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Remembering the Stars We Lost in 2021: Betty White, Larry King, Cicely Tyson, and More
It was another heartbreaking year
Absolutely no one would describe 2020 as a picnic year, but 2021 did little to improve the situation. The COVID-19 pandemic still dictated how we spent our lives, even with the arrival of vaccines in the first three months. On top of mask mandates and social distancing, we lost some amazing talent in 2021.
Baseball legend Hank Aaron died in January 2021, followed shortly by talk-show icon Larry King, groundbreaking comedienne Cloris Leachman, and barrier-breaking actress Cicely Tyson in the early months of the year. The deaths of Christopher Plummer and Arrested Development star Jessica Walter in the spring were also extremely heartbreaking.
There were also some unexpected tragedies. Rapper DMX and actor Michael K. Williams both died of accidental overdoses, and the "Clown Prince of Hip-Hop" Biz Markie died from complications related to his Type-2 diabetes at the age of 57. The literary world also said goodbye to children's author Beverly Cleary and New Journalism poster-woman Joan Didion in the year 2021. In yet another heartbreaking twist, news broke on New Year's Eve that comedy legend Betty White had died at age 99, just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday.
In the gallery below, we remember all of the stars we lost in 2021 and the contributions they made to the pop culture landscape.
PHOTOS: The Stars We Lost in 2021
