He was a brash and outspoken media mogul who gave the world the 24-hour news cycle when he launched CNN.
Ted Turner, who died in May, built a media empire that also included TNT, the Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies. In addition, he was a philanthropist, conservationist and owner of the Atlanta Braves baseball team.
May also saw the death of Jason Collins, the first openly gay player in the NBA. He spent 13 years as a player in the league for six different franchises, revealing in 2013 that he was gay, an announcement that came toward the end of his playing career. Collins went on to become an advocate for inclusion. Shortly before his death, he received the inaugural Bill Walton Global Champion Award at the Green Sports Alliance Summit. He was too ill to attend and his twin brother, former NBA player Jarron Collins, accepted for him.
Other noteworthy people who died in May include French singer and actor Claudine Longet, hockey star Claude Lemieux, longtime Democratic congressman Barney Frank and Doris Fisher, who co-founded the clothing chain The Gap Inc.
Here is a roll call of some influential figures who have died this year (the cause of death is cited, if available):
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JANUARY ___
Diane Crump, 77. In 1969, she became the first woman to ride professionally in a horse race and a year later became the first female jockey in the Kentucky Derby. Jan. 1.
Ahn Sung-ki, 74. He was 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.” Jan. 5.
Aldrich Ames, 84. The CIA turncoat who betrayed Western intelligence assets to the Soviet Union and Russia in one of the most damaging intelligence breaches in U.S. history died in prison. Jan. 5.
Béla Tarr, 70. The celebrated Hungarian filmmaker directed such works as “Sátántangó” and “The Turin Horse” and was the recipient of numerous awards for his long and often darkly comic films. Jan. 6.
Glenn Hall, 94. Nicknamed “Mr. Goalie,” he was a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record. Jan. 7.
Bob Weir, 78. The guitarist and singer was an essential member of the Grateful Dead who helped found the sound of the San Francisco counterculture of the 1960s and kept it alive through decades of endless tours and marathon jams. Jan. 10.
John Forté, 50. The Grammy-nominated musician was known for his work with the Fugees and the Refugee Camp All-Stars, among others. Jan. 12.
Scott Adams, 68. His 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. Jan. 13.
Claudette Colvin, 86. Her 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus helped spark the modern Civil Rights Movement. At age 15, she was arrested nine months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for also refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus. Jan. 13.
Valentino Garavani, 93. He was 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. Jan. 19.
Ota Zaremba, 68. He won a weightlifting gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics before admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs under a secret program run by the totalitarian regime in the former Czechoslovakia. Jan. 23.
William Foege, 89. As a doctor, he was a leader of one of humanity’s greatest public health victories — the global eradication of smallpox. Jan. 24.
Catherine O’Hara, 71. The gifted Canadian-born comic actor and “SCTV” alum starred as Macaulay Culkin’s harried mother in two “Home Alone” movies and won an Emmy as the dramatically ditzy, wealthy matriarch Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek.” Jan. 30.
Demond Wilson, 79. He found fame in the 1970s playing Lamont on “Sanford and Son” and went on to become a minister. Jan. 30.
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FEBRUARY
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X.J. Kennedy, 96. He was an award-winning poet, author, translator and educator who schooled millions of students through “The Bedford Reader” and other textbooks and engaged voluntary readers with his children’s stories and intricate, witty verse. Feb. 1.
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