Year in Review: The Television Stars We Said Goodbye to in 2021

As we reflect on 2021, we can’t help but think of all the TV greats who left us.

The last 12 months have seen the deaths of several small-screen legends, including seven-time Emmy winner Ed Asner — the most honored male performer in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards. We also said goodbye to fellow Mary Tyler Moore vets Cloris Leachman (who, at eight Emmys, is tied with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the most awarded performer in Emmy history), Gavin MacLeod and, as of Dec. 31, showbiz icon Betty White.

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Other Emmy winners we lost over the past year include Cicely Tyson, Christopher Plummer, Hal Holbrook, Peter Scolari and Jessica Walter. We also bid adieu to broadcast titans like Larry King and Willard Scott; soap mainstays Stuart Damon (General Hospital) and Jerry Douglas (The Young and the Restless); and sitcom stars Dustin Diamond (Saved by the Bell), Markie Post (Night Court) and George Segal (Just Shoot Me, The Goldbergs).

Our In Memoriam roundup also includes Saturday Night Live‘s Norm Macdonald, Sex and the City‘s Willie Garson and The Wire‘s Michael K. Williams — all of whom caught us completely off guard — as well as several game show contestants and reality TV stars.

Scroll through the attached gallery — or click here for direct access — to read our remembrances, then drop a comment with your own fond memories of the celebrities who passed away in 2021.

Launch Gallery: TV Stars We Lost in 2021

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