1495 – Alphonso II, King of Naples (1494-95), dies at 47
1751 – Kilian I von Dientzenhofer, builder (Nepomukkerk, Prague), dies at 62
1865 – Francisco Manuel da Silva, composer, dies at 70
1919 – Horatio Parker, American organist and composer, dies at 56
1928 – Lucien Capet, French composer and violinist, dies at 55
1968 – Joan Tabor, American actress (Teenage Millionaire), dies at 36 after accidentally overdosing on influenza medication
1977 – Louis Untermeyer, American poet and critic (Immortal Poems, Story Poems), dies at 92
1991 – June Storey, Canadian-born American actress (South of the Border), dies of cancer at 73
2002 – Wayne Owens, former U.S. Congressman (D-Utah) (b. 1937)
2007 – Bill Strauss, American writer on generations, satirist, and founder of the Capitol Steps (b. 1947)
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 17th December 2020
1830 – Simón Bolívar, South American revolutionary and president (Colombia), dies at 47 in Santa Marta, Colombia
1847 – Marie-Louise of Austria, Duchess of Parma and second wife of Napoleon, dies at 56
1990 – Mieke Verstraete [Maria Augustina De Graef], Belgian-Dutch actress (Pleasantly Settled), dies at 79
2008 – Dave Smith, American baseball player (b. 1955)
2010 – Walt Dropo, American baseball player (b. 1923)
2013 – Leland Smith, American composer, bassoonist and computer coder who led music publishing into the digital age (SCORE), dies at 88
2014 – Fritz Rudolf Fries, German writer and informant, dies at 79
2017 – Robert G Wilmers, American banker (MandT Bank), billionaire and philanthropist, dies at 83
2018 – Penny Marshall, American actress and director (Laverne and Shirley, Big), dies at 75
2019 – Hayden Fry, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (SMU 1962-72, North Texas State University 1973-78, University of Iowa 1979-98), dies from cancer at 90
Famous Deaths for 16th December 2020
1751 – Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian general (b. 1700)
1951 – Dorothy Dix [Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer], American journalist and columnist, dies at 81
1976 – Réal Caouette, French Canadian politician (Social Credit Party of Canada), dies at 59
1991 – Fred Scott, American vocalist and actor (Melody of the Plains, Vincent Lopez), dies at 89
1993 – Bentri Seddik, Algerian court judge, murdered at 46
1997 – Richard Warwick, actor (Johnny Dangerously, Sebastine, If), dies at 52
2001 – Stuart Adamson, Scottish rock vocalist and guitarist (The Skids, Big Country), dies at 43
2006 – Taliep Petersen, South African singer and composer (b. 1950)
2010 – Mary Jane Odell, American politician and journalist, Iowa Secretary of State, dies at 87
2011 – Nicol Williamson, Scottish actor (Excalibur), dies of esophageal cancer at 75
Famous Deaths for 15th December 2020
1230 – Ottokar I, king of Bohemia (1197-1230), dies
1515 – Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese admiral, Duke of Goa and Viceroy of Portuguese India, dies at sea in sight of Goa at around 62
1950 – Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian freedom fighter and statesman, dies at 75
1975 – Mukhtar Ashrafi, Soviet-Uzbek composer, dies at 63
1979 – Bern Hoffman, actor (Major Dell Conway), dies at 66
1991 – Ray Smith, British actor (And Then You Die), dies at 55
1994 – Henry Phelps Brown, British historian and economist, dies at 88
1996 – Guiseppe Dossetti, politician/priest, dies at 83
2011 – Andy Carey, third baseman for 1950s New York Yankees, dies at 80
2015 – Ken Pogue, Canadian actor (Adderly, Katts and Dog), dies of cancer at 81
Famous Deaths for 14th December 2020
872 – Adrian II, Italian Pope (867-72) the last married pope, dies at ~80
1476 – Vlad III the Impaler, Wallachian prince, killed in battle at 45
1735 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop and antiquarian (b. 1674)
1788 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer, dies at 74
1920 – George “The Gipper” Gipp, American football player (Notre Dame), dies of a streptococcal throat infection and pneumonia at 25
1966 – Emma Dunn, English American actress (You Can’t Fool Your Wife), dies at 91
1985 – Charlie Bachman, American College Football Hall of Fame guard and coach (Notre Dame, Florida, Michigan State), dies at 93
1990 – Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn und Taxis, German businessman, dies at 64
1998 – Norman Fell, American actor (Three’s Company, The End, Graduate), dies of bone marrow cancer at 74
2013 – Peter O’Toole, Irish actor (Lord Jim, Beckett, Lawrence of Arabia), dies at 81
Famous Deaths for 13th December 2020
1048 – Al-Biruni, Arabic royal astrologer, dies at 74
1783 – Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin, Swedish astronomer (b. 1717)
1908 – Augustus Le Plongeon, French-American photographer and antiquitarian, dies at 83
1940 – George Regas, Greek actor (The Mark of Zorro), dies at 50
1945 – Elisabeth Volkenrath, supervisor at concentration camps (b. 1919)
1976 – Eduard Claudius, writer, dies
1983 – Alexander Schmemann, Orthodox Christian priest and theologian (b. 1921)
1993 – Charles JB Jonckheere, Flemish poet/writer: Ogentroost, dies at 87
1994 – Norman Beaton, Guyanese actor (Eureka, Black Joy, Mighty Quinn), dies at 60
2008 – Kathy Staff [Minnie Higginbottom], British actress (Mary Reilly, Last of the Summer Wine, Open All Hours), dies from a brain tumour at 80
Famous Deaths for 12th December 2020
1880 – Michel Chasles, French mathematician (geometry), dies at 83
1889 – Robert Browning, English poet (Ring and Book), dies at 77
1912 – Luitpold von Bayern, prince-regent of Bayern, dies at 91
1947 – Huda Sha’arawi, Egyptian feminist and nationalist, founder of Egyptian Feminist Union, dies at 68
1963 – Yasujiro Ozu, Japanese film director (b. 1903)
1992 – Jasu Patel, Indian cricketer (29 wkts for India, best 9-69 v Aust), dies at 68
1994 – Antoine Pinay, French PM (1952)/foreign minister, dies at 102
1995 – David Saul Marshall, diplomat lawyer/politician, dies at 97
2005 – Annette Vadim, Danish actress (b. 1936)
2005 – Robert F. Newmyer, American film producer (b. 1946)
Famous Deaths for 11th December 2020
1524 – Henry Van Zutphen, Dutch protestant martyr, burned at stake
1756 – Maria Amalia of Austria, Holy Roman Empire Empress as the spouse of Emperor Charles VII, dies at 55
1918 – Ivan Cankar, Slavic author (Hlapec Jernej), dies at 42
1950 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and computing pioneer, dies at 57
1972 – John Mills, New Zealand cricketer (7 Tests for NZ in early 1930’s, 241 runs), dies at 67
1978 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist and Nobel laureate (b. 1901)
1994 – Yao Yilin, Vice Prime Minister of China (1979), dies
1994 – Stanislaw Maczek, Polish/British general-major (WWII), dies at 102
1995 – John Heawood, Canadian actor, singer and choreographer (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), dies at 75
2004 – José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian soccer defender (21 caps; Vélez Sársfield, Boca Juniors, Nîmes Olympique), dies from gunshot wound in stomach while hunting at 43
Famous Deaths for 10th December 2020
1850 – François Sulpice Beudant, French mineralogist and geologist, dies at 63
1878 – Henry Wells, American businessman and founder (American Express Co and Wells Fargo and Co), dies at 72
1888 – Marià Obiols, Catalan composer, dies at 79
1921 – George Ashlin, Irish architect noted for his work on churches and cathedrals, dies at 84
1939 – Wilhelm Grosz, composer, dies at 45
1969 – Franco Capuana, composer, dies at 75
1982 – Roy Webb, American film score composer (films of Val Lewton), dies at 94
1994 – Alexander Wilson, Canadian athlete (b. 1905)
2001 – Ashok Kumar [Dadamoni, Kumudlal Kunjilal Ganguly], Indian actor (Mahal, Afsana), dies from chronic asthma at 90
2007 – Robert Moevs, American composer, dies at 87
Famous Deaths for 9th December 2020
1165 – Malcolm IV of Scotland, nicknamed Virgo “the Maiden”, King of Scots (1153-65), dies of poor health at 24
1544 – Teofilo Folengo, Italian macaronic poet, dies at 53
1692 – William Mountfort, English actor and dramatist, dies at approximately 38
1854 – Almeida Garrett, Portuguese writer (b. 1799)
1905 – Henry Holmes, English violinist and composer, dies at 66
1971 – Sergey Konenkov, Russian sculptor, dies at 97
1983 – David Rounds, American actor (Terence-Beacon Hill, Alice, The Blue and The Grey), dies of cancer at 53
1996 – Raphael Samuel, British Marxist historian, dies at 61
1996 – Anne Bolt, photo-journalist and trade unionist, dies at 84
1997 – Tamara Geva, Russian-born dancer and actress, dies at 91