Notable deaths of 2025

(Reuters) – A look back at some of the most notable figures who died this year, from Jane Goodall to Hulk Hogan.

RELIGION

Pope Francis, 88 years old

“How much harm the women and men of the Church do when they erect walls,” Francis said late in life. “Rigidity is a sin that often enters into clerics.”

The first Latin American pontiff shunned much of the papacy’s pomp, softened Catholic attitudes towards homosexuality, and put more women in senior roles than any predecessor.

More than 250,000 people attended his funeral in April, according to the Vatican.

The Aga Khan, 88

“Your name it is heard in high places; you know the Aga Khan,” Peter Sarstedt sang in 1969.

Karim Al Husseini, the fourth Aga Khan, died in February. The wealthy racehorse owner was the hereditary spiritual leader of 15 million Ismaili Muslims.

SCIENCE

Jane Goodall, 91

The global activist, who turned her childhood love of primates into a lifelong quest to protect the environment, died in October.

Jim Lovell, 97

Commander of Apollo 13, NASA's failed 1970 mission to the Moon that was immortalised in a film starring Tom Hanks.

James Watson, 97

Biologist whose discovery of the structure of DNA ushered in the age of genetics.

CINEMA

Robert Redford, 89

Hollywood’s quintessential leading man starred in “The Sting”, “Out of Africa” and “All the President’s Men”. As the founder of the annual Sundance Film Festival, he was also an influential supporter of independent cinema. He died in September.

Diane Keaton, 79

Diane Keaton's roles ranged from the tormented wife of a mob boss in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” to a kooky Midwesterner in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall”. She died in October.

Gene Hackman, 95

The star of movies "The French Connection" and "Unforgiven" retired from acting some 20 years ago.

He, his wife Betsy Arakawa and one of their dogs were found dead in their home in February. Hackman, who was in an advanced state of Alzheimer's, died of heart disease and other factors likely days after Arakawa, his primary caregiver, died of a rare virus spread by mice, according to autopsy results.

David Lynch, 78

The writer and director made haunting movies "The Elephant Man" and "Mulholland Drive," as well as the TV series "Twin Peaks", a surrealist murder mystery. He died in January.

Claudia Cardinale, 87

The Tunisian-born star of Italian cinema featured in Federico Fellini's "8-1/2" and Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West". She died in September.

Val Kilmer, 65

Known for playing Iceman in “Top Gun”, Jim Morrison in “The Doors” and Bruce Wayne in “Batman Forever”, the actor died of pneumonia in April. He had been in poor health for years due to throat cancer.

Terence Stamp, 87

Terence Stamp was on the verge of becoming a tantric sex teacher at an ashram in India when, in 1977, he heard that he was being considered for the "Superman" film. "I was on the night flight the next day," Stamp later recalled.

Getting the role of the arch-villain General Zod in that movie made him a star. He died in August.

Rob Reiner, 78

The director of "When Harry Met Sally" and "The Princess Bride" was found dead with his wife Michele, 68, in their Los Angeles home in December. Their son Nick Reiner has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder over the stabbings.

SPORT

George Foreman, 76

The heavyweight boxing champion lost his first title to Muhammad Ali in their famous 1974 fight in Kinshasa – “The Rumble in the Jungle”.

Hulk Hogan, 71

The bleach-blond, mahogany-tanned behemoth became the face of professional wrestling in the 1980s, helping transform the mock combat sport from a seedy spectacle into family-friendly entertainment worth billions of dollars. He died in July.

Diogo Jota, 28

The Portuguese soccer player died in July when the Lamborghini he was in veered off the road and burst into flames. Just one month earlier, he had lifted the Premier League trophy for Liverpool.

Nicola Pietrangeli, 92

Pietrangeli, Italy’s greatest tennis player before Jannik Sinner, was a master on clay.

LITERATURE

Tom Stoppard, 88

The Czech-born British playwright dazzled with verbal gymnastics. He died in November.

Mario Vargas Llosa, 89

A leading light in Latin American fiction, the Peruvian author and would-be president won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2010. He died in April.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o, 87

Kenyan author whose sharp critique of post-independence elites led to prison and exile.

Frederick Forsyth, 86

Author of the bestselling novel “The Day of the Jackal”.

Jilly Cooper, 88

British author whose 1980s bestsellers were a blend of sex, satire and class-based snobbery.

MUSIC

Ozzy Osbourne, 76

"The Prince of Darkness" fronted the heavy metal band Black Sabbath in the 1970s. His death in July led to an outpouring of grief in Birmingham, the English city where he grew up.

Brian Wilson, 82

The co-founder of the Beach Boys created some of rock’s most enduring songs, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “Good Vibrations”. He died in June.

Roberta Flack, 88

Her covers of ballads "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Killing Me Softly with His Song" topped the charts in the 1970s. She died in February.

Jimmy Cliff, 81

The Jamaican singer, who along with Bob Marley brought reggae to a global audience, died in November.

Ornella Vanoni, 91

Vanoni, a leading voice in Italian music, died in November.

Sly Stone, 82

Leader of 1960s funk band Sly and the Family Stone.

D'Angelo, 51

The trailblazing neo-soul singer died in October after a prolonged battle with cancer, his family said.

Marianne Faithfull, 78

The singer of “As Tears Go By” was the voice of Britain's swinging '60s. She died in January.

Alan Bergman, 99

He wrote a song with his future wife on the day they first met. Over the next 60 years they never stopped making music together. Bergman, one half of one of the greatest American songwriting duos, died in July.

BUSINESS

Giorgio Armani, 91

For the Italian designer, who died in September, elegance meant simplicity. That principle would produce bestselling minimalist suits and turn his eponymous brand into a conglomerate worth billions of dollars.

His will, which instructs heirs to sell a large part of the Armani group, set off a feeding frenzy.

Eddie Jordan, 76

Charismatic Irish entrepreneur whose team gave driver Michael Schumacher his Formula One debut in 1991.

Frederick Smith, 80

He started the global delivery company FedEx with 14 small planes in 1973. By the time he resigned as CEO in 2022, FedEx operated some 700 aircraft and 86,000 vehicles.

JOURNALISM

Hussam al-Masri, 49

The Israeli military fired on a hospital in the Gaza Strip on August 25. Five journalists, including Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri, died in the attack. Their deaths are among some 200 journalist killings by Israel that it has yet to fully explain.

Anthony Grey, 87

As a Reuters correspondent, Grey was detained for over two years in 1960s China. That experience shaped the rest of his life.

Ruth Weiss, 101

The journalist bore witness to some of the 20th century's greatest crimes, from the antisemitism of Nazi Germany to the racism of apartheid South Africa.

POLITICS

Dick Cheney, 84

One of the most powerful vice presidents in US history, Cheney was a driving force behind the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He died in November.

Charlie Kirk, 31

The political activist and vociferous debater was credited with building Donald Trump's base among younger voters. His assassination in September set off a pro-Trump crackdown affecting more than 600 Americans.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, 96

The former head of France's leading far-right party died in January.

In 2015, his daughter and successor Marine Le Pen had him excluded from the organisation for saying once more that the Nazi gas chambers were “merely a detail” of World War Two history. After his death, she said she would “never forgive” herself for that decision.

Muhammadu Buhari, 82

As president of Nigeria, Buhari led Africa's most populous country from 2015 to 2023. His time in office was blighted by Nigeria's first recession in a generation, militant attacks on oilfields, and repeated hospital stays for an undisclosed illness.

Raila Odinga, 80

Kenya's veteran opposition leader ran five times unsuccessfully for president. A stampede at his funeral in October killed two people and injured more than 160 others, aid group Doctors Without Borders said.

Sam Nujoma, 95

The guerrilla leader became Namibia's first democratically elected president after it won independence from apartheid South Africa.

Tomiichi Murayama, 101

As prime minister of Japan he apologised for the country’s actions during World War Two.

Jose Mujica, 89

As president of Uruguay, he drove a beat-up VW Beetle and kept a small flower farm. His progressive reforms carried his reputation well beyond South America.

Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, 95

The first female president of Nicaragua championed peace after years of a violent civil war.

Ion Iliescu, 95

As president of Romania, he led the country’s transition from communism and set it on the path to European Union and NATO membership. He died in August.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Sebastião Salgado, 81

The Brazilian’s black-and-white photographs of humanity's conflicted relationship with nature captivated the world.

Oliviero Toscani, 82

Italian fashion photographer who designed provocative ad campaigns for fashion brand Benetton.

SOME MORE NOTABLE DEATHS

Frank Gehry, 96

His daring and whimsical creations of leaning towers and sweeping sheets of curved metal such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, made him a star architect. He died in December.

Virginia Giuffre, 41

One of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's most prominent accusers, Giuffre died by suicide in April, her family said. She had also accused Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of Britain’s King Charles, of sexually abusing her. Andrew denies the claim.

Stella Rimington, 90

Britain's first female spy chief ushered in an era of greater transparency at MI5 in the 1990s. She went on to write a series of espionage novels.

Jimmy Swaggart, 90

One of the most influential of the US televangelists of the 1980s, before an affair with a prostitute brought his career crashing down.

Felix Baumgartner, 56

The Austrian extreme athlete was famed for a 2012 skydive from the edge of space. He died in July while paragliding in Italy, local police said.

OTHERS WHO DIED THIS YEAR

Ace Frehley, 74 – Lead guitarist of band Kiss

Amadou Bagayoko, 70 – Malian singer of duo Amadou & Mariam

Angie Stone, 63 – US soul singer-songwriter

Assata Shakur, 78 – Black Liberation Army activist convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper

Barbie Hsu, 48 – Taiwanese actor

Bernie Kerik, 69 – New York City's 9/11 police chief later found guilty of tax evasion

Bill Moyers, 91 – Broadcaster and former White House press secretary

Boris Spassky, 88 – Russian chess champion

Charles Rangel, 94 – US politician and a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus

Chen Ning Yang, 103 – Chinese theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize laureate

Chuck Mangione, 84 – US flugelhorn player known for hit “Feels So Good”

Cleo Laine, 97 – British jazz singer

Clint Hill, 93 – Secret Service agent who sought to save mortally wounded US President John F. Kennedy

Connie Francis, 87 – US singer who topped the charts in the 1950s and 1960s

Daniel Naroditsky, 29 – US chess grandmaster

David Johansen, 75 – Lead singer of band The New York Dolls

David 'Syd' Lawrence, 61 – The first British-born Black cricketer to represent England

Diane Ladd, 89 – US actor

Dickie Bird, 92 – British cricket umpire

Eddie Palmieri, 88 – Latin jazz pianist and composer

Edgar Lungu, 68 – Former president of Zambia

Edwin Feulner, 83 – Founder and longtime president of US conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation

Emilie Dequenne, 43 – Belgian actor

Etienne-Emile Baulieu, 96 – French inventor of the abortion pill

Garth Hudson, 87 – Keyboardist of rock group The Band

Gary 'Mani' Mounfield, 63 – Bassist of band The Stone Roses

George Wendt, 76 – Actor who played Norm Peterson on “Cheers”

Gerald Connolly, 75 – US politician

Gerry Spence, 96 – US lawyer and author

Gopichand Hinduja, 85 – Billionaire businessman

Graham Greene, 73 – Canadian Indigenous actor

Hans-Jörg Rudloff, 85 – Influential banker known as “the king of the Euromarkets”

Hazel Nell Dukes, 92 – Former president of US civil rights group NAACP

Hermeto Pascoal, 89 – Brazilian composer known as “The Sorcerer”

Horst Köhler, 81 – Former president of Germany

Horst Mahler, 89 – German lawyer and political activist

James Dobson, 89 – US evangelical activist

Jim Bolger, 90 – Former prime minister of New Zealand

Jim Irsay, 65 – Owner of football team Indianapolis Colts

Joan Bennett Kennedy, 89 – Model, concert pianist and sister-in-law of John F. Kennedy

Jochen Mass, 78 – German F1 racer and Le Mans winner

Jorge Costa, 53 – Former captain of Porto soccer team

Juan Ponce Enrile, 101 – Philippine former defence secretary and presidential legal counsel

Julian McMahon, 56 – Australian actor in "Charmed" and "Nip/Tuck"

June Lockhart, 100 – US actor who played Ruth Martin on “Lassie”

Katharine Worsley, 92 – Britain's Duchess of Kent known for her Wimbledon link

Kim Yong Nam, 97 – North Korea’s former ceremonial head of state

Lalo Schifrin, 93 – Argentine composer of “Mission: Impossible” theme

Lee Shau Kee, 97 – Hong Kong property magnate

Leonard Lauder, 92 – Art collector and billionaire heir to Estée Lauder

Loni Anderson, 79 – US actor in sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati"

Loretta Swit, 87 – US actor who played “Hot Lips” Houlihan on “M*A*S*H”

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, 54 – US actor who played Theo Huxtable on “The Cosby Show”

Manuel 'Manolo el del Bombo' Caceres, 76 – Drum-pounding Spanish soccer superfan

Marian Turski, 98 – Holocaust survivor and journalist

Martin Parr, 73 – British photographer

Mauricio Funes, 65 – Former president of El Salvador

Michael Madsen, 67 – US actor in “Reservoir Dogs” and “Kill Bill: Volume 2”

Michelle Trachtenberg, 39 – US actor who played Buffy’s sister on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”

Miguel Uribe, 39 – Colombian senator and presidential hopeful

Paige Greco, 28 – Australian Paralympics gold medallist

Peter Yarrow, 86 – US singer in folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary

Pinto da Costa, 87 – Longtime president of Porto soccer club

Prunella Scales, 93 – British actor who played Sybil Fawlty on “Fawlty Towers”

Richard Chamberlain, 90 – US actor and singer

Rick Buckler, 69 – Drummer of band The Jam

Rick Davies, 81 – Frontman of band Supertramp

Ricky Hatton, 46 – British boxer

Russell Nelson, 101 – President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Sam Rivers, 48 – Bassist of band Limp Bizkit

Sirikit, 93 – Thailand's Queen Mother and wife of the country’s longest-reigning monarch

Sophie Kinsella, 55 – British author of bestselling "Shopaholic" novels

Steve Cropper, 84 – US guitarist

Sylvester Turner, 70 – US politician and lawyer

Theodor Pištěk, 93 – Czech costume designer on film "Amadeus"

Tom Lehrer, 97 – US musical satirist

Tom Robbins, 92 – US novelist

Udo Kier, 81 – German actor

Wink Martindale, 91 – US game show host

Xu Qiliang, 75 – Top Chinese general

Yuri Grigorovich, 98 – Russian ballet choreographer

Ziad Rahbani, 69 – Lebanese composer and musician

Zurab Tsereteli, 91 – Georgian sculptor