List of Famous people who died in 2017

Mary Elizabeth Smith was an American gossip columnist. She was known as "The Grand Dame of Dish". During her career, she wrote columns for the New York Daily News, The Washington Post, and Cosmopolitan. She worked exclusively with Fox Broadcasting Company with Roger Ailes. From 1995 to 2005, Smith worked with Newsday.

Jiro Taniguchi was a Japanese manga writer/artist. His works belong to the gekiga, or "dramatic pictures", genre of manga. In France he was knighted a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2011.

Emmanuelle Riva was a French actress, best known for her roles in the films Hiroshima mon amour (1959) and Amour (2012).

Darlene Cates was an American actress. She became known for her role in the 1993 film What's Eating Gilbert Grape, in which she played the title character's housebound mother.

Tsutomu Hata was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan for 9 weeks in 1994. He took over from Morihiro Hosokawa at the head of a coalition government. Shortly after he had been appointed Prime Minister, the Japanese Socialist Party left the government, leading to his early departure from office. He was a member of the lower house representing Nagano district #3. He was elected 14 times, retiring in 2012.

Benjamin Franklin Deford III was an American sportswriter and novelist. From 1980 until his death in 2017, he was a regular sports commentator on NPR's Morning Edition radio program.

Masaya Nakamura was a Japanese businessman and the founder of Namco. He was the company's president up until 2002, where he took a ceremonial role in its management. Following the formation of Bandai Namco Holdings, Nakamura would retain an honorary position in the video game division, Bandai Namco Entertainment.

Leighton Rhett Radford "Darcus" Howe was a British broadcaster, writer and racial justice campaigner. Originally from Trinidad, Howe arrived in England as a teenager in 1961, intending to study law and settling in London. There he joined the British Black Panthers, a group named in sympathy with the US Black Panther Party.

Laura Biagiotti was an Italian fashion designer and the founder of the House of Biagiotti.

Mark Colvin was an Australian journalist and radio and television broadcaster for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), and worked on most of the flagship current affairs programs. Notably, based in Sydney, he was the presenter of PM— the radio current affairs program on the ABC Radio network — from 1997 to 2017.