DHAKA: Banglanews24.com, as in the previous years, has reminded its esteemed readers that in 2015 we have lost many popular persons across the globe. Some of them are:
APJ Abdul Kalam, 83, President
(Oct. 15, 1931–Jul. 27, 2015)
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen (APJ) Abdul Kalam was the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. A career scientist turned politician, Kalam was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, and studied physics and aerospace engineering.
Maureen O’Hara, 95, Actress
(Aug. 17, 1920–Oct. 24, 2015)
The green-eyed, red-headed Irish beauty was a product of Hollywood’s Golden Age, appearing in several films with John Wayne (The Quiet Man, for one), as well as the classic Miracle on 34th Street and the Oscar-winner How Green Was My Valley. She said in one recent interview that her success wasn’t just about her looks: ‘I gave bloody good performances’.
Jackie Collins, 77, Author
(Oct. 4, 1937–Sept. 19, 2015)
The London-born author — the younger sister of actress Joan Collins — wrote wildly popular books, churning out 32 best-selling romance novels, including the scandalous Hollywood Wives (made into a miniseries with Candice Bergen) and her latest, The Santangelos.
Julian Bond, 75, Civil Rights Leader
(Jan. 14, 1940–Aug. 15, 2015)
The legendary activist spent decades working for equal rights, including as leader of the NAACP and a Georgia state senator. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which Bond co-founded, declared on its website that our country had lost “one of its most passionate and eloquent voices for the cause of justice.”
EL Doctorow, 84, Author
(January 6, 1931–July 21, 2015)
He was the award-winning writer of popular historical novels, including his 1975 hit, the epic Ragtime — which became a Broadway show — Billy Bathgate and others. The New York Times described him as a “literary time traveler,” skilled in “Illustrating how the past informs the present, and how the present has evolved from the past."
Omar Sharif, 83, Actor
(April 10, 1932–July 10, 2015)
The Egyptian-born star is known for his memorable, mustachioed roles in two classic films: the lead in Doctor Zhivago (1965) and tribal chief Sherif Ali, opposite Peter O'Toole, in 1962's Lawrence of Arabia. His later acting career was less stellar — though he became a champion bridge player.
Anita Ekberg, 83, actress
(Sept. 29, 1931–Jan. 11, 2015)
The sexy Swedish model/actress starred in many films, most famously with Marcello Mastroianni in 1960’s La Dolce Vita. Never married, she told an Italian newspaper a few years ago that she had no regrets, ‘I have loved, cried, been mad with happiness. I have won and I have lost’.
Source: aarp.org
BDST: 1846 HRS, DEC 31, 2015
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