Final chapters: Gregg Allman, Roger Moore, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jim Bunning

Gregg Allman was a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, the pioneering unit in the Southern rock explosion of the 1970s. He died May 27 at his home in Savannah, Ga. His manager, Michael Lehman, told The Associated Press that the cause was a reoccurrence of liver cancer. He was 69. Allman was the lead singer and keyboardist of the group, and was the nucleus of the band along with his older brother, guitarist Duane Allman, who died in 1971. He wrote some of the band’s most enduring songs, including “Whipping Post,” “Midnight Rider” and “Melissa.” The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. He enjoyed solo success with the albums “Laid Back” in 1973 and “I’m No Angel” in 1987, both of which were certified gold.

Roger Moore was the suave star of seven James Bond films. He died May 23 in Switzerland after a short battle with cancer, according to a family statement posted on Moore’s official Twitter account. He was 89. Moore took over the Bond role in “Live and Let Die” in 1973. He made six more Bond films over the next 12 years: “The Man With the Golden Gun,” “The Spy Who Loved Me,” “Octopussy,” “Moonraker,” “For Your Eyes Only and “A View to a Kill.” In the popular 1950s-60s TV series “Maverick,” he played Beauregarde Maverick, English cousin of the Wild West’s Maverick brothers, Bret and Bart. In England, he had a long-running TV hit in the 1960s with “The Saint,” playing Simon Templar, an enigmatic action hero who helped put wealthy crooks in jail while absconding with their fortunes. He was made a commander of the British Empire in 1999 and was knighted in 2003.

Zbigniew Brzezinski was national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter in the tumultuous years of the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1970s. He died May 26 at a hospital in Falls Church, Va. His death was announced by his daughter, Mika Brzezinski, a co-host of the MSNBC program “Morning Joe.” He was 89. Brzezinski was born in Poland and had a hatred of the Soviet Union. During his four years under Carter, beginning in 1977, thwarting Soviet expansionism at any cost guided much of U.S. foreign policy, for better or worse. He was also one of the few foreign policy experts to warn against the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Jim Bunning was a Hall of Fame pitcher who went on to serve in Congress as a Republican from Kentucky. He died May 26 in the Fort Thomas, Ky., area. He was 85. Bunning pitched 17 seasons in the majors, mostly with the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies. He won 224 games and pitched the first perfect game in modern National League history. He was elected to Cooperstown by the Veterans Committee in 1996. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 and served six terms. He was elected to the Senate in 1998 and re-elected in 2004.

Dina Merrill was a rebellious heiress who defied her super-rich parents to become a movie star, often portraying stylish wives or “the other woman.” She died May 22 of heart failure at her home in East Hampton, N.Y., a family spokesperson told The Associated Press. She was 93. Merrill’s mother was Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post cereal fortune, and her father was E.F. Hutton, founder of the stockbroker firm that bore his name. Starting in the 1950s, she appeared in more than 100 films and television programs, including “The Desk Set” with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in 1957, “Operation Petticoat” with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis in 1959, and “Butterfield 8” with Elizabeth Taylor in 1960.

Cortez Kennedy was a Hall of Fame defensive tackle with the Seattle Seahawks. He was found dead May 23 at his home in Orlando, Fla. A police public information officer said the circumstances surrounding his death were unknown but that there was nothing suspicious about his death. He was 48. Kennedy was the third player chosen in the 1990 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami. He played his entire 11-year career with the Seahawks, was selected for eight Pro Bowls and was chosen the NFL’s defensive player of the year in 1992. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012.

Jerry Perenchio was a billionaire media mogul who helped produce hit TV shows and sporting events and turned Univision into a major Spanish-language network. He died May 23 from lung cancer at his Los Angeles home, his wife, Margaret Perenchio, said. He was 86. Perenchio co-owned Univision, selling it for more than $1 billion. As a talent agent, his clients included Andy Williams and Glen Campbell. He promoted sporting events such as the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight in 1971 and the famous tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs two years later. He and Norman Lear produced 1970s hits including “The Jeffersons,” and in the 1980s Perenchio produced “Driving Miss Daisy” and other films.

Jared Martin played a cowboy and was a fan favorite on the 1980s soap opera “Dallas.” His wife, Yu Wei, said he died May 24 at their Philadelphia home after battling pancreatic cancer for over a year. He was 75. Martin played Dusty Farlow on the show, a charming rancher who was Sue Ellen Ewing’s lover. Farlow was supposed to be a temporary character, and supposedly died in a plane crash, but proved so popular that he was reintroduced.

Nicky Hayden was a world champion motorcycle racer. He died May 22 at a hospital in Cesena, Italy, five days after he was hit by a car while training on his bicycle. He was 35. Hayden, who was born in Owensboro, Ky., was training on the Rimini coast following a motorcycle race at nearby Imola when he was struck by a car and suffered severe cerebral damage and multiple traumatic injuries. He won the MotoGP title in 2006. He switched to the World Superbike championship last year and finished fifth overall.

Bill White was a former Chicago Blackhawks all-star defenseman and a member of Canada’s 1972 Summit Series team. His death was announced May 22 by the Blackhawks. He was 77. White began his career with the Los Angeles Kings in the 1967-68 season and was traded to Chicago during the 1969-70 season. He appeared in six consecutive All-Star games between 1969 and 1974 and retired after the 1975-76 season. He briefly served as head coach of the Blackhawks for the final 46 games of the 1976-77 season.

Roger Boesche was a professor at Southern California’s Occidental College who was credited by Barack Obama with sparking the future president’s interest in politics when he was an undergraduate. He died May 22 at home in Los Angeles, a college spokesman said. No cause of death was given. He was 69. Boesche was a young faculty member in the early 1980s when he gave Obama a B in political theory. When the future president asked why he didn’t get an A, Boesche told him he was brilliant but hadn’t worked hard enough. Obama cited Boesche in 2010 when asked about his favorite class.