Overview
- Late-December reports include the same-day deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife and the passing of Brigitte Bardot, capping a year of notable losses.
- Accounts of the Reiners’ deaths diverge by outlet, with one reporting a domestic accident and another describing an assassination.
- The film world said goodbye to Gene Hackman, David Lynch, Robert Redford and Diane Keaton, among other defining figures of late‑20th‑century cinema.
- Music obituaries featured Ozzy Osbourne and Beach Boys cofounder Brian Wilson, along with tributes to artists across rock and Latin genres.
- Public figures such as Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa and Pope Francis died this year, while officials confirmed Michelle Trachtenberg’s death as an accidental overdose and Hulk Hogan died July 24 of a heart attack at his home in Clearwater, Florida.