In 2016, they just kept dying and dying and dying

The whole thing about deaths in 2016 is getting kind of creepy.

Especially when folks get so worked up over someone who was in a show they liked.

Beloved 'Star Wars" hero dies.

Yes, Carrie Fisher is no longer with us, but was she even the most beloved "Star Wars" star to die this year? Kenny Baker was one of the only people to appear in all the "SW" movies, and he died in 2016.

Yes, Gene Wilder died, but so did the guy who was second-billed to "Punky Brewster." Debbie Reynolds died, and Grizzly Adams became Grisly Adams.

Alan Rickman died hard.

Prince died, but so did Frank Sinatra, Jr.


George Kennedy from the "Airport" movies died, but so did Tony Burton from the "Rocky" movies.

The only guy who understood Mr. Ed died at 96, and the only talking Fish died at 94.

One of the greatest golfers ever died at 87, and a Miami pitcher with an unlimited future died at 24 -- both on the same day.

Those Nazis still in hiding breathed a little easier when Elie Wiesel died at 87, and I can't help wondering if he looked up Robin Williams in the afterlife and said, "The real Mr. Wiesel's here."

Fidel Castro, Nancy Reagan and Phyllis Schlafly all made it to 90; Antonin Scalia didn't. They're playing bridge in purgatory, although Nancy deserves better. And Fidel and Phyllis, who had a brief torrid affair in 1950s New York, will finally be together again.

Alvin Toffler finally got his Future Shocked. Boutros Boutros finally had to say "Good Ghali, Miss Mali!"

The music world lost Glenn Frey, Merle Haggard, Dave Bowie, George Martin and Leonard Cohen. Television lost Mrs. Brady, Patty Duke and Garry Shandling.

Pat Conroy died and so did Pat Summitt.

The great Muhammad Ali

John Glenn moved on to the final frontier, and the handyman from "One Day at a Time" is in a place where drains never get clogged. Identical cousins Patty and Cathy died.

So who was the best loved, most important person who died in 2016?

I think it's got to be The Greatest, Mr. Muhammad Ali.

Probably the best known American worldwide and without question the best loved. Got to be Ali.

Greta's big moment.

Unless you think Greta Zimmer Friedman deserves it. She had only one brief moment in the spotlight, but the memory will last forever. On August 14th, 1945, probably the happiest day of the 20th century, Greta got kissed by a guy she didn't even know.

She was a 21-year-old dental assistant on V-J Day when a happy sailor she didn't know grabbed her and kissed her. The picture appeared in Life magazine and became one of the most famous photos ever shot, but she didn't realize it had been taken until she saw it in a book 15 years later.

Friedman died this year at 92.

Yep, we lost a lot of people this year.

But we didn't lose Bieber.

Thank God.