(From left, top row) Colin Powell, Virgil Abloh, Cloris Leachman and (from left, bottom row) Cicely Tyson, Christopher Plummer and Willie Garson are just a few of the influential people we've lost in 2021. (The Associated Press, Getty Images )
ACROSS. AMERICA — It's hard to say goodbye to the many iconic actors, politicians, musicians and athletes we've lost this year.
Colin Powell, Cicely Tyson, Charlie Watts and Hank Aaron are just a few of the many influential people who died in 2021, leaving behind legacies that will forever shape American history.
See photos below of the famous faces we've had to say goodbye to this year.
Virgil Abloh
Designing for both Louis Vuitton and Off-White, Virgil Abloh was considered a leading fashion expert and hailed as the Karl Lagerfeld of his generation. After a private battle with cancer, Abloh died at the age of 41 years old on Nov. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
Peter Scolari
Peter Scolari, a versatile character actor whose television roles included a yuppie producer on “Newhart” and a closeted dad on “Girls” and who was on Broadway in “Hairspray” and “Wicked,”died on Oct. 22, 2021, after fighting cancer for two years. He was 66. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
Willie Garson
Willie Garson, best known for his role as Stanford Blatch on TV's “Sex and the City," died at age 57 on Sept. 21, 2021. (Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)
Michael K. Williams
Michael K. Williams, who played the beloved character Omar Little on “The Wire,” died on Sept. 6, 2021. He was 54 years old. He was also known for his roles in "Boardwalk Empire" and " The Night Of." (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
Charlie Watts
Famed Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts died on Aug. 24, 2021, in London at the age of 80. (Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Biz Markie
Rapper, DJ and producer Biz Markie, best known for his 1989 single "Just a Friend," died July 16, 2021, with his wife at his side. He was 57 years old. (Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Entertainment Weekly, File)
Suzzanne Douglas
Actress Suzzanne Douglas was best known for her role as Geraldine "Jerri" Peterson on TV's "The Parent 'Hood." which ran on the WB Network in the late '90s. Douglas lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on July 6, 2021, at the age of 64. (Angela Weiss/Getty Images, File)
Samuel E. Wright
Samuel E. Wright was the voice of Sebastian in Disney's "The Little Mermaid." The singer and actor died on May 24, 2021, at the age of 74. (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, File)
Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis, the veteran stage and screen actress whose flair for maternal roles helped her win an Oscar as Cher's mother in the romantic comedy "Moonstruck," died on May 1, 2021. She was 89 years old. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
Helen McCory
Helen McCrory, who starred in the television show “Peaky Blinders” and the “Harry Potter” movies, died on April 16, 2021. She was 52 years old. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images, File)
DMX
Rapper DMX died April 9, 2021 at age 50 after suffering a heart attack and multiple organ failure. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
Paul Ritter
Actor Paul Ritter was best known in his roles in "Quantum of Solace" and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Ritter died of a brain tumor on April 5, 2021, at age 54. (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images, File)
Jessica Walter
"Play Misty for Me" actress Jessica Walter shot to fame in her "Arrested Development" role as matriarch Lucille Bluth. Walter died at the age of 80 on March 24, 2021. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh was a talk radio host who ripped into liberals and laid waste to political correctness with a merry brand of malice that made him one of the most powerful voices on the American right. He died Feb. 17, 2021, at the age of 70. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Christopher Plummer
"Sound of Music" star Christopher Plummer led a fulfilling acting career and won an Oscar for his performance in "Beginners." Plummer died at the age of 91 on Feb. 5, 2021. (Jason Merritt/Getty Images, File)
Dustin Diamond
Dustin Diamond died on Feb 1, 2021, after a three-week fight with carcinoma. He was 44 years old. Diamond was best known for playing Screech on the hit ’90s sitcom "Saved by the Bell." (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, File)
Cicely Tyson
Pioneering Black actor Cicely Tyson, who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper’s wife in “Sounder,” won a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers’ hearts in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.” She died Jan. 28, 2021, at age 96. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
Larry King
Larry King, who interviewed presidents, movie stars and ordinary Joes during a half-century in broadcasting, died at age 87 on Jan. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Ed Asner
Ed Asner is best remembered in his role as Lou Grant in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Asner died at the age of 91 on Aug. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
Willard Scott
Willard Scott, the beloved weatherman who charmed viewers of NBC’s “Today” show with his self-deprecating humor and cheerful personality, died at age 78. Al Roker, his successor on the morning news show, announced that Scott died peacefully Sept. 4, 2021, surrounded by family. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Colin Powell
Colin Powell, who died Oct. 18, 2021, was a trailblazing soldier and diplomat. He was also the first African American secretary of state under the George W. Bush administration. He was 84 years old. (AP Photo/Kenneth Lambert, File)
Lee Elder
Lee Elder broke down racial barriers as the first Black golfer to play in the Masters and paved the way for Tiger Woods and others to follow. He died on Nov. 28, 2021, at the age of 87. (AP Photo/File)
Hank Aaron
The Atlanta Braves' Hank Aaron holds aloft the ball he hit for his 715th career home in Atlanta. Aaron endured racist threats with stoic dignity during his pursuit of Babe Ruth and went on to break the career home run record in the pre-steroids era. He died Jan. 22, 2021, at age 86. (AP Photo, File)
Bob Dole
Bob Dole, a WWII veteran, was a U.S. Senate leader from Kansas and was a Republican presidential candidate. Dole died on Dec. 5, 2021, at age 98. (Chris Hondros/Newsmakers, File)
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld served as secretary of defense under the Gerald Ford and George W. Bush administrations. He died June 29, 2021, at the age of 88. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File)
Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale was President Jimmy Carter's vice president and ran for president as the Democratic nominee in 1984, losing to incumbent Ronald Reagan. Mondale died at the age of 93 on April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Jack Smith, File)
Michael Nesmith
Michael Nesmith, the guitar-strumming member of the 1960s made-for-television rock band The Monkees, died at home Dec. 10, 2021, of natural causes, his family said in a statement. He was 78. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
Anne Rice
Author Anne rice is best known for her series of novels "The Vampire Chronicles," with one of her books — "Interview with a Vampire" — being adapted for the silver screen in 1994. Rice died on Dec. 11, 2021. She was 80. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File)
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim, the songwriter who reshaped the American musical theater in the second half of the 20th century, died at age 91 on Nov. 26, 2021, at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Dean Stockwell
Dean Stockwell was a top Hollywood child actor who gained new success in middle age, garnering an Oscar nomination for “Married to the Mob” and Emmy nominations for “Quantum Leap.” He died of natural causes at his home on Nov. 7, 2021. He was 85. (AP Photo/Alan Greth, File)
Jane Powell
Jane Powell, the bright-eyed, operatic-voiced star of Hollywood's golden age musicals who sang with Howard Keel in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and danced with Fred Astaire in "Royal Wedding," died on Sept. 16, 2021. She was 92. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Don Everly
In this 1964 file photo, the Everly Brothers — Phil (left) and Don Everly — perform on stage. The pioneering rock 'n’ roll duo's harmonizing country-rock hits impacted a generation of rock music. Don Everly was 84 when he died on Aug. 21, 2021. (AP Photo, File)
Markie Post
Markie Post, who played the public defender in the 1980s sitcom “Night Court” and was a regular presence across several decades of television, died Aug. 7, 2021, after a yearslong battle with cancer. She was 70 years old. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
Richard Donner
Director Richard Donner directed several legendary films such as 1978's "Superman" and "The Goonies." Donner died July 5, 2021. He was 91. (Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images, File)
Ned Beatty
Ned Beatty, the indelible character actor whose first film role, in 1972′s “Deliverance,” launched him on a long, prolific and accomplished career, died June 13, 2021. He was 83. (AP Photo/Gino Domenico, File)
Eric Carle
Author Eric Carle was known for his illustrations and iconic children's book "The Hungry Caterpillar." Carle died May 23, 2021. He was 91. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman was an Oscar winner for her portrayal of a lonely housewife in “The Last Picture Show,” a comedic delight as the fearsome Frau Blücher in “Young Frankenstein” and a self-absorbed neighbor Phyllis on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” She died Jan. 27, 2021, at age 94. (AP Photo/George Brich, File)
Charles Grodin
Actor Charles Grodin, pictured above on Sept. 27, 2013, in New York City, began acting in the late 1960s after taking on a small role in the film "Rosemary's Baby." He went on to star in a handful of films and television shows, even becoming a successful talk show host on CNBC. Grodin died on May 18, 2021, at the age of 86. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Michael Collins
Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins joins President Donald Trump and others in the Oval Office on July 19, 2019, as they commemorate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. Collins died on April 28, 2021, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, File)
Vernon Jordan
Vernon Jordan, pictured above attending a gala in New York City on March 3, 2011, was a business executive and civil rights activist. Jordan died on March 1, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Getty Images, File)
Norm Macdonald
Comedian Norm Macdonald appears on stage at the "Comedy Central Roast Of Bob Saget" on the Warner Brothers Lot on Aug. 3, 2008, in Burbank, California. The stand-up comedian died on Sept. 14, 2021, at age 61. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Comedy Central, File)
Chick Corea
Jazz musician Chick Corea, shown above at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, 2013, died on Feb. 9, 2021, at age 79. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images, File)
Mary Wilson
Mary Wilson, a founding member of The Supremes, performs at the Catalina Bar and Grill on Sept. 2, 2010, in Hollywood, California. She died on Feb. 8 2021, at age 76. (Photo by Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)
Leonard Hubbard
Bassist Leonard "Hub" Hubbard of The Roots died on Dec. 16, 2021, at age 62. (Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images, File)
Joan DidionDidion, the revered author and essayist whose provocative social commentary and detached, methodical literary voice made her a uniquely clear-eyed critic of a uniquely turbulent time, died at the age of 87 on Dec. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
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