Being reminded that Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Rep. John Lewis, Kobe Bryant, Chadwick Boseman, Eddie Van Halen, Sean Connery, and Alex Trebek died in 2020 will likely come as no great shock. But the AP's roll call of some of the people who shuffled off this mortal coil in 2020 includes figures who aren't necessarily household names or names you may have thought of recently but still have a unique place in history. Here are 42 such figures, with date of death cited:
- Elizabeth Wurtzel, 52. Her blunt and painful confessions of her struggles with addiction and depression in the bestselling Prozac Nation made her a voice and a target for an anxious generation. Jan. 7.
- Sultan Qaboos bin Said, 79. He was the Mideast’s longest-ruling monarch who seized power in Oman in a 1970 palace coup and pulled his Arabian sultanate into modernity while carefully balancing diplomatic ties between adversaries Iran and the US. Jan. 11.
- Thomas Railsback, 87. An Illinois Republican congressman who helped draw up articles of impeachment against President Nixon in 1974. Jan. 20.
- Bernard Ebbers, 78. The former chief of WorldCom who was convicted in one of the largest corporate accounting scandals in U.S. history. Feb. 2.
- Charles “Chuckie” O’Brien, 86. A longtime associate of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa who became a leading suspect in the labor leader’s disappearance and later was portrayed in the Martin Scorsese film, The Irishman. Feb. 13.
- Sy Sperling, 78. The Hair Club for Men founder who was famous for the TV commercials where he proclaimed "I’m not only the Hair Club president but I’m also a client." Feb. 19.
- Thich Quang Do, 91. A Buddhist monk who became the public face of religious dissent in Vietnam while the Communist government kept him in prison or under house arrest for more than 20 years. Feb. 22.
- Max von Sydow, 90. The actor known to art house audiences through his work with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman and later to moviegoers everywhere when he played the priest in the horror classic The Exorcist. March 8.
- Rev. Darius L. Swann, 95. His challenge to the notion of segregated public schools helped spark the use of busing to integrate schools across the country. March 8.
- Tom Dempsey, 73. The NFL kicker born without toes on his kicking foot who made a then-record 63-yard field goal. April 4.
- Earl Graves Sr., 85. He championed Black businesses as the founder of the first African American-owned magazine focusing on Black entrepreneurs. April 6.
- Herbert Stempel, 93. A fall guy and whistleblower of early television whose confession to deliberately losing on a 1950s quiz show helped drive a national scandal and join his name in history to winning contestant Charles Van Doren. April 7.
- Linda Tripp, 70. Her secretly taped conversations with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky provided evidence of an affair with President Bill Clinton that led to his impeachment. April 8.
- Phyllis Lyon, 95. A gay rights pioneer who, with her longtime partner, was among the first same-sex couples to marry in California when it became legal to do so in 2008. April 9.
- Astrid Kirchherr, 81. She was the German photographer who shot some of the earliest and most striking images of the Beatles and helped shape their trend-setting visual style. May 12.