List of Famous people who died at 71

John Herbert Gleason was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy, exemplified by his city-bus-driver Ralph Kramden character in the television series The Honeymooners. He also developed The Jackie Gleason Show, which maintained high ratings from the mid-1950s through 1970. After originating in New York City, filming moved to Miami Beach, Florida in 1964 after Gleason took up permanent residence there.

George Campbell Scott was an American actor, director, and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayals of the prosecutor Claude Dancer in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964), General George S. Patton in the film Patton (1970), and Ebenezer Scrooge in Clive Donner's film A Christmas Carol (1984).

Keith Noel Emerson was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and composer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became internationally famous for his work with the Nice, which included writing rock arrangements of classical music. After leaving the Nice in 1970, he was a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early progressive rock supergroups. Emerson, Lake & Palmer were commercially successful through much of the 1970s, becoming one of the best-known progressive rock groups of the era. Emerson wrote and arranged much of ELP's music on albums such as Tarkus (1971) and Brain Salad Surgery (1973), combining his own original compositions with classical or traditional pieces adapted into a rock format.

Ronald Earle Glass was an American actor. He was known for his roles as literary Det. Ron Harris in the television sitcom Barney Miller (1975–1982), and as the spiritual Shepherd Derrial Book in the science-fiction series Firefly (2002) and its sequel film Serenity (2005).

Thomas Rocco Barbella, better known as Rocky Graziano, was an Italian-American professional boxer who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history, often displaying the capacity to take his opponent out with a single punch. He was ranked 23rd on The Ring magazine list of the greatest punchers of all time. He fought many of the best middleweights of the era including Sugar Ray Robinson. His turbulent and violent life story was the basis of the 1956 Oscar-winning drama film, Somebody Up There Likes Me, based on his 1955 autobiography of the same title.

Richard Lawrence Hatch was an American actor, writer and producer. Hatch began his career as a stage actor, before moving on to television work in the 1970s. Hatch is best known for his role as Captain Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica television series. He is also widely known for his role as Tom Zarek in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica.

John Francis Dunsworth was a Canadian actor best remembered for playing the alcoholic trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey on the comedy series Trailer Park Boys. He was also known for playing the mysterious reporter Dave Teagues on the supernatural drama series Haven, and for playing Officer McNabb in Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion, a CBC film about the 1917 Halifax Explosion. He had extensive experience in regional theater.

Alexandre "Sacha" Distel was a French singer, guitarist, and actor who had hits with a cover version of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" in 1970, and reach No 10 in the UK Charts, "Scoubidou", and "The Good Life". He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur in 1997.

Leslie Michael Grantham was a British actor, best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West German taxi driver, and had significant press coverage resulting from an online sex scandal in 2004.

Gustl Bayrhammer was a German actor. He appeared in 79 films and television shows between 1964 and 1993. He starred in the 1970 film o.k., which was entered into the 20th Berlin International Film Festival. However, the competition was cancelled and no prizes were awarded, over controversy surrounding the film. He is mostly known for his role as Meister Eder in the 1980s children's show Meister Eder und sein Pumuckl.