2021 Celebrity Cremations

2021 CELEBRITY CREMATIONS

12/22/2021

For this end-of-year post, we decided to look at a few notable people who died this year and chose cremation for their disposition.

In this pandemic era, it’s all too common for memorial services to be delayed due to difficulties in traveling, concerns about gathering, and the effect of overwhelming grief on top of day-to-day mental strain. For some of the famous people in this list—and countless others famous and not — funeral services were “pending” while families figured out how to honor a life at a time when bringing everyone who mourns them together is so difficult.

In many cases, these memorials were held outside or limited to just a few friends and family. More than ever, virtual remembrances were vitally important to convey how much someone touched lives from miles away.

Although stories and statistics show that people were not driven to cremation during the pandemic, cremation is often seen as a way of extending the timeline. Delaying decisions about memorial services and permanent placement can be easier when you can keep your loved one in your care in the meantime. That’s why, at the very end of this post, you’ll read about two celebrities who found a permanent resting place years after they died.

Celebrity entries appear in alphabetical order.

VIRGIL ABLOH

SEPTEMBER 30, 1980 – NOVEMBER 28, 2021

Virgil Abloh broke boundaries as the first black Creative Director of Men’s Wear at world-renowned fashion house Louis Vuitton and brought pop culture to haute couture. His final collection appeared on the runway just days after his death from a rare heart cancer. The Miami fashion show that he had designed became a memorial service for 1,500 friends, family, collaborators, colleagues, media, and others on November 30th complete with videos, performances, and a statue in his likeness. After the careful planning he had done, “he was distraught not to be here to share it in person.”

A smaller memorial service was held December 6th at the Museum of Contemporary Art in his hometown of Chicago with close friends sharing what he meant to them. In Chicago and across the world, he was remembered by Louis Vuitton via boutique windows covered with colorful panels proclaiming simply and meaningfully “Virgil was here.”

photo source @louisvuitton

elgin baylor

SEPTEMBER 16, 1934 – MARCH 22, 2021

Elgin Gay Baylor, an 11-time NBA All-Star with the Los Angeles (formerly Minneapolis) Lakers, is considered one of the top 25 most influential players of all time for his on- and off-court work: considering his impressive hangtime and for his dedication to desegregation and support of the basketball players union. Since 1983, his retired #22 jersey has hung in the LA Lakers’ stadium. A statue honoring his talent was erected outside in 2018. On March 25 th, the Lakers honored his legacy with a memorial video, a moment of silence, and special uniforms sporting his initials and a black stripe.

photo source: AP Photo/Reed Saxon - The Philadelphia Tribune: "Elgin Baylor, silky-smooth Lakers Hall of Famer, dies at 86"

michael collins

OCTOBER 31, 1930 – APRIL 28, 2021

Michael Collins is best known as the pilot for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, but he worked hard to “prevent the rest of my life from being an anticlimax.” Collins dedicated his leadership in support of space exploration and the people who achieve greatness and inspire future generations, and played an integral role in founding the National Air and Space Museum.

On April 30th, the Kennedy Space Center hosted a memorial ceremony at the U.S. Astronauts Hall of Fame for the public to gather and remember his achievements. There, the air and space community, friends, family, colleagues, and the public honored his many contributions to Earth and space.

photo source Spectrum News 13: "Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins honored at Kennedy Space Center"

FREDERIK WILLEM “FW” DE KLERK

MARCH 18, 1936 – NOVEMBER 11, 2021

Frederik Willem “FW” de Klerk served as the 7th President of South Africa and the final president of the Apartheid era. While he is credited with working to end Apartheid and relinquishing the presidency to Nelson Mandela in 1994, his legacy is tainted as a central figure in an oppressive regime.

As a result of this complicated legacy, his family eschewed a state funeral for a private funeral, cremation, and burial in an undisclosed location after his death, without including members of the media or the public. Instead, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a four-day mourning period and flags flown at half-mast until his cremation. On December 12th, de Klerk was recognized in a state memorial service where family shared their love and leaders honored his legacy.

photo source: Reuters: South Africa's F.W. de Klerk feared democracy, says Ramaphosa

MARVELOUS MARVIN HAGLER

MAY 23, 1954 – MARCH 13, 2021

Marvin Nathaniel Hagler is regarded as one of the top fighters in the history of boxing with 67 professional matches, earning 62 wins in his 14-year career. The undisputed World Middleweight Champion from 1980 until 1987, Hagler officially changed his name to Marvelous Marvin Hagler in 1982.

“Marvin didn’t want a funeral. He didn’t want a wake. He wanted to be cremated,” his mother explained. Massachusetts chose to honor Hagler in his childhood hometown of Brockton – the City of Champions – on May 23rd. Declared as Marvelous Marvin Hagler Day, the public memorial service attracted celebrities and members of the public to celebrate his life and honor his memory. Brockton has announced that a statue will be raised to remember him.

photo source The Enterprise: Hagler Day celebrated in Brockton

norm macdonald

OCTOBER 17, 1959 – SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Norman Gene Macdonald’s death from cancer took many people by surprise as the comedian, writer, and actor was a famously private person. But while people may not be certain what age he really was, they will always remember his comedy — which they did by sharing clips and sketches from stand-up and SNL throughout his life. His family gathered on September 21st to remember him in a private service, and it’s fair to assume that they honored him as he joked they should: “When I have my funeral, and most funerals are crying and sad… that’s what I’d like. I’ve heard of other ones: ‘Let’s have a party!’ Whoa! No. There will be a lot of party days later, but right now I’m dead. People should be talking, crying.”

One of Macdonald’s most famous impressions during his time on SNL was portraying presidential hopeful Senator Bob Dole. In good humor, Dole had joined him onstage and in Macdonald’s memory shared a photo from the moment saying that “Bob Dole will miss Norm Macdonald.” Coincidentally, Dole died fewer than three months later on December 5th.

photo source Los Angeles Times: Revisiting Norm Macdonald’s Bob Dole impression after their deaths

larry mcmurtry

JUNE 3, 1936 – MARCH 25, 2021

Larry Jeff McMurtry wrote about what he knew: ranching and Texas. With more than thirty novels including Horseman, Pass By and Lonesome Dove, forty screenplays (including Brokeback Mountain), and more, he shaped the way people see Texas today. He also owned a second-hand bookstore in his hometown Archer City. When asked, he imagined his urn sitting on its shelves – an unobtrusive memorial that would encourage visitors to buy more books – though he also owned a plot in neighboring Wichita Falls.

An atheist, McMurtry was not interested in marking his death publicly, but his colleagues disagreed: “If we didn’t do this,” said George Getschow, cofounder of the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, “we would have missed an opportunity to celebrate Texas’s most influential writer.” So, on October 9th they gathered at the site of The Last Picture Show to host Larry McMurty: Reflections on a Minor Regional Novelist (an inside joke for the award-winning internationally recognized writer) to visit the places in Archer City that appeared throughout his work, screen his films, and share memories and favorite passages to honor his legacy and the mark he left on Texas.

photo source Texas Monthly: The Larry McMurtry I Knew

BIBIAN MENTEL-SPEE

SEPTEMBER 27, 1972 – MARCH 29, 2021

Bibian Mentel was a rising star in Dutch snowboarding, ready to compete in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics when a bone tumor required amputation of her right leg below the knee. Many thought this would signal the end of her career, but seven months later she took the next Dutch snowboarding championship and began lobbying the Paralympics to add snowboarding to their games. When they debuted the sport in 2014, she took the gold. The bone cancer continued to return and spread throughout her body requiring years of therapy and surgery, but she won two gold medals in the 2018 Paralympics and continued to compete until losing the battle to cancer this year.

At the 2021 games, the Paralympics honored her memory with a video tribute to her accomplishments and indefatigable spirit. Her cremation and service were kept small for safety, but admirers served as honor guard to the hearse carrying her flower-laden casket to the crematorium. Her foundation, committed to motivating people with mental and physical challenges, will help ensure her memory and good works will continue.

photo source AD.nl: The Netherlands says goodbye to Bibian Mentel

christopher plummer

DECEMBER 13, 1929 – FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer was an award-winning actor of stage and screen. Best known as Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music opposite Julie Andrews, his career spanned seven decades. Lesser known might be his role as Klingon General Chang in the 1991 film Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country and again in 2000 for the video game Star Trek: Klingon Academy. While the role was perhaps not Oscar-recognized, Trekkers remain his devoted fans. Players gathered virtually across the many worlds of the games to honor and pay tribute to one of the greatest Klingon warriors.

photo source Eurogamer: Star Trek Online players gather in-game to pay tribute to Christopher Plummer

BRIAN SICKNICK

JULY 30, 1978 - JANUARY 7, 2021

Brian David Sicknick does not truly fit on this list of celebrities like the others. By all accounts, he was a private individual, devoted to his family, dogs, and country after serving in the National Guard before being honorably discharged in 2003. Then, he joined the United States Capitol Police in 2008 in the First Responders Unit.

Officer Sicknick fell in the line of duty while defending the Capitol on January 6th. He is included in this list of notable cremations since his remains were the first to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda in an urn rather than a casket. Just the fifth civilian to lie in honor, his urn and flag were respected in the rotunda on February 2nd before interment in a columbarium niche in Arlington National Cemetery.

photo source CBS News: Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick remembered as a "peacekeeper" as he lies in honor

jessica walter

JANUARY 31, 1941 – MARCH 24, 2021

For more than 60 years, Jessica Walter appeared on stage and screen, famous for playing character roles, but also for voiceover work, commercials, Good Morning America and much more. Predeceased by her husband and fellow actor Ron Leibman, who was also cremated in 2019, their family never specified details of the official memorials for either of them. But that didn’t stop colleagues and fans from remembering Walter in their own ways, particularly her recent work on Arrested Development (2003-2019) and the animated show Archer (2009-present) where she died before completing the season 12 finale. In her honor, Archer creators had her spy character escape to an unknown beach joined by her husband — who had been played by Ron Leibman. Their final words on screen, compiled from previous episodes, honored the fact that both their characters – and Walter and Leibman themselves – were now reunited together, happy and peaceful, in paradise.

photo source Entertainment Weekly: How Archer said goodbye to Jessica Walter on the show's season finale

WINTER

OCTOBER 2005 – NOVEMBER 11, 2021

Winter captured hearts as the bottlenose dolphin with the prosthetic tail. The star of her own biopic, its sequel, and related books, her story of perseverance through disability and chronic illness inspired people and drew fans to her tank in the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Unfortunately, the Aquarium announced that gastrointestinal complications cut her life short just 16 years after her rescue.

On November 20th, the Aquarium hosted a memorial in front of her tank and streamed the service to her fans worldwide. In January 2022, the Aquarium plans to open a virtual reality experience with Winter that will allow visitors to swim with her as she was in life. The Aquarium will build a permanent memorial to her at their facility, but they plan to scatter Winter’s cremated remains in the Gulf of Mexico: “Returning Winter to her natural home is a poetic ending to her 16-year journey and we couldn’t think of a better way to lay her spirit to rest.”

photo source @cmaquarium

2021 RESTING PLACES

zsa zsa gabor

FEBRUARY 6, 1917 – DECEMBER 18, 2016

Sári “Zsa Zsa” Gábor could be considered “famous for being famous.” While she had some film roles, she is best known for her nine marriages and socialite status as the daughter of a “glamorous” family and a wife to men of power. She remained connected to her home country of Hungary through service and donations. When she died of heart failure in 2016, a portion of her cremated remains were sent to her sister’s plot in Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California. Finally, in 2021, the remaining portion was laid to rest in her native home in Budapest, Hungary.

photo source BBC: Zsa Zsa Gabor: Hollywood legend's ashes buried in Hungary

BURT REYNOLDS

FEBRUARY 11, 1936 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Burton Leon Reynolds, Jr. was on his way to a football career before an injury pointed him toward acting instead. His stardom spanned more than six decades of television and movie roles and he was Hollywood’s top grossing star in the late 1970s to early 80s. Reynolds died of a heart attack in 2018, but it wasn’t until 2021 that his cremated remains were placed in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery with a bronze memorial statue unveiled at a ceremony honoring his legacy three years after his death.

photo source: Chris Pizzello/AP - KTLA: Bronze sculpture of Burt Reynolds unveiled during ceremony at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Catch up on posts from other years: 2019 ● 2021 ● 2022 ● 2023 ● 2024

This post only captures a few of the many people we've loved and lost this year. For a list of celebrities and notable peoples' deaths and dispositions, we suggest FindAGrave.com.