535 – Amalaswintha, queen of Ostrogoths, murdered in the bath at about 37
1792 – Hans Adolf Friedrich von Eschstruth, composer and lawyer, dies at 36
1958 – Alvan T. Fuller, American automotive dealer and politician, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (1925-29) during Sacco and Vanzetti case, dies at 80
1993 – Tommy Caton, English footballer (b. 1962)
1996 – Hélène Cordet, French actress (The Limping Man), dies at 78
2003 – Peter “Possum” Bourne, New Zealand race car driver, dies at 47
2007 – Tom Cartwright, English cricket medium pace bowler (5 Tests, 15 wickets, BB 6/94; Warwickshire CCC, Somerset CCC), dies at 71
2016 – Phil Ryan, Welsh keyboardist and composer (Man; Pete Brown), dies at 69
2020 – Rishi Kapoor, Indian Bollywood actor and director (Bobby, Do Dooni Chaar), dies at 67
2021 – Anthony Payne, British composer (Phoenix Mass; Visions and Journeys), critic, and musicologist, dies at 84
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 29th April 2025
1768 – Georg Brandt, Swedish chemist and minerologist, dies at 73
1864 – Abraham Gesner, Canadian geologist (inventor of kerosene), dies at 66
1925 – Edward J. McKeever, American baseball executive (co-owner Brooklyn Dodgers), dies of influenza at 66
1961 – (Gilbert) “Cisco” Houston, American folk singer, and guitarist, dies of stomach cancer at 42
1979 – Hardie Gramatky, American author and animator (Little Toot), dies at 72
1994 – William “Bill” Quinn, American actor (Star Trek, The Birds, Rifleman, All in the Family), dies of natural causes at 81
1995 – Robert Gibb, British zoo and theme park creator (Flamingo Land; Pleasure Island), dies in a car accident at 57
2005 – Mariana Levy, Mexican telenovela actress (Living in Love, Wild Rosa), dies at 39 after suffering a heart attack during a robbery attempt
2012 – Shukri Ghanem, Libyan Prime Minister, dies at 69
2014 – Bob Hoskins, English actor (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), dies from pneumonia at 71
Famous Deaths for 28th April 2025
1498 – Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, English aristocrat, dies during an anti-tax riot at about 40 [exact birthday unkinkown, c. 1458]
1887 – Carl Ferdinand Pohl, German-Austrian music historian, organist, and composer, dies at 67
1969 – Johannes Röntgen, Dutch composer, dies at 70
1970 – Ed Begley, American actor (12 Angry Men, The Unsinkable Molly Brown), dies at 69
1979 – Feliks Roderyk Łabuński, Polish composer, dies at 86
1981 – Cliff Battles, American College/Pro Football HOF halfback (West Virginia Wesleyan College; 3 x First-Team All-Pro; NFL rushing yards leader 1932, 37; Boston Braves/Redskins, Washington Redskins), dies at 70
1987 – Åke Olof Sebastian Uddén, Swedish violist, composer and educator (Royal College Of Music, 1934-70), dies at 84
2009 – Vern Gosdin, American country singer (“Set ‘Em Up Joe”), dies after a stroke at 74
2013 – Lonnie Turner, American rock and blues bassist (Steve Miller Band – “Fly Like An Eagle”), dies of lung cancer at 66
2020 – Bobby Lewis, American rock and roll singer (“Tossin’ and Turnin'”), dies at 95
Famous Deaths for 27th April 2025
1758 – Jan Francisci, Slovak composer, dies at 66
1794 – William Jones, British orientalist and jurist, dies at 47
1871 – Sigismond Fortune Francois Thalberg, Austrian composer, dies at 59
1881 – Ludwig von Benedek, Austrian general, dies at 76
1938 – Edmond Rubbens, Belgian minister to Colonies, dies at 44
1952 – Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician, dies at 86
1992 – Olivier Messiaen, French composer (L’Ame en Bourgeon; St Francois d’Assise), dies at 83
1992 – Sol K. Bright, Hawaiian steel-guitar player, singer (Hollywaiians), and songwriter (“Hawaiian Cowboy”), dies at 72
1993 – Hans Sahl, German-American anti-Nazi Jewish writer (Tie Exil im Exil), dies at 90
2015 – Gene Fullmer, American boxer (World Middleweight title 1957; NBA [WBA] World Middleweight title 1959-62), dies at 83
Famous Deaths for 26th April 2025
1907 – Joseph Hellmesberger Jr., Austrian composer, violinist, and conductor, dies of kidney failure at 52
1918 – Cecil Coles, Scottish organist and composer (Behind the Lines), killed during WWI by sniper fire while recovering casualties on the Western Front at 29
1944 – Violette Morris, French athlete and spy for Nazi Germany, dies at 51
1965 – Aaron Avshalomov, Russian-Jewish-American composer (Kuan Yin; The Great Wall), conductor (Shanghai Municipal Orchestra, 1943-46), and librarian, dies at 70
1970 – Paul Celan, Romanian-born writer, dies at 49
1976 – Neil McCallum, British-Canadian actor (Pete-Saber of London), dies at 45
1995 – Hugh Morton, Baron Morton of Shuna, Scottish lawyer and judge, dies at 65
1996 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter (In the Heat of the Night, Perry Mason), dies at 78
2004 – Claude “Fiddler” Williams, American jazz violinist and guitarist (Twelve Clouds of Joy; Count Basie), dies at 96
2015 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian Hockey HOF defenceman (11 x NHL All Star games; Stanley Cup 1950, 52, 54, 55 Detroit RWs, 1967 Toronto MLs), dies at 84
Famous Deaths for 25th April 2025
1725 – Paul de Rapin, French historian known for his “History of England”, dies at 64
1728 – John Woodward, English geologist known for his collection of fossils and physician, dies at 62
1782 – Anne Bonny (née Cormac), Irish Caribbean pirate and lover of Calico Jack, dies at 85 [Note: age and date of death disputed]
1926 – Ellen Key, Swedish author and feminist (Courageous Woman), dies at 76
1951 – Jerzy Fitelberg, Polish composer, dies at 47
1960 – Ilmari Krohn, Finnish composer, dies at 92
1972 – George Sanders, Russian actor (All About Eve-Academy Award 1950), commits suicide at 65
2000 – Neils Viggo Bentzon, Danish pianist and composer (The Tempered Piano), dies at 80
2009 – John J. Marchi, American politician (NY Senate 1957-2006), dies at 87
2021 – Rajan Mishra, Indian classical music vocalist, dies of COVID-19 complications at 69
Famous Deaths for 24th April 2025
1843 – George Macfarren, British playwright, dies at 54
1948 – Jāzeps Vītols, Latvian composer, dies at 84
1962 – Emilio Prados, Spanish poet and editor, part of Generation of ’27, dies at 63
1971 – Lennie Hayton, American pianist, composer, conductor and arranger (Paul Whiteman; Bing Crosby; MGM), dies at of heart attack at 63
1980 – Alenjo Carpentier, Cuban-French writer (Guerra del Tiempo), dies at 75
2005 – Fei Xiaotong, Chinese sociologist (b. 1910)
2005 – Ezer Weizman, President of Israel (b. 1924)
2021 – Sarolta Monspart, Hungarian orienteering competitor (first non-Scandinavian female to win World C’ship 1972; 14 x national titles), dies at 76
2022 – (Wilhelm) “Willi” Resetarits, Austrian singer and human rights activist, dies at 73
2024 – Terry Hill, Australian rugby league utility (9 Tests; NSW 14 games; Manly 126 games), dies from a heart attack at 52
Famous Deaths for 23rd April 2025
1124 – Alexander I, King of Scots (1107-24), dies at 47
1728 – Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco, Spanish organist, composer (La púrpura de la rosa), and maestro de capilla (Catedral de Lima, Peru, 1676-1707), dies at 83
1792 – Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and adventurer, dies at 50
1905 – Karel Komzák II, Bohemian-Viennese violinist, and composer of marches and dances (Bad’ner Mad’ln), dies when he falls under train at 54
1945 – Albrecht Haushofer, German geographer, writer and member of the German Resistance to Nazism, shot by Nazi SS troopers at 42
1993 – Daniel Jones, Welsh composer, dies at 80
1999 – Tullio Pandolfini, Italian water polo athlete (Olympic gold, 1948), dies at 84
2011 – Peter Lieberson, American composer, dies of cancer at 64
2018 – Béla Magyari, Hungarian pilot and cosmonaut, dies at 68
2020 – Bernardino Lombao, Spanish handballer (Atlético de Madrid 1967-69), coach (Nat basketball teams) and TV presenter (De Olimpia a Los Ángeles, Objetivo 92), dies at 81
Famous Deaths for 22nd April 2025
296 – Pope Caius, Bishop of Rome (283-296), dies at 51
1253 – Elias van Cortona, Italian vicar general for St. Francis of Assisi, dies at 72 or 73
1616 – Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, Spanish author (Don Quixote), dies of likely diabetes at 68
1854 – Nicolás Bravo, Mexican politician and soldier, dies at 67
1984 – Ansel Adams, American landscape photographer and environmentalist (Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980), dies at 82
1986 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian religious historian (Le Yoga) and author, dies at 79
2003 – Martha Griffiths, U.S. Congresswoman, dies at 91
2005 – (John) Norman Bird, British stage, wireless, and screen character actor (Worzel Gummidge, 1979–81 – “Mr Braithwaite”), dies at 80
2005 – John Marshall, American filmmaker and activist (Ju/’hoan Bushman films), dies at 76
2011 – Moin Akhter, Pakistani actor, dies at 60
Famous Deaths for 21st April 2025
1142 – Peter Abélard, French scholar and lover of Heloise (b. 1079)
1792 – Tiradentes, Brazilian revolutionary and independence fighter (Inconfidência Mineira) considered a national hero, hanged, drawn and quartered in Rio de Janeiro at 45
1825 – Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathemattician (b. 1765)
1898 – Louis Théodore Gouvy, French-German composer, dies at 78
1982 – Joe Sawyer [Sauers], Canadian actor (Adventures of Rin Tin Tin – “Sgt. Biff O’Hara”), dies of liver cancer at 75
2004 – Mary McGrory, American journalist and columnist, dies at 85
2010 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish sports administrator (7th President International Olympic Committee 1980-2001), dies of cardio-respiratory failure at 89
2012 – Charles Colson, Nixon adviser (Watergate), dies from a brain hemorrhage at 80
2014 – U Win Tin, Burmese journalist, co-founder of the National League for Democracy and a political prisoner for 14 years, dies of multiorgan failure at 85
2021 – Håkon Brusveen, Norwegian cross-country skier (Olympic gold 15 km, silver 4 × 10 km relay 1960), dies at 93