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January: Jeff Beck, Lisa Marie Presley and David Crosby
Jeff Beck died on January 10, 2023, at 78. The guitar virtuoso moved between blues, jazz and rock, and his playing influenced generations of musicians. Two days later, Lisa Marie Presley died at 54. The singer-songwriter, who was also Elvis Presley’s daughter, was among the year’s most closely watched music losses. (Associated Press year-end roll call; Los Angeles Times remembrance)
David Crosby died on January 18 at 81. Cindy Williams, remembered especially for Laverne & Shirley, also died in January at 75. Other early-year losses included Earth, Wind & Fire drummer Fred White and actor Adam Rich. These names are included as notable examples, not as a complete January register.
February through April: Film, television and music
February brought the deaths of several major screen figures. Film star Raquel Welch died on February 15 at 82, after becoming one of the defining popular-cinema stars of the 1960s and 1970s. Richard Belzer died four days later at 78. His long television career included detective John Munch, a character he played in series including Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
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Music also lost Burt Bacharach, who died on February 8 at 94. Bacharach’s career made him one of the most recognizable composers and musicians in popular music. The same period also saw the deaths of Cindy Williams, Welch, Belzer and Bacharach among the Los Angeles Times’ notable entertainment obituaries.
Lance Reddick died on March 17 at 60. He was known for substantial character work in The Wire and Fringe, as well as his role in the John Wick franchise. Ryuichi Sakamoto died on March 28 at 71; the news was announced on April 2. That distinction matters in a year-by-year list: the announcement date is not the death date. Sakamoto’s work included scores for films such as The Last Emperor and The Revenant. (AP)
Harry Belafonte died on April 25 at 96. He was both a major recording and film performer and a prominent civil-rights activist. Television host Jerry Springer died on April 27 at 79. Their legacies illustrate how broad a celebrity remembrance can be: popular entertainment and public life often overlap.
May through July: Tina Turner, Tony Bennett and a generation of performers
Tina Turner was one of the year’s most consequential losses. She died on May 24 at 83. The Associated Press emphasized her powerful voice and stage presence, her early success with Ike Turner, and her extraordinary solo resurgence in the 1980s. Songs such as What’s Love Got to Do With It helped make that comeback one of pop music’s defining second acts. Turner’s career crossed R&B, rock and pop and reached audiences across several generations. (AP’s profile of the year’s losses)
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Gordon Lightfoot died on May 1 at 84. Cormac McCarthy, one of the most influential American novelists of his generation, died on June 13 at 89. Alan Arkin died on June 29 at 89 after a career that moved comfortably between dramatic and comic performances.
Jane Birkin died on July 16 at 76. The English actor and singer achieved particular fame in France, making her an important inclusion in an international account of the year’s cultural losses. Tony Bennett died on July 21 at 96, followed by Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor on July 26 at 56. The British Film Institute’s 2023 remembrance list is useful for placing Birkin and other internationally known figures in a wider cultural context.
Paul Reubens, best known as the creator and performer of Pee-wee Herman, died on July 30 at 70. Angus Cloud, who played Fezco O’Neill on HBO’s Euphoria, died the following day at 25. The initial AP year-end summary identified Cloud’s role but did not provide a cause of death. It is therefore inappropriate to add one without a separately verified official or medical source.
August through October: Directors, hosts and television favorites
William Friedkin died on August 7 at 87. As the director of The French Connection and The Exorcist, he was a central figure in American filmmaking. Actor Mark Margolis, recognized by many viewers for his work in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, died in August at 83.
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Bob Barker died on August 26 at 99. He was closely associated with long-running daytime game-show television and with animal advocacy. Jimmy Buffett died on September 1 at 76, leaving behind a musical identity that extended well beyond individual records and concerts.
David McCallum died on September 25 at 90. His career stretched from the 1960s series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to the later television hit NCIS. Suzanne Somers died on October 15 at 76. Richard Roundtree, the star of Shaft, died on October 24 at 81.
Matthew Perry died on October 28 at 54. Although he worked in film and television for decades, his signature public role remained Chandler Bing on Friends. Perry’s death prompted widespread remembrance because the character had been part of the viewing lives of audiences around the world. This article does not speculate about causes of death; age, prior illness and online reports are not substitutes for a verified source. (AP; Los Angeles Times)
December: Norman Lear, Andre Braugher and Tom Wilkinson
Norman Lear died on December 5 at 101. The writer, director and producer transformed prime-time television through shows including All in the Family, The Jeffersons and Maude. His work made television comedy a vehicle for addressing class, race, politics and family conflict in ways that reshaped the medium.
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Andre Braugher died on December 11 at 61. He earned acclaim in the drama Homicide: Life on the Street and later became widely popular as Captain Raymond Holt in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Tom Wilkinson died on December 28 at 75. His notable film work included The Full Monty, Michael Clayton and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Their deaths closed a year that affected both prestige film and mass-audience television. (Associated Press)
The wider cultural roll call
A list limited to actors, singers and television personalities would leave out many people who shaped popular culture. The 2023 losses also included fashion designer Mary Quant, comic artist Al Jaffee, Sesame Street co-creator Lloyd Morrisett and composer Kaija Saariaho.
International music losses named in year-end coverage included Astrud Gilberto, Coco Lee, Rita Lee Jones, Fito Olivares and Bobby Caldwell. A broader international remembrance also brings in figures such as South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun. Jane Birkin, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sinéad O’Connor, Harry Belafonte and Tina Turner likewise demonstrate why a useful 2023 retrospective should not be treated as an exclusively U.S. list. The AP roll call and the BFI’s international remembrance provide a stronger basis for that wider view than a single entertainment-industry list.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How this 2023 list is scoped
This is a selective year-in-review of widely known stars and influential cultural figures, not a complete death register. The Associated Press year-end roundup is the main backbone because it groups losses across entertainment and adjacent cultural fields. The Los Angeles Times’ obituary roundup adds useful categories for film and television, music, sports, California and world or national figures.
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 2023 In Memoriam page is a valuable film-industry cross-check, but it covers artists and filmmakers lost during the 2022–2023 period. It should not be mistaken for a complete calendar-year list. Dates in this article refer to the date of death where the cited source identifies it; they are not necessarily the date a death became public.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a complete list of celebrity deaths in 2023?
No. This is a curated selection of widely known stars and influential cultural figures, not a complete list of everyone who died in 2023. A comprehensive register would require individual verification of every entry and date.
Why do a death date and announcement date sometimes differ?
Ryuichi Sakamoto died on March 28, but his death was announced on April 2. The two dates should not be treated as interchangeable. This article uses the death date when the cited source distinguishes it from the announcement date.
Why doesn’t the article list causes of death?
Causes of death are omitted unless supported by a dedicated, verified official or medical source. Age, previous health reports, rumors and social-media posts are not reliable grounds for adding a cause.
Which sources were used for the 2023 celebrity deaths list?
The main sources are the Associated Press year-end roll call, the Los Angeles Times’ categorized obituary roundup, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 2023 In Memoriam page and the British Film Institute’s remembrance list. The Academy page covers the 2022–2023 period, so it is used only as a corroborating film-industry source.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: The notable deaths of 2023 reached across rock, pop, film, television, literature, fashion and public life. Tina Turner, Matthew Perry, Norman Lear, Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Raquel Welch and the other figures remembered here left very different legacies—but each helped define the culture their audiences inherited.
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