Celebrity Deaths in 2013

Annette Funicello Annette Funicello, the Mouseketeer-turned-movie star, died April 8. (Getty Images/NBCUniversal)

Getty Images/NBCUniversal

Bobby 'Blue' Bland Bobby "Blue" Bland, a distinguished singer who blended Southern blues and soul in songs such as "Turn on Your Love Light" and "Further On Up the Road," died June 23 due to complications from an ongoing illness at his Memphis, Tenn., home. He was 83. (Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

Rick Diamond/Getty Images

James Gandolfini The 51-year-old star of "The Sopranos" died in Rome June 19. Family spokesman Michael Kobold says Gandolfini died of a heart attack. (AP Photo)

AP Photo

Esther Williams Esther Williams, 91, died June 6. She was a swimming champion-turned-actress who starred in glittering, aquatic Technicolor musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Jean Stapleton Jean Stapleton died May 31 of natural causes at her New York City home. Stapleton's Edith Bunker was such a dithery charmer that we had to love her. And because she loved her bombastic husband Archie, we made room for him and TV's daring "All in the Family." (AP Photo)

AP Photo

Chris Kelly Chris Kelly, half of the 1990s kid rap duo Kris Kross who made one of the decade's most memorable songs with the frenetic "Jump," died at an Atlanta hospital May 31 of an apparent drug overdose at his home, authorities said. He was 34. (AP Photo)

AP Photo

Jeanne Cooper Jeanne Cooper, the enduring soap opera star who played grande dame Katherine Chancellor for nearly four decades on "The Young and the Restless," died May 8. She was 84. (Getty Images)

Getty Images

George Jones Country music legend George Jones was internationally known for his long list of hit records. He died on April 26 in Nashville, Tenn. He was 81. (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Chrissy Amphlett Chrissy Amphlett shot to fame in 1990 with the Divinyls hit "I Touch Myself." Amphlett died in her hometown of New York City on April 21 after battling breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. She was 53. (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Jonathan Winters Jonathan Winters is considered one of the great comedians of the 20th century. The Dayton, Ohio native died at age 87 in California on April 11. (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Cory Monteith Cory Monteith, the heartthrob actor who became an overnight star as a high school quarterback-turned-singer in the hit TV series "Glee" but had battled addiction since his teenage years, was found dead of undisclosed causes in a hotel room July 13. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File

Margaret Thatcher Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, also known as the Iron Lady, died April 8 in London at age 87. (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Lilly Pulitzer Lilly Pulitzer, a fashion designer whose bright, colorful floral patterns made her a household name, died on April 7 in Palm Beach, Fla. She was 81. (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Roger Ebert Movie critic Roger Ebert died April 4 at age 70 after a long battle with cancer. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Shain Gandee Shain Gandee, one of the stars of the cable reality series "Buckwild," died April 1 of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Stompin' Tom Connors Stompin' Tom Connors, 77, died March 6. He was a country-folk singer whose toe-tapping musical spirit and fierce patriotism established him as one of Canada's biggest cultural icons. (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Van Cliburn Van Cliburn, 78, died Feb. 27. He was a pianist whose triumph at a 1958 Moscow competition helped thaw the Cold War and launched a spectacular career that made him the rare classical musician to enjoy rock-star status. (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Mindy McReady Mindy McCready, 37, died Feb. 17 of an apparent suicide. She hit the top of the country music charts before personal problems sidetracked her career. (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Conrad Bain Conrad Bain, 89, died Jan. 14. He was a veteran stage and film actor who became a star in middle age as the kindly white adoptive father of two young African-American brothers in the TV sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes." (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Marian McPartland Marian McPartland, a renowned jazz pianist and host of the National Public Radio show "Piano Jazz," died Aug. 20 at her Port Washington home on Long Island. (AP Photo)

AP Photo

Joan Fontaine Joan Fontaine, 96, was an Academy Award-winning actress who found stardom playing naive wives in Alfred Hitchcock's "Suspicion" and "Rebecca." She died Dec. 15. (AP Photo/File)

AP Photo/File

Peter O'Toole Peter O'Toole, 81, well known for his starring role in "Lawrence of Arabia," was one of the most magnetic, charismatic and fun figures in British acting. He died Dec. 14. (AP)

AP

Mac McGarry Mac McGarry, the longtime host of the local quiz show "It's Academic" and champion for education, died Dec. 12. He was 87. (Courtesy It's Academic)

Courtesy It's Academic

Lou Reed Lou Reed was best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground. The 71-year-old died of an ailment following a liver transplant.(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images for John Varvatos)

Tom Clancy Tom Clancy, 66, died Oct. 1 His high-tech, Cold War thrillers such as "The Hunt for Red October" and "Patriot Games" made him the most widely read military novelist of his time.

Ken Norton Muhammad Ali, right, winces as Ken Norton hits him with a left to the head during their rematch at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Norton, a former heavyweight champion, died Sept. 18, 2013. He was 70. (AP Photo/File)

AP Photo/File

Tommy Morrison Tommy Morrison lands a right to the head of George Foreman in 1996. Morrison, a former heavyweight champion who gained fame for his role in the movie "Rocky V," died Sept. 1. He was 44. (Getty Images/Staff)

Getty Images/Staff

David Frost David Frost, a British broadcaster whose illustrious career spanned half a century and included interviews with a long list of the world's most powerful and famous, died of a heart attack Aug. 31 aboard the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship, where he was due to give a speech. He was 74. (AP Photo)

AP Photo

Julie Harris Julie Harris, one of Broadway's most honored performers whose roles ranged from the flamboyant Sally Bowles in "I Am a Camera" to the reclusive Emily Dickinson in "The Belle of Amherst," died Aug. 24 at her Massachusetts home of congestive heart failure. She was 87. (Chris Greenberg/Getty Images)

Chris Greenberg/Getty Images

Celebrity Deaths in 2013 WTOP takes a look at celebrities who have died in 2013.

Elmore Leonard Author Elmore Leonard, a former adman who became one of America's foremost crime writers, died at 87. His researcher says he passed away Aug. 20 from complications from a stroke. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

AP Photo/Paul Sancya

Lee Thompson Young Actor Lee Thompson Young started his career as a teenager in the TV series "The Famous Jett Jackson" and was co-starring in the series "Rizzoli & Isles." He was found dead Aug. 19. He was 29. (AP Photo/TNT, Eddy Chen)

AP Photo/TNT, Eddy Chen

Lisa Robin Kelly Lisa Robin Kelly, who co-starred on the sitcom "That 70s Show," died Aug. 14 at a rehab facility in California. (Getty Images)

Getty Images

August Schellenberg August Schellenberg, who starred in the "Free Willy" films and appeared in numerous television roles, died Aug. 15 at his Dallas home after a fight with lung cancer. He was 77. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Gia Allemand Gia Allemand, who was the girlfriend of NBA Pelicans player Ryan Anderson and appeared on ABC's "The Bachelor" and "Bachelor Pad," died Aug. 14. She was 29. (Getty Images/Joe Corrigan)

Getty Images/Joe Corrigan

Jack W. Germond Jack W. Germond, the portly, cantankerous columnist and pundit who covered 10 presidential elections and sparred with colleagues on TV's "The McLaughlin Group," died Aug. 14. (AP Photo/Random House, David Burnett)

AP Photo/Random House, David Burnett

J.J. Cale J.J. Cale, the famed songwriter who wrote Eric Clapton's hits "Cocaine" and "After Midnight," died July 26 at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, Calif. His manager, Mike Kappus, said Cale died of a heart attack. He was 74. (Getty Images/Tim Jackson)

Getty Images/Tim Jackson

Dennis Farina Dennis Farina, a former Chicago cop who as a popular actor played a cop on "Law & Order," died July 22 of a heart attack. Born Feb. 29, 1944, in Chicago, he was a city police officer before turning to acting in his late 30s. (Getty Images/Jason LaVeris)

Getty Images/Jason LaVeris