One person lived more than 100 years, the youngest in this list died at theage of 34. The celebrities below all deserve a spot on this page for differentreasons. For example, because of their role in world history, their commitmentto society or because of their influence on the music, TV or art world.
January 6: Sidney Poitier (94)
Sidney Poitier was the first actor of color to win an Oscar for Best LeadActor in 1963 for the drama Lilies of the Field. In 2009, he received theMedal of Freedom from President Obama, the highest US civilian honor. Readmore.
January 20: Meat Loaf (74)
The American singer, whose real name is Michael Lee Aday, made the album BatOut of Hell (1977), with hits such as Paradise By The Dashboard Light and YouTook the Words Right Out of My Mouth. Read more.
January 25: Wim Jansen (75)
As a football player, he won the European Cup 1 and the World Cup for clubswith Feyenoord in 1970. Jansen played 65 international matches for the Dutchnational team and lost the World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978. Read more.
January 27: Max Moszkowicz Sr. (95)
As a lawyer, Moskowicz represented, among others, the Heineken kidnappers Corvan Hout and Willem Holleeder. He survived the German extermination camps inWorld War II, his parents, brother and sister did not. Read more.
March 13: William Hurt (71)
The actor won an Oscar for his role in the film Kiss of the Spider Woman(1985) and received Oscar nominations for his roles in the satire BroadcastNews (1987), Children of a Lesser God (1986) and A History of Violence (2005).. Read more.
March 20: Piet Paulusma (65)
The weatherman invariably concluded his contribution with: ‘oant moarn’ (‘seeyou tomorrow’). He made Piets Weer at SBS for 23 years, always from adifferent location in the country, since 2020 at Omroep MAX. Read more.
March 23: Madeleine Albright (84)
Albright was the first female United States Secretary of State (1997-2001)under President Bill Clinton. She was born in what was then Czechoslovakia andfled the country during World War II. Read more.
April 8: Mimi Reinhardt (107)
Reinhardt drew up lists of names of Jews who could work in the factory ofGerman industrialist Oskar Schindler so that they would not be deported duringthe Holocaust. The story has been filmed as Schindler’s List. Read more.
April 14: Alex Brenninkmeijer (70)
Brenninkmeijer was the national ombudsman from 2005 to 2014. He dealt withcomplaints from citizens about government agencies for almost ten years andconducted research into Q fever, among other things. In 2014 he became amember of the European Court of Auditors.
The singer, composer and writer has translated lyrics from musicals such asJersey Boys, Tommy and Hello, Dolly!. He played in the musical Doe Maar! andalso wrote books and songs. His farewell album IPV Cards was released shortlybefore his death. Rot died of metastatic colon cancer. Read more.
April 25: Henny Vrienten (73)
The singer, composer, guitarist became known as the frontman of the popularband Doe Maar, which had hits such as Is dit alles, De bom, Pa and Doris Day.Vrienten wrote music for films and TV series such as Left Luggage, Abeltje,Het Klokhuis, Sesamstraat. Read more.
April 30: Mino Raiola (54)
The professional football player’s agent was involved in transfers of well-known players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Erling Haaland andMatthijs de Ligt. He was born in Italy and grew up in Haarlem. Read more.
May 4: Mary ‘Sis’ van Rossem (77)
The art historian and sister of historian Maarten discussed the culturalheritage of a city with her brothers Maarten and Vincent in the popular TVprogram Here are the Van Rossems. Read more.
May 11: Jeroen Brouwers (82)
The writer made his debut in 1964 with the short story collection Het mes opde keel, and also wrote the book Bezonken Rood about the conditions in aJapanese camp. In 2021 he won the Libris Literature Prize for his latest bookClient E. Busken. Read more.
May 15: Mient Jan Faber (81)
Mient Jan Faber was a well-known peace activist and one of the creators of theslogan: ‘Get nuclear weapons out of the world, starting with the Netherlands’.He organized large demonstrations against nuclear weapons in the 1980s. He wasalso a mathematician. Read more.
May 26: Willibrord Frequin (80)
Frequin became known as a presenter who did not shy away from confrontation.Especially in the program De week van Willibrord he worked like this. Hepreviously worked for the KRO program Brandpunt. In 1976 he was the onlyjournalist to ask Prince Bernhard about the Lockheed affair, the briberyscandal in which the prince was involved. Read more.
June 23: Stien Kaiser (84)
Kaiser was Olympic and World Speed Skating Champion. In 1967 she was thefirst Dutch skater to become world all-round champion. She won gold in the 3kilometers at the Olympic Games in Sapporo (1972). Read more.
July 4: Remco Campert (92)
The writer became famous with the book Life is vurrukkulluk, for which hereceived the PC Hooft Prize. He wrote more than a hundred novels, collectionsof short stories and collections of poems. He was the son of poet Jan Campert.Read more.
Abe was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, leading the country in 2006and 2007 and from 2012-2020. Both times he resigned for health reasons. He wasshot while campaigning for a fellow party member. Read more.
July 30: Nichelle Nichols (89)
The actress played Lieutenant Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek series. Her kisswith colleague William Shatner (Captain Kirk) is known as one of the firstkiss scenes between a black actress and a white actor on American television.Read more.
August 8: Olivia Newton John (73)
The singer and actress played the role of Sandy in the film Grease (1978)opposite John Travolta. She has hits to her name such as You’re The One That IWant and Hopelessly Devoted To You. Read more.
August 20: Bram Peper (82)
The PvdA was mayor of Rotterdam for sixteen years (from 1982 to 1998) duringwhich, among other things, the Erasmus Bridge was built and the plans for theKop van Zuid district were developed. Peper was also Minister of the Interior(1998-2000). He was discredited by the so-called receipt affair. Read more.
August 30: Mikhail Gorbachev (91)
Gorbachev was leader of the Soviet Union (1985-1991). His reforms ended theCold War, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Walland the Russian concepts of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (reform)became known worldwide. Read more.
September 7: Piet Schrijvers (75)
Schrijvers was goalkeeper for Ajax (nicknamed De Beer van de Meer because ofhis impressive appearance), PEC Zwolle and FC Twente. He defended the goal 46times in the Dutch national team. A few years ago it was announced thatSchrijvers had Alzheimer’s disease. Read more.
September 8: Queen Elizabeth II (96)
Queen Elizabeth was the longest reigning monarch in British history. Shebecame queen in 1952 at the age of 25 after the death of her father KingGeorge VI and remained so for seventy years, until her death. Her husbandPrince Philip (99) died in 2021. Read more.
September 28: Coolio (59)
Rapper Coolio, his real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., scored hits with songslike Gangsta’s Paradise and Fantastic Voyage. He won a Grammy for best soloperformance in 1996 with Gangsta’s Paradise. Read more.
October 3: Leonie Sazias (65)
Sazias was a TV presenter and former Member of Parliament for 50PLUS. Shestarted her career as a broadcaster with Veronica, and also made programs forAVRO (talk show Ruud en Leonie with Ruud ter Weijden) and TROS (Animal mannerswith Martin Gaus). Read more.
October 14: Robbie Coltrane (72)
The actor who played the giant Hagrid in the Harry Potter film series hasacted in more than fifty films. He also appeared in the James Bond filmsGolden Eye (1995) and The World is Not Enough (1999). Read more.
Nov. 5: Aaron Carter (34)
Aaron Carter was the younger brother of Backstreet Boys known Nick Carter.Aaron himself also scored hits with songs like ‘Crush On You’ and ‘CrazyLittle Party Girl’. Aaron has had relationships with Hilary Duff and laterLindsay Lohan. The singer was found dead at his home in Lancaster, California.Read more.
November 8: Pierre Kartner (87)
Kartner’s stage name was Father Abraham. He had hits such as Het Smurfenlied,Het Kleine Café aan de Haven and Vader Abraham had seven sons. He also wrotesongs for others such as Crying is too late for you from Corry and the Rekels.Read more.
November 13: Rudi Hemmes (99)
Hemmes escaped to England in 1943 and returned with the Princess Irene Brigadeto liberate the Netherlands. He told young people about freedom until a veryold age. He did not consider himself a hero, but in 2019 King Willem-Alexanderpraised him for his courage. Read more.
November 25: Irene Cara (63)
The singer and actress became world famous for her role as Coco Hernandez inthe musical film Fame. She also sang the title song What A Feeling for themovie Flashdance. Read more.
Nov. 30: Christine McVie (79)
The British singer and composer was part of pop group Fleetwood Mac for manyyears, wrote hits such as Little Lies, Everywhere, Don’t Stop, Say You Love Meand Songbird. Read more.
December 5: Kirstie Alley (71)
Alley was an American actress. She starred in TV series like Cheers and Northand South. She co-starred with John Travolta in the Look Who’s Talkingtrilogy. Read more.
December 13: Han Peekel (75)
Peekel was a television producer of programs such as TV Monument and the comicstrip program Krijg Vervolgd (1982 to 1997). In it, children imitated thevoice of their favorite cartoon character: ‘I’m 7 years old and I’m imitatingDonald Duck’, it sounded. Peekel died in Bali. Read more.
December 15: Joop Dikmans (92)
Joop Dikmans was known as the hearing-impaired crook B2 from Bassie enAdriaan. He played the role of B2 in The Secret of the Treasure (1987), TheLost Crown (1988) and The Sunken City (1989). Dikmans also performed as clownHandy Fool for decades. He suffered from dementia in the months before hisdeath and passed away in his sleep. Read more.