Tina Turner, Philippe Sollers, Jane Birkin... They left us in 2023

For Orson Welles, she was the “most fabulous woman in the world.” The Italian actress and photographer Gina Lollobrigida became known to the general public thanks to her memorable roles in Fanfan la Tulipe by Christian-Jaque, Les Belles de nuit by René Clair and Notre-Dame de Paris, by Jean Delannoy. She will receive a German prize (a Bambi) for best foreign actress for this performance. The star stopped her career in the 1970s to devote herself to photography - she had also won the Nadar prize for her first album on Italy.

Also read: Gina Lollobrigida, the Italian queen of cinema, died at 95

They also left us in January: Lisa Marie Presley (rock singer-songwriter at 54), Jeff Beck (rock guitarist), Fred White (musician-songwriter), Tom Verlaine (rock singer and guitarist) , Renée Gailhoustet (architect), Roger Louret (actor, playwright and director), Russel Banks (writer), Paul Vecchiali (director, producer and writer), Marcel Zanini (jazz musician), Lisa Loring (actress and screenwriter) …

American actress Raquel Welch, sex symbol of the 1960s, has died at 82. Known for her roles in A Million Years BC and Myra Breckinridge, she had toured with Jean-Paul Belmondo, Frank Sinatra and Burt Reynolds. During her career, she appeared in more than thirty films, including Fantastic Voyage and The Three Musketeers. His performance in this 1973 film earned him a Golden Globe. The actress has also appeared in more than fifty television series.

They also left us in February: Michel Deville (writer and director), Leiji Matsumoto (manga and animated cartoonist), Louis Velle (actor), Hugh Hudson (director)…

Pioneer of electronic music and author of numerous film scores, Ryuichi Sakamoto made himself known to the general international public with his film scores, starting with that of Furyo by Nagisa Oshima (1983), a subversive film about a prison camp in Asia during the Second World War. In 1988, he won the Oscar for best film music for having co-written that of The Last Emperor by Bernardo Bertolucci, who collaborated with him several times, notably on his next film, A Tea in the Sahara (1990).

They also left us in March: Marion Game (actress), Steve Mackey (musician and producer), Tom Sizemore (actor, producer and screenwriter), Robert Blake (actor), Roland Castro (architect), Michel Peyramaure (novelist). ..

Renowned saxophonist, Wayne Shorter spent almost sixty years at the pinnacle of jazz history, from dreamy choruses to inspired musical conversations, alongside Miles Davis. This tenor and soprano saxophonist was considered one of the greatest jazz composers in the United States. Wayne Shorter was able, at the beginning of the sixties marked by two great sax figures, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, to impose a third voice. “He embodied a sort of middle voice, a slightly more dreamy speech.” notes Franck Bergerot.

Also readJazz legend Wayne Shorter dies at 89

They also left us in April: Thierry Courtin (illustrator), Moonbin (actor, singer and dancer), Murray Melvin (theater and film actor), Lasse Wellander (guitarist), Paul Cattermole (singer and actor)…

The singer, nicknamed the "Queen of Rock'n'Roll", was considered one of the greatest artists of all time. Tina Turner was known for hits such as What's Love Got to Do with It and (Simply) The Best, winning six of her eight Grammy Awards in the 1980s.

Also read: Tina Turner, rock legend, died at 83

He leaves behind half a century of writing, as rich and protean as the history of the last forty years. Philippe Sollers was published for the first time at the age of 22. He quickly became the darling of French letters, dubbed by the Catholic Mauriac as by the communist Aragon.

They also left us in May: Marcel Amont (singer and actor), Jean Louis Murat (singer-songwriter), Rita Lee (singer, composer and musician), Ray Stevenson (actor)…

The great American writer saw the first part of the Trilogy of the Borders, Of So Pretty Horses (which would be followed by Grand Passage, in 1994, and Cities in the Plain, in 1998), crowned with several major prizes, including the National Book Award. It sold 160,000 copies in large format. Since 1965, Cormac McCarthy has published twelve novels, including The Road, which was a worldwide bestseller in 2006.

Also read: Cormac McCarthy, America and its darkness

They also left us in June: Treat Williams (director, producer and actor), Guillaume Bats (comedian), Claude Barzotti (author, composer and performer), Ysabelle Lacamp (novelist and actress), Kaija Saariaho (composer), Claude Sarraute (journalist and writer)

Actress in her early days, Jane Birkin will forever be linked to the name of her first mentor, Serge Gainsbourg and to their cult song  Je t'aime, moi non plus . Health problems kept her away from the stage and her public appearances became more rare. The last one dates back to the César ceremony in February 2023 for the documentary, Jane by Charlotte, directed by her daughter.

They also left us in July: Sinead O'Connor (singer-songwriter and musician), Angus Cloud (actor), Tony Bennett (singer), Sophie Fillières (director), Randy Meisner (bassist), Paul Reubens (comedian , actor and screenwriter)...

Historian specializing in Russia and permanent secretary of the Académie Française since 1999, Hélène Carrère d'Encausse was the author of around thirty works including the resounding Shattered Empire which enjoyed immense success (1978). Hélène Carrère d'Encausse marked her time with her talent as a historian and academic but also with her tireless activity within numerous institutions of a sometimes political nature.

Also read Death of Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, first woman at the head of the French Academy

They also left us in August: Death of Geneviève de Fontenay: Emmanuel Macron salutes a “figure of our popular culture” (businesswoman), Jango Edwards (clown and actor), William Friedkin (director, screenwriter and producer), Renatta Scotto (soprano), Mark Margolis (actor)…

British actor and television personality Michael Gambon played the character of Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter. If he achieved international fame late in the cinema through numerous supporting roles in the films of Tim Burton, Michael Mann or Robert Altman, Michael Gambon especially shone in the theater, in Ireland and in England, where he It has been produced for around sixty years. In his fifty-year career, he has won five Baftas.

Also read: Michael Gambon, known for his role as Dumbledore in Harry Potter, is dead

They also left us in September: David McCallum (actor and musician), Buichi Terasawa (manga artist), Wahid Bouzidi (comedian and actor), Catherine Lachens (actress), Steve Harwell (singer), Lou Deprijck (performer, composer and producer), Fernando Botero (painter and sculptor)…

He was known for his iconic role in the series featuring one of the most famous groups of friends in the world. What is ketamine, which caused the death of Matthew Perry? Was found dead in his jacuzzi, without emergency services being able to resuscitate him. The actor had struggled for years with his addiction to painkillers and alcohol, and had attended rehabilitation clinics on several occasions. Matthew Perry was best known for the role of joker and clumsy Chandler Bing in the series Friends, which aired on NBC for ten seasons, from 1994 to 2004, totaling more than 230 episodes.

They also left us in October: Henri Serre (actor and singer), Jorge Lavelli (director), Jean Roger Milo (actor)…

Shane MacGowan, lead singer of the Celtic punk band, used his drunken bard's voice to perform provocative ballads about the downtrodden and marginalized. His lyrics, marked by Celtic legends, recounted the life of the Irish and their diaspora, to music mixing Irish rhythms and punk energy. “A true carefree anti-hero,” music critic Liam Fay said of him.

Also readShane MacGowan, singer of the Pogues, died at 65

They also left us in November: Bob de Groot (screenwriter), Laurent Greilsamer (writer), Michel Ciment (writer), Colette Maze (pianist), Elliott Erwitt (photographer), Karl Tremblay (singer), Jacques Rozier (director) …

Jazzman, clarinetist, charming singer, Guy Marchand was the most polymorphous actor in French cinema. A crooner at heart, he loved above all to sing, the Passionnata and jazz standards. Music, cinema and the general public will remember an acrobat with multiple gifts who knew how to give depth to lightness for half a century. Guy Marchand also tried his hand at writing: he published his autobiography, Le Guignol des Buttes-Chaumont, and several novels such as A Razor in the Hands of a Monkey, and The Sun of Lost Children which received the Jean Prize -Nohain in 2012.

Also read: Guy Marchand, the most crooning of French actors, is dead

They also left us in December: Andre Braugher (actor), Ryan O’Neal (actor), Denny Laine (guitarist), Lee Sun-Kyun (actor)...