Romeo LeBlanc was 81. He was a longtime Liberal MP, cabinet minister and then senator before being named Canada's 25th Governor General.

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Billy Red Lyons was 77. He was the Canadian wrestling personality who promoted WWF live events throughout Canada from the mid-1980s through early 1990s, with the phrase “don’tcha dare miss it” becoming a signature ending to his promos.

I can't tell you how many times I heard him say "don’tcha dare miss it" during Maple Leaf Wrestling, a show I watched every Saturday afternoon as a kid.

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Ed McMahon was 86. He was the longtime pitchman and Johnny Carson sidekick whose "Heeeeeeerre's Johnny!" became a part of the vernacular.

Without Ed McMahon's "HIYOOOOOOO!", there would be no Hank Kingsley's "Hey now!". For inspiring one of my favourite television characters, I am eternally grateful.

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Allan King was 79. He was the acclaimed Canadian documentarian who took viewers on a harrowing journey into a home for troubled children in "Warrendale" and trained his unflinching lens on a crumbling marriage in "A Married Couple."

I record The View From Here, a fantastic documentary series that airs on TVOntario. A recent doc that aired during this program struck such a chord in me I haven't been able to let it go. It was called "Dying At Grace" and it was an Allan King film.

As recently as yesterday I was telling my mom about "Dying At Grace", a film I urge you to see next time it's on television. It's about five patients dying in the Palliative Care Unit of the Salvation Army Toronto Grace Health Centre. We meet them, spend time with them and then we watch them die.

We literally watch them take their last breath. It's terribly chilling, totally effective, and in many ways, absolutely reassuring. A fantastic documentary form a fantastic filmmaker who will be missed.

Here's Allan King talking about making "Dying At Grace."

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David Carradine was 72. He was best known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s TV series Kung Fu, which spawned sequels in the '80s and '90s, but I knew him best as Bill in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films.

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Koko Taylor was 80. She was the Grammy-winning blues singer known as the "Queen of the Blues" who belted out her signature hit, "Wang Dang Doodle," at hundreds of concerts.

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Peter Zezel was 44. He was a key contributor to Toronto's dramatic playoff runs in 1993 and 1994, during which time he embraced the role of checking centre, relentless penalty killer and face off specialist alongside linemates Bill Berg and Mark Osborne.

For more of my thoughts on Peter Zezel, go here.

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Chuck Daly was 78. He coached the original Dream Team to the Olympic gold medal in 1992 after winning back-to-back NBA championships with the Detroit Pistons.

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Dom DiMaggio was 92. He was the bespectacled Boston Red Sox center fielder whose career was overshadowed by his older brother Joe's Hall of Fame career with the New York Yankees. He was a seven-time All Star who still holds the record for the longest consecutive game hitting streak in Boston Red Sox history.

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Dom DeLuise was 75. He starred in such comedies as "The Cannonball Run" and "Blazing Saddles" and was the voice of Pizza the Hutt in "Spaceballs".

Here's Dom DeLuise and Burt Reynolds as the voices of Itchy and Charlie in "All Dogs Go To Heaven", a movie that makes my kids cry.

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