Ethel Ayler,88, seven-time Broadway veteran ( original cast member of August Wilson’s Fences), best known for her role as Carrie Hanks on The Cosby Show

Ricardo Barber, 81, core member of Repertorio Español,

Philip Bosco, 88, Tony winning actor

Reg E Cathey, 59, The Wire, House of Cards. I just saw him do a great turn as King Creon in Antigone in Ferguson

Olivia Cole, 75, made her Broadway debut in 1966 in a revival of The School for Scandal. The actor worked steadily on Broadway for nearly a decade. She won an Emmy for her performance in the TV miniseries Roots

Merle Debuskey, 95, press agent

Bradford Dillman, who created the role of younger brother Edmund Tyrone in the original Broadway production of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, died January 16 at the age of 87.

Alvin Epstein, 93, actor, master of Beckett

Nanette Fabray, 97, 13-time Broadway veteran, Tony winner for “Love Life.”

Maria Irene Fornes

Jerry Frankel,88, producer

Gertrude Jeannette, 103, veteran of six Broadway shows, including plays by Tennessee Williams, Thornton Wilder, and James Baldwin.

John Glines, 84, producer

Barbara Harris, 83

Tab Hunter, 86

Galt MacDermot, 89, composer of Hair

John Mahoney, 77, Tony-winning actor for House of Blue Leaves, @SteppenwolfThtr ensemble member, curmudgeonly father on TV series Frasier.

Joe Masteroff, 98, librettist of Cabaret

Peter Masterson, 84, writer

Jan Maxwell, 61. Thirteen-time Broadway veteran, most recently in 2011 Follies revival. Five-time Tony nominee. Fixture Off-Broadway

Marin Mazzie 57, star of Ragtime and Passion

Donald Moffat, 87, actor

Liliane Montevecchi, 85, Tony-winning actress of “Nine”

Patricia Morison, 102, veteran of five Broadway shows, including the original Kiss Me Kate and King and I.

Brian Murray, 80

Charlotte Rae, 92, two-time Tony nominee, known for TV series The Fact of Life

Burt Reynolds, 82, actor and theater visionary

Ntozake Shange, 70, a spoken-word artist who is best known for her play “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf,”

Carole Shelley, 79, actress

Neil Simon, 91, playwright

Charles Weldon, 78, artistic director of The Negro Ensemble Company

Craig Zadan, 69, producer who brought Broadway back to television