Arturo "Thunder" Gatti was 37. He was a former junior welterweight boxing champion from Montreal.

Steve "Air" McNair was 36. He quarterbacked the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens to success in the National Football League, winning the NFL MVP award in 2003 and starting Super Bowl XXXIV. I really liked Air McNair's game.  He, of course, was the Titans QB during the Music City Miracle

Karl Malden was 97. He starred in the 1970s TV series "The Streets of San Francisco", won an Oscar playing his Broadway-originated role as Mitch in "A Streetcar Named Desire," and made famous the American Express catchphrase "Don't leave home without it."

Billy Mays was 50. He was the burly, bearded television pitchman known for his boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean. When I read that Billy Mays had passed away, I asked myself a simple question.  Who's Billy Mays?  I hit up YouTube and didn't recognize his

I loved the Thriller album.  We had that on vinyl and cassette, and I eventually had to get a second cassette because it got played so often.  Thriller was one of my first favourite albums.  To this day I'll put on "Billie Jean" or "Human Nature", the two tracks from

Farrah Fawcett was 62. Her luxurious tresses and blinding smile helped redefine sex appeal in the 1970s as one of TV’s "Charlie’s Angels." Let's face it, in 50 years we'll have forgotten she was one of Charlie's Angels and she'll only be remembered for her iconic “red swimsuit”

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.