Celebrity deaths of 2025

In 2025, we said goodbye to a remarkable group of notable figures, including Pope Francis, Italian designer Giorgio Armani, architect Frank Gehry, Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa and renowned chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall.

Film and entertainment also suffered major losses, with the deaths of directors David Lynch and Rob Reiner; actors such as Val Kilmer and Terence Stamp; Hollywood legends Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, and Diane Keaton; and Claudia Cardinale, the glamorous symbol of post-war Italian cinema.

David Lynch, 78

Film director of classics such as Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive

Robert Redford, 89

Actor, director, producer, who embodied the classic Hollywood leading man

Jane Goodall, 91

Renowned chimpanzee expert and tireless wildlife advocate

Val Kilmer, 65

Uncompromising star of Top Gun, The Doors and Batman Forever

Roberta Flack, 88

The iconic voice behind hits such as Killing Me Softly

Rob Reiner, 78

Film director of classics such as When Harry Met Sally and Misery

Giorgio Armani, 91

Italian designer, legend and trailblazer of the fashion world

Pope Francis, 88

Oversaw a period of reform and modernisation in the Catholic Church

Ozzy Osbourne, 76

Singer/songwriter, Black Sabbath frontman and heavy metal pioneer

Gene Hackman, 95

Two-time Oscar-winner for Unforgiven and The French Connection

Claudia Cardinale, 87

Symbol of Italian cinema, starred in The Leopard, 8 1/2 and Pink Panther

Terence Stamp, 87

British actor famous for his roles in Star Wars and Superman

Brian Wilson, 82

Songwriter and founding member of the Beach Boys

Diane Keaton, 79

Actress who captured hearts in the 1977 romantic comedy Annie Hall

Frank Gehry, 96

Groundbreaking architect, designer of Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum

Mario Vargas Llosa, 89

Peruvian Nobel Prize writer and Latin American Boom literary star

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