Famous People Who Died in 2011

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These are the 13 famous people who passed away in the year 2011.

13. Kim Jong-il (born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was the supreme leader of North Korea (DPRK) from 1994 to 2011. He succeeded his father and founder of the DPRK Kim Il-sung following the elder Kim's death in 1994. Kim Jong-il was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea,Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, and the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, the fourth-largest standing army in the world.

Kim Jong-il died of a suspected heart attack on 17 December 2011 at 08:30 while travelling by train to an area outside Pyongyang. He was succeeded by his youngest son Kim Jong-un, who was hailed by the Korean Central News Agency as the "Great Successor". The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report that during his death, a fierce snowstorm paused and the sky glowed red above the sacred Mount Paektu. The ice on a famous lake also cracked so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth.

Kim Jong-il's funeral is scheduled for 28 December in Pyongyang, with a mourning period lasting until the following day. South Korea's military was immediately put on alert after the announcement and its National Security Council convened for an emergency meeting, out of concern that political jockeying in North Korea could destabilise the region. Asian stock markets fell soon after the announcement, due to similar concerns.

12. Joseph William "Joe" Frazier (January 12, 1944 – November 7, 2011), also known as Smokin' Joe, was an Olympic and Undisputed World Heavyweight boxing champion, whose professional career lasted from 1965 to 1976, with a one-fight comeback in 1981.

Frazier was diagnosed with liver cancer in late September 2011. Within a few weeks, the cancer had metastasized. By November 2011, he was under hospice care, where he died on November 7.Upon hearing of Frazier's death, Muhammad Ali said, "The world has lost a great champion. I will always remember Joe with respect and admiration." Frazier's private funeral took place on 14 November at the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia, and in addition to friends and family was attended by Muhammad Ali, Don King, Larry Holmes, Magic Johnson, Dennis Rodman, among others. He was later buried at the Ivy Hill Cemetery, a short drive from the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church.

11. Michael Edward "Mikey" Welsh (April 20, 1971 – October 8, 2011) was an American artist and musician, best known as the former bassist of Weezer. He played with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo during Cuomo's time in Boston during the hiatus in the band Homie. Following original bassist Matt Sharp's decision to leave Weezer to focus on his group, The Rentals, Welsh was chosen to take over for him. Welsh played with Weezer from the time that they regrouped in 2000 until August 2001, when he suffered a mental breakdown. Shortly afterwards, he retired from music to focus on his art career. Welsh died on October 8, 2011.

On October 8, 2011, Welsh's Facebook page announced that he had "passed away unexpectedly", with a memorial image attached. It was later announced that Welsh had been found dead in a hotel room in Chicago, from a suspected drug overdose leading to a heart attack. He had posted on Twitter on September 26, 2011, "dreamt i died in chicago next weekend (heart attack in my sleep). need to write my will today" followed by "correction - the weekend after next". There has been discussion of whether his prediction was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

10. Steven Paul Jobs (/ˈdʒɒbz/; February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs was co-founder and previously served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney.

On October 5, 2011, he died in his Palo Alto home, aged 56. His death certificate listed respiratory arrest as the immediate cause of death, with "metastatic pancreas neuroendocrine tumor" as the underlying cause. His occupation was listed as "entrepreneur" in the "high tech" business.

9. Andy Whitfield (17 July 1972 – 11 September 2011) was a Welsh actor and model. He was best known for his leading role in the Starz television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand during 2010, a year before his death at the age of 39.

In March 2010, Whitfield was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and began undergoing treatment immediately in New Zealand. This delayed production of season two of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. While waiting for Whitfield's treatment and expected recovery, the network produced a six-part prequel, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, with only a brief uncredited voiceover from the actor. Although declared cancer-free only two months later, he suffered a recurrence of the disease later in the year and was ultimately compelled to abandon the role. Starz recast 29-year-old Australian actor Liam McIntyre as Whitfield's successor.
Whitfield died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Sydney, Australia, on 11 September 2011, 18 months after his initial cancer diagnosis.

8. Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album, Back to Black, led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British female to win five Grammys, including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

The report released on 26 October 2011 explained that Winehouse's blood alcohol content was 416 mg per decilitreat the time of her death, more than five times the legal drink-drive limit. According to the coroner "The unintended consequences of such potentially fatal levels was her sudden death."

7. Ryan Matthew Dunn (June 11, 1977 – June 20, 2011) was an American reality television personality and daredevil best known for being a member of the Jackass and Viva La Bam crew. He hosted Homewrecker and Proving Ground. A member of the CKY Crew, Dunn played one of the main characters in Bam Margera's 2003 filmHaggard: The Movie, which was based on a failed relationship Dunn had experienced. He died at the age of 34 in an alcohol-related car crash in West Goshen Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.




6. Randall Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

Initial reports of his death indicated that he had been killed in the collision, when in fact he and his wife had been wearing seatbelts and suffered only minor physical injuries in the crash. Later, tests conducted by the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office revealed that Savage had suffered from an enlarged heart and advanced coronary disease and determined his official cause of death to be "atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease."

5. Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden  Arabic: أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن‎, ʾUsāmah bin Muḥammad bin ʿAwaḍ bin Lādin; March 10, 1957 – May 2, 2011) was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets. He was a member of the wealthy Saudi bin Laden family, and an ethnic Yemeni Kindite.

Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local time by a United States special forces military unit. The operation, code-namedOperation Neptune Spear, was ordered by United States President Barack Obama and carried out in a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operation by a team ofUnited States Navy SEALs from the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (also known as DEVGRU or informally by its former name, SEAL Team Six) of the Joint Special Operations Command, with support from CIA operatives on the ground. The raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan was launched from Afghanistan. After the raid, U.S. forces took bin Laden's body to Afghanistan for identification, then buried it at sea within 24 hours of his death.

4. Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. As one of the world's most famous film stars, Taylor was recognized for her acting ability and for her glamorous lifestyle, beauty and distinctive violet eyes.

In February 2011, new symptoms related to heart failure caused her to be admitted into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for treatment, where she remained until her death at age 79 on March 23, 2011, surrounded by her four children.

3. Michael Gough (pronounced /ˈɡɔːf/ gawf; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was an English character actor who appeared in over 150 films. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for his roles in the Hammer Horror films from 1958, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four movies of the Burton/Schumacher Batman franchise, beginning with Batman (1989).

Michael Gough died on 17 March 2011 in London at the age of 94 after a short illness. He was survived by his fourth wife, Henrietta, daughter Emma and sons Simon (who is married to actress Sharon Gurney, the daughter of the Upstairs, Downstairs actress Rachel Gurney) and Jasper. Michael Keaton, his co-star in the first two Batman films, said that Gough was sweet and charming and wrote, "To Mick – my butler, my confidant, my friend, my Alfred. I love you. God bless. Michael (Mr Wayne) Keaton."

2.  Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), better known by his stage name Nate Dogg, was an American musician. He is noted for his membership of rap trio and his solo career in which he collaborated with Dr. Dre, Warren G, Tupac and Snoop Dogg on many hit releases. Nate Dogg released three solo albums, G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1 & 2 in 1998, Music and Me in 2001 and Nate Dogg in 2008.

Nate Dogg died in 2011 in Long Beach, California, the cause of the death was from complications of multiple strokes.


1. Michael Christopher Star  (April 4, 1966- March 8, 2011 aged 44). Before Alice In Chains, Starr was in two different bands. One went by the name of Gypsy Rose which included early Alice N' Chains producer Tim Branom. Before that, in 1983/'84, Starr was in a heavy metal band called SATO with whom he recorded the song "Leather Warriors" for the Northwest Metalfest compilation, released in 1984 by local Seattle label, Ground Zero Records.

On March 8, 2011, at 1:42pm, police were called to a home in Salt Lake City where they found 44-year-old Starr's body. A private memorial was held for Starr at Experience Music Project in Seattle on March 20, 2011. There were roughly 400 people in attendance, including former bandmates Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney, according to Mike Inez. According to Tom Sizemore in an interview on The Howard Stern Show, toxicology tests eventually showed that the cause of death was actually surprisingly small amounts of the prescription drug, Xanax, and alcohol. Dr. Drew Pinsky has confirmed that Starr's death was the result of a "prescription-drug overdose."

biography source: Wikipedia
Photo: Photobucket