In 2020 we had to say goodbye to some great personalities. These stars will be remembered forever.
In 2020 some famous people passed away. Including music legends, great actors, outstanding athletes and influential politicians. These stars will never be forgotten.
Karl Dall (1941-2020)
The German television landscape mourned a very big one in 2020: Karl Dall died on November 23 at the age of 79. Around twelve days earlier, the cult comedian suffered a stroke with cerebral haemorrhage from which he no longer recovered. The actor was most recently in front of the camera for the ARD telenovela "Rote Rosen". Many stars said goodbye to the legend of German television. For example, Til Schweiger (56, "Kokowääh") wrote about a picture of Dall on Instagram: "Rest in peace, Karl. We will miss you very much."
Roy Horn (1944-2020)
The world was shocked when it became known that star magician Roy Horn had died. The 75-year-old's life was extinguished on May 8 in Las Vegas. He died of complications from a Sars CoV-2 infection. The sad news was announced by his long-term partner Siegfried Fischbacher (81) in a statement. The German entertainers Siegfried Fischbacher and Uwe Ludwig Horn, so his birth name, became world-famous as the magician duo Siegfried & Roy for their magic shows and tamer art.
Udo Walz (1944-2020)
Udo Walz was probably the most famous star hairdresser in Germany. On November 20, the 76-year-old closed his eyes forever after suffering from diabetes two weeks earlier and being in a coma. The "Bild" newspaper quoted a statement by Walz's husband, Carsten Thamm-Walz, that he "fell asleep peacefully at 12 o'clock." In the social media, stars like Sylvie Meis (42), Oliver Kalkofe (55) or Klaas Heufer-Umlauf (37) and Joko Winterscheidt (41) said goodbye to the hairdresser from Berlin.
Werner Böhm (1941-2020)
Werner Böhm achieved fame in Germany with his fictional character Gottlieb Wendehals in the 1980s. He died on June 2, 2020 in his home in Gran Canaria, three days before his 79th birthday. In 1981 he landed at number one in the German charts with the song "Polonäse Blankenese".
Herbert Feuerstein (1937-2020)
Journalist, cabaret artist and entertainer: Herbert Feuerstein was an absolute veteran of German television. The 83-year-old's life ended on October 6 in Erftstadt, near Bonn. In the 1980s, Austrian-born Feuerstein made the leap onto television with "Wild am Sonntag". In 1990 he became well known with the guessing program "Pssst …", in which Harald Schmidt (63) took over the moderation. From 1990 to 1994, he and Schmidt performed the comedy show "Schmidtanders". In the course of his career he was awarded the Grimme Prize, a Bambi and the Comedy Prize.
Sean Connery (1930-2020)
He was a Hollywood icon: James Bond actor Sean Connery passed away on October 31 at the age of 90. The Scot died in his adopted home, the Bahamas. He was employed as a double zero agent a total of seven times, from "James Bond chasing Dr. No" (1962) to "Diamond Fever" (1971) to "Never Say Never" (1983). The actor also excelled in films such as "Der Name der Rose" (1986), "The Untouchables" (1987) and "The Hunt for Red October" (1990). The last movie with Connery was released in 2003 with "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen".
Chadwick Boseman (1976-2020)
Chadwick Boseman's death report came as a surprise. On August 28, at the age of only 43, he succumbed to colon cancer. In 2016 he was diagnosed with cancer in the third stage, and four years later he lost the fight. His role as the superhero "Black Panther" made him famous for the first time in 2016 in the film "The First Avenger: Civil War". Two years later followed the Marvel hero's first solo appearance with "Black Panther". At the MTV Movie & TV Awards 2020 he was posthumously honored with the trophy "Hero for the Ages" as "Hero for Eternity".
Kirk Douglas (1916-2020)
Kirk Douglas was 103 years old before he passed away forever on February 5th. His son, actor Michael Douglas (76, "The Kominsky Method") announced this "with great sadness" via social media. His roles in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1954), "The Voyages of Odysseus" (1954), "Vincent van Gogh – A Life in Passion" (1956) and "Spartacus" (1960) will not be forgotten. He was most recently in front of the camera for "Murder in the Empire State Building" (2008).
Jerry Stiller (1927-2020)
His role as Arthur Spooner in the series "King of Queens" made Jerry Stiller known to the general public. The US actor died of natural causes on May 11th at the age of 92, as did his son Ben Stiller (55, "After 7 days of tinsel") announced on Twitter. After a long comedy career, appearances on Broadway and as a guest star in television series, Stiller achieved his TV breakthrough in the early 1990s with his role as Frank Costanza in "Seinfeld". In the movie "Zoolander" (2001) he played side by side with his son.
Kelly Preston (1962-2020)
Hollywood star John Travolta (66) had to cope with a severe blow of fate in 2020: The wife of "Grease" actor Kelly Preston succumbed to cancer on July 12 at the age of just 57. "It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer," explains the 66-year-old on a photo of Preston on Instagram. Travolta and Preston had been married since 1991 and the couple have three children together: Ella (20), Benjamin (10) and Jett (1992-2009), who died at the age of 16 after a seizure.
Naya Rivera (1987-2020)
The life of "Glee" star Naya Rivera ended dramatically. The 33-year-old had rented a boat on July 8 to take her four-year-old son on a trip on Lake Piru in Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County, California – she was never to return from there. When the return of the boat was overdue, the landlord apparently began looking for the watercraft. The little boy was found sleeping on the boat, and Rivera was found missing. On July 13, divers finally found the actress' body. The authorities confirmed that she drowned.
Eddie Van Halen (1955-2020)
On October 6th, music legend Eddie Van Halen closed his eyes forever at the age of 65. The influential guitarist was born in the Netherlands in 1955 and moved to the United States with his family in 1962. Together with his brother and drummer Alex (67) he founded the band Van Halen in the 1970s, which also included singer David Lee Roth (66) and bassist Michael Anthony (66). Her most successful hits include the songs "Jump" (1984) and "Eruption" (1978).
Ennio Morricone (1928-2020)
The award-winning Italian film music composer Ennio Morricone died on the night of July 5th to 6th in a Roman clinic as a result of a fall. During his life, the 91-year-old composed for more than 500 films, including "The Untouchables" (1987) and "Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod" (1968) – for which he has received numerous awards. Morricone leaves behind his wife, Maria Travia (87), as well as three sons and a daughter.
Little Richard (1932-2020)
Music legend Richard Wayne Penniman, better known as Little Richard, fell silent on May 9 at the age of 87. He is considered one of the pioneers of rock'n'roll. The musician's greatest hits include "Tutti Frutti" (1955) and "Long Tall Sally" (1957). Little Richard has received countless awards over the past few decades and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Norbert Blüm (1935-2020)
Norbert Blüm (CDU) was once Germany's most popular politician. The former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs (1982-1998) died on April 23 at the age of 84. In 2019, Blüm fell into a coma due to blood poisoning and has been paralyzed from the shoulder down since then. The motto of his poster campaign is legendary to this day. It read: "Because one thing is certain: the pension" – slightly modified, it became "The pension is safe".
Hans-Jochen Vogel (1926-2020)
After a long illness, the former SPD leader Hans-Jochen Vogel passed away on July 26th at the age of 94. "We mourn for Hans-Jochen Vogel. With his great personality he shaped the German social democracy", wrote companion Udo Bullmann (64) on Twitter. Vogel held a number of posts over the course of his political career. He was Lord Mayor of Munich from 1960 to 1972. From 1987 to 1991 he held the party chairmanship, until 1991 he was chairman of the SPD parliamentary group.
Thomas Oppermann (1954-2020)
Germany also mourned the SPD politician and Bundestag Vice President Thomas Oppermann. After he suddenly collapsed while filming with ZDF, he died despite immediate measures on October 25 at the age of 66. Chancellor Angela Merkel (66) was "dismayed and sad about Thomas Oppermann's death, which was far too early", as she said in an official announcement said. Oppermann has held the position of Vice President of the German Bundestag since 2017. From 2013 to 2017 he was the chairman of the SPD parliamentary group. In August he announced that he no longer wanted to run for the 2021 federal election.
Wolfgang Clement (1940-2020)
At the age of 80, Wolfgang Clement said goodbye to this life on September 27th. The former Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia died in Bonn in the presence of his family. In August it was reported that Clement was diagnosed with lung cancer. Born in Bochum, he was Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1998 to 2002 and Federal Minister for Economics and Labor from 2002 to 2005. In 2008 he left the SPD and henceforth supported the FDP.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020)
The death of the US judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg triggered a quake. She served on the Supreme Court from 1993 until she lost the battle with pancreatic cancer on September 18 at the age of 87. Bader Ginsburg had a liberal stance on issues such as abortion, immigration, and same-sex marriage. Many stars said goodbye to the icon via social media – including Duchess Meghan (39), who published her statement on the US magazine "People". For her, Bader Ginsburg was "a great inspiration since I was a little girl".
Kobe Bryant (1978-2020)
This death shocked the whole world: The 41-year-old NBA superstar Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were killed in a helicopter crash in California on January 26th – along with seven other people. The plane's pilot had obviously lost his bearings in the thick fog. Bryant leaves behind his wife Vanessa (38) and three other daughters: Natalia (* 2003), Bianka (* 2016) and Capri (* 2019). All over the world, fans, stars and athletes paid tribute to the basketball star.
Diego Maradona (1960-2020)
Football legend Diego Maradona died of a heart attack on November 25th at the age of 60. At the beginning of November he had to undergo brain surgery. The former footballer has repeatedly struggled with health problems. He has already had two heart attacks, suffered from hepatitis and received multiple treatments for drug addiction. Maradona grew up in Villa Fiorito, a poor district of Buenos Aires, from where he captured the hearts of football fans. From 1985 he became twice Italian champion with his new club, SSC Napoli, and in 1986 world champion with the Argentine national team. Within ten days of the death of the "Hand of God", the City Council of Naples approved the renaming of the city's stadium to "Stadio Diego Armando Maradonna".