Notable figures across arts, politics and science died in 2025

Throughout 2025 a long list of widely known figures from the arts, politics, science and sport died, including Pope Francis, Robert Redford, Diane Keaton, Dick Cheney, Brian Wilson, Gene Hackman, Ozzy Osbourne, Jane Goodall, Roberta Flack, George Foreman, Tom Stoppard, Frank Gehry and Rob Reiner.

The year’s losses spanned film, television, music, theater, literature, architecture and public life. The circumstances of some deaths drew particular attention: Gene Hackman, 95 and afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease, collapsed in February from a heart malady at his Santa Fe home most likely a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died there from a rare virus and their bodies were discovered another week later.

In December Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were victims of a double homicide; their son Nick was later charged in the killings. Val Kilmer’s obituary drew the most Times traffic in 2025 (4.8 million page views). Brian Wilson died at 82 in June, within days of the death of Sly Stone, also 82.

The year also included abrupt and wrenching deaths that resonated beyond private grief: Virginia Giuffre, a prominent accuser in Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking ring, died by her own hand after suffering renal failure following a car crash; Charlie Kirk, described as a young conservative activist, was assassinated while speaking to an outdoor campus crowd in Utah.

Key Topics

Culture, Pope Francis, Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Rob Reiner, Brian Wilson