A brilliant lyricist... A British royal...
A sitcom classic... A hip-hop superstar...
And an American vice-president... These are the stories of the lives we lost
in April 2021. Gloria Henry was an actress best known for
playing Dennis the Menace’s mother on TV in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Over the years Henry appeared on other shows, most recently Parks and Recreation. She died
April 3, at the age of 98. Black Rob was a rapper who had a hit single
in 2000 with “Whoa.” He also featured on songs by artists including Faith Evans
and P. Diddy. Black Rob died April 17, of cardiac arrest
at the age of 52. Felix Silla was an actor whose iconic roles
included Cousin Itt on the original Addams Family TV show and an Ewok in Return of the
Jedi. He was also a stuntman in The Towering Inferno
and Battlestar Galactica. Silla died April 16, of pancreatic cancer at the age of 84.
Lee MacMillan was a social media influencer. She shared her adventures traveling the Americas
in a van with her boyfriend and their dog on Instagram.
Fans loved her beautifully simple lifestyle. MacMillan died March 26, by suicide at the
age of 28. Her death was reported in April. Gerren Taylor was a star of Baldwin Hills,
the BET reality series that followed wealthy Black teens living in L.A.
She became a runway model when she was just 12 years old, and she later spoke out about
unrealistic beauty standards. Taylor died April 11, in her sleep at the age of 30.
Les McKeown was the lead singer for the Scottish band the Bay City Rollers. Their song Saturday
Night was a smash hit in 1975. The Bay City Rollers were teen idols known
for their plaid-trimmed outfits. McKeown died suddenly April 20, at the age of 65.
Shock G led the hip-hop group Digital Underground. Back in 1990, he was better known as Humpty
Hump, as he rapped on the hit song The Humpty Dance.
He also helped launch the legendary rap career of Tupac Shakur. Shock G died April 22, at
the age of 57. Jim Steinman was a songwriter who wrote Meat
Loaf’s wildly popular album Bat Out of Hell, including the classic song Paradise by the
Dashboard Light. He wrote other hits too, like Total Eclipse
of the Heart. Steinman died April 19, of kidney failure at the age of 73.
Bibian Mentel was a snowboarder who won three gold medals at the Paralympic Winter Games.
After she lost part of her leg to cancer, she even won gold medals against non-disabled
athletes. Mentel died March 29, of brain cancer at the age of 48. Her death was reported in
April. Walter Mondale was vice president of the United
States under President Jimmy Carter. He was the first vice president to work closely
with the president as an advisor. Before his time in the White House, Mondale was a senator
from Minnesota. I said when I was in the Congress I wondered
where the White House got all of its power. Now that I’m in the White House I wonder
where the Congress got all of its power. I think that’s exactly the way the framers
of the Constitution intended it to be. Mondale and Carter set a record as the oldest
surviving president and vice president in history. Mondale died April 19, of natural
causes at the age of 93. James Hampton was an actor who starred on
F Troop as the bumbling bugler, Hannibal Dobbs. He also played a werewolf dad in Teen Wolf,
and he starred as Caretaker in The Longest Yard. Hampton died April 7, of Parkinson’s
disease at the age of 84. Helen McCrory was an actress who played Narcissa
Malfoy, Draco’s mother, in the last three Harry Potter movies.
McCrory also starred as Polly Gray on the BBC crime drama, Peaky Blinders. She died
April 16, of cancer at the age of 52. Lee Aaker was a child star in the 1950s and
‘60s. He was best known for starring as Rusty on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin.
Aaker was also in the classic John Wayne movie, Hondo. He died April 1, of a stroke at the
age of 77. Linda Torres was known for her appearances
on the reality TV show Mob Wives and its spin-off, Big Ang.
She was a close friend to Big Ang star Angela Raiola, so she often appeared alongside her
friend. Torres died April 1, of COVID-19 at the age of 67.
Johnny Crawford starred as the young Mark McCain on the TV western “The Rifleman.”
Before that, he was one of the original Mouseketeers on “The Mickey Mouse Club.”
Crawford was also a singer, and he had hits in the ‘50s and ‘60s like “Cindy’s
Birthday.” He died April 29, at the age of 75.
Alma Wahlberg was the mother of musicians and actors Donnie and Mark Wahlberg.
Fans got to know Alma as she joked around with her sons on their reality show, Wahlburgers.
She died in April, at the age of 78. DMX was a rapper best known for his hit single,
Party Up (Up in Here). VH1 called it one of the greatest songs of the 2000s.
DMX made history when his first five albums all debuted at No. 1. He had other hits with
X Gon’ Give it to Ya and Where the Hood At?
Just want to hit banging songs, you know what I mean? And I know I put out at least half
the banging rap joints that’s out there, so you know if I stop, it’s over with.
DMX was also an actor who starred in Romeo Must Die and Belly. He died April 9, after
a cardiac arrest at the age of 50. Prince Philip was the husband of Queen Elizabeth
II of the United Kingdom. He was born a prince of Greece and Denmark.
Prince Philip helped develop the sport of carriage driving. He was also an environmental
advocate who was UK president of the World Wildlife Fund for two decades.
It’s only the older people who remember what it used to be like. So if you come into
the act now, and take now as being in the sense what we want to keep, but if you’ve
been around 40 years you realize that its deteriorated in the meantime.
He and the queen were married for more than 73 years, and he was the oldest male royal
in British history. Prince Philip died peacefully April 9, at the age of 99.
LaDonna Brave Bull Allard was an activist against the Dakota Access Pipeline. She donated
her family’s land to create the first camp for the protesters.
A member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Allard was opposed to the pipeline because
it ran past her son’s grave. It also threatened the water supply and sacred lands.
First and foremost in my life I’m a mom. And it doesn’t matter that my son has left
this world. I am responsible for his grave for the rest of my life and I need to stand
up to somebody who wants to put a pipeline next to my son’s grave. Simple. I’m a
mom. Allard was a tribal historian who shared her
knowledge of Standing Rock Sioux history. She died April 10, of brain cancer at the
age of 64. Michael Collins was a NASA astronaut who flew
the command module on the historic Apollo 11 mission to the Moon.
He orbited the Moon while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on its surface. Though
they received most of the attention, he got the laughs…
As far as the question about the water, you say they suggested the first thing we should
have done was take a shower? Well I’d have appreciated it if Neil and Buzz had taken
a shower. Myself, I didn’t think that was really necessary though.
Collins died April 28, of cancer at the age of 90.