The death of Marisa Paredes has been one of the last most relevant in the world of culture this year 2024, which has left a long list of deceased artists such as the writer Paul Auster, the journalist Victoria Prego or the presenter Mayra Gómez Kemp, among others.
Thus, in the field of national cinema, the loss of filmmaker Jaime de Armiñán, Goya of Honor 2014, or that of filmmaker Ventura Pons, who was one of the first of the year, stands out, as does that of actress Silvia Tortosa or Miguel Ángel Díez, director of the series ‘Thieves go to the office’.
Outside of Spain, Shannen Doherty from ‘Charmed’; Maggie Smith, known for being Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter saga; the French actor Alain Delon; screenwriter David Seidler, Oscar winner for ‘The King’s Speech’; the actor Bernard Hill, known for his roles in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Titanic’; actress Shannen Doherty, star of the series ‘Charmed’; the actors Tony Todd or Ron Harper; actress Glynis Johns, the mother of the ‘Mary Poppins’ children; Gena Rowlands, the protagonist of ‘Noa’s Diary’; or the prolific Donald Sutherland are other of the numerous names of well-known faces in cinema who died in 2024, to which we must add the young Hudson Meek.
In the field of literature, there have also been deaths of relevant writers, such as those of Rosa Regàs at age 90, writer and former director of the National Library of Spain; Julia Uceda, National Poetry Prize; or the philologist and member of the RAE Francisco Rico, specialist in Miguel de Cervantes and ‘Don Quixote’.
Added to this list are international names such as Paul Auster, author of ‘The New York Trilogy’, ‘Sunset Park’ or ‘Invisible’; the Canadian writer Alice Munro, Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013; the novelist John Barth (‘Giles Goat-Boy’ and ‘The sot-weed factor’); the Guadalapa writer Marysa Condé, eternal candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature or the Chilean Antonio Skármeta at 83, Planeta Prize in 2003 with the novel ‘El baile de la victoria’. The creator of ‘Dragon Ball’, Akira Toriyama, also stands out.
In music, British singer Liam Payne, former member of the boyband One Direction, recently died at the age of 31, joined by Tito Jackson, original member of the Jackson 5; the fado singer Mísia; the French Françoise Hardy, icon of French music in the 60s; the producer Quincy Jones or the actor and country singer Kris Kristofferson.
The musical scene also said goodbye to the singer Miguel Ángel Sánchez Tenedor, known as Morfi Grei, vocalist of the rock band La Banda Trapera del Río; to the conductor Seiji Ozawa, or to the Mexican rapper Óscar Alan Vázquez, better known as Majestic.
Additionally, joining this long list are the guitarist and founding member of ‘The Allman Brothers Band’, Dickey Betts, who has died at the age of 80, the musician John Mayall, considered the godfather of British blues, and the singer and artistic producer Alfredo Garrido García, author of the lyrics of the children’s series songs such as ‘Marco’, ‘Vickie el Vikingo’, ‘Maya the Bee’ or ‘Tarzan’.
The art world has also said goodbye to the painter Antoni Vives and the American sculptor Richard Serra. Likewise, television and journalism have fired figures such as Mayra Gómez Kemp, the comedian Arévalo, Jimmy Giménez-Arnau, Fernando Delgado or Victoria Prego, among others.