Notable Hollywood Deaths of 2021, From Michael K. Williams to Ed Asner

The movies that leave the deepest impressions on us would be nothing without the people who made and starred in them. From Cicely Tyson, the star from Sounder, Fried Green Tomatoes, and many more classic films and television shows to Christopher Plummer, forever beloved for his role as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, here is MovieMaker‘s list of people from the motion picture industry who have died in 2021.

Michael K. Williams

Best-known for playing Omar Little on The Wire, Chalky White on Boardwalk Empire, Moussa in Assassin’s Creed and Robert in 12 Years a Slave, Williams was found dead in his New York apartment on Sept. 6, according to Variety. He was nominated for an Emmy three times for acting, for roles in When They See Us, Bessie, and The Night Of, and is currently in contention for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for his role as Montrose Freeman in HBO’s Lovecraft Country. He was also nominated for his work as a producer on Vice. He talked honestly about his struggles with drugs, but said he had a moment of clarity in 2008 when Barack Obama declared, at a presidential campaign rally that Williams attended with his mother, that The Wire was the best show on television — and that Omar was his favorite character. “Hearing my name come out of his mouth woke me up,” Williams later told The New York Times. “I realized that my work could actually make a difference.”

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