Notable people who've died of the coronavirus (Covid-19)

3 artists in 3 different fields from 3 continents have died as an apparent result of the coronavirus in the last few days.

Terrence McNally, an American playwright who won 4 Tonys, including for Ragtime in 1998, died in Florida at 81. (That link is to the New York Times obituary.)

Here he is last year, accepting the Lifetime Achievement Tony:

I love being a playwright.… I love it when I know something I wrote softened the hearts of parents who had banished their son and daughter from their lives when they came out to them as gay and lesbian.

Manu Dibango, a saxophonist from Cameroon best known for the funky dance track "Soul Makossa" (1972), died in Paris at 86. (NYT obit.) He sued Michael Jackson for alleged plagiarism of that song in "Wanna Be Startin' Something," the first song on Thriller, and sued Rihanna over "Don't Stop the Music," which uses the hook from the Michael Jackson song.

Here's a Manu Dibango concert from 2018 (he comes out onstage after 10 minutes):




Lucia Bosè, an Italian actress who had lead roles in movies by some of the most acclaimed directors, including Fellini and Antonioni, died in Spain at 89. (That source and others note coronavirus as a cause, but the New York Times obituary doesn't.)

Here are 2 Lucia Bosè movies you can stream:

• The Lady Without Camelias (1953), directed by Antonioni, is on Amazon Prime.

• Death of a Cyclist (1955) is on the Criterion Channel. (If you don't subscribe to the Criterion Channel, you should be able to get a 14-day free trial if you're in the US or Canada — see my recent post about this.)