In 2022, we lost so many talented entertainers, from tWitch to Ray Liotta and Christine McVie, so many of whom died so young.
Among these names included Bob Saget, Kirstie Alley, and Angela Lansbury, who each had a prolific career through the late 80s and 90s, the latter – Lansbury – having almost revamped her career during that time.
Each of these beloved Hollywood alums passed away in a manner that was particularly sad and in some cases, unexpected.
Starting with the youngest of the three, Bob Saget, who died last January at the age of 65 after suffering head trauma. Initially after his death, the cause of his passing was a mystery. But by March 2022, after a police investigation and findings from a medical examiner, Saget’s family lawyer Brian H. Bieber announced, “Bob passed away after a fall and hitting his head in his hotel room,” per EW.
Many remember Bob from the quirky 90s sitcom Full House, where Bob starred as the main family’s fun-loving and goofy patriarch. Bob was also a comedian, and made many friends in the stand-up industry through his reputation as the truly kind-hearted and genuinely funny person he was.
Saget’s Full House co-star and long-time friend John Stamos was deeply hurt to hear of his passing.
“I am broken. I am gutted. I am in complete and utter shock,” he said at the time. “I will never ever have another friend like him. I love you so much Bobby.”
Stamos also talks about their strong friendship in his most recent memoir If You Would Have Told Me.
Come October, we lost another gem of a star, Angela Lansbury. Just five days shy of her 97th birthday, she passed away peacefully in her sleep.
Her career spanned over seventy years, making her Hollywood debut in 1944 with the film Gaslight, which earned her her first Oscar nomination. She went on to be nominated numerous times for an Oscar, and won multiple Golden Globe and Tony Awards.
In 2014, she was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
She had a busy career throughout the 50s and 60s in Hollywood, and made small appearances in the 70s and 80s. But she really revamped her name in 1984 with the CBS original series Murder, She Wrote, in which she starred as the lead role Jessica Fletcher.
After that, she did various voice acting roles in films like Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Anastasia (1997).
By the 21st Century, her age started catching up with her and she suffered various physical struggles, including arthritis and a knee replacement surgery.
In 2006, a year after her knee surgery, she opened up about how she’d been adjusting to her new lifestyle with a hindered knee.
“I found that people were helping me across the street. I had to pull myself up the stairs,” she said at the time, sourcing her knee troubles to her early dancing career. “I began to feel ancient, and I feel very young at heart. I’m not going to be dancing with the stars at this stage in my life. But I want to dance and bop around, and I did, and I can.”
She maintained that young heart until she died last October.
Come December 2022, Kirstie Alley was taken from us sooner than anyone would have thought she would be.
Unbeknownst to the public, Alley had been diagnosed with colon cancer prior to her death. As so many cancers do, it acted fast within her body, as her children revealed she had only “recently discovered” her illness.
She was truly a family-oriented person, and it showed in her final days as her two children, True and Lillie, expressed that she was surrounded by her family before passing away.
“She was surrounded by her closest family and fought with great strength, leaving us with a certainty of her never-ending joy of living and whatever adventures lie ahead. As iconic as she was on screen, she was an even more amazing mother and grandmother,” the siblings told People, adding she had a “zest and passion for life, her children, grandchildren and her many animals, not to mention her eternal joy of creating, were unparalleled and leave us inspired to live life to the fullest just as she did.”
Alley was best known for her role as Rebecca Howe in the late 80s, early 90s hit sitcom Cheers. Her role in the show earned her both a Golden Globe and an Emmy award in 1991.
She starred in a number of movies throughout the 80s, but really made a name for herself in the Boston-based sitcom.
For people who were hugely into television in the late 80s and early 90s lost a group of truly genuine and talented actors last year. Them, along with the many other beloved entertainers who passed away in 2022, will be missed and remembered through their respected mediums forever.
Sources:
https://ew.com/celebrity/bob-saget-death-police-report-family-attorney-statement/
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/angela-lansbury-died-her-sleep-210922204.html
https://people.com/tv/kirstie-alley-died-of-colon-cancer-her-rep-reveals/
