Dec. 24, 2005
 
Deaths in 2005: Year of Farewells to World Icons
 
By Mary Deibel
Scripps Howard News Service
 

Rosa Parks, civil-rights icon, died Oct. 24 at 92. To her right is co-founder of the Rosa Raymond Parks Foundation, Elaine Steele; at her left is her friend since the fifth grade. Behind her is House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., center, and then-Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. (SHNS file photo by Evan Eile / Scripps Howard News Service)

It was a year of farewells to world icons. Pope John Paul II and Rosa Parks died. So did the chief justice of the United States and the world's chief Nazi hunter. Other lost legends ranged from entertainers Johnny Carson and Richard Pryor to Peter Drucker, the godfather of modern management, and Hunter S. Thompson, the father of gonzo journalism.
 
2005 U.S. DEATHS OF NOTE
 
Hans Bethe, German-turned-U.S. nuclear physicist who headed the theoretical division at the secret Los Alamos lab developing atomic weapons during World War II, March 6 at 98.
 
Shirley Chisholm, first black woman in Congress, Jan. 1 at 80. Kenneth Clark, educational psychologist whose studies of black children were key in the 1954 Supreme Court ruling ending public school segregation, May 1 at 90.
 
Johnnie Cochran, law firm founder and O.J. defense attorney, March 29 at 67. Peter Jennings, ABC anchor, Aug. 8 at 67.
 
Fred Korematsu, Japanese-American who fought his World War II internment in the Supreme Court, March 30 at 86.
 
Eugene McCarthy, former senator and Democratic presidential hopeful who challenged President Johnson in 1968, Dec. 10 at 89.
 

Johnny Carson died Jan. 23 at 79. (SHNS file photo courtesy NBC)

Constance Baker Motley, first black woman on federal bench, Sept. 28 at 84. Rosa Parks, civil rights icon, Oct. 24 at 92.
 
William Proxmire, former Wisconsin senator and scourge of government waste, Dec. 15 at 90.
 
Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Sept. 3 at 80.
 
Peter Rodino, House Judiciary chairman during Nixon's Watergate impeachment, May 7 at 95.
 
The Rev. Adrian Rogers, televangelist, Nov. 15 at 74.
 
Terri Schaivo, symbol of right-to-die battle, March 31 at 41.
 
Adm. James Stockdale, Vietnam POW, vice presidential candidate, July 5 at 81.
 
Gen. William Westmoreland, Vietnam War commander, July 18 at 91.
 
Rose Mary Woods, Nixon secretary who took blame for erasing 18-1/2 minutes of White House Watergate tapes, Jan. 22 at 87.
 
2005 INTERNATIONAL DEATHS OF NOTE
 
George Best, world soccer legend, Nov. 25 at 59.
 
Robin Cook, British foreign minister who quit over the Iraq war, Aug. 6 at 59.
 

Pope John Paul II died April 2 at 84. (SHNS file photo by Ellen Jaskol / The Rocky Mountain News)

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, Aug. 1 at 84.
 
Pope John Paul II April 2 at 84.
 
George Kennan, father of America's post-World War II policy of containment, March 17 at 101.
 
Prince Ranier III of Monaco, April 6 at 81.
 
Max Schmeling, heavyweight champ who saved Jews from Hitler, Feb. 2 at 99.
 
Simon Wiesenthal, Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter, Sept. 20 at 96.
 
Zhao Ziyang, Chinese premier ousted for visiting Tienanmen student protesters in 1989, Jan. 17 at 85.
 
2005 BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY DEATHS OF NOTE
 
John DeLorean, automotive innovator, March 19 at 80.
 
Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, Nov. 11 at 95.
 
Robert Heilbronner, leading economic historian, Jan. 4 at 85.
 
John Johnson, Johnson Publishing founder, Aug. 8 at 87.
 
Sol Linowitz, chairman of Xerox who negotiated for its photocopy patents before retiring to a life as diplomat and presidential counselor, March 18 at 91.
 
Frank Perdue, poultry pioneer famed for saying: "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken," March 31 at 84.
 
Lew Platt, former CEO of Hewlett Packard and Boeing chairman, Sept. 8 at 64.
 
Robert Tisch, NFL Giants co-owner and Loew's Corp. chairman, Nov. 15 at 79.
 
Walter Wriston, longtime chairman and CEO of Citibank, Jan. 19 at 85.
 
2005 ENTERTAINMENT DEATHS OF NOTE
 

Peter Jennings, ABC anchor, died Aug. 8 at 67. (SHNS file photo by Steve Fenn / ABC)

Don Adams, "Maxwell Smart," Sept. 26 at 82.
 
Anne Bancroft, Oscar- and Tony-winning actress, June 6 at 74.
 
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Grammy-winning blues musician, Sept. 10 at 81.
 
Johnny Carson, Emmy-winning king of late-night television, Jan. 23 at 79.
 
Ossie Davis, Tony-winning author and actor, Feb. 4 at 87.
 
Sandra Dee, "Gidget," Feb. 20 at 63.
 
Bob Denver, resident of Princeton, WV, Gilligan on "Gilligan's Island," Sept. 2 at 70.
 
James Doohan, Star Trek's "Scotty," July 20 at 85.
 
Ralph Edwards, "This Is Your Life" host and TV producer, Nov. 16 at 92.
 
Geraldine Fitzgerald, Oscar-nominated actress, July 17 at 91.
 
Barbara Bel Geddes, Miss Ellie on "Dallas," Aug. 8 at 82.
 
Frank Gorshin, comedian and "Batman" Riddler, May 17 at 72.
 
Skitch Henderson, "Tonight Show" bandleader, NY Pops founder, Nov. 1 at 87.
 
Shirley Horn, Grammy-winning jazz pianist and vocalist, Oct. 21 at 71.
 
Ismael Merchant, of the Merchant Ivory team that won 6 Oscars, May 25 at 68.
 
John Mills, "Ryan's Daughter" Oscar winner, April 23 at 97
 
Robert Moog, synthesizer pioneer, Aug. 21 at 71.
 
Pat Morita, "Karate Kid" mentor, Nov. 24 at 73.
 
Howie Morris, comedian, May 21 at 85.
 
Louis Nye, comedian, Oct. 9 at 92.
 
Brock Peters, actor, Aug. 23 at 78.
 
Richard Pryor, actor-comedian, Dec. 10 at 65.
 
John Raitt, "Carousel" star, father of Bonnie, Feb. 20 at 88.
 
Nipsey Russell, comedian, Oct. 2 at 80.
 
Bobby Short, cabaret singer, March 21 at 80.
 
Luther Vandross, Grammy-winning R&B artist, July 1 at 54.
 
John Vernon, Canadian-born actor, Dean Wormer in "Animal House," Feb. 2 at 72.
 
Paul Winchell, ventriloquist, June 24 at 82.
 
Robert Wise, Oscar-winning director-producer, Sept. 14 at 91.
 
2005 ARTS AND LETTERS DEATHS OF NOTE
 
Shana Alexander, journalist-author, June 23 at 79.
 
Saul Bellow, Nobel prize winning author, April 4 at 89.
 
Stanley Berenstain, father of "Bears" of children's book fame, Nov. 26 at 82.
 
Shelby Foote, historian and novelist, June 27 at 88.
 
John Fowles, author and screenwriter, Nov. 5 at 79.
 
Evan Hunter, novelist who also wrote as Ed McBain, July 6 at 78. Philip Johnson, architect, Jan. 25 at 98.
 
Arthur Miller, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Feb. 10 at 89.
 
Hunter S. Thompson, gonzo journalist, Feb. 20 at 67.
 
August Wilson, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Oct. 2 at 60.