In the year that is about to end there have been numerous excellent farewells in the world of cinema, television, music and entertainment. Men and women who have marked entire generations with their talent, their ability to enter our homes or, more simply, inspire enthusiasts and fans.
A year of big goodbyes. They have left us some of their most representative figures, personalities who have marked different eras and left a lasting impression on the collective imagination.
All the goodbyes this year
Last New Year’s Eve we said goodbye to the Italian singer and composer Nora Orlandi, while on January 2nd the footballer and coach Aldo Agroppi died of pneumonia. The first days of the year were also marked by the death of the French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the Front National, followed by that of the journalist and politician Furio Colombo and the visionary director David Lynch.
Between January and February we also lost the soul legend Sam Moore, half of the duo Sam & Dave, the photographer Oliviero Toscani, who suffered from amyloidosis, and the Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, found dead with his wife.
Eleonora Giorgi, a much-loved actress of Italian cinema between the Seventies and Eighties, passed away in March.
The death of Pope Francis in April, an event destined to leave a profound mark on contemporary history.
August saw Italy say goodbye to one of its most beloved television faces, Pippo Baudo. In September, the journalist Emilio Fede, the stylist Giorgio Armani, the former president of Palermo Paul Baccaglini and two great film stars such as Robert Redford and Claudia Cardinale passed away. October was marked by the deaths of the actor Remo Girone, the fashion designer Cesare Paciotti and the American actress Diane Keaton.
And then the talented Diane Keaton, Woody Allen’s lover and muse, iconic presence of Hollywood femininity, lovable and charismatic in films such as “Annie and Me”, “Play It Again, Sam”, and “The Godfather”.
In the world of fashion we said goodbye to Giorgio Armani, remembered as an architect of contemporary elegance, whose vision went beyond the sartorial sphere to influence cinema, photography and visual design, while photography mourned the great Oliviero Toscani, a provocative and subversive photographer, revolutionary and gifted with an uncommon visual talent.
We have lost Brigitte Bardot, a figure who redefined femininity on the big screen in the 1950s and 1960s and became a cultural symbol of an era, before dedicating the second part of her life to animal rights activism.
A farewell that particularly touched the hearts of the public. The Kessler Twins were celebrated not only as dancers and showgirls, but as television icons who helped define Italian variety. Pippo Baudo, a historical figure of Rai, accompanied entire decades of local television entertainment with his voice and presence. Beppe Vessicchio, symbol of Italian pop music and soundtrack of festivals and TV evenings, has left an unmistakable mark on the country’s musical panorama. Ornella Vanoni, one of the most intense voices of Italian song, also loved by a young audience and Alvaro Vitali, the famous Pierino, famous face of Italian comedy and the legendary Italian tennis player Nicola Pietrangeli.
A year that ends, therefore, like a long page of individual memories mixed with collective memory. Each name tells a fragment of history, each face a piece of imagination and shared identity.
