World's oldest person, Kane Tanaka, passes away in Japan at 119

2021 began with the devastating news of Larry King’s death. King, a legendary interviewer and one of the most iconic faces of American television, died of Covid-19 on January 2. For 25 years, King hosted ‘Larry King Live’ on CNN, which helped the network garner international fame. He pioneered the conversational style of interviewing, and hosted every notable public figure on his show, including all sitting presidents of the United States – from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama. In his signature outfit - braces over a dress shirt - King was not only a sharp questioner but also a popular culture icon. His contribution to America’s broadcast television is unparalleled.

It isn’t every day that an actress can be both a Bond girl and a ‘Charlie’s Angel’, but Tanya Roberts managed this impossible feat, and catapulted to limelight in the 1980s. The actress played the role of the sultry blonde geologist - Stacey Sutton - with a breathy voice, in the Roger Moore-starrer Bond film, ‘A View to a Kill’ (1985). However, her first major break was in the 1980 TV series, ‘Charlie’s Angel’. Another memorable performance of Roberts was in the hit sitcom, ‘That ’70s Show’, in which she played the dimwitted but always charming housewife, Midge Pinciotti who is deeply dissatisfied with her boring life. Roberts breathed her last on January 4, 2021 after suffering from several health-related complications that had led to sepsis.

Despite losing his eyesight at the age of four due to cerebrospinal meningitis, Mehta, saw India more vividly than most writers do, and made our country visible to the West, especially America. For 33 years, the author worked at The New Yorker magazine writing on a plethora of topics, and had published several volumes of books in his life. Some of his most popular works include ‘Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles’ (1976) and ‘Portrait of India’ (1970). It is said that Mehta never liked walking the city streets with the help of a cane or with guide dogs, and often shrugged off help offered by friends and strangers. Although it was his blindness, and the subsequent loneliness arising from it, that pushed him towards writing, he never wanted to be known as a ‘blind writer’ but merely as a writer who also happens to be blind. A true luminary, the author passed away on 9 January 2021, due to complications related to Parkinson's disease.

Ironical as it may sound, Plummer hated his iconic role of naval officer Georg von Trapp, in the classic film ‘Sound of Music’ that had put him on the road to stardom. Despite the actor’s natural talent, versatility and undeniable charm, it was hard perhaps for him to be remembered for that one role that had the emotional range of teaspoon, but meaty roles, critical acclaim and awards came to Plummer much later in his career. At the age of 82, Plummer became the oldest person to win an Oscar for his role in the film ‘Beginners’. Plummer’s filmography boasts of 100 films, with memorable roles in later years of his career in cinematic outings like ‘A Beautiful Mind’, ‘Inside Man’ , ‘Barrymore’ and ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. His last major movie outing was ‘Knives Out’. The actor died at his home in Weston on February 5, 2021, at the age of 91.

A blunt-speaking naval officer who was Queen Elizabeth’s husband for more than seven decades, Prince Philip played a crucial role as her consort, always helping her steer the British monarchy through its various phases of crisis and ushering it into a new era. He was known to be irascible and salt-tongued, but he, along with his wife Elizabeth, offered stability to the British monarchy through turbulent times. He always walked a step behind the queen, in over thousands of ceremonial events that the two attended as a couple. Though Philip had no official role, the Duke of Edinburgh as he was known, was definitely one of the most prominent people of the British royal family. He died at the age of 99 on 9th April, due to old age. He passed away peacefully at Windsor Castle.

The woman India loved to hate, Shashikala became synonymous with the wicked mother-in-law characters early on in her career. Rising from bit parts, the actress got her first big break as the supporting actress in ‘Aarti’ for which she won a Filmfare. However, despite her talent, she struggled to fit into any Bollywood mould for female characters, and by her late 20s finally made her peace with playing the vamp on screen and for decades made a good career out of being bad. With her dramatic facial expressions, acerbic taunts, and evil and manipulative tricks, she tormented every leading lady of her time - be it Meena Kumari in ‘Phool Aur Patthar’ or Mala Sinha in ‘Apne Hue Paraye’. Two of her most memorable ‘sasuma’ (mother-in-law) roles are ‘Choti Bahu’, and ‘Gumrah’. However, the actress eventually grew tired of these vamp variations, and steered away from the film industry to focus on spirituality. The veteran actress breathed her last on April 4 at the age of 88.

Tamil actor Vivekh passed away at the age of 59 due to a heart attack, two days after taking the Covid-19 vaccine in a public event. Although a committee later concluded that the vaccine had nothing to do with the actor’s death, at the time of his demise, the actor’s family, fans and industry colleagues were thrown into a state of shock by the manner in which he died on April 17.Vivekh began his movie journey in 1987 and director K Balachander, who is known for finding superstars like Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, became his guiding light early on. Over the years, the actor worked in a number of comedies, and films that carried a social message. Famous for his impeccable comic timing and unforgettable dialogue, Vivekh’s most popular films include ‘Puthu Puthu Arthangal’, ‘Run’, and ‘Dhool, Anniyan’. He was also the Tamil Nadu government-appointed ambassador against the use of plastic.

Nandlaskar, a character actor seen in Rohit Shetty films like ‘Singham’ and ‘Simmba’ and most remembered for his performance in the Sanjay Dutt-starrer ‘Vaastav’, passed away at the age of 81 due to Covid-19 on April 20. Nandlaskar, in his lifetime acted in almost 40 plays, and more than 25 Marathi and Hindi movies, and irrespective of how minor the role was, Nandlaskar always managed to add authenticity, and layers to them. The veteran actor, who debuted in the Marathi film, 'Navare Sagle Gadhav', and acted in movies like ‘Bhavishyachi Aishi Taishi: The Prediction', 'Gaon Thor Pudhari Chor' and 'Jara Japun Kara' was also a part of more than 20 series.

An eminent poet, Ghosh’s huge oeuvre of work made our lives as well as Bangla literature richer over the years. Despite being a contemporary of the ‘Hungry poets’, (who were part of an avant garde literary movement in Bengal in 1960s) Ghosh’s writing was markedly different from them. He complimented their flamboyance with restraint and nuance, with a romanticism that was undeniably tied with the idea of revolution. Ghosh, despite his soft-spokenness never shied away from speaking up, and always walked in front of protest marches and rallies, whenever he found that his political idealism was triggered by petty squabbles of politicians, and their realpolitik. Ghosh wrote political poems like ‘Jamunaboti’ as well as penned the passionate and romantic, ‘Dinguli Raatguli’. His ‘Sakalbelar Alo’, which talks about the Bengal partition is a wonderful introduction for young readers who are not yet familiar with his works. He was a dedicated professor too. Ghosh breathed his last, at the age of 86 on April 21. The poet died of Covid.