In a year devastated by a global pandemic, every death felt a little heavier.
Here, their costars, collaborators, and celebrity fans pay tribute.
He had a quiet grace and didn’t play the part of a star.
Ken Regan/Camera 5
He was pitch-perfect as a host.
In charge but not overbearing, elegant but not flamboyant.
The contestants' friend in the same way your favorite English teacher would be.
“Tom Brokaw
Alex Trebek died Nov. 8 aftera battle with pancreatic cancerat age 80.
In real life, Chatti (as she was known) was nothing like Berta.
Law), come so fully to life.
As a friend and colleague, she was kind, exceptionally generous, and incredibly insightful.
Chatti was so full of life, so full of love.
Her laugh was tremendous; it filled the room in a way that was almost orchestral.
Ken Regan/Camera 5
Chatti, you were cherished.
We will miss you so much.Melanie Lynskey
Conchata Ferrell died Oct. 12of cardiac arrest at age 77.
Me and Little Richard, rocking the stage…I would love to do it over again.
Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
He was a gentle soul, and more intelligent than people gave him credit for.
He was definitely put on this earth to do what he did, and he changed music.
There’s nobody like Little Richard.
ABC/Getty Images
I was a big fan and blessed to have him in my life.
I watched a lot of his classic Bonds before [directing]No Time to Die.
I came up in a generation after Sean Connery was Bond.
Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
I was actually introduced to him more as an actor inHighlanderandIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
The best actors play roles in a way that you feel you know them, like they’re family.
He’s a legend.
Fin Costello/Redferns
Naya Rivera (19872020)
I was nearing 29 years old whenGleedebuted.
Not quite the target audience for a musical comedy about a high school show choir.
Naya Rivera’s Santana Lopez started out as an antagonist.
Mean, messy, complicated.
But Naya shattered the tropes and gifted the audience with a complex, queer, Black Puerto Rican woman.
Like Santana, Naya didn’t ask for permission.
She quietly inspired all of us Afro-Latinx storytellers to craft characters that center our identities authentically and unapologetically.
One I hope to continue paying forward.
Thank you, Naya.
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images
What a gift you continue to be.Steven Canals
Naya Rivera died July 8 of accidental drowning at age 33.
Jerry Stiller (19272020)
He had a bar set up outside his dressing room.
After every show, he would sit and talk to the whole crew, ‘cause everybody just loved Jerry.
And he’d sit there and talk to them for an hour.
He just reminded me of old Hollywood.
That’s not what happened, Jerry.”
Sam Jones / Trunk Archive
And he’d say, “Yes, Anne, yo just tell the story.
Anne Meara, everybody.”
Jerry cared about the art, and respecting your other actors and the audience.
You know how sets are built: You go through a door and then you’re just backstage.
There’s nothing there.
It’s Jerry!"
He was one of the most professional, intense, hardworking actors I’ve ever worked with.
He’s got real screen presence, and he’s extremely intelligent.
You put that combination together, and you get an actor who makes the right decisions.
He would not even get breakfast until he was ready to be put in front of the camera.
Eddie Van Halen (19552020)
I never met him.
Actually, it was more like being put under a spell.
His musicality would stop me in my tracks like hypnosis not just his guitar playing, either.
How about that synth intro to the classic “Jump”?!
(Yep, that’s Eddie.)
The history of great guitar players is rich and densely packed with all kinds of innovators.
But the fusion that Eddie created was what set him apart from all the rest.
It rolled into our eyes, ears, hearts, and souls.
Guitar players who brought unexpected influences to six strings.
In Eddie’s case, it was classical.
It’s such a simple, beautiful sentiment.
So many of his songs had that: great storytelling, a wealth of humanity.
He represented the perspective of a true working man.
Then the Roots and I released our own version of “I Can’t Write Left-Handed.”
It became our favorite song to play from that album.
Bill discovered our version and reached out to me.
It was one of the most exciting emails I’ve ever gotten.
He told me we were doing him proud and he thought our version of the song was beautiful.
What I loved about the song was how plainspoken it was.
He wrote with such authenticity, honesty, and connection.
He’ll always stand out.John Legend
Bill Withers died March 30 of heart complications at age 81.
John Prine (19462020)
John had me at “Hello in There.”
It still staggers me.
John was funny enough to be classified a humorist, but he could straight-up break your heart, too.
“Sam Stone” followed by “Christmas in Prison,” right?
John tweeted back: “See ya there!
“Michael McKean
John Prine died April 7 of COVID-19 complications at age 73.
That was a miracle to watch.
Olivia de Havilland (19162020)
I met her socially in Paris first.
She was just lovely and stylish and Parisian.
Then when I didThe Woman He Loved, she played my aunt.
[It was] the last thing she did.
She’d remembered meeting me in France [before], and we got along famously.
I kept pinching myself, saying, “I’m actually working with Olivia de Havilland.”
When I was growing up, [Gone With the Wind] was one of my favorite movies ever.
She was always spot-on, an amazing pro, very down to earth and easy to work with.
I remember her being wry and humorous, and it comes across in the way she played the character.
She was obviously very comfortable in her own skin and still enjoyed acting.
She carried herself with such dignity.
We’re so often limited to stereotypes, and Chadwick instead showed us just how beautiful we truly are.
It felt like every single role he did was with a love for us.
It’s weird to talk about him now in the past tense.
I’m still stunned.
I know of kids personally who mourned him, and held little memorials for Black Panther in their bedrooms.
It shows the impact he had through that one character alone.
And I think I’m hurt more because we’re not going to get any more of that.
The hardest part of his death is we’re not going to get any more Chadwick Boseman films.
We’re not going to get to see him craft these love letters to us on screen.
It’s truly one of the most devastating losses of this year.
I hope he’s remembered for his passion and dedication.
