Actor Tom Skerritt, pictured above in 2018, has died. Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
October 22, 2026 • Skerritt was Captain Dallas in Alien , Viper in Top Gun , and a small town sheriff in the TV series Picket Fences .
Noah Adams hosted NPR's All Things Considered for 18 years. His soft voice and vivid writing helped define the network's sound for a generation of Americans. Antony Nagelmann/NPR hide caption
October 18, 2026 • One of NPR's most gifted storytellers, his soft voice and vivid writing helped define the network's sound for a generation of Americans.
FILE - RJ Mitte poses for a portrait to promote the film, "Time Share", at the Music Lodge during the Sundance Film Festival, Jan. 20, 2018, in Park City, Utah. Taylor Jewell/AP Photo/Invision hide caption
October 13, 2026 • Actor and disability rights advocate RJ Mitte, who brought a lifetime of experience with cerebral palsy to fictional family struggles in an essential role on "Breaking Bad," died Monday at age 34.
Margaret Hamilton sits in mock-up of Apollo the command module on display at MIT in 1969. File/AP hide caption
October 8, 2026 • Hamilton was in her early thirties when she led the team of software engineers that powered NASA's Apollo missions. She later said, "There was no choice but to be pioneers."
On the Waterfront was Eva Marie Saint's first film job after years of theater and TV. Columbia TriStar/Getty Images hide caption
October 6, 2026 • Saint won an Oscar for her portrayal of Edie, a Catholic schoolgirl whose longshoreman brother is murdered. She went on to star in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest.
Jim Bakker poses in 1987 in front of the water park that was part of his Heritage USA theme park in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Lou Krasky/AP hide caption
October 6, 2026 • Jim Bakker, along with his first wife Tammy Faye built an evangelical empire around the hugely successful "The PTL Club" TV show, only to lose it all over a sex scandal and financial crimes.
Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour at his home in Jerusalem, surrounded by his paintings on Nov. 18, 2025. Afif Amireh for NPR hide caption
September 23, 2026 • Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour spent his life painting the faces and landscapes of Israeli occupation. His sons say NPR was the last media to meet him before he died in August.
Friedman was in her early 20s when she landed her first position as an editorial assistant at NPR. She became an editor and reporter, and a co-creator of the annual Books We Love reading guide. Beth Novey/NPR hide caption
September 18, 2026 • Friedman was in her early 20s when she landed her first position as an editorial assistant at NPR. She became an editor and reporter, and a co-creator of the annual Books We Love reading guide.
Annie Dillard in an interview at her Connecticut home in 1983. Bob Child/AP hide caption
September 16, 2026 • Dillard's work was characterized by spare prose and a deep connection to nature. She is best known for Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, An American Childhood, The Maytrees and The Writing Life.
Visionary costume and fashion designer Bob Mackie was known as the "Sultan of Sequins" for his eye-catching celebrity looks. He's pictured above in 2008. Toby Canham/Getty Images hide caption
September 14, 2026 • The visionary costume and fashion designer was known as the "Sultan of Sequins" for his eye-catching celebrity looks.
Gloria Steinem speaks onstage during Visionary Women celebrates Gloria Steinem in conversation with Cleo Wade at the Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel on November 18, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Visionary Women hide caption
September 3, 2026 • Gloria Steinem, the trailblazing journalist and women’s rights activist, has died. She was 92. Throughout her life, Steinem challenged gender stereotypes, advocated for women’s equality and founded numerous feminist organizations. What will her legacy be?
In a 2005 "This I Believe" essay , Gloria Steinem wrote: "I believe that a unique core self is born into every human being — the result of millennia of environment and heredity combined in an unpredictable way that could never happen before or again." Steinem died Wednesday at the age of 92. She's pictured above in 2022. John Lamparski/Getty Images North America hide caption
September 3, 2026 • In 2015, the trailblazing feminist told Fresh Air she that had entered a new phase in life, one in which "you can do what you want." Steinem died Sept. 2 at the age of 92.
Gloria Steinem speaks onstage at the Ms. Foundation for Women 2017 Gloria Awards Gala & After Party at Capitale on May 3, 2017, in New York City. Monica Schipper/Getty Images hide caption
September 3, 2026 • At a time when women were largely limited to domestic roles, Steinem challenged gender stereotypes and championed feminist ideals like equality, sisterhood and reproductive freedom.
Cassandra Wilson, seen here performing in the Netherlands in 1994, died Sept. 2 at the age of 70. Frans Schellekens/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption
September 2, 2026 • Wilson, whose deep, dark contralto was one of the most distinctive voices in jazz, died on Wednesday in her hometown of Jackson, Miss.
President Barack Obama presents the 2010 National Humanities Medal to Wendell E. Berry during a White House ceremony in 2011. Mark Wilson/Getty Images hide caption
September 1, 2026 • Wendell Berry has died at age 92 He was a beloved American poet, novelist, essayist, and farmer.
Former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic sits in the court room in The Hague, Netherlands, June 8, 2021, where the United Nations court delivers its verdict in the appeal of Mladic against his convictions for genocide and other crimes and his life sentence for masterminding atrocities throughout the Bosnian war. Peter Dejong/AP hide caption
August 27, 2026 • Ratko Mladic was one of the most notorious figures of a war that killed over 100,000 people in the 1990s. He commanded his troops to "scorch the brains" of the Bosnian Muslims and boasted of being a "Serbian God."
Dolly Parton performs during the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards on May 11, 2023 in Frisco, Texas. Theo Wargo/Getty Images hide caption
August 27, 2026 • NPR critics remember some of their favorite Dolly performances — including a duet with Kermit the Frog and the twinkle in Dolly's eye singing with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris.
Yayoi Kusama pictured in New York in 2013. Andrew Toth/Getty Images hide caption
August 26, 2026 • The Japanese artist has died at age 97. Kusama's polka dotted pumpkins, "Infinity Rooms," and other repetitive and dreamlike artworks have been shown in museums and galleries worldwide.
Tim Curry played Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the tyrannical gender-bending alien scientist in both stage and screen versions of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Movie Poster Image Art/Moviepix/Getty Images hide caption
August 26, 2026 • Curry will be most remembered for his role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the tyrannical gender-bending alien scientist in both stage and screen versions of The Rocky Horror Picture Show . He was 80.
In her songs, stage banter and interviews, Dolly Parton always presented herself as a humble, yet audacious mountain dreamer made good. Richard E. Aaron/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption
August 25, 2026 • The artist was a star performer in country music and went on to become one of the genre's most recognizable and universally adored ambassadors to broader popular culture.
Hayden Panettiere attends the amfAR Gala Los Angeles at Pacific Design Center on Nov. 3, 2022. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images hide caption
August 17, 2026 • A child actor since she was cast in various commercials as an 11-month-old, Panettiere was best known for her role as the country music star Juliette Barnes in the series Nashville .
Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tommy John praises his late friend, Dr. Frank Jobe, during a 2014 memorial service at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption
August 16, 2026 • The left-handed MLB pitcher was 31 years old when he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow in 1974, an injury that had been a death knell for pitchers' careers up to that point.
