The news that English actress Rosemary Leach has died at the age of 81, adds to a list of over 80 notable names from the world of entertainment, sport and politics that have died in 2017.

JANUARY

Graham Taylor, 72, English football player and manager 

Wiltshire Times:

Graham Taylor managed England from 1990 until 1993.

He was a club manager at Lincoln, Watford, Aston Villa and Wolves, and in recent years a pundit on the BBC and BT Sport.

He died from a heart attack at the age of 72.

William Peter Blatty, 89, American novelist and screenwriter

Wiltshire Times:

William Peter Blatty was an American writer and filmmaker best known for his 1971 novel The Exorcist and for the Academy Award-winning screenplay of its film adaptation. He also wrote the screen adaptations of Legion and Exorcist III.

He died at the age of 89 from a form of blood cancer called multiple myeloma.

Peter Sarstedt, 75, English singer-songwriter

Peter Sarstedt was a singer-songwriter who achieved world-wide fame in the late sixties. His success came with 'Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?', a UK number one in 1969 for four weeks which also topped the charts in Europe and Australia.

The song won Sarstedt an Ivor Novello award, which he shared with David Bowie’s Space Oddity.

He died at the age of 75 fter suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological condition. 

Lord Snowdon, 86, photographer and former husband of Princess Margaret

Wiltshire Times:

The 1st Earl of Snowdon, born Anthony Armstrong-Jones, was a photographer of the first rank with more than 100 portraits in the National Gallery, an artistic advisor to magazines and galleries, film-maker, campaigner for the disabled and a gifted designer, who was responsible for the aviary at London Zoo.

Lord Snowdon's chief claim to fame came from his turbulent marriage to HRH Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister, from 1960 until their divorce in 1978. The marriage was the first for many years by a senior member of the Royal Family to someone who was not royal, or a member of the British aristocracy. 

He died peacefully at his home at the age of 86.

Philip Bond, 82, actor

Philip Bond was a British actor best known for playing Albert Frazer in 24 episodes of the 1970s BBC nautical drama The Onedin Line. He also appeared in episodes of The Saint, Doctor Who, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Avengers, Only Fools and Horses, Casualty.

He died at the age of 82 while on holiday in Madeira.

Miguel Ferrer, 61, American actor

Wiltshire Times:

Miguel Ferrer was an American actor best known for villainous roles, notably his breakthrough role as the OCP Vice-president Bob Morton, the designer of the title character in RoboCop (1987). His other notable roles include Dr Garret Macy on Crossing Jordan, NCIS Assistant Director Owen Granger on NCIS: Los Angeles, Vice President Rodriguez in Iron Man 3, and FBI forensic pathologist Albert Rosenfield in Twin Peaks.

He died at the age of 61 at his LA home following a battle with throat cancer.

Gorden Kaye, 75, actor

Gorden Kaye was best known for his role as cafe owner, Rene Artois, in the long-running BBC sitcom, ‘Allo ‘Allo.

He starred in all 85 episodes and also made more than 1,000 appearances as Rene in stage productions of the show, which took him as far afield as Australia.

During the 1970s he appeared on various other television shows, including Till Death Us Do Part, Sykes, It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum and as several different characters on Are You Being Served?, which was written by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, the team that also created ‘Allo ‘Allo.

He died in a care home at the age of 75.

Mary Tyler Moore, 80, American actress

Wiltshire Times:

Mary Tyler Moore enjoyed great success on television in the 1960s and 1970s, playing bright, breezy modern women. 

Her greatest television success came from playing producer Mary Richards in the sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-77). Her character challenged sexual stereotypes – although some feminists found her bland. And the show brought Mary Tyler Moore four of her seven Emmy awards.

Her production company MTM, whose logo poked fun at the MGM logo, with a pussy cat instead of a lion, made Hill Street Blues, Remington Steele and St Elsewhere. It was eventually sold off and swallowed up by 20th Century Fox.

She died at the age of 80 from cardiopulmonary arrest due to pneumonia.

Sir John Hurt, 77, actor

Wiltshire Times:

Sir John Hurt was one of Britain's most treasured actors, who rose to fame playing flamboyant gay icon Quentin Crisp and went on to star in films such as The Elephant Man, Alien and 1984.

The British actor was nominated for two Academy Awards, for The Elephant Man and Midnight Express, and won four Bafta Awards, including a lifetime achievement recognition for his outstanding contribution to British cinema in 2012.

The Oscar-nominated actor passed away at his home in Norfolk at the age of 77 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Geoff Nicholls, 68, musician

Wiltshire Times:

Geoff Nichols was a musician and keyboardist, and longtime member of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, until 2004. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Geoff played lead guitar for the Birmingham band Johnny Neal and the Starliners.

Until his death, he played keyboards with former Black Sabbath singer Tony Martin, in his band Tony Martin's Headless Cross.

He died at the age of 68 from lung cancer. 

Barbara Hale, 94, American actress

Wiltshire Times:

Barbara Hale was an Emmy Award-winning actress best known for her role as legal secretary Della Street on more than 270 episodes of the long-running Perry Mason television series. 

She died at the age of 94 at her home in California of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Sir Tam Dalyell, 84, Scottish politician and framer of the West Lothian Question

Wiltshire Times:

Sir Tam Dalyell was one of the most principled, honourable and dogged politicians of his generation.

He was that rarity: an Old Etonian with a near aristocratic background who became a left-wing Labour MP, although he remained a fervent monarchist throughout his career.

And when he took up causes, whether it was the sinking of the Argentine warship the General Belgrano during the Falklands conflict, the Lockerbie atrocity, the Peruvian rain forests, his opposition to the Kosovo bombing in 1999 or the invasion of Iraq, he did so with a single-mindedness and thoroughness that exasperated his critics.

He died at the age of 84 after a short illness.

FEBRUARY

Desmond Carrington, 90, British actor and broadcaster

Wiltshire Times:

Desmond Carrington was a broadcaster who presented one of Radio 2’s longest-running shows, The Music Goes Round. His radio career began in the Second World War and spanned more than 70 years.

He died at the age of 90 on February 1, the day Radio 2 had been due to broadcast a programme celebrating his broadcasting career. 

Gordon Aikman, 31, Motor Neurone Disease campaigner​

Wiltshire Times:

Gordon Aikman was a fundraiser and campaigner for patients with Motor Neurone Disease (MND). He himself was diagnosed with this most cruel of conditions at the age of just 29.

Not long after receiving the devastating news that he had MND, Mr Aikman set up his Gordon’s Fightback campaign, which not only called for funding to find a cure for the disease – the average life expectancy following diagnosis is 14 months - but demanded specialist nursing care for those living with the condition.

His fundraising efforts raised more than £530,000 for MND research.

He died aged 31.

Alec McCowen, 91, actor

Alec McCowen was an English actor best known for his work in numerous film and stage productions including A Night to Remember, Frenzy and Gangs of New York. He died at the age of 91.

 Richard Hatch, 71, American actor, Battlestar Galactica 

Wiltshire Times:

Richard Hatch was best known for playing Captain Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica television series, which ran from 1978 to 1979, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance on the show

He died at the age of 71 with his son Paul by his side following a battle with pancreatic cancer

Alan Simpson, 87, scriptwriter

Wiltshire Times:

Alan Simpson was a scriptwriter famous for writing hits including Hancock’s Half Hour and Steptoe And Son. He was famous for his writing partnership with Ray Galton.

He died at the age of 87 after a long battle with lung disease.

Simpson was famous for his writing partnership with Ray Galton.

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, 45, socialite 

Wiltshire Times:

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson wsa a former London socialite and the god-daughter of the Prince of Wales.

She had been diagnosed with a brain tumour last year. She died at the age of 45.

Al Jareau, 76, American singer and musician 

Wiltshire Times:

Alwin Lopez Jarreau was better known by his stage name Al Jarreau.

He won seven Grammy Awards and was nominated for over a dozen more. He is best known for having sung the theme song of the 1980s television series Moonlighting, and as a performer in the 1985 charity song "We Are the World".

The singer died just days after announcing his retirement from touring because of exhaustion.

Sara Coward, 69, actress, The Archers 

Wiltshire Times:

Sara Coward played Caroline Sterling on the much-loved BBC Radio 4 drama, The Archers, since 1977.

Sara was also a writer and stage actor, and spent eight years working for the Samaritans charity in Stratford-upon-Avon.

She was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2016 when she found a lump on her neck and swelling in her right arm, shortly after recovering from breast cancer and a mastectomy.

She spent the last months of her life trying to leave the world “a kinder place” as she launched a social media campaign urging people to smile at each other more.

Warren Frost, 91, American actor, Twin Peaks

Wiltshire Times:

Fans of Twin Peaks, David Lynch's cult 1980s television drama, will recognise Warren Frost as Dr Will Hayward. He also played the character in the upcoming sequel.

Frost, who was the father of the cult drama's co-creator Mark Frost, also had recurring roles on comedy show Seinfield and legal drama Matlock.

He died after a lengthy illness.

Bill Paxton, 61, American actor

Wiltshire Times:

Bill Paxton was a character actor who developed a cult following for his memorable supporting performances in some of the biggest movies of the 1980s and 90s, particularly Aliens, the 1986 sequel to Alien, in which he played the nervous, drunken soldier with a talent for one liners.

The actor also worked behind the camera, directing feature films The Greatest Game Ever Played and Frailty.

He died due to complications from surgery at the age of 61.

MARCH

Tommy Gemmell, 73, footballer and Lisbon Lion

Wiltshire Times:

Tommy Gemmell was arguably the best full-back in the world at his peak. He played football not so-much with a smile on his face, more with a huge grin. He loved the game, he loved playing it and his attacking, cavalier style was an integral part of the Lisbon Lions legend.

His goal got Celtic back on terms with Inter Milan in that unforgettable night in Lisbon in May, 1967 when they won the European Cup.

Not content with one European Cup Final goal, he would score another, Celtic's counter in their losing final against Feyenoord in 1970.

He died after a long battle with illness at the age of 73.

Ann Beach, 78, actress, Fresh Fields

Wiltshire Times:

Ann Beech (right), pictured with Julia Kenzie in Fresh Fields

Her face may have been most familiar in the mid-1980s television sitcom Fresh Fields, written by John Chapman and starring Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgersas a well-off married couple in Barnes, London, learning to cope with empty-nest syndrome; Ann played their nosy neighbour, Sonia Barrett, guaranteed to drop in at tricky moments saying the wrong thing.

Ann married the French-Canadian television producer Francis Coleman in 1966. He predeceased her in 2008, as did their first daughter, the actress Charlotte Coleman, in 2001.

Chuck Berry, 90, American Hall of Fame rock and roll musician

Wiltshire Times:

Photo credit: Yui Mok/PA Wire

Chuck Berry was one of the founding heroes of rock ‘n’ roll who blasted onto the scene in the 1950s with a distinctive form of rebellious and intelligent rock. 

His core repertoire included Roll Over Beethoven, his tribute to rock itself, his signature tune Johnny B Goode, and his only number one, My Ding-a-Ling.

He was found unresponsive at his home and pronounced dead a short tim later, he was 90.

Colin Dexter, 86, writer and creator of Inspector Morse

Wiltshire Times:

Colin Dexter was a successful writer of detective fiction and the creator of Inspector Morse, the cerebral and morose detective based in Oxford. The books became a television series starring John Thaw and two spin-offs followed: Lewis, starring Kevin Whately as Morse's side-kick, and Endeavour, which follows a young Morse in the early days of his career.

He died peacefully at home in Oxford at the age of 86.

APRIL

Tim Pigott-Smith, 70, actor - The Jewel in the Crown

Wiltshire Times: tim.PNG.gallery.jpg

Photo credit: Ian West/PA Wire

Tim Piggott-Smith played one of the nastiest men in British television – the sadistic, racist police superintendent in the landmark drama series The Jewel in the Crown (1984).

His first love was the stage and he could use healthy pay cheques from supporting roles in films such as the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace (2008) and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010) to subsidise his theatre work. He died suddenly at the age of 70.

Sir Arnold Clark, 89, Scottish businessman and car tycoon

Wiltshire Times:

Sir Arnold Clark opened his first showroom in Glasgow’s Park Road in 1954 and grew the firm which bore his name to be one of Scotland’s most successful companies.

Said to be a billionaire, he headed up the company which eventually became the Arnold Clark Group as chairman and chief executive officer for 62 years.

He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family at the age of 89.

Sean Scanlan, 68, actor - Rab C Nesbitt and River City

Wiltshire Times:

Sean Scanlan is best known for his roles in TV series’ such as Rab C. Nesbitt, 200 Acres of Sky and more recently River City. The actor played Rab’s posh anglo cousin Shug in Nesbitt.

He lived in Glasgow’s West End and was married to actress Barbara Rafferty, who starred in Nesbitt as Ella Cotter.

He died of throat cancer at the age of 68. 

Ugo Ehiogu, 44, footballer - former Rangers and England defender

Wiltshire Times:

Ugo Ehiogu is best remembered for scoring the winning goal – his first for Rangers – in a 1-0 defeat of Celtic in 2007.

He made 200 appearances for Aston Villa between 1991 and 2000, wining the League Cup spent seven years at Middles-brough, where he also won the trophy. He also won four England caps.

The footballer collapsed at Tottenham's training centre after suffering a cardiac arrest. He died a short time later at the age of 44. 

Erin Moran, 56, American actress - Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi 

Wiltshire Times:

Erin Moran was an American actress who became well-known for playing Joanie Cunningham on the nostalgic sitcom Happy Days. She was the mischievous sister of Richie, the all American teenager played by Ron Howard and a friend of the Fonz, played by Henry Winkler.

She died from cancer at the age of 56. 

Don Gordon, 90, American actor 

Don Gordon was an American film and television actor whose most notable film roles were those in which he appeared alongside his friend Steve McQueen - Bullitt, Papillon and The Towering Inferno.

He died in Los Angeles at the age of 90. 

Jonathan Demme, 73, Oscar-winning director 

Wiltshire Times:

Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme won an Academy Award for The Silence Of The Lambs in 1991. He also directed Philadelphia and Rachel Getting Married, as well as the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate and multiple music documentaries.

He died from complications from oesophageal cancer at the age of 73. 

MAY

Robert Miles, 47, music DJ

Robert Miles was an Italian trance star best known for the 1995 dance anthem, Children, which hit the top of the charts around the world.

He was based in Ibiza, where he is reported to have died. He was 47.

Michael Parks, 77, American actor - Kill Bill, Django Unchained

Wiltshire Times:

Michael Parks was an American singer and actor. He appeared in over 100 film and TV roles, but was best known for his work in his later years with filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and Kevin Smith.

Powers Boothe, 68, American actor

Wiltshire Times:

Powers Boothe was best known for playing villains in the hit television show Deadwood, and in successful films such as Tombstone, Sin City and The Avengers.

The actor won an Emmy award in 1980 for playing cult leader Jim Jones in the TV movie Guyana Tragedy: The Story Of Jim Jones.

He died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 68.

Chris Cornell, 52, Rock star and frontman of grunge band Soundgarden​

Wiltshire Times:

Chris Cornell was an American rock singer whose first flush of fame during the grunge boom of the early 1990s gave way to an enduring career which brought critical acclaim and commercial success throughout his life.

Although his reputation was built upon his years as the frontman of key grunge act Soundgarden – Seattle natives and contemporaries of Nirvana – his return for three albums in the 2000s with Audioslave threatened to overshadow even his earlier achievements.

Sir Roger Moore, 89, actor and longest-serving James Bond

Wiltshire Times:

Sir Roger Moore was one of Britain’s best-known and best-loved actors.

It is not hard to attach the epitaph “best-loved” to Sir Roger. The public loved his self-deprecation. By his own admission, the man who would become a British institution when he played James Bond, was not the greatest thespian ever to appear on screen. He regularly downplayed his own talents, repeating the Spitting Image gag that most of his performance work involved little more than the lift of an eyebrow.

He died from cancer aged 89.

John Noakes, 83, popular presenter of Blue Peter in the 1960s and 70s

Wiltshire Times:

John Noakes was the longest-serving and probably the most popular presenter of Blue Peter, the BBC’s children’s programme on which he undertook the “action man” part.

He was famous for his escapades with Shep the dog and game for any daredevil exploit: driving racing cars, white-water rafting, sky-diving from an RAF Hercules at a height of five miles, scaling Nelson’s column with a steeplejack (twice), as well as attempting the bobsleigh run at St Moritz and tackling an incontinent baby elephant – both with deleterious results.

He had been suffering from Alzheimer's and his release from the illness "must be counted as a blessing", a family friend said.

Roy Barraclough, 81, Coronation Street actor

Wiltshire Times:

A star on the stage and screen, Roy Barraclough was best known for his role as Alec Gilroy in the ITV soap, Coronation Street. 

He appeared as a talent agent in Corrie in the early 1970s before becoming a regular face on the cobbles from 1986 until 1992 and returning again in 1996 for two years.

As Gilroy, he was best known for his stormy marriage to Bet Lynch, played by Julie Goodyear.

Glenne Headly, 62, American actress

Wiltshire Times:

Glenne Headly was an American actress known from her performances in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, co-starring alongside Michael Caine and Steve Martin; in Mr Holland's Opus with Richard Dreyfuss; and in Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy.

On TV, she was in the miniseries Lonesome Dove and had recurring roles on ER and Monk.

She played the daughter of Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer in the 2001 live telecast of the play On Golden Pond. She died aged 62.

Adam West, 88, American actor famous for playing Batman 

Wiltshire Times:

Adam West has died (Lennox Mclendon/AP)

Former Batman actor Adam West died peacefully at home aged 88, after a battle with leukaemia.

West rose to fame during the 1960s for his camp TV portrayal of the superhero and his alter ego Bruce Wayne.

While Batman remained his signature role, West also collected nearly 50 movie credits including roles in Drop Dead Gorgeous, The New Age, An American Vampire Story and Robinson Crusoe On Mars.

Brian Cant, 83, television presenter 

Wiltshire Times:

Brian Cant was a giant in the field of British children’s television presenting. His gentle, encouraging, fatherly presence and the air of inquisitive mischief he brought set him apart throughout the 21 years he spent on the iconic BBC children’s show Play School, during which he was a cross-generational pop culture icon.

He also hosted Play Away - Play School’s sister programme aimed at older viewers - for 13 years and his soothing, expressive voice was the soundtrack of the fondly-remembered puppet animation shows Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley.

He had been living with Parkinson’s Disease and died in a retirement home aged 83.

Michael Nyqvist, 56, Swedish actor

Wiltshire Times:

Michael Nyqvist was a Swedish actor who starred in the original “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” movies and portrayed menacing villains in “John Wick” and other Hollywood thrillers.

He died in Stockholm aged 56.

Michael Bond, 91, TV cameraman turned Paddington Bear creator

Wiltshire Times:

Michael Bond was the author of the Paddington Bear books, a character beloved by different generations all around the world.

He first came up with the idea for the small bear from Peru in 1956 while working as a television cameraman for the BBC, and his books proved so popular they have been on shelves ever since they were first published in 1958.

Over his lifetime, Bond penned 150 books, including his first title A Bear Called Paddington, and 25 others about the marmalade-loving bear in a duffle coat, hat and wellingtons.

He died at his home after a short illness aged 91.

Barry Norman, 83, film critic

Wiltshire Times:

Barry Norman was a journalist and host of BBC One's show Film... between 1972 and 1998, its longest running host, and wrote for the Daily Mail and the Guardian newspapers.

He died in his seep at the age of 83. 

JULY

Joe Robinson, 90, actor

Wiltshire Times:

British actor Joe Robinson famously took on Sean Connery’s James Bond in a fierce lift fight in Diamonds Are Forever.

He died peacefully in Brighton after a short illness at the age of 90. 

Carol Lee Scott, 74, entertainer best known as Grotbags the witch

Wiltshire Times:

Carol Lee Scott was an entertainer appeared in several children’s programmes in the 1980s and early 1990s, including the Rod Hull hit Emu’s World.

The Somerset-born actress’s early career saw stints as a cabaret performer touring clubs in the north of England, a London pub singer and as a Pontins Blue Coat. She died aged 74.

Trevor Baxter, 84, actor known for cult role in Doctor Who

Wiltshire Times:

Trevor Baxter was a genial actor with a lightness of touch who could be spotted in everything from TV’s Z-Cars (1968) to the big screen’s Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004).

In 1977 he was cast in Doctor Who as one-off character Professor George Litefoot in The Talons of Weng-Chiang, one of the show’s most enduringly popular stories which is set in a Victorian London beset with deadly Chinese tongs, a giant rat and a disfigured war criminal hiding in the sewers. He died aged 84.

Harvey Atkin, 74, Canadian actor best known for Cagney and Lacey

Wiltshire Times:

Harvey Atkin played Sgt Ronald Coleman in more than 90 episodes of the 1980s US police show Cagney and Lacey. He also played Judge Alan Ridenour on Law and Order.

But many knew him best for his breakout role in Ivan Reitman's 1979 Bill Murray comedy Meatballs. His moustached, bespectacled Morty Melnick - a heavy sleeper - was the target of numerous pranks by the camp counsellors. The film ended with Morty waking up on a raft in the middle of a lake. He has died aged 74.

Chester Bennington, 41, lead singer of Linkin Park 

Wiltshire Times:

Chester Bennington was a rock star and the frontman of Linkin Park whose gravelly voice captured the band's signature sound of hard rock, hip-hop and rap. They had several massive hits including Crawling and In The End.

The band was propelled to success by their first album, Hybrid Theory, which was released in 2000 and went on to sell 10 million copies.They followed up that success with 2003's Meteora. He died aged 41.

Deborah Watling, 69, actress and star of Doctor Who in the 1960s

Wiltshire Times:

Deborah Watling was an actress who became well-known to fans of Doctor Who as Victoria Waterfield, the young Victorian who travelled with the Doctor when he was played by Patrick Troughton in the 1960s.

Known as a screamer – her scream was used to kill a monster on one occasion – Victoria appeared in what are now considered some of the great classics of the series including The Ice Warriors and The Web of Fear, which featured the Yeti. In the 1970s, many of Watling's episodes were wiped from the BBC archives and have been missing ever since, including some from her first story The Evil of the Daleks. Others, including Tomb of the Cybermen, have been recovered. She died from cancer aged 69.

John Heard, 71, American actor

Wiltshire Times:

John Heard was best known for his starring role in Home Alone.

Most recognised for his role as Peter McCallister in the Home Alone movies, he co-starred with Catherine O’Hara as the parents of Culkin’s character in the child star’s break-out films.

Other notable credits include In The Line Of Fire, The Pelican Brief (both 1993) and Sharknado (2013), and he had a number of projects waiting to be released.

Heard’s TV work includes an Emmy-nominated role in The Sopranos as Vin Makazian and episodes of Battlestar Galactica, CSI:Miami and Prison Break. He died aged 71.

Barbara Sinatra, 90, philanthropist and wife of Frank Sinatra

Wiltshire Times:

Barbara Sinatra was the fourth wife of singer Frank Sinatra who used her celebrity, and a good deal of the large cheques her husband earned for concerts, to establish and run a centre to provide therapy and support to young victims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

The Barbara Sinatra Children's Centre was opened in the desert city of Rancho Mirage in 1986 and has since helped more than 20,000 children and hundreds of thousands more throughout the world through the videos it provides. She died aged 90.

Jeanne Moreau, 89, Award-winning French actress

Wiltshire Times:

French actress Jeanne Moreau's seven-decade career included work with Francois Truffaut, Orson Welles, Wim Wenders and other acclaimed directors.

She won awards at the Cannes Film Festival, which she presided over twice, and an honorary Oscar. She died aged 89.

Sam Shepard, 73, actor and Pulitzer-winning playwright

Wiltshire Times:

Sam Shepard was a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Oscar-nominated actor and celebrated author whose plays chronicled the explosive fault lines of family and masculinity in the American West.

He died at his home in Kentucky from complications related to Lou Gehrig’s disease at the age of 73.

AUGUST

Robert Hardy, 91, actor

Wiltshire Times:

Robert Hardy was best known for his roles in All Creatures Great and Small, Harry Potter and his portrayal of Winston Churchill.

The star, whose career in stage, television and film spanned more than 70 years was also awarded a CBE for his services to acting. He died aged 91.

Hywel Bennett, 73, actor best-known for the sit-com Shelley

Wiltshire Times:

Hywel Bennett was best known for portraying James Shelley in the popular 1980s series, the Carmarthenshire-born star rose to fame in the 1960s, first appearing as Rynian in Doctor Who in 1965.

More recent viewers will recognise Bennett from his five-year stint as Peter Baxter in police drama The Bill. He died aged 73.

Glen Campbell, 81, American singer

Glen Campbell was a legendary country music star best known for his 1975 hit, Rhinestone Cowboy.

The iconic performer whose career spanned half a century died in a Nashville home for Alzheimer's patients aged 81.

Sir Bruce Forsyth, 89, TV presenter and entertainer

Wiltshire Times:

Sir Bruce Forsyth was an almost constant figure on our TV screens for almost 50 years.

Sir Bruce, who had a string of memorable catchphrases, the best known of which was arguably “Nice to see you, to see you ... nice!”, was still hugely popular with younger viewers, as well as the older generation, having achieved his big TV break in 1958 on the must-watch variety show Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

His seemingly endless list of TV game shows included Play Your Cards Right, Bruce Forsyth’s Big Night and The Price is Right, but also as a guest quiz master on Have I Got News For You?

He died at teh age of 89 peacefully at home surrounded by his third wife Winnie and his six children. 

Jerry Lewis, 91, US comedian

Wiltshire Times:

(Picture: PA)

Jerry Lewis was the rubber-faced comedian who starred in many hit movies.

He first became a star in a duo with Dean Martin, entertaining audiences in nightclubs, on television and in the movies.

Later generations knew him primarily as the conductor of weekend telethons to raise funds for victims of muscular dystrophy.

Lewis retired from making movies in 1995 but returned as star of the 2016 drama Max Rose.he died of natural causes at the age of 91.

Jay Thomas, 69, Americn actorbest know for Cheers

Wiltshire Times:

Jay Thomas was best know for his recurring role on the hit US sitcom Cheers – he played Eddie LeBec, the former-hockey-player husband of barmaid Carla. Later, he became known as a talk show host in America and a regular guest on the Late Show With David Letterman.

He died at the ge of 69 from cancer.

Tobe Hooper, 74, American film director

Tobe Hooper was best known for directing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He was a screenwriter and producer as well as a director and spent much of his career in horror, directing a series of works now considered classics of the genre, including Poltergeist and the TV adaptation of the Stephen King novel Salem’s Lot.

Richard Anderson, 91, American actor

Wiltshire Times:

(Richard Anderson pictured with Lee Majors)

Richard Anderson was an American actor best known for co-starring simultaneously in the popular 1970s television shows The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. He died from natural causes at the age of 91.

Don Williams, 78, country music singer

Don Williams was a country singer and Nashville songwriter best known for his 1981 hit ballad I Believe in You.

The music legend was known as “the Gentle Giant” because of his easygoing temperament.

Williams had 17 No 1 hits in the US and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010, before he retired in 2016.

Williams was known for his rich voice, gentle delivery and storytelling style. He toured sparingly, did few media interviews and spent much of his time on his farm west of Nashville.

He died after a short illness at the age of 78.

Sir Peter Hall, 86, former director of the National Theatre and founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company

Wiltshire Times:

Sir Peter Hall was one of the great champions of British theatre.

In a career spanning seven decades, he acted, directed theatre and opera, and, occasionally, made forays into film and TV.

He founded the Royal Shakespeare Company and was director of the National Theatre for 15 years.

He died at University College hospital in London, surrounded by his family at the age of 86.

Harry Dean Stanton, 91, American actor

Wiltshire Times:

Harry Dean Stanton was an actor whose gaunt appearance and often taciturn manner improved every film he appeared in, though he had, until this year, only one real leading role and was never nominated for any major award.

The leading role was as Travis Henderson in Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas (1984), a role for which he was recommended by its writer Sam Shepard, after the pair had got drunk together at a bar in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Stanton had expressed the desire to play a romantic part.

Paul Wilson, 66, former Celtic footballer

Wiltshire Times:

Paul Wilson joined the Parkhead club in 1966 and spent 11 years in green and white, coming through the club ranks as a member of the famous Quality Street Gang with the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Danny McGrain and Davie Hay.

He made 217 appearances in total for the Bhoys, scoring 55 goals and winning two league titles including the 1974 nine-in-a-row triumph.

Jake LaMotta, 95, American boxer

Wiltshire Times:

Jake LaMotta was a legendary boxer played by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's masterpiece Raging Bull, in which the fighter's self-destructive and obsessive life was laid bare.

LaMotta's talent as a boxer, honed on the streets of the Bronx during the Great Depression, was never in doubt, but his personal life was constantly mired in personal scandals, including a fight fixed by the Mafia.

Sir Teddy Taylor, 80, former Tory MP for Glasgow Cathcart 

Wiltshire Times:

Sir Teddy Taylor was the nearly man of Scottish politics.

Following a short spell as a journalist at The Herald, Taylor turned to politics, unsuccessfully contesting Glasgow Springburn at the 1959 general election, winning a place on Glasgow Corporation in 1960 and, at the 1964 election, becoming the MP for Glasgow Cathcart, the “baby of the House” at only 27.

He was the Shadow Scottish Secretary since 1976 and helped Margaret Thatcher secure a modest revival in Scotland at the 1979 general election, but it was at the expense of his own Glasgow seat, depriving him of a place in the Cabinet which went instead to George Younger.

Sir Teddy Taylor published a novel, Heart of Stone, in 1968, and a memoir, Teddy Boy Blue, in 2008. He died following a short illness at the age of 80.

Liliane Bettencourt, 94, L'Oreal cosmetics heiress and world's richest woman 

Wiltshire Times:

Liliane Bettencourt was the daughter of Eugene Schueller, who founded L’Oreal in the early 20th century. She was the world's richest woman. 

Forbes magazine estimated her fortune to be worth 39.5 billion US dollars this year.

William G Stewart, 84, Fifteen to One presenter

Wiltshire Times:

William G Stewart became a regular face in British households in the late 1980s for hosting the popular Channel 4 general knowledge quiz programme, which he also produced.

He fronted the show, dubbed one of the toughest quizzes on TV, from its inception in 1988 until 2003.

The series was revamped in 2013 for a celebrity special hosted by comedian Adam Hills, and in 2014 returned for a new series with Sandi Toksvig as presenter.

Stewart was also known for being the producer and director on game shows The Price Is Right and Family Fortunes, and sitcom Bless This House, among others. He died aged 84.

Charles Bradley, 68, American soul singer

Wiltshire Times:

Charles Bradley was a former James Brown impersonator who became a late-in-life star with impassioned vocals and exuberant live performances.

In 2011, at the age of 62, Bradley released his debut album No Time for Dreaming with the Menahan Street Band after a string of singles. The album, which included the galvanizing "The World (Is Going Up in Flames)," was named by Rolling Stone as one of the 50 Best Albums of the Year.

He died from stomach and liver cancer.

Tony Booth, 85, actor and father of Cherie Blair 

Wiltshire Times:

Tony Booth was best remembered for playing "Scouse git" Mike in 1960s sitcom Till Death Us Do Part. he was also the father of Cherie Blair.

He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2004 and had also suffered heart problems. He died aged 85.

Bobby Knutt, 71, actor 

Bobby Knutt starred in the ITV comedy series Benidorm, played Albert Dingle in Emmerdale and was the voice of a Tetley tea advert.

He died on holiday in the south of France at the age of 71.

Barry Dennen, 79, American actor 

Wiltshire Times:

Barry Dennen was an American actor best knonw as the member of the original cast of Jesus Christ Superstar.

He also played Pontius Pilate, the man who sentenced Jesus Christ to death, on the original recording and in the 1973 film. He had a brief relationship with Barbra Streisand in the early 1960s, when he helped her develop the nightclub act that kickstarted her career. He died in hospice care in Burbank after suffering a brain injury from a fall in June at the age of 79.

Liz Dawn, 77, actress best known for her role in Coronarion Street

Wiltshire Times:

Liz Dawn played the iconic role of Vera Duckworth in Coronation Street for more than 30 years.

The actress had suffered from health problems and had recently been in hospital over the past few weeks. She died at home surrounded by her family at the age of 77.

Hugh Hefner, 91, founder of Playboy magazine

Wiltshire Times:

Hugh Hefner was the silk-robed Casanova whose Playboy men's magazine popularised the term "centerfold," glamorized an urbane bachelor lifestyle and helped spur the sexual revolution of the 1960s.

Hefner founded Playboy in 1953 with $600 of his own money and built the magazine into a multimillion-dollar entertainment empire that at its 1970s peak included TV shows, a jazz festival and a string of Playboy Clubs whose cocktail waitresses wore bunny ears and cottontails.

Over the years, the legend of "Hef" only grew as he bedded hundreds of young women, married a few of his magazine's "Playmates" and cavorted on reality TV shows with a stable of girlfriends less than a third his age.

He passed away peacefully from natural causes at his home, The Playboy Mansion, surrounded by loved ones at the age of 91.

OCTOBER

Tom Petty, 66, US musician 

Veteran rocker, Tom Petty, is best known for hits such as Free Fallin and American Girl.

In the late 1970s, Petty's romanticised tales of rebels, outcasts and refugees started climbing the pop charts. When he sang, his voice was filled with a heartfelt drama that perfectly complemented the Heartbreakers' ragged rock and roll.

Songs like "The Waiting," "You Got Lucky," "I Won't Back Down," "Learning to Fly" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance" all dominated Billboard's rock chart, and the majority of Petty's albums have been certified either gold or platinum.

His most recent release, Hypnotic Eye, debuted at Number One in 2014. He died in California aged 66.

Trevor Martin, 87, Scottish actor who played Doctor Who on stage

Wiltshire Times:

Trevor Martin was a richly voiced character actor and stalwart of the major British classical theatre companies. His impressive 60-year career was augmented by a unique addition to his CV when, in 1974, he became the first actor to portray Doctor Who on stage.

Donning a wig and deciding that the character was a “sort of supernatural, reliable uncle - good for fun and games but at the same time he knows what he’s talking about” Martin also gave his Doctor an impatience that he had fondly remembered from the interpretation of the role’s originator William Hartnell. He died aged 87.

Sean Hughes, 51, actor and comedian

Wiltshire Times:

Sean Hughes was an Irish stand-up star, a team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks on BBC Two and the star of his own Channel 4 sitcom, Sean's Show.

In 1990, Hughes - then aged 24 - became the youngest person to win the coveted Perrier Award - now known as the Edinburgh Comedy Award, at the Edinburgh Festival.

Hughes had a varied career, including a role in the hit film The Commitments, in which he played Dave, a talent scout for Eejit Records.

The London-born Irish star also played station master Mr Perks in the award-winning London play, The Railway Children.

To many, though, he will be best known for the six years he spent on Never Mind the Buzzcocks matching wits with Phill Jupitus and Mark Lamarr.

Roy Dotrice, 94, actor 

Wiltshire Times:

Roy Dotrice was best known for his role as Leopold Mozart in Oscar-winning film Amadeus.

While known for being a character actor throughout his career, Dotrice gained a new fanbase in recent years as the narrator of George RR Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire series.

His narration of the series – the inspiration for TV fantasy series Game Of Thrones – saw Dotrice awarded a place in the Guinness World Records in 2004 for the greatest number of characters voiced in an audio book at 224.

Judith McGrath, 70, Australian actress

Wiltshire Times:

Juduth McGrath was an Australian actress best known for her rols as Colleen (Po-face) Powell on the original Prosoner: Cell Block H.

She was also known for her role as Yvonne 'Von' Ryan in the Logie-nominated series All Saints and was the only original cast member to star in all 12 seasons.

Rosemary Leach, 81, actress

Wiltshire Times:

Rosemary Leach was best known for her BAFTA nominated role as Helena Bonham-Carter's mother in A Room With A View and David Essex's mother in That'll Be The Day.

She also starred as Grace in the BBC sitcom My Family and was twice nominated for a BAFTA award as best supporting actress.

The stage and screen actress won an Olivier Award in 1982 for her role in the play 84 Charing Cross Road.

She died in hospital following a short illness at the age of 81.