Remembering the artists, filmmakers, actors and writers we lost in 2022
So many giants of the arts world left us in 2022 — here are just a few of the actors, writers, filmmakers, artists and performers who died in the past year, listed chronologically below by the dates of their deaths.
Sidney Poitier: actor, activist, and trailblazing heartthrobPoitier first became a movie star in the 1950s. He was an unparalleled actor, a committed activist and a beloved family member. He was also, frankly, a heartthrob. Read Karen Grigsby Bates' remembrance.
'The Last Picture Show' director Peter Bogdanovich: In a prolific career that spanned more than 50 years, the maverick writer, director, actor and film historian touched every aspect of filmmaking — from the coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show to zany comedies like What's Up Doc. Read Elizabeth Blair's remembrance.
Actor and comedian Bob Saget: Saget was a prominent presence on American television screens throughout the 1990s as the father Danny Tanner on Full House and the host of America's Funniest Home Videos. Read James Doubek's remembrance.
André Leon Talley, titan of the fashion world Talley grew up in the Jim Crow South and discovered Vogue magazine as a child at the public library. He went on to become Vogue's creative director and one of fashion's most defining voices for decades. Listen to the It's Been a Minute remembrance.
Lata Mangeshkar, the sweetheart of Bollywood: Over the course of some 60 years, Mangeshkar recorded songs for more than 2,000 Indian films, giving voice to sweet, noble heroines onscreen. Read Anastasia Tsioulcas' remembrance.
'2001' and 'Blade Runner' visual effects wizard Douglas Trumbull: Trumbull brought to life the impossible landscapes in 2001, A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In the days before digital effects, those scenes had to be created physically, and Trumbull was the kid who figured out how. Read Bob Mondello's remembrance.
Satirist P.J. O'Rourke, panelist on NPR's 'Wait...Wait Don't Tell Me!': The author, journalist and political satirist wrote more than 20 books about a range of topics, from politics to cars, and he was a longtime panelist on the NPR's weekly news quiz show. Read Elizabeth Blair's remembrance.
Photojournalist Sumy Sadurni: The 32-year-old Spanish-Mexican freelance photojournalist was based in Kampala, Uganda. She was known for her striking coverage across East Africa capturing the conflict as well as the essence of the region and its people. Read Grace Widyatmadja's remembrance.
George Pérez, celebrated comic book artist: In his four-decade career, Pérez's pencil was behind some of the biggest comic book heroes. He drew The Avengers and co-created The New Teen Titans, and in the mid-'80s, his reboot of Wonder Woman returned the superheroine to her Greek mythology origins. Read Emma Bowman's remembrance.
Veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh: The well-respected journalist spent decades covering conflicts between Palestinians and Israelis for Al Jazeera's Arabic service, including some of the most intense fighting during the Second Intifada of the early 2000s. Read Daniel Estrin and Bill Chappell's story.
Influential abstract visual artist Sam Gilliam: Gilliam was one of the leading artists of the Washington Color School — a 1950s movement that emphasized large fields of color. He was interested in freeing his paintings from the boundaries of canvases and frames. Read Anastasia Tsioulcas' remembrance.
James Caan, an onscreen tough guy and movie craftsmanBest known for his explosive turn as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather and as a dying professional football player in the made-for-TV-movie Brian's Song, Caan lent an eminently watchable machismo to dozens of films and shows. Read Neda Ulaby and Bob Mondello's remembrance.
Claes Oldenburg, creator of Pop Art on a giant scale: Oldenburg's enduring fascination was to render prosaic objects — a lipstick, for example, or a rubber stamp, or a hamburger, or a cherry perched on the tip of a spoon — in giant scale, and then put that artwork in public spaces. Read Anastasia Tsioulcas' remembrance.
Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhura on 'Star Trek'Nichols was one of the first Black women featured in a major television series, and her role as Lt. Nyota Uhura on the original TV series was groundbreaking: an African American woman whose name came from Uhuru, the Swahili word for "freedom." Read Mandalit del Barco's remembrance.
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough: He was a bravura historian and public intellectual whose biographies of Harry Truman and John Adams won Pulitzers, and whose best-selling stories of American accomplishment were complemented by his work as a public television host and narrator for popular movies and documentaries. Read Neda Ulaby and Elizabeth Blair's remembrance.
Bernard Shaw, longtime CNN anchor: The anchor was a CNN mainstay for more than 20 years, beginning with the network's launch in 1980. During the years that many viewers began turning to CNN to watch breaking news unfold, it was often Shaw whom they saw on screen. Read Anastasia Tsioulcas' remembrance.
Anne Garrels, longtime foreign correspondent for NPR: Before arriving at NPR in 1988, Garrels was ABC bureau chief in Moscow and Central America. Garrels was known as a passionate reporter willing to go anywhere in the world at a moment's notice if the story required it. Read Lynne Neary's remembrance.
Film director Jean-Luc Godard of the French New Wave: The director and onetime "enfant terrible" of the French New Wave helped revolutionize popular cinema in the 1960s, and spent the rest of his career pushing boundaries and reinventing cinematic form. Read Bob Mondello's remembrance.
Angela Lansbury, beloved star of the screen and stage: Lansbury's acting career extended over an extraordinary seven decades. Though best known for her role in the long-running series, Murder, She Wrote, she had a distinguished career in the movies and on Broadway. Read Jeff Lunden's remembrance.
'Wolf Hall' author Hilary Mantel: The British writer wrote a trilogy of critically acclaimed historical novels on the life of Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII's most trusted advisors. Hear a 2012 Fresh Air interview with Mantel.
[Copyright 2022 NPR]
