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By PHILIP MORGAN The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 31, 2007

Russia's beloved and reviled Boris Yeltsin helped change the world.

Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut offered insight into it.

Deborah Kerr, Jane Wyman and Ingmar Bergman entertained it.

All were consigned to memory this year. Here is a look back at some of the notables who died in 2007.

Art Buchwald, 81, Jan. 17. The longtime humor columnist refused treatment in the last stages of kidney failure and recorded a video for The New York Times Web site, which was aired after his death.

"Hi, I'm Art Buchwald, and I just died," he announced with a grin.

George Smathers, 93, Jan. 20. The former U.S. senator from Florida and close friend of President Kennedy beat Claude Pepper in the legendary 1950 Senate race. He labeled his opponent "Red Pepper," accusing him of being soft on the Soviet Union.

E. Howard Hunt, 88, Jan. 23. The ex-CIA official helped organize the break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate building, eventually resulting in the resignation of President Nixon.

Kurt Vonnegut, 84, April 11. To his classic novel "Slaughterhouse-Five," the master of dark satire brought his World War II trauma as an American POW caught in the bombing firestorm of Dresden, Germany.

Don Ho, 76, April 14. The Hawaiian entertainer was known for his hits "Tiny Bubbles" and "Hawaiian Wedding Song."

Boris Yeltsin, 76, April 23. The brash, charismatic Yeltsin, who served as Russia's first freely elected leader, sat on a tank in a successful standoff against Soviets trying to stage a coup and regain power in 1991. In 1994, he was vilified for staging a bloody war in Chechnya.

Mstislav Rostropovich, 80, April 27. The celebrated Russian cellist was musical director of the National Symphony Orchestra from 1977 to 1994.

Tom Poston, 85, April 30. The comedian had roles on decades of sitcoms, including "Mork & Mindy" and "Newhart." His big break came on "The Steve Allen Show" in the 1950s, when he was one of the characters in the "man on the street" segment with Don Knotts and Louis Nye.

Walter Schirra Jr., 84, May 3. The former Navy carrier pilot became one of America's original seven astronauts and the only one to fly in the Gemini, Mercury and Apollo programs.

Jerry Falwell, 73, May 15. The Baptist preacher and founder of the Moral Majority was known for controversial comments he later rescinded, among them that the Sept. 11 attacks were God's judgment on the United States because of abortion, gay rights and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Ruth Graham, 87, June 14. Considered the closest confidant of her husband, the Rev. Billy Graham, during his global appearances, she gave up dreams of being a missionary in Tibet to marry her sweetheart from Illinois' Wheaton College.

Kurt Waldheim, 88, June 14. The career of the former United Nations secretary general and Austrian president was sullied by revelations that he served in a German military unit that committed war crimes in the Balkans during World War II.

Lady Bird Johnson, 94, July 11. The work of the genteel wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson led to the Highway Beautification Act of 1965. As national chairwoman, she was the pioneering promoter of the Head Start program.

Tammy Faye Messner, 65, July 20. Famous for tears and running mascara during her years on the PTL Club with televangelist husband Jim Bakker, she survived the money scandal that brought down PTL, remarried and became a popular television personality.

Tom Snyder, 71, July 28. He was the host of NBC's "Tomorrow," which ran after Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show" from 1973 to 1982. The abrasive chain-smoker with the boisterous laugh conducted ex-Beatle John Lennon's last television interview.

Ingmar Bergman, 89, July 30. The Swedish director and Oscar winner became known for his stark classics, among them "The Seventh Seal" and "Wild Strawberries."

Merv Griffin, 82, Aug. 12. The former big-band singer became a popular television talk show host and the creator of TV game shows "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" He spun a fortune from his business enterprises, dying a billionaire.

Phil Rizzuto, 89, Aug. 30. The Hall of Fame shortstop for the New York Yankees during the 1940s and 1950s won seven World Series titles and played in five All-Star games.

Luciano Pavarotti, 71, Sept. 6. Perhaps the best-known opera star ever, Pavarotti wowed the highbrows with his rich tenor, and his effervescent personality in concerts and on TV captured the masses. At the peak of his career, he received 50,000 fan letters a year.

Jane Wyman, 90, Sept. 10. Known chiefly as the first wife of President Reagan, the celebrated actress won an Oscar for her role in "Johnny Belinda" and later played roles as the cold matriarch in the movie "Pollyanna" and the TV series "Falcon Crest."

Alice Ghostley, 81, Sept. 21. The Tony-winning actress who appeared in "The Graduate," "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Grease" is best known for her role as Esmeralda on TV's "Bewitched" from 1968 to 1972.

Rex Humbard, 88, Sept. 21. The longtime evangelist once had the most popular religious program on television.

Marcel Marceau, 84, Sept 22. The French mime became a worldwide star with the masterful expressiveness of his character Bip. Marceau, whose father died in Auschwitz, joined the French resistance during World War II and became a liaison officer with Gen. George Patton's army.

Deborah Kerr, 86, Oct. 16. The beautiful, auburn-haired actress with the refined manner was a top star in the 1950s as the female lead in "From Here to Eternity," "The King and I" and "An Affair to Remember." She was awarded a special Oscar for her work in 1994.

Joey Bishop, 89, Oct. 17. Famous for his deadpan humor - Jack Paar said he had the face of an untipped waiter - the comedian and actor was a member of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack" of buddies. His late-night talk show competed against Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show" in the late 1960s.

Porter Wagoner, 80. Oct. 28. The Grammy Award-winning gospel and country singer, known for his flashy cowboy outfits and his half-century tenure with the Grand Ole Opry, had 81 hits on country charts, among them "The Green, Green Grass of Home."

Robert Goulet, 73, Oct 30. The handsome singer with the baritone voice was an unforgettable Lancelot in the 1960 stage version of "Camelot." Richard Burton, who played King Arthur, said he had "the voice of an angel."

Paul Tibbets Jr., 92, Nov. 1. The World War II pilot commanded the Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber named after his mother, which dropped history's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945.

Norman Mailer, 84, Nov. 10. Known for an irascible personality that sometimes got him into fistfights, the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author wrote "The Naked and the Dead" and "The Executioner's Song."

Dick Wilson, 91, Nov. 19. A character actor who appeared in episodes of "Bewitched" and "The Bob Newhart Show," he was best known as Mr. Whipple, the grocer in countless toilet-tissue ads admonishing customers, "Please don't squeeze the Charmin."

Herbert Saffire, 90, Nov. 21. The structural engineer developed a scale that categorized hurricanes by the damage they could cause. Expanded by Robert Simpson of the National Hurricane Center, it is known today as the five-category Saffir-Simpson Scale.

Robert Cade, 80, Nov. 27. The University of Florida researcher developed a concoction of water, sugar, salt and other ingredients to help the football team maintain its stamina on the hottest Florida day. Gatorade became a multi-billion dollar industry.

Lois Maxwell, 80, Nov. 29, The Canadian-born actress starred as Miss Moneypenny in 14 James Bond films, including the first, "Dr. No." She won a Golden Globe in the 1940s for her role in the Shirley Temple movie "That Hagen Girl."

Evel Knievel, 69, Nov. 30. The motorcycle daredevil known for jumping over buses and other wild stunts - breaking more than 38 bones, enduring several concussions and a monthlong coma - died at his Clearwater condominium.

Oscar Peterson, 82, Dec. 23: One of the world's great jazz pianists, the Canadian-born Peterson performed with Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie over his long career.

Benazir Bhutto, 54, Dec. 27: The former prime minister and opposition leader to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was among about 20 killed by a suicide bomber who attacked a campaign rally.

Reseachers Michael Messano and Diane Grey contributed to this report. Reporter Philip Morgan can be reached at (813) 259-7609 or pmorgan@tampatrib.com.

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