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John Steinbeck’s son, fellow author Thomas Steinbeck, dies at 72

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Billy Paul, center, a jazz and soul singer best known for the No. 1 hit ballad and "Philadelphia Soul" classic "Me and Mrs. Jones," died April 24, 2016. He was 81. Read more.

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Character actor Abe Vigoda, known for his roles in "The Godfather" and the television series "Barney Miller," died Jan. 26, 2016. He was 94. Read more.

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David Gest, a music producer, reality TV star and former husband of Liza Minnelli, died April 12, 2016. He was 62. Read more.

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Morley Safer, the veteran "60 Minutes" correspondent who was equally at home reporting on social injustices, the Orient Express and abstract art, and who exposed a military atrocity in Vietnam that played an early role in changing Americans' view of the war, died May 18, 2016. He was 84. Read more.

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Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the icon of leftist revolution who thrust his Caribbean nation onto the world stage by provoking Cold War confrontation and defying U.S. policy through 11 administrations, died Nov. 25, 2016. He was 90. Read more.

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In this March 22, 1963, file photo, Nobel prize-winning author John Steinbeck, right, admires a prize-winning poster by his son, Thomas Steinbeck in Hartford, Conn. Thomas Steinbeck, the eldest son of John Steinbeck and an author in his own right, died Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016, at his California home, the family said through a representative.

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English actor Alan Rickman, best known for roles in "Love Actually," "Die Hard" and as Professor Snape in the "Harry Potter" films, died Jan. 14, 2016, after battling cancer. He was 69. Read more.

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Former U.S. Congressman Michael G. Oxley, who helped write a landmark business regulatory law following the collapse of Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc., died Jan. 1, 2016, at age 71.

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Agnes Nixon, who created popular daytime TV dramas such as "One Life to Life" and "All My Children," died Sept. 28, 2016. The Chicago-born Northwestern University graduate was 93. Read more.

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Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, one of popular music's most influential figures for four decades, known most widely for the song "Hallelujah," died Nov. 10, 2016. He was 82. Read more.

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Gwen Ifill, who covered politics for some of the country's premier newspapers before transitioning to broadcast journalism and making her greatest mark as one of the most prominent TV anchors of her generation, died Nov. 14, 2016. She was 61. Read more.

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Maurice White, whose sweeping compositions for the group he founded, Earth, Wind & Fire, encompassed jazz, soul, gospel, blues, Latin and African music, died Feb. 4, 2016. He was 74. Read more.

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Janet Reno, who was the first woman to serve as U.S. attorney general and became the epicenter of multiple political storms during the Clinton administration, died Nov. 7, 2016. She was 78. Read more.

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Grant Tinker, who brought new polish to the TV world and beloved shows including "Hill Street Blues" to the audience as both a producer and a network boss, died Nov. 28, 2016. He was 90. Read more.

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Van Williams, best known for his starring role as Britt Reid/the Green Hornet in the 1966-67 TV series "The Green Hornet," died Nov. 28, 2016. He was 82. Read more.

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Harper Lee, the elusive novelist whose child's-eye view of racial injustice in a small Southern town, "To Kill a Mockingbird," became standard reading for millions of young people and an Oscar-winning film, died Feb. 19, 2016. She was 89. Read more.

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Dan Haggerty, best known for his role in "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams," died from cancer Jan. 15, 2016. He was 74. Read more.

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Three-time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Edward Albee — best known for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" — died Sept. 16, 2016. He was 88. Read more.

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Polish film director Andrzej Wajda, whose career maneuvering between a repressive communist government and an audience yearning for freedom won him international recognition and an honorary Oscar, died Oct. 9, 2016. He was 90. Read more.

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John Saunders, the versatile sportscaster who had hosted ESPN's "The Sports Reporters" for the last 15 years, died Aug. 10, 2016. He was 61. Read more.

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Fred Hellerman, right, a founding member of the influential folk music quartet the Weavers, died Sept. 1, 2016. He was 89. Read more.

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Buddy Ryan, the defensive architect of the Super Bowl champion 1985 Chicago Bears, died on June 28, 2016. He was 82. Read more.

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French New Wave director Jacques Rivette, who often explored the blurry line between reality and fantasy in a career spanning six decades and more than 20 features, died Jan. 29, 2016. He was 87. Read more.

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Denise Matthews, the singer who fronted Vanity 6 and collaborated with Prince, has died at the age of 57. Read more.

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Gordie Howe, known as "Mr. Hockey" for his enduring skills and the fierce competitiveness that inspired him to come out of retirement at 45 to play alongside two of his sons, died June 10, 2016. He was 88. Read more.

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Angela Paton, an actress best known for appearing with Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day," died May 26, 2016. She was 86. Read more.

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Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, who thrilled the world even after the punches had taken their toll and his voice barely rose above a whisper, died June 3, 2016. He was 74. Read more.

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Sir George Martin, the Beatles producer who guided, assisted and stood aside through the band's swift, historic transformation from rowdy club act to musical and cultural revolutionaries, died March 8, 2016. He was 90. Read more.

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Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a veteran Egyptian diplomat who helped negotiate his country's landmark peace deal with Israel but then clashed with the United States when he served a single term as U.N. secretary-general, died Feb. 16, 2016. He was 93. Read more.

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Bill Nunn, a veteran character actor whose credits ranged from the "Spider-Man" movie franchise to such Spike Lee films as "Do the Right Thing" and "He Got Game," died Sept. 24, 2016. He was 63. Read more.

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Rod Temperton, a British-born musician and songwriter with a singular knack for pop-funk who wrote the Michael Jackson classics "Thriller," ''Rock With You" and many other hits, died in late September. He was 66. Read more.

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Anton Yelchin, a rising actor best known for playing Chekov in the new "Star Trek" films, was killed by his car as it rolled down his driveway June 19, 2016. He was 27. Read more.

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Playwright Peter Shaffer, whose durable, award-winning hits included "Equus" and "Amadeus," died June 6, 2016. He was 90. Read more.

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Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, the Romanian-born Holocaust survivor whose classic "Night" became a landmark testament to the Nazis' crimes and launched Wiesel's long career as one of the world's foremost witnesses and humanitarians, died July 2, 2016. He was 87. Read more.

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Chicago radio legend Herb Kent, the longest-running DJ in the history of radio and a fixture on local airwaves for more than 70 years, died Oct. 22, 2016. He was 88. Read more.

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Lincoln "Chips" Moman, a producer, guitarist, and songwriter, who helped Elvis Presley engineer a musical comeback in the late 1960s and then moved to Nashville to record country legends such as The Highwaymen, died June 13, 2016. He was 79. Read more.

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Country singer Sonny James, who recorded romantic ballads like "Young Love" and turned pop songs into country hits, died Feb. 22, 2016. He was 87. Read more.

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Sharon Jones, the stout powerhouse who shepherded a soul revival despite not finding stardom until middle age, died Nov. 18, 2016. She was 60. Read more.

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John Glenn, whose 1962 flight as the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth made him an all-American hero and propelled him to a long career in the U.S. Senate, died Dec. 8, 2016. The last survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts was 95. Read more.

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Craig Sager, the longtime NBA sideline reporter famous for his flashy suits and probing questions, died Dec. 15, 2016, after a battle with cancer. He was 65. A native of Batavia, Illinois, Sager attended Northwestern, where he walked onto the football and basketball teams and served as the school's "Willie the Wildcat" mascot for three years. Read more.

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Author Richard Adams, whose 1972 classic, "Watership Down," sold 50 million copies, died on Dec. 27, 2016. He was 96. Read more.

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Prince, a quintuple threat instrumentalist-singer-songwriter-producer-performer who became one of the towering figures in music the last four decades, died April 21, 2016. He was 57. Read more.

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Alan Vega, the singer of iconic New York proto-punk band Suicide, died July 16, 2016. He was 78. Read more.

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Burt Kwouk, who played martial arts expert Cato in the comic "Pink Panther" films, died May 24, 2016. He was 85. Read more.

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Bud Collins, who helped popularize the sport of tennis through his writing and television commentary, died on March 4, 2016, at 86. Collins was a columnist for the Boston Globe for almost 50 years and spent 35 years doing analysis of major tennis tournaments for NBC. Read more.

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Pat Conroy, author of "The Great Santini" and "The Prince of Tides," died March 4, 2016, in Beaufort, S.C., at age 70 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. Read more.

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Writer-director Garry Marshall, whose deft touch with comedy and romance led to a string of TV hits that included "Happy Days" and "Laverne & Shirley" and the box-office successes "Pretty Woman" and "Runaway Bride," died July 19, 2016. He was 81. Read more.

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Zsa Zsa Gabor, the jet-setting Hungarian actress who made a career out of multiple marriages, conspicuous wealth and jaded wisdom about the glamorous life, died Dec. 18, 2016. She was 99. Read more.

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Gloria Naylor, whose debut novel "The Women of Brewster Place," became a best-seller, a National Book Award winner and a TV miniseries released through Oprah Winfrey's production company, died Sept. 28, 2016. She was 66. Read more.

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Chess Records co-founder Phil Chess, who with brother Leonard helped launch the careers of Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and others and amassed a catalog of rock and electric "Chicago" blues that profoundly influenced popular music in the 1950s and beyond, died Oct. 18, 2016. He was 95. Read more.

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Thomas Ford, the actor who played Martin Lawrence's best friend Tommy Strawn on the hit 1990s sitcom "Martin," died Oct. 12, 2016. He was 52. Read more.

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Robert Vaughn, who starred as Napoleon Solo on "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." died Nov. 11, 2016. He was 83. Read more.

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Garry Shandling, who as an actor and comedian pioneered a pretend brand of self-focused docudrama with "The Larry Sanders Show," died March 24, 2016, in Los Angeles. He was 66. Read more.

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Jon Polito, a character actor whose more than 200 credits ranged from "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Modern Family" to the Coen Brother films "Barton Fink" and "The Big Lebowski," died Sept. 1, 2016. He was 65. Read more.

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Visionary London architect Zaha Hadid, renowned for her swooping, strongly sculpted buildings and for being the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize, her field's highest honor, died March 31, 2016. She was 65. Read more.

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Ron Glass, the handsome, prolific character actor best known for his role as the gregarious, sometimes sardonic detective Ron Harris in the long-running cop comedy "Barney Miller," died Nov. 25, 2016. He was 71. Read more.

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Mother Angelica, a folksy Roman Catholic nun who used a monastery garage to begin a television ministry that grew into a global religious media empire, died March 27, 2016. She was 92. Read more.

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George Kennedy, center, who won a supporting actor Oscar for his role alongside Paul Newman in the beloved film "Cool Hand Luke," and was also a fixture of 1970s disaster movies including the "Airport" franchise and "Earthquake," died Feb. 28, 2016. He was 91. Read more.

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Joan Marie Johnson of The Dixie Cups died Oct. 9. 2016. She was 72.

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Bob Elliott, right, was one half of the comedy team of Bob and Ray with Bob Goulding, left. Elliott died Feb. 3, 2016. He was 92. Read more.

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Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in Division I college basketball history who uplifted the women's game from obscurity to national prominence during her 38-year career at Tennessee, died June 28, 2016. She was 64. Read more.

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Umberto Eco, an Italian novelist and intellectual of worldwide renown who imbued his work with humor and scholarship and whose novel "The Name of the Rose" became a global phenomenon, died Feb. 19, 2016. He was 84. Read more.

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Christina Grimmie, a vivacious, outgoing singer whose career was born on social media and propelled toward the big time by television on "The Voice," died June 10, 2016. The 22-year-old was shot and killed as she was signing autographs for fans after performing in Orlando. Read more.

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Former New York Philharmonic principal conductor Pierre Boulez, who moved between conducting, composition and teaching over a long career that made him one of the leading figures in modern classical music, died Jan. 5, 2016. He was 90. Read more.

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Chyna, the WWE star who in the 1990s became one of the best-known and most-popular female professional wrestlers in history and who billed herself as the "9th Wonder of the World," died April 20, 2016. She was 45. Read more.

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Actor-comedian Alan Young, who played the amiable straight man to a talking horse in the 1960s sitcom "Mister Ed," died May 19, 2016. He was 96. Read more.

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Former U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, one of the first incumbents ousted in a national wave of tea party-led anger in 2010, died May 4, 2016. He was 82. Read more.

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Kimbo Slice, a street-fighting sensation from Miami whose fisticuffs went viral on YouTube, died June 6, 2016. Slice, whose real name was Kevin Ferguson, was 42.

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Keith Emerson, the flamboyant, English prog-rock pioneer who rose to fame as the keyboardist for supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer in the 1970s, died March 11, 2016. He was 71. Read more.

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In this Feb. 27, 2002, file photo, Thomas Steinbeck speaks to a crowd at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, Calif., to celebrate what would have been his fathers, author John Steinbeck's 100th birthday. Thomas Steinbeck, the eldest son of John Steinbeck and an author in his own right, died Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016, at his California home, the family said through a representative. He was 72.

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Frank Sinatra Jr., who carried on his famous father's legacy with his own music career and whose kidnapping as a young man added a bizarre chapter to his father's legendary life, died March 16, 2016. He was 72. Read more.

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Gene Wilder, the frizzy-haired actor who brought his deft comedic touch to such unforgettable roles as the neurotic accountant in "The Producers" and the mad scientist of "Young Frankenstein," died Aug. 29, 2016. He was 83. Read more.

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Paul Kantner, a founding member of the Jefferson Airplane who stayed with the seminal San Francisco band through its transformation from 1960s hippies to 1970s hit makers as the eventual leader of successor group Jefferson Starship, died Jan. 28, 2016. He was 74. Read more.

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Florence Henderson, who went from Broadway star to become one of America's most beloved television moms in "The Brady Bunch," has Nov. 24, 2016. She was 82. Read more.

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Actress Theresa Saldana, known for movies including "Raging Bull" and nominated for a Golden Globe for her work on TV's "The Commish," died June 6, 2016. She was 61. Read more.

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Miami Marlins pitching ace Jose Fernandez was killed in a boat accident on the jetty rocks off Miami Beach on Sept. 25, 2016. He was 24. Read more.

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Ernestine Anderson, the internationally celebrated jazz vocalist who earned four Grammy nominations during a six-decade career, died March 10, 2016. She was 87. Read more.

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Tom Hayden, the preeminent 1960s radical who roused a generation of alienated young Americans, became a symbol of militancy by leading riotous protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and added Hollywood glamour to his mystique with an activist partnership and marriage to film star Jane Fonda, died Oct. 23, 2016. He was 76. Read more.

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Shimon Peres, a former Israeli president and prime minister, whose life story mirrored that of the Jewish state and who was celebrated around the world as a Nobel prize-winning visionary who pushed his country toward peace, died Sept. 28, 2016. He was 93. Read more.

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John Tishman, center, a builder whose company has worked on some of the most high-profile developments in the country, died Feb. 6, 2016. He was 90 years old.

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Rob Ford, the pugnacious, populist former mayor of Toronto whose career crashed in a drug-driven, obscenity-laced debacle, died March 22 after fighting cancer. He was 46. Read more.

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Glenn Frey, who co-founded the Eagles — one of the most commercially successful bands of the last half-century — and left behind a trove of indelible melodies including 17 Top-40 hits died Jan. 18, 2016. He was 67. Read more

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Debbie Reynolds, seen here in 2012, an actress known for the musical "Singin' in the Rain," and her Oscar-nominated role in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," died on Dec. 28, 2016, a day after her daughter, Carrie Fisher, died. Reynolds was 84. Read more.

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Boy band promoter Lou Pearlman, known for launching groups such as the Backstreet Boys and 'NSync, died in prison Aug. 19, 2016, while serving a 25-year sentence for one of the largest Ponzi schemes in Florida history. Read more.

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David Bowie, the innovative and iconic singer whose illustrious career lasted five decades, died Jan. 10, 2016, after battling cancer for 18 months. He was 69. Read more.

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E.R. Braithwaite, the Guyanese author, educator and diplomat whose years teaching in the slums of London's East End inspired the international best-seller "To Sir, With Love" and the popular Sidney Poitier movie of the same name, died Dec. 12, 2016. He was 104. Read more.

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Phife Dawg, a founding member of the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, died March 22, 2016. He was 45. Read more.

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Imre Kertesz, the Hungarian writer who won the 2002 Nobel Prize for Literature for fiction largely drawn from his experience as a teenage prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, died March 31, 2016. He was 86. Read more.

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Fyvush Finkel, the Emmy Award-winning character actor whose career in stage and screen started in Yiddish theater and led to memorable roles in "Fiddler on the Roof" on Broadway and on TV in "Boston Public" and "Picket Fences" died Aug. 14, 2016. He was 93. Read more.

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Attrell Cordes, who formed the hip-hop duo P.M. Dawn with his brother and was also known by the name Prince Be, died June 17, 2016. Read more.

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Arnold Palmer, a Pennsylvania greenskeeper's son who became one of golf's most charismatic champions and made millions of dollars by turning his popular "everyman" image into one of the most lucrative sports brands in the world, died Sept. 25, 2016. He was 87. Read more.

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William Christopher, who was known as Father Mulcahy on "MASH" from 1972 to 1983, died Dec. 31, 2016. He was 84. Read more.

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Actor Ken Howard, who starred in the 1970s series "The White Shadow" and served as president of SAG-AFTRA, died March 23, 2016. He was 71. Read more.

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Ralph Stanley, a patriarch of Appalachian music who with his brother Carter helped expand and popularize the genre that became known as bluegrass, died June 23, 2016. He was 89. Read more.

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Joey Feek, left, part of country duo Joey + Rory with husband Rory Lee Feek, died at home in Indiana on March 4, 2016, after a long battle with cancer. She was 40. Read more.

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Bobby Vee, whose rise toward stardom began as a 15-year-old fill-in for Buddy Holly after Holly was killed in a plane crash, died Oct. 24, 2016. He was 73. Read more.

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Peter Mondavi, a wine country innovator who led his family's Charles Krug Winery through more than a half-century of change died Feb. 20, 2016. He was 101. Read more.

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Leon Russell, who sang, wrote and produced some of rock 'n' roll's top records, died Nov. 13, 2016. He was 74. Read more.

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Patty Duke, who won an Oscar as a teen for "The Miracle Worker" and maintained a long and successful career throughout her life, died March 29, 2016. She was 69. Read more.

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Jerry Heller, the combative music manager whose fraught relationship with the seminal hip-hop group N.W.A was searingly portrayed in the box office hit "Straight Outta Compton," died Sept. 2, 2016. He was 75. Read more.

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Country music legend Merle Haggard died April 6, 2016 of pneumonia. He was 79. Read more.

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British singer George Michael, who came to prominence in the 1980s with the group Wham!, died Dec. 25, 2016. He was 53. Read more.

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Jan Crouch, who co-founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network with her late husband more than four decades ago, died on May 31, 2016. She was 78.

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Scotty Moore, the pioneering rock guitarist whose sharp, graceful style helped Elvis Presley shape his revolutionary sound and inspired a generation of musicians that included Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Bruce Springsteen, died June 28, 2016. He was 84. Read more.

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Singer and Hollywood voice double Marni Nixon died July 24, 2016 at age 86. Her singing was heard in place of the leading actresses in classic movie musicals as "West Side Story," ''The King and I" and "My Fair Lady."

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Angela Raiola, known as Big Ang, known for the reality TV series "Mob Wives" died Feb. 18, 2016, following a nearly yearlong battle with cancer. Read more.

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Bill Cunningham, a longtime fashion photographer for The New York Times known for taking pictures of everyday people on the streets of New York, died June 25, 2016. He was 87. Read more.

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David Huddleston, a character actor who already had a vast list of credits to his name when — late in his career — he took what was to become his most famous role as the title character in "The Big Lebowski," died Aug. 2, 2016. He was 85. Read more.

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Grammy winning Latin Jazz saxophonist Leonardo "Gato" Barbieri died April 2, 2016. He was 83.

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James Noble, a Broadway-seasoned actor who appeared on soap operas and films like "10" and "Being There," but perhaps was best known for playing the absent-minded governor to Robert Guillaume's patient head of household in the 1980s sitcom "Benson," died March 28, 2016. He was 94. Read more.

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Canadian novelist W.P. Kinsella, who blended magical realism and baseball in the book that became the smash hit film "Field of Dreams," died Sept. 16, 2016. He was 81. Read more.

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Mexican superstar songwriter and singer Juan Gabriel died Aug. 28, 2016. He was 66. Read more.

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Nancy Reagan, the helpmate, backstage adviser and fierce protector of Ronald Reagan in his journey from actor to president — and finally during his 10-year battle with Alzheimer's disease — died March 6, 2016. She was 94. Read more.

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Bernie Worrell, the ingenious "Wizard of Woo" whose amazing array of keyboard sounds and textures helped define the Parliament-Funkadelic musical empire and influenced performers of funk, rock, hip-hop and other genres, died June 24, 2016. He was 72. Read more.

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Larry Drake, who won two Emmy Awards for best supporting actor in a drama series for his role as a mentally challenged character in "L.A. Law," died on March 17, 2016, at his Los Angeles home. He was 66. Read more.