So many show biz icons have been leaving us of late that there appears to be a ?traffic jam? as far as tributes to the dear departed in the biz are concerned.

In just one year, we?ve had to bid goodbye, farewell and envoi to (take a deep breath): Kathryn Grayson, Patrick Swayze, Michael Jackson, Natasha Richardson, Jennifer Jones, Karl Malden, Jean Simmons, David Carradine, Dom Deluise, Brittany Murphy, Lou Jacobi, Jack Cardiff, Budd Schulberg, David Brown, Maurice Jarre, Monte Hale, Ron Silver, Army Archerd, Betsy Blair?and then some.

The big names like Michael Jackson, Patrick Swayze, David Carradine and Natasha Richardson were mourned with the deepest sorrow, of course, but older film buffs were similarly deeply saddened by the departure of even the relatively ?forgotten.?

For example, we fondly remember musical star Kathryn Grayson, she of the heart-shaped lips and peaches-and-cream complexion, in standout movies like ?Show Boat? with Howard Keel and Ava Gardner.

Grayson was a trained classical singer, so her trills were brilliant and breathtaking. As an actress, however, her nonsinging scenes were merely proficient. But, we didn?t take it against her, because her bravura singing made the big difference.

Jennifer Jones is acclaimed by veteran film buffs for her dramatic performance in ?The Song of Bernadette,? in which she portrayed Marian visionary Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France.

Jean Simmons was another star admired both for her beauty and her acting talent. Also an exceptional thespian was Natasha Richardson, a member of the ?royal? Richardson family regarded as British theater-film ?royalty.?

For his part, Karl Malden was hailed as one of Hollywood?s best character actors, contributing gritty characterizations to many an exceptional ?noir? film.

Most recently, the film world said Godspeed to Tony Curtis, whose standout performances were in ?The Defiant Ones? with Sidney Poitier and ?Some Like It Hot,? with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon.

That?s quite a wide range of characterizations, because he played as tough as tough can be in the first film?and was a cute, hilarious cross-dresser in the second!

After he died, Curtis? friend, Debbie Reynolds, revealed that he wasn?t the first choice to play his plum role in the Billy Wilder film (about two men who pretend to be female musicians to escape from hounds who were bent on maiming them). Would you believe, the movie?s producers first wanted Humphrey Bogart to play the part?! But, saner minds happily saved the day, and Curtis went on to make his cross-dressing character a big, winsome winner.

Reynolds also revealed that, upon his semi-retirement from acting, Curtis made a reputation for himself as a good painter and maker of ?assemblages.?

His wife, Janet Leigh, has also passed away, but their daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, has had a good acting career?and, just like her dad, has launched an alternate career in middle-age?as a writer of very popular short stories for children.