Stars We've Sadly Lost So Far In 2025

It's inevitable: Every year that passes takes beloved stars with it, and sadly 2025 started off by claiming its fair share of performers before the year even kicked off proper. Not only does the death of celebrities we love remind us of our own mortality, but it also serves as a prompt to make the most of the little time we have. Many stars, especially those who were living legends, leave millions of hearts shattered when they die, and it can feel like losing a beloved, long-distance friend you never really talked to but who had a significant impact on your life nonetheless. Thanks to social media, the news can often pop up in one's Instagram feed without any warning, making the shock of a star's passing that much harder. It can also provide some solace, however, with many fans taking to a late performer's page to leave their condolences on their last post.

As we bid stars we loved goodbye — some young and some old — we look back on their work and achievements with bittersweet nostalgia. We have a valid excuse to rewatch their movies and shows or listen to their albums on repeat, and sometimes we even rediscover things about their lives we never knew before or have long forgotten. We lost a significant amount of beloved stars in 2024 and, unfortunately, 2025 didn't wait long before it subjected the world to its first major loss. 

Four-time Daytime Emmy nominee Leslie Charleson, aka "General Hospital's" Monica Quartermaine, died on January 12, 2025. She was 79 years old. The soap icon's cause of death was listed as "sequelae of blunt head trauma," per E! News. No foul play was suspected, with the medical examiner's report indicating that Charleson had previously suffered trauma to her head, which eventually led to her death. The actor died after being admitted to the hospital.

Charleson will forever be fondly remembered for her role as mean girl Monica in the long-running soap opera. She was a living legend, starting her run on "General Hospital" way back in 1977, and continued to work until her death, making Charleson the show's longest-employed actor ever. In fact, her death was first announced on the "General Hospital" Instagram account, with executive producer Frank Valentini breaking the news to the public. "Leslie was a beloved matriarch of the entire cast and crew. I will miss our daily chats, her quick wit and incredible presence on set," he wrote.

Charleson had a long and prosperous career that began when she was still a child. The actor completed her theater degree at New York's Bennett College before making her soap opera debut on "A Flame in the Wind" in 1964. Charleson subsequently landed roles in "As the World Turns" and "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," starring in the latter for four years. While she appeared to favor long-running shows, Charleson did make an appearance in the 1971 horror film "Revenge!" before landing on "General Hospital" and quickly falling in love with her character's unconventional personality. "I only signed on for two years, and I don't know what happened," the actor quipped during a 2019 chat with Digital Journal. "I like her spunk, independence and everything about her."

Famously known as the child star of "Harriet the Spy" and later as the young Hollywood starlet in shows like "Gossip Girl" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Michelle Trachtenberg died at the age of 39 on February 26, 2025. Trachtenberg was found by her mother at the New York City apartment building and when emergency responders arrived she was pronounced dead at the scene. The New York Post reported that Trachtenberg had undergone a liver transplant shortly before her death and there was some speculation that the death could have been a result of her body rejecting the organ. However, the death is not being ruled as suspicious.

Trachtenberg landed her first major role on the Nickelodeon show, "The Adventures of Pete and Pete." From there she transformed from child actor to young woman as she went on to star in a number of film and television shows, but it was her role as Dawn Summers in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" that had fans ready for her return to their screens before her death. With news that the series was being rebooted with its original star Sarah Michelle-Geller once again back as the titular Buffy, fans were clamoring to hear if Trachtenberg would be reprising her role as Dawn.

In the weeks and months leading up to her death, Trachtenberg had appeared frail and thin with fans speculating as to her health and well-being. She responded on Instagram in January 2024 to tell followers that she was "happy and healthy" though concern would persist until her death. In a statement to NBC News, Trachtenberg's "Harriet the Spy" co-star Rosie O'Donnell alluded to her final years, saying, "She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped."

The towering actor famous for such films as "The French Connection," "The Conversation," "Superman," and "The Royal Tenenbaums," died along with his wife, Betsy Arakawa of 34 years, on February 26, 2025. Hackman was 95 years old and Arakawa was 63. Their bodies were found along with the body of their deceased dog at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hackman was best known for a legendary Hollywood career that garnered him two Oscars, with one for Best Actor in 1972's aforementioned "The French Connection" and a Best Supporting Actor award for his role alongside Clint Eastwood in the 1993 western, "Unforgiven."

Hackman was born in Danville, Illinois and told Connoisseur that he decided he wanted to become an actor at age 10, saying, "I was so captured by the action guys. Jimmy Cagney was my favorite. Without realizing it, I could see he had tremendous timing and vitality." (via Desert News) But first he would enroll in the Marines at age 16, only begining his acting career after leaving the service and attending the Pasadena Playhouse. There, alongside fellow burgeoning star Dustin Hoffman, he would be voted as "least likely to succeed." But Hackman proved his doubters wrong and went on to appear in almost 80 films. In 2004, Hackman said that he had no plans to continue acting (though we know the real reason he retired) and instead pursued his passion for writing books. He is survived by his three children that he had with his previous wife, Faye Maltese, whom Hackman was with for 30 years prior to his marriage to Arakawa.