In Memoriam 2025

The end of the year always brings about a time for reflection, and as 2025 concludes, we look back at the actors, musicians, artists, politicians and other noteworthy figures who died this year.

In the realms of global affairs and politics, the passing of Pope Francis in April was a major loss for those religious types.

It was an especially sad year for Hollywood, which lost several notable figures, including David Lynch, Gene Hackman, Val Kilmer, Diane Keaton, Diane Ladd and Rob Reiner.

The music industry also grieved significant losses in 2025, including giants such as Roberta Flack, Sly Stone, Brian Wilson, Connie Francis and Ozzy Osbourne.

The worlds of science and the arts experienced notable deaths as well, including Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, primatologist Jane Goodall, fashion designer Giorgio Armani, and DNA pioneer James Watson.

In sports, boxing great George Foreman died, as did the iconic wrestler Hulk Hogan.

Let’s have a look through each month… 

January

• Wayne Osmond, 73, singer and guitarist for The Osmonds
• Jean-Marie Le Pen, 96, French politician, founder of National Front. 
• Peter Yarrow, 86, part of the folk-music trio Peter, Paul and Mary 
• Tony Slattery, 65, British actor comedian and television personality
• Dame Joan Plowright, 95, English actress 
• David Lynch, 78, visionary filmmaker behind ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Mulholland Drive’
• Marianne Faithfull, 78, British singer-actress 
• John Erwin, 88, American voice actor ‘He-Man and the Masters of the Universe’

February 

• Gene Hackman, 95, Academy Award-winning actor 
• Tony Martin, 80, English farmer and convicted criminal 
• Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas, 78, Welsh politician
• Clint Hill, 93, Secret Service agent who leapt onto JFK’s car after the president was shot
• Roberta Flack, 88, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter
• Boris Spassky, 88, Soviet chess champion who lost famed match to Bobby Fischer  
• Henry Kelly, 78, Irish television presenter ‘Going for Gold, Game for a Laugh’ 
• Michelle Trachtenberg, 39, American actress ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’

March 

• Carl Dean, 82, Dolly Parton’s husband for nearly 60 years 
• Jack Vettriano, 73, Scottish painter ‘The Singing Butler’
• Pamela Bach, 62, ‘Baywatch’ actress and the ex-wife of David Hasselhoff 
• Eddie Jordan, 76, Irish Formula One team owner 
• George Foreman, 76, boxing legend and TV pitchman
• Richard Chamberlain, 90, TV actor who starred in ‘Dr. Kildare’

April

• Val Kilmer, 65, ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Batman Forever’ star 
• Jean Marsh, 90, English actress ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’
• Virginia Giuffre, 41, American-Australian justice advocate
• Pope Francis, 88, first Latin American leader of the Catholic church

May

• George Wendt, 76, actor best known as Norm from ‘Cheers’ 
• Alan Yentob, 78, British television executive and presenter
• Loretta Swit, 87, actor who played Maj. Margaret Houlihan on TV’s ‘M*A*S*H’

June

• Brian Wilson, 82, visionary genius behind the Beach Boys 
• Peter Kwong, 73, American actor ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ 
• Frederick Forsyth, 86, English novelist ‘The Day of the Jackal’ 
• Paul Thomas, 76, American pornographic actor 
• Kim Woodburn, 83, English television personality ‘How Clean Is Your House?’ 
• Wincey Willis, 76, British television and radio broadcaster  
• Rick Hurst, 79, Cletus from ‘Dukes of Hazzard’

July

• Sandy Gall, 97, Scottish journalist and television presenter
• Michael Madsen, 67, ‘Kill Bill’ Actor 
• Mark Snow, 78, American film and television composer ‘The X-Files’
• Julian McMahon, 56, ‘Fantastic Four’ star 
• Norman Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, 94, British politician
• Connie Francis, 87, iconic pop singer of the ’50s and ’60s
• Felix Baumgartner, 56, daredevil who skydived from the edge of space
• Malcolm-Jamal Warner, 54, ‘Cosby Show’ star
• Ozzy Osbourne, 76, legendary rocker
• Hulk Hogan, 71, wrestling legend 
• Dame Cleo Laine, 97, English jazz singer.
• Tom Lehrer, 87, musical satirist

August

• Loni Anderson, 79, star of ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ 
• James Whale, 74, British radio and TV personality
• Jim Lovell, 97, astronaut and Apollo 13 commander 
• Biddy Baxter, 92, English television producer ‘Blue Peter’
• Terence Stamp, 87, British actor who specialised in villains 
• Purple Aki, 64, British convicted criminal

September

• Graham Greene, 73, Oscar nominee for ‘Dances With Wolves’ 
• Joe Bugner, 75, Hungarian-born British-Australian heavyweight champion boxer 
• Giorgio Armani, 91, fashion icon
• Katharine, Duchess of Kent, 92, British royal. 
• Charlie Kirk, 31, American conservative activist 
• Ricky Hatton, 46, English professional boxer
• Robert Redford, 89, legendary Hollywood actor, director and independent-film champion 
• Dickie Bird, 92, English cricket umpire and player 
• Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, 84, British politician
• Claudia Cardinale, 87, star of Italian cinema

October

• Dame Jane Goodall, 91, English zoologist and primatologist 
• Dame Patricia Routledge, 96, English actress ‘Keeping Up Appearances’
• Patrick Murray, 68, English actor ‘Only Fools and Horses’
• Dame Jilly Cooper, 88, English author 
• John Woodvine, 96, English actor ‘An American Werewolf in London’
• John Lodge, 82, singer and bassist for psychedelic rockers the Moody Blues
• Diane Keaton, 79, Oscar-winning star of ‘Annie Hall’
• Ace Frehley, 74, Kiss guitarist 
• Ian Watkins, 48, Welsh singer ‘Lostprophets’ and convicted child sex offender

November

• Diane Ladd, 89, a three-time Oscar nominee 
• Tony Adams, 84, Welsh actor ‘Crossroads’ 
• Prunella Scales, 93, English actress ‘Fawlty Towers’
• Dick Cheney, 84, American politician, vice president 
• Pauline Collins, 85, British actress ‘Shirley Valentine’
• James Watson, 97, DNA pioneer 
• Quentin Willson, 68, English television presenter 
• Sally Kirkland, 84, Oscar-nominated actor
• Jimmy Cliff, 81, reggae pioneer

December

• Brigitte Bardot, 91, film legend and sex symbol
• Chris Rea, 74, British singer-songwriter behind ‘Driving Home for Christmas’
• Gil Gerard, 82, starred on TV as Buck Rogers
• Rob Reiner, 78, one of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers 
• Stanley Baxter, 99, Scottish actor and comedian
• Raul Malo, 60, frontman for the Mavericks
• Sophie Kinsella, 55, ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ author
• Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, 75, star of the ‘Mortal Combat’ films