All the Celebrities We Lost in 2017

For those of us of a certain age, a light shines brightly in a cherished corner of our memories. It’s television, a light with a vague flicker from a convex screen that would be square if not for the curves at all four corners.

In the light of this window on the world trod a parade of immortals seen by tens of millions on just three networks. It was long ago, yet for many of us, it still feels close at hand. And when the legends die, we remember them as if it were only yesterday.

What more can one say about Mary Tyler Moore? She was 80 when she died in January, but in our memories, she will always be around 30 and indistinguishable from the character she was best known for playing, Mary Richards of WJM-TV in Minneapolis — striving, ambitious, strong and sometimes brittle — an everywoman for the ’70s and for the ages, brought to us in 576 lines of definition.

Across our field of vision jumped Gomer Pyle, one of the most luminous TV characters ever created, and he too was indistinguishable from the artist who played him, Jim Nabors — right up until the artist opened his mouth to sing and we stared in disbelief at the depth and talent of this man.

Other celebrities we lost:

Adam West

David Cassidy

Dick Gautier

Mike Connors

Monty Hall

Bob Schiller

Stan Hart

June Foray

Joe Harris

Chuck Barris

Glen Campbell

Della Reese

Robert Guillaume

Richard Anderson

Roger Smith

Michael Parks

Stephen Furst

Powers Boothe

Erin Moran

Roger Moore

Joseph Wapner

Dorothy Mengering

Jay Thomas

Bill Dana

Don Rickles

Jerry Lewis

Robert Osborne

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