List of Famous people who died in 2016

Jon Raymond Polito was an American character actor. In a film and television career spanning 35 years, he amassed over 220 credits. Notable television roles included Detective Steve Crosetti in the first two seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street and as Phil Bartoli on the first season of Crime Story. He also appeared in several films including The Rocketeer, The Crow and Gangster Squad, as well as his work with the Coen brothers. He appeared in five of their films, including Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski. Polito also portrayed legendary "hungry i" nightclub impresario Enrico Banducci in a large supporting role in Tim Burton's 2014 film Big Eyes starring Amy Adams.

Jean Mavis Hodgkinson, known by the stage name Jean Alexander, was a British television actress. She was best known to television viewers for her long running role of Hilda Ogden in the soap opera Coronation Street, a role she played from 1964 until 1987, and also as Auntie Wainwright in the long-running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine from 1988 to 2010. For her role in Coronation Street, she won the 1985 Royal Television Society Award for Best Performance, and received a 1988 BAFTA TV Award nomination for Best Actress.

Margot Honecker was an East German politician who was an influential member of that country's Communist regime until 1989. From 1963 until 1989, she was Minister of National Education of the GDR. She was married to Erich Honecker, the leader of East Germany's ruling Socialist Unity Party from 1971 to 1989 and concurrently from 1976 to 1989 the country's head of state.

Henry Judah Heimlich was an American thoracic surgeon and medical researcher. He is widely credited as the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver, a technique of abdominal thrusts for stopping choking, described in Emergency Medicine in 1974. He also invented the Micro Trach portable oxygen system for ambulatory patients and the Heimlich Chest Drain Valve, or "flutter valve", which drains blood and air out of the chest cavity.

Marvin Lee Minsky was an American cognitive and computer scientist concerned largely with research of artificial intelligence (AI), co-founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, and author of several texts concerning AI and philosophy.

Kevin Gerard Meaney was an American stand-up comedian and actor.

Amjad Farid (Fareed) Sabri was a Pakistani qawwal, naat khawan and a proponent of the Sufi Muslim tradition. Son of Ghulam Farid Sabri and nephew of Maqbool Ahmed Sabri of the Sabri Brothers, he emerged as one of South Asia's most prominent qawwali singers, often reciting poems written by his father and uncle. He was shot dead in Karachi in a targeted killing. Police and paramilitary arrested his alleged killers who have confessed to the crime.

Dennis DeWayne Byrd was an American football defensive end and defensive tackle for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He attended college at the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He played professionally for the Jets for four seasons beginning in 1989. Over his four seasons, he recorded 28 sacks and 110 tackles. His career ended when he was paralyzed following a collision with a teammate during a game. Through rehabilitation, he later managed to walk again.

Alan Young was a Scottish–Canadian–American actor, comedian and radio and television host, whom TV Guide called "the Charlie Chaplin of television". He was best known for his roles as Wilbur Post in the television comedy Mister Ed (1961–1966) and Disney's Scrooge McDuck for over 30 years, first in the Academy Award-nominated short film Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) and in various other films, TV series and video games until his death. During the 1940s and 1950s, Young starred in his own variety-comedy sketch shows The Alan Young Show on radio and television, the latter gaining him two Emmy Awards in 1951. He also appeared in a number of feature films, starting from 1946, including the 1960 film The Time Machine and from the 1980s gaining a new generation of viewers appearing in numerous Walt Disney Productions films as both an actor and voice actor.

Yūko Mizutani was a Japanese actress, voice actress, narrator and singer from Ama District, Aichi. Throughout her career, she worked with Production Baobab, and was working with Aoni Production at the time of her death. Mizutani was best known for her anime voice roles of Sakiko Sakura in Chibi Maruko-chan, Mihoshi Kuramitsu in Tenchi Muyo! and Pinoko in Black Jack. She also portrayed Excellen Browning in Super Robot Wars, Sora Takenouchi in Digimon Adventure, Leina Stol in Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos, and Sarah Zabiarov and Cheimin Noa in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. Mizutani was the official Japanese voice actress for Minnie Mouse, and voiced her in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.