DECONSTRUCTED
A quick update as 2025 rapidly winds down…
Frank Gehry was one of the most recognisable architects of his generation. Influenced by pop art and fish, his distinct sculpturesque buildings were categorised as “deconstructivism” and included the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and Walt Disney Concert Hall. He won the Pritzker Prize and numerous other architecture gongs, though underwhelmingly dies at 96 next to the star runs of Oscar Niemeyer and I. M. Pei.
Jimmy Cliff was the most esteemed living reggae musician, helping usher the genre beyond Jamaica with hits including “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” and “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and his starring role as an outlaw in The Harder They Fall. He was awarded with the Jamaican Order of Merit and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Another fallen R&RHoFer was Steve Cropper, of Booker T. and the M.G.’s whose fine resume included “Green Onions” and “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay”, and was the Steve told to play it in “Soul Man”.
Hollywood regular Sally Kirkland was also known for her Andy Warhol association, as was Udo Kier, who kicked off a career playing eccentrics after featuring in the Warhol-produced Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula. Actress Jill Freud influenced Lucy in The Chronicles of Narnia, Elizabeth Franz was Tony-winner for Death of a Salesman and Lise Bourdin worked with Billy Wilder and was two days short of escaping the Sulu Zone.
Sport deaths were England all-round cricketer Barry Knight, hockey player Imran Sherwani, and Roly Howard, whose 33 years managing Marine AFC was a UK footy record. Terence Higgins was longtime Tory MP for Worthing and continues the widening gap between Patrick Duffy and the other oldest MPs. Viola Fletcher was one of the last survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, and belated obits came for psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton and Albanian PM Fatos Nano. Terence English carried out the UK’s first successful heart transplant, Ornella Vanoni was one of Italy’s most popular singers, and Criscilla Anderson was a country reality TV star.
Reptile remains in the lead whilst hoping there’s no December surprise from Esther Rantzen…