Long John Baldry was 64.  He was the Vancouver-based blues legend credited as one of the main forces in British blues, rock and pop music in the 1960s and first hit the top of the U.K. singles charts in 1967 with "Let the Heartaches Begin."

James Doohan was 85.  He was the Canadian-born burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" TV series and movies who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty."

Geraldine Fitzgerald was 91.  She appeared in such classic 1930s films as Dark Victory and Wuthering Heights and later had a career on the New York stage.

Chuck Cadman was 57.  He was a member of Parliament from 1997 to 2005, representing the riding of Surrey North in Surrey, British Columbia. I went away for a few days and somehow missed the news of his passing.  Chuck Cadman played a key role in the recent Thrilla on

Ernest Lehman was 89.  He wrote the scripts for the legendary musical "West Side Story" and the Alfred Hitchcock classic "North by Northwest".

Renaldo "Obie" Benson was 69.  He was one of four members of the Motown singing group Four Tops.

Hank Stram was 82.  He took the Kansas City Chiefs to two Super Bowls and was known for his inventive game plans and exuberance on the sideline.

Gus Bodnar was 82.  He was the NHL rookie of the year in 1943-44, totalling 142 goals and 396 points in 667 games in a career that included two Stanley Cups with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Luther Vandross was 54.  He was the Grammy award winning crooner best known for his hits "Here and Now" and "Any Love".

Paul Winchell was 82.  He was a ventriloquist, inventor and children's TV show host best known for creating the lispy voice of Winnie the Pooh's animated friend Tigger.

Karl Mueller was 41.  He was the bassist and cofounder of the rock band Soul Asylum.

Ben Kerr was 75.  He was the ageless crooner who spiced up the corner of Yonge and Bloor Sts. with his smooth country singing. I lived at Yonge and Bloor for a couple of years and Ben was always there.  On the one hand, he seemed pleasant and charming, happily

Bill LaForge was 53.  He was a former coach of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks and several teams in the Canadian Hockey League.

Lane Smith was 69.  He was a longtime character actor who played a small-town district attorney who clashed with Joe Pesci in "My Cousin Vinny".

Scott Young was 87.  He was a prolific Canadian journalist and author as well as a father to the Godfather of Grunge.

Dana Elcar was 77.  He was the round-faced, balding actor whose real-life struggle with blindness was written into his role on the TV adventure series "MacGyver".

Ann Bancroft was 73.  She won the 1962 best actress Oscar as the teacher of a young Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker" but achieved greater fame as the seductive Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate".

George Mikan was 80.  He was the "gentle giant" who a half-century ago brought fame and stability to the fledgling world of professional basketball and literally transformed the game.

Oscar Brown Jr. was 78.  He was a legendary rhythm & blues and jazz singer known for such compositions "The Snake," "Signifyin' Monkey" and lyrics for Miles Davis' "All Blues."

John D'Amico was 67.  He was a Hall of Fame hockey linesman who officiated close to 2,000 career NHL games.

Eddie Albert was 99.  He was an actor best known as the constantly befuddled city slicker-turned-farmer in television's "Green Acres".

Domenic Troiano was 59.  His unparalleled guitar playing talent led him to replace Robbie Robertson as the lead guitarist for Ronnie Hawkins and Randy Bachman in The Guess Who in the mid '70s.

Thurl Ravenscroft was 91.  He voiced Tony the Tiger for more than 50 years, along with roles in a number of animated Disney films, including "The Jungle Book", "Mary Poppins", "Alice in Wonderland" and "Lady and the Tramp". For "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", he sang "You're a Mean One,

Frank Gorshin was 72.  He was the impressionist with 100 faces best known for his Emmy-nominated role as The Riddler on the old "Batman" television series.

Bob Hunter was 63.  He co-founded Greenpeace and was also a broadcaster, journalist, author and political hopeful.  He was most recently the ecology news specialist for CHUM's Citytv and CP24 TV channels and the man behind Paper Cuts, a segment in which he wore a bathrobe and commented on the