List of Famous people who died in 2017

Thodupuzha Vasanthi was an Indian actress who acted mainly in Malayalam films. She appeared in over 450 movies and also in 16 tele-serials and 100 plays. She was a theater artist, before starting with small roles in movies. Her first full length role was in Kakka in 1982. Some of her most popular films include Yavanika (1982), Poochakkoru Mookkuthi (1984), Nirakkoottu (1985) and Godfather (1991). She was also a dance teacher at Varamani Natyalaya. She underwent treatment for throat cancer before her death on 28 November 2017 at the age of 65.

Patrick Marie Ghislain Pierre Simon Stanislas Nève de Mévergnies was a Belgian racing driver. He participated in 14 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 16 May 1976. He was notable for being the first driver for Williams Grand Prix Engineering. He scored no championship points. His younger brother, Guy, was also a racing driver.

Gustav Metzger was an artist and political activist who developed the concept of Auto-Destructive Art and the Art Strike. Together with John Sharkey, he initiated the Destruction in Art Symposium in 1966.

Sultan Ahmed was an Indian politician and the Union Minister of State for Tourism in the Manmohan Singh government. He was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Uluberia on a Trinamool Congress ticket. He had previously been a 2-time Congress MLA for Entally.

Seijun Suzuki , born Seitaro Suzuki , was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility. He made 40 predominately B-movies for the Nikkatsu Company between 1956 and 1967, working most prolifically in the yakuza genre. His increasingly surreal style began to draw the ire of the studio in 1963 and culminated in his ultimate dismissal for what is now regarded as his magnum opus, Branded to Kill (1967), starring notable collaborator Joe Shishido. Suzuki successfully sued the studio for wrongful dismissal, but he was blacklisted for 10 years after that. As an independent filmmaker, he won critical acclaim and a Japanese Academy Award for his Taishō Trilogy, Zigeunerweisen (1980), Kagero-za (1981) and Yumeji (1991).

Robert D. Raiford was an American radio broadcaster and actor, best known for his political/social commentaries delivered during The John Boy and Billy Big Show, a morning radio program heard on stations throughout the American South. He was from Concord, North Carolina and majored in communication at the University of South Carolina. Raiford got his start in broadcasting in 1944 by calling play by play at baseball games. His first real radio job was at WEGO (AM) in Concord, North Carolina. Raiford has appeared in 28 movies, often portraying judge characters. He frequently closed his commentaries with the line "Who says that? I say that!", which also served as the title of a book containing excerpts from these segments. Early in his career, Raiford worked for WTOP radio and WTOP-TV, both CBS News affiliates in Washington, D.C.. His best-known work was a live radio broadcast on WTOP, a CBS Radio affiliate, covering the state funeral of President John F. Kennedy. He also worked at Charlotte radio station WBT, and hosted a show on WIST, which aired Charlotte's first telephone talk radio format. Raiford later taught Communications at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. From 1978 to 1986, Raiford was a news anchor and talk show host for Charlotte's NBC television affiliate, known as WRET-TV and later WPCQ-TV during his tenure there.

Kurt Moll was a German operatic bass singer who enjoyed an international career and was widely recorded.

Luis Gimeno was an Uruguayan-born Mexican actor. In 2010, he received the TVyNovelas Award for Best Leading Actor. Gimeno was born in Montevideo and died in Mexico City, aged 90. He was survived by his wife, Virginia Gutiérrez, an actress.

Michael Neville, MBE was a British broadcaster, best known as a presenter on regional TV news in North East England. In a 43-year career with the BBC and ITV franchisee Tyne Tees Television. In 1990, Neville was awarded the MBE for services to broadcasting.

Ronald Harry "Skip" Prokop was a Canadian drummer, guitarist and keyboardist. He was also a band leader, was a founding member of the Canadian rock music groups the Paupers and Lighthouse.