Photos: Notable deaths 2020

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Dawn Wells FILE PHOTO: Actress Dawn Wells attends the 2015 TV Land Awards at Saban Theatre on April 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. Wells died Wednesday of illness related to COVID-19. She was 82. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Joe Clark, principal who inspired movie 'Lean on Me,' dead at 82 FILE - In this Dec. 21, 1987, file photo, Eastside High School Principal Joe Clark is pictured at a rally by student supporters in Paterson, N.J. Clark, the baseball bat and bullhorn-wielding principal whose unwavering commitment to his students and uncompromising disciplinary methods inspired the 1989 film “Lean on Me,” died at his Florida home on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, after a long battle with an unspecified illness, his family said in statement. He was 82. (AP Photo/Peter Cannata, File) (Peter Cannata/AP)

David Prowse, actor who played Darth Vader, dead at 85 FILE - In this file photo dated Saturday, May 26, 2007, actor David Prowse, who was the man in the black Darth Vader suit in the first Star Wars film, signs autographs at Star Wars Celebration IV, marking the 30th anniversary of the release of the first film in the Star Wars saga, in Los Angeles, USA. The British actor, Prowse who played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, has died aged 85 on Saturday, according to an announcement by his agent Sunday Nov. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, FILE) (Reed Saxon/AP)

Zappos founder Tony Hsieh dead at 46 FILE - In this Sept. 30, 2013, file photo, Tony Hsieh speaks during a Grand Rapids Economic Club luncheon in Grand Rapids, Mich. Hsieh, retired CEO of Las Vegas-based online shoe retailer Zappos.com, has died. Hsieh was with family when he died Friday, Nov. 27, 2020, according to a statement from DTP Companies, which he founded. Downtown Partnership spokesperson Megan Fazio says Hsieh passed away in Connecticut, KLAS-TV reported. Hsieh recently retired from Zappos after 20 years leading the company. He worked to revitalize the Las Vegas area. (Cory Morse/The Grand Rapids Press via AP, File) (Cory Morse/AP)

William Blinn, 'Brian's Song,' 'Roots,' 'Purple Rain' writer, dead at 83 FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 11, 1977 file photo, Screenwriter William Blinn, left, Ed Asner, center, and David Greene pose with their Emmy statuettes at the annual Primetime Emmy Awards presentation in Los Angeles. William Blinn, a screenwriter for the landmark TV projects “Brian’s Song”, “Roots” and the Prince film “Purple Rain,” has died, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. He was 83. (AP Photo/File) (AP)

Gale Sayers dies FILE - This is a 1970 file photo showing Chicago Bears football player Gale Sayers. Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, who made his mark as one of the NFL’s best all-purpose running backs and was later celebrated for his enduring friendship with a Chicago Bears teammate with cancer, has died. He was 77. Nicknamed “The Kansas Comet” and considered among the best open-field runners the game has ever seen, Sayers died Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/FIle) (Anonymous/AP)

Arnold Spielberg, father of Steven Spielberg, dies at 103 Steven Spielberg, left, and Arnold Spielberg, right, attend the USC Shoah Foundation's Inaugural Inspiration Award & Luncheon at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on April 26, 2012, in Beverly Hills, California. Arnold Spielberg died Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, of natural causes in Los Angeles at the age of 103. (FilmMagic/FilmMagic)

Gov James Thompson FILE PHOTO: In this Nov. 10, 2004 file photo, attorney and former Gov. James Thompson is surrounded by reporters at the Illinois Supreme Court in Springfield, Ill. Thompson, known as “Big Jim” during a long career that eventually made him the state's longest-serving chief executive, has died. He was 84. Thompson died Friday, Aug. 14, 2020 at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago, his wife, Jayne, told the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File) (Seth Perlman/AP)

Sumner Redstone dies at 97 FILE PHOTO: In this Sept. 7, 1999 file photo, Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone smiles during the announcement of a merger between CBS and Viacom in New York. Redstone, the strong-willed media mogul whose public disputes with family members and subordinates made him a feared operator in Hollywood, died Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett) (SUZANNE PLUNKETT/AP)

Peter Green FILE - In this file photo dated Saturday, April 7, 2001, British rock and blues guitarist Peter Green, a founding member of Fleetwood Mac, performing with his own band, Peter Green's Splinter Group, at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, in New York. Lawyers representing the family of Peter Green, say in a statement Saturday July 25, 2020, that he has died, aged 73. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, FILE) (MARK LENNIHAN/AP)

July 6: Ennio Morricone In this July 12, 2009, file photo, Italian composer Ennio Morricone, conducts with the Budapest Symphonic Orchestra - Gyor, performing his best film themes together with the Macedonian Opera Choir, on the opening eve of the 49th Ohrid Summer Festival at the Ancient Theatre in Ohrid, in southwestern Macedonia. Morricone, who created the coyote-howl theme for the iconic Spaghetti Western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and the soundtracks of classic Hollywood gangster movies such as "The Untouchables," died Monday, July 6, 2020, in a Rome hospital at the age of 91. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski, file)

January 07, 2020 at 7:36 am EST

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