1976: Howard Hughes
1977: Joan Crawford.
1978: Nancy Spungen (of Sid & Nancy)
1979: Emmett Kelly, circus clown
1980: Alfred Hitchcock
1981: Bill Haley
1982: 618 people in the US from AIDS, and Pres. Reagan has not yet used the word in public.
1983: Karen Carpenter
1984: Marvin Gaye
1985: Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz)
1986: Gregory Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Francis R. Scobee and Michael J. Smith, in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
1987: Hugh “Lumpy” Brannum (Mr. Green Jeans)
1988: Heather O’Rourke
1989: Lucille Ball
1990: Sammy Davis Jr.
1991: Kevin Peter Hall (the Predator)
1992: Nancy Walker (Ida Morgenstern)
1993: Lillian Gish, after an 85-year career in Hollywood, and 105 films.
1994: Richard Nixon
1995: Patricia Highsmith, author of the novel that was the source for Strangers on a Train.