Photos: Notable deaths in 2026
Here's a look back at the entertainers, leaders, athletes and other notable people we've said goodbye to so far in 2026.
Diane Crump
Diane Crump, who in 1969 became the first woman to ride professionally in a horse race and a year later became the first female jockey in the Kentucky Derby, died Jan. 1. She was 77.
Ahn Sung-ki
Ahn Sung-ki, one of South Korean cinema’s biggest stars whose prolific 60-year career and positive, gentle public image earned him the nickname “The Nation’s Actor,” died Jan. 5. He was 74.
Eva Schloss
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, died Jan. 3. She was 96.
Glenn Hall
Glenn Hall, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record, died Jan. 7. He was 94.
Bob Weir
Bob Weir, the guitarist and singer who, as an essential member of the Grateful Dead, helped found the sound of the San Francisco counterculture of the 1960s and kept it alive through decades of endless tours and marathon jams, died Jan. 10. He was 78.
Scott Adams
Scott Adams, whose popular comic strip “Dilbert” captured the frustration of beleaguered, white-collar cubicle workers and satirized the ridiculousness of modern office culture until he was abruptly dropped from syndication in 2023 for racist remarks, died Jan. 13. He was 68.
Sly Dunbar
Two-time Grammy Award-winning reggae drummer Sly Dunbar, who fueled countless tracks from Bob Marley to Bob Dylan and was one-half of the influential reggae rhythm section Sly & Robbie, died Jan. 26. He was 73.
John Brodie
John Brodie, who won an MVP award and was one of the NFL's most prolific passers during a 17-year career with the San Francisco 49ers, died Jan. 23. He was 90.
Claudette Colvin
Claudette Colvin, whose 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus helped spark the modern civil rights movement, died Jan. 13. She was 86.
Valentino Garavani
Valentino Garavani, the jet-set Italian designer whose high-glamour gowns — often in his trademark shade of “Valentino red” — were fashion show staples for nearly half a century, died Jan. 19. He was 93.
Catherine O'Hara
Catherine O'Hara, the Emmy-winning actor known for comedic roles across the decades — from Kevin's beleaguered mom in “Home Alone” to the iconic Moira Rose in “Schitt's Creek” — died Jan. 30. She was 71.
Demond Wilson
Demond Wilson, who found fame in the 1970s playing Lamont on “Sanford and Son” and went on to become a minister, died Jan. 30. He was 79.
LaMonte McLemore
Singer LaMonte McLemore, a founding member of vocal group The 5th Dimension, whose smooth pop and soul sounds with a touch of psychedelia brought them big hits in the 1960s and ’70s, died Feb. 3. He was 90.
Sonny Jurgensen
Sonny Jurgensen, the Hall of Fame quarterback whose strong arm, keen wit and affable personality made him one of the most beloved figures in Washington football history, died Feb. 6. He was 91.
James Van Der Beek
James Van Der Beek, a heartthrob who starred in coming-of-age dramas at the dawn of the new millennium, shooting to fame playing the titular character in “Dawson’s Creek” and in later years mocking his own hunky persona, died Feb. 11. He was 48. Van Der Beek revealed in 2024 that he was being treated for colorectal cancer.
Robert Duval
Robert Duvall, the Academy Award-winning actor known for his roles in Hollywood classics such as "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now," died Feb. 15. He was 95.
Frederick Wiseman
Frederick Wiseman, the celebrated director of “Titicut Follies” and dozens of other documentaries whose in-depth, unadorned movies comprised a unique and revelatory history of American institutions, died Feb. 16. He was 96.
Jesse Jackson
The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after the revered leader's assassination, died Feb. 17. He was 84.
Eric Dane
Eric Dane, the celebrated actor best known for his roles on “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria” and who later in life became an advocate for ALS awareness, died Feb. 19. He was 53.
Robert Carradine
Robert Carradine, the youngest of his prolific Hollywood family and whose biggest hit was the 1984 comedy “Revenge of the Nerds,” died Feb. 23. He was 71.
Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka, the hit-making singer-songwriter whose boyish soprano and bright melodies made him a top act in the early years of rock ‘n' roll and led to a second run of success in the 1970s, died Feb. 27. He was 86.
Alexander Butterfield
Alexander Butterfield, the White House aide who inadvertently hastened Richard Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal when he revealed that the president had bugged the Oval Office and Cabinet Room and routinely recorded his conversations, died March 9. He was 99.
'Country' Joe McDonald
“Country” Joe McDonald, a hippie rock star of the 1960s whose “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” was a four-lettered rebuke to the Vietnam War that became an anthem for protesters and a highlight of the Woodstock music festival, died March 8. He was 84.
Tommy DeCarlo
Tommy DeCarlo (right), who became the lead singer of classic rockers Boston for nearly 20 years based on a Myspace tribute to the band's original singer, died March 9. He was 60. DeCarlo's children said had been struggling for months with brain cancer.
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Catherine O'Hara died from a pulmonary embolism, according to the actress's death certificate. She had been diagnosed with cancer, as well.
He shot to fame playing the titular character in "Dawson's Creek" and in later years mocked his own hunky persona.
His representatives said Dane died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known also as Lou Gehrig's disease, less than a year after he announced his diagnosis.
Robert Carradine, the youngest of his prolific Hollywood family and whose biggest hit was the 1984 comedy “Revenge of the Nerds,” has died at 71.
"Country" Joe McDonald, a hippie rock star of the 1960s, died Sunday at 84. He wrote hundreds of songs, from psychedelic jams to soul-influenced rockers, and released dozens of albums.
