Obituaries: A look back at those we bid farewell to in 2014
A LOOK back at those who left us in 2014
This year we lost Richard Attenborough, Tony Benn and Philip Seymour Hoffman
JANUARY
Roger Lloyd Pack, 69 (February 8, 1944 – January 15, 2014)
Roger Lloyd Pack was known and loved by millions of sitcom fans for his role as Colin Ball, aka Trigger, the dimwitted Peckham road sweeper in Only Fools And Horses.
He may have played stupid with aplomb but he was an intelligent and engaged man, passionate about a variety of political and charitable courses.
Born in London, he trained at Rada and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company before making his television debut in an episode of The Avengers in 1965.
Lloyd Pack went on to appear in a variety of established series as well as the Peter Greenaway film The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover, while continuing to work in the theatre.
Having become a household name in Only Fools... he went on to appear in another much-loved sitcom, The Vicar Of Dibley, as farmer Owen Newitt alongside Dawn French and more recently in Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire and Doctor Who and won critical acclaim in two Shakespearean productions at the Globe.
He was married twice with a daughter and three sons, all of whom survived him after his death at 69 from pancreatic cancer.
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Roger Lloyd Pack, 69 (February 8, 1944 – January 15, 2014)
[Roger Lloyd Pack] may have played stupid with aplomb but he was an intelligent and engaged man, passionate about a variety of political and charitable courses.
Patrick Heron, 61, Irish author, January 2
Elizabeth Jane Howard, 90, English novelist, January 2
Phil Everly, 74, American singer/songwriter, younger of the Everly Brothers, January 3
Sir Michael Neubert, 80, MP for Romford from 1974 to 1997, January 3
Alicia Rhett, 98, American actress best known for playing India Wilkes in Gone With The Wind, January 3
Andy Holden, 65, runner who represented Britain at the 1972 Olympics, January 4
Terry Biddlecombe, 72, three times National Hunt champion jockey, January 5
Paul Goggins, 61, Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East from 1997, January 7
John Horsley, 93, actor best known as Doc Morrissey in The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin, January 12
Bobby Collins, 82, footballer, played for Celtic, Everton and Leeds and Scotland, January 13
Bert Williams, 93, footballer, played for Wolverhampton Wanderers and England, January 19
Pete Seeger, 94, American folk singer and songwriter whose hits included Turn! Turn! Turn! and If I Had a Hammer, January 27
Colonel Meow, aged two, American Himalayan-Persian cat who held the Guinness World Record for longest fur, January 29
Anna Gordy Gaye, 92, American songwriter and record executive, older sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy and first wife of Marvin Gaye, January 31
Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46 (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014)
FEBRUARY
Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46 (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014)
Born in Fairport, New York, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s early ambitions to be a wrestler were thwarted by a neck injury.
Sport’s loss was film and theatre’s gain and he is remembered as one of the finest actors of his generation, dying of a drugs overdose at the age of 46.
He was adept at playing such oddballs and eccentrics as infatuated boom operator Scotty in Boogie Nights or Brandt, sycophantic flunkey to the Coen brothers’ titular Big Lebowski but could also be called upon to bring gravitas to Hollywood blockbusters as in his turn as a villain in Mission Impossible 3 or his role in the recent Hunger Games films.
He was nominated three times for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar (Charlie Wilson’s War, Doubt and The Master) and won Best Actor in 2005 for Capote.
He had three children with his long-term partner Mimi O’Donnell, a costume designer.
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Eugenio Corti, 93, Italian author of The Red Horse, a novel about his countrymen’s wartime experiences, February 4
Samantha Juste, 69, “disc girl” on Top Of The Pops in 1960s and former wife of Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz, February 5
Christopher Barry, 88, British television director who worked on the original series of Doctor Who, February 7
Shirley Temple, 85, Hollywood actress, dancer and singer, February 10
Sid Caesar, 91, American comedian, February 12
John Henson, 48, American puppeteer son of Muppets creator Jim Henson, February 14
Roy Oxlade, 85, painter, February 15
Jimmy Murakami, 80, animator of Raymond Briggs adaptations When The Wind Blows and The Snowman, February 16
Bob Casale, 61, guitarist and keyboard player for new wave band Devo, February 17
Maria Von Trapp, 99, last of the Von Trapp children as portrayed in The Sound Of Music, February 18
Beatrix Miller, 90, former editor of Vogue magazine, February 21
Alice Herz-Sommer, 110, Czech-British pianist and world’s oldest Holocaust survivor, February 23
Harold Ramis, 69, American actor and director of Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day, February 24
Tony Benn, 88 (April 3, 1925 – March 14, 2014)
MARCH
Tony Benn, 88 (April 3, 1925 – March 14, 2014)
In 2001 when Tony Benn quit as an MP after nearly half a century he insisted he wanted to spend “more time on politics”.
It was a typical comment from Benn who could never be one of the herd.
Equally typical, when he left the Labour Party, he became more Left-wing.
Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn was born to the Liberal, then later Labour MP William Wedgwood Benn and Margaret, a theologian and feminist.
An MP for 47 years and a Cabinet member under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan in the 1960s and 1970s, Benn held, among other roles, Postmaster General and, from 1971 to 1972, he was chairman of the Labour Party.
He inherited a peerage when his father died.
This led him to campaign to enable people to renounce hereditary peerages and resulted in the Peerage Act 1963.
Pipe-smoking Benn was a meticulous diarist and had several volumes of his observations published and broadcast.
He and his wife Caroline, who died in 2000, had four children.
Although often engaged in bitter political battles in the Commons he was noted as one of the most courteous of politicians and men, declaring: “This idea that politics is all about charisma and spin is rubbish. It is trust that matters.”
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Alain Resnais, 91, film director, (Hiroshima, Mon Amour), March 1
Marion Stein, 87, concert pianist and wife of Jeremy Thorpe (former leader of the Liberal party), March 6
James Ellis, 82, actor (Z-Cars), March 7
Sir Thomas Hinde, 88, novelist, (Happy As Larry), March 8
Marilyn Butler, 77, literary critic and historian, March 11
Bob Crow, 52, trade unionist, General Secretary of the RMT, March 11
Clarissa Dickson Wright, 66, celebrity chef (Two Fat Ladies), March 15
L’Wren Scott, 49, fashion designer and model, March 17
Oswald Morris, 98, cinematographer (Fiddler On The Roof), March 17
Jill Sinclair, 61, record executive and the co-founder of SPZ Group, March 22
Lorna Arnold, 98, nuclear historian, March 25
Derek Martinus, 82, television director (Doctor Who, Blake’s 7, Z-Cars), March 27
Captain Raymond “Jerry” Roberts, 93, one of the last Bletchley Park code-breakers, March 25
Jeffrey Dench, 85, the actor brother of Dame Judi Dench, March 27
Kate O’Mara, 74, actress (Doctor Who, Dynasty), March 30
Frankie Knuckles, 59, DJ and record producer, March 31
Celebrities We Lost in 2014
APRIL
Sue Townsend, 68 (April 2, 1946 – April 10, 2014)
For many growing up in the 1980s The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ will have a place in their hearts for ever.
The story of the hapless Mole, who is trying to find his way through the minefield that is puberty, would go on to make Townsend a household name.
Written in 1982 it started out life as a radio play.
A publisher heard it, liked it and asked her to write a full-length novel which was later made into a successful television series.
Born in Leicester to a working-class family Townsend was the eldest of five sisters.
She failed her 11-plus, left school at 15 and by the age of 23 was married with three children.
That marriage broke down and eventually she was encouraged by her second husband, with whom she had a daughter, to join a writing group.
Despite her shyness she thrived.
She went on to write many other novels but it was for Adrian Mole that she will be best remembered.
Plagued by ill health, in later years Townsend was wheelchair-bound with arthritis and diabetes.
She died of a stroke while at home.
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Peter Matthiessen, 86, author (The Snow Leopard), April 5
Mickey Rooney, 93, actor (The Black Stallion, Night at the Museum), April 6
Mary Anderson, 96, actor (Gone With the Wind), April 6 Peaches Geldof, 25, television presenter, writer and model, April 7
José “Cheo” Feliciano, 78, singer and composer, April 17
Guy Gladwell, 67, portrait and landscape artist, April 17
Tony Marriott, 83, scriptwriter and co-creator of No Sex Please, We’re British, April 17
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 87, author (One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera), Nobel Prize in Literature (1982), April 17
Derek Cooper, 88, broadcaster (The Food Programme) and food journalist, April 19
Ian McIntyre, 82, radio broadcaster and executive (BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4), April 19
Bob Hoskins, 71, actor (The Long Good Friday; Who Framed Roger Rabbit), April 29
Maya Angelou, 86 (April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014)
MAY
Maya Angelou, 86 (April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014)
Maya Angelou became famous for her memoir I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings published in 1969, which unflichingly told the tale of the racial discrimination she faced growing up in Arkansas and California.
She was born in St Louis, Missouri, christened Marguerite Annie Johnson and it was her brother Bailey who called her Maya.
When her parents split up the two of them were sent to live with her paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas which at the time was still segregated.
A traumatic childhood including rape by her mother’s boyfriend and his subsequent murder left her unable to speak for five years.
Instead Angelou read and discovered a love of the written word, which she later learned to read out loud.
She supported herself with a series of jobs including tram conductor, cook, nightclub singer and dancer, lived with her civil rights activist partner in Egypt and Ghana and aided Martin Luther King before becoming a writer and publishing several volumes of memoirs and poetry.
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Eli Woods, 91, comedian and variety performer, May 1
Bobby Gregg, 78, American drummer who played on records by Bob Dylan and Simon And Garfunkel, May 3
Elena Baltacha, 30, former British No 1 tennis player, May 4
Sir George Christie, 79, manager of Glyndebourne opera festival, May 7
Colin Pillinger, 70, scientist and driving force behind the Beagle 2 Mars probe, May 7
David Prentice, 77, painter and founder of Birmingham’s Ikon gallery, May 7
HR Giger, 74, surrealist artist who won an Oscar for his design of the creature in the film Alien, May 12
Malik Bendjelloul, 36, director of Searching For Sugarman, May 13
Stephen Sutton, 19, teenage blogger who inspired many by fundraising for cancer charities after his own diagnosis, May 14
Gordon Willis, 82, American cinematographer who worked on The Godfather, May 18
Michael Aldrich, 72, inventor of online shopping, May 19
John McCormack, 79, Scottish boxer and 1956 Olympic bronze medallist, May 23
Malcolm Glazer, 85, American businessman and owner of Manchester United, May 28
Lady Soames, 91, Winston Churchill’s daughter, May 31
Rik Mayall, 56 (March 7, 1958 – June 9, 2014)
JUNE
Rik Mayall, 56 (March 7, 1958 – June 9, 2014)
Rik Mayall’s breakthrough as uptight student Rick in BBC comedy The Young Ones was just the first in a series of memorable grotesques he played to fabulous comic effect.
It was followed by Bottom’s anarchic loser Richie, alongside Adrian Edmonson’s Eddie, unctuous Tory MP Alan B’Stard and sexually voracious Lord Flashheart in Blackadder, all turns which won him legions of fans.
He was also an accomplished actor, appearing on stage in productions of plays by Beckett and Gogol.
Mayall’s death this year at 56 was his second having been “technically dead” for five days after a quad bike accident in 1998 but he recovered well and spoke often in interviews of how the experience made him profoundly appreciative of life.
Born in Essex he studied at Manchester University where he met long-term collaborator Edmondson.
The pair became part of the 1980s alternative comedy scene before making their names on television.
He is survived by his wife Barbara Robbin, a make-up artist, and their three children.
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Alexander Shulgin, 88, American chemist famous for introducing psychologists to MDMA, June 2
Eric Hill, 86, author and illustrator of the Spot The Dog books, June 6
Francis Matthews, 86, actor who provided the voice of children’s puppet hero Captain Scarlet, June 14
Terry Richards, 81, actor and stuntman who did scenes as Indiana Jones, James Bond and Luke Skywalker, June 14
Casey Kasem, 82, American DJ and the voice of Shaggy in Scooby Doo, June 15
Daniel Keyes, 86, American author of Flowers For Algernon, June 15
Patsy Byrne, 80, actress best known for the role of Nursie in Blackadder, June 17
Felix Dennis, 67, magazine publisher and poet, June 22
Gerry Goffin, 75, American songwriter of hits including Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? and The Locomotion, June 19
Montecore (right), 17, tiger that became infamous for mauling Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy, June 19
Bobby Womack, 70, soul singer and songwriter, June 27
Dora Bryan, 91 (February 7, 1923 – July 23, 2014)
JULY
Dora Bryan, 91 (February 7, 1923 – July 23, 2014)
With her babyish voice and coquettish charm Dora Bryan was the perfect comic actress.
Born in Lancashire her career began in pantomime.
As a child performer she could regularly be seen in the West End and during the Second World War she joined Ensa (Entertainments National Service Association) and entertained troops in Italy.
Her fi lm career saw her cast as a woman of loose morals in such films as The Green Man (1956) and Carry On Sergeant (1958).
In 1961 she won a best actress Bafta for her role in the film version of Shelagh Delaney’s book A Taste Of Honey.
As well as her film work she would regularly appear in musicals and had turns in the television show Dinner Ladies before joining the BBC Comedy series Last Of The Summer Wine as Aunt Roz Utterthwaite.
Her ability to perform was curtailed, however, in 2005, when she struggled to memorise her lines.
She was married for 54 years to the cricketer Bill Lawton.
The couple had three children including two they had adopted.
Lawton died in 2008.
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Ray Lonnen, 74, actor (Harry’s Game), July 11
Nadine Gordimer, 90, writer (The Conservationist) and anti-apartheid activist, Nobel Prize for Literature (1991), July 13
Karl Albrecht, 94, millionaire co-founder of supermarket, Aldi, July 16
Elaine Stritch, 89, actor, singer and Broadway star, July 17
Lettice Curtis, 99, British Second World War pilot, test engineer and sportswoman, July 21
Sir Robin Ibbs, 88, banker chairman Lloyds Bank (1993-1997), July 27
Sally Farmiloe, 60, actor (Howard’s Way) and socialite, July 28
Kenny Ireland, 68, actor (Benidorm), July 31
Richard Attenborough, 90 (August 29, 1923 – August 24, 2014)
AUGUST
Richard Attenborough, 90 (August 29, 1923 – August 24, 2014)
Generally accepted as one of the nicest men in showbusiness Richard Attenborough was loved as an actor, director, producer and president of the Royal Academy Of Art and Bafta.
As an actor he is best known for his roles in Brighton Rock, The Great Escape, 10 Rillington Place, Miracle On 34th Street and Jurassic Park.
His talents as a director and producer saw him win two Oscars, four Baftas and four Golden Globes for the 1982 film Ghandi.
Married to Sheila Sim, the couple had three children.
His younger brother is naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
Tragedy hit the family, however, when his daughter, Jane, and his granddaughter, Lucy, were killed in the tsunami of 2004.
In later years a fall limited his mobilty and he resided at Denville Hall, the home for retired professional actors in London, for which both he and his wife had raised funds.
He died just five days before his 91st birthday.
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Norman Cornish, 94, coal miner and artist, August 1
Mike Smith, 59, television and radio presenter (Radio 1), August 1
Marilyn Burns, 65, actress (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), August 5
Robin Williams, 63, comedian and actor (Good Will Hunting, Popeye, Mrs Doubtfire), August 11
Lauren Bacall, 89, actor (To Have And Have Not, The Big Sleep), August 12
Major-General Dare Wilson, 95, British army general (SAS), August 15
Michael A Hoey, 79, producer, director and screenwriter (Fame), August 17
James Alexander Gordon, 78, veteran radio broadcaster, presenter of the classified football results, August 18
James Foley, 40, photographer, August 19
Candida Lycett Green, 71, author, daughter of Sir John Betjeman, August 19
Tom Pevsner, 87, film producer (GoldenEye, Julia), August 19
Albert Reynolds, 81, Irish politician, Taoiseach (1992-1994), August 21
Glenn Cornick, 67, bass player and founding member of Jethro Tull, August 28
Bill Kerr, 92, actor (Hancock’s Half Hour), August 28
The Rev Ian Paisley, 88 (April 6, 1926 – September 12, 2014)
SEPTEMBER
The Rev Ian Paisley, 88 (April 6, 1926 – September 12, 2014)
The son of a Baptist minister, Ian Paisley grew up in Ballymena, County Antrim.
He felt an early calling to the church and went on to set up his Free Presbyterian Church.
Always political he condemned the then prime minister of Northern Ireland, Terence O’Neill, for trying to establish a closer relationship with Eire.
He organised marches which sparked riots and was labelled a troublemaker but inspired fierce loyalty among his followers.
He denounced violence but was accused of inciting it in others with his passionate speeches.
Paisley became MP for North Antrim in 1970 and formed the Democratic Unionist Party in 1971.
During the 1980s he opposed the Anglo-Irish Agreement but eventually softened his stance and his true legacy was the 2007 power-sharing deal with Sinn Fein, under which he served as First Minster in devolved parliament at Stormont with Martin McGuinness, the former IRA commander he had formerly condemned as a murderer, as his deputy.
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Joan Rivers, 81, acerbic American comedian, September 4
David Wynne, sculptor with many public works, September 4
David Lomax, 76, TV reporter for Panorama, September 5
Richard Kiel, 74, the actor best known for playing the steel-toothed villain Jaws in two Bond films, September 10
John Gustafson, 72, singer and bassist with various bands including The Big Three and Roxy Music, September 11
Donald Sinden, 90, actor at home in Shakespeare but best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Two’s Company, September 12
John Bardon, 75, actor known for his role as Jim Branning in EastEnders, September 12
Philip Somerville, 84, milliner who made hats for the Queen, September 14
Dame Peggy Fenner, 91, former Conservative MP, September 15
John Moat, 78, poet and founder of the Arvon Foundation residential writing courses, September 16
Rezso Gallai, 110, Hungarian supercentenarian and the oldest man in Europe, September 25
Dorothy Tyler, 94, Olympic silver medallist in the high jump at the 1936 and 1948 Olympics (as Dorothy Odam), September 25
Mary Cadogan, 86, literary historian, author of You’re A Brick, Angela! a history of girl’s fiction, September 27
Sheila Tracy, 80, a musician and the presenter of the BBC’s Big Band Special, September 30
Alvin Stardust, 72 (September 27, 1942 – October 23, 2014)
OCTOBER
Alvin Stardust, 72 (September 27, 1942 – October 23, 2014)
Alvin Stardust was due to release his first studio album in 30 years at the time of his death.
Born Bernard Jewry in the East End of London, he grew up in Mansfield and signed his first record deal in 1961 as the front man of Shane Fenton and the Fentones.
He did not become famous until taking the name Alvin Stardust in 1973 and getting a deal with Magnet Records.
His distinctive quiff and hits including My Coo Ca Choo, Jealous Mind and I Feel Like Buddy Holly made him one of the biggest names in Britain’s rock’n’ roll and glam rock scenes.
He was such a household name that he was asked to front a road safety campaign in 1976 and later had success in musicals, including playing the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
He married three times, with two sons and two daughters, and was still performing until a week before he died.
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Lynsey de Paul, 64, singer songwriter who represented Britain in the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, October 1
Christopher van Wyk, 57, South African poet and activist, October 3
Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, 63, former dictator of Haiti, October 4
Andrea de Cesaris, 55, the Italian Formula 1 driver, October 5
Andrew Kerr, 80, aristocratic hippy and co-founder of the original Glastonbury Fair, October 6
Mark Bell, 43, electronic music pioneer, member of LFO and collaborator of Bjork and Depeche Mode, October 12
John Spencer-Churchill, 88, 11th Duke of Marlborough, cousin of Winston Churchill, October 16
Lynda Bellingham, 66, actress, “Oxo Mum” and Loose Women panellist, October 19
John Holt, 67, reggae star, member of The Paragons who had a hit with The Tide Is High in 1967, October 19
Raphael Ravenscroft, 60, saxophone player on Gerry Rafferty hit Baker Street, October 19
Oscar De La Renta, 82, fashion designer, October 20
LM Kit Carson, 73, screenplay writer of Breathless and Paris, Texas, October 20
Ben Bradlee, 93, executive editor of the Washington Post newspaper, October 21
Jack Bruce, 71, bassist and vocalist, member of 1960s rock supergroup Cream, October 25
Phillip Hughes, 25 (November 30, 1988 – November 27, 2014)
NOVEMBER
Phillip Hughes, 25 (November 30, 1988 – November 27, 2014)
The death of cricketer Hughes sent a shockwave across the globe, with professionals and fans paying tribute.
The Australian batsman died two days after being struck on the neck by a bouncer during a match between South Australia and New South Wales in Sydney.
Born in Macksville, NSW, Hughes showed early promise and had such a strong work ethic that his cricket club moved its bowling machine to his house when he was 10.
He made his debut in first-class cricket at 18, and the next year became the youngest player to score a century in a final of the Sheffield Shield.
At 20 he played for Australia, making a big impression.
In only his second Test, Hughes racked up 115 in the first innings and 160 in the second to become the youngest man to score a century in each innings of a Test.
Hughes’s final innings shows him being 63 not out, instead of retired hurt.
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Joel Barnett, Baron Barnett, 91, Labour MP for Heywood and Royton (1964-1983), Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1974-1979), November 1
Acker Bilk, 85, jazz clarinetist (Stranger On The Shore), November 2
Brigadier John Thornton, 87, Ghurka officer, November 5
Flight Lieutenant Bill Green, 97, Battle of Britain pilot, November 7
Sally Hardcastle, 69, BBC journalist, November 10
Carol Ann Susi, 62, actress (The Big Bang Theory), November 11
Warren Clarke, 67, actor (A Clockwork Orange, Dalziel And Pascoe), November 12
Richard Pasco, 88, actor (Julius Caesar, As You Like It), November 12
Sir William Dugdale, 92, former Aston Villa chairman, November 13
Paul Vaughan, 89, radio and TV presenter, November 14
Cherry Wainer, 78, pianist, November 14
Jack Chalker, 96, artist, November 15
Jimmy Ruffin, 78, Motown star, November 17
Mike Nichols, 83, actor and director of The Graduate, November 19
Lady Herries of Terregles, 76, race horse trainer, November 23
Sir Arthur Bonsall, 97, Bletchley Park code-breaker, November 26
Jack Kyle, 88, Irish rugby star, November 27
PD James, 94, crime writer, November 27
Lady Juliet Townsend, 73, writer and Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Margaret, November 29
Sir Fred Catherwood, 89, Tory MEP, November 30
Joe Cocker, OBE, 70 (May 20, 1944 – December 22, 2014)
DECEMBER
Joe Cocker, OBE, 70 (May 20, 1944 – December 22, 2014)
Raspy-voiced Cocker’s death from lung cancer was met with grief and tributes from those within the music industry and beyond.
A supreme interpreter of other people’s songs, he was perhaps most famous for his version of With a Little Help From My Friends by the Beatles.
Sir Paul McCartney said he would be “forever grateful” to Cocker for turning it into a “soul anthem”.
Cocker was born into a working class family in Sheffield and almost became a gas fitter.
Turning to music, once he conquered the British market, he sought to capture the hearts of America and toured the world.
However he descended into alcohol, cocaine and heroin addiction, and struggled throughout the 1970s.
In October 1972 he was fined for marijuana possession.
He had a resurgence in 1982, winning a Grammy and an Oscar for Up Where We Belong, a duet with Jennifer Warnes, which featured on the soundtrack to Richard Gere’s hit movie An Officer and a Gentleman.
Cocker released nearly 40 albums over his career and was given an OBE in 2007.
He is survived by his wife Pam.
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Bobby Keys, 70, saxophonist, December 2
Jeremy Thorpe, 85, Liberal Party leader, December 4
Queen Fabiola, 86, Belgian monarch, December 5
Gil Marks, 62, prominent Rabbi and cookery writer, December 5
Norman Mair, 86, rugby journalist, December 7
Lydia Mordkovitch, 70, violinist, December 9
Mary Ann Mobley, 77, beauty queen and actress, December 9
Tom Adams, 76, actor who played Dai Nimmo in wartime epic The great Escape, December 11
Phil Stern, 95, photographer, December 13
Ernie Terrell, 75, boxer, December 16
Mandy Rice-Davies, 70, showgirl at the centre of the Profumo scandal, December 18
Virna Lisi, 78, actress, December 18
Billie Whitelaw, 82, stage and screen great, December 21
Jeremy Lloyd, 84, ’Allo ’Allo writer, December 22