The entertainment world has lost several beloved stars on Christmas Day over the years, with deaths on December 25th claiming some of the most iconic figures in music, film, and sports. Singer and actor Dean Martin, known for his smooth voice and membership in the Rat Pack, died at his Beverly Hills home on Christmas Day 1995. He was 78. Martin had been diagnosed with lung cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in September 1993 and retired from public life in early 1995.
His death was attributed to acute respiratory failure resulting from empyema. He is interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, where his headstone bears the epitaph “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime,” the title of his signature song. Rosemary Clooney sang at his funeral service. Soul legend James Brown, often called the Godfather of Soul, was admitted to the hospital on Christmas Eve 2006 for observation and treatment.
He had been suffering from a bad cough since returning from a trip to Europe. Although he had to cancel upcoming shows, Brown was confident doctors would discharge him in time for New Year’s Eve performances. Instead, his condition worsened throughout Christmas Day, and he died at approximately 1:45 a. m.
on December 25, 2006, from congestive heart failure resulting from complications of pneumonia. He was 73. His personal manager, Charles Bobbitt, was at his bedside and said Brown stuttered, “I’m going away tonight,” took three long breaths, and fell asleep before dying. Comedian and vaudeville performer W.
C. Fields died on Christmas Day 1946 from an alcohol-related gastric hemorrhage. He was 66. Fields had often spoken of his hatred for Christmas throughout his career.
Film legend Charlie Chaplin died of natural causes at his home in Switzerland on Christmas Day 1977. He was 88. Chaplin had been denied re-entry to the United States since 1952, though he returned to receive an honorary Oscar just six years before his death. In a strange posthumous twist, grave robbers later stole Chaplin’s body and held it for ransom.
Actress, singer, and comedian Eartha Kitt, who found lasting holiday fame with her hit “Santa Baby,” died of colon cancer on December 25, 2008. She was 81. Joan Blondell, a leading lady in numerous films during the 1930s and 1940s and best remembered on television as Lottie in the 1960s series “Here Come the Brides,” died of leukemia in Santa Monica, California, on Christmas Day 1979. She was 73 and was surrounded by her children and sister at her bedside.
One of her last film roles was in the movie “Grease. ”
Former New York Yankees player and manager Billy Martin died in a low-speed, single-vehicle collision during an ice storm at the end of the driveway to his farm in Port Crane, north of Binghamton, New York, on Christmas Day 1989. He was pronounced dead at a hospital in Johnson City, New York. He was 61.
His funeral was attended by numerous Yankees players, George Steinbrenner, and former President Richard Nixon. Character actor Denver Pyle, best known for his role as Uncle Jesse on the television series “The Dukes of Hazzard,” died of lung cancer on Christmas Day 1997. He was 77. Pop superstar George Michael, one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, died in his bed at home on Christmas Day 2016.
Medical authorities determined the cause of death to be an enlarged heart. He was 53.
