8 Celebrities Who Died On Christmas Day

Christmas Day is a holiday celebrated by families and friends across the globe, often filled with happy memories that would last a lifetime.

Sadly, over the years, several iconic figures in the music and film industry passed away on the annual festive holiday.

Here's a list of 8 celebrity deaths on Christmas Day, leading to a day of mourning for fans all over the world.

1. W.C Fields

W.C. Fields— born William Claude Dukenfield— was a well-known American actor from the early-1900s whose career bloomed in the film and Broadway musical industry. He starred in "Alice in Wonderland" in 1933, "Poppy" in 1936, "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" in 1939 and "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" in 1941.

On Christmas day of 1946, the actor passed away due to a gastric hemorrhage at 66 years old, Billboard reported.

2. Joan Blondell

Former beauty queen and American actress Joan Blondell succumbed to her battle with leukemia in 1979 at age 73. Her career in acting spanned 50 years, during which she starred in over 100 films and television series, according to Newsweek.

She was most famous for her roles in "The Blue Veil" as Anna Rawlins and "Opening Night" as Sarah Goode, where she earned nominations for Best Supporting Actress in the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes, respectively.

A year before her death, she also became globally recognized for portraying Vi in the hit-musical film "Grease," starring alongside John Travolta, Oliva Newton-John, Stockard Channing and Jeff Conaway.

3. Charlie Chaplin

British actor Charlie Chaplin was one of the greatest comic artists in the film industry, who contributed to the emergence of the silent film era. He was best remembered for his on-screen persona as the Tramp in a silent film of the same name, released in 1915.

According to Newsweek, he also directed his own films, including "The Kid," "Limelight," "The Great Dictator" and "The Modern Times."

In 1972, five years before his death, the actor received an Honorary Academy Award for "the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century," and he was knighted three years later by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Chaplin passed away in Switzerland due to a stroke in his sleep. He was 88.

4. Dean Martin

Dean Martin, one-fifth of the original Rat Pack musical band alongside Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford, died on Dec. 25, 1995, of acute respiratory failure after a battle with emphysema caused by long-term smoking.

Martin, dubbed the "King of Cool," was well-known as an iconic figure in the music industry and for his comedic partnership with Jerry Lewis for NBC's "Colgate Comedy Hour" in 1950.

5. James Brown

"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" singer James Brown was one of the pioneers of funk music in the industry, whose career spanned over 50 years before he died in 2006.

Labeled the "Godfather of Soul," he was a relentless performer that had a massive influence on American pop culture. He was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 during its inaugural induction in New York City.

According to CNN, Brown's cause of death sparked numerous questions among the media. Although the official cause of death was ruled a heart attack, the doctor who signed his death certificate doubted whether the singer died of natural causes because he was a patient he "never have predicted would have coded" at the night of his death.

6. Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt was an all-rounder performer known in the industry as a dancer, film and stage actress, and singer with a sultry vocal style, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

She was most famous for the songs "Santa Baby," "I Want to Evil" and "C'est Si Bon," as well as "Where Is My Man," "This Is My Life, "Cha Cha Heels" and "I Love Men," which made its way to the music charts in the 1980s.

Kitt also starred in the Broadway musicals "Timbuktu!" and "The Wild Party," where she earned a Tony Award nomination.

In 2008, the singer died of colon cancer at her home in Connecticut, two months after she appeared at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival in the United Kingdom. She was 81.

7. George Michael

Late pop superstar George Michael was famously known as a member of the British duo Wham!, along with Andrew Ridgeley. He was one of the best-selling musicians of all time, according to Newsweek.

Wham! was famously known for the legendary pop hits "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," "Careless Whisper," "Faith," "Freedom!' 90" and "I Want Your Sex."

During the early hours of Christmas 2016, Michael passed away from natural causes, after suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver, according to Oxfordshire senior coroner Darren Salter.

8. Vic Chesnutt

American singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt's tragic death in 2009 shocked fans from across the globe after learning that he took his life through an overdose of muscle relaxants at 45.

Chesnutt was paralyzed mainly from the neck down due to injuries sustained from a car accident in 1983 when he was 18. Despite his physical disability, he still pursued making music and collaborated with musicians Michael Stipe of R.E.M. and Widespread Panic.

The singer's famous hits were "Supernatural (Drunk)," "Panic Pure (West of Rome)" and "Betty Lonely."