Photos: Notable Deaths in 2022
A look at the entertainers, leaders, athletes and other notable people we've lost this year.
Anne Heche
Anne Heche, the Emmy-winning film and television actor whose dramatic Hollywood rise in the 1990s and accomplished career contrasted with personal chapters of turmoil, died of injuries from a fiery car crash. She was 53. By the late 1990s Heche was one of the hottest actors in Hollywood, a constant on magazine covers and in big-budget films. In 1997 alone, she played opposite Johnny Depp as his wife in “Donnie Brasco” and Tommy Lee Jones in “Volcano” and was part of the ensemble cast in the original “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
Estelle Harris
Estelle Harris, who hollered her way into TV history as George Costanza’s short-fused mother on “Seinfeld” and voiced Mrs. Potato Head in the “Toy Story” franchise, died April 2, 2022. She was 93. As middle-class matron Estelle Costanza, Harris put a memorable stamp on her recurring role in the smash 1990s sitcom. With her high-pitched voice and humorously overbearing attitude, she was an archetype of maternal indignation.
Liz Sheridan
Liz Sheridan, a veteran stage and screen actress who played Jerry Seinfeld's mother, Helen, on "Seinfeld," died April April 15, 2022, at age 93. Though she had dozens of film credits, she was best known as Seinfeld's doting mother on his titular sitcom, which ran for nine seasons. She also appeared as the snoopy neighbor Mrs. Ochmonek on the alien-led sitcom "ALF."
Full story: Liz Sheridan, Jerry's mom on 'Seinfeld,' dies at 93
Howard Hesseman
Howard Hesseman, best known as the hard-rocking disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever on the sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati," died Jan. 28, 2022. In addition to earning two Emmy nominations for his role on "WKRP," Hesseman also appeared on "Head of the Class" and "One Day at a Time," along with guest appearances on "That 70's Show," among others. The Oregon native also hosted "Saturday Night Live" several times. — CNN
Emilio Delgado
Emilio Delgado, who spent more than 40 years entertaining generations of children playing the Fix-It Shop owner Luis on "Sesame Street," died March 10, 2022. He was 81. Delgado had cited the PBS show's importance as a cultural touchstone in the way people of color were depicted on TV. — CNN
Emilio Delgado, 'Sesame Street's' Luis for more than 40 years, dies at 81
Michael Lang
Michael Lang, a co-creator and promoter of the 1969 Woodstock music festival that served as a touchstone for generations of music fans, died Jan. 8, 2022. He was 77.
Director Jean-Luc Godard, icon of French New Wave cinema, has died at age 91, according to French media.
Loretta Lynn, the "Coal Miner's Daughter" whose frank songs about Appalachian womanhood made her a pillar of country music, has died at age 90.
Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane, who played a forensic psychologist on TV series "Cracker" and Hagrid in the "Harry Potter" films, has died. He was 72.
"The world is definitely a much darker place today without the love and light of Leslie Jordan," said one of his representatives in an emailed statement.
Emmy-winning actor Leslie Jordan, whose videos turned him into a social media star during the pandemic, has died at 67. Get the details on that and more trending news here.
Rock 'n' roll star Jerry Lee Lewis, the "Great Balls of Fire" singer who was known for his outrageous style and personal life, has died at 87.
