1679 – John van de Cappelle, Amsterdam landscape painter, dies at 53
1736 – Antonio Caldara, composer, dies
1981 – Amber Reeves, feminist writer (b. 1887)
1994 – Karl Schiller, German economist and politician (Minister of Economics), dies at 83
2002 – Herb Ritts, American fashion photographer, dies at 50
2008 – Gösta Krantz, Swedish actor (b. 1925)
2009 – Arthur McIntyre, English cricket wicket-keeper (3 Tests, 8 dismissals; Surrey CCC, MCC), dies at 91
2009 – Felix Wurman, American cellist and composer, dies of Cancer at 51
2012 – Gerry Anderson, English writer/producer/director, dies from Alzheimer’s disease at 83
2021 – Desmond Tutu, Anglican Archbishop of South Africa and 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner, dies at 90
Category: Famous Deaths
Famous Deaths for 25th December 2023
1875 – Young Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (British Open 1868-70, 72), dies of pulmonary haemorrhage at 24
1936 – Pierre Maurice, Swiss composer, dies at 68
1950 – Neil Francis Hawkins, British fascist (b. 1903)
1977 – Charlie Chaplin, British actor and comedian (Modern Times, The Kid), dies in Switzerland at 88
1989 – Billy Martin, American baseball 2nd baseman (MLB All Star 1956; World Series 1951, 52, 53, 56; NY Yankees) and manager (World Series 1977 NY Yankees), killed in a car accident at 61
1995 – Dean Martin [Dino Paul Crocetti], American singer (“That’s Amore”; “Everybody Loves Somebody”; “Sway”), comedian and actor (Martin and Lewis, The Dean Martin Show), dies of throat cancer at 78
1996 – Rupert John, gov-gen of Grenadines (1970-76), dies
2011 – Israel Baker, American concert and session violinist (NBC Symphony; Paramount Studios Orchestra), dies at 92
2014 – Geoff Pullar, English cricket batsman (28 Tests, 4 x 100s, HS 175; Lancashire CCC, Gloucestershire CCC), dies at 79
2014 – Mary Lyon, English geneticist (X-chromosome inactivation), dies at 89
Famous Deaths for 24th December 2023
1909 – Nicolaas Pierson, Dutch economist and politician (Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1897-1901), dies at 80
1932 – Eyvind Alnæs, Norwegian pianist, organist, choral director, and composer, dies at 60
1975 – Tilly Losch, Austrian dancer and actress (Duel in the Sun; Garden of Allah), dies at about 71 (birth date disputed)
1976 – Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, unfulfilled claimant to the throne of Portugal, dies at 69
1979 – Rudi [Rudolf] Dutschke, German student leader, dies at 39
1986 – Gardner Fox, American sci-fi author (Atom; Hawkman; Zatanna), dies at 75
1992 – Peyo [Pierre Culliford], Belgian cartoonist (The Smurfs; Johan et Pirlouit), dies of a heart attack at 64
2013 – Frédéric Back, German-born Canadian short film director and screenwriter (The Man Who Planted Trees), dies at 89
2016 – Richard Adams, English author (Watership Down), dies at 96
2021 – Willibert Kremer, German soccer coach (MSV Duisburg, Bayer Leverkusen, 1860 Munich, Fortuna Düsseldorf), dies at 82
Famous Deaths for 23rd December 2023
1116 – Ivo van Chartres, French canonist/bishop of Chartres/saint, dies
1236 – Philippus Cancellarius, French theologist/poet (Summa Cum Laude), dies
1891 – Holger Simon Paulli, Danish conductor and composer, dies at 81
1946 – John A. Sampson, American gynecologist (b. 1873)
1950 – Vincenzo Tommasini, Italian composer (Le donne de buon umore), dies at 72
1961 – Kurt Meyer, German SS officer (b. 1910)
1990 – Frank King, West Indian cricketer (WI fast bowler played 14 Tests 1953-56), dies at 64
1995 – Patric Knowles [Reginald Lawrence Knowles], British actor (Chisum, Arnold, Mutiny), dies from a brain hemorrhage at 84
1996 – Krešimir Fribec, Croatian composer, dies at 88
2018 – (Ann) “Honey” Lantree, British rock drummer (The Honeycombs), dies at 75
Famous Deaths for 22nd December 2023
1419 – Antipope Pope John XXIII [Baldassare Cossa], Italian Pope (1410-15) who opposed Pope Gregory XII and is considered an antipope by the Catholic Church, dies at 81
1668 – Stephen Day, English-born colonial printer (The Psalms in Meter – 1st book printed in American colonies), dies at about 58
1681 – Richard Alleine, English Puritan clergyman (b. 1611)
1923 – Arthur H. Bird, American composer, dies at 67
1965 – Al Ritz [Albert Joachim], American vaudevillian (The Ritz Brothers), dancer and actor (The Gorilla;, Hi’ya, Chum; Straight, Place and Show), dies of a heart attack at 64
1973 – Domingo Julio Gomez Garcia, composer, dies at 87
1992 – Harry Bluestone, British-American jazz and session violinist, bandleader, and music publisher, dies from Parkinson’s disease at 85
1997 – Johnny Coles, trumpeter, dies at 71
2015 – Carson Van Osten, American power pop-rock bassist (Nazz – “Open My Eyes”, “Hello It’s Me), and comic strip artist (Disney), dies at 70
2016 – Bill Price, British audio engineer (Tom Jones; Wings: Sparks; Elton John), and record producer (The Clash; Sex Pistols; Waterboys), dies of cancer at 72
Famous Deaths for 21st December 2023
1755 – Caspar Ruetz, German composer, dies at 47
1864 – Archduke Louis of Austria, 14th child of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and Feldmarschal-Leutnant of Austrian Imperial Army, dies at 80
1914 – Arthur Jones, England cricket all-rounder and captain (12 Tests, 3 wickets, 15 catches; Nottinghamshire CCC), dies from tuberculosis at 42
1920 – Claude Tozer, Australian doctor and cricketer (dashing NSW batsman), shot to death by a patient at 30
1921 – Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, American politician and publisher (2nd African American governor – Governor of Louisiana (R) 1872-73), dies at 84
1927 – Jack Saunders, cricketer (79 wickets-14 Tests for Aust 1902-08), dies
1942 – Franz Boas, German-American anthropologist and linguist (Mind of Primitive Man), dies at 84
1959 – Rosanjin, Japanese calligrapher, restaurateur and ceramicist (b. 1883)
2013 – Lars Edlund, Swedish composer, dies at 91
2021 – (Wilbert) Billy Davis, American tennis player (11 x American Tennis Association Titles), dies of congestive heart failure at 91
Famous Deaths for 20th December 2023
910 – Alfonso III the Great, King of Leon, Galicia and Asturias, dies
1929 – Emile Loubet, French premier (1892)/president (1899-1906), dies at 90
1944 – JW Ummels, Dutch resistance fighter, dies in Sachsenhausen concentration camp at unknown age
1948 – Ladha Ramji, cricketer (bro of Amar Singh, Test Ind 1933-34), dies
1973 – Bobby Darin [Walden Robert Cassotto], American singer (“Mack the Knife”; “Splish-Splash”; “Beyond the Sea”), and actor, dies of a heart attack at 37
1989 – Audrey Christie, American actress (Splendor in the Grass, Fair Exchange), dies at 77
1992 – Peter Brocco, American actor blacklisted in the 1950’s (Spartacus: One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest), dies of a heart attack at 89
2019 – Junior Johnson, American auto racer and team owner (Daytona 500 1960; NASCAR Hall of Fame), dies from Alzheimer’s disease at 88
2021 – Kimera Bartee, American MLB outfielder.1996-2001 (Detroit Tigers, and 2 other teams), and coach, 2017-21 (Pittsburgh Pirates, and 2 other teams), dies of an undiagnosed brain tumor at 49
2022 – Denny Doyle, American MLB baseball second baseman, 1970-77 (Philadelphia Phillies, and 1 other team), dies at 78
Famous Deaths for 19th December 2023
1925 – José Ignacio Quintón, Puerto-Rican composer (El coquí; Requiem por Angel Mislán), dies at 44
1929 – Lemon Henry “Blind Lemon” Jefferson, American blues singer and guitarist, dies at 36
1941 – L M Dovator, Russian general, dies in battle
1990 – Basil Henson, actor (Change Partners), dies of stroke at 71
1996 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (8½; La Dolce Vita; Dark Eyes; The Pizza Triangle), dies of pancreatic cancer at 72
2003 – Peter Carter-Ruck, English lawyer (b. 1914)
2005 – Vincent Gigante, Italian-American mafioso, dies at 77
2008 – Carol Chomsky, American linguist and education specialist (b. 1930)
2008 – Dock Ellis, American MLB baseball pitcher, 1968-79, All-Star (Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, and 3 other teams), dies of liver issues at 63
2009 – Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Iranian dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah (b. 1922)
Famous Deaths for 18th December 2023
1751 – Kilian Ignaz von Dientzenhofer, Bohemian Baroque architect (Nepomukkerk, Prague), dies at 62
1832 – Philip Freneau, American poet of the American Revolution (The American Village), dies at 80
1881 – George Edmund Street, English architect, dies at 57
1919 – Horatio Parker, American organist and composer, dies at 56
1930 – Clarence Kummer, American Racing HOF jockey (Preakness Stakes 1920, 25; Belmont Stakes 1920, 28; US Champion Jockey by earnings 1920), dies from pneumonia at 31
1974 – Harry Hooper, American Baseball HOF right fielder (World Series 1912, 15, 16, 18 Boston Red Sox), dies at 87
1982 – Ray Emery, New Zealand cricket all-rounder (2 Tests, 2 wickets, BB 2/52; Auckland, Canterbury), dies at 67
1990 – Paul Tortelier, French concert cellist, composer, and teacher, dies at 76
2000 – James Mitchell, American session baritone saxophonist (The Memphis Horns; Stax Records), dies at 69
2018 – David Austin, English rose breeder (Austin roses), dies at 92
Famous Deaths for 17th December 2023
1899 – Frederick “Freddy” Roberts, son of British field marshal, dies in battle
1917 – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, 1st qualified woman physician in Britain, first woman mayor (Aldeburgh), dies at 81
1933 – Hans Vaihinger, German philosopher (Side-Studies), dies at 81
1933 – Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama, dies at 57
1957 – Dorothy L. Sayers, English novelist (The Nine Tailors), dies at 66
1973 – Charles Greeley Abbot, American astronomer (Solar Constant), dies at 101
1982 – Homer S. Ferguson, American politician (b. 1889)
2011 – Cesária Évora, Cape Verdean morna singer known as “the Barefoot Diva”, dies from respiratory failure at 70
2018 – Galt MacDermot, Canadian musician and composer (Hair), dies at 89
2022 – Elayne Jones, American classical timpanist and civil rights activist, dies at 94