List of Famous people who died in 2016

Kenneth Joseph Howard Jr. was an American actor, best known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in 1776 and as basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the television show The White Shadow (1978–1981). Howard won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1970 for his performance in Child's Play, and later won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his work in Grey Gardens (2009).

Meghan Elizabeth Wren, known professionally as Amber Rayne, was an American pornographic actress.

Denton Arthur Cooley was an American heart and cardiothoracic surgeon famous for performing the first implantation of a total artificial heart. Cooley was also the founder and surgeon in-chief of The Texas Heart Institute, chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at clinical partner Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, consultant in Cardiovascular Surgery at Texas Children's Hospital and a clinical professor of Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Nagarajan Muthukumar was an Indian poet, lyricist, and author. Best known for his Tamil language film songs, he received the most number of Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist in Tamil and was a two-time recipient of the National Film Award for Best Lyrics for his works in Thanga Meenkal (2013) and Saivam (2014).

Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. She was the founder and director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, an institute for imparting training in dance, drama, music and puppetry, in the city of Ahmedabad. She received many awards and citations in recognition of her contribution to art. She trained over 18,000 students in Bharatnatyam and Kathakali.

Tamio "Tommy" Kono was an American weightlifter in the 1950s and 1960s. Kono set world records in four different weight classes: lightweight, middleweight, light-heavyweight, and middle-heavyweight.

Michael Cimino was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and author. He achieved fame as the director of The Deer Hunter (1978), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and earned him Best Director. However, Cimino's reputation would be tarnished by his follow-up Heaven's Gate (1980), a critical failure that became one of the biggest box-office bombs of all time.

Gérard C. Louis-Dreyfus, also known as William, was a French-American businessman. His net worth was estimated at $3.4 billion by Forbes in 2006. He was the chairman of Louis Dreyfus Energy Services and the great grandson of Léopold Louis-Dreyfus, founder of Louis Dreyfus Group. He was the father of actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Bryce Alexander Dejean-Jones was an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Iowa State University after stints with USC and UNLV, and played professionally for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Dylan Joseph Rieder was an American professional skateboarder, artist, and model.