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In memoriam 2021: From Carla Fracci to Christa Ludwig, from Stephen Sondheim to Raffaella Carrà – a personal list of some of the artists the world lost in 2021.
Name | Dates | Age | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Liam Scarlett | 1986-2021 | 35 | British dancer and choreographer who was an artist in residence with The Royal Ballet and artistic associate with Queensland Ballet |
Helen McCrory | 1968-2021 | 52 | English actress from Shakespeare to Harry Potter and “The Queen” |
Paul Ritter | 1966-2021 | 54 | English actor (“Quantum of Solace”, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, “Friday Night Dinner”) |
Michael K. Williams | 1966-2021 | 54 | American actor (“The Wire”, “Boardwalk Empire”) |
Pamela Helen Stephen | 1964-2021 | 57 | Mezzo-soprano featured on 30 recordings ranging from Strauss and Szymanowski to Mozart and Sullivan |
Willie Garson | 1964-2021 | 57 | American actor best known for playing Stanford Blatch in “Sex and the City” |
Sean Lock | 1963-2021 | 58 | English comedian and actor |
Nick Kamen | 1962-2021 | 59 | English model, singer (“Each Time You Break My Heart”) and songwriter (“I Promised Myself”), bone marrow cancer. |
James Michael Tyler | 1962-2021 | 59 | American actor best known for playing Gunther in “Friends” |
Patrick Dupond | 1959-2021 | 61 | French dancer and artistic director (Paris Opera Ballet) |
Graham Vick | 1953-2021 | 66 | British opera director |
Ismael Ivo | 1955-2021 | 66 | Brazilian dancer and choreographer, director of Biennale Danza in Venice |
Gianna Rolandi | 1952-2021 | 68 | American coloratura soprano based at the New York City Opera |
Antony Sher | 1949-2021 | 72 | British actor, writer and theatre director of South African origin. A two-time Laurence Olivier Award winner and a four-time nominee |
Gianni Nazzaro | 1948-2021 | 72 | Italian singer and actor (“Ma che musica maestro”, “Scandalo in famiglia”, “Impotenti esistenziali”) |
John Miles | 1949-2021 | 72 | British rock singer, guitarist and keyboard player best known for his 1976 hit “Music” |
Jim Steinman | 1947-2021 | 73 | American composer, lyricist, record producer, and playwright |
Edita Gruberova | 1946-2021 | 74 | Slovak coloratura soprano |
Gianluigi Gelmetti | 1945-2021 | 75 | Italian-Monégasque conductor and composer |
Elijah Moshinsky | 1946-2021 | 75 | Australian opera , theatre, and television director |
Nicola Pagett | 1945-2021 | 75 | British actress (“Upstairs, Downstairs”, “Privates on Parade”) |
Franco Battiato | 1945-2021 | 76 | Italian singer-songwriter (“La voce del Padrone”, “Orizzonti perduti”, “Mondi lontanissimi”) and filmmaker, neurodegenerative disease. |
James Levine | 1943-2021 | 76 | American conductor and pianist, music director of the Met from 1976 to 2016 |
Mary Wilson | 1944-2021 | 76 | American singer and founding member of The Supremes |
Micha van Hoecke | 1944-2021 | 77 | Belgian dancer, choreographer and director |
Gerry Marsden | 1942-2021 | 78 | English singer-songwriter, musician and television personality, leader of Gerry and the Pacemakers |
Michael Nesmith | 1942-2021 | 78 | American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, and novelist, best known as a member of The Monkees |
Raffaella Carrà | 1943-2021 | 78 | Italian singer, dancer, television presenter, actress and model |
Chick Corea | 1941-2021 | 79 | American jazz composer, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist |
Dilys Watling | 1942-2021 | 79 | English actress, best known for appearing on British television (“Coronation Street”, “The Benny Hill Show” and “The Two Ronnies”) |
Michael Apted | 1941-2021 | 79 | Versatile director of “Up” documentaries, nominated for seven Academy Awards |
Anne Rice | 1941-2021 | 80 | American author of gothic fiction, and erotic and Christian literature. (“The Vampire Chronicles”) |
Charlie Watts | 1941-2021 | 80 | English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones |
Giuseppe Giacomini | 1940-2021 | 80 | Italian tenor |
Harvey Evans | 1941-2021 | 80 | American theatre and film actor (original Broadway productions of “West Side Story”, “Follies”, and “Hello, Dolly!”) |
Ronald Pickup | 1940-2021 | 80 | English actor (“Darkest Hour”, “Verdi”, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”, “The Mission”) |
Milva | 1939-2021 | 81 | Italian singer and stage actress |
Steuart Bedford | 1939-2021 | 81 | Conductor and pianist |
Renato Scarpa | 1939-2021 | 82 | Italian film actor (“Il postino”, “We Have a Pope”) |
Lucette Aldous | 1938-2021 | 82 | Australian prima ballerina, resident principal dancer with The Australian Ballet |
Bob Avian | 1937-2021 | 83 | Choreographer and producer of Broadway hits |
Ned Beatty | 1937-2021 | 83 | Actor known for “Network” and “Deliverance” |
Piera Degli Esposti | 1938-2021 | 83 | Italian actor and comic |
Carla Fracci | 1936-2021 | 84 | Italian ballet dancer, actress and ballet director |
Don Everly | 1937-2021 | 84 | One of The Everly Brothers, an American country rock duo |
Galina Samsova | 1937-2021 | 84 | Russian ballet dancer and company director (Scottish Ballet) |
Gianfranco D'Angelo | 1936-2021 | 84 | Italian actor and comedian |
Nino Castelnuovo | 1936-2021 | 84 | Italian actor of film, stage and television, best known for the French musical film “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” |
Una Stubbs | 1937-2021 | 84 | English actress, television personality and dancer (“Till Death Us Do Part”, “In Sickness and in Health”, “Worzel Gummidge”, “Sherlock”) |
Dean Stockwell | 1936-2021 | 85 | American film, television, and stage actor with a career spanning over 70 years |
Charles Grodin | 1935-2021 | 86 | American actor, comedian, author, and television talk show host |
Jacques d'Amboise | 1934-2021 | 86 | American ballet dancer, choreographer, actor, and educator, New York City Ballet in principal dancer in 1953 dancing 24 roles for George Balanchine and choreographing 17 ballets for the company. Film appearances, including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Carousel |
George Segal | 1934-2021 | 87 | American actor, comedian and musician (“Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, “The Owl and the Pussycat”, “A Touch of Class”, “Fun with Dick and Jane”) |
Joan Didion | 1934-2021 | 87 | American writer |
Jean-Paul Belmondo | 1933-2021 | 88 | French actor, initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s |
Norman Bailey | 1933-2021 | 88 | British-born American opera singer |
Richard Rogers | 1933-2021 | 88 | Italian-born British architect best known for on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd's building and Millennium Dome, both in London, the Senedd building, in Cardiff, and the European Court of Human Rights building, in Strasbourg |
Olympia Dukakis | 1931-2021 | 89 | Oscar-winning actress for “Moonstruck”, with more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series including “Tales of the City” |
Trevor Peacock | 1931-2021 | 89 | English actor, screenwriter and songwriter, who made his name as a theatre actor, later in Shakespearean roles, later in his career he became best known for Jim Trott in The Vicar of Dibley |
Leslie Bricusse | 1931-2021 | 90 | British composer (“Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”), lyricist (“Goldfinger”, “You Only Live Twice”) and playwright, Oscar winner (1968, 1983) |
Christopher Plummer | 1929-2021 | 91 | Canadian actor from Shakespeare to “The Sound of Music” with a career spanning seven decades |
Clifford Grant | 1930-2021 | 91 | Australian operatic bass |
Ed Asner | 1929-2021 | 91 | American actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series Lou Grant |
Richard Donner | 1930-2021 | 91 | Director of “Superman”, “The Omen, “Lethal Weapon” |
Sally Ann Howes | 1930-2021 | 91 | English actress and singer, best known as Truly Scrumptious in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, nominated for a Tony Award for “Brigadoon” |
Stephen Sondheim | 1930-2021 | 91 | American composer and lyricist, one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theatre |
Teresa Żylis-Gara | 1930-2021 | 91 | Polish operatic soprano |
Bernard Haitink | 1929-2021 | 92 | Dutch conductor and violinist |
Franco Graziosi | 1929-2021 | 92 | Italian actor |
Jane Powell | 1929-2021 | 92 | American actress (“A Date with Judy”, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, “Royal Wedding”), singer and dancer |
Lionel Blair | 1928-2021 | 92 | Canadian-born British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, and television presenter |
Christa Ludwig | 1928-2021 | 93 | German mezzo-soprano |
Jackie Mason | 1928-2021 | 93 | American stand-up comedian and film and television actor |
Lina Wertmüller | 1928-1931 | 93 | Italian film director and screenwriter, best known for her 1970s art-house films. With “Seven Beauties” she became the first female director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director in 1977 |
Patricia Wilde | 1928-2021 | 93 | Canadian-born ballerina and principal ballerina of New York City Ballet |
Philip Chatfield | 1927-2021 | 93 | British born ballet dancer, choreographer and artistic director (Royal Ballet, artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet) |
Cloris Leachman | 1926-2021 | 94 | American Oscar-winning actress and comedienne; she won eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations |
Carlisle Floyd | 1926-2021 | 95 | American composer, primarily known for his operas |
Elio Pandolfi | 1926-2021 | 95 | Italian stage, film and television actor, radio personality, and voice actor |
Hal Holbrook | 1925-2021 | 95 | American actor, television director, and screenwriter |
Jane Withers | 1926-2021 | 95 | One of the most popular child stars in Hollywood in the 1930s and early 1940s |
Marjorie Tallchief | 1926-2021 | 95 | American ballerina and the first Native American to be named étoile at the Paris Opera Ballet |
Robert Cohan | 1925-2021 | 95 | American-born British dancer and choreographer, founder of The Place, London Contemporary Dance School |
Arlene Dahl | 1925-2021 | 96 | American actress active in films from the late 1940s |
Cicely Tyson | 1924-2021 | 96 | American actress with a career spanning more than seven decades, known for her portrayal of strong African-American women |
Mikis Theodorakis | 1925-2021 | 96 | Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works (“Zorba the Greek”, “Serpico”) |
Luciana Novaro | 1923-2021 | 97 | Italian ballet dancer and choreographer |
Violetta Elvin | 1923-2021 | 97 | Russian prima ballerina and actress |
Betty White | 1922-2021 | 99 | American actress and comedian |

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.
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As well as Graham Vick, we lost another great opera director in 2021, Elijah Moshinsky, who died aged 75 from Covid-19, after suffering a fracture.
Thank you. A terrible oversight as I worked as his assistant at The Royal Opera House! I will add his name to the list.