Deaths So Far (and it's just July)

[IceWizard]

NOVEMBER 2025




Former Vice President Dick Cheney
at the Sunshine Summit opening dinner
Nov. 12, 2015

Dick Cheney, the former vice president and polarizing political figure whose life
inspired the 2018 Oscar-winning film Vice, died Nov. 3. He was 84. After beginning
his major political career as Gerald Ford's deputy chief of staff in 1974, Cheney held
several positions as a rising star in the Republican party, from Wyoming congressman
to becoming George H.W. Bush's secretary of defense who helped lead American
forces during the Persian Gulf War. He later returned to the Bush political dynasty
under the elder Bush's son, George W. Bush,
serving as VP under the president from 2001 until 2009.






Kimberly Hébert Gregory
on 'Vice Principals'

Sally Kirkland, the legendary star of films like Anna, JFK, and Bruce Almighty,
  died on Nov. 11. She was 84. Kirkland started off as a model before acting in
numerous off-Broadway productions, opposite actors like James Earl Jones
and Sam Waterston. Kirkland also frequented artist Andy Warhol's studio,
The Factory, in the '60s and even appeared in one of his famed screen tests.
In the next decade, Kirkland put in some of the best work of her career, culminating
in a Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination for the 1987 film Anna. The actress
went on to rack up appearances on dozens of the most beloved TV shows,
including Kojak, Three’s Company, Roseanne, Felicity, and Days of Our Lives.
Kirkland suffered from several health woes, and her friends launched a fundraiser
last year to cover expenses. "For those who know Sally personally, she has been
a limitless source of generosity, kindness, and unwavering spirit,” Kirkland’s friends
wrote at the time.






Jimmy Kimmel and Cleto Escobedo III.


Cleto Escobedo III, longtime friend and bandleader for Jimmy Kimmel Live, died
Nov. 11 at 59. Escobedo first formed the band Cleto and the Cletones in 1995,
playing the alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones as well as occasionally lending
his vocals to sets. Other members of the group include his father, Cleto Escobedo Sr.,
as well as keyboardist Jeff Babko, guitarist Toshi Yanagi, bassist Jimmy Earl, and
drummer Jonathan Dresel. In addition to his gig on Jimmy Kimmel Live,
Cleto and the Cletones also toured with Paula Abdul, Marc Anthony, and Earth,
Wind & Fire’s Philip Bailey.





Daniel McGrath.

Dan McGrath, a comedy writer for series like Saturday Night Live and King of the Hill
who won an Emmy for his work on The Simpsons, died on Nov. 14 at the age of 61.
Born in Brooklyn in 1964, McGrath graduated from the prestigious Regis High School
in Manhattan to attend Harvard University, where he became vice president of the
famed humor publication The Harvard Lampoon. Joining the likes of Conan O'Brien,
John Belushi, and future collaborator Greg Daniels, McGrath leapt straight from the
Lampoon to Saturday Night Live, where he provided sketches on season 16 and joined
the writer's team on season 17. He then segued into animation, where he remained
the rest of his career. McGrath won an Emmy for his work on the fourth season of
The Simpsons, remaining on through season 6 and eventually writing for series like
Muppets Tonight, King of the Hill, and Sammy. He is survived by his mother, Eleanor;
his sister, Gail; and his brothers, Michael and Peter.







Alice and Ellen Kessler
pictured in 1959

Twin sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler, famous for their performances with Frank Sinatra,
Sammy Davis Jr., Fred Astaire, and others, died Nov. 17 in their home near Munich,
according to German newspaper Bild. They were 89. The Kesslers began performing
as children, and came to fame in the 1950s and '60s. The singers and dancers, who
toured the United States and Europe, appeared on popular Italian TV shows, such as
Giardino d’inverno and Studio Uno. In the United States, they also made appearances
on The Red Skelton Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and The Dean Martin Show.
The accomplished duo opted to die by medical aid, which is legal in Germany.








Gary Mounfield of The Stone Roses

Gary 'Mani' Mounfield, a founding member and bassist for Stone Roses, who later joined
Primal Scream, has died. He was 63. Born on Nov. 16, 1962, in Crumpsall, Manchester, England,
Mounfield left school at 16 to help form the psychedelic indie-rock band the Stone Roses.
Alongside bandmates Ian Brown, John Squire, and Alan "Reni" Wren, Mounfield was at the
forefront of the "Madchester" music scene of the late 1980s and early '90s. Their self-titled
debut album, which hit shelves in 1989, was a breakthrough success, featuring such classic
hits as "I Wanna Be Adored," "She Bangs the Drums," and "I Am the Resurrection." Their
follow-up, Second Coming, came five years later and rocketed to the top 5 in the U.K.
despite mixed reviews. The band split in 1996 and Mani joined Scottish rock band
Primal Scream. He stayed with the group through 2012, when the Stone Roses reformed,
toured, and released two new singles. Mounfield's death comes after his wife,
Imelda Mounfield, died in November 2023, three years after she was diagnosed with
bowel cancer. The couple have twin boys, who were born in 2013.






John Eimen

John Eimen, the former child actor who appeared on TV shows like Leave It to Beaver,
Petticoat Junction, and The Twilight Zone, died Nov. 21, at 76. Born in Chicago on
Oct. 2, 1949, Eimen was discovered by a talent agent — the best friend of his first-grade
teacher — after the family moved to the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles. He
appeared as a classmate of Jerry Mathers' Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver on the pilot episode
of Leave It to Beaver and went on to appear in several of the most popular sitcoms,
Westerns, and other series of his generation, including The Untouchables, Bachelor Father,
Wagon Train, Going My Way, and The Lloyd Bridges Show. Beyond Hollywood, Eimen wrote
and recorded music, taught English in Japan,
and worked as a flight attendant for more than two decades.






Jellybean Johnson
at the 2017 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles
on Feb. 11, 2017.

Jellybean Johnson, the drummer for the Prince-shepherded Minneapolis funk group
the Time, died Nov. 21. He was 69. Born in 1956 in Chicago, Johnson moved to
Minneapolis as a child, and began playing drums and guitar as a teenager. He drummed
for the band Flyte Tyme, from which Prince recruited members for his new funk-pop
group the Time. The band released three albums in the 1980s on which Prince played
almost every instrument, and the group opened for Prince on multiple tours in the
early '80s and appeared in his 1984 film, Purple Rain. Several members of the group
later reformed into the Family, and the original Time lineup reunited for the 1990 album
Pandemonium. After disbanding once more, they reunited as the Original 7ven to
release 2011's Condensate. Johnson produced Janet Jackson's 1990 hit single
"Black Cat" as well as other hits, like New Edition's "Crucial" and Mint Condition's
"Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)." Johnson released his first solo album,
Get Experienced, in 2021.






Jimmy Cliff in 2010

Charismatic reggae pioneer Jimmy Cliff has died at 81, his wife announced on Nov. 24.
A Jamaican native born in St. James Parish in 1948, Cliff was at the forefront of reggae
music, paving the way for the expanding genre alongside the likes of Bob Marley
and Toots Hibbert. He found success with his debut single "Hurricane Hattie,"
followed by hits like "Vietnam," "Many Rivers to Cross," and an iconic cover of
Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now." Cliff additionally earned acclaim as the
lead star of 1972's The Harder They Come, a pivotal Jamaican thriller with a celebrated
soundtrack. The singer went on to earn seven Grammy nominations and two wins:
Best Reggae Recording in 1986 for Cliff Hanger and Best Reggae Album in 2013 for Rebirth.
He was later honored for his contributions to Jamaican music and culture in October 2003,
when he was awarded the nation's prestigious Order of Merit.




DECEMBER 2025




Criscilla Anderson
in Los Angeles in 2017

Criscilla Anderson, a dancer, choreographer, reality star, and the ex of the country musician
Coffey Andereson, died on Dec. 2 after a battle with colon cancer. She was 45. Anderson
was a choreographer for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, appearing in the 2024 Netflix
docuseries America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. A prodigious hip-hop dancer,
Anderson danced backup for acts like Britney Spears, Rihanna, and Snoop Dogg. She married
Coffey in 2009 and the couple had three children - Ethan, Emmarie, and Everleigh, as well
as raised Savannah, Criscilla's daughter from a previous marriage. The family starred on the
2020 Netflix series Country Ever After, which chronicled Criscilla's journey treating a
2018 colon cancer diagnosis. Upon her death, friend and photographer Lindsey Villatoro
shared a pre-written statement from Criscilla, which read in part, ......
"Please don't stay in the darkness of this moment.
I fought hard and I loved deeply.
I am not gone...
I'm Home."