December 18, 2008. Copyright 2008, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Review 2008: Last Farewells
By Julie Mullins

LONDON, December 18, Graphic News:  Captions accompany photomontage GN23914

1. Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who introduced the Beatles and other stars to ancient Hindu meditation methods, died in his sleep at his home in the Netherlands in February. The Maharishi, who was thought to have been 91 years old, introduced the Transcendental Meditation movement to the West in 1959, with the intention of creating individual peace and enlightenment. By the time of his death, it had grown into a multi-million dollar empire.

2. Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn died in August at his home after years of declining health. Through his writings, he made the world aware of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's labour camp system, and for these efforts, Solzhenitsyn was both awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970 and exiled from the Soviet Union in 1974. He returned to Russia in 1994.

3. British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C. Clarke died in his adopted home of Sri Lanka in March at the age of 90. Clarke came to fame in 1968 when his short story, The Sentinel, was made into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, by director Stanley Kubrick. Clarke served in the Royal Air Force during World War II, and foresaw the concept of communication satellites, but did not patent the idea because he did not think it would happen in his lifetime. In the 1940s, he maintained man would reach the moon by the year 2000, an idea dismissed at the time.

4. Controversial Austrian politician Joerg Haider was killed in a car crash near Klagenfurt in October. Police later confirmed that Haider was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. The 58-year-old was leader of the right-wing Alliance for the Future of Austria, and was known for his anti-immigration and anti-EU policies. His death came shortly after his party had made significant gains in parliamentary elections.

5. Yves Saint Laurent, considered by many as the greatest fashion designer of the 20th century, died in Paris in June, aged 71. Saint Laurent changed the face of the fashion industry when he became chief designer of the House of Dior at just 21. He designed clothes that reflected women's changing role in society: more confident personally, sexually and in the work-place.

6. Controversial former world chess champion Bobby Fischer died in Iceland in January, aged 64. The U.S.-born player became famous for beating Cold War Soviet rival Boris Spassky in 1972, but was stripped of his crown in 1975 when he refused to defend his title. He fell further from favour after breaking international sanctions by playing a match in the former Yugoslavia in 1992. The reclusive player, who became increasingly anti-American and renounced his U.S. citizenship, then lived undetected in Japan for a number of years before moving to Iceland.

7. U.S. singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes died in August at his home in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 65. Hayes won an Oscar for his 1971 hit Theme From Shaft, but was better known to a younger audience as the voice of Chef from the hit cartoon show, South Park.

8. South African singing legend Miriam Makeba died from a heart attack in November, aged 76. A leading symbol in the struggle against apartheid, Makeba spent 30 years in exile when her passport was revoked in 1960 after she starred in an anti-apartheid documentary, and did not return to her native country until invited back by Nelson Mandela after his release from prison. Makeba was the first black African woman to win a Grammy Award, which she shared with Harry Belafonte in 1965; and famously appeared on Paul Simon's Graceland tour in 1987.

9. Legendary dancer Cyd Charisse died in June, aged 86, after suffering a heart attack. The Texan-born, classically-trained Charisse danced with the Ballet Russe as a teenager but is best remembered for her roles in MGM's Technicolor musicals of the 1940s and 1950s with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, notably Silk Stockings and Singin' in the Rain.

10. Australian actor Heath Ledger was found dead at his home in New York in January. The 28-year-old actor, who was Oscar-nominated for the universally acclaimed Brokeback Mountain, died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. Ledger was regarded as one of Hollywood's brightest young stars, with a string of acclaimed films behind him and a major career ahead. He is tipped to win a posthumous Oscar for his final role, in the Batman movie The Dark Knight.

11. Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mount Everest, died in January, aged 88. With Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, he reached the summit of the world's highest peak on May 29, 1953. After conquering Everest, Hillary led a number of expeditions to the South Pole and devoted his life to helping the ethnic Sherpas of Nepal's Khumbu region. In 1964 he set up the Himalayan Trust, which helped build hospitals, clinics, bridges, airstrips and nearly 30 schools, which he claimed gave him greater satisfaction than the feat for which he will always be best remembered.

12. Former Indonesian president Suharto died from multiple organ failure in January at age 86. Suharto's 32-year rule was marked by rapid economic growth and political stability, but his regime was repressive, with thousands were killed in the provinces of Papua and Aceh, and in East Timor which was invaded in 1975. The Asian economic crisis of the 1990s hit IndonesiaÕs economy hard and he was ousted from power in May 1998 amid mass protests over corruption and human rights abuses, but escaped trial on health grounds.

13. Grammy-winning singer-guitarist Bo Diddley died from heart failure in Florida in June, aged 79. He rose to fame in 1955 when he topped the R&B charts with his first recording, Bo Diddley, from which he subsequently took his stage name. Other hits included Who Do You Love, Before You Accuse Me, and Mona. The legendary singer and performer was known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat.

14. Film legend Paul Newman died of cancer in September at the age of 83. Nominated for numerous awards, the star with the bluest eyes in the business picked up an Oscar for the 1986 Martin Scorsese film The Color of Money. He was also a talented producer-director, a racing car enthusiast, a political activist and a philanthropist who, through Newman's Own, the food company he co-founded and from which he donated all post-tax profits and royalties to charity, distributed more money, in relation to his own wealth, than any other American during the 20th century.

15. Hollywood star Charlton Heston died at his home in Beverly Hills, aged 84, in April. His wife Lydia, whom he married in 1944, was at his side. Heston was best known for playing heroic roles, such as Moses in The Ten Commandments, Michelangelo, El Cid and Judah Ben-Hur, the role for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1959. In the 1950s and 60s he was one of a handful of Hollywood actors to speak openly against racism and was an active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. Initially a liberal Democrat, he later supported conservative politics and was president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003, stepping down after revealing he had Alzheimer's disease.