List of Famous people who died in 2005

Mitchell Lee Hedberg was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes mixed with absurd elements and non sequiturs.

William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the Supreme Court of the United States for 33 years, as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and as Chief Justice from 1986 until his death in 2005. Considered a conservative, Rehnquist favored a conception of federalism that emphasized the Tenth Amendment's reservation of powers to the states. Under this view of federalism, the court, for the first time since the 1930s, struck down an act of Congress as exceeding its power under the Commerce Clause.

Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Throughout his career, Vandross was an in-demand background vocalist for several different artists including Todd Rundgren, Judy Collins, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Ben E. King, and Donna Summer. He later became a lead singer of the group Change, which released its gold-certified debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner/RFC Records. After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his debut solo album, Never Too Much, in 1981.

Spartak Vasilyevich Mishulin was a Soviet actor and People's Artist of the RSFSR. He was best known for his roles as Sayid in White Sun of the Desert (1969) and the title character in the Soviet stage adaptation of the Swedish children's book series Karlsson-on-the-Roof (1971) at Moscow's famed Satire Theatre.

Janet Hay Okell was an English wargamer who joined the Western Approaches Tactical Unit (WATU) as a young Naval rating in the Women's Royal Naval Service. Shortly after Admiral Max Horton was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Western Approaches Command, in November 1942, he visited WATU, and played one of their wargames. As one of the Royal Navy's most experienced submarine commanders he opted to play the role of a U-boat commander. Captain Gilbert Roberts, head of WATU decided that Okell should play the role of the escort group commander. Horton was somewhat dismayed to find that Okell was able to outsmart him five times out of five. Despite his initial horror on discovering he had been beaten by a twenty year old female rating, he soon sanctioned the use of her method, known as Beta Search to be included in the next revision of Fleet Orders.

Julius "Nipsey" Russell was an American comedian, poet, and dancer best known for his appearances as a panelist on game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s, including Match Game, Password, Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth, and Pyramid. His appearances were often distinguished by short, humorous poems he recited during the broadcast, which led to his nickname "the poet laureate of television". He had one of the leading roles in the film version of The Wiz as the Tin Man. He was a frequent guest on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast series.

Maria Margarethe Anna Schell was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She ranged among the stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance in Helmut Käutner's war drama The Last Bridge, and in 1956, she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for Gervaise.

Ramanand Sagar was an Indian film director. He is most famous for making the Ramayan television series, a 78-part TV adaptation of the ancient Indian epic of the same name, starring Arun Govil as Lord Ram and Deepika Chikhalia as Sita. This TV serial was then widely watched and liked across the country. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of Padma Shri in 2000.

Melita Stedman Norwood was a British civil servant and KGB intelligence source who, for a period after her formal recruitment in 1937, supplied the KGB with state secrets from her job at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association.

Ronald William George Barker, was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as Porridge, The Two Ronnies, and Open All Hours.