Washington, Dec 5 (AP) The death of Pope Francis brought change to the Catholic Church, which counts 1.4 billion adherents and is now led — for the first time — by an American pope.
The fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as he spoke before a crowd horrified many and prompted somber conversations about political violence.
And when trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre died by suicide, it brought additional scrutiny to the investigations of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
They were among the noteworthy and influential people who died in 2025 where the deaths themselves had a widespread impact.
The deaths of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife became a source of both sadness and mystery after their bodies were found in their home in February. Authorities ultimately determined that Hackman, who was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's, died of heart disease, likely unaware that Betsy Arakawa had died from hantavirus a week earlier.
Here is a roll call of some influential figures who have died this year (till November):
JANUARY
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Rosita Missoni, 93. She was the matriarch of the iconic Italian fashion house that made colourful zigzag-patterned knitwear high fashion and helped launch Italian ready-to-wear.
James Arthur Ray, 67. A self-help guru, his multimillion-dollar business toppled after his sweat lodge ceremony in Arizona left three people dead.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, 96. The founder of France's far-right National Front was known for fiery rhetoric against immigration and multiculturalism, earning him staunch support and widespread condemnation.
Nancy Leftenant-Colon, 104. The first Black woman to join the US Army Nurse Corps after the military was desegregated in the 1940s retired as a major and was remembered by relatives and friends for quietly breaking down racial barriers during her long military career.
David Lynch, 78. The filmmaker was celebrated for his uniquely dark and dreamlike vision in such movies as “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive,” and the TV series “Twin Peaks.”
Joan Plowright, 95. She was an award-winning British actor who, with her late husband Laurence Olivier, did much to revitalise the UK's theatrical scene after World War II.
Mauricio Funes, 65. After serving as president of El Salvador, he spent the final years of his life in Nicaragua to avoid various criminal sentences.
Richard Williamson, 84. An ultratraditionalist Catholic bishop, his denial of the Holocaust created a scandal in 2009 when Pope Benedict XVI rehabilitated him and other members of his breakaway society.
Marianne Faithfull, 78. The British pop star, muse, libertine and old soul inspired and helped write some of the Rolling Stones' greatest songs and endured as a torch singer and survivor of the lifestyle she once embodied.
FEBRUARY
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Horst Köhler, 81. A managing director of the International Monetary Fund, he became a popular German president before stunning the country by resigning abruptly in a flap over comments about its military.
The Aga Khan, 88. He became the spiritual leader of the world's millions of Ismaili Muslims at age 20 as a Harvard undergraduate and poured billions of dollars in tithes into building homes, hospitals and schools in developing countries.
Irv Gotti, 54. A music mogul who founded Murder Inc. Records, he was behind major hip-hop and R&B artists such as Ashanti and Ja Rule.
Sam Nujoma, 95. Known as the father of Namibia, the fiery, white-bearded freedom fighter led his nation's independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990 and served as its first president for 15 years.
Gene Hackman, 95. The Oscar-winning actor whose studied portraits ranged from reluctant heroes to conniving villains and made him one of the industry's most respected and honored performers. Found dead with his wife Betsy Arakawa.
Paquita la del Barrio, 77. The Mexican musical legend was known for her powerful voice and fierce defence of women.
James Harrison, 88. He was credited with saving 2.4 million babies through his record-breaking blood plasma donations over six decades in Australia.
Clint Hill, 93. The Secret Service agent leaped onto the back of President John F Kennedy's limousine after the president was shot, then was forced to retire early because he remained haunted by memories of the assassination.
MARCH
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Oleg Gordievsky, 86. The Soviet KGB officer helped change the course of the Cold War by covertly passing secrets to Britain.
D'Wayne Wiggins, 64. He co-founded the Grammy-nominated group Tony! Toni! Tone! behind the classic songs “Anniversary,” “It Never Rains (In Southern California)” and (Lay Your Head on My) Pillow.”
Alan Simpson, 93. The former US senator was a political legend whose quick wit bridged partisan gaps in the years before today's political acrimony.
Émilie Dequenne, 43. The Belgian actor who won a top Cannes Film Festival prize for her breakout role in “Rosetta” died of a rare form of cancer.
George Foreman, 76. The fearsome heavyweight boxer lost the “Rumble in the Jungle” to Muhammad Ali before his inspiring second and third acts as a 45-year-old world champion and a successful business owner.
Mia Love, 49. A daughter of Haitian immigrants, the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress died of brain cancer.
David Childs, 83. He was the lead architect of the One World Trade Centre skyscraper that rose from the site where the twin towers collapsed in New York City during the 9/11 attacks.
APRIL
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Val Kilmer, 65. The brooding, versatile actor who played fan favourite Iceman in “Top Gun,” donned a voluminous cape as Batman in “Batman Forever” and portrayed Jim Morrison in “The Doors,” died of pneumonia.
Theodore McCarrick, 94. The formerly powerful Catholic cardinal was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined he had molested adults and children.
Jay North, 73. He starred as the towheaded mischief-maker on TV's “Dennis the Menace” for four seasons starting in 1959.
Rubby Pérez, 69. Known for songs such as “Volveré,” “El Africano” and “Tu Vas a Volar” during a career devoted to merengue, the signature musical style of the Dominican Republic, he died after a nightclub roof collapsed.
Mario Vargas Llosa, 89. The Peruvian author was a Nobel literature laureate and a giant of Latin American letters.
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, 85. The former Malaysian prime minister was a moderate who extended the country's political freedoms but was criticised for lackluster leadership.
Nora Aunor, 71. She became one of the biggest stars of Philippine cinema during a career that spanned seven decades.
Pope Francis, 88. History's first Latin American pontiff charmed the world with his humble style and concern for poor people but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change.
Virginia Giuffre, 41. She accused Britain's Prince Andrew and other influential men of sexually exploiting her as a teenager trafficked by financier Jeffrey Epstein. An advocate for sex trafficking survivors after emerging as a central figure in Epstein's downfall, she died by suicide according to her publicist.
MAY
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Johnny Rodriguez, 73. The country music star was a popular Mexican American singer whose 1970s hits included “I Just Can't Get Her Out of My Mind,” “Ridin' My Thumb to Mexico” and “That's the Way Love Goes.”
Robert Benton, 92. The Oscar-winning filmmaker co-created “Bonnie and Clyde,” and received mainstream validation as the writer-director of “Kramer vs Kramer” and “Places in the Heart.”
José Mujica, 89. The former Uruguayan president and Marxist guerrilla's radical brand of democracy, plainspoken philosophy and simple lifestyle as a flower farmer fascinated people around the world.
Susan Brownmiller, 90. A feminist whose landmark 1975 book “Against Our Will” was an intensely debated bestseller about sexual assault.
Presley Chweneyagae, 40. The South African actor gained international recognition for his leading role in the 2005 film “Tsotsi,” which won South Africa's first-ever Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Etienne-Emile Baulieu, 98. The French scientist was best known as the inventor of the abortion pill.
JUNE
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Niède Guidon, 92. The Brazilian archaeologist discovered hundreds of prehistoric cave paintings in northeastern Brazil, and her research challenged theories of ancient human presence in the Americas.
Nina Kuscsik, 86. She campaigned for women's inclusion in long-distance running and then won the Boston Marathon the first year women were officially allowed to run.
Frederick Forsyth, 86. The British author wrote “The Day of the Jackal” and other bestselling thrillers.
Ananda Lewis, 52. The former MTV and BET host who became a beloved television personality in the 1990s with her warmth and authenticity died of breast cancer.
Bobby Sherman, 81. His winsome smile and shaggy mop top helped make him into a teen idol in the 1960s and '70s with bubblegum pop hits like “Little Woman” and “Julie, Do Ya Love Me.”
D Wayne Lukas, 89. The Hall of Famer became one of horse racing's most accomplished trainers and a face of the sport for decades.
JULY
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Michael Madsen, 67. The actor best known for his coolly menacing, steely-eyed, often sadistic characters in the films of Quentin Tarantino, including “Reservoir Dogs” and “Kill Bill: Vol. 2.”
Muhammadu Buhari, 82. He led Nigeria twice, as a military head of state and a democratic president.
Fauja Singh, 114. An Indian-born runner nicknamed the Turbaned Torpedo, believed to be the world's oldest marathoner, died after being hit by a car.
Alan Bergman, 99. The Oscar-winning lyricist teamed with his wife, Marilyn, in a loving partnership that produced “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?,” “It Might Be You” and the classic “The Way We Were.”
Hulk Hogan, 71. The mustachioed, headscarf-wearing, bicep-busting icon of professional wrestling turned the sport into a massive business and stretched his influence into TV, pop culture and conservative politics during a long and scandal-plagued second act.
AUGUST
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Stella Rimington, 90. Dame Stella was the first female chief of Britain's MI5 intelligence agency and later a successful thriller writer.
Ion Iliescu, 95. Romania's first freely elected president after the fall of communism in 1989 later faced charges of crimes against humanity for his role in the bloody revolution.
James Lovell, 97. The commander of Apollo 13 helped turn a failed moon mission into a triumph of on-the-fly can-do engineering.
Myint Swe, 74. He became Myanmar's acting president under controversial circumstances after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Genshitsu Sen, 102. He promoted peace as a grand master of the Japanese tea ceremony after being trained to be a Kamikaze pilot during World War II.
Terence Stamp, 87. The British actor often played the role of a complex villain, including that of General Zod in the early Superman films.
SEPTEMBER
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Graham Greene, 73. A trailblazing Indigenous actor, his long career included an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Kicking Bird in “Dances with Wolves.”
Giorgio Armani, 91. The iconic Italian designer.
Charlie Kirk, 31. Rising from a teenage conservative campus activist to a top podcaster and ally of President Donald Trump, he was fatally shot during an appearance at a college in Utah.
Claudia Cardinale, 87. The acclaimed Italian actor starred in some of the most celebrated European films of the 1960s and 1970s.
Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, in his 80s. Saudi Arabia's grand mufti.
OCTOBER
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Jane Goodall, 91. The conservationist was renowned for her groundbreaking chimpanzee field research and globe-spanning environmental advocacy.
Jilly Cooper, 88. The bestselling British author.
Joan B Kennedy, 89. The former wife of Sen Edward M Kennedy endured family tragedies, her husband's infidelities and decades-long struggles with alcoholism and mental health.
Diane Keaton, 79. The Oscar-winning star's quirky manner and emotional depth enthralled fans in movies including “Annie Hall,” “The Godfather” films and “Father of the Bride.”
Susan Stamberg, 87. The “founding mother” of National Public Radio was the first female broadcaster to host a national news program.
Kanchha Sherpa, 92. The Nepalese mountain guide was last surviving member of the expedition team that first conquered Mount Everest.
Tomiichi Murayama, 101. Japan's former prime minister was known for his 1995 “Murayama statement” apologising to Asian victims of his country's aggression.
Daniel Naroditsky, 29. The chess grandmaster who started as a child prodigy quickly became one of the most influential American voices in the sport.
Queen Mother Sirikit, 93. She supervised royal projects in Thailand to help the rural poor, preserve traditional craft-making and protect the environment.
NOVEMBER
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Dick Cheney, 84. The hard-charging conservative was a leading advocate for invading Iraq as one of the most powerful and polarising vice presidents in US history. Years later, he became a critic and target of President Donald Trump.
Kim Yong Nam, 97. North Korea's longtime ceremonial head of state.
James D. Watson, 97. His co-discovery of the twisted-ladder structure of DNA in 1953 helped light the long fuse on a revolution in medicine, crimefighting, genealogy and ethics.
Sally Kirkland, 84. The stage, film and TV actor was best known for sharing the screen with Paul Newman and Robert Redford in “The Sting” and her Oscar-nominated title role in the 1987 movie “Anna.”
Juan Ponce Enrile, 101. He was the Philippines' defense chief during the martial-law era notorious for human rights atrocities, democratic setbacks and plunder, then broke from Ferdinand Marcos, leading to the dictator's overthrow in a 1986 “people power” uprising.
Dharmendra, 89. A defining screen presence of 1970s and 1980s Bollywood films, he was one of Indian cinema's most popular stars. (AP) NPK ZH
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