A boxing legend... An iconic fashion designer... A mad TV mother... A real life hero of a dad...
...and one of the most beloved children’s authors of all time. These are the stories
of the lives we lost in March 2021. Sabine Schmitz was a racing driver who became the
first and only woman to win the famed German endurance race, the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.
She drove the track many times for the BBC’s Top Gear and became one of the show’s presenters in
2016. The chemistry between the presenters is very good. We are all like a little family.
We have a lot of fun after work. We have beer together and talking about all that funny stuff
we did so far and It’s amazing, you know. When do you have a chance to drive a super-duper sports
car next to an F-18 jet, you know? It’s amazing. Schmitz was known as the Queen of the Nurburgring
for her love of the challenging track. She died March 16, of cancer at the age of 51.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler was the middleweight boxing champion from 1980 to 1987. He successfully
defended his title 12 times against boxers like Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns. Regarded as one
of boxing’s all-time great middleweights—he was named Fighter of the Decade at the end of the
‘80s. He inspired new generations of aspiring boxers with his charity work. That’s the reason
why I wanted to go on some of these projects and everything. It makes you feel real good, you know,
just to put a smile on that kid’s face and then teach them a little bit about life. In 1982,
Hagler had Marvelous legally added to his name. He died March 13, at the age of 66.
Lance Waldroup was a star of the reality show Moonshiners.
The show depicted the lives of backwoods distillers in the Appalachian Mountains.
He died February 25, at the age of 30. His death was publicly reported in March.
Henry Darrow was an actor best known for playing Manolito Montoya on the 1960s TV hit The High
Chaparral. In 1983, he became the first Latino actor to play Zorro on TV when he starred in
Zorro and Son. He later played Zorro’s father in The New Zorro. He died March 14, at the age of 87.
Mark Pavelich was one of the stars of the U.S. Olympic hockey team—he logged an assist on the
game-winning goal in the legendary "Miracle on Ice" victory over the Soviet Union.
Pavelich went on to a professional career with the New York Rangers,
where he became the first and only American NHL player to score five goals in one game. He
died March 4, at the age of 63. Carla Wallenda was a member of the famous Flying Wallendas,
the family of daredevils who have been thrilling audiences for almost 100 years.
She learned to walk the high wire when she was just four years old, and she continued
until her retirement at age 81. Wallenda died March 6, of natural causes at the age of 85.
Roger Mudd was one of the 20th century’s great TV newsmen. He was an anchor of the CBS Evening
News and NBC Nightly News, as well as hosting Meet the Press and anchoring History Channel programs.
In 1979 he stumped presidential hopeful Ted Kennedy with the simple question: Why do
you want to be president? Mudd died March 9, of complications of kidney failure at the age of 93.
Bunny Wailer was one of reggae music’s icons. He co-founded the Wailers along
with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, helping create enduring hits like Stir It Up, Get Up Stand Up,
and I Shot the Sheriff. After leaving the Wailers in 1974, he had a Grammy-winning solo career.
Wailer died March 2, of complications of a stroke at the age of 73.
Yaphet Kotto was one of the stars of the sci-fi classic Alien. He also made history as the first
black supervillain to go up against James Bond in Live and Let Die. On TV he starred in the
acclaimed 1990s police drama Homicide: Life on the Street. Kotto died March 15, at the age of 81.
Moses McCormick was better known to YouTube watchers as Laoshu. He spoke at least 20
languages, and his viral videos showed him striking up conversations with strangers who
spoke Japanese, Arabic, Mandarin, and more. McCormick also shared his method of learning
languages by focusing on conversational phrases, which he called Foreign Language Roadrunning.
He died March 4, of heart complications at the age of 39.
Jessica McClintock was a fashion designer whose formal dresses became
wildly popular at proms and weddings throughout the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s.
She designed under her own name as well as designing for her Gunne Sax line.
Her fans included Hillary Clinton, who wore a Jessica McClintock wedding dress. McClintock
died February 16, of natural causes at the age of 90. Her death was publicly reported in March.
Elgin Baylor was one of the early superstars of the NBA—playing for the Los Angeles Lakers from
1958 to 1971. He was an 11-time All-Star and went to eight NBA Finals. Baylor was inducted into the
Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 1977. He died March 22, of natural causes at the age of 86.
Dick Hoyt became an icon of the Boston Marathon when he began racing while pushing his son,
Rick, who has cerebral palsy, in a wheelchair. Known as Team Hoyt,
the two ran 32 Boston Marathons and are honored with a statue near the route’s starting line.
Dick Hoyt died March 17, of congestive heart failure, at the age of 80.
Robert Ashby was a Tuskegee Airman, one of the renowned group of Black pilots
and support staff who served in World War II. After a 21-year career in the U.S. Air Force,
he became the first Black pilot for Frontier Airlines. Ashby is believed to have been the
only Tuskegee Airman who became a captain for a major airline. He died March 5, at the age of 95.
Jahmil French was one of the stars of TV’s Degrassi: The Next Generation,
appearing on the teen drama from 2010 through 2013. French received a Canadian Screen Awards
nomination for his performance in the 2017 film Boost. He died March 1, at the age of 29.
Taylor Dee was a rising country music star from Texas. Her singles included The Buzz,
Greener Grass, and Top Shelf Liquor. Dee was nominated for a 2019 Josie Award for
Best Female Vocalist of the Year. She died March 14, in a car accident at the age of 33.
George Segal was hilarious in the TV sitcoms The Goldbergs and Just Shoot Me!
He was a successful actor on stage and screen for more than 60 years. In 1966, he earned an Oscar
nomination for his performance in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. When I was eight years old I
mainly wanted to be a fireman,
and not because I wanted to be a fireman but that’s what you said
because people would ask you, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”
And then I was taken to the Squire Theater in Great Neck
and they were playing “This Gun for Hire.” Higher than what, I didn’t know. I didn’t know what that
meant but it starred Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake… At that time at eight years old I understood that
that was a job that Alan Ladd had and that he went in every day, just like my father went in every
day to New York for his job. And I thought to myself—and I knew it was only a dream—I wanted a
job just like Alan Ladd had. Segal’s other movies include Fun with Dick & Jane, Look Who’s Talking,
and Flirting with Disaster. He died March 23, of complications of bypass surgery, at the age of 87.
Jessica Walter played the acid-tongued matriarch Lucille Bluth on the cult-favorite TV show
Arrested Development. She was also the voice of a similarly snarky character—spymaster
Malory Archer—in the animated spy comedy Archer. Walter’s acclaimed acting career included a Golden
Globe nomination for her performance in the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty for Me and a Primetime
Emmy for her starring role in Amy Prentiss. She died March 24, in her sleep at the age of 80.
Larry McMurtry was the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove,
the 1985 novel that became a hit 1989 TV miniseries. Other popular screen adaptations
of his books include Terms of Endearment and The Last Picture Show. McMurtry won an Academy
Award for his adapted screenplay of Brokeback Mountain. He died March 25, at the age of 84.
Beverly Cleary wrote children’s books that were beloved by generations. Her award-winning books
included the Ramona series, which focused on a rambunctious young girl named Ramona Quimby.
Cleary also wrote the Henry Huggins series, as well as standalone books like Dear Mr.
Henshaw and The Mouse & the Motorcycle. She died March 25, at the age of 104.