PARIS (AP) — A French nun who was believed to be the world's oldest person has died a few weeks before her 119th birthday, the spokesperson for her nursing home in southern France said Wednesday.
Lucile Randon, known as Sister André, was born in the town of Ales, southern France, on Feb. 11, 1904. She was also one of the world's oldest survivors of COVID-19.
Spokesman David Tavella said she died at 2 a.m. on Tuesday at the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in the town of Toulon.
The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, listed her as the oldest known person in the world after the death of Japan's Kane Tanaka, aged 119, last year.
Sister André tested positive for the coronavirus in January 2021, shortly before her 117th birthday, but she had so few symptoms that she didn't even realize she was infected. Her survival made headlines both in France and beyond.
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In April last year, asked about her exceptional longevity through two world wars, she told French media that "working … makes you live. I worked until I was 108."
She was known to enjoy a daily glass of wine and chocolate.
The oldest living known person in the world listed by the Gerontology Research Group is now American-born Maria Branyas Morera, who is living in Spain, and is 115.
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Pelé
Pelé, the Brazilian king of soccer who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century, died Dec. 29, 2022. He was 82. Widely regarded as one of soccer’s greatest players, Pelé spent nearly two decades enchanting fans and dazzling opponents as the game’s most prolific scorer with Brazilian club Santos and the Brazil national team.
Anne Heche
Anne Heche, the Emmy-winning film and television actor whose dramatic Hollywood rise in the 1990s and accomplished career contrasted with personal chapters of turmoil, died of injuries from a fiery car crash. She was 53. By the late 1990s Heche was one of the hottest actors in Hollywood, a constant on magazine covers and in big-budget films. In 1997 alone, she played opposite Johnny Depp as his wife in “Donnie Brasco” and Tommy Lee Jones in “Volcano” and was part of the ensemble cast in the original “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
Estelle Harris
Estelle Harris, who hollered her way into TV history as George Costanza’s short-fused mother on “Seinfeld” and voiced Mrs. Potato Head in the “Toy Story” franchise, died April 2, 2022. She was 93. As middle-class matron Estelle Costanza, Harris put a memorable stamp on her recurring role in the smash 1990s sitcom. With her high-pitched voice and humorously overbearing attitude, she was an archetype of maternal indignation.
Liz Sheridan
Liz Sheridan, a veteran stage and screen actress who played Jerry Seinfeld's mother, Helen, on "Seinfeld," died April April 15, 2022, at age 93. Though she had dozens of film credits, she was best known as Seinfeld's doting mother on his titular sitcom, which ran for nine seasons. She also appeared as the snoopy neighbor Mrs. Ochmonek on the alien-led sitcom "ALF."
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Howard Hesseman
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Clarence Gilyard
Clarence Gilyard, the actor best known for playing computer hacker Theo in "Die Hard" and naval flight officer Marcus "Sundown" Williams in "Top Gun," died Nov. 28, 2022, at the age of 66. — CNN
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Emilio Delgado
Emilio Delgado, who spent more than 40 years entertaining generations of children playing the Fix-It Shop owner Luis on "Sesame Street," died March 10, 2022. He was 81. Delgado had cited the PBS show's importance as a cultural touchstone in the way people of color were depicted on TV. — CNN
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Bob McGrath
Bob McGrath, an actor who played the friendly neighbor Bob Johnson as an original cast member of the beloved children's program "Sesame Street," died Dec. 4, 2022. He was 90. — CNN
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Gallagher
Comedian Gallagher, best known for his watermelon-smashing comedy routine and many popular specials in the 1980s, died Nov. 11, 2022. He was 76. Gallagher, born Leo Gallagher, became a household name in the early '80s with a comedy special titled "An Uncensored Evening," the first comedy stand up special ever to air on cable television. Gallagher's most famous bit involved a hand-made sledgehammer he called the "Sledge-O-Matic," which he would use to smash food on stage, spraying the audience. — CNN
Michael Lang
Michael Lang, a co-creator and promoter of the 1969 Woodstock music festival that served as a touchstone for generations of music fans, died Jan. 8, 2022. He was 77.
