Deaths in 2025

Below is a list of notable deaths in 2025, arranged in chronological order. (The age of the individual is in parentheses.)

January

• David Lodge (89): English novelist, literary critic, playwright, and editor known chiefly for his satiric novels about academic life, especially the Campus trilogy

• Costas Simitis (88): Greek legal scholar and politician who served as the prime minister of Greece from 1996 to 2004

• Jean-Marie Le Pen (96): French nationalist who founded and served as leader (1972–2011) of the National Front (later National Rally) political party, which represented the main right-wing opposition to the country’s mainstream conservative parties from the 1970s through the early 21st century
• Peter Yarrow (86): American singer who was a member of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, which was at the forefront of the folk music revival of the 1960s; their hit songs include “If I Had a Hammer” and “Leaving on a Jet Plane”

• David Lynch (78): American filmmaker and screenwriter who is known for his uniquely disturbing and mind-bending visual work; his films, including Blue Velvet (1986) and Mulholland Drive (2001), juxtapose the cheerfully mundane with the shockingly macabre and often defy explanation
• Joan Plowright (95): English dramatic actress whose notable credits include the play A Taste of Honey (1960), for which she received a Tony Award, and Enchanted April (1991), a movie that earned her an Academy Award nomination; she was married to Laurence Olivier from 1961 to his death in 1989
• Bob Uecker (90): American baseball player, Hall of Fame broadcaster, and actor who was known for his self-effacing wit; nicknamed “Mr. Baseball,” he was the radio announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers for more than 50 years, and he starred in such comedies as Major League (1989)

• Jules Feiffer (95): American cartoonist and writer who became famous for his Feiffer, a satirical comic strip notable for its emphasis on very literate captions

• Cecile Richards (67): American activist and administrator who was president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (2006–18)

• Mauricio Funes (65): Salvadoran television journalist who served as president of El Salvador (2009–14)

• Michael Longley (85): Northern Irish poet who was called “a custodian of griefs and wonders” and was best known for the poem “Ceasefire,” about the Troubles

• Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (85): Native American artist whose drawings, paintings, sculptures, and prints build on Modernist vocabularies to explore Native American history, identity, and sociopolitical relationship with the United States

• Dick Button (95): American figure skater who dominated the sport in the late 1940s and early 1950s and who later became a noted TV analyst
• Marianne Faithfull (78): British singer and actress who was a muse to Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones in the 1960s and who later overcame drug addiction to find success with her candid and emotional songs

February

• Horst Köhler (81): German economist and politician who served as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (2000–04) and as president of Germany (2004–10)

• Sam Nujoma (95): leader of the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) liberation movement and, later, a political party, who served as the first president of independent Namibia (1990–2005)

• Tom Robbins (92): American novelist noted for his eccentric characters, playful optimism, and self-conscious wordplay; his notable novels include Still Life with Woodpecker (1980) and Jitterbug Perfume (1984)

• Gene Hackman (95): American actor known for his emotionally honest and natural performances; he won Oscars for his performances in The French Connection (1971) and Unforgiven (1992)

• Chris Jasper (73): American musician who was a member of the R&B and rock band the Isley Brothers; its hit songs included “Shout,” “It’s Your Thing,” “That Lady (Part 1),” and “Fight the Power (Part I)”

• Roberta Flack (88): American R&B singer known for the number-one hits “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (1972) and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” (1973)
• Alvin Poussaint (90): American psychiatrist specializing in child psychiatry and in issues of racial identity and health among African Americans; he also served as a consultant to the popular TV sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–92)

• Jennifer Johnston (95): Irish novelist whose works deal with political and cultural tensions in Ireland, with an emphasis on the problems of the Anglo-Irish
• Martin E. Marty (97): American historian of religion best known as the author of numerous works that examined trends in religion in their broader historical and cultural contexts; his masterwork was the three-volume Modern American Religion (1986–96)

• Boris Spassky (88): Russian chess master who was world champion from 1969 to 1972

• David Johansen (75): American singer and songwriter who was a member of the New York Dolls, a glam rock band that revitalized the New York City underground music scene in the 1970s and foreshadowed punk rock by half a decade

March

• Athol Fugard (92): South African dramatist, actor, and director who became internationally known for his penetrating and pessimistic analyses of South African society during the apartheid period