Jack Kemp was 73. He championed supply-side economics in nine terms as a congressman after a career as the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills.

Bea Arthur was 86. She played Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls, the title character in Maude and she ran the cantina on Tatooine in the Star Wars Holiday Special. In grade 7 I attended a gifted program and my teacher there regarded Bea Arthur as her best friend.  She

Harry Kalas was 73. He was the longtime Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster famous for his patented "It's outta here" home run call. Here he is calling the final out of last year's World Series.

Marilyn Chambers was 56. She was the adult film star who starred in the 1972 film "Behind the Green Door."

Dave Arneson was 61. He was one of the co-creators of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy game and a pioneer of role-playing entertainment. I once wrote about Dungeons & Dragons, the game of choice for those in the primary school gifted program.

Dan Seals was 61. He was England Dan in the pop duo England Dan and John Ford Coley and later had a successful country career. Here's the Dan Seals song I'm most familiar with, "Bop."

George Kell was 86. He was a Hall of Fame third baseman who outdueled Ted Williams for the 1949 American League batting title and became a Detroit Tigers broadcaster for nearly 40 years.

Betsy Blair was 85. She was the Oscar-nominated actress and teenage bride of Gene Kelly whose enthusiasm for leftist causes landed her on Hollywood's blacklist.

Natasha Richardson was 45. She was the actress who won a Tony for her performance as Sally Bowles in the 1998 revival of "Cabaret" and earned raves for her Blanche DuBois in a 2005 production of "A Streetcar Named Desire."

Ron Silver was 62. He was the award-winning actor and activist who was Emmy-nominated for his role on the hit U.S. television drama "The West Wing."

Andrew Martin was 33. He was the professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Entertainment) under the ring name Test.

Alan W. Livingston was 91. He was the music executive who created Bozo the Clown and signed the Beatles during his tenure as president of Capitol Records.

Colleen Howe was 73. She was the wife of hockey great Gordie Howe and one of the first female sports agents. Known as "Mrs. Hockey," Colleen Howe promoted the sport in her own right and stood outside her husband's shadow through her charitable work and success as a businesswoman and

Paul Harvey was 90. He was a broadcaster who captivated millions of radio listeners daily with his staccato delivery, firmly set opinions and old-fashioned outlook.

James Whitmore was 87. He was the many-faceted character actor who delivered strong performances in movies, television and especially the theater with his popular one-man shows about Harry Truman, Will Rogers and Theodore Roosevelt. I knew him best as inmate Brooks Hatlen in The Shawshank Redemption.

Lux Interior was 62. He was lead singer of influential garage-punk act the Cramps.

Russ Germain was 62. He was the former host of flagship CBC radio news programs World Report and The World at Six.

John Updike was 76. He was the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, prolific man of letters and erudite chronicler of sex, divorce and other adventures in the postwar prime of the American empire.

Ricardo Montalban was 88. He was the Mexican-born actor who became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later as the wish-fulfilling Mr. Roarke in TV's "Fantasy Island." I remember him well as Vincent Ludwig in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!.

Patrick McGoohan was 80. He was an Emmy Award-winning actor who starred as a British spy in the 1960s TV series "Secret Agent" and "The Prisoner" and was known for playing various villainous roles in films and on television.

Donald Westlake was 75. He was the prolific mystery writer who wrote more than 100 books, using his own name and several pseudonyms, including Richard Stark, Tucker Coe, Samuel Holt and Edwin West.

Eartha Kitt was 81. She was the sultry singer, dancer and actress who rose from South Carolina cotton fields to become an international symbol of elegance and sensuality. It's fitting she passed on a day many of us were playing her best known tune, "Santa Baby."

Robert Mulligan was 83. He was known best for directing the1962 movie "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Dock Ellis was 63. He infamously claimed he pitched a no-hitter for Pittsburgh under the influence of LSD and later fiercely spoke out against drug and alcohol addiction.