2006 was a great year in the entertainment world; however, let us not forget those who entertained us for generations but have moved on. We look back on those entertainers and cultural icons who left us in 2006 to pay our respects...

Jazz, R&B and pop singer Lou Rawls, lost a two year fight with brain and lung cancer (1/6). He was 72. Prolific film star of the 50s, 60s and 70s and star of such hits as Alfie and The Poseidon Adventure, Shelley Winters at age 85 (1/14). 60s soul star Wilson Pickett, who brought us such hits as Mustang Sally and In The Midnight Hour age 64; of a heart attack (1/19); and actor Anthony Franciosa, 77 (1/19). Country singer Janette Carter, of cuuntry music's founding family, the Carters, 82 (1/22); and actor Chris Penn, 40, brother of actor Sean Penn who starred in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1/24). And Coretta Scott King (76), civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr (1/30).

Al Lewis, 95, best known as Grandpa Munster on The Munsters (2/3); actor Richard Bright, 68, who had small roles in all three Godfather films and also on HBO's The Sopranos (2/18). Billy Cowsill, 58, lead singer of the family band The Cowsills, the group that inspired the television show The Partridge Family (2/18); legendary comedic actor and star of such hits as The Andy Griffith Show, Three's Company, and a slew of Walt Disney filmsDon Knotts, (2/24). He was 81. Gunsmoke and McCloud star Dennis Weaver, 81 (2/24). And star of the cult classic TV movie The Night Stalker and the classic holiday film A Christmas Story, Darren McGavin, 83 (2/25).

Blues bassist Willie Kent, 70, (3/2); Dana Reeve, American actress, wife of Christopher Reeve (3/6), of lung cancer; she was 44. Legendary Minnesota Twins centerfielder Kirby Puckett, 45 (3/6). African musician Ali Farka Toure, 66 (3/7). Actress Maureen Stapleton, best known for her role as Edith on All In The Family, she was 80 (3/13). Game show host Peter Tomarken, 63, of "Press Your Luck" (3/13). 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea director Richard Fleischer, 89 (3/25); and honky-tonk rocker and host of television's Hee Haw, Buck Owens, (3/25). Owens was 76.

Gene Pitney, 66, American pop singer (4/5). Proof, 32-year-old rapper and part of Eminem's rap collective D-12, of a gunshot wound, (4/11), and Pointer Sisters singer June Pointer, 52 (4/11). The Shield and Hill Street Blues director Scott Brazil, 50 (4/17); and Phil Walden, 66, founder of Capricorn Records, who helped make Otis Redding and The Allman Brothers Band famous (4/23).

Soraya, 37, Colombian singer and breast cancer advocate (5/10). Legendary boxer Floyd Patterson, 71, (5/11); and Freddie and the Dreamers frontman Freddie Garity, 65 (5/19). Country music legend Billy Walker, 77, (5/21). Lew Anderson, 84, a jazz musician who also starred as the Howdy Doody Show's Clarabell the Clown (5/14). Actor Paul Gleason, 67, who infamously starred as the high school principal in The Breakfast Club and as bad guy Clarence Beeks in Trading Places (5/27). Ska legend Desmond Dekker, 64 (5/25). Special effects pioneer Arthur Widmer, 92 (5/28). And actor Robert Sterling, 88, from the 1950s TV series Topper (5/30).

Grateful Dead keyboardist Vince Welnick, 55, who also played in The Tubes and, more recently, Missing Man Formation (6/2); prodigous pianist/organist/session musician most known for his work on the Beatles' Let It Be album Billy Preston, 59, (6/6). Puerto Rican jazz pianist Hilton Ruiz, 53, (6/6); Hollywood director Vincent Sherman, 99 (6/18); Actor Richard R. Stahl, 74, known for his appearances on Columbo and Laverne and Shirley (6/18); prolific television creator Aaron Spelling, 83, whose myriad television series included The Love Boat, Charlie's Angels, Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed and 7th Heaven (6/23). Grammy-winning music producer Arif Mardin, 74, whose helmed projects from Aretha Franklin, the Bee Gees, and Norah Jones; to David Bowie, Carly Simon and Phil Collins (6/25). And guitarist Johnny Jenkins, an early influence on Jimi Hendrix. He was 67. (6/26).

Founding member and former Pink Floyd singer, songwriter and guitarist Syd Barrett, 60 (7/7). Acclaimed 40s actress June Allyson, 88, star of stage and screen (7/8); actor/comedian Red Buttons, 87, who took his stage name from the uniform he wore as a singing bellboy in a Bronx, N.Y. tavern (7/13); and actor Jack Warden, 85, a former boxer who starred in such shows & films as Twelve Angry Men, Shampoo and Brian's Song and (7/19). As the World Turns star Benjamin Hendrickson, 55, who committed suicide on July 10. Midnight Cowboy and The Lost Boys actor Barnard Hughes, 90, (7/11). And Japanese-American actor Mako, 72 (7/21).

Soprano Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, 90 (8/3); Singer-songwriter Arthur Lee, 61, of the 1960s psychedelic band Love (8/10); television talk show host Mike Douglas, who died on his 81st birthday (8/11). Actor Bruno Kirby, 57, character actor known for two Billy Crystal comedies: When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers; and for a role in the Robin Williams comedy Good Morning, Vietnam (8/14). And Glenn Ford, 90, Canadian actor notable for his role as Superman's adopted father, Jonathan Kent, in Superman: The Movie, and having the distinction of being voted as 1958's number one male box-office attraction (8/30).

Television icon Steve Irwin, 44, a.k.a. "The Crocodile Hunter," Australian environmentalist and Animal Planet personality (9/4). Blues legend Bennie Smith, 72, a guitarist who played with Chuck Berry (9/10); Blues guitarist Etta Baker, 93, (9/23); actor Pat Corley, 76, who played Phil the bartender on Murphy Brown (9/11); Hungarian born bodybuilder/actor Mickey Hargitay, 80, who was once married to sex-symbol Jayne Mansfield and was the father of Law & Order SVU star Mariska Hargitay (9/14). And cinematographer Sven Nykvist, 83, who often worked with legendary director Ingmar Bergman (9/20).

Actress Tamara Dobson, 59, who played Cleopatra Jones in a couple of "blaxploitation" films (10/2); Hispanic country singer Freddy Fender, 69 (10/14). Phyllis Kirk, 79, star of the 1950s horror film House of Wax (10/19). Actress Jane Wyatt, 96, who spent six years as the matriarch on the show Father Knows Best (10/20); Sandy West, 47, drummer for the 70s female rock band The Runaways, which also featured Joan Jett and Lita Ford (10/21).

Ed Bradley, 65, a journalist from CBS' news magazine show "60 Minutes" (11/9). Prolific actor Jack Palance, 87, who won an Oscar for his role as Curley in City Slickers (11/10). R&B singer Gerald Levert, 40, son of O'Jays singer Eddie Levert, and member of the eponymous R&B trio LeVert (11/10); Ruth Brown, 78, American singer (11/17). Prolific film director Robert Altman, 81, who directed such films as M*A*S*H and Gosford Park (11/20); and Anita O'Day, 87, jazz vocalist (11/23)

Singer Georgia Gibbs, 87, (12/9). Peter Boyle, 71, popularized the role of Frank Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond, but remembered mostly for his hilarious turn as the Frankenstein monster in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein (12/13). Ahmet Ertegun, 82, Turkish founder of Atlantic Records, who is responsible for signing such acts as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Cream and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (12/14). And animator Joseph Barbera, 95, half of the cartoon duo Hanna-Barbera, whose classic cartoons The Flintstones, The Yogi Bear Show, and the seven-time Academy Award-winning Tom and Jerry have been enjoyed for generations(12/18).