Remembering the celebrities and public figures who died in 2024

Each year, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) publishes a number of obituaries for celebrities and public figures. These obituaries are not just memorials to the deceased, but also provide an opportunity to look back at their remarkable lives and creativity. From a helicopter pilot turned cleaner to a country music star, and a dancer who traveled the world and lived to 110, these outstanding individuals have all left their mark. Let's take a look back at those we lost in 2024.

Music industry titan Quincy Jones died in November at the age of 91. He collaborated with a wide array of musicians, from Frank Sinatra to Snoop Dogg. Born in 1933, Jones overcame a difficult childhood in Chicago street gangs to become one of America's most influential music composers and producers. His most famous works include producing some of the best-selling albums of the 20th century, including Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Jones also composed scores for dozens of films and arranged records for the likes of Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. He won a total of 28 Grammy Awards. Jones broke racial barriers to become one of Hollywood's first black executives, with his film and television production company responsible for the 90s sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and the movie "The Color Purple".

"His seven decades in music contains a whole universe. When you listen, you hear how he poured love into every second of music he created. That's his true legacy, love," his daughter, actress Rashida Jones, said at the Governors Awards ceremony.

Former One Direction singer and songwriter Liam Payne died in October at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina. Payne's death triggered enormous grief among fans of the teen idol group that was formed in 2010 through the UK reality show "The X Factor". One Direction sold over 70 million records, becoming one of the most popular groups of the 21st century. In the years after One Direction disbanded in 2016, Payne spoke publicly about the pressures of being a teen star and his struggles with drugs and alcohol. "We had a great time, but some parts of it got a little bit toxic," he told Men's Health magazine in 2019.

In early 2024, Payne released his first solo single in three years. He is survived by his parents, siblings and seven-year-old son Bear.

British doctor and broadcaster Michael Mosley died unexpectedly in June while on holiday in Greece, aged 67. After studying philosophy and medicine, Mosley joined the BBC in the 1980s as an assistant producer. He spent the last four decades as a host and producer of science and health programs, becoming a mainstay of British television. He also hosted several documentaries in Australia. Mosley gained global recognition for promoting intermittent fasting after publishing the 2013 bestseller "The Fast Diet". He began experimenting with fasting after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Although some of Mosley's diet advocacy was criticized, he was praised for his relentless pursuit of science and his ability to communicate with audiences. "He was a genuinely generous, curious, warm person who cared about both people and the science that could help them," Australian TV host Marc Fennell wrote on X.

Highly respected dancer and choreographer Eileen Kramer died in November at the age of 110. Born in Sydney, Kramer joined the Bodenwieser Ballet, considered to be Australia's first modern dance company. "It felt wonderful, very prestigious," she said in 2015. Kramer spent most of her life living and performing overseas, during which time she met Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. She stopped dancing to care for her husband after he had a stroke, looking after him for 20 years. After returning to Australia at the age of 99, she began dancing publicly again. "She was committed to showing that older people can also contribute, be a dancer and influence others. It gave people a new perspective that (dance) isn't just for young people," former ballet dancer Barbara Cookson said.

One of Britain's most celebrated stage and screen actors, Maggie Smith, died in September at the age of 89. Smith won critical acclaim for her role as Desdemona in Laurence Olivier's 1965 production of "Othello". She won Oscars for 1969's "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" and 1978's "California Suite". She was one of the few actors to have won an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony Award. But it wasn't until her 70s that Smith became a household name for her role as the acerbic Violet Crawley in "Downton Abbey". "I had been working for a very long time before 'Downton Abbey', and I had a nice life - nobody knew who I was," Smith said in a 2017 British Academy of Film interview. Younger audiences will best remember Smith for her role as Professor McGonagall in the "Harry Potter" films. "She had a razor-sharp wit, a sharp tongue, and could be both intimidating and charming in an instant, and, as everyone will tell you, she was incredibly funny," Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe said of Smith.

Smith was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990, and King Charles paid tribute to her after her death, calling her a "national treasure".

Australian actor Brian Wenzel, who played Sergeant Frank Gilroy in the long-running television series "A Country Practice", died in May at the age of 94. Wenzel appeared in the Seven Network drama for 12 years until 1992 and won a Silver Logie for Best Supporting Actor in 1983. In all, he said he appeared in more than 3,000 hours of television and also had roles in hit soap operas "Neighbours", "The Rovers", "Young Doctors" and "Matlock Police". Wenzel was born in Adelaide in 1929 and had a difficult childhood. At the age of 10, his parents sent him and his older brother to a boys' home – the first of five boys' homes he would live in and escape from. "They would flog the living daylights out of us" as punishment for running away, Wenzel told The Advertiser in 2017. Wenzel eventually returned to live with his mother. As a teenager, he found work in a circus, looking after ponies, but soon began performing in the circus himself. He became a professional actor at the age of 17. In 2021, Wenzel revealed he had suffered two strokes and was unable to walk without assistance. "I suddenly became old. I can't work anymore, and that's very frustrating," he told New Idea magazine. He died in a nursing home, according to Seven Network, leaving behind his wife Linda, whom he married in 1957. Wenzel was a "passionate family man and a loyal Carlton supporter" who would "leave an irreplaceable mark on the Australian film and television industry," his agent Jennifer Hennessy said.

Australian television and radio personality John Blackman, the voice of the witty comedy puppet Dickie Knee on the Hey Hey It's Saturday show, died in June at the age of 76. He was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2019 and underwent surgery to remove part of his lower jaw. Blackman began his media career at Goulburn radio station 2GN in 1969. In 1971, he began working on the fledgling early morning children's television show "Hey Hey It's Saturday," which later developed into an entertainment variety show and moved to a primetime slot in 1984. Blackman was the announcer on "Hey Hey" but he also voiced several of the show's comedy characters, including Dickie Knee, Angel and Mrs. MacGillicuddy. He worked on the show until it was cancelled in 1999, and returned for a brief revival in 2009 and 2010. Blackman returned to radio in the late 1990s and early 2000s, hosting shows on 3AK and Triple M in Adelaide. His last gig was at Magic 1278 in Melbourne in 2015-16. "Hey Hey It's Saturday" host Daryl Somers said he was "devastated" to lose a "dear friend". "He had a God-given talent to make people laugh, particularly me," Somers said. "He used to say his mission on 'Hey Hey' was to break me, and sometimes I'd be crying with uncontrollable laughter. Sadly today, I'm just crying."

Fitness guru and shorts enthusiast Richard Simmons, dubbed the "Prince of Fitness Clowns" by People magazine in 1981, died at his home in Los Angeles in July. He was 76. Simmons was an overweight teenager who shared his weight-loss tips on "The Richard Simmons Show," which aired in the early 1980s. On the show, he often performed aerobics to a live audience in flamboyant outfits. He also wrote several best-selling books, created the "Deal-a-Meal" diet plan, opened a fitness studio, and starred in workout videos. He used real people in his videos – chubby, balding, or not camera-ready people – to make his fitness goals look achievable. "I think I'm just a good example of a fat, unhappy kid who lived in New Orleans, Louisiana, who had dreams, and now all my dreams have come true," Simmons told a television host in 1980. But he was also a target for media personalities Howard Stern and David Letterman. Stern, for example, would mock him until he cried. After Simmons went off the public radar for years, in 2017 he became the subject of a hit podcast called "Missing Richard Simmons," which discussed various theories about what may have happened to him (one critic called it "a privacy invasion disguised as a love letter"). But in 2022, Simmons's spokesperson told the New York Post that he was "living the life he chooses".

Actress Shannen Doherty, known for her roles in the hit 1990s television shows "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Charmed," died in July after a long battle with cancer. She was 53. Doherty initially rose to fame as a child star in the 1980s, appearing in the television shows "Little House on the Prairie" and "Our House" and the film "Heathers". But she became a star for her role as Brenda Walsh in the hit high school soap opera "Beverly Hills, 90210," which premiered in 1990. Doherty and her "Beverly Hills, 90210" co-stars often made tabloid headlines, and Doherty became notorious for her drinking and conflicts in her personal life. After being written out of "Beverly Hills, 90210" during its fourth season in 1994, Doherty went on to appear in the films "Mallrats" (1995) and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" (2001). She also played Prue Halliwell in the television series "Charmed," which ran for eight seasons from 1998. Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. She announced she was in remission in 2017. But her cancer returned in 2020 and in 2023 revealed it had spread to her brain and then to her bones. She continued to work after her diagnosis, launching a podcast in December 2023 where she reflected on her career, relationships and health. "I'm not done with living. I'm not done with loving. I'm not done with creating. I'm not done with hopefully changing things for the better," she told People magazine in 2023. "I'm just not done."

Actor James Earl Jones, who voiced Darth Vader in the original "Star Wars" trilogy and Mufasa in Disney's "The Lion King," died in September at the age of 93. Jones was born in Mississippi in January 1931, and was raised by his grandparents after his parents divorced, his mother remarried and moved away. "I was raised by a very racist grandmother," who blamed all white people for slavery, and both Native Americans and black people for "allowing it to happen," Jones told the BBC in 2011. "She was the most racist, bigoted person I knew." His childhood trauma left deep scars, and as a child Jones developed a stutter. By the age of eight, he stuttered so severely he stopped speaking altogether – until he overcame his disability by reciting poetry and joining the debate team in high school. After moving to New York City in 1955, Jones studied at the American Theatre Wing and Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio, and won a number of small roles in Shakespearean plays in the 1960s. His film debut was as bomber pilot Zogg in "Dr. Strangelove" (1964), and by the 70s and 80s, he was in high demand for stage and screen roles, appearing in films including "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), "Matewan" (1987), "Coming to America" (1988), "Field of Dreams" (1989) and "Cry, the Beloved Country" (1995). Jones won numerous awards during his career: Tony Awards, Golden Globes, Emmy Awards, Kennedy Center Honors and an honorary Oscar.

Barbara Taylor Bradford, who wrote stories about women fighting for love and power in a man's world, died in November at the age of 91. At the age of 16, she left school to become a reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post. She worked for 30 years as a fashion editor and columnist, among other jobs, but writing novels was her dream. She became a publishing sensation in her 40s with her epic novel "A Woman of Substance". Published in 1979, it was a chronicle of the trials and triumphs of retail magnate Emma Harte over multiple generations, who would also appear in several of Bradford's other novels. Bradford wrote an average of one book a year and was one of the world's most popular and wealthiest authors. She had a strict writing routine: working behind her IBM Lexmark typewriter from 6am, breaking around 1pm, and then returning to writing until 6pm at the latest. Her work was translated into 40 languages and sold over 90 million copies worldwide.

Texas-born actor and songwriter Kris Kristofferson died in September at the age of 88. Kristofferson, a former US Army helicopter pilot, worked part-time as a cleaner at Columbia Records' Music Row studios, hoping to break into the industry. He became a prolific songwriter, known for hits such as "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" and "Help Me Make It Through the Night". He was a singer himself, but many of his songs were best known when sung by others, such as Ray Price ("For the Good Times") or Janis Joplin ("Me and Bobby McGee"). Kristofferson brought complex lyrics about loneliness and tender romance to popular country music and was part of a new generation of country songwriters, along with peers like Willie Nelson, John Prine and Tom T. Hall.

Shelley Duvall, the Texas-born star of Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining," died in July at the age of 77. At the height of her career, Duvall was a regular in some of the most iconic films of the 1970s and 80s, particularly working with director Robert Altman. Thin and awkward, Duvall was not a traditional Hollywood star, but her wide eyes shone on screen, including in "Thieves Like Us", "Nashville", "Popeye", "3 Women" and "McCabe & Mrs. Miller". Film critic Pauline Kael called her a "female Buster Keaton". Duvall disappeared from film almost as quickly as she appeared. By the 1990s, she began to withdraw from acting, with her last role in 2002's "Manna from Heaven" before she retreated from public life.

Donald Sutherland, whose acting career spanned more than half a century, died in June at the age of 88. He never stopped working, eventually appearing in nearly 200 films and television shows. Sutherland was known for his quirky characters, such as Hawkeye Pierce in Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H" film, the hippie tank commander in "Kelly's Heroes," and the drug-addled professor in "Animal House". Over the decades, Sutherland showed his more reserved but still eccentric side in Robert Redford's "Ordinary People" and Oliver Stone's "JFK". His role in "The Hunger Games" introduced him to a new generation. Sutherland - whose son Kiefer also went into acting - wrote a memoir, "Made Up, But Still True," which was published after his death.

Australian cartoonist Michael Leunig died in December at the age of 79. Leunig's early work appeared in Woman's Day and London's Oz magazine, and his first book of cartoons, "The Penguin Leunig," was published in 1974. His prints, paintings and drawings have been exhibited in public and private collections. In 1999, he was declared a National Living Treasure by the National Trust. He was a regular contributor to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. In September 2024, he was sacked by The Age, 55 years after drawing his first cartoon for the paper. Some of his work caused controversy in his later years, but Leunig said his job was to "explore sensitive points" because he believed they were the most important.

Marsden created the "Tomorrow" book series, which began with the 1993 novel "Tomorrow, When the War Began," about a hypothetical Australian invasion. The series sold millions of copies worldwide and was later adapted into television series and films, making him one of Australia's best-known writers of young adult fiction. He won many major awards for his children's and adult fiction, and in 2006 was awarded the Lloyd O'Neil Award for his contribution to Australian publishing. Marsden was also the principal of two schools in regional Victoria, Candlebark near Romsey and Alice Miller in Macedon.

Former US President Jimmy Carter, who became a human rights champion in his later years and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, died on December 29 at the age of 100. Carter served as the 39th president from 1977 to 1981, and lived longer after leaving office than any other former president. Before his 100th birthday, Carter said he just wanted to try and vote for Kamala Harris. He voted by mail on October 16. Carter grew up in rural, segregated Georgia and his political positions were influenced by the civil rights era and established him as a progressive politician. His presidency saw the historic peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, and arms control treaties with the Soviet Union. He is also remembered for the events that defined his era: inflation, the global energy crisis, the war in Afghanistan and the US hostage crisis in Iran. Carter's tireless work for humanity after his presidency earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.