For eleven seasons, every time George Wendt walked into the bar in Cheers, the whole room shouted “Norm!”. He died on May 20, 2025, and ten days later Loretta Swit, M*A*S*H’s Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, died too. Two of the longest-running characters in American sitcom history were gone within a fortnight. These are ten of the best-known people who died in May 2025.
1. Ruth Buzzi (May 1, aged 88)
Ruth Buzzi played Gladys Ormphby, the hairnetted spinster who hit Arte Johnson’s dirty old man with her handbag, on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. She won a Golden Globe for the show and later spent years on Sesame Street.
2. Joe Don Baker (May 7, aged 89)
Joe Don Baker played the sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall and later appeared in three James Bond films, twice as the CIA agent Jack Wade.
3. Charles Strouse (May 14, aged 96)
Charles Strouse wrote the music for Bye Bye Birdie and Annie, which means he wrote “Tomorrow”, and the theme song of All in the Family, “Those Were the Days”. He won three Tony Awards.
4. George Wendt (May 20, aged 76)
George Wendt was Norm Peterson in all 275 episodes of Cheers and was nominated for six Emmys for the role. He came out of Chicago’s Second City and later played “Bob Swerski” in the “Da Bears” sketches on Saturday Night Live. His family said he died peacefully in his sleep.
5. Jim Irsay (May 21, aged 65)
Jim Irsay inherited the Indianapolis Colts from his father and owned them when they drafted Peyton Manning and won the Super Bowl in 2007. He also collected rock history, including guitars owned by the Beatles, Elvis and Prince, and Jack Kerouac’s original scroll of On the Road.
6. Phil Robertson (May 25, aged 79)
Phil Robertson founded the Duck Commander company and became the patriarch of A&E’s Duck Dynasty, one of the most-watched reality shows on American cable. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
7. Rick Derringer (May 26, aged 77)
Rick Derringer was 17 when his band, the McCoys, had a number one with “Hang On Sloopy” in 1965. He wrote “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” and produced “Weird Al” Yankovic’s early albums.
8. Loretta Swit (May 30, aged 87)
Loretta Swit played Major Margaret Houlihan for all eleven seasons of M*A*S*H and won two Emmys. The 1983 finale she appeared in drew more American viewers than any scripted programme before or since. She spent her later life campaigning for animal welfare.
9. Valerie Mahaffey (May 30, aged 71)
Valerie Mahaffey won an Emmy for Northern Exposure and later appeared in Desperate Housewives and Young Sheldon. Her husband said she died of cancer.
10. Renée Victor (May 30, aged 86)
Renée Victor was the voice of Abuelita, the grandmother with the slipper, in Pixar’s Coco, and played Lupita in Weeds. She died of lymphoma.
Three of these ten died on the same day, May 30: Swit, Mahaffey and Victor, three actresses from three different generations of American television.