Adios Maradona and the best ever Bond: Notable deaths in 2020

Here are some of the notable deaths of the year 2020.

PARIS (AFP) - From legendary actors Kirk Douglas and Sean Connery to matriarch of the US Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsberg, here are some of the notable deaths of 2020.

- January -

- 10: Oman s Sultan Qaboos, who transformed the former Arabian Peninsula backwater into a modern state and the Gulf s discreet mediator, dies aged 79.

- 26: US basketball legend Kobe Bryant, 41, dies in a horrific helicopter crash northwest of Los Angeles that also claimed the lives of his 13-year-old daughter and seven other people.

- February -

- 5: One of the last stars of Hollywood s golden age, Kirk Douglas, dies at his home in Beverly Hills aged 103.

- 25: Egypt s former president Hosni Mubarak, who was swept from power by the Arab Spring in 2010, dies in a military hospital aged 91.

- March -

- 8: "Exorcist" star Max Von Sydow, who also featured in films by his Swedish compatriot Ingmar Bergman dies in France aged 90.

- April -

- 29: Bollywood star Irrfan Khan, known for his roles in blockbusters "Life of Pi" and "Slumdog Millionaire", dies from cancer in a Mumbai hospital aged 53.

- May -

- 9: Little Richard, known for outrageous showmanship and lightning-fast rhythms dies aged 87 after battling cancer. Hits include "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally".

- 31: Artist Christo (Christo Vladimiroff Javacheff) who wrapped landmarks such as Berlin s Reichstag and the Pont Neuf in Paris dies aged 84.

- June -

- 8: Burundi s former president Pierre Nkurunziza, who ruled the country from 2005 to 2020, dies from a heart attack aged 55.

- July -

- 6: Italian maestro Ennio Morricone, Oscar-winning composer of film scores for Sergio Leone s spaghetti westerns, dies in Rome aged 91.

- 8: The sudden death from a heart attack of Ivory Coast s Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, 61, plunges the country into political turmoil.

- 26: Oscar-winning actress Olivia de Havilland, star of "Gone With the Wind", dies at her home in Paris aged 104.

- August -

- 24: Former Congolese president Pascal Lissouba, who won his country s first multi-party presidential elections, dies in France aged 88.

- 28: Actor Chadwich Boseman, who played Black Panther in the Marvel movies, dies of cancer aged 43.

- September -

- 2: Chief torturer behind Cambodia s genocidal Khmer Rouge, Kaing Guek Eav, 77, better known by his alias Duch, dies in prison.

- 10: British actress Diana Rigg, of "Avengers" and "Game of Thrones" fame, dies aged 82.

- 18: US Supreme Court judge and feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, dies aged 87.

- 23: French actress and singer Juliette Greco, the face and voice of radical chic postwar Paris, dies aged 93.

- October -

- 4: Japan s most famous fashion designer Kenzo Takada, founder of the Kenzo brand, dies in Paris aged 81 from Covid-19.

- 31: Legendary Scottish actor Sean Connery, the original James Bond, dies in his sleep in the Bahamas, aged 90.

- November -

- 11: Bahrain s Prince Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, the world s longest-serving prime minister, dies aged 84.

- 12: Jerry Rawlings, who ruled Ghana for two decades first as a military leader and then as elected president, dies aged 73.

- 25: Diego Maradona, football s troubled genius and arguably the greatest player ever, dies aged 60.

- December -

- 2: Former French president Valery Giscard d Estaing, who legalised abortion and brought the country high-speed trains, dies aged 94 from Covid-19.

- 11: Film director Kim Ki-duk, the enfant terrible of Korean cinema, dies in Latvia from Covid-19 aged 59.

- 12: Charley Pride, US country music s first black superstar, dies from Covid-19 aged 86.

- 12: John le Carre, the master spy novelist, whose real name was David Cornwell, dies aged 89.