List of Famous people who died in 2021

Liam Scarlett was a British choreographer who was an artist in residence with The Royal Ballet and artistic associate with Queensland Ballet. He also choreographed new works for Ballet Black, Miami City Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, the BalletBoyz, English National Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Polish National Ballet, and the Royal Ballet School.

K. R. Gouri Amma was an Indian politician and the first revenue minister of Kerala state. She was a Marxist revolutionary, advocate, author and diplomat. She was also one of the founding leaders of the Communist movement in Kerala. She headed the Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy (JSS), a political party based in Kerala. Prior to the formation of JSS she was a prominent figure in the communist movement in Kerala. She was the first female law student coming from the Ezhava community. She was a minister in the communist-led ministries in Kerala in 1957, 1967, 1980 and 1987. She also became a minister in the Congress-led cabinet from 2001 to 2006. She is the second longest serving MLA in Kerala Legislative Assembly.

Helmut Herbst was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He directed 16 films between 1963 and 1998. His 1982 film Eine deutsche Revolution was entered into the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival.

Lucinda Riley was a Northern Irish author of popular historical fiction and a former actress.

Uswatta Liyanage Ivor Sylvester Sunil Perera, popularly known as Sunil Perera, was a Sri Lankan vocalist, guitarist, songwriter and composer. Described as one of the most famous singers in the country, Perera was the leader and the lead vocalist of The Gypsies. He was associated with Sri Lanka's baila genre, and gained the nickname "Baila Chakravarthy".

Alfred James Ellis, known as Pee Wee Ellis due to his diminutive stature, was an American saxophonist, composer, and arranger. With a background in jazz, he was a member of James Brown's band in the 1960s, appearing on many of Brown's recordings and co-writing hits like "Cold Sweat" and "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". He also worked with Van Morrison.

Dragan Pantelić was a Yugoslav professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He scored over 20 goals over the course of his career, mainly from penalties.

John Chaney was an American college basketball coach, best known for his success at Temple University from 1982 through 2006. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001 and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Viktor Germanovich Kazantsev was an envoy of the Russian president to the Southern Federal District from 2000 to 2004. He performed primary negotiations between the Russian government and the Chechen opposition. Decorated with the Hero of the Russian Federation title, he was involved in coordinating the government responses to various violent actions in Chechnya. Kazanstev was also involved in coordinating the rescue attempt during the Moscow theatre hostage situation, which took place in October 2002.

Michel Robidoux was a Canadian musician.