary for President Gerald Ford and sought to restore the integrity that the position had lost during the Nixon administration; March 12

John Feinstein, 69; He was the best-selling author of the groundbreaking book “A Season on the Brink,” about college basketball coach Bob Knight, and was considered one of the country’s best sportwriters; March 13

Raúl M. Grijalva, 77: The Democratic congressman from Airzona was a champion of environmental protections and progressive ideals who took on principled but often futile causes during a two-decade career in Congress; March 13

Alan Simpson, 93. The former U.S. senator from Wyoming was a political legend whose quick wit bridged partisan gaps in the years before today’s political acrimony; March 14

Nita Lowey, 87; The former congresswoman was a long-serving New York Democrat who was the first woman to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee; March 15

Eddie Jordan, 76: He was an ex-Formula 1 team owner and media personality whose humor, strong opinions and often extravagant dress sense made him a popular pundit on TV after selling the team in 2005; March 20

Kitty Dukakis, 88: She was the wife of former Massachusetts governor and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, who spoke openly about her struggles with depression and addiction; March 21

George Foreman, 76: The fearsome heavyweight boxer lost the “Rumble in the Jungle” to Muhammad Ali before his inspiring second act as a 45-year-old world champion and a successful businessman; March 21

Mia Love, 49. The Utah lawmaker, who was the daughter of Haitian immigrants, became the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress; March 23

David Childs, 83: He was the lead architect of the One World Trade Center skyscraper that rose from the site where the Twin Towers collapsed in New York City during the 9/11 attacks; March 26

Richard Chamberlain, 90: The actor was the handsome hero of the 1960s television series “Dr. Kildare,” then found a second career as an award-winning “king of the miniseries”; March 29

April

Val Kilmer, 65: The brooding, versatile actor played fan favorite Iceman in “Top Gun,” donned a voluminous cape as Batman in “Batman Forever” and portrayed Jim Morrison in “The Doors”; April 1

Theodore McCarrick, 94: The once-powerful Catholic cardinal was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined he had molested adults and children; April 3

Jay North, 73: He starred as the towheaded mischief-maker on TV’s “Dennis the Menace” for four seasons starting in 1959; April 6

Clem Burke, 70: He was a versatile drummer who propelled the iconic rock group Blondie during its decades performing everything from new-wave punk to disco-infused tunes; April 6

Octavio Dotel, 51. He pitched for 13 major league teams in a 15-year career, including the Oakland Athletics, and won a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals; April 8

Rubby Pérez, 69: Known for songs such as “Volveré,” “El Africano” and “Tu Vas a Volar,” the musician was considered an icon of merengue, the signature musical style of the Dominican Republic; April 8

Mario Vargas Llosa, 89: The Peruvian author was a Nobel literature laureate and a giant of Latin American letters; April 13

Sophie Nyweide, 24: She was a child actor who was best known for her co-starring roles in the films “Mammoth” and “Noah”; April 14

Wink Martindale, 91: The genial host of such hit game shows as “Gambit” and “Tic-Tac-Dough” also did one of the first recorded television interviews with a young Elvis Presley; April 15

Nora Aunor, 71: She became one of the biggest stars of Philippine cinema during a career that spanned seven decades; April 16

Bob Filner, 82: He was a 10-term U.S. congressman from Southern California whose long political career ended abruptly after he was elected mayor of San Diego and driven from office amid sexual misconduct allegations; April 20

Mike Patrick, 80: The longtime sportscaster was the original play-by-play voice of ESPN’s NFL coverage, and was best known for his work on “Sunday Night Football”; April 20

Pope Francis, 88: He was history’s first Latin American pontiff, charming the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienating conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change; April 21

Steve McMichael, 67: He was a star defensive tackle on the Chicago Bears’ famed 1985 Super Bowl championship team and his larger-than-life personality made him a fixture in the Windy City for decades; April 23

Virginia Giuffre, 41. She accused Britain’s Prince Andrew and other influential men of sexually exploiting her as a teenager trafficked by financier Jeffrey Epstein; April 25

Jiggly Caliente, 44: The drag performer came to fame as a contestant on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” then later became a judge on “Drag Race Philippines”; April 27

Sister Inah Canabarro, 116: The Brazilian nun was the world’s oldest living person at the time of her death; April 30

May

Ruth Buzzi, 88: The actress rose to fame on the groundbreaking sketch comedy series “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” and made more than 200 television appearances during a 45-year career; May 1

Jill Sobule, 66: She was an award-winning singer-songwriter whose witty and poignant writing first attracted widespread attention with the gay-themed song “I Kissed a Girl”; May 1

George Ryan, 91: The former Illinois governor was disgraced by a corruption scandal that landed him in prison yet heralded by some for clearing the state’s death row; May 2.

David H. Souter, 85: The retired Supreme Court justice who was the ascetic bachelor and New Hampshire Republican who became a favorite of liberals during his nearly 20 years on the bench. May 8.

Johnny Rodriguez, 73: The country music star was a popular Mexican American singer best known for chart-topping hits in the 1970s such as “I Just Can’t Get Her Out of My Mind,” “Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico” and “That’s the Way Love Goes”; May 9

Robert Benton, 92: The Oscar-winning filmmaker helped reset the rules in Hollywood as the co-creator of “Bonnie and Clyde,” and later received mainstream validation as the writer-director of “Kramer vs. Kramer” and “Places in the Heart”; May 11

José Mujica, 89. The former Uruguayan president was a onetime Marxist guerilla and flower farmer whose radical brand of democracy, plain-spoken philosophy and simple lifestyle fascinated people around the world; May 13

Charles Strouse, 96: The three-time Tony Award-winner was Broadway’s industrious, master melody-maker who composed the music for such classic musical theater hits as “Annie,” “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Applause”; May 15

George Wendt, 76. An actor with an Everyman charm, he played the affable, beer-loving barfly Norm on the hit 1980s TV comedy “Cheers” and later crafted a stage career that took him to Broadway; May 20

Gerald “Gerry” Connolly, 75. The congressman was an outspoken Democrat who sought key reforms in the federal government while bringing transformational development to his populous Virginia district. May 21

Jim Irsay, 65: The colorful owner of the Indianapolis Colts turned the franchise into a perennial title contender, while he also was famed for his ever-expanding musical collection and his purchase of original manuscripts; May 21

Susan Brownmiller, 90: She was a prominent feminist and author of the 1960s and ’70s whose “Against Our Will” was a landmark and intensely debated bestseller about sexual assault; May 24

Phil Robertson, 79: The “Duck Dynasty” patriarch turned his small duck calling interest in the sportsman’s paradise of northern Louisiana into a big business and conservative cultural phenomenon; May 25

Harrison Ruffin Tyler, 96: He was the last living grandson of U.S. President John Tyler, born 83 years after his grandfather left the White House, and was known for preserving his grandfather’s plantation in Virginia; May 25

Charles Rangel, 94: The former New York congressman was an outspoken, gravel-voiced Harlem Democrat who spent nearly five decades on Capitol Hill and was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus; May 26

Rick Derringer, 77: The guitarist and singer shot to fame at 17 when his band The McCoys recorded “Hang On Sloopy,” had a hit with “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” and earned a Grammy Award for producing “Weird Al” Yankovic’s debut album; May 26

Presley Chweneyagae, 40: The South African actor gained international recognition for his leading role in the 2005 film “Tsotsi”, which won South Africa’s first-ever Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; May 27

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, 87: The revered Kenyan man of letters and voice of dissent who in dozens of fiction and nonfiction books traced his country’s history from British imperialism to home-ruled tyranny. May 28

Bernard Kerik, 69: He served as New York City’s police commissioner on 9/11 and later pleaded guilty to tax fraud before being pardoned; May 29

Loretta Swit, 87. She won two Emmy Awards playing Maj. Margaret Houlihan, the demanding head nurse of a behind-the-lines surgical unit during the Korean War on the pioneering hit TV series “M.A.S.H.”; May 30

Etienne-Emile Baulieu, 98: The French scientist was best known as the inventor of the abortion pill; May 30

Renée Victor, 86: She voiced the no-nonsense, sandal-throwing Abuelita in Disney’s animated hit “Coco” and played the wisecracking Lupita on Showtime’s “Weeds”; May 30

June

Jonathan Joss, 59: The Native American actor had scores of TV, film and voice roles, including “King of the Hill” and “Parks and Recreation”; June 1

Jim Marshall, 87: The former Minnesota Vikings defensive end was one of the four members of the famed Purple People Eaters front that formed the backbone of four Super Bowl teams; June 3

Shigeo Nagashima, 89: He was known in Japan as “Mr. Pro Baseball” and was one of the most famous people in the country during his playing days; June 3

Edmund White, 85; The author of best-selling novel “A Boy’s Own Story” was a pioneer of gay literature; June 3

Niède Guidon, 92: The Brazilian archaeologist was known for discovering hundreds of prehistoric cave paintings in Brazil and for her research challenging theories of ancient human presence in the Americas; June 4

Nina Kuscsik, 86: She campaigned for women’s inclusion in long-distance running and won the Boston Marathon the first year women were officially allowed to enter the race; June 8

Sly Stone, 82: He was a revolutionary musician whose Sly and the Family Stone transformed popular music in the 1960s and ’70s and beyond with such hits as “Everyday People,” “Stand!” and “Family Affair”; June 9

Frederick Forsyth, 86: The British author of “The Day of the Jackal” wrote several bestselling thrillers; June 9

Brian Wilson, 82: He was the Beach Boys’ visionary leader whose genius inspired such songs as “Good Vibrations,” “California Girls” and other summertime anthems, and made him one of the world’s most influential recording artists; June 11

Ananda Lewis, 52: The former MTV and BET host became a beloved television personality in the 1990s with her warmth and authenticity; June 11

Anne Burrell, 55: She was a TV chef who coached culinary fumblers through hundreds of episodes of “Worst Cooks in America”; June 17

Lynn Hamilton, 95: The actress had a long theatrical, film and TV career, including roles on the shows “Sanford and Son” and “The Waltons”; June 19

Mick Ralphs, 81: The guitarist, singer and songwriter was a founding member of the classic British rock bands Bad Company and Mott the Hoople; June 23

Bobby Sherman, 81: He was a teen idol in the 1960s and ’70s with bubblegum pop hits like “Little Woman” and “Julie, Do Ya Love Me”; June 24

Carolyn McCarthy, 81: She successfully ran for Congress in 1996 as a crusader for gun control after a mass shooting on a New York commuter train left her husband dead and her son severely wounded; June 26

Bill Moyers, 91: He was a former White House press secretary who became one of television’s most honored journalists, masterfully using a visual medium to illuminate a world of ideas; June 26

Lalo Schifrin, 93. He was an award-winning composer who wrote the catchy theme for “Mission: Impossible” and more than 100 other arrangements for film and TV; June 26

July

Alex Delvecchio, 93: He was a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame who helped the Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup three times in the 1950s; July 1

Jimmy Swaggart, 90: He was a televangelist who became a household name, amassing an enormous following and multimillion-dollar ministry, only to be undone by his penchant for prostitutes; July 1

Julian McMahon, 56: The Australia-born actor had dozens of roles in his career, including in the “Fantastic Four” films and the TV show “Nip/Tuck”; July 2

Diogo Jota, 28: The Portuguese soccer star played for his national team as well as with Liverpool FC in the English Premier League; July 2

Michael Madsen, 67: The actor was best known for his coolly menacing, steely-eyed, often sadistic characters in the films of Quentin Tarantino, including “Reservoir Dogs” and “Kill Bill: Vol. 2”; July 3

David Gergen, 83: The veteran of Washington politics served as an adviser to four presidents in a career spanning decades in government, academia and media. July 10.

Andrea Gibson, 49: The celebrated poet and performance artist who, through their verse, explored gender identity, politics and their 4-year battle with terminal ovarian cancer; July 14

Rev. John MacArthur, 86: He was an influential and exacting evangelical preacher. July 14

Fauja Singh, 114: The Indian-born runner, nicknamed the Turbaned Torpedo, was believed to be the world’s oldest marathon runner; July 14

Connie Francis, 87: She was a wholesome pop star of the 1950s and ’60s whose hits included “Pretty Little Baby” and “Who’s Sorry Now?” — the latter would serve as an ironic title for a personal life filled with heartbreak and tragedy; July 16

Felix Baumgartner, 56: The extreme athlete was the first skydiver to fall faster than the speed of sound during a 24-mile leap through the stratosphere more than a decade ago; July 17

Alan Bergman, 99: He was an Oscar-winning lyricist who teamed with his wife, Marilyn, for an enduring and loving partnership that produced such old-fashioned hits as “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?,” “It Might Be You” and “The Way We Were”; July 17

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, 54: As teenage son Theo Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” he was central to a cultural phenomenon that helped define the 1980s; July 20

Thomas Anthony Durkin, 78: He was a nationally prominent criminal defense attorney who, for five decades, was a fixture in Chicago’s courthouses and who was known for his relentless advocacy for a roster of notorious clients; July 21

Chuck Mangione, 84: He was a two-time Grammy Award-winning musician who achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-flavored single “Feels So Good” and later became a voice actor on the animated TV comedy “King of the Hill”; July 22

Ozzy Osbourne, 76: The gloomy, demon-invoking lead singer of the pioneering band Black Sabbath became the godfather of heavy metal, then gained a new generation in the reality TV show “The Osbournes”; July 22

Hulk Hogan, 71: The mustachioed, headscarf-wearing, bicep-busting icon of professional wrestling turned the sport into a massive business and stretched his influence into TV, pop culture and conservative politics during a long and scandal-plagued second act; July 24

Cleo Laine, 97: Her husky contralto was one of the most distinctive voices in jazz, and she was regarded by many as Britain’s greatest contribution to the quintessentially American music; July 24

Wallis Annenberg, 86: She was billionaire philanthropist who backed arts, science and other causes in the Los Angeles area; July 28

Ryne Sandberg, 65: He was a Hall of Fame second baseman who became one of baseball’s best all-around players while starring for the Chicago Cubs; July 28

Flaco Jimenez, 86: The legendary accordionist from San Antonio won multiple Grammys and helped expand the popularity of conjunto, Tejano and Tex-Mex music; July 31

August

Jeannie Seely, 85: She was the soulful country music singer behind such standards like “Don’t Touch Me”; Aug. 1

Kelley Mack, 33: The actress, who was best known for her role in “The Walking Dead,” had scores of TV and commercial appearances in her career; Aug. 2

Stella Rimington, 90: The first female chief of Britain’s MI5 intelligence agency later became a successful thriller writer; Aug. 3

Loni Anderson, 79: She shot to fame on the hit TV comedy “WKRP in Cincinnati,” but later made headlines for her tumultuous marriage to actor Burt Reynolds; Aug. 3

Billy Howton, 95: The Green Bay Packers star was the first president of the NFL Players Association, and he was thought to be the oldest living NFL player at the time of his death; Aug. 4

Ion Iliescu, 95. He was Romania’s first freely elected president after the fall of communism in 1989, then later faced charges of crimes against humanity for his role in the bloody revolution; Aug. 5

Eddie Palmieri, 88: The avant-garde musician was one of the most innovative artists of rumba and Latin jazz; Aug. 6

Brandon Blackstock, 48: The talent manager represented such stars as Blake Shelton and Rascal Flatts, but also was the ex-husband and former manager of singer Kelly Clarkson; Aug. 7

James Lovell, 97: He was the commander of Apollo 13, who helped turn a failed moon mission into a triumph of on-the-fly can-do engineering; Aug. 7

Myint Swe, 74: He became Myanmar’s acting president under controversial circumstances after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than four years ago; Aug. 7

William H. Webster, 101: He was the former FBI and CIA director whose troubleshooting skills and integrity helped restore public confidence in those federal agencies; Aug. 8

Danielle Spencer, 60: She played the wisecracking and tattling little sister Dee Thomas on the 1970s sitcom “What’s Happening!!”; Aug. 11

Mike Castle, 86: The former Delaware governor was a Republican moderate who championed creating the 50 State Quarters Program of commemorative coins while he served in Congress; Aug. 14

Tristan Rogers, 79: He played fan favorite Robert Scorpio on ABC’s “General Hospital”; Aug. 15

Terence Stamp, 87: The British actor often played the role of a complex villain, including that of General Zod in the early Superman films; Aug. 17

Brent Hinds, 51: He was the former singer-guitarist for the Grammy-winning heavy metal band Mastodon; Aug. 20

Frank Caprio, 88: He was a retired municipal judge in Rhode Island who found online fame as a caring jurist and host of “Caught in Providence”; Aug. 20

James Dobson, 89: The child psychologist founded the conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family and was a politically influential campaigner against abortion and LGBTQ+ rights; Aug. 21.

Ron Turcotte, 84: The Hall of Fame jockey rode Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973; Aug. 22

Jerry Adler, 96: The longtime Broadway stage manager, producer and director later pivoted to acting, with roles on such TV shows as “The Sopranos” and “The Good Wife”; Aug. 23

Angela Mortimer Barrett, 93: She overcame partial deafness and an intestinal infection to win three Grand Slam singles titles, including 1961 Wimbledon; Aug. 25

Randy “Duke” Cunningham, 83: His feats as a Navy flying ace during the Vietnam War catapulted him to a U.S. House of Representatives career that ended in disgrace when he was convicted of accepting $2.4 million in bribes; Aug. 27

September

Graham Greene, 73: He was a trailblazing Indigenous actor whose long and successful career on the big and small screen included an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Kicking Bird in “Dances with Wolves”; Sept. 1

Giorgio Armani, 91: The iconic Italian designer turned the concept of understated elegance into a multibillion-dollar fashion empire; Sept. 4

Joseph McNeil, 83: He was one of four North Carolina college students whose occupation of a racially segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter 65 years ago helped spark nonviolent civil rights sit-in protests across the South; Sept. 4

The Duchess of Kent, 92: Born Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley, she famously broke royal protocol to hug a Wimbledon runner-up and stepped away from family duties to teach music in a public school. Sept. 4

Ken Dryden, 78: The Hall of Fame goaltender helped the Montreal Canadiens win six Stanley Cup titles in the 1970s; Sept. 5

Davey Johnson, 82; The former MLB player was a four-time All-Stars, then later managed the 1986 New York Mets to a World Series win; Sept. 5

Mark Volman, 78: He was a founding member of the 1960s pop group The Turtles, whose hits include “Happy Together” and “Elenore”; Sept. 5

Rick Davies, 81: The British musician was co-founder and singer for the band Supertramp; Sept. 6

Polly Holliday, 88: The Tony Award-nominated screen and stage actor turned the catchphrase “Kiss my grits!” into a national retort as the gum-chewing, beehive-wearing server on the long-running CBS sitcom “Alice”; Sept. 9

Bobby Hart, 86: The songwriter was a key part of the Monkees’ multimedia empire who teamed with Tommy Boyce on such hits as “Last Train to Clarksville” and “I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone”; Sept. 10

Charlie Kirk, 31: He rose from a teenage conservative campus activist to a top podcaster and ally of President Donald Trump; Sept. 10

Kim Seong-Min, 63: The prominent North Korean defector used radio broadcasts, USB sticks and a network of sources in the secretive country to inform the North Korean public about the truth of their authoritarian government; Sept. 12

Ricky Hatton, 46: The former boxing world champion rose to become one of the most popular fighters in the sport; Sept. 14

Robert Redford, 89: The Hollywood golden boy became an Oscar-winning director, liberal activist and godfather for independent cinema under the name of one of his best-loved characters; Sept. 16

Brett James, 57: He was a Grammy award-winning country songwriter whose string of top hits includes “Jesus, Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood and “When the Sun Goes Down” by Kenny Chesney; Sept. 18

Sonny Curtis, 88: The vintage rock ‘n’ roller wrote the classic “I Fought the Law” and posed the enduring question “Who can turn the world on with her smile?” as the writer-crooner of the theme song to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show;” Sept. 19

Bernie Parent, 80: The Hall of Famer was considered one of the great goalies of all time and anchored the net for the Philadelphia Flyers’ only two Stanley Cup championships in the 1970s; Sept. 21

Bobby Cain, 85: He helped integrate one of the first high schools in the South in 1956 as one of the so-called Clinton 12; Sept. 22

Bobby Grier, 82: He was a longtime NFL executive with the New England Patriots, Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins, and he also was father of San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier;  Sept. 22

Claudia Cardinale, 87: She was an acclaimed Italian actor who starred in some of the most celebrated European films of the 1960s and 1970s; Sept. 23

Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, in his 80s: Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti served as the kingdom’s top religious figure over a quarter century that saw the ultraconservative Muslim nation socially liberalize; Sept. 23

Sara Jane Moore, 95: She was imprisoned for more than 30 years after she made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975; Sept. 24

Robert B. Barnett, 79: The powerhouse Washington attorney became a fixture in the political and publishing worlds as the literary representative for Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and dozens of others; Sept. 25

Assata Shakur, 78: The Black liberation activist was given political asylum in Cuba after her 1979 escape from a U.S. prison where she had been serving a life sentence for killing a law enforcement officer; Sept. 25

Russell M. Nelson, 101: He was the oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Sept. 27

October

Jane Goodall, 91: The conservationist was renowned for her groundbreaking chimpanzee field research and globe-spanning environmental advocacy; Oct. 1

Ike Turner Jr., 67: He was a musician and producer who worked with his famed parents, Ike Turner and Tina Turner; Oct. 4

Jilly Cooper, 88: The bestselling British author was known for her chronicles of class and sex in risqué novels, including “Rivals” and “Riders”; Oct. 5

Joan B. Kennedy, 89: She was the first wife of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy who endured a troubled marriage marked by family tragedies, her husband’s infidelities and her own decades-long struggles with alcoholism and mental health; Oct. 8

Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, 106: She was the chaplain for the men’s basketball team at Loyola Chicago who became a beloved international celebrity during the school’s fairy-tale run to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in 2018; Oct. 9

John Lodge, 82: He was a singer and bassist with British rock band The Moody Blues for more than 50 years; Oct. 10

Diane Keaton, 79: She was the Oscar-winning star of “Annie Hall,” “The Godfather” films and “Father of the Bride,” whose quirky, vibrant manner and depth made her one of the most singular actors of a generation; Oct. 11

Doug Lebda, 55: The businessman was the founder and CEO of the online loaning platform LendingTree; Oct. 12

D’Angelo, 51: The Grammy-winning R&B singer was recognized by his raspy yet smooth voice and for garnering mainstream attention with the shirtless “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” music video; Oct. 14

Ace Frehley, 74: He was the original lead guitarist and founding member of the glam-rock band Kiss, who captivated audiences with his elaborate galactic makeup and smoking guitar; Oct. 16

Kanchha Sherpa, 92: He was the last surviving member of the mountaineering expedition team that first conquered Mount Everest; Oct. 16

Susan Stamberg, 87: She was a “founding mother” of National Public Radio and the first female broadcaster to host a national news program; Oct. 16

Tomiichi Murayama, 101: Japan’s former prime minister was known for his 1995 “Murayama statement” apologizing to Asian victims of his country’s aggression Oct. 17

Sam Rivers, 48: The musician was the bassist with the nu-metal band Limp Bizkit; Oct. 18

Chen Ning Yang, 103: The Chinese Nobel Prize-winning physicist was one of the most influential scientists in modern physics; Oct. 18

Isabelle Tate, 23: She was an actor and songwriter who appeared on the TV show “9-1-1: Nashville”; Oct. 19

Daniel Naroditsky, 29: He was a chess grandmaster who started as a child prodigy and quickly became one of the most influential American voices in the sport; Oct. 20

Dave Ball, 66: The British musician was half of the synth-pop duo Soft Cell; Oct. 22

June Lockhart, 100: She became a mother figure for a generation of television viewers whether at home in “Lassie” or up in the stratosphere in “Lost in Space”; Oct. 23

Queen Mother Sirikit, 93: She supervised royal projects in Thailand to help the rural poor, preserve traditional craft-making and protect the environment; Oct. 24

Nick Mangold, 41: The former New York Jets center was one of the franchise’s greatest players who helped lead the team to the AFC championship game twice; Oct. 25

Jack DeJohnette, 93: He was a Grammy-winning jazz drummer who collaborated with many of genre’s greats, including Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock; Oct. 26

Prunella Scales, 93: The actor was best known for her role as acid-tongued Sybil Fawlty in the classic British sitcom “Fawlty Towers”; Oct. 27

Floyd Roger Myers Jr., 42: He was a child actor who appeared in such TV shows as “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and “The Jacksons: An American Dream”; Oct. 29

Burt Meyer, 99: He was a toy inventor who dreamed up such childhood favorites as Lite-Brite and Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots; Oct. 30

November

Young Bleed, 51: The rapper was known for such songs as “Pull It Off” and the album  “My Balls and My Word (All I Have in This World..)”; Nov. 1

Stanley Chesley, 89: He was a class-action lawsuit pioneer who took on cigarette companies and the makers of faulty breast implants, his legal career ended amid accusations of unethical conduct; Nov. 2

Dick Cheney, 84: The hard-charging conservative was a leading advocate for invading Iraq as one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in U.S. history. Years later, he became a critic and target of President Donald Trump; Nov. 3

Diane Ladd, 89: The actor was nominated three times for Academy Awards, as the brash waitress in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” the scheming parent in “Wild at Heart” and her role with daughter Laura Dern in “Rambling Rose”; Nov. 3

Kim Yong Nam, 97: North Korea’s longtime ceremonial head of state was best known for his deep, booming voice in propaganda-filled speeches supporting the ruling Kim dynasty; Nov. 3

Pauline Collins, 85: The British actress won a cult following for playing Shirley Valentine, first as a one-woman stage show, then in an Oscar-nominated performance in the 1988 film of the same name; Nov. 5

James D. Watson, 97; His co-discovery of the twisted-ladder structure of DNA in 1953 helped light the long fuse on a revolution in medicine, crimefighting, genealogy and ethics; Nov. 6

Paul Tagliabue, 84: He helped bring labor peace and riches to the NFL during his 17 years as commissioner but was criticized for not taking stronger action on concussions; Nov. 9

Lenny Wilkens, 88: The basketball legend coached the most games in NBA history, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player, as a coach and again as part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team; Nov. 9

Cleto Escobedo III, 59: The noted musician was the bandleader for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and was the host’s childhood friend; Nov. 11

Sally Kirkland, 84; The stage, film and TV actor was best known for sharing the screen with Paul Newman and Robert Redford in “The Sting” and her Oscar-nominated title role in the 1987 movie “Anna”; Nov. 11

Juan Ponce Enrile, 101: He was the Philippines’ defense chief during the martial-law era notorious for human rights atrocities, democratic setbacks and plunder, then broke from Ferdinand Marcos, leading to the dictator’s overthrow in a 1986 “people power” uprising; Nov. 13

Todd Snider, 59: The singer’s thoughtfully freewheeling tunes and cosmic-stoner songwriting made him a beloved figure in American roots music; Nov. 14

Paul Costelloe, 80: The Irish-American fashion designer was the personal designer for Princess Diana until her death in 1997; Nov. 21

Maria De La Rosa, 22: The Latin music singer, who was known as Delarosa, had a hit with the song “No Me Llames”; Nov. 22

H. Rap Brown, 82: One of the most vocal leaders of the Black Power movement, he died serving a life sentence for the killing in 2000 of a Georgia sheriff’s deputy; Nov. 23

Dharmendra, 89: A defining screen presence of 1970s and 1980s Bollywood films, he was one of Indian cinema’s most popular stars; Nov. 24

Jimmy Cliff, 81: The reggae pioneer and actor starred in the landmark movie “The Harder They Come” and preached joy and resilience in such classics as “Many Rivers to Cross,” “You Can Get it If You Really Want” and “Vietnam”; Nov. 24

Viola Ford Fletcher, 111: As one of the last survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Oklahoma, she spent her later years seeking justice for the deadly attack by a white mob on the thriving Black community where she lived as a child; Nov. 24

Fuzzy Zoeller, 74.:One of golf’s most gregarious characters, the two-time major champion’s career was tainted by a racially insensitive joke about Tiger Woods; Nov. 27

Tom Stoppard, 88: The British playwright was a playful, probing dramatist who won an Academy Award for his screenplay for 1998’s “Shakespeare In Love”; Nov. 29

December

Elden Campbell, 57: The retired NBA star played for 15 seasons, largely with the Los Angeles Lakers; Dec. 1

Charles Shay, 101: The decorated Native American veteran was a 19-year-old U.S. Army medic when he landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and helped save lives; Dec. 3

Steve Cropper, 84: A lean, soulful guitarist and songwriter, he helped anchor the celebrated Memphis backing band Booker T. and the M.G.’s at Stax Records and co-wrote the classics “Green Onions,” ”(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay” and “In the Midnight Hour”; Dec. 3

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, 75: The Tokyo-born actor was known for his roles in the film “Mortal Kombat” and the TV series “The Man in the High Castle”; Dec. 4

Frank Gehry, 96: He designed some of most imaginative buildings ever constructed and achieved a level of worldwide acclaim seldom afforded any architect; Dec. 5

Rafael Ithier, 99: He was a beloved musician and a founder of the legendary salsa band El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, whose hits have inspired Bad Bunny and other icons from the U.S. territory and beyond; Dec. 6

Raul Malo, 60: He was the soulful tenor and frontman of the genre-defying, Grammy-winning band The Mavericks. Dec. 8

Rod Paige, 92: The educator, coach and administrator rolled out the nation’s landmark No Child Left Behind law as the first African American to serve as U.S. education secretary; Dec. 9

Jeff Garcia, 50: He was a comedian and voice actor best known for the “Jimmy Neutron” franchise; Dec. 10

Sophie Kinsella, 55: Her effervescent rom-com “Confessions of a Shopaholic” sparked a millions-selling series; Dec. 10

Michele Singer Reiner, 70: She was a photographer and film producer who, with husband Rob, was an advocate for social justice and LGBTQ rights; Dec. 14

Rob Reiner, 78: The son of a comedy giant shot to fame on TV’s “All in the Family,” then became one of the preeminent filmmakers of his generation with movies such as “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally …” and “This Is Spinal Tap”; Dec. 14

Anthony Geary, 78: He rose to fame in the 1970s and ’80s as half the daytime TV super couple Luke and Laura on “General Hospital;” Dec. 14

Joe Ely, 78: The influential singer-songwriter collaborated with some of music’s biggest names in his storied career; Dec. 15

Gil Gerard, 82: He played television’s hunky sci-fi hero William “Buck” Rogers soon after the Star Wars franchise took hold in the late 1970s; Dec. 16

Peter Arnett, 91: He was the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who spent decades dodging bullets and bombs to bring the world eyewitness accounts of war from the rice paddies of Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq; Dec. 17

Greg Biffle, 55: The racing champion was picked by NASCAR as one of its top 75 drivers in history, but was remembered for his work helping others as a helicopter pilot after Hurricane Helene; Dec. 18

Vince Zampella, 55: He was a video game pioneer who created the best-selling “Call of Duty” franchise; Dec. 21

Bay Area News Group, CNN Wire Services and Bay Area News Group wire services contributed to this report. 

Vince Zampella, one of the creators behind such best-selling video games as “Call of Duty,” has died. He was 55.

Video game company Electronic Arts said Zampella died Sunday. The company did not disclose a cause of death.

In 2010, Zampella founded Respawn Entertainment, a subsidiary of EA, and he also was the former chief executive of video game developer Infinity Ward, the studio behind the successful “Call of Duty” franchise.

A spokesperson for Electronic Arts said in a statement on Monday that Zampella’s influence on the video game industry was “profound and far-reaching.”

“A friend, colleague, leader and visionary creator, his work helped shape modern interactive entertainment and inspired millions of players and developers around the world. His legacy will continue to shape how games are made and how players connect for generations to come,” a company spokesperson wrote.

One of Zampella’s crowning achievements was the creation of the Call of Duty franchise, which has sold more than half a billion games worldwide.

The first person shooter game debuted in 2003 as a World War II simulation and has sold over 500 million copies globally. Subsequent versions have delved into modern warfare and there is a live-action movie based on the game in production with Paramount Pictures.

In recent years, Zampella has been at the helm of the creation of the action adventure video games Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

In 2025, we said farewell to notable residents whose names were well-known. And we remember those whose faces were less familiar.

Dennis Richmond and Belva Davis came into our homes for years with all the top headlines. Sly Stone sparked a revolution in music in the 1960s and ’70s. Charles Phan changed the way we thought about Vietnamese food. John Burton was a longtime lawmaker who helped shaped countless political careers. And John Beam was a beloved coach who shaped the lives of countless athletes who played for him.

RELATED: End of an era: Famous people who died in 2025

And while they may be gone, they’re not forgotten.

Here are their stories:

January

Stan Buchanan, 91: He was a starter on the University of San Francisco’s celebrated 1955 national championship basketball team alongside Bill Russell and K.C Jones, then later became a teacher and coach at several Bay Area high schools; Jan. 2

Perry, 30: The beloved donkey, who lived for years at Bol Park in Palo Alto, was the inspiration for the character of Donkey in the “Shrek” films; Jan. 2

Scott Espinosa-Brown, 69: The longtime girls basketball coach was a fixture in Contra Costa County, leading Campolindo High to three NCS titles and serving as an assistant at Acalanes High; Jan. 5

Claude Jarman Jr., 90: The Marin County resident was a child actor who won an Oscar for his role in the film “The Yearling,” then years later served as executive director of the San Francisco International Film Festival; Jan. 12

Jessica York, 43: She was a reporter who worked at such Bay Area publications as the Alameda Journal, the Vallejo Times-Herald and the Santa Cruz Sentinel; Jan. 15

Robin Worthington, 92: She was a longtime Bay Area reporter and columnist for the Fremont Argus and the Mercury News; Jan. 16

Charles Phan, 62: He was an award-winning chef whose famed restaurant, Slanted Door, brought modern interpretations of Vietnamese cuisine to Bay Area and influenced restaurants around the US; Jan. 20

Julie Perez: She became a police reform advocate following the death of her son Pedie Perez by the hands of a former Richmond police officer; Jan. 22

Joseph Bradley: The Serra High priest and football chaplain, lovingly known as Father Joe, chronicled his recovery from substance abuse in a 2012 memoir called “The Four Gifts”; Jan. 28

February

Michael Burawoy, 77: The UC Berkeley professor emeritus was considered a worldwide expert in the field of sociology; Feb. 3

Hans de Lannoy, 72: He was a Bay Area high school basketball coaching icon, winning more than 500 games over his six-decade career; Feb. 3

Dennis Richmond, 81: He was a legendary TV journalist at KTVU who broke racial barriers and later was considered one of the Bay Area’s most trusted anchors; Feb. 5

Clint Hill, 93: The longtime Marin County resident was the Secret Service agent who leaped onto the back of President John F. Kennedy’s limousine after the president was shot, then was forced to retire early because he remained haunted by memories of the assassination; Feb. 21

March

D’Wayne Wiggins, 64: The Oakland music legend reached platinum-plus heights as a founding member of the immensely popular R&B act Tony! Toni! Toné, then later worked as a producer with several notable artists; March 3

Art Schallock, 100: The Bay Area native was an MLB pitcher who once replaced Mickey Mantle on the New York Yankees’ roster; at the time of his death, he had been the oldest living former major leaguer; March 6

Jeffrey Bruce Klein, 77: The longtime Bay Area journalist was a founder and editor of Mother Jones magazine, a founder of West, the former Sunday magazine of the Mercury News, as well as a journalism professor at Stanford; March 13

Don Gage, 79: He spent more than 30 years in local politics, serving on the Gilroy City Council, as the city’s mayor and later on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors; March 25

Bob “Doc” Scott, 97: The Santa Cruz resident was a doctor and surgeon, but he was legendary in the surfing community, serving as a mentor to many and inventing the ubiquitous “Doc’s Proplugs”

Frank Taylor, 87: The former head of the San Jose Redevelopment Agency is credited as one of the most influential people in the redevelopment of the city’s downtown

April

Octavio Dotel, 51: The journeyman MLB pitcher played for 13 teams over 15 seasons, including a two-year stint with the Oakland A’s in the early 2000s; April 8

Robert Lozoff, 77: He was a bartender at Trident restaurant in Sausalito when he helped create the famed tequila sunrise cocktail in the 1970s; April 14

Barry Swenson, 85: He turned his family’s general contracting company into an award-winning design-build development company, and he helped to revive the struggling San Jose and Santa Cruz downtowns; April 19

Alcario Castellano, 90: He was a retired San Jose grocery clerk who turned his then-record $141 million lottery jackpot into a vehicle for philanthropy; April 26

Jeff Sperbeck, 62: He was a sports agent whose clients included 49ers stars Ronnie Lott and Roger Craig and Denver Broncos legend John Elway, and he co-owned 7Cellars, a winery based in Napa County, with Elway; April 30

May

Federal Glover, 69: The longtime Contra Costa politician served on the Pittsburg City Council and as the city’s mayor, and he later became the first Black member of the county’s Board of Supervisors; May 18

Hilding “Tex” Ronning, 89: He was a longtime teacher at Santa Cruz High School who also served as a beloved football and wrestling coach; May 22

June

Bill Atkinson, 74: He was a pioneering designer at Apple whose software made computers easier to for non-trained users to operate and “made the Macintosh possible”; June 5

Sly Stone, 82: The legendary Bay Area musician was the front man for the funk-rock-soul band Sly and the Family Stone, but his influence on artists in many genres still can be felt today; June 9

Kazuo “Kaz” Kajimura, 82: He got his start as the co-owner of a tiny Japanese restaurant and eventually turned that into the famed Oakland jazz venue Yoshi’s; June 15

Chandler Jones, 33: The former San Jose State football standout played in the Canadian Football League with the Montreal Alouettes, then later returned to SJSU as a coach; June 22

Dave Parker, 74: The Baseball Hall of Famer, nicknamed “The Cobra,” was a key part to the 1989 Oakland A’s team that beat the San Francisco Giants in the Bay Bridge World Series after years of starring with the Pittsburgh Pirates; June 28

July

Dan Siegel, 79: The longtime Oakland resident led the “Bloody Thursday” protest at People’s Park in Berkeley in 1969, then launched a career as a civil rights attorney; July 2

David Kaffinetti, 79: The keyboardist was a onetime member of the parody rock act Spinal Tap who then became a popular performer in the East Bay music scene; July 11

Martin Cruz Smith, 82: The former Marin County resident was an acclaimed mystery author whose best-selling books include “Gorky Park”; July 11

Bill Neukom, 83: The longtime San Francisco Giants executive was at the helm when the team won their first championship since moving to the West Coast in 2010; July 14

Wayne Thomas, 77: The former hockey goalie played eight NHL seasons before a launching a career as a coach and team executive that included more than two decades with the San Jose Sharks; July 16

“Papa Jake” Larson, 102: The Lafayette resident was a D-Day veteran who found fame late in life as he shared stories from World War II on TikTok on his account, “Story Time with Papa Jake”; July 17

Alex the Great, 4: The beloved therapy bunny got his start with the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park, then appeared at such venues as NBA arenas, airports, farmers markets, Easter egg hunts and NASCAR races; July 21

Tom Lehrer, 97: He was a much-loved song satirist whose work appeared in TV programs and stage shows, but he later pivoted to teaching mathematics at UC Santa Cruz and other universities; July 27

Toft Jessen, 104: The highly decorated D-Day veteran once played baseball for the New York Yankees before joining the Oakland Police Department, where he was considered an inspiration for decades after leaving the force; July 28

August

Randy Moffitt, 76: The noted relief pitcher with the San Francisco Giants, a member of the team’s inaugural Wall of Fame, also was the brother of tennis legend Billie Jean King; Aug. 28

John Cummings, 58: The longtime South Bay resident was the original drummer for the acclaimed San Jose rock act The Odd Numbers; Aug. 29

September

Bruce Loose, 66: The San Francisco musician was the bassist and singer with the punk band Flipper, which influenced Nirvana, Melvins, Jane’s Addiction and other acts, Sept. 5

John Burton, 92: The longtime Democratic lawmaker from San Francisco served both in Washington and Sacramento, and nurtured countless political careers, including that of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Sept. 7

Bob Milano, 85: The Oakland native was a Cal baseball legend, starring at the university as a catcher before becoming the Golden Bears’ winningest coach; Sept. 15

George Smoot, 80: He was a Nobel laureate who researched the universe’s origins during a long career at UC Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Sept. 18

Belva Davis, 92: She was a pioneering journalist, working on Bay Area radio before becoming the first Black TV female reporter on the West Coast when she joined KPIX-TV in 1966, then later moving to KRON-TV and KQED; Sept. 24

Sara Jane Moore, 95: She tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford in San Francisco in 1975, then served most of her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin before being unexpectedly paroled in 2007; Sept. 24

October

Sam Sebastiani, 84: He was a member of an influential wine family in Sonoma County who worked at the family’s Sebastiani Vineyards before later founding Viansa Winery; Oct. 6

Larry Williams, 62: The former offensive lineman played in eight NFL seasons, then later served an athletic director at several schools before taking the same job at the University of San Francisco; Oct. 16

Mike Doyle, 96: The longtime Danville resident served as a town official for 25 years, including six terms as a councilman and five times as mayor; Oct. 19

Daniel Naroditsky, 29: The chess grandmaster, who grew up in Foster City and attended Stanford, ran an online chess platform and worked as a frequent commentator and chess coach; Oct. 19

Bill Patterson, 94: The civil rights leader was a three-term president of the Oakland chapter of the NAACP and was the first Black president of the board for the East Bay Municipal Utility District; Oct. 21

Carol Davis, 93: She was considered the First Lady of Raider Nation, and with son Mark took over ownership of the Oakland Raiders after husband Al died in 2011; Oct. 24

George Atkinson, 78: He was a member of the Oakland Raiders’ famed “Soul Patrol,” a hard-hitting defensive backfield that terrorized the NFL in the 1970s, then later served on the Raiders’ announcing team; Oct. 27

November

Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, 78: She was a longtime Bay Area singer who performed with the Grateful Dead in 1970s, and collaborated with such artists as Elvis Presley, Cher and Percy Sledge; Nov. 2

Victor Conte, 75: The founder of the notorious BALCO company was at the heart of the biggest sports scandal in U.S. history in the early 2000s, which ensnared MLB stars, NFL players and Olympic medalists; Nov. 3

Micheal Ray Richardson, 70: The former Golden State Warriors guard played in the NBA for eight years but was banned in 1986 after violating the league’s drug policy; Nov. 11

Robert Stirm, 92: The longtime Bay Area resident had been a prisoner of war in Vietnam and was seen reuniting with his family at Travis Air Force Base in 1973 in the famed “Burst of Joy” photo; Nov. 11

John Beam, 66: The legendary Oakland football coach, who later became athletic director at Laney College, was beloved for helping countless student athletes find their footing; Nov. 14

Alice Wong, 51: The San Francisco resident was an advocate who fought for greater accessibility and accommodations for people with disabilities; Nov. 14

December

Claude, 30: The rare albino alligator was a beloved figure at the Cal Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and he was considered an unofficial mascot of the museum and the city; Dec. 2

Stephen Cassidy, 61: He was a public official in San Leandro, serving as a trustee for the San Leandro Unified School District, on the San Leandro City Council and later as the city’s mayor; Dec. 5

Frank Gehry, 96: He designed some of most imaginative buildings ever constructed, including Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, and achieved a level of worldwide acclaim seldom afforded any architect; Dec. 5.

Paul Wiggin, 91: The Stanford football legend was a All-American defensive lineman for the Cardinal in the 1950s, then served as the team’s head coach for three seasons, including during the infamous 1982 “The Play” game vs. Cal; Dec. 12

Mike White, 89: He was a longtime football coach who connected with nearly every team in the Bay Area — including Cal, Stanford, the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers — among others during his career; Dec. 14

Betty Reid Soskin, 104: The longtime East Bay resident was a pioneering historian who, as a ranger at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, centered Black women’s World War II experiences; Dec. 21

Associated Press and CNN Wire Services contributed to this report.

Reid Soskin was the nation’s oldest active park ranger when she retired in 2022 at 100 years old. She had also served more than 15 years at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park in Richmond.

She led tours at the park and museum, which honored women who worked in factories during wartime and shared her own experience as a Black woman during the conflict. She worked for the U.S. Air Force in 1942, but quit after learning “she was employed only because her superiors believed she was white,” according to a Park Service Biography.

According to a Facebook post by family members, Reid Soskin passed away at her home in Richmond surrounded by family.

“She led a fully packed life and was ready to leave,” they wrote.

Soskin served more than 15 years as a ranger at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, where she led tours and helped shape the park’s narrative by centering the experiences of Black women during World War II.

“Being a primary source in the sharing of that history — my history — and helping give shape to a new national park has been exciting and fulfilling,” Soskin said in a National Park Service statement after her retirement. “It brought meaning to my final years.”

Family members confirmed her death in a Facebook post, saying Soskin was surrounded by loved ones. Her son, Robert Reid, said she died in hospice care after being hospitalized for an intestinal blockage and choosing not to undergo surgery.

“Her cause of death was living,” Reid said, recalling his mother joking at the hospital. “She lived it up and there was nothing left in the end. She was ready to go … she was her to the very end.”

While many people came to know Soskin through her work with the National Park Service, Reid emphasized the breadth of her life before she became a ranger at age 85. She was a business owner, a singer-songwriter and an anti-war and civil rights activist, and was a close friend of Malvina Reynolds, the Berkeley songwriter best known for “Little Boxes.”

Soskin was born Betty Charbonnet on Sept. 22, 1921, in Detroit to a Louisiana Creole family. She lived in New Orleans before moving to Oakland at age 6, years before the large migration of African Americans to the Bay Area during World War II.

During the war, Soskin worked as a file clerk for a segregated shipyard workers union auxiliary. She was later hired by the U.S. Air Force in 1942 but quit after learning she had been employed because supervisors mistakenly believed she was white, according to a National Park Service biography.

After the war, Soskin and her first husband, Mel Reid, bought property and built their home in an all-white suburb of Walnut Creek, becoming the first Black family in the area in the 1950s. They faced death threats and hostility from neighbors.

In 1945, the couple founded Reid’s Records, a longtime Berkeley institution dedicated to the distribution of African American music. In the 1980s and 1990s, Soskin took over the business and expanded its offerings to include church supplies as the music industry evolved.

Soskin was also deeply involved in the civil rights movement. According to her son, she became active in the Mount Diablo Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, where an emphasis on progressive politics and social action made her feel welcomed.

In the 1960s, she wrote and performed original protest songs addressing racism, war and social justice. In the 1970s, she raised money from white donors in the Diablo Valley to support the Black Panther Party; some members of the extended Reid family were active in the organization.

Her musical legacy is enshrined in the 2024 musical “Sign My Name to Freedom,” which shares its title with her 2018 memoir.  Robert Reid said the name comes from a song his mother wrote honoring women who traveled to Mississippi to help Black residents register to vote.

“Even though my mother’s gone, she’ll still be around,” he said, referring to the documentary film “Sign My Name to Freedom,” which he hopes will be released soon.

Later in life, Soskin worked as a field representative for former state Assembly members Dion Aroner and Loni Hancock and was active in planning Richmond’s Rosie the Riveter park. Her talks about race and social change frequently sold out.

She received numerous honors for her work. In 1995, she was named California Woman of the Year. In 2015, she received a presidential coin from President Barack Obama after helping light the National Christmas Tree at the White House.

In June 2016, Soskin was awakened in her Richmond home by a robber who dragged her from her bedroom and beat her. She was 94 at the time. Soskin recovered and returned to work just weeks later. The stolen presidential coin was later replaced.

“I don’t want to face the public as a victim. I’m a survivor,” she said at the time. “People need to know I’m all right, and you can send that message.”

Glamour magazine named Soskin a Woman of the Year in 2018, and she was later honored with an entry in the Congressional Record.

Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez called Soskin “an amazing woman” with “moxie” who brought history to life through storytelling.

“She is the embodiment of resilience,” Martinez said. “She is the embodiment of self-awareness and understanding the meaning of social justice. She’s gonna be missed. … She also was a good example of compassion and forgiveness, and I think that’s what gave her strength.”

In 2019, Soskin suffered a stroke but recovered and returned to work at the Rosie the Riveter museum five months later. When she returned in January 2020, she told staff and well-wishers that she feared she might not recover.

“But it’s amazing,” she said after arriving back at the park.

Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia recalled meeting Soskin before she was hired at the Rosie the Riveter museum, when he asked how she felt about the park given its history of discrimination.

Soskin told him that those stories — both the uplifting and the painful — needed to be told, but she was unsure whether they actually would be. Gioia said the conversation stayed with him because Soskin, who questioned whether the park would fully confront that history, ultimately became one of the people entrusted to tell it.

“She had this hesitation, but she went on to be part of history to tell these stories,” Gioia said.

Soskin divorced Mel Reid in 1972 and married Dr. William Soskin in 1978. She met her second husband while working as an administrator at the University of California. Both of her husbands and her father died in the late 1980s.

Soskin is survived by her son, Robert Thomas Reid of Oakland; her daughters, Diara Melitte Kitty Reid and Dorian Leon Reid of Richmond; five grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and three nieces.

Her life is also the subject of the documentary “No Time to Waste: The Urgent Mission of Betty Reid Soskin,” which celebrates her work to restore what the film describes as “critical missing chapters of America’s story.”

The family encouraged those wishing to honor Soskin’s legacy to donate to Betty Reid Soskin Middle School or support completion of the documentary, “Sign My Name to Freedom.”

World War II Navy veteran Ira “Ike” Schab, one of the dwindling number of survivors of the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 105.

Daughter Kimberlee Heinrichs told The Associated Press that Schab died at home in Beaverton, Ore., early Saturday in the presence of her and her husband.

With his passing, there remain only about a dozen survivors of the surprise attack, which killed just over 2,400 troops and propelled the United States into the war.

Schab was a sailor of just 21 at the time of the attack, and for decades he rarely spoke about the experience.

But in recent years, aware that the corps of survivors was dwindling, the centenarian made a point of traveling from his home in Beaverton, Oregon, to the annual observance at the Hawaii military base.

“To pay honor to the guys that didn’t make it,” he said in 2023.

For last year’s commemoration, Schab spent weeks building up the strength to be able to stand and salute.

But this year he did not feel well enough to attend, and less than three weeks later, he passed away.

Born on Independence Day in 1920 in Chicago, Schab was the eldest of three brothers.

He joined the Navy at 18, following in the footsteps of his father, he said in a February interview for Pacific Historic Parks.

On what began as a peaceful Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, Schab, who played the tuba in the USS Dobbin’s band, was expecting a visit from his brother, a fellow service member assigned to a nearby naval radio station. Schab had just showered and donned a clean uniform when he heard a call for fire rescue.

He went topside and saw another ship, the USS Utah, capsizing. Japanese planes roared through the air.

“We were pretty startled. Startled and scared to death,” Schab recalled in 2023. “We didn’t know what to expect, and we knew that if anything happened to us, that would be it.”

He scurried back below deck to grab boxes of ammunition and joined a daisy chain of sailors feeding shells to an anti-aircraft gun above.

His ship lost three sailors, according to Navy records. One was killed in action, and two died later of fragment wounds from a bomb that struck the stern. All had been manning an anti-aircraft gun.

Schab spent most of the war with the Navy in the Pacific, going to the New Hebrides, now known as Vanuatu, and then the Mariana Islands and Okinawa, Japan.

After the war he studied aerospace engineering and worked on the Apollo spaceflight program as an electrical engineer for General Dynamics, helping send astronauts to the moon.

Schab’s son also joined the Navy and is a retired commander.

Speaking at a 2022 ceremony, Schab asked people to honor those who served at Pearl Harbor.

“Remember what they’re here for. Remember and honor those that are left. They did a hell of a job,” he said. “Those who are still here, dead or alive.”

His death, in a hospice, was confirmed by his son, Carl Cannon, who said the cause was complications of a stroke.

A celebrated journalist and author, Lou Cannon covered Reagan for decades, first in California during the first of Reagan’s two terms as governor, and then as the senior White House correspondent for The Washington Post during Reagan’s two-term presidency in the 1980s, an era of rising American confidence that set the stage for nuclear detente and the end of the Cold War.

In a crowded publishing niche — the number of books on Reagan easily exceeds 1,000 — Cannon was widely regarded as a foremost authority on the president. He had extraordinary access, traveled with Reagan, interviewed him some 100 times and admired and respected him. Yet his half-dozen books on the president were never adoring. Indeed, reviewers generally found them to be models of objective reporting whose assessments of Reagan tended toward the negative.

In the biography “Reagan” (1982), Cannon portrayed his subject, a former Hollywood actor and television pitchman, as largely ignorant, unanalytical, passive and childishly simplistic, oblivious to the contradictions in his own beliefs and unable to separate complex realities from fantasies rooted in his attachments to movies, daily astrology readings and his own idealized small-town America origins.

“He was better off than presidents with too many doubts, but Reagan had too few,” Cannon wrote. “His mind and metaphors were locked in the past where energy was abundant, American industrial and military supremacy was axiomatic, and personal charity was the basic channel of social welfare.”

Cannon asserted that Reagan’s mind had “never been exposed to rigorous challenge,” and that while he possessed “common sense” and “integrity,” he relied on his boyish charm, his extraordinary communication skills and his trusted aides to further his presidency, delegating too much authority to those subordinates in the process.

Reagan, a 9-to-5 president who took afternoon naps, frequent trips to California and weekend visits to Camp David, and who watched hundreds of Westerns, war movies and television dramas while he was in the White House, “may have been the one president in the history of the republic who saw his election as a chance to get some rest,” Cannon said.

Yet Cannon also found Reagan “patriotic and idealistic” and “intuitively keen” — a man of boundless optimism whose initiatives for tax and budget cuts came not from proposals by his aides but from his own experience. Reagan had developed an aversion to taxes when he became rich and had a distrust of government that began in the 1950s, when he was General Electric’s conservative corporate spokesperson on television, a role that contrasted with his earlier, more liberal politics as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1947 to 1952.

Cannon’s biography “President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime” (1991), his top-selling book, examined Reagan’s entire political career and amplified upon his enigmas. While weak on logic and analysis, Reagan was strong on “interpersonal intelligence,” Cannon wrote, although he distanced himself from those around him, including his wife, Nancy.

After the disclosures of the Iran-Contra affair in his second term, in which White House aides secretly sold arms to Iran and used the cash to illegally fund Nicaragua’s right-wing rebels, many Americans came to accept Reagan’s failure to grasp facts and operational details.

Cannon called Reagan inattentive and indifferent, saying that he largely followed “scripts” prepared by handlers who protected him from himself and the press in a stage-managed administration. Yet Reagan’s strength, the author said, was his belief in America and his ability to sell that vision, using it to give new respectability to a conservative movement and to achieve a historic rapprochement with Moscow.

“His greatest service,” Cannon wrote, “was in restoring the respect of Americans for themselves and their own government after the traumas of Vietnam and Watergate, the frustration of the Iran hostage crisis and a succession of seemingly failed presidencies.”

Louis Simeon Cannon was born in New York City on June 3, 1933, to Jack and Irene (Kohn) Cannon. He grew up in Reno, Nevada, graduated from Reno High School in 1950 and attended the University of Nevada, Reno, from 1950 to 1951, and San Francisco State College, from 1951 to 1952. He was in the Army from 1953 to 1954.

In 1953, he married Virginia Oprian. They had four children, Carl, David, Judith and Jackson, and were divorced in 1983. In 1985, he married Mary L. Shinkwin. Virginia and David died in 2016. Cannon’s survivors include his wife, Mary, his three other children, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Cannon went into journalism in 1957, finding work as an editor and reporter for several small California newspapers. He was managing editor of The Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek from 1960 to 1961. He then joined The San Jose Mercury News as a copy editor before becoming a reporter. He rose to be the state bureau chief in Sacramento from 1965 to 1969, when he covered much of Reagan’s first term as governor of the state.

His first book, “Ronnie and Jesse: A Political Odyssey” (1969), was a biography of Reagan and Jesse M. Unruh, the Democratic speaker of the California Assembly, who as his party’s gubernatorial nominee in 1970 lost his bid to deny Reagan reelection.

Cannon went to Washington in 1969 as a congressional correspondent for Ridder Publications and joined the Post in 1972 as a political reporter. Over the next 26 years, he was the Post’s White House correspondent during the presidencies of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Reagan. He was later a syndicated columnist and a special correspondent for the Post based in Los Angeles.

One of the nation’s most explosive racial incidents — the savage beating of a motorist, Rodney King, by Los Angeles police officers in 1991 that led to riots and criminal and civil trials of the officers — was explored by Cannon in “Official Negligence: How Rodney King and the Riots Changed Los Angeles and the LAPD” (1998).

After leaving the Post in 1999, he wrote “Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio,” (2001), “Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power” (2003) and, with his son, Carl, “Reagan’s Disciple: George W. Bush’s Troubled Quest for a Presidential Legacy” (2008). Carl Cannon is a Washington reporter and executive editor of the political news website RealClearPolitics.

Lou Cannon, who lived in Summerland, California, taught at UC Santa Barbara and USC, wrote for national periodicals and in recent years was a columnist for State Net Capitol Journal, focusing on state legislation and politics.

But he never completely stopped writing about Reagan. In an opinion piece for the Post in 2016, he scoffed at comparisons of Reagan and Donald Trump, who was then making his first bid for the White House. “Reagan had an in-bred distaste for the politics of derogation that have become a Trump hallmark,” he wrote, adding: “I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times he engaged in personal put-downs. When he did, he regretted it and sought to make amends.”

In his later years, Cannon also wrote Nancy Reagan’s obituary for The New York Times, preparing it in 2007, well before her death in 2016. His byline on it drew considerable notice in journalism circles, given his long association with the Post.

For the obituary, Cannon drew on his own long association with the Reagans, painting a rounded portrait of the former first lady with the authority of someone who had closely observed her and her husband for decades. He ended it on a poignant note:

“At Mr. Reagan’s funeral, at the National Cathedral in Washington,” Cannon wrote, “she remained in tight control of her emotions. Then she flew west with the coffin for a burial service at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., where Mrs. Reagan will also be buried. At the conclusion of the ceremony, at sunset, soldiers and sailors handed Mrs. Reagan a folded American flag. She held it close to her heart, put it down on the coffin, and at last began to cry.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.