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Every year, NPR remembers some of the writers, actors, musicians, filmmakers and performers who died over the past year, and whose lifetime of creative work helped shape our world.
Who's on the list: From well known musicians, a groundbreaking poet, acting legends to a humanitarian ballerina — this year's list is just sampling of those we lost in 2024.
Read on... for more about their lives and legacies.
Every year, we remember some of the writers, actors, musicians, filmmakers and performers who died over the past year, and whose lifetime of creative work helped shape our world. Here are just a few of them, listed chronologically below by the dates of their deaths. (You can find a tribute to many more musicians here.)
Beloved for the roles she created in such musicals as West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago and Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Rivera carved out space for herself on stages that did not then easily accept Latina leading ladies. Her prowess as a dancer became apparent in childhood, during ballet classes in Washington D.C. Over a six-decade-ong career, Rivera won multiple Tony awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was the first Latina to receive the Kennedy Center Honors. One of the great performers of her era, Rivera was never interested in making television or movies – until the end of her long life, she was a Broadway baby. Read Jeff Lunden's remembrance.
Born in China to Japanese parents, Ozawa shook up the classical music establishment when he was appointed to lead a top American orchestra in 1973. Young, hip and unorthodox, he represented a radical departure from an artistic tradition that rarely placed men of color (or any women) on prestigious podiums. He was a protege of Leonard Bernstein, with whom he shared an adventurousness and dynamism that captivated fans beyond the world of classical music. Ozawa also championed cross-cultural exchange; notably, he brought the BSO to China in 1979. Read Andrea Shea and Tom Huizenga's remembrance.
Ultimately, Apfel was best known for her look: owlish round glasses, heaps of clanking jewelry, and cropped grey hair. All of it, fashion. Apfel was an early example of what we'd now call an influencer. She insisted on being seen. Her career stretched from the 1950s until the late 2010s. It included stints as a White House designer, Home Shopping Network entrepreneur, writer, socialite and professor. At age 97, she signed with a top-tier modeling firm. She was the subject of a celebrated documentary and a retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. And Apfel was the oldest person with a Barbie doll made by Mattel in her image. Read Neda Ulaby's remembrance.
While probably best known for vibrant, pictorial quilts that summoned various aspects of Black American history and representation, Ringgold was a classically trained painter who bridged arts and crafts in deeply feminist multimedia work that, over a decades-long career, included cloth dolls, mosaic murals and picture books for children. A leading American artist who fought for increased diversity, her work is included in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem and many others. Read Andrew Limbong's remembrance.
He was dubbed "the patron saint of literary Brooklyn" by The New York Times, where Auster regularly appeared on the bestseller list for works such as The New York Trilogy that included his breakthrough novel, 1985's City of Glass. A prolific postwar writer who deftly swirled the surreal into such familiar genres as the detective novel and memoir, Auster also dabbled in filmmaking, writing scripts for a few art-house hits. Read Tom Vitale's remembrance.
If you were a Hollywood executive who wanted an off-kilter authority figure, you would call Donald Sutherland. The Canadian-born actor appeared in more than 200 films and TV shows. He played doctors, like the wiseacre lead in the 1970 movie M*A*S*H, and paranoid government figures, as in Oliver Stone's film JFK. He was excellent as a fascist, whether it be in Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900 or as President Snow in the wildly successful The Hunger Games franchise. But in films such as Ordinary People and Don't Look Now, Sutherland brought vulnerability to playing fathers. In real life, he was the father of five, including actor Kiefer Sutherland. Read Mansee Khurana's remembrance.
With his curly mop of hair, winsome attitude and candy-striped shorts, Simmons set out to encourage people to get fit, even those whose body types did not reflect the punishing standards of perfection at the time. He included all kinds of bodies in the bracingly upbeat VHS tapes that became foundational to his empire in the 1980s. Sweatin' to the Oldies sold more than 20 million copies alone. While Simmons received some criticism for fat-shaming, and later mystified fans by withdrawing from the public, he was a transformative figure in the nascent exercise industry, encouraging consumers to see exercise as playful, rather than painful. Read Kyle Norris' remembrance here.
A former accountant, Newhart's dour but deeply loveable persona was first established in a series of hit comedy records in the 1960s. Their success essentially invented a genre. Newhart moved seamlessly to television, hosting his own variety show, then starred in not one, but two eponymous sitcoms throughout the 1970s and '80s, Newhart and The Bob Newhart Show, in which he played a psychologist and a Vermont innkeeper respectively. Read Eric Deggans' remembrance here.
Donahue is credited with inventing the audience participation talk show. His topics were thoughtful – abortion, atheism, racism – and his tone was measured. He never talked down to his predominantly female audience. The Phil Donahue Show ran for nearly 30 years, and after 6,000 episodes, he stepped down from a television landscape that, aside from Oprah Winfrey, was populated by much more sensational and scandal-seeking imitators. Read Eric Deggans' remembrance here.
His stentorian tones enriched classic films ranging from Star Wars to The Lion King. "I am your father" and "You are my son" are two of his most immortal lines, but James Earl Jones grew up without his birth parents. He was abandoned as a child. The traumatized little boy with a stutter became one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood and on Broadway. A boundary-shattering Black actor, whose early career included playing a doctor on daytime TV in the 1960s, his accolades included Tonys, Emmys, a lifetime achievement Oscar and a National Medal of the Arts. Read Allison Keyes' remembrance here.
DePrince was only 29 when she died of undisclosed causes earlier this year, but the celebrated ballerina's life was packed with inspiring accomplishments. The youngest principal dancer at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, DePrince also found fans through TV's Dancing With the Stars and Beyonce's Lemonade music videos. She recounted her journey from an orphanage in Sierra Leone to international acclaim in her 2014 memoir Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina. Read Clare Marie Schneider and Elizabeth Blair's remembrance.
You might know her as the tart-tongued Dowager Countess on Downton Abbey or as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies, but Maggie Smith's illustrious stage career began decades earlier, as a teenage star of Shakespeare at the Oxford Playhouse in England. Her work on screen included indelible performances in such films as The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, A Room With A View and Gosford Park. Read Bob Mondello's remembrance.
A once-in-a-generation talent, Kristofferson was a Rhodes scholar from Brownsville, Texas. who wrote his first country song at age 11. A celebrated college athlete, he enlisted in the U.S. Army after studying literature at the University of Oxford. Then he broke into the Nashville music scene, first working as a janitor before being discovered by Johnny Cash, writing songs for the likes of Janis Joplin and recording hits of his own. Musical stardom led to the movies. Kristofferson acted in dozens of them, from the legendary flop Heaven's Gate to the vampire classic Blade. Read Melissa Block's remembrance here.
Back in the days of liner notes, Adam Abeshouse's name would be instantly recognizable to classical music fans. He produced hundreds of records with such stars as violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Lara Downes. Shortly before Abeshouse's death from bile duct cancer at the age of 63, many of the musicians whose talents he'd burnished in the studio flew to his home in upstate New York to play one final concert for their beloved producer. Read Tom Vitale's remembrance.
Jones dominated pop music charts for decades. A charismatic musical savant whose career as a jazz trumpeter began in his teens, the composer, arranger, performer, producer and record-label executive helped orchestrate the careers of numerous stars, including Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra and Lesley Gore. None dazzled quite as brightly as Michael Jackson, with whom he created Thriller, the bestselling album of all time. Jones was nominated for 80 Grammy awards and won 28. Read Stephen Thompson's remembrance.
A centenarian and civil rights activist as well as a revered singer and instrumentalist, Jenkins recorded dozens of albums for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings,. She was the label's best-selling artist, outselling even Pete Seeger. Her music for children included original compositions such as "You'll Sing a Song and I'll Sing a Song." Other songs celebrated cultural traditions from around the world. Read Andrew Limbong's remembrance.
Jamison's celebrated collaboration with Alvin Ailey began in the 1960s as a star member of his troupe. Her lithe elegance transfixed audiences; her interpretation of his piece "Cry" made Jamison an immediate modern dance icon when it premiered in 1971. Eventually, Jamison moved into a different kind of role, as artistic director of the company, which she led for more than two decades. Read Andrew Limbong's remembrance.
Over a celebrated literary career that started in 1968 with her first published poetry collection, Giovanni wrote prolifically about Black pride and power, and about love and the sensual pleasures of everyday life. The longtime Virginia Tech professor authored more than 30 books, including many for children, racked up dozens of honorary degrees, and was the sort of celebrity poet who drew thousands of fans to her readings. Read Andrew Limbong's remembrance.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit npr.org.
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The Food and Drug Administration intends to get tougher on vaccine approvals, as top officials raised concerns about the risk of COVID vaccines for children.
Why now: Speaking on Fox News Saturday morning, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency would no longer "rubber-stamp new products that don't work," claiming it made a "mockery of science."
Background: Makary's comments came the day after FDA's top vaccine regulator, Dr. Vinay Prasad, told his team the agency would change its annual flu vaccine framework, update vaccine labels to be "honest," and make other changes to how it reviews vaccines, according to contents of an internal email reviewed by NPR and reported on first by a PBS News Hour correspondent and later by The Washington Post.
The Food and Drug Administration intends to get tougher on vaccine approvals, as top officials raised concerns about the risk of COVID vaccines for children.
Speaking on Fox News Saturday morning, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency would no longer "rubber-stamp new products that don't work," claiming it made a "mockery of science."
Makary's comments came the day after FDA's top vaccine regulator, Dr. Vinay Prasad, told his team the agency would change its annual flu vaccine framework, update vaccine labels to be "honest," and make other changes to how it reviews vaccines, according to contents of an internal email reviewed by NPR and reported on first by a PBS News Hour correspondent and later by The Washington Post.
Prasad wrote that the FDA would also no longer authorize vaccines for pregnant women without stricter requirements. And for pneumonia vaccines, manufacturers will have to prove they reduce disease rather than show they generate antibodies. He also raised questions about giving multiple vaccines at the same time, which is standard practice.
The changes could make it much more difficult and expensive for vaccines to get approved, further limiting the availability of vaccines, which are considered among the safest and most effective tools for protecting people against infectious diseases.
While all vaccines carry some risks, most public health experts argue the current process for vetting vaccines before marketing has long assured that the benefits of vaccines outweigh their risks. Studies required after vaccines are approved and surveillance systems, including the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), also flag potential safety issues once vaccines are in use.
Makary said on Fox News that 10 children had died from the COVID shot during the Biden administration, but did not offer specifics about how the FDA came to that conclusion. Millions of children have received the vaccine.
Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services and Food and Drug Administration didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the COVID analysis and changes to vaccine review standards.
According to the FDA email from Prasad, he told the agency's biostatistics and pharmacovigilance team to analyze 96 reported deaths from 2021 to 2024, and they determined 10 children died "after and because of" the COVID vaccine. But Prasad said the true number was likely higher.
Dr. Paul Offit, who directs the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said in a text message that Prasad has not shared the evidence that these vaccines killed 10 children.
"Because he doesn't provide any evidence, he is asking us to trust him on an important issue," Office said. "All this will do is scare people unnecessarily. At the very least, he should provide all the evidence he has so that experts in the field can review it and decide whether he has enough data to prove his point."
Dr. Jesse Goodman, a professor at Georgetown University who held Prasad's job at FDA from 2003 until 2009, said in an email that the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which oversees vaccine approval, has been "recognized globally as a gold standard regulator." Goodman defended "immunologic endpoints like antibody levels" for the accelerated approval of pneumonia and influenza vaccines. He said science supports their use and they are confirmed with studies after approval: "These approaches have helped provide children and adults with timely access to safe and effective vaccines, saving many lives."
Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, reviewed the email from Prasad and challenged his statement that "COVID-19 was never highly lethal for children." Osterholm also questioned the FDA's latest analysis of adverse event reports attributing the 10 deaths to COVID vaccines.
"Prasad's email is filled with factual mistakes and misrepresents both the severity of COVID in children (1597 deaths in 2020-2022) and how the US responded to the first signals of possible vaccine-associated pediatric deaths in May 2021," Osterholm wrote in an email to NPR.
"While Prasad's email notes 10 such deaths, these cases have never been presented for review by the medical and public health communities or published in the medical literature," Osterholm continued. "Given the record of this Administration to misrepresent scientific data regarding vaccines, until these cases have been reviewed by an expert third party, like the National Academy of Science[s], we can not accept the fact they are vaccine-associated deaths."
The FDA makes public data from the VAERS surveillance system co-sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the FDA cautions, "it is important to note that for any reported event, no cause and effect relationship has been established." In his email, Prasad wrote that "with case reports, causality is typically assessed on a subjective scale. In this scale ranging from certain to unlikely — certain, possible/likely, and probable are broadly considered as related to the product."
Makary said on Fox News that when the COVID shot was first rolled out, it was "amazing" for people at high risk of coming down with severe disease, but things have changed.
"Back in 2020, we saw a reduction in the severity of illness and lives saved, but now recommending that a 6-year-old girl get another 70 million COVID shots — one each year for the rest of her life — is not based on science. And so we're not going to just rubber stamp approvals without seeing some scientific evidence."
The claim is the latest move by Trump administration health officials questioning the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and how the government has regulated them. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long questioned vaccines.
The FDA restricted eligibility for the updated COVID vaccines in August after announcing the agency planned to require more evidence about the shots' safety and effectiveness going forward.
The FDA email on vaccine policy comes just before the CDC convenes a crucial two-day meeting of that agency's influential Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Dec. 4-5. The committee is in the process of conducting a major review of how children are inoculated against dangerous infectious diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, polio and hepatitis B.
Many public health experts are concerned the committee will upend the childhood vaccination schedule. It could move to delay the timing of some inoculations, space out vaccinations and call for the reformulation of some vaccines. Taken together, the moves could result in fewer children getting protected and the resurgence of once-vanquished diseases.
Asked about Makary and Prasad's claims that the COVID vaccine caused deaths among 10 children, Moderna, whose COVID vaccine is approved for children as young as 6 months old, pointed to a statement it made in September. The company says that multiple published, peer-reviewed studies from a variety of sources show its shot is safe and that it is "not aware of any deaths in the last year or pertinent new information from prior years."
Moderna says it monitors its vaccine's safety along with regulators in more than 90 countries. "With more than one billion doses distributed globally, these systems — including in national health systems across Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the U.S. — have not reported any new or undisclosed safety concerns in children or in pregnant women."
Pfizer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Copyright 2025 NPR
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The Trump administration’s sudden freeze on all visa and asylum decisions for Afghan immigrants has left many of them in Orange County — one of the country's largest hubs for Afghans — in limbo. Local groups are preparing to support the immigrants even as they await clarification from federal authorities.
Why it matters: California is home to the nation’s largest concentration of Afghan immigrants, many of them now grappling with the Trump administration’s abrupt visa and asylum freeze.
Read on ... to learn more about the Afghan population in Orange County and guidance from one O.C. immigration official on what could come next.
California is home to the nation’s largest concentration of Afghan immigrants, many of them now grappling with the Trump administration’s abrupt visa and asylum freeze.
Friday’s announcement by the White House followed the fatal shooting of a National Guard member in Washington, D.C. a couple days earlier by a suspect who had immigrated from Afghanistan.
In Orange County, where many Afghans have settled as their immigration applications pend, local officials are gearing up to help them navigate the change, even as guidance is scant from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Jose Serrano, director of Orange County's Office of Refugee and Immigrant Services, said the goal is to provide the “most up-to-date information so they can continue on towards their pathway towards citizenship here in the United States.”
“The Afghan population in Southern California, specifically in Orange County, is one that is really important to the DNA of who we are,” Serrano said. “Let's continue to stay together and strong and reimagine a place for belonging for everyone.”
As they await more information, Serrano advised visa and asylum seekers to:
Nearly 200,000 Afghans are in the U.S., with 39% of them residing in California, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Hundreds of Afghan households have settled in Orange County, Serrano said, making it one of the state’s hubs for Afghan immigrants alongside San Diego and Sacramento.
Serrano said a big draw for immigrants to Orange County is Little Arabia in Anaheim, a regional destination for Middle Eastern food, culture and community life.
Serrano, who spent more than a decade working with immigrants at World Relief Southern California and the state's refugee programs bureau, said entering Afghan homes means being offered large meals. One family had prepared a whole feast for a Time Warner cable worker, he recalled.
“They didn't understand why that person couldn’t stay to dine with them,” he said. “That’s the type of people that are here in Orange County, folks who are so committed to being a part of civic engagement, to connecting alongside other communities.”
Serrano said many of the Afghans who resettled in the county are Special Immigrant Visa holders, a program created for Afghan nationals who helped the U.S. government during the war in their home country.
That program has now been frozen by the State Department.
Serrano said immigrants who entered the U.S. as refugees and have since become green card holders could see their cases reopened.
Joseph Edlow, who leads USCIS, said the new immigration measures will last until “we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
For Serrano, the current screening process is rigorous and involves multiple organizations aside from USCIS, such as the U.S. Department of Justice, the F.B.I. and counterterrorist organizations.
Applicants undergo health screenings and multiple fingerprinting appointments, he said.
“They're constantly doing an assessment to verify that you are a good-standing citizen,” Serrano said. “One of the things that I think we should be very proud of within the United States is that there is an in-depth screening process for anyone who is seeking a protection.”
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Four people were killed and 10 wounded in a shooting during a family gathering at a banquet hall in Stockton, sheriff's officials said Saturday.
Details: The victims included both children and adults, said Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County sheriff's office.
What's next: Early indications "suggest this may have been a targeted incident," Brent said during a news conference at the scene. Local officials said the suspected shooter has not been caught and pleaded with the public for help. Detectives were still working to identify a possible motive.
STOCKTON, Calif. — Four people were killed and 10 wounded in a shooting during a family gathering at a banquet hall in Stockton, sheriff's officials said Saturday.
The victims included both children and adults, said Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County sheriff's office. Early indications "suggest this may have been a targeted incident," Brent said during a news conference at the scene.
Local officials said the suspected shooter has not been caught and pleaded with the public for help. Detectives were still working to identify a possible motive.
"If you have any information as to this individual, reach out immediately. If you are this individual, turn yourself in immediately," San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas said during a news conference.
The shooting occurred just before 6 p.m. inside the banquet hall, which shares a parking lot with other businesses. Stockton is a city of 320,000 about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Sacramento.
"Families should be together instead of at the hospital, standing next to their loved one, praying that they survive," Mayor Christina Fugazzi said.
Authorities did not immediately provide additional information about the conditions of the victims. Officials said earlier that several were taken to hospitals.
Copyright 2025 NPR
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The Stahl House, otherwise known as Case Study House #22, is on the market for the first time in its 65-year history.
Why it matters: The midcentury modern home in the Hollywood Hills has come to embody the postwar Los Angeles good life. It is also one of the most recognizable examples of West Coast modernism.
Why now: The house has been with the same family since its completion. But after caring for it for more than 6 decades, the Stahl children are looking for the house's next steward.
Read on... For the fascinating history of the Stahl House. Find out why its original moniker is Case Study House #22, and see the photographs that have made the hilltop home a revered landmark.
A quintessential piece of Los Angeles history — a jaw-dropping midcentury modern house of glass, steel and seemingly all skies soaring high above the Hollywood Hills — is up for sale.
Asking price: $25 million.
The Stahl House, otherwise known as Case Study House #22, has stayed with the same family since it was built in 1960.
"After 65 years, our family has made the heartfelt and very difficult decision to place the Stahl House on the market," wrote the Stahl children, Bruce Stahl and Shari Stahl Gronwald.
The 2,200-square-foot home at 1635 Woods Drive has been preserved meticulously, funded in part by proceeds from open-house tours of the space.
"This home has been the center of our lives for decades, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become increasingly challenging to care for it with the attention and energy it so richly deserves," the Stahl children continued.
And they are not just looking for a buyer — but a steward.
"It is a passing of responsibility," the listing for the house reads. "A search for the next custodian who will honor the house's history, respect its architectural purity, and ensure its preservation for generations to come."
The futuristic house, with its stunning panorama and a swimming pool perched at the edge of nothingness, has become one of the most recognizable and prized expressions of midcentury modern architecture in L.A. How it came to be built was fueled by a similar spirit of experimentation and audacity.
In 1945, the cutting-edge Arts & Architecture magazine launched the "Case Study House" program to commission the era's biggest and most boundary-pushing architects — Richard Neutra, Charles Eames and the like — to design and build affordable, scalable homes for an exploding middle class after World War II.
"Each house must be capable of duplication and in no sense be an 'individual' performance," editor John Entenza wrote in the announcement-slash-manifesto.
By its terminus in 1966, the program gave rise to 36 designs, of which 25 prototypes were built — mostly in and around the city — forging L.A. into an epicenter of West Coast modernism.
One of them was Case Study Home #22 by Pierre Koenig, who, as an architecture student at USC in the early 1950s, was already making a name for himself, particularly for his use of steel.
His student work caught the attention of Entenza, who later invited him to join the Case Study House program.
The Hollywood Hills home would be Koenig's second Case Study house — and his most well-known.
The story began with Hughes Aircraft purchasing agent and former football player Buck Stahl and his wife, Carlotta, who bought a small hillside lot overlooking the city for $13,500.
The couple spent weekends putting up a wall around the property using broken concrete sourced from construction sites. Buck, the Stahl family said, had built a model of his dream house to take to architects — many of whom turned the job down because the lot was seen as undevelopable.
Enter Koenig, who signed on for the challenge in 1957. A month before construction began in 1959, the project was christened Case Study House #22. The Stahl House was completed a year later, according to the Los Angeles Times, at a cost of nearly $38,000.
With its sleek lines and inviting airiness, Case Study House #22 has come to embody the good life in postwar Los Angeles, an idea reinforced by its countless appearances in movies, TV shows and magazine spreads over the decades.
But the photographs that started it all — elevating the home into the stuff of mythology — were taken by Julius Shulman. He was tapped to document the entire Arts & Architecture program after charting an unlikely career photographing modernist architecture in L.A., starting with those designed by Neutra.
Shulman shot the Stahl House in May 1960, shortly after its completion. In the most iconic shot of the series, two young women in white party dresses are sitting in the glass living room, conversing leisurely as the house dissolves into the shimmering sprawl below.
"It was not an architectural quote-unquote 'photograph,'" said Shulman about the image in an interview for the Archives of American Art. "It is a picture of a mood.”
