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Celebrities who died in 2025

David Lynch sitting on a red bench in a movie theater with a coffee cup.
David Lynch.

Gilles Mingasson/Gettty Images

  • Actors Gene Hackman and Michelle Trachtenberg have died.
  • Musicians Roberta Flack, Marianne Faithfull, and Peter Yarrow, as well as director David Lynch, also passed away.
  • So did Aubrey Plaza's husband, filmmaker Jeff Baena, and MLB Hall of Famer Bob Uecker.

Below, we look back at those we lost in 2025.

Jeff Baena, 47
Jeff Baena in a green sweater
Jeff Baena.

Rich Polk/Getty

Baena was known for writing and directing comedic independent movies like "Life After Beth," "The Little Hours," and "Horse Girl."

Many of them starred his wife Aubrey Plaza.

He also wrote the 2004 movie "I Heart Huckabees" with director David O. Russell.

Baena died by suicide on January 3.

If you or someone you know is experiencing depression or has had thoughts of harming themself or taking their own life, get help. In the US, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Help is also available through the Crisis Text Line β€” just text "HOME" to 741741. The International Association for Suicide Prevention offers resources for those outside the US.

Dick Button, 95
Dick Button staking on ice
Dick Button.

Bettmann Archive/Getty

Button was one of the greats in men's figure skating.

His dominance in the sport began in the late 1940s, when he began winning on the amateur circuit by landing moves no one had ever seen done before in competition, including the double axel and the triple jump.

He would go on to win two Olympic gold medals and five consecutive world championships.

Once he retired, he went on to become an Emmy-winning analyst and even was one of the minds behind the popular 1970s competition show "Battle of the Network Stars," in which celebrities challenged one another in various sports competitions.

Button died on January 30. No cause was given.

Leslie Charleson, 79
Leslie Charleson riding a horse
Leslie Charleson.

ABC Photo Archives/Getty

For 50 years, fans of "General Hospital" knew Charleson as Dr. Monica Quartermaine, a role she played since 1977.

Charleson was beloved by fans and used her celebrity to support charities for breast cancer, cystic fibrosis, and AIDS awareness.

Charleson's other credits include "Adam 12," "Barnaby Jones," "Marcus Welby, M.D.," "Ironside," "Kung Fu," and "The Rockford Files."

She also starred in "Happy Days" and gave Ron Howard his first on-screen kiss.

Charleson died on January 12 following a long illness.

Marianne Faithfull, 78
Marianne Faithfull in a blue top
Marianne Faithfull.

CA/Redferns/Getty

Faithfull was a fixture in the London music scene during the 1960s.

She was discovered by The Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, which led to her finding instant stardom not just for her chart-topping music, like "As Tears Go By," which became a top 5 single in the UK, but also for her hard-partying ways alongside her then-flame Mick Jagger.

Throughout the 1960s, she was the inspiration for Stones hits "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Wild Horses" while being a co-writer on "Sister Morphine." But she was also in a deep addiction to drugs. She was famously found wearing nothing but a fur rug during a 1967 drug bust at Keith Richards' Sussex home.

Faithfull made a comeback with the 1979 album "Broken English," which earned her a Grammy nomination.

Other hit songs include "This Little Bird," "Summer Nights," and "Come and Stay With Me."

She also starred in movies like 1967's "I'll Never Forget What's'isname" and 1968's "The Girl on the Motorcycle."

Faithfull died on January 30. No cause was given.

Roberta Flack, 88
Roberta Flack smiling wearing a dress
Roberta Flack.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Flack's smooth R&B vocals made her a star in the 1970s with Grammy-winning hits like "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face," "Killing Me Softly with His Song," and "Feel Like Makin' Love."

Over her career, Flack scored six top-10 pop hits and 10 top-10 R&B singles. She was also the first artist to win the record of the year Grammy in two consecutive years, for 1973's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and 1974's "Killing Me Softly with His Song."

Flack was introduced to a new generation in the 1990s when The Fugees did a Grammy-winning cover of "Killing Me Softly" in 1996.

Flack died on February 24. No cause was given.

Irv Gotti, 54
Irv Gotti pointing with both hands
Irv Gotti.

David Pomponio/FilmMagic/Getty

In an era of hip-hop where the producers were as prominent as the artists, Irv Gotti was one of the shining stars of the late 1990s and 2000s.

Gotti, who was born Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. and later went by DJ Irv, came on the scene as A&R for Def Jam. He brought in artists that would define the next generation of hip-hop to the label like Jay-Z, DMX, and Ja Rule.

His coming out party was producing one of Jay-Z's first hits, "Can I Live," from his 1996 debut album "Reasonable Doubt."

Soon after, his Irv Gotti persona was created when he founded the rap label Murder Inc. Records, bringing along artists like DMX and Ja Rule and signing others like Ashanti.

There he became the face of smash hits like Jay-Z's "Can I Get A…," DMX's "What's My Name," Ja Rule's "Holla Holla," Fat Joe's "What's Luv?," Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real," and Ashanti's "Foolish."

In recent years, Gotti had suffered strokes and battled diabetes-related issues. He died on February 5. No cause was given.

Gene Hackman, 95
Gene Hackman leaning up against a fence
Gene Hackman.

Evening Standard/Getty

Hackman was a superstar in the skin of a character actor.

From his breakout in 1967's "Bonnie and Clyde" to his final movie, 2004's "Welcome to Mooseport," this skilled actor did it all with low-key confidence.

Even when he played the diabolical villain Lex Luthor in the Christopher Reeve "Superman" movies, Hackman's deft performance was never about upstaging other actors.

But audiences couldn't help but gravitate to him. Taking on roles in projects that would become classics like the gritty cop "Popeye" Doyle in "The French Connection," which earned him an Oscar; a surveillance expert in "The Conversation;" a tough but fair basketball coach in "Hoosiers;" and showing his comedy chops in "Get Shorty" and "The Birdcage," Hackman became beloved.

He abruptly retired in 2004 and spent the rest of his life writing novels and enjoying life with his wife Betsy Arakawa.

Hackman and Arakawa were found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home on February 26. An investigation is ongoing.

David Lynch, 78
David Lynch pointing finger at lens
David Lynch.

Guy Kinziger/WireImage/Getty

Lynch was the visionary director of surrealist films like "The Elephant Man," "Blue Velvet," "Mulholland Drive," and the hit TV series "Twin Peaks."

His groundbreaking works blended elements of everything from horror to film noir to surrealism, creating a uniquely skewed vision of America.

After adapting Frank Herbert's "Dune" in 1984, resulting in a box office flop, Lynch produced a string of surrealist works that would define his career: 1986's "Blue Velvet," 1990's "Wild at Heart," 1992's "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me" (the prequel to his hit TV show "Twin Peaks," which ran from 1990 to 1991), and 1997's "Lost Highway."

Each title showcased Lynch's seemingly limitless creativity as he pushed the boundaries of narrative structure while dazzling the viewer with exquisite production design and cinematography.

The Lynch family announced his passing on January 16. In August 2024, the filmmaker announced that he had emphysema following decades of smoking, but said he hadn't smoked in over two years.

Sam Moore, 89
Sam Moore holding a microphone
Sam Moore.

Gie Knaeps/Getty

Moore's R&B sound influenced everyone from Michael Jackson to Bruce Springsteen.

Alongside Dave Prater, Moore found fame in the 1960s with Sam & Dave, a duo who had hits like "Hold On, I'm Comin'" and "Soul Man."

"Soul Man" would gain renewed popularity in the late 1970s when Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi began performing the song as their alter egos, R&B singers The Blues Brothers, on "Saturday Night Live." The song would continue to find new fans in 1980 when "The Blues Brothers" movie was released.

Moore went solo in 1970 and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Moore died on January 10 from complications while recovering from surgery.

Geneviève Page, 97
Geneviève Page in a hat and mink sitting inside a car
Geneviève Page.

Daily Express/Getty

Thanks to her stunning beauty, Page became a fixture in both French cinema and Hollywood through the 1960s.

She's best known for playing Madame Anais, the owner of a high-class brothel in Luis BuΓ±uel's 1967 masterpiece "Belle de Jour."

In the movie, Anais oversees the actions of Catherine Deneuve's character Severine, a bored housewife who turns to prostitution to spice up her life. But she only works in the afternoon while her husband is away at work, leading to Anais calling her "Belle de Jour" ("Beauty of the Day").

Page also starred in "El Cid," the 1961 medieval epic also starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, and Billy Wilder's 1970 film "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes."

Page died on February 14. No cause was given.

Michelle Trachtenberg, 39
Michelle Trachtenberg smiling
Michelle Trachtenberg.

Mark Mainz/Getty

Trachtenberg dedicated her life to acting and found fame in the process.

She landed her first major role in the mid-1990s as Nona F. Mecklenberg on the Nickelodeon series "The Adventures of Pete & Pete." In 1996, she played the lead in the Nickelodeon-produced movie "Harriet the Spy."

By the early 2000s, she had landed more mature roles in movies like the comedy "Euro Trip" and the indie drama "Mysterious Skin," both of which were released in 2004. At the same time, she was gaining fandom on the small screen playing Dawn Summers on "Buffy and the Vampire Slayer," and later appearing as Georgina Sparks on the hit CW series "Gossip Girl," which ran from 2007 to 2012.

Trachtenberg was found dead in a New York City apartment on February 26. A cause of death hasn't yet been determined.

DJ Unk (Anthony Platt), 42
Man with Atlanta Hawks hat on
DJ Unk.

Ben Rose/WireImage/Getty

This Atlanta rapper brought snap music to the masses thanks to his hit 2006 songs "Walk it Out" and "2 Step."

Anthony Platt, better known by his stage name DJ Unk, was a fixture in the Atlanta rap scene in the late 1990s. He DJed at everything from pep rallies to proms.

He released his first album, "Beat'n Down Yo Block!" in 2006 and found huge acclaim due to his two big hit songs, "Walk it Out" and "2 Step."

"Walk it Out" got as high as No. 10 on the Billboard charts and went platinum.

His second album, "2econd Season," was released in 2008 but didn't find the same acclaim as his debut.

In 2009, due to non-stop touring and hard partying, DJ Unk suffered a heart attack.

DJ Unk died on January 24. His wife, Sherkita Long-Platt, said in a Facebook post that he died in his sleep after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Bob Uecker, 90
Bob Uecker smiling holding a bat
Bob Uecker.

ABC Photo Archives/Getty

Uecker had a respectable career as a Major League Baseball backup catcher on four clubs through the 1960s, playing with his hometown Milwaukee Brewers and winning a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals. But it was his work off the field that made him one of the most memorable figures in MLB history.

After retiring in 1967, Uecker started his second career as a broadcaster, calling games for the Brewers (which he did until his death) and being the color man for network games.

His self-deprecating style made him a likable figure, leading to him becoming a fixture on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson, where he earned the nickname "Mr. Baseball." Suddenly Uecker landed everything from beer commercials to a hosting gig on "Saturday Night Live."

But his most memorable gigs outside of baseball were playing sportswriter George Owens on the hit TV show "Mr. Belvedere" from 1985 to 1990 and starring as sarcastic broadcaster Harry Doyle in the beloved 1989 movie "Major League" and its sequels.

Uecker was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.

He died on January 16 after battling small-cell lung cancer since 2023.

Peter Yarrow, 86
Peter Yarrow holding a guitar
Peter Yarrow.

Chelsea Lauren/WireImage/Getty

Yarrow was a singer-songwriter who was a member of the iconic folk music group Peter, Paul and Mary.

Along with Paul Stookey and Mary Travers, the trio had six Billboard Top 10 singles, two No. 1 albums, and won five Grammys. Their major hit was "Puff the Magic Dragon," which Yarrow cowrote.

Yarrow died on January 7 after a battle with bladder cancer.

Angie Stone, 63
Singer Angie Stone attends the Urban One Honors: Best In Black in January 2024.
Angie Stone.

Brian Stukes/FilmMagic

Stone was a member of the female hip-hop trio The Sequence, who is known for songs like "Funk You Up" and "Monster Jam."

She later launched a solo career in the late 1990s with her debut album, "Black Diamond." Her 2001 song, "Wish I Didn't Miss You," became one of her most popular songs.

Stone's publicist told TMZ that Stone died in a car crash on Saturday after performing in Montgomery, Alabama. The Grammy-nominated artist was traveling in a van with eight other people, including backup singers and crew, when it crashed on Interstate 65.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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