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Notable deaths in 2009

William Safire, 79, American speechwriter and journalist (The New York Times), died in September 2009 of pancreatic cancer.

William Safire, 79, American speechwriter and journalist (The New York Times), died in September 2009 of pancreatic cancer.

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  • FILE - In this Jan. 31, 1993 file picture, Michael Jackson performs during the halftime show at the Super Bowl XXVII in Pasadena, Calif. Jackson has died in Los Angeles at age 50 on Thursday, June 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy)
  • Farrah Fawcett.
  • In this Jan 28, 2005 file photo, Eunice Kennedy Shriver arrives at the Golden Jubilee Gala of the Viennese Opera Ball at New York's Waldorf Astoria. Shriver, JFK's sister and Special Olympics founder, has died at age 88. (AP Photo/Jennifer Szymaszek, File)
  • FILE - In this Dec. 11, 1997 file photo, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. gestures during a luncheon address at the National Press Club in Washington. Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has dies after a yearlong battle with a brain tumor. (AP Photo/Karin Cooper)
  • In this Nov. 26, 2006 file photo, U.S. actress Brittany Murphy arrives in Leicester Square for the European premiere of her latest film 'Happy Feet' in central London. A Los Angeles hospital spokeswoman says actress Brittany Murphy has died, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009. She was 32.
  • FILE - In this Thursday, May 7, 2009 file photo Evangelist Oral Roberts smiles after being honored on the floor of the Oklahoma Senate in Oklahoma City. A spokesman for Oral Roberts on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009 said the evangelist and university founder has died at age 91. (AP Photo/File)
  • FILE - In this Jan. 27, 1967 file photo, Soupy Sales is embraced backstage by Hanne Bork after his Broadway debut in 'Come Live With Me' in New York. Soupy Sales, the rubber-faced comedian whose anything-for-a-chuckle career was built on 20,000 pies to the face and 5,000 live TV appearances across a half-century of laughs, has died, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009. He was 83. (AP Photo/File)
  • FILE - In this Sept. 25, 1960 file photo originally released by CBS, Sen. John F. Kennedy, second from left, CBS' Don Hewitt, second from right, and Vice President Richard M. Nixon, right, take part in the presidential debate. Hewitt, 86, the newsman who invented '60 Minutes' and produced the popular newsmagazine for 36 years, died, according to CBS. Man at far left is unidentified. (AP Photo/CBS Photo Archive) ** NO SALES **
  • Pitchman Billy Mays on the set for an infomercial for Arm & Hammer Baking Soda on March 31, 2009 in Gulfport, Fla. Mays, the burly, bearded television pitchman whose boisterous hawking of products made him a pop-culture icon, has died. He was 50. Tampa police said Mays was found unresponsive by his wife Sunday, June 28, 2009. A fire rescue crew pronounced him dead. (AP Photo/ St. Petersburg Times, Scott Keeler)
  • In this May 18, 2004, photo, Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair said 'I feel like Tiger Woods' as he kisses the Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player trophy presented to him by Associated Press Tennessee Chief of Bureau Ken Flanagan following a morning workout at the Titans' training facility in Nashville, Tenn. McNair, who led the Tennessee Titans within a yard of forcing overtime in the 2000 Superbowl and led the Baltimore Ravens to the playoffs, has been shot and killed on Saturday, July 4, 2009. Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron confirmed that police were called to a residence and found McNair and a woman shot to death inside. Aaron said authorities don't yet know the circumstances of the shooting. (AP Photo/John Russell)
  • In this July 24, 2007 file photo, Ed McMahon arrives at the premiere of 'The Simpsons Movie' premiere in Los Angeles. McMahon, the loyal 'Tonight Show' sidekick who bolstered boss Johnny Carson with guffaws and a resounding 'H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!' for 30 years, has died at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 86. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, FILE)
  • FILE - In this May 3, 1988 file photo, Paul McCartney, right, tries out a custom-made left handed 'Les Paul Lite' guitar presented to him by designer, Les Paul, left, in New York. Paul, 94, the guitarist and inventor who changed the course of music with the electric guitar and multitrack recording and had a string of hits, died, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009 in White Plains, N.Y., according to Gibson Guitar. (AP Photo, file)
  • In this March 18, 2006 photo, celebrity disc jockey Adam Goldstein, also known as DJ AM, spins records at the Moody Blues clothing store opening in Scottsdale, Ariz. A law enforcement official says the celebrity disc jockey known as DJ AM has been found dead in a New York City apartment. .
  • FILE - In this Wednesday, March 10, 2004 file photo, actor David Carradine strikes a martial arts pose at his home in the Tarzana section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ric Francis, file)
  • In this Aug. 18, 1997 file photo, actor Patrick Swayze kisses his wife, Lisa, after the unveiling of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles. Swayze's publicist Annett Wolf says the 57-year-old 'Dirty Dancing' actor died Monday, Sept. 14, 2009, after a nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
  • FILE - In this TV publicity image originally released by ABC in 1975, Karl malden, right, and Michael Douglas are shown in a scene from, 'The Streets of San Francisco.' Malden, a former steelworker who won an Oscar for his role as Mitch in the 1951 classic 'A Streetcar Named Desire,' died Wednesday, July 1, 2009. He was 97. (AP Photo/ABC, file)
  • FILE - In this Sept. 30, 1971 file photo, Walter Cronkite testifies before a Senate sub-committee on freedom of the press in Washington. Cronkite said government control over broadcasting is like a threatening axe hanging over the industry. Famed CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, known as the 'most trusted man in America' has died, Friday, July 17, 2009. He was 92. (AP Photo/File)
  • This 1984 file photo shows director John Hughes. Hughes is the man who wrote 'National Lampoon's Vacation,' 'Mr. Mom' and 'Natonal Lampoon's European Vacation.' He also wrote and directed '16 Candles,' 'The Breakfast Club,' and 'Weird Science.' Hughes, who was 59, died in New York on Thursday.
  • Beatrice Arthur, the tall deep-voiced star in the hit television comedies Maude and The Golden Girls, died in April. She was 86.
  • Former boxing champion Arturo Gatti, one of the most exciting fighters of his generation, was found dead in a hotel room in the posh seaside resort of Porto de Galihnas in July.
  • Paul Harvey died at the age of 90
  • Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris during pre-game warmups Oct. 4, 2009, against the Cleveland Browns in an NFL football game in Cleveland. (AP)
  • Ricardo Montalbán, 88,right, Mexican-born American actor ('Fantasy Island,' 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'), died in January of heart failure.
  • Natasha Richardson, 45, British actress, died in March of an epidural hematoma.
  • Actor and comedian Dom DeLuise, shown in 1987, died in Southern California on Monday, May 4, 2009. He was 75. (AP Photo/Mark Terrill, File)
  • Henry Gibson, 73, American actor ('Laugh-In,' 'Blues Brothers,' 'Boston Legal'), died of cancer in September.
  • Fred Travalena, 66, American comedian and impressionist, known as 'The Man of a Thousands Faces,' died in June of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
  • William Safire, 79, American speechwriter and journalist (The New York Times), died in September 2009 of pancreatic cancer.
  • Jody Powell, 65, left, American White House press secretary for President Jimmy Carter, right, died of a heart attack in September 2009.
  • Larry Gelbart, 81, comedy writer ('M*A*S*H') and blogger (The Huffington Post), died of cancer in September 2009.
  • Corazon Aquino, 76, the first female president of the Philippines (1986–1992), died in August 2009 of colon cancer.
  • Koko Taylor, 80, American blues musician, died in June 2009 from complications from gastrointestinal surgery.
  • Marilyn Chambers, 56, pornographic film actress ('Behind the Green Door'), erotic dancer, and politician, died in April 2009 of heart disease.
  • John Couey, 51, the Florida murderer of Jessica Lunsford (the inspiration for Jessica's Law), died in September 2009 of anal cancer.
  • Andrew Wyeth, 91, American painter ('Christina's World'), died in January 2009 after a short illness.
  • Oscar G. Mayer Jr., 95, American business executive of the Oscar Mayer meat company, died in July 2009. He was the third Oscar Mayer to lead the family business, following his grandfather, company founder Oscar F. Mayer, who died in 1955, and his father, Oscar G. Mayer Sr., who died in 1965
  • Actor James Whitmore holds an Emmy for 'Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series,' at the Creative Arts Presentation ceremony, in Pasadena, Calif., on Aug. 26, 2000. (AP Photo/Craig T. Matthew, File)
  • Mary Travers, 72, one-third of the hugely popular 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary ('If I Had a Hammer') died Sept. 16, 2009.
  • Dominick Dunne, 83, the best-selling author who told stories of shocking crimes among the rich and famous, died Aug. 26, 2009.
  • Socks, 19, American presidential cat of the Clinton family, was euthanized in February 2009.

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