Dan Lee was 35.  He was the Toronto animator who designed the character of Nemo for the blockbuster Pixar film "Finding Nemo".  He also helped animate "A Bug's Life", "Toy Story 2", "Monsters, Inc." and a 2007 Pixar release.

Johnny Carson was 79. He was host of the "Tonight Show" for thirty years. While the rest of the continent remembers Johnny Carson from late night TV, I know him best for his guest appearance on episode 9F19 of The Simpsons, "Krusty Gets Kancelled".  When Krusty went looking for tips

Lamont Bentley was 31. He starred as Hakeem Campbell on the UPN sitcom "Moesha".

Virginia Mayo was 84. She was the stunning blond actress who brought beauty and romance to films of the 1940s and 1950s with such co-stars as James Cagney, Bob Hope, Gregory Peck, Danny Kaye and Ronald Reagan.

Ruth Warrick was 88. She was the darling of the daytime soap opera "All My Children" who launched her career in Orson Welles' all-time classic "Citizen Kane".

Zhao Ziyang was 85. He was the former prime minister of China and a reform-minded Communist Party leader who was toppled in a power struggle after the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests.

Earl Cameron was 89. He was host of CBC's national television news from 1959 to 1966.

Spencer Dryden was 66. He was the drummer for the Jefferson Airplane in the band's glory years, including the breakthrough 1967 album "Surrealistic Pillow" and the Woodstock festival.

Bud Poile was 80. He's a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame who helped the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup in 1947 and was the first general manager of both the Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks.

Artie Shaw was 94. He was the clarinetist and bandleader whose recording of "Begin the Beguine" epitomized the Big Band era.

Jerry Orbach was 69. He played Detective Lennie Briscoe for twelve seasons on "Law & Order" and was a star on Broadway as a song-and-dance man. He was set to star in "Law & Order: Trial By Jury" and I was looking forward to that series because Lennie Briscoe was

Susan Sontag was 71. She was the author, activist and self-defined "zealot of seriousness" whose voracious mind and provocative prose made her a leading intellectual of the past half century.

Reggie White was 43. He was the NFL's former all-time sack leader who put together a Hall of Fame career as a defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers from 1985-1998. He also played for the Carolina Panthers in 2000. It's been a rough week for deaths

Doug Ault was 54. He hit .245 with 11 homers and 64 RBIs during the Toronto Blue Jays' inaugural season but he's best known for hitting two home runs in a 9-5 win over the Chicago White Sox on opening day. As a big fan of baseball trivia and Blue

Johnny Oates was 58. He managed the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles, compiling a regular season record of 797-746.

Bobby Mattick was 89. He was one of the Toronto Blue Jays' original employees, managing the team in 1980 and 1981.  He played a key administrative role in scouting and developing the talent that carried the Blue Jays to five AL East titles and two World Series championships.

Arthur "Bo" Agee Sr. was 52. He was the father of  Arthur Agee Jr., chronicled in the acclaimed documentary "Hoop Dreams".

"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott was 38. He was one of metal's top guitarists and an original member of Grammy-nominated thrash rock pioneers Pantera.

Pierre Berton was 84. He was a great Canadian broadcaster, writer and author of 50 books, including compelling histories like 1970's "The National Dream" and 1971's "The Last Spike".

John Drew Barrymore was 72. He was part of an acting clan that included his father, the famed stage and early film actor John Barrymore, his father's siblings, Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore and his daughter, Drew Barrymore.

Tom Rivers was 57. He was an immensely popular rock 'n' roll DJ in the 1970s and 1980s who worked at rock stations throughout Canada and the U.S. for 30 years. I remember Tom Rivers well from the early 80s when he hosted the 680 CFTR morning show.  My

John Morgan was 74. He played the dim-witted Mike from Canmore and other characters on CBC's The Royal Canadian Air Farce.

Old Dirty Bastard was 35. He was a founding member of the seminal rap group the Wu-Tang Clan in the early 1990s.  The Wu-Tang blueprint was for each member to pursue solo projects, and O.D.B.'s were among the best. He released hit singles such as "Shimmy Shimmy

Yasser Arafat was 75.  He was the President of the Palestinian Authority, leader of Fatah and Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Howard Keel was 85.  He romanced his way through a series of glittery MGM musicals such as "Kiss Me Kate" and "Annie Get Your Gun" and later revived his career with television's "Dallas".