Category: Famous Deaths

1603 – William Watson, English conspirator (b. 1559)
1819 – Ann C Coleman, American socialite and fiancée of lawyer and future US President James Buchanan, dies of a laudanum overdose at 23
1966 – Yury Alexandrovich Shaporin, Russian-Ukrainian Soviet composer, dies at 79
1975 – Frank Signorelli, American swing jazz pianist (Original Dixieland Jazz Band; Joe Venuti’s Blue Four), and songwriter (Stairway to the Stars), dies at 74
1982 – Fritz Usinger, German writer (Song Against Death), dies at 87
2001 – Michael Carver, British soldier (b. 1915)
2002 – Stan Rice, American painter, educator, and poet (b. 1942)
2012 – Patrick Moore, English astronomer, author and TV presenter (The Sky at Night), dies from an infection at 89
2014 – Mary Ann Mobley, American model and actress (Miss America 1959, Diff’rent Strokes), dies from breast cancer at 77
2018 – (Arie) “Aat” Veldhoen, Dutch visual artist, dies at 84

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644 – Omar I, 2nd Caliph of Islam (634-44), oversaw conquest of Persia and Egypt, murdered at 59 or 60
1680 – Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, English politician (b. 1606)
1768 – Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary and painter, dies at 66
1963 – Field Marshal Sarit Dhanarajata, Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1908)
1982 – André Kamperveen, Suriname footballer, politician, administrator, and pro-democracy advocate murdered by the military at 58
1992 – William Shawn, American magazine editor (New Yorker, 1952-87), dies at 85
1993 – Carlotta Monti [Montijo], American actress and memoirist (W. C. Fields and Me), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 86
2015 – Mattiwilda Dobbs, American soprano, dies at 90
2016 – Florence Finch, Filipino-American war hero who fought against the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II, dies at 101
2018 – Evelyn Berezin, American computer pioneer, invented first word processor, dies at 93

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1254 – Innocent IV [Sinibaldo Fieschi], Italian pope (1243-54), dies at 58 or 59
1383 – Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg (1354-83), Duke of Brabant and Limburg (1355-83), dies at 46
1867 – Rudolf Viole, German pianist and composer, dies at 42
1877 – Benjamin Huger, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 72
1909 – Whitcomb Judson, American inventor (zipper), dies at 63
1938 – Harry Moses, cricketer (6 Tests for Australia 1887-95), dies
1995 – Larry Bartlett, British photographic printer (Larry Bartlett’s Black and White Photographic Printing Workshop), dies at 42
2011 – Harry Morgan, American actor (December Bride; M*A*S*H, 1975-83 – “Col. Sherman Potter”; AfterMASH; Dragnet – “Bill Gannon”), dies in his sleep at 96
2012 – Saul Steinberg, American businessman, founder of Leasco and CEO of Reliance Insurance Company, dies at 73
2014 – John Bartholomew Tucker, American TV host (Candid Camera, Treasure Island), dies at 84

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1951 – J Edward Bromberg, Hungarian actor (The Mark of Zorro, Under 2 Flags), dies from a heart attack at 47
1970 – Thomas S Power, American USAF-gen (Raid on Tokyo-March 1945), dies at 65
1996 – Trevor Key, British photographer and graphic designer, known for his album cover art (Mike Oldfield; Phil Collins; New Order; OMD), dies of a brain tumor at 48
1997 – Eddie Myers, British WWII soldier and engineer, dies at 91
2001 – Robert Camac, American horse trainer, murdered by a family member at 61
2005 – Charly Gaul, Luxembourg cyclist (b. 1932)
2007 – Katy French, Irish Supermodel and Socialite, dies at 24
2010 – Hugues Cuénod, Swiss tenor and musical educator, dies at 108
2018 – Pete Shelley [Peter McNeish], English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Buzzcocks “Going Steady”), dies at 63
2023 – Tore Aleksandersen, Norwegian women’s volleyball coach (Allianz MTV Stuttgart; Norway, Finland women’s national teams), dies from prostate cancer at 55

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1675 – John Lightfoot, English theologist and scholar (Horae Hebraicae), dies at 73
1745 – Christoph Förster, German composer, dies at 52
1916 – Hans Richter, Austrian-Hungarian orchestral and opera conductor who led first complete performance of Richard Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus (1876), dies at 73
1931 – Vachel Lindsay, American poet (b. 1879)
1968 – Fred Clark, American actor (Zotz, Auntie Mame), dies of liver ailment at 54
1977 – Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Soviet military commander (b. 1895)
1996 – Wilf Carter, Canadian country and western singer-songwriter, yodeler, and guitarist, also known as “Montana Slim”, dies at 91
2007 – Andrew Imbrie, American contemporary classical composer, and pianist, dies at 86
2013 – Colin Wilson, English writer (Afterlife, Book of Great Mysteries), dies at 82
2023 – Norman Lear, American Peabody and Emmy Award-winning TV writer and producer (All in The Family; One Day at a Time; The Jeffersons; Maude), and film director (Cold Turkey), dies at 101

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1334 – Pope John XXII (1316-1334), dies at about 90
1915 – Gustav Hollaender, German violinist, conductor, and composer, dies at 60
1944 – Roger Bresnahan, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher, outfielder and manager (World Series 1905 NY Giants; St. Louis Cardinals; first shin guards and batting helmet), dies at 65
1969 – Alceo Toni, Italian arranger (Vivaldi’s “Four Season’s” for piano four-hands), composer (Elegiac Quintet), and musicologist, dies at 85
1983 – Bruce Drake, American Basketball Hall of Fame coach (University of Oklahoma 1938-55, 200-181), dies at 77
1985 – Marcel Boereboom, Belgian pianist, critic, educator, and musicologist (Handbook of Music History), dies at 83
1994 – Geoffery Rudolph Elton, historiographer, dies at 73
1995 – Adrianne Jones, killed by David Graham and Diane Zamora, at 16
2005 – Gregg Hoffman, American film producer (b.1963)
2017 – Mary Louise Hancock, American politician and activist, dies at 97

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1807 – Clara Reeve, English author (old English baron), dies at 78
1866 – Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda [Jan Kalivoda], Bohemian violinist, composer, and court conductor, dies of a heart attack at 65
1894 – Joseph Schadde, Flemish architect (Antwerp Stock exchange), dies at 76
1949 – Elin Pelin [Dimitar Ivanov Stoyanov], Bulgarian writer (The Gerak Family; Earth), dies at 72
1980 – Oswald Mosley, British politician and founder of British Union of Fascists, dies at 84
2009 – Richard Todd, Irish-born British actor (Dorian Gray, Assassin Yangtse Incident), dies at 90
2015 – Scott Weiland, American rock singer-songwrite (Stone Temple Pilots; Velvet Revolver), dies of an accidental drug overdose at 48
2018 – Philip Bosco, American actor (Trading Places, Lend Me a Tenor), dies at 88
2021 – Ed Shames, US Army paratrooper (WWII), and last surviving officer of the Band of Brothers (101st Airborne-Easy Company 506th Regiment), dies at 99
2023 – Myles Goodwyn, Canadian rock guitarist, singer and songwriter (April Wine – “You Could Have Been a Lady”), and record producer, dies at 75

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1665 – Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet, French socialite (b. 1588)
1844 – Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko, Polish general and politician, dies at 76
1915 – Jan Malát, Czech composer, pedagogue, and musicologist, dies at 72
1953 – Reginald “Snowy” Baker, Australian boxer (Olympic silver middleweight 1908), rugby union halfback (2 caps) and actor (The Sword of Valor), dies at 69
1953 – Walter “Doc” Meanwell, English Basketball Hall of Fame coach (University of Wisconsin 1911–1917, 1920–1934), dies at 69
1991 – George Lott, American tennis player (12 Grand Slam doubles titles), dies at 85
1997 – Michael Hedges, American new-age guitarist, composer, and singer (Aerial Boundaries), dies in a car accident at 43
2005 – Nat Mayer Shapiro, American visual artist best known for complex paintings, dies at 86
2013 – Jean-Claude Beton, Algerian-born French businessman, entrepreneur and soft-drink manufacturer (Orangina), dies at 88
2014 – Jean Béliveau, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame center (Hart Trophy 1956, 64; Art Ross Trophy 1956; Conn Smythe Trophy 1965; record 17 Stanley Cups), dies at 83

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1740 – John Abernethy, Irish Protestant minister known as part of the Belfast Society, dies at 60
1901 – George Lohmann, England cricket medium pace bowler (18 Tests, 112 wickets @ 10.75), dies of tuberculosis at 36
1941 – Alva B. Adams, American politician (U.S. Senator from Colorado, 1933-41), dies at 66
1945 – Harvey Bartlett Gaul, American composer, dies at 64
1990 – Jan Hendrik de Groot, Dutch co-founder of Vrij Nederland), dies at 89
1993 – Peter Wood, English session and touring rock keyboardist and songwriter (Sutherland Bros and Quiver; Al Stewart; Joan Armatrading; Lou Reed), dies of injuries from a fall at 43
2003 – Clark Kerr, first Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley (b. 1911)
2008 – Mikel Laboa, Basque singer and songwriter (b. 1934)
2009 – Gustavo Adolfo Palma, Guatemalan singer (b. 1920)
2011 – Ragnhild Hveger, Danish swimmer (Olympic silver 400m freestyle 1936; 44 world records 1938-56), dies at 90

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1813 – Friedrich August Baumbach, German composer, dies at 60
1837 – Deaf Smith, American frontiersman and revolutionary, dies at 50
1935 – Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese writer, poet (The Book of Disquiet), and translator, dies from cirrhosis of the liver at 47
1972 – Neil H McElroy, soap manufacturer/minister of Defense (1957-59), dies
1985 – Phil Tucker, American film director (Robot Monster), dies at 58
1987 – Arthur H. Dean, American lawyer, ambassador and presidential advisor (1963 nuclear test ban treaty), dies at 89
2014 – Fred Catherwood, British politician, Vice President of the European Parliament (1989-1992), dies at 89
2016 – Kamilló Lendvay, Hungarian composer (Pezzo Concertanto), conductor, and educator, dies at 78
2021 – Erwin Wilczek, Polish soccer midfielder, forward (16 caps; Górnik Zabrze), dies at 81
2021 – Ray Kennedy, English soccer midfielder, forward (17 caps; Arsenal, Liverpool), dies from Parkinson’s disease at 70

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