1551 – Joachim Vadian [Vadianus] Swiss humanist, scholar and protestant reformer, dies at 66
1833 – Adamántios Koraïs, Greek humanist scholar, dies at 84
1939 – Robert Courtneidge, British theater producer, dies
1970 – Sam Sheppard, American accused murderer (b. 1923)
1971 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (Le Sacre du Printemps – The Rite of Spring; The Firebird), dies of pneumonia at 88
1979 – Milton Ager, American composer, dies at 85
1996 – Nadieh [Karin Meis], Dutch singer, guitarist and composer (Haifa Blue), dies from a pulmonary embolism and breast cancer at 37
2015 – James Best [Jewel Franklin Guy], American actor (The Dukes of Hazzard, Sounder), dies at 88
2020 – Graham “Jock” Edwards, New Zealand cricket batsman (8 Tests, 3 x 50; Central Districts), dies from heart failure at 64
2020 – Radomir Antić, Serbian soccer defender (1 cap Yugoslavia; Partizan, Luton Town) and manager (Atlético Madrid; Serbia), dies from pancreatitis at 71
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 5th April 2023
1673 – Francois Caron, admiral/governor (Formosa), drowns at about 72
1676 – John Winthrop, the Younger, American politician (b. 1606)
1944 – Isolde Kurz, German writer/poetess (Meine Mutter), dies at 90
1954 – Claude Delvincourt, French composer and pianist, dies at 66
1970 – Jacob H “Jaap” Stotijn, Dutch oboist, and conductor (Residence Orchestra), dies at 78
1992 – Anthony “Tony” Papa, big band leader, dies at 65
2018 – Cecil Taylor, American pianist, poet, and one of the pioneers of free jazz, dies at 89
2018 – Eric Bristow MBE [‘The Crafty Cockney’], English darts player (BDO World Champion 1980-81, 84-86), dies of a heart attack at 60
2018 – Isao Takahata, Japanese anime film director, screenwriter and producer (Grave of the Fireflies, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya), dies of lung cancer at 82
2020 – Peter Walker, English cricket batsman (3 Tests; Glamorgan CCC), dies after a stroke at 84
Famous Deaths for 4th April 2023
1585 – Caspar de Robles, Spanish viceroy of Frisia, dies at about 57
1903 – Margaret Ann Neve, British 1st recorded female Supercentenarian, who lived in three centuries, dies at 110
1931 – Andre Michelin, French industrialist, tire manufacturer (Michelin) and publisher of the Michelin Guide, dies of respiratory failure at 78
1943 – Raoul Laparra, French composer, dies during a bombing raid in WWII at 66
1972 – Adam Clayton Powell Jr., American politician (Rep-D-NY), dies of acute prostatitis at 63
1978 – Gino Contilli, Italian composer, dies at 70
1991 – John Heinz, American businessman and Republican politician (Senator from Pennsylvania, 1977-1991), dies in a plane crash at 52
2003 – Anthony Caruso, American actor (b. 1916)
2010 – Clifford M. Hardin, American politician (17th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture), dies at 94
2013 – Carmine Infantino, American comic book artist, dies at 87
Famous Deaths for 3rd April 2023
1350 – Eudes IV, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1295)
1811 – Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen, Flemish court painter, dies at 83
1941 – Pal Teleki-von Szek, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-21, 39-41), committed suicide at 61
1950 – Carter G. Woodson, American historian (African American studies), dies at 74
1994 – Elizabeth “Betty” Furness, American actress, journalist and consumer activist (Dangerous Corner, Studio 1), dies of stomach cancer at 78
2002 – Fad Gadget [Francis Tovey], English singer and musician, dies of a heart attack at 45
2015 – Sarah Brady, American gun-control activist, dies at 73
2016 – Joseph Medicine Crow, Native American chief and historian, dies at 102
2018 – Lill-Babs [Barbro Margareta Svensson], Swedish pop singer, (Eurovision, 1961) actress, and television presenter, dies of heart failure while battling cancer at 80
2022 – June Brown, British actress (EastEnders, 1985–93 and 1997–2020 – “Dot”; Sitting Target), dies at 95
Famous Deaths for 2nd April 2023
1872 – Samuel Morse, American painter and inventor of the electric telegraph and Morse Code, dies at 80
1930 – Zewditu, Empress of Ethiopia (1916-30), dies at 53
1979 – Carroll Rosenbloom, American businessman and NFL team owner (Baltimore Colts, LA Rams), dies of a heart attack at 72
1992 – Paula Kelly, American big band singer (The Modernaires), dies at 72
2002 – Jack Kruschen, Canadian character actor (The Apartment, Busting Loose), dies at 80
2005 – Pope Saint John Paul II [Karol Wojtyla], 264th Roman Catholic Pope (1978-2005), dies of heart failure at 84
2010 – Mike Cuellar, Cuban baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1967, 70, 71, 74; World Series 1964, 70; AL Cy Young Award 1969; Baltimore Orioles), dies from stomach cancer at 72
2011 – Larry Finch, American college basketball coach (University of Memphis 1986-97), dies at 60
2013 – Jesús Franco, Spanish film director and writer, dies from complications from a stroke at 82
2020 – Sergio Rossi, Italian shoe designer, dies of COVID-19 complications at 84
Famous Deaths for 1st April 2023
1548 – Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1506-48), dies at 81
1814 – Jozef de Ferraris, French-Austrian general and cartographer, dies at 87
1832 – Robert the Hermit, US ex-slave/hermit in Massachusetts, dies
1878 – John Corry Wilson Daly, Canadian politician (b. 1796)
1918 – Karl Valentin, Swedish composer, dies at 64
1984 – Chepín [Electo Rosell], Cuban violinist, bandleader, and composer (Orquesta Chepín-Chovén), dies at 76
1998 – Eugene “Gene” Evans, American actor (My Friend Flicka, Johnny Ringo, Alamo), dies of heart failure at 75
2010 – John Forsythe, American actor (Charlie’s Angels, Dynasty), dies at 92
2013 – Jack Pardee, American College Football Hall of Fame linebacker (Texas AandM; NFL: LA Rams, Washington Redskins) and coach (Houston Oilers), dies at gallbladder cancer at 76
2018 – Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemalan general and dictator (1982-83) convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity, dies of a heart attack at 91
Famous Deaths for 31st March 2023
1547 – King Francis I of France (1515-47), dies complaining about the weight of the crown at 52
1703 – Johann Christoph Bach, German harpsichordist and composer, dies at 60
1727 – Isaac Newton, English physicist, mathematician and astronomer (Gravity, Laws of Motion), dies at 84
1850 – John C. Calhoun, US Vice President (1825-32), dies of tuberculosis at 68
1900 – Frank Milligan, cricketer (Mafeking 2 Tests Eng v South Africa 1898-99), dies
1945 – Maurice Donnay, French playwright (Lovers), dies at 85
1945 – Hans Fischer, German organic chemist (Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1930), commits suicide at 63
2002 – Barry Took, British comedian (b. 1928)
2003 – H.S.M. Coxeter, English-born geometer (b. 1907)
2021 – Ron Greene, American college basketball coach (Uni of New Orleans, Mississippi State, Murray State, Indiana State), dies at 82
Famous Deaths for 24th March 2023
1910 – Galen Clark, Canadian-born American naturalist and conservationist (discovered and helped preserve Mariposa’s Grove of giant Sequoia trees), dies at 95
1974 – Doris Deane, dies at 74
1991 – Sir John Kerr, Australian politician and the Governor General who dismissed the Whitlam Government, dies at 76
1993 – John Hersey, American author (Hiroshima, Bell for Adano, Wall), dies at 78
2008 – Chalmers “Spanky” Alford, American guitarist (b. 1955)
2009 – Martin Brozius, Dutch actor (Goede Tijden Slechte Tijden), dies at 67
2010 – Robert Culp, American actor, screenwriter, voice actor, and director (I Spy, Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice), dies at 79
2013 – Barbara Anderson, New Zealand author, dies at 86
2015 – Oleg Bryjak, Kazakhstani-German bass-baritone opera singer (Deutsche Oper am Rhein), dies in plane crash at 54
2016 – Garry Shandling, American comedian (It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, Larry Sanders Show), dies at 66
Famous Deaths for 23rd March 2023
59 – Agrippina the Younger [Julia Agrippina], Roman Empress (sister of Caligula, wife of Claudius, mother of Nero), dies at 43 (circumstances of her death vary, but suggest she was murdered by her son, the Emperor Nero)
1653 – Johan van Galen, Dutch admiral (commanded Dutch fleet during Battle of Leghorn), dies of wounds from the Battle of Leghorn at about 48
1950 – Douglas Carr, England cricket spin bowler (1 Test, 7 wickets; Kent CCC), dies at 78
1967 – Duncan Macrae, Scottish actor (Casino Royale, The Little Kidnappers), dies at 61
1968 – Lauwrens Voorthuyzen [Lou de Palingboer], Dutch religious sect leader, dies at 70
1981 – Mike Hailwood, MBE GM, British motorcycle road racer (World C’ships: 250cc – 1961, 66, 67; 350cc – 1966, 67; 500cc –1962, 63, 64, 65; 76 Grand Prix wins), dies in a car accident at 40
1996 – J. D. “Jay” Miller, American record producer, dies at 73
2002 – Eileen Farrell, American soprano (I Got A Right To Sing The Blues; Metropolitan Opera, 1960-66) and film voice (Interrupted Melody), dies at 82
2011 – Fred Titmus, English cricket all-rounder (53 Tests, 153 wickets, 10 x 50s; Middlesex), dies at 78
2015 – Roy Douglas, English composer and arranger (Tomorrow We Live – At Dawn We Die), dies at 107
Famous Deaths for 22nd March 2023
1418 – Dietrich of Nieheim, German historian
1421 – Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, second son of Henry IV of England (killed in battle) (b. 1388)
1727 – Francesco Gasparini, Italian baroque composer (Ambleto; Missa Canonica), dies at 59
1758 – Jonathan Edwards, American Christian preacher, philosopher, and theologian (Original Sin), dies at 54
1824 – Johann Melchior Dreyer, German composer, dies at 76
1922 – Louis-Antoine Ranvier, French anatomist and historian, dies at 86
2005 – Rod Price, British rock and blues guitar and slide guitar player (Foghat, 1971-80 – “Slow Ride”), dies of a heart attack at 57
2007 – Uppaluri Gopala Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (b. 1918)
2018 – Morgana King, American jazz singer and actress (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II), dies of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 87
2020 – Eric Weissberg, American singer and musician (Duelling Banjos), dies of Alzheimer’s at 80