1995 Passages

The world lost talented people from all walks of life in 1995. CNN Interactive's Passages takes a look back at the lives, contributions, and legacies of many of them.

George Abbott was called "the Grand Old Man" of American stage, working as an actor, director, producer, and playwright in both dramas and musicals. Many of Abbott's shows became hits, including "Pal Joey," "Damn Yankees," "Pajama Game," and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." He worked with other theater legends, such as Richard Rogers, Lorenz Hart, and George Balanchine, and directed many stars, including Gene Kelly, Carol Burnett, and Liza Minelli. Abbott came to Broadway in 1913, playing a drunken college student in "The Misleading Lady." In 1928, he went to Hollywood for two years, directing the movies "Broadway" and "Coquette." On January 31, Abbott died at his home in Miami Beach, Florida, of a stroke. He was 107.

Leslie Aspin served as U.S. defense secretary and a congressman. During the Wisconsin Democrat's 11-month tenure as secretary of defense, Aspin helped broaden women's roles in the military, allowing women to fly combat missions and serve on naval warships. He also was involved in other controversial issues, including the lifting of the military ban on gays and lesbians and the American casualties during the U.S. military presence in Somalia. Aspin resigned in December 1993, taking a post on President Clinton's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Before becoming defense secretary, Aspin spent 22 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He first ran for Congress in 1970, campaigning against U.S. involvement in Vietnam after working as a Pentagon analyst. He won, and later served seven years as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Aspin died May 21 in Washington, D.C., after suffering a stroke. He was 56.

Howard Cosell was called the best-known and most outspoken sports broadcaster in the United States. He started his broadcast career in the 1950s, working in radio, and became famous anchoring "Monday Night Football" on ABC for 14 years. Cosell was often controversial, and was once voted both the country's most popular and most disliked sportscaster. Born Howard William Cohen in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he changed his name to Cosell when he was in college. He started out as a lawyer, moving to full-time broadcasting in 1956. Cosell retired from ABC in 1992 after surgery to remove a cancerous chest tumor. He died in New York City of a heart embolism on April 24. Cosell was 77.

For Bessie Delany, fame came late in life -- more than 100 years after her birth. She and her sister, Sadie, co-wrote "Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years," a 1993 best-seller. The book, which chronicled the Delany sisters' lives, became a hit Broadway play. Bessie Delany graduated from Columbia University in 1923 and was New York's second black woman dentist. She died in Mount Vernon, New York, on September 25. Delany was 104.

• Paying tribute to Bessie Delany

Eazy-E, born Eric Wright, was a star "gangsta rapper" who founded the group N.W.A. and later enjoyed a successful solo career. His music sold millions of copies, but drew criticism for its perceived sexism and violence. Others said it simply expressed reality. Eazy-E started his own recording label, Ruthless Records, managed several groups and produced the soundtrack for the movie "Boyz in the Hood." In February 1995 he was hospitalized for asthma, and in March announced that he had AIDS. Wright died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on March 26. He was 31.

Alfred Eisenstaedt's photography career spanned more than half a century and yielded some of world's best-known photographs, including the famous shot of the sailor and nurse kissing in New York's Times Square on V-J Day, 1945. Born in Prussia, Eisenstaedt started his career in the 1920s as a freelance photojournalist. To make ends meet, he also sold buttons and belts. In 1936, he started working with Life Magazine, photographing everyone from presidents and celebrities to ordinary people. Eisenstaedt produced more than 2,500 picture stories and 90 covers for Life. He died on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, on August 23. Eisenstaedt was 96.

• Photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt dies at age 96

Hungarian-born actress Eva Gabor was best known for her starring role in the TV series "Green Acres." She also appeared in films such as "The Last Time I Saw Paris" and "My Man Godfrey." Her sisters, Zsa Zsa and Magda, also became Hollywood actresses. Gabor founded "Eva Gabor's Wigs," which became a multi-million dollar business. Records conflict about Gabor's birth date, believed to be 1926 or earlier. She died in Los Angeles on July 4 of pneumonia.

Join the world's news leader for an in-depth multimedia look at the top news stories of 1995.

CNN Time Capsule: The Defining Moments of 1995 is a new multimedia CD-ROM which chronicles the year's top stories through video, photos, text, audio clips and editorial cartoons. Click here to find out more!