Bob Saget, 65
Bob Saget, actor and comedian who found success as Danny Tanner on Full House and as host of America’s Funniest Home Videos, died Jan. 9. He was 65. Saget, whose wholesome, family-friendly image belied his rather off-color stand-up comedy, often used this dichotomy between his public personas to comedic effect in cameos in Half Baked, Entourage, and The Aristocrats. In addition to returning to the Tanner household for the Fuller House reboot, Saget also narrated all nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother, playing the older version of protagonist Ted Mosby. On Jan. 9, Saget was found unresponsive by security guards in a Ritz Carlton in Orlando and was later pronounced dead at the scene by the sheriff and fire departments. He is survived by his wife Kelly Rizzo and his three children.
Nichelle Nichols, 89
Nichelle Nichols, who broke a major race barrier as the star of the 1960s sci-fi series Star Trek, died July 30 at age 89.
Nichols’ breakout role came when Roddenberry cast the actress as Lt. Nyota Uhura on the original Star Trek series. When the show first aired in 1966, Nichols was one of the first African-American women to play a major role on primetime television.
She is popularly cited as having the first interracial kiss on American television, when her character famously locked lips with white leading man William Shatner‘s Captain James T. Kirk.
Martin Luther King Jr. once called Nichols’ role “the first non-stereotypical role portrayed by a black woman in television history.”
Nichols enjoyed decades in the spotlight thanks to her screen work, her music career, and her activism to help more women succeed in the field of astronomy.
Calvin Simon, 79
Calvin Simon, a founding member of the pioneering funk music group Parliament-Funkadelic, died Jan. 6 at the age of 79. A West Virginia native, where he sang with a church choir for weekly radio broadcasts prior to his relocation to New Jersey with his family as a teen, Simon joined the group originally known as the Parliaments in the late 1950s, releasing hit singles like “(I Wanna) Testify” in 1967. Following a two year stint in the Vietnam War, Simon returned to the group and later joined Parliament-Funkadelic, a funk music collective of rotating musicians that released hits “Give Up the Funk” and “Flash Light,” among others. Simon left the band in 1978, returning to his gospel roots with the albums Share the News, It’s Not Too Late, and I Believe. In 1997, he and other Parliament-Funkadelic members were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2019, the group received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Irene Papas, 93
Irene Papas, a prolific Greek actress known for her roles in 1961’s The Guns of Navarone and 1964’s Zorba the Greek, died on Sept. 14, reports the Associated Press. She was 93. Born Irene Lelekoua, Papas was born in the southern Greek city of Corinth but left home at 18 to marry film director Alkis Papas, who she divorced in 1951. The passionate actress starred on both the stage and silver screen throughout her almost 6-decades-long career in entertainment. Papas landed her first role as Liana in Nikos Tsiforos’ film Fallen Angels in 1948 before going on to receive critical acclaim for her performances as Maria Pappadimos in The Guns of Navarone (1961), the Widow in Zorba the Greek (1964), and as Hélène in Z (1969). Throughout her career, Papas also portrayed the titular character of multiple Greek tragedies, including Antigone (1961) and Electra (1964). Her final role was in the 2004 film Ecuba, which she co-directed with Giuliana Berlinguer.
