Decade in Review: Celebrity Curtain Calls

FILE - In this image released by A&E, Patrick Swayze is shown in a promotional photo for the A&E series, \"The Beast.\" Swayze's publicist Annett Wolf says the 57-year-old \"Dirty Dancing\" actor died Monday, Sept. 14, 2009, after a nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. (AP Photo/A&E, Michael Muller, file) ** NO SALES **

epa01778790 In this handout photo provided by AEG and made available on 29 June 2009, pop star Michael Jackson rehearses for his planned shows in London at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, USA, 23 June 2009. Jackson died two days later at the age of 50 in a hospital after going into cardiac arrest in his Los Angeles home on 25 June 2009. EPA/Kevin Mazur / AEG HANDOUT NO ARCHIVE - NO SALES MANDATORY CREDIT: (Photo by Kevin Mazur/AEG) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

FILE - In this Jan. 1977 file photo originally released by ABC, actress Farrah Fawcett-Majors from \"Charlie's Angels,\" is shown. Fawcett died, Thursday, June 25, 2009, at a hospital in Los Angeles. She was 62. (AP Photo/ABC, file)

** FILE ** This image provided by Focus Features shows actor Heath Ledger portraying the character Ennis Del Mar in the movie \"Brokeback Mountain.\" Locals in Heath Ledger's hometown of Perth, Australia on Monday February 4, 2008, prepared to welcome home the remains of one of their biggest stars, mourning the death of the 28-year-old Oscar-nominated actor _ and expressing dismay at the recent speculation about his alleged drug use.

HOLLYWOOD, CA - MARCH 6: Actor/Comedian Bernie Mac accepting his award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series on stage at the 35th Annual NAACP Image Awards at the Universal Amphitheatre, March 6, 2004 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

** FILE **In this 1968 file photo released by Warner Bros., actor Paul Newman played a prisoner who becomes a legend to his fellow members of a chain gang in the film ''Cool Hand Luke.\" Newman, the Academy-Award winning superstar who personified cool as an activist, race car driver, popcorn impresario and the anti-hero of such films as \"Hud,\" \"Cool Hand Luke\" and \"The Color of Money,\" has died, a spokeswoman said Saturday. He was 83. Newman died Friday, Sept. 26, 2008, of cancer, spokeswoman Marni Tomljanovic said. (AP Photo/Warner Bros., File)

In this 1975 photo originally released by NBC, comedian George Carlin is shown in a promotional photo for NBC's \"Saturday Night Live.\" Carlin, 71, whose staunch defense of free speech in his most famous routine \"Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television\" led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity, died Sunday June 22, 2008. He went into St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. Carlin served as host of the \"Saturday Night Live\" debut in 1975. (AP Photo/NBC) ** NO SALES **

circa 1955: Studio headshot portrait of American actor Charlton Heston, 1950s. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

**FILE**Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti performs at the D'avilla moat during a concert in Nicosia, Cyprus, in this June 9, 2004 file photo. Pavarotti, whose vibrant high C's and ebullient showmanship made him one the most beloved tenors, has died, his manager told The Associated Press Thursday Sept. 6, 2007. He was 71. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

** RETRANSMISSION TO REMOVE ERRONEOUS DATE OF PHOTO ** ** FILE ** Television talk show host Merv Griffin speaks in front of an audience in this undated photo in Los Angeles. A spokesperson for Merv Griffin reports Sunday, Aug. 12, 2007 the entertainer and entrepreneur has died at age 82. (AP Photo)

**FILE**Anna Nicole Smith attends the Mao Magazine and Mao Space opening night party celebrating the beginning of the Olympus Fashion Week Spring 2005 at the Altman Building in New York City, in this September 7, 2004 file photo. A federal appeals court Thursday threw out a judge's ruling that awarded $88.5 million to former Playboy model Smith from the estate of her late husband, an oil tycoon who died at age 90 just over a year after they wed. (AP Photo/Jennifer Graylock)

This undated promotional photo, provided by the Discovery Networks U.S., shows \"Crocodile Hunter\" star Steve Irwin with one of the huge reptiles. Discovery Networks is looking to some of its other Animal Planet channel stars to replace the hyper Australian Irwin, who was killed by a stingray barb while shooting underwater action in the Great Barrier Reef on Monday, Sept. 4. (AP Photos/Discovery Networks U.S.)

** FILE ** James Brown performs at the celebration of Rev. Al Sharpton's 50th birthday at the Apollo theater in the Harlem neighborhood of New York Sunday Oct. 3, 2004. The dynamic \"Godfather of Soul,\" whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, Dec. 25, 2006 of heart failure brought on by pneumonia, his agent said. He was 73. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

Actor Don Knotts is seen in this undated studio portrait. Knotts, the skinny, lovable nerd who kept generations of television audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on \"The Andy Griffith Show,\" died Friday night, Feb. 25, 2006 of pulmonary and respiratory complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills. He was 81.(AP Photo)

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1970: Photo of Richard Pryor Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Comedian Johnny Carson is shown on \"The Tonight Show\" in an undated file photo. Carson, the king of U.S. late-night television as host of NBC's \"The Tonight Show\" for nearly 30 years died on January 23, 2005 at age 79. Carson's topical opening monologues and on-air banter with sidekick Ed McMahon and bandleader Doc Severinsen made his show a cultural touchstone, and his death saddened many in Hollywood who got their first big break on the program. NO SALES EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/NBC NO SALES

'Erika Tiffany-Smith To The Rescue' October 13, 1965 Frames: 20, 46, 90 GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. Cast member Bob Denver (as Gilligan). Image from episode: 'Erika Tiffany-Smith To The Rescue' October 13, 1965. CBS code: 34319. Copyright CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Credit: CBS Photo Archive.

circa 1965: Studio headshot portrait of American actor Tony Randall smiling. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

September 17, 1967 THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW Rodney Dangerfield performs. #32129_28 Copyright CBS Broadcasting, Inc., All Rights Reserved, Credit: CBS Photo Archive

Musician Ray Charles performing at a microphone, c. 1960. (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

Actor Sherman Hemsley sits with his legs up, as Isabel Sanford (left) and Zara Cully talk behind him in a scene from the television comedy series, 'The Jeffersons,' 1976. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)

Promotional portrait of American actor Marlon Brando with his arms folded, circa 1951. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

American country singer and songwriter Johnny Cash (1932 - 2003) plays acoustic guitar in a still from his television variety series, 'The Johnny Cash Show,' circa 1968. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Headshot of American actor John Ritter smiling on the set of the television series, 'Three's Company'. He wears a corduroy blazer. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

American actor Gregory Peck (1916 - 2003) during the filming of 'The Million Pound Note' in London. Original Publication: Picture Post - 6654 - Adam, 1953 - pub. 1953. (Photo by Maurice Ambler/Getty Images)

1942: Studio portrait of British-born entertainer Bob Hope (1903 - 2003), wearing a pinkie ring, smiling at the camera. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

circa 1956: Rod Steiger (1925 - 2002) the Hollywood actor, and one of the most imposing advocates of 'the Method' school of acting. He opened his film career in 1954 as Marlon Brando's older brother in 'OnThe Waterfront'. (Photo by Baron/Getty Images)

1952: Full-length image of American actor Peggy Lee (1920 - 2002) singing on a stage, with a view of the backstage wings. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

circa 1953: American comedian Milton Berle (1908 - 2002) wears a suit and tie in a promotional portrait for the NBC television show 'Texaco Star Theater'. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

British musician, comedian and actor Dudley Moore (1935 - 2002), who lives in America and is soon to star in the film '10', which is being directed by Blake Edwards. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

1960: American actor Jack Lemmon (1925 - 2001) holds a key as he stands in front of a door with a forlorn expression on his face, in a scene from director Billy Wilder's film, 'The Apartment'. He is wearing a trenchcoat, a fedora hat, and a loosened necktie. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

392279 01: FILE PHOTO: Beatles guitarist and singer George Harrison performs December 3, 1963 during a concert. Conflicting reports were released July 23, 2001 regarding the former Beatle''s battle with cancer. Music producer Sir George Martin was quoted as saying that Harrison expects to die soon from his illnesses. The 58-year-old musician underwent treatment for a brain tumor at a clinic in Switzerland, and had surgery earlier this year for lung cancer. (Photo by Getty Images)

circa 1975: Studio headshot portrait of American actor Carroll O'Connor (1924 - 2001) smiling in a seersucker blazer and a dark shirt. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

1954: Headshot of Mexican-born actor Anthony Quinn (1915 - 2001) with a cigarette between his fingers, holding on to a barbed-wire fence in a still from Italian director Federico Fellini's film, 'La Strada'. He is wearing a plaid shirt under a striped jacket and a hat. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

1969: American actor Walter Matthau (1920 - 2000) leans against a wall in a promotional portrait for director Gene Saks's film, 'Cactus Flower'. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

circa 1955: American comedian and songwriter Steve Allen makes a face in a promotional portrait for the television program, 'Songs for Sale'. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

1978: Portrait of American cartoonist Charles M Schulz (1922 - 2001), creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip, sitting at his studio drawing table with a picture of his character Charlie Brown and some awards behind him. Schulz created the comic strip in 1950. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)

1957: Profile portrait of British actor Alec Guinness (1914 - 2000), in a still from director David Lean's film, 'Bridge on the River Kwai'. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)