George Michael was 70. He was a veteran Washington sportscaster who gained national recognition with his syndicated "The George Michael Sports Machine" highlights show.

I used to watch The George Michael Sports Machine in the late 80s and early 90s. Here's a clip:

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Alaina Reed-Amini was 63. She was the actress best known for her long-running roles on "Sesame Street" and "227."

I knew her best as Gordon's sister Olivia on the show that helped raise me.

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Brittany Murphy was 32. She was the actress known for her roles in such films as "Clueless," "8 Mile" and "Girl Interrupted".

My kids knew her best as the voice of Gloria in Happy Feet.

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Chris Henry was 26. He was a wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals.

His best season with the Bengals was in 2006, when the wide receiver tallied 36 catches for 605 yards and nine touchdowns in 13 games.

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Oral Roberts was 91. He was a pioneer in televangelism who founded a multimillion-dollar ministry and a university that bears his name.

Here's a cut from 1989 that I dug. It's MC 900 Ft. Jesus with "Truth is Out of Style".

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Haydain Neale was 39. He was the Juno Award-winning lead singer of Jacksoul.

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Soupy Sales was 83. He was a pioneer of slapstick television comedy who once estimated he had taken 20,000 pies in the face.

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Captain Lou Albano was 76. He was a professional wrestler, actor and all-around legend.

If you don't know Captain Lou Albano as a manager in the WWF, and I personally loved his persona, you probably know him from his many cameos in Cyndi Lauper videos. Here he is in her "Goonies R Good Enough" video.

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Al Martino was 82. He played the Frank Sinatra-type role of Johnny Fontane in "The Godfather" and recorded hits including "Spanish Eyes" and the Italian ballad "Volare" in a 50-year musical career.

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Stephen Gately was 33. He was a singer with the Irish boy band Boyzone.

I must admit, I can't name a single Boyzone song. I'm told they're a great deal more popular across the ocean than they are here in Canada. If you'd like a taste of what we're missing, here's their single "So Good".

Clearly they're the Irish Backstreet Boys.

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