Should auld acquaintance be forgot . . . (2006)

As I learned this year, there are a lot of people who died. In fact, the estimate is 55,490,538. That's a lot of people!

Some of those people were better-known than others.

Here is a list of famous people who died in 2006, courtesy of slick.org:

Saddam Hussein, former Iraqi dictator, 69
Gerald R. Ford, former President of the United States,93
Frank Stanton, television pioneer, 98
Carl Blaze, DJ, 30
Dennis Linde, songwriter, 63
James Brown, musician, 73
Denis Payton, musician, 63
Mike Evans, actor, 57
Joe Barbera, animator, 95
Chris Hayward, cartoon and TV writer, 81
Georgia Gibbs, singer, 87
Martin Nodell, Creator of Green Lantern, 91
Van Smith, costume designer, 61
Peter Boyle, actor, 71
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bolden, world's oldest person, 116
Augusto Pinochet, Former Chilean dictator, 91
Jose Uribe, athlete, 47
Dirk Dirksen, 'godfather' of punk rock scene, 69
Tim Rooney, Actor, 59
Jeane Kirkpatrick, ex-ambassador, 80
Dave Cockrum, Comic Book Artist, 63
William Diehl, author, 81
Betty Comden, songwriter and actress, 89
John Allan Cameron, musician, 67
Gerald M. Boyd, former New York Times managing editor, 56
Pat Dobson, baseball player, 64
Anita O'Day, jazz singer, 87
Philippe Noiret, French film star, 76
Robert Altman, film director, 81
William Styron, author, 81
Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, author, 98
Ruth Brown, R&B singer, 78
Bo Schembechler, Michigan coaching legend, 77
Milton Friedman, Nobel prize-winning economist, 94
Belinda Emmett, actress, 32
Jack Williamson, writer, 98
Gerald Levert, singer, 40
Ed Bradley, journalist, 65
Jack Palance, actor, 87
Sven Nykvist, filmmaker, 83
Ann Richards, former Texas Governor, 73
Steve Irwin, Naturalist and TV personality, 44
Robert K. Hoffman, National Lampoon co-founder, 59
James Van Allen, space pioneer, 91
Susan Butcher, Iditarod champion, 51
Esther Snyder, In-N-Out Burger Founder, 86
Mike Douglas, talk show host, 81
Bob Thaves, comic strip author, 81
Bruno Kirby, character actor, 57
Gerard Oury, director, 87
Howard "Howdy" Groskloss, athlete, 100
Kurt Kreuger, actor, 89
Jack Warden, actor, 85
June Allyson, actress, 88
Barnard Hughes, actor, 90
Syd Barrett, "Pink Floyd" founder, 60
Kasey Rogers, actress, 80
Red Buttons, comedian, 87
Sam Myers, musician, 70
Mickey Spillane, writer, 88
Win Rockefeller, Arkansas Lt. Gov., 57
Keith LeClair, baseball coach, 40
Fabian Bielinsky, director, 47
Aaron Spelling, Television producer, 83
Billy Preston, musician/'Fifth Beatle', 59
Robert Sterling, TV 'Topper' actor, 88
Desmond Dekker, Reggae star, 64
Henry Bumstead, movie set designer, 91
Steve Mizerak, billiards legend, 61
Ian Copeland, Founder of Frontier Booking International, 57
Billy Walker, Grand Ole Opry singer, 77
Cy Feuer, producer, 95
Jorge Porcel, comedian and actor, 69
Joyce B. Brand, Commercial Artist, 88
Stanley Kunitz, Poet Laureate, 100
Lew Anderson, actor, 84
Grant McLennan, musician, 48
Scott Crossfield, first man to fly at twice the speed of sound, 84
Tele Santana, World Cup Soccer Coach, 74
Amanda Duff Dunne, actress, 92
Phil Walden, rock music mogul, 66
Alida Valli, actress, 84
Martin Gilks , drummer / band manager, 41
Gene Pitney, singer, 65
Eugene Landy, celebrity therapist, 71
Richard Fleischer, filmmaker, 89
Caspar Weinberger, former U.S defense secretary, 88
Nikki Sudden, musician, 49
Sarah Caldwell, 'First lady of opera', 82
Buck Owens, 'Hee Haw' country star, 76
Jimmy Johnstone, athlete, 61
Maureen Stapleton, actress, 80
John Profumo, British politician, 91
Slobodan Milosevic, Former Yugoslav President, 64
Ivor Cutler, Cult poet and musician, 83
Gordon Parks, photographer/director, 93
Dana Reeve, spinal cord research advocate, 44
Kirby Puckett, Baseball Hall of Famer, 44
Jack Wild, Actor, 53
Octavia E. Butler, sci-fi author, 58
Linda Smith , comedian, 48
Dennis Weaver, actor, 81
Robert L Scott, WWII fighter pilot / Brig. General / author, 97
Darren McGavin, actor, 83
Don Knotts, actor, 81
Lou Gish, actress, 35
Anthony Burger, pianist, 44
William Cowsill, singer, 58
Richard Bright, character actor, 68
Curt Gowdy, sports broadcaster, 86
John Belluso, playwright, 36
Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, comedic actor, 80
Lynden David Hall, musician, 31
Edna Lewis, "First lady of Southern cooking", 89
Phil Brown, actor, 89
Franklin Cover, actor, 77
Peter Benchley, 'Jaws' author, 65
Betty Friedan, leading feminist, 85
Al Lewis, 'Munsters' actor, 83
Moira Shearer, 'Red Shoes' ballerina, 80
Nam June Paik, video artist, 74
Coretta Scott King, civil rights leader, 78
Wendy Wasserstein, playwright, 55
Arthur Bloom, television news director, 63
Fayard Nicholas, dancer, 91
Chris Penn, actor, 40
Bob Weinstock, jazz entrepreneur, 77
Anthony Franciosa, actor, 77
Wilson Pickett, musician, 64
Birgit Nilsson, opera singer, 87
Shelley Winters, actress, 85
John Sinibaldi, athlete (cycling), 92
Jack Snow, athlete and broadcaster, 62
Comandante Ramona, Female Mexican Zapatista Leader, 47
Yao Wenyuan, "Gang of Four" member, 74
Irving Layton, poet, 93
Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer, 93
Emmett Leith, holography pioneer, 78
Owain "Oz" Wright, musician and comedian, 35
Bud Blake, 'Tiger' cartoonist, 87
Barry Cowsill, musician, 51
Lou Rawls, soul singer, 72
Richard De Angelis, actor, 73
Patrick Cranshaw, character actor, 86

May they rest in peace!