Category: Famous Deaths

1849 – Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti, Italian cardinal, linguist and hyperpolyglot (understood 70 languages), dies at 74
1905 – Amalie Skram, Norwegian author (Paa St Jorgen), dies at 58
1962 – Sam Wren, American actor (Marked Woman, The Old Grey Mayor), dies at 65
1970 – Mary Ann Ganser, American pop singer (The Shangri-Las – “Leader of the Pack”), dies of a drug overdose at 22
1971 – Jean-Pierre Monseré, Belgian cyclist (b. 1948)
1990 – Tom Harmon, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1940, Michigan; LA Rams) and broadcaster (CBS 1950-62), dies of a heart attack at 70
1996 – Roswell Leavitt Gilpatric, American lawyer and diplomat, dies at 89
2000 – Robert Welch, English designer, silversmith (Robert Welch flatware), dies at 70
2011 – Nate Dogg [Nathaniel Dwayne Hale], American rapper (“Regulate”), dies from heart failure related to multiple strokes at 41
2013 – Terry Lightfoot, British clarinetist and bandleader (New Orleans Jazzmen), dies at 77

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1490 – Charles I, Duke of Savoy (1482-90), dies at 21
1612 – Philip Galle, Flemish engraver, dies at about 74
1805 – Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki, Russian general (b. 1753)
1874 – Johann Heinrich von Mädler, German astronomer (published the most complete map of the Moon of the time, Mappa Selenographica, 4 vol. with Wilhelm Beer), dies at 79
1918 – Lucretia Garfield, First Lady of the United States as the wife of James A. Garfield (1881), dies at 85
1932 – Frederick Jackson Turner, American historian (known for his “frontier thesis”), dies at 70
1969 – Ben Shahn, Lithuanian-American painter (1964 Arts and Letters), dies at 70
1986 – Jozef Kresanek, Slovak composer, dies at 73
2009 – Altovise Davis [née Gore], American entertainer, best known as Sammy Davis Jr.’s third wife, dies from stroke complications at 65
2018 – Stephen Hawking, English physicist (Black Holes and Baby Universes), dies at 76

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1202 – Mieszko III, the Elder, grand duke of Poland (1173-77, 1200-02), dies
1941 – A Coenradi, Dutch resistance fighter, executed
1951 – James I Wedgwood, British theosophist and bishop (Liberal Catholic Church), dies at 67
1971 – Piero Coppola, Italian conductor, artistic director (La Voix de son Maître (The Gramophone Company – France), 1923-34). pianist, and composer, dies at 82
1982 – Albert Weisser, American musicologist and composer, dies at 64
1994 – Danny Barker, American jazz musician (wrote Bourbon Street Black), dies at 85
2012 – Jock Hobbs, New Zealand rugby union flanker and captain (21 Tests; Canterbury RU; Chairman NZRFU 2002-10), dies from leukemia at 52
2013 – Ducky Detweiler, American MLB player, dies at 94
2018 – Dr. T Berry Brazelton, American child development paediatrician, author, TV host (What Every Baby Knows), who developed the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS), dies at 99
2021 – Kenneth Cooper, American harpsichordist, pianist, musicologist, and professor (Barnard College, Brooklyn, NYC), dies shortly after a stroke at 79

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1570 – Jacob van den Eynden, Grand Pensionary of Holland, dies
1681 – Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dutch painter, dies at 45
1894 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (b. 1840)
1942 – Robert Bosch, German engineer, inventor (automotive ignition device), and industrialist, dies at 80
1943 – Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor, dies at 73
1955 – Charlie “Bird” Parker, American jazz saxophonist (Ornithology) and composer, dies of pneumonia and a bleeding ulcer at 34 in NYC
1973 – Frankie Frisch, American Baseball HOF infielder (3 x MLB All-Star; 4 x World Series; NL MVP 1931; NY Giants, St.L Cardinals) and manager (St.L Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs), dies at 74
1983 – Yevsei Liberman, Ukraine Soviet economist (Plan, profit, bonus), dies at 85
1998 – Beatrice Wood, American artist, ceramist and editor (The Blind Man, inspiration for Titanic film character Rose), dies at 105
2008 – Lazare Ponticelli, the last “poilu”, French foot soldier of World War One, dies at 110 (b. 1897)

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1913 – John Shaw Billings, American librarian and surgeon, dies at 74
1937 – Paul Scheinpflug, composer, dies at 61
1956 – Sergey Nikiforovich Vasilenko, Russian opera composer, dies at 83
1959 – Lester Dent, American writer (Doc Savage), dies at 54
1959 – Haydn Wood, English violinist, and composer of light classical music (Roses of Picardy), dies at 76
1975 – Sammy Spear, American big band trumpet player and orchestra leader (The Jackie Gleason Show), dies of a heart attack at 65
1977 – Alberto Rodriguez Larreta, Argentine racing driver (b. 1934)
1990 – Dean Horrix, English footballer (b. 1961)
2019 – Hal Blaine [Harold Belsky], American pop and rock session drummer (The Wrecking Crew), dies at 90
2023 – Harry “Bud” Grant, American Pro Football HOF coach (NFL Coach of the Year 1969 Minnesota Vikings; 4 x Grey Cup C’ship Winnipeg Blue Bombers) and basketball forward (NBA C’ship 1950 Minnesota Lakers), dies at 95

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1670 – Johann Rudolf Glauber, German chemist (b. 1604)
1897 – Teodulo Mabellini, Italian composer, dies at 79
1906 – Eugen Richter, German politician (Liberal), dies at 67
1951 – Kijūrō Shidehara, Japanese politician and diplomat, Prime minister of Japan (1945-46), dies at 78
1973 – Richard Sharples, British politician, Governor of Bermuda (1972-73), assassinated in office at 56
1986 – Ray Milland, Welsh actor (The Lost Weekend-Academy Award 1945), dies at 81
1988 – William Brocklesby Wordsworth, English composer, dies at 79
1994 – Robert Shea, American author (Illuminatus!), dies of cancer at 61
2005 – Mindy Jostyn, American session and touring vocalist, violinist, guitarist, accordionist, and harmonica player (New York Rock and Soul Revue; Billy Joel; Andreas Vollenweider; Carly Simon; Cyndi Lauper), and singer-songwriter (“Five Miles From Hope”; “Coming Home”), dies of cancer at 48
2016 – Anita Brookner, English novelist (Hotel du Lac) and art historian, dies at 87

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1913 – Eberhard Nestle, German biblical scholar, dies at 61
1941 – Carlos Pedrell, Uruguayan guitarist and composer, dies at 62
1964 – Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, ‘the Lion of Africa’, German general and politician (only German to successfully invade part of British empire in WWI), dies at 93
1981 – Max Delbrück, German-American biologist and molecular geneticist (bacteriophage, Nobel Prize 1969), dies at 74
1982 – Rab Butler, British politician and minister who favoured appeasement, dies at 79
1991 – Jim Hardin, former Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves pitcher (b. 1943)
1992 – Felipe Turich, actor (Lawless), dies
2004 – John Mayer, Indian composer (Indo-Jazz Fusion), dies in a car accident at 73
2011 – David S. Broder, American journalist (Pulitzer 1973), dies at 81
2021 – (Leonard) “Len” Skeat, British jazz double-bassist, dies at 84

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1674 – Charles Sorel, sieur de Souvigny, French writer (b. 1597)
1754 – Don Jose de Carvajal bon Lancaster, Sp min of Foreign affairs, dies
1887 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer and inventor (Eads Bridge-St Louis), dies at 66
1920 – Wilhelm Bousset, German theologist and historian, dies at 54
1948 – Emily Bissell, American welfare worker and founder of Christmas Seals, dies at 86
1951 – Honeymoon Killers, dies in electric chair
1988 – Ken Colyer, British New Orleans jazz devotee trumpeter, cornetist, and bandleader, dies at 79
1996 – Alison McCartney, pathologist/Breast Cancer campaigner, dies at 45
2014 – William Guarnere, American WWII veteran and author, portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, dies at 90
2023 – Cruz Miguel Ortíz Cuadra, Puerto Rican food historian (face of Puerto Rican cuisine), dies at 67

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1578 – Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, niece of Henry VIII and whose son married Mary Queen of Scots, dies at 62
1737 – Guido Starhemberg, Austrian earl and fieldmarshal (Turkish Wars), dies at 79
1767 – Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, French colonial administrator (French Louisiana), dies at 87
1902 – James “Pud” Galvin, American Baseball HOF pitcher (MLB’s first 300-game winner; no-hitters 1880, 84; Buffalo Bisons), dies at 45
1959 – Ichirō Hatoyama, Japanese politician, Prime Minister (1954-56), dies at 76
1973 – Andre de Meulemeester, Belgian World War I fighter ace known as the “Eagle of Flanders” with 11 known kills and 19 unconfirmed, dies at 78
1995 – Jacques Lefebvre, Belgian air force general, commits suicide at 64
2007 – Frigyes Hidas, Hungarian composer, and musical director (Hungarian National Theater, 1951-66; Budapest Operetta, 1974-79). dies at 78
2009 – Jang Ja-yeon, South Korean actress, commits suicide at 29
2019 – Kelly Catlin, American road cyclist (Olympic silver 2016, World C’ship gold 2016-18), dies from suicide at 23

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1881 – Horatia Nelson, the illegitimate daughter of Emma Hamilton and Horatio Nelson (b. 1801)
1961 – Kjeld Abell, Danish playwright and director (Tivoli), dies at 59
1968 – Isa Krejci, Czech composer, dies at 63
1984 – Martin Niemöller, German theologian who supported then opposed the Nazi regime, famous for his widely quoted poem “First they came …”, dies at 92
2009 – David Williams, American RandB, pop and rock session and touring guitarist (Michael Jackson; Madonna; Rod Stewart; Bryan Ferry), dies of cardiac arrest following a stroke at 58
2012 – Jaap Boersma, Dutch politician (Minister for Social Affairs (ARP)), dies at 82
2012 – Francisco Xavier do Amaral, East Timorese President, dies at 75
2014 – Sheila MacRae, British-born actress (Jackie Gleason Show), dies at 92
2014 – Ron Murphy, Canadian NHL player, dies at 80
2018 – Lucie Brock-Broido, American poet and academic (Noctuary), dies at 61

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