Dearly Departed...

BRITONS have bid farewell to some of their favourite stars who died this year.

- STAFF REPORTER

Fans were left heartbroken after the shock death of One Direction's Liam Payne in October while Dame Maggie Smith was mourned in September after entertaining audiences of all ages during her decades-long career.

Here are some of the well-known people who died in the first three months 2024.

JANUARY

■ Glynis Johns, best known as the suffragette mother Mrs Banks in the 1964 film Mary Poppins, died at the age of 100. Johns won a Tony Award in 1973 for playing Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music on Broadway and was the first to sing composer Stephen Sondheim's most famous ballad, Send In The Clowns, but lost the part to Elizabeth Taylor in the 1977 film version.

■ Derek Draper, the former lobbyist and political adviser who was married to TV presenter Kate Garraway, died, aged 56, after suffering long-lasting damage to his organs from coronavirus.

■ David Soul, the US-born actor, best known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the classic crime-solving series Starsky & Hutch, died aged 80. Soul, who starred opposite Paul Michael Glaser as Detective Dave Starsky in the 1970s US TV series, was also known for his roles in Here Come The Brides, Magnum Force and The Yellow Rose.

■ Professor Sir Roy Calne, the pioneering surgeon who led the first liver transplant operation inEurope in 1968, died, aged 93.

■ Annie Nightingale, who died at the age of 83, became the first female presenter on BBC Radio 1 when she joined the station in 1970 and went on to become its longest-serving host. Nightingale, who first broadcast on the BBC in 1963 as a panellist on Juke Box Jury, remained Radio 1's only female DJ until 1982, when Janice Long joined, and was credited with helping to pave the way for the likes of Sara Cox, Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball.

FEBRUARY