A lot of celebrities passed away in 2010, none more shocking than Diff'rent Strokes star Gary Coleman who died May 26th after suffering a brain hemorrhage from a fall. He was only 42. Mystery initially surrounded his death, with some members of the press speculating that his estranged wife Shannon had something to do with it. His passing then led to a fight between Shannon and Gary's family over his burial. He was eventually cremated in June, but a dispute regarding his estate is still ongoing. Other famous names who passed away this year include:

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee John Edwards, died December 7th after a prolonged battle with cancer.

 

Corey Haim, star of such 80s classics as The Lost Boys and Lucas, died March 10th from an accidental overdose at the age of 39.

 

Easy Rider star Dennis Hopper, died May 29th after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 74.

 

Designing Women star Dixie Carter died April 10th of complications from endometrial cancer. She was 69.

 

Golden Girl Rue McClanahan died of a stroke on June 3rd. She was 76.

 

Tom Bosley, best known for playing Mr. C, the Cunningham family patriarch on the hit comedy Happy Days, died October 19th at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, CA. He was 83. A rep for the actor told TMZ that he "died of natural causes or specifically, from a brief battle with lung cancer."

 

Leslie Nielsen, best known for starring in Airplane! and the Naked Gun movies, passed away November 28th in Fort Lauderdale, FL. He was 84. The Canadian-born actor died from complications from pneumonia.

 

John Forsythe, star of the 80s series Dynasty and voice of Charlie's Angels boss Charlie, died April 1st from pneumonia. He was 92.

Captain Phil Harris, star of Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch, died February 9th of complications from a stroke he suffered in January. He was 53.

Blake Edwards, best known for directing such classics as Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Pink Panther films and Ten, passed away December 15th,  in Southern California at age 88.


Some Like it Hot
star Tony Curtis passed away September 29th from cardiac arrest. He was 85.

Actress Jill Clayburgh, who was nominated for an Oscar for the 1978 classic An Unmarried Woman, died November 12th after a 21-year battle with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She was 66.

Fashion designer Alexander McQueen committed suicide in February at the age of 40.

 

Peter Graves, star of the 60s TV series Mission: Impossible, and later the movie Airplane!, was found dead in his apartment March 14th at the age of 74. It was later determined that he had suffered a heart attack.

 

Little House on the Prairie's Merlin Olsen died March 11th from cancer at the age of 69.

Johnson & Johnson heiress Casey Johnson was found dead in her Los Angeles home on January 4th. It was later determined that Johnson, a diabetic, died of complications from the disease. She reportedly neglected to take her medication, and died due to lack of treatment. She was 30.

 

Andrew Koenig, who played Boner on the 80s TV series Growing Pains, (son of Star Trek star Walter Koenig) took his own life in a Vancouver park in February. He had been missing for almost two weeks before his friends discovered his body in Stanley Park. He was 41.

 

Simon Monjack, the husband of actress Brittany Murphy, was found dead on May 23rd in the master bedroom of the home where Brittany died the previous December.   Monjack died from acute pneumonia and severe anemia—nearly the exact same cause of death as Murphy. He was 39.

Singer Lena Horne died May 9th from heart failure. She was 92.

Actress Lynn Redgrave died May 2nd after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 67.

Comedian Greg Giraldo died September 29th, four days after he was hospitalized for a drug overdose. He was 44.

 

Titanic star Gloria Stewart died in her sleep on September 26th from respiratory failure. She was 100.

 

Stephen J. Cannell, producer and writer of such TV hits as The A Team and The Rockford Files, died of melanoma complications on September 30th. He was 69.

1950s singer Eddie Fisher, father of actresses Carrie Fisher and Joely Fisher, died September 22nd from complications from hip surgery. He was 81.

 

Barbara Billingsley, the actress famous for playing quintessential 50’s mom June Cleaver on Leave it to Beaver, passed away October 16th at the age of 94. She died in her home in Santa Monica, California after a long illness.

 

Monday Night Football announcer Don Meredith died from a brain hemorrhage on December 5th. He was 72.

 

Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger died January 27th from natural causes. He as 91.

 

Arthur Penn, director of the classic Bonnie and Clyde, died of congestive heart failure on September 28th at the age of 78.

Actor James MacArthur, who played Detective Danny "Danno" Williams on the original Hawaii Five-O, died October 28th at the age of 72. According to his agent, he died in Florida of "natural causes."

Actress/filmmaker Lisa Blount, who received a Golden Globe nomination for playing Debra Winger's best friend in An Officer and a Gentleman, was found dead in her Little Rock, Arkansas home on October 25th. She was 53.  Radar reported that she suffered for many years from a disease similar to multiple sclerosis.

TV and radio personality Art Linkletter died May 26th after suffering a stroke. He was 98.

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner died of a heart attack on July 13th in Florida. He was 80.

 

Patricia Neal, who won an Oscar in 1964 for the movie Hudd, died of lung cancer on August 8th. She was 84.

Comedian Robert Schimmel died September 23rd at the age of 60. Schimmel, who beat cancer twice, died from injuries he suffered in a car crash in August.

 

Tyler Lambert, son of the late Diff'rent Strokes star Dana Plato, committed suicide on May 6th.

 

Kathryn Grayson, star of movie musicals Show Boat and Kiss Me Kate, died February 17th in L.A. She was 88.

 

Survivor contestant Jennifer Lyon succumbed  to breast cancer on January 19th. She was 37.

 

James Mitchell, who played All My Children patriarch Palmer Cortland from 1979-2008, died January 22nd from lung disease. He was 89.

 

Trapper John, MD star Pernell Roberts died of cancer in Malibu on January 24th. He was 81.

 

Irvin Kershner, director of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, died in Los Angeles on November 27th

 

Zelda Rubenstein, the actress who played the psychic in Poltergeist, died January 27th from complications from a heart attack. She was 76.

 

Howard Zinn, author of the best-seller A People's History of the United States, died January 27th after suffering a heart attack while swimming in Santa Monica, CA.

Actress Jean Simmons, Emmy award winner for The Thorn Birds, died January 22nd from lung cancer. She was 81.

 

I, Spy’s Robert Culp died March 24th after suffering a heart attack while hiking. He was 79.

 

David Mills, a scriptwriter and co-producer of the HBO series Treme, died on March 30th from an aneurysm at the age of 48.

 

Dio frontman Ronnie James Dio died May 16th from stomach cancer. He was 76.

Country singer and sausage maker Jimmy Dean died June 13th of natural causes. He was 82.

Former NBA player Manute Bol died of kidney trouble and a skin condition on June 19th at the age of 47.

 

Rhoda star Harold Gould died September 11th from prostate cancer at the age of 87.

Soul singer Solomon Burke died October 10th while on a plane from Los Angeles to the Netherlands. He was 70.

[via Dial Global]

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