Losing a favorite actor or musician is always difficult. But in 2020, a year of crisis, some of those losses were particularly painful, brought on by a pandemic that killed hundreds of thousands in the United States alone. The artists on this list could help us better understand the time we are going through, or at least get through it with a smile or a cathartic scream. Here is a tribute to her, in her own words.
“When I dared to challenge the system that would make us victims and stereotypes with no clear historical background, hopes or talents, when I questioned this method of representation, another path opened up for me, the path to my destiny.”
– Chadwick Boseman, actor, born 1976 (Read the obituary.)
“It’s important to know where your work ends and your life begins.”
– Ann Reinking, dancer, born 1949 (Read the obituary.)
“I don’t consider myself an artist. I consider myself a very sensitive man who uses words as a weapon. “
– Larry Kramer, writer, born 1935 (Read the obituary.)
“When this first photo of Earth was taken from space and you saw this little ball in the dark… I became aware of what I was feeling. I feel very much that a tree is a relative, a cousin. I think everything in this world is related to me. “
– Luchita Hurtado, artist, born 1920 (Read the obituary.)
“When you start thinking about your picture, or what the mysterious ‘they’ out there think of you, you are trapped. The important thing is that you do the job that is best for you. “
– Sean Connery, actor, born 1930 (Read the obituary.)
“I am not conceited – I am convinced.”
– Little Richard, singer, born 1932 (Read the obituary.)
“My life has been a search for knowledge and understanding, and I am far from having achieved this. And it doesn’t bother me at all. I will die without having found the answers to many things in life. “
– Alex Trebek, TV presenter, born 1940 (Read the obituary.)
“Dancing and singing is all I always wanted. Doing what you want makes you happy – and old. “
– Othella Dallas, dancer, born 1925 (Read the obituary.)
“I just know that rock and roll guitar, like blues guitar, should be melody, speed and taste, but more importantly, it should have emotion. I just want my guitar playing to give people something: happy, sad, even awesome. “
– Eddie Van Halen, guitarist, born 1955 (Read the obituary.)
“In my opinion, the aim of the music in a film is to convey what is not seen or heard in dialogue. It’s something abstract that comes from afar. “
– Ennio Morricone, composer, born 1928 (Read the obituary.)
“The older you get, I have to say, the more fun you find life. This is the only way. If you take yourself seriously as you get older, you are pathetic. “
– Diana Rigg, actress, born 1938 (Read the obituary.)
“I want to thank God because she makes everything possible.”
– Helen Reddy, singer, born 1941 (Read the obituary.)
“Laughter is the answer to all the pain I had as a child. If I don’t do it, everything will be scary and weird. I only have the memories that inhabit me and that can only be erased by laughing. “
– Jerry Stiller, comedian, born 1927 (Read the obituary.)
“I never had any support, I wasn’t encouraged by anyone, it’s not in my character or my family’s customs. I started my own business thanks to my work. “
– Christiane Eda-Pierre, singer, born 1932 (Read the obituary.)
“I firmly believe that style is a limitation of perception and understanding. And what I’ve tried in my life is to avoid style and find an essential reason to do things. “
– Milton Glaser, designer, born 1929 (Read the obituary.)
My life is in turmoil
My thighs are black and blue
My sheets are stained, as is my brain
What can a girl do
– Cristina, singer, born 1956 (Read the obituary.)
“I’d rather write about a prom or something than a midlife crisis, you know?”
– Adam Schlesinger, songwriter, born 1967 (Read the obituary.)
“I’m an actor. I can play a lizard, anything. I worked in ‘nontraditional’ theater. I did ‘Of Mice and Men’. Played Slim. The great Joe Fields did a Willy Loman. We as Actors want to act. “
– Anthony Chisholm, actor, born 1943 (Read the obituary.)
“I would prefer to live in perfect health forever, but if I ever have to leave this life I would love to do so on a chaise longue that is scented and wearing a velvet robe and pearl earrings with a flute of champagne next to me and I just did found the answer to the final problem in a British cryptic crossword puzzle. “
– Olivia de Havilland, actress, born 1916 (Read the obituary.)
“Listening to classical music is like reading philosophy books, not everyone has to do it. Music is not for everyone. “
– Krzysztof Penderecki, composer, born 1933 (Read the obituary.)
“When I do something that someone likes, I’m happy because someone liked what I did, but I don’t think it’s important.”
– Helen LaFrance, artist, born 1919 (Read the obituary.)
“If I thought a man had never committed a sin in his life, I wouldn’t want to speak to him. A man with flaws is more interesting. “
– Kirk Douglas, actor, born 1916 (Read the obituary.)
“I was strong and tireless and full of passion and loved dancing as deeply as anyone could ever love.”
– Aileen Passloff, dancer, born 1931 (Read the obituary.)
“I love my wife, I love my family, I love my life and I love my music.”
– Kenny Rogers, singer, born 1938 (Read the obituary.)
“An artist who proclaims that the art he makes is art is likely to make a serious mistake. And that’s a mistake I’m not trying to make. “
– Peter Beard, artist, born 1938 (Read the obituary.)
“What we don’t need in country music is division, public criticism of one another, and arbitrary judgment about what is heard and what is not.”
– Charley Pride, singer, born 1934 (Read the obituary.)
“I am such that I put everything I have into what I’m doing or thinking about. So it’s not right for people to say I’m lost in myself. I think I’m just lost in myself. “
– Elizabeth Wurtzel, author, born 1967 (Read the obituary.)
“All of my successes have driven me even more, if at all. There was always more to achieve and more to achieve and more musical depths to fathom and behind that lurked the terrible risk of failure. “
– Leon Fleisher, pianist, born 1928 (Read the obituary.)
“I know the business of acting is to share an experience and evoke an emotion. I don’t want to use world love. It’s an abused word, trite. But the truth is, I like to act in the theater. “
– Zoe Caldwell, actress, born 1933 (Read the obituary.)
“I’m a dancer who loves dance, any kind of dance. When choreographing, I don’t see dance as ballet, modern or something, but only as dance. “
– Louis Johnson, dancer, born 1930 (Read the obituary.)
“I like to surprise myself. I’ve always been drawn to projects that I don’t know how it will turn out. If I ever show courage in my life it is mostly a keyboard. “
– Terrence McNally, playwright, born 1938 (Read the obituary.)
“As a child, I was engaged in dancing in Hawaii. We’d have picnics in the sand and get up and do hulas. I didn’t even know what I was talking about back then, but I wanted to create my own theater. “
– Jean Erdman, dancer, born 1916 (Read the obituary.)
“I’m not a virtuoso, but I could write songs that people could relate to. I don’t think I did badly to a guy from Slab Fork, West Virginia. “
– Bill Withers, singer, born 1938 (Read the obituary.)
“I’m allergic to any art related to propaganda. And everything: commercial propaganda, political propaganda, religious propaganda – it’s all about propaganda. And the greatness of art, like poetry or music, is that it is completely unnecessary. “
– Christo, artist, born 1935 (Read the obituary.)
“I am appalled by the concept of autobiography because I am already constructing the lies that I will tell.”
– John le Carré, author, born 1931 (Read the obituary.)
“Life brings you to something real in the lie of the stage. I’ve always felt a connection between daily life and art. I always knew where the stage door was to get on and off. Some others get lost in the maze. My reality was my key. “
– Mirella Freni, singer, born 1935 (Read the obituary.)
“I’ve been criticized for doing very Brechtian design, but when I go to a play or an opera I love to get involved instead of just looking at it. I prefer a total theatrical experience to an analytical experience. “
– Ming Cho Lee, theater designer, born 1930 (Read the obituary.)
“You can pick up a camera. The technology is there. You can get your friends together and make a movie. You should do it. Now.”
– Lynn Shelton, director, born 1965 (Read the obituary.)
“The producer kept telling me, ‘Get tough. Get mean. Become angry.’ But i am a nice guy. I am Canadian.”
– Nick Cordero, actor, born 1978 (Read the obituary.)
“You have to be tough. Don’t just give up in life. Be strong and believe in what you believe in. “
– Toots Hibbert, singer, born 1942 (Read the obituary.)
“I want people to enjoy what I do and understand what I am doing is for their pleasure. And that’s all I can ask for. “
– Regis Philbin, TV presenter, born 1931 (Read the obituary.)
“Let others decide whether I’m a good writer or not. I know that I am a good Irish storyteller. “
– Mary Higgins Clark, author, born 1927 (Read the obituary.)
“Nobody could have imagined that I would become an actor, I was so shy. So thin. But the desire was so intense. “
– Irrfan Khan, actor, born 1967 (Read the obituary.)
“As long as you fall in love with people, you can exceed time.”
– Betty Wright, singer, born 1953 (Read the obituary.)
When I get to heaven
I’ll take the watch off my arm
What will you do with time?
After you bought the farm?
– John Prine, musician, born 1946 (Read the obituary.)
