2018 in review: The final goodbye

A brief selection of notable names who passed away this year

Last updated: December 31, 2018 | 12:10

3 MIN READ

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George HW Bush (94): November 30. His US presidency soared with the coalition victory over Iraq in Kuwait, but plummeted in the throes of a weak economy.

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Madiha Yousri (97): May 30. The Egyptian actress was known for her iconic, classical romance roles in the heyday of Egypt’s cinema.

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Bernardo Bertolucci (77): November 26. This Italian filmmaker won Oscars with The Last Emperor and his Last Tango in Paris enthralled the world.

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Kate Spade (55): June 5. The fashion designer known all over the world for her sleek handbags, apparently committed suicide.

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Paul Allen (65): October 15. He co-founded Microsoft with his childhood friend Bill Gates before becoming a billionaire philanthropist.

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Anthony Bourdain (61): June 8. The celebrity chef and citizen of the world inspired millions to share his delight in food and the bonds it created.

7/30

Charles Aznavour (94): October 1. The prolific French crooner, actor and diplomat was often compared to the legendary Frank Sinatra.

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Emily Nasrallah (87): March 13. The Lebanese feminist author focused on issues such as bigotry against women and horrors of civil war.

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Atal Bihari Vajpayee (93): August 16. The former prime minister is credited for giving Hindu nationalism a soft face with his pan-India acceptability.

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Ingvar Kamprad (91): January 27 As founder of Sweden’s IKEA, he turned a small-scale mail order business into a furniture empire.

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Gamil Ratib (92): September 19. An award-winning Franco-Egyptian actor, his roles as villain or aristocrat made him a household name in the Arab world.

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Anita Shreve (71): March 29. The best-selling novelist explored how women responded to crises past and present in her native New England.

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V.S. Naipaul (85): August 11. The Nobel laureate documented the migrations of people and the unravelling of the British Empire.

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Morgan Tsvangirai (65): February 14. Zimbabwe’s veteran opposition leader who for years was the most potent challenger to longtime ruler Robert Mugabe.

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Burt Reynolds (82): September 6. This American actor, a mustachioed megastar, first strutted on screen more than half a century ago.

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Winnie Mandela (81): April 2. She was Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife and an anti-apartheid activist whose reputation was sullied by scandal.

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M. Karunanidhi (94): August 7. The actor and five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu state was one of the dominant figures in southern India.

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Rev. Billy Graham (99): February 21. He changed American religious life through his preachings, becoming the most widely heard Christian evangelist.

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John McCain (81): August 25. A former prisoner of war in Vietnam, he ran for US president in 2008 as a self-styled maverick Republican.

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Barbara Bush (92): April 17. Her lack of pretence made her more popular at times than her husband, former US president George HW Bush.

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Sergio Marchionne (66): July 25. A charismatic and demanding CEO who engineered two turnarounds to save carmakers Fiat and Chrysler.

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Hubert de Givenchy (91): March 12. The French fashion designer founded the house of Givenchy in the 1950s, that later went on to acquire global fame.

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Kofi Annan (80): August 18. The Ghanaian diplomat had served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations.

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Avicii (28): April 20. The Grammy-nominated electronic dance DJ had massive success on US pop radio.

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Julian Walker (89): July 7. This British emissary single-handedly mapped the UAE’s borders during the days of the Trucial States.

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Stan Lee (95): November 12. The creative dynamo revolutionised comic books and helped make billions for Hollywood by introducing human frailties in superheroes such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the Incredible Hulk.

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Asma Jahangir (66): February 11. One of Pakistan’s most prominent rights activists and lawyers died of a heart attack.

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Sridevi (54): February 24. Bollywood’s leading lady of the 1980s and 1990s, who redefined stardom for actresses in India, died of accidental drowning in a bathtub at a Dubai hotel.

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Stephen Hawking (76): March 14. A theoretical physicist and best-selling author whose brilliant mind ranged across time and space though his body was paralysed by disease.

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Aretha Franklin (76): August 16. The undisputed “Queen of Soul” who sang with matchless style and stood as a cultural icon around the globe, died of pancreatic cancer.

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