List of Famous people who died in 2019

William Joseph Buckner was an American professional baseball first baseman and left fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five teams from 1969 through 1990, including the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Boston Red Sox. Beginning his career as an outfielder with the Dodgers, he helped the team to the 1974 pennant with a .314 batting average, but a serious ankle injury the next year eventually led to his trade to the Cubs prior to the 1977 season. The Cubs moved Buckner to first base, and he won the National League (NL) batting title with a .324 mark in 1980. He was named to the All-Star team in 1981 as he led the major leagues in doubles. After setting a major league record for first basemen with 159 assists in 1982, Buckner surpassed that total with 161 in 1983 while again leading the NL in doubles, before feuds with team management over a loss of playing time resulted in his being traded to the Red Sox in the middle of the 1984 season.

Freddie Starr was an English stand up comedian, impressionist, singer and actor. Starr was the lead singer of Merseybeat rock and roll group the Midniters during the early 1960s, and came to prominence in the early 1970s after appearing on Opportunity Knocks and the Royal Variety Performance. In the 1990s, he starred in several television shows, including Freddie Starr (1993–1994), The Freddie Starr Show (1996–1998) and An Audience with Freddie Starr in 1996. In 1999, he presented the game show Beat the Crusher.

Charles Elmer "Rip" Taylor Jr. was an American actor and comedian, known for his exuberance and flamboyant personality, including his wild moustache, toupee, and his habit of showering himself with confetti. The Hollywood Reporter called him "a television and nightclub mainstay for more than six decades" who made thousands of nightclub and television appearances.

Michel Jean Legrand was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many songs. His scores for the films of French New Wave director Jacques Demy, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), earned Legrand his first Academy Award nominations. Legrand won his first Oscar for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968).

Malcolm John Rebennack Jr., better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music combined blues, pop, jazz, boogie-woogie, funk, and rock and roll.

Ange Didier Houon, known professionally as DJ Arafat, Arafat Muana and various other stage names, was an Ivorian DJ and singer who made music in the Coupé-Décalé genre. "Jonathan", "202", "Dosabado", "Kpangor", "Zoropoto" and "Enfant Beni" were some of his major hits. He was popular in French-speaking countries in Africa. He was awarded the "Best Artist of the Year" at the Coupé-Decalé Awards in the year 2016 and 2017. He died in a motorcycle accident on 12 August 2019.

Pernell Whitaker Sr. was an American professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2001, and subsequently worked as a boxing trainer. He was a four-weight world champion, having won titles at lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight, and light middleweight; the undisputed lightweight title; and the lineal lightweight and welterweight titles. In 1989, Whitaker was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He currently holds the longest unified lightweight championship reign in boxing history at six title defenses. Whitaker is generally regarded as one of the greatest defensive boxers of all-time.

George Edward Maxwell Wright was an American actor, known for his role as Willie Tanner on the sitcom ALF (1986–1990).

Thomas Edward Silverstein was an American criminal who spent the last 42 years of his life in prison after being convicted of four separate murders while imprisoned for armed robbery, one of which was overturned. Silverstein spent the last 36 years of his life in solitary confinement for killing Corrections Officer Merle Clutts at the Marion Penitentiary in Illinois. Prison authorities described him as a brutal killer and a former leader of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang. Silverstein maintained that the dehumanizing conditions inside the prison system contributed to the three murders he committed. He was held "in a specially designed cell" in what is called "Range 13" at ADX Florence federal penitentiary in Colorado. He was the longest-held prisoner in solitary confinement within the Bureau of Prisons at the time of his death.

Eduardo Verchez Garcia, known colloquially as Manoy, was a Filipino actor, television personality, film director and producer. With almost 700 film and television roles and a career spanning seven decades, he is widely regarded as the "greatest Filipino actor of all time". He had the highest number of appearances in Philippine films, portraying a variety of roles which include gay, antihero, and villain roles.