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Remembering people we lost in 2017

We lost rock'n'roll icons, teen heartthrobs, award-winning athletes and people who changed the world in 2017.
Hugh Hefner, David Cassidy, Fats Domino and Della Reese all died in 2017.

Blasting America's parents with the teen-shaking shout, “Go Johnny go!” Chuck Berry, dead at 90, taught the world to rock. It took the sly blueberry thrills of Fats Domino, gone at 89, to add the roll.

The absurdist red smoking jacket of Hugh Hefner, 91 ushered in a sexual revolution of pouty Playmates and upscale urges. It was Mary Tyler Moore, 80, who tore up that centerfold, proving that even sexier could be a spunky, single career woman on TV.

Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan, 82, was the last human to walk on the moon in 1972. Only six moonwalkers remain, but all left footprints, untouched in the lunar dust nearly a half-century later.

We lost teen heartthrobs like David Cassidy, 67, and Erin Moran, 56. And we lost the genial Gomer Pyle wisdom of Jim Nabors, 87, who soothed his fans with country humor, a gospel-perfect voice and visions of a homogeneous time gone by.

Everyone, from the most high-flying to the earthbound among us, leaves a mark, an echo, an imprint on those around them and those to come. And sometimes those influencers, whether superstar athlete, embattled world leader or a family's favorite relative, don't realize the impact they're having, the inspirations, learnings or complications they leave behind.

We lost gossip columnist Liz Smith, 94, whose coverage of a brash Manhattan real estate mogul helped invent Donald Trump. And activist Dick Gregory, 84, the groundbreaking comedian who helped break the color barrier on television and seemed to be on a perpetual hunger strike against injustice for the rest of his career

Here is a list of those we lost in 2017:

William Peter Blatty: January 12

Gene Cernan: January 16

Mary Tyler Moore: January 25

John Hurt: January 25

Richard Hutch: February 7

Al Jarreau: February 12

Norma McCorvey: February 18

Clyde Stubblefield: February 18

Bill Paxton: February 25

Joni Sledge: March 10

Derek Walcott: March 17

Chuck Berry: March 18

Don Rickles: April 6

J Geils: April 11

Charlie Murphy: April 12

Aaron Hernandez: April 19

Erin Moran: April 22

Jonathan Demme: April 27

Roger Ailes: May 18

Chris Cornell: May 18

Nicky Hayden: May 22

Roger Moore: May 23

Gregg Allman: May 27

Adam West: June 9

Michael Nyqvist: June 27

Nelsan Ellis: July 8

Fresh Kid Ice: July 13

Martin Landau: July 15

George A Romero: July 16

Chester Bennington: July 20

John Heard: July 21

June Foray: July 26

Sam Shepard: June 27

Darren Daulton: August 6

Don Baylor: August 7

Glen Campbell: August 8

Dick Gregory: August 19

Jerry Lewis: August 20

Jay Thomas: August 24

Richard Anderson: August 31

Walter Becker: September 3

Troy Gentry: September 8

Harry Dean Stanton: September 15

Penny Chenery: September 16

Jake LaMotta: September 19

Bernie Casey: September 19

Charles Bradley: September 23

Hugh Hefner: September 27

Monty Hall: September 30

Tom Petty: October 2

Ralphie May: October 6

YA Tittle: October 8

Fats Domino: October 24

Robert Guillaume: October 24

Dick Gordon: November 6

Roy Halladay: November 7

Liz Smith: November 12

Lil Peep: November 15

Ann Wedgeworth: November 16

Earle Hyman: November 17

Malcolm Young: November 18

Della Reese: November 19

Mel Tillis: November 19

Jana Novotna: November 19

David Cassidy: November 21

Rance Howard: November 25

Jim Nabors: November 30

Steve Reevis: December 7

Keely Smith: December 16

Jonghyun Kim: December 19

Bernard Law: December 20

Dick Enberg: December 21

List compiled by Lindsay Maizland, TEGNA

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