2017 was a brutal year of celeb losses.
From beloved musicians to fan-favored actors, the year claimed a lot of high-profile lives.
Here are some of the biggest celebs we lost last year.
Chris Cornell
Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell's career spanned three decades.
The rocker founded Soundgarden in 1984, and the band became one of the most popular and
influential groups in the burgeoning Seattle scene that would come to define grunge.
Soundgarden reached the mainstream with their 1994 album Superunknown, which featured the
Grammy-winning singles "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman."
And after the band broke up in 1997, Cornell remained in the spotlight with a string of
solo albums and as singer of the supergroup Audioslave before Soundgarden reunited in
2010.
Cornell also contributed to several movie soundtracks including those for Singles, Mission:
Impossible 2, and 12 Years a Slave.
He received a Grammy nomination for his Casino Royale theme "You Know My Name" and an Emmy
nomination for "The Keeper" from 2011's Machine Gun Preacher.
Unfortunately, Cornell ended his life by hanging on May 18th.
The 52-year-old singer was found in his hotel room in Detroit, shortly after his final concert
with Soundgarden ended.
Sam Shepard
Decorated playwright and actor Sam Shepard was the very definition of a double-threat.
The winner of 13 Obie Awards, he won his first six for plays he wrote between 1966 and 1968.
He soon made the transition into screenwriting with films like Me and My Brother.
Then, in 1978, he stepped in front of the camera as a land baron in Terrence Malick's
Days of Heaven,
He continued to work as a playwright, and penned his critically acclaimed Family Trilogy
-- the first installment of which would earn him the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
But he also thrived as a character actor at the same time, earning an Oscar nomination
for playing Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff.
In his later years, Shepard appeared in movies like Black Hawk Down, The Notebook, The Assassination
of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Midnight Special, and the Netflix series Bloodline.
Shepard ultimately lost his battle with ALS on July 27th at the age of 73.
Jerry Lewis
Comedy legend Jerry Lewis was one of the most recognizable and influential American entertainers
of the 20th century.
The actor skyrocketed to fame in the '50s when he teamed with crooner Dean Martin as
the comedy duo Martin and Lewis.
At the height of their popularity, they dominated nightclubs, radio, and the box office.
After a bitter split with Martin, Lewis remained a top-grossing movie star through the mid-'60s
with classics like The Bellboy and The Nutty Professor.
His screen work continued all the way until 2016.
Lewis also became well-known as the national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association,
hosting the annual Labor Day telethon for more than five decades, raising almost $2.5
billion over the course of his extended tenure.
He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.
Sadly, Lewis passed away on August 20th at the age of 91 after succumbing to heart failure.
Harry Dean Stanton
Prolific character actor Harry Dean Stanton enjoyed his first major role in the 1958 Western
The Proud Rebel.
He also turned in a memorable performance as a singing convict in the 1967 classic Cool
Hand Luke.
He was a regular presence on TV for decades, and he gained notoriety for roles in Two-Lane
Blacktop, Alien, Escape From New York, and Repo Man, landing a rare leading role in Paris,
Texas.
He later appeared in Pretty in Pink, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Green Mile, and
had a cameo in Marvel's The Avengers.
Stanton often collaborated with David Lynch, appearing in Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks, The
Straight Story, and more.
Despite his prolific career, he remained humble 'til the very end.
"Anybody can be an actor, I feel.
Anybody here.
Everybody in this room, everywhere can be a film actor, if you've got a good director."
The curtain closed on the actor's life and career on September 15th in Los Angeles.
He was 91.
Chuck Low
Known for his part in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, actor Chuck Low spent four years on active
duty as an army major and remained in the reserves for three decades.
His friendship with Robert De Niro opened the door for Low's first onscreen appearance
in 1982's The King of Comedy.
He also acted in other De Niro movies, including Once Upon a Time in America and The Mission,
but he's still best remembered for playing flamboyant wig shop owner "Morrie" Kessler
in Goodfellas.
He later guest starred in small screen series like The Sopranos and 100 Centre Street.
Low's life came to an end on September 18th at a nursing home in New Jersey.
He was 89.
Monty Hall
Co-creator and host of the game show Let's Make a Deal, Monty Hall took leave of the
world on September 30th due to heart failure, at the age of 96.
A native of Canada, his career started in radio commentary, but he became a television
legend when he created his hit game show series in 1963.
The show featured contestants who would come to the studio dressed in crazy costumes in
an attempt to get Hall's attention.
Then they could pick from a hidden prize or take cash rolled up in Hall's jacket.
Hall would often go off script and engage in hilarious conversations with the players.
The series eventually moved to ABC, running in daytime, and occasionally in primetime,
for decades, and later ran in syndication.
In all, Hall estimated he hosted more than 4,700 episodes.
Tom Petty
American music history wouldn't be the same without Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
The band rose to fame in the mid-'70s and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 2002.
Petty was also a member of the '80s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, George
Harrison, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne.
And he sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the top-selling musicians
of all time.
He also acted, making cameos in films like Made in Heaven and opposite Kevin Costner
in The Postman.
He also had a recurring voice role as Lucky on King of the Hill.
After spending decades in the spotlight, Petty's story came to an end on October 2nd.
The 66-year-old was found unconscious the night before and was rushed to the hospital.
After his family learned he had no brain activity, they made the decision to withdraw him from
life support.
Ralphie May
A comedian who rose to fame after appearing during the first season of Last Comic Standing,
Ralphie May had been working his way to the top for years before the world knew his name.
He'd previously won a contest to open for Sam Kinison when he was 17, which prompted
him to pursue comedy as a career.
After working the stand-up circuit for years, he eventually released a series of comedy
specials and dabbled in scripted acting.
Tragically, May passed on October 6th from cardiac arrest after battling pneumonia for
several weeks.
Roy Dotrice
After portraying a Pyromancer on Game of Thrones, actor Roy Dotrice left this world on October
16th at the age of 94.
Dotrice served in the British Royal Air Force during WWII and was imprisoned in a German
POW camp.
He began working as an actor in the '60s and appeared in films like Amadeus and Hellboy 2.
On television, he appeared on series like Space 1999 and Beauty and the Beast.
In 2000, he won a Tony Award for his role in the Broadway revival of A Moon for the
Misbegotten.
However, Dotrice is perhaps best known for Game of Thrones.
He was reportedly offered the larger role of Maester Pycelle but had to back out due
to health issues.
Instead, he played the head of the Alchemists' Guild in King's Landing.
But before that, Dotrice provided voices for 224 characters in the audiobook of the first
novel in George R.R. Martin's series A Song of Ice and Fire, which inspired Game of Thrones.
He holds the Guinness World Record for playing the most characters in an audiobook performance.
Brad Bufanda
Best known for playing Felix Toombs on Veronica Mars, Brad Bufanda was also a small screen
staple in shows like CSI: Miami, Malcolm in the Middle, Even Stevens, Boston Public, and
Days of Our Lives.
The actor perished on November 1st at the age of 34 after reportedly jumping from a
building in Los Angeles.
A note was found on or near his body with the names of his parents and a "thank you"
to people in his life.
Della Reese
Best known for her work in the CBS drama series Touched by an Angel, Della Reese started singing
at an early age and formed her own gospel group, signing her first record contract in
the '50s and topping the charts with "Don't You Know."
In the late '60s, she began acting on TV before launching her own talk show in 1969.
She became the first African-American woman to guest-host The Tonight Show with Johnny
Carson in 1970 and later appeared on TV series including Chico and the Man and The Love Boat.
In 1979, Reese suffered a near-fatal aneurysm that required two surgeries, but she bounced
back and was later ordained as a minister.
She became a household name playing Roma Downey's sarcastic angel boss Tess on Touched by an
Angel, which aired from 1994 to 2003.
Reese earned two Emmy nominations for the role and reprised it in the spin-off, Promised
Land.
The actress passed away on November 19th at the age of 86.
David Cassidy
Thanks to his role in the popular musical sitcom The Partridge Family, David Cassidy
was also a legend of the small screen.
He grew up as part of a show business family and signed on to play Keith Partridge on The
Partridge Family in 1970 alongside his stepmother Shirley Jones.
The pair were the only cast members on the show who were actually allowed to sing, and
Cassidy performed the theme song "C'mon Get Happy," which helped launch his music career.
With hit singles including "I Think I Love You" and "Cherish," Cassidy became a multimedia
superstar.
He went on to make guest appearances on Fantasy Island and The Love Boat.
Cassidy also performed in the musical theater scene and headlined several Las Vegas shows.
His daughter, Katie Cassidy, is also an actress, playing Laurel Lance in the CW's Arrow.
He passed away from organ failure on November 21st at the age of 67.
Rose Marie
Best known for playing Sally Rogers on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Rose Marie's family announced
her passing on December 28th.
The actress began her career as a child star under the name Baby Rose Marie and starred
on her own NBC radio show at the age of 5.
She went on to appear in vaudeville, and had parts in the 1929 short Baby Rose Marie the
Child Wonder and the 1933 feature International House.
As a teenager, Marie became a nightclub singer before returning to radio.
In the early '50s, she appeared on television variety shows, and in 1961, she was cast as
Sally Rogers, a comedy television writer on The Dick Van Dyke Show, a role which would
earn her three Emmy nominations.
She was later a fixture on game shows, serving as the upper center square on Hollywood Squares
for 14 years, and she also worked the nightclub circuit and continued to make appearances
on sitcoms like Murphy Brown, Wings, and Caroline in the City.
She was 94 when she said finally goodbye to the world.
Thanks for watching!
For our tribute to the other celebrities who passed away during the first half of the year,
please check out our other video, "Stars We've Sadly Lost So Far In 2017."