Celebritydeaths.net

December 30, 2006: Saddam Hussein, 69, former Iraqi leader, executed by hanging after being found guilty of the 1982 killings of 148 people in the town of Dujail.
Links: CNN; BBC; Al Jazeera

December 27, 2006: Pierre Delanoe, 88, French songwriter who composed more than 5000 tunes, including about 500 hits. He wrote for many artists, including Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour and Johnny Hallyday.
Links: BBC story

December 27, 2006: Marmaduke Hussey, 83, former chairman of the British Broadcasting Corporation. A war hero who had his leg amputated, he spent 30 years in the newspaper industry before taking up the BBC appointment.
Links: Times Online; Media Guardian

December 26, 2006: Gerald Ford, 93, the 38th president of the United States of America. He was the longest living and only unelected president, having assumed the office on the resignation of Richard Nixon over the Watergate scandal in 1974. A Republican, he lost the 1976 election to the Democrats' Jimmy Carter.
Links: BBC; CNN; Wikipedia

December 25, 2006: Frank Stanton, 98, US television pioneer. Stanton built up the CBS television network, defended the right to free speech and fought against quiz-show corruption.
Links: LA Times; BBC

December 25, 2006: James Brown, 73, US singer known as "the Godfather of Soul", and a great influence on the popular music of the late 20th Century. His hits included (Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine, I Got You (I Feel Good) and Say It Out Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud.
Links: CNN; BBC.

December 23, 2006: Charlie Drake, 81, British slapstick comedian and actor best known for his catchphrase "Hello my darlings" and his songs including the hit My Boomerang Won't Come Back. Most recently he played Smallweed in the BBC's adaptation of Charles Dickens's Bleak House.
Links: BBC; Screen Online

December 23, 2006: Carl Blaze, 30, American DJ, born Carlos Rivera. The announcer with New York station Power 105 died of gunshot wounds after arguing with muggers in The Bronx on December 7.
Links: NY Daily News; Power 105

December 22, 2006: Dennis Linde, 63, US songwriter, of a lung disease. His songs included Elvis Presley's final hit, Burning Love, the Dixie Chicks' Goodbye Earl and Garth Brooks's Callin' Baton Rouge.
Links: BBC; CMT

December 21, 2006: Sydney Wooderson, 92, British athlete who broke many world running records - inlcuding the mile record in 1938 - but missed out on Olympic gold due to injury.
Links: The Guardian. Wikipedia.

December 18, 2006: Joseph Barbera, 95, US animator, director and producer who, with partner William Hanna, was responsible for cartoon classics including Tom and Jerry, The Flinstones, The Jetsons, Wacky Races and Scooby-Doo.
Links: BBC; Wikipedia

December 17, 2006: Denis Payton, 63, British rock musician who played saxophone, guitar and harmonica, and sang backup vocals for the Dave Clark Five.
Links: CNN; BBC

December 16, 2006: Taliep Petersen, 56, South African theatre personality, shot and killed during a home invasion. Petersen produced and directed stage musicals in his home country and abroad, including New York and London.
Links: BBC; Wikipedia

December 14, 2006: Mike Evans, 57, US actor, of throat cancer. Evans was best knowns for his roles in sitcoms All in the Family and The Jeffersons. He also co-created the hit show Good Times.
Links: CNN

December 14, 2006: Ahmet Ertegun, 83, Turkish born founder of Atlantic Records, the influential US music label that launched many careers.
Links: CNN; New York Times

December 12, 2006: Peter Boyle, 71, US actor who starred in Taxi Driver, The Candidate, Young Frankenstein and, most famously, as Frank Barone in television's Everybody Loves Raymond.
Links: New York Times; Wikipedia

December 10, 2006: Augusto Pinochet, 91, former Chilean military dictator.
Links: BBC; Wikipedia

December 9, 2006: Fred Marsden, 66, British pop drummer, of cancer. Marsden is best remembered for his membership of his brother Gerry Marsden's band Gerry and the Pacemakers, which had a string of hits in the early 1960s. He later set up a driving school.
Links: Billboard; Wikipedia

December 9, 2006: Georgia Gibbs, 87, US singer who rose to fame on the radio and TV show Your Hit Parade and had hits with Kiss of Fire, If I Knew You Were Coming, I'd've Baked a Cake and Hula Hoop Song.
Links: CNN; Fox News; Wikipedia

December 9, 2006: Martin Nodell, 91, creator of the DC Comics superhero Green Lantern.
Links: CNN; Wikipedia

December 2, 2006: Fernando Alvarez, Spanish-born pioneer of equine theatre in Australia, of cancer.

December 2, 2006: Mariska Veres, 56, singer with Dutch pop band Shocking Blue, which had its biggest hit with Venus.
Links: ABC; Wikipedia

December 1, 2006: Sid Raymond, 95, US actor who starred in The Hustler and on television from The Ed Sullivan Show to The O.C. but was best known for his character voices, including those of cartoon characters Baby Huey and Heckle and Jeckle.
Links: CNN