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
Category: Famous Deaths
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
Famous Deaths for 16th December 2023
875 – Ado of Vienne, French archbishop of Vienne, dies at about 75
1669 – Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician (b. circa 1608)
1921 – Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (Samson et Dalila; Organ Symphony), dies of a heart attack at 86
1944 – Philip Guedalla, English barrister and historian, dies at 55
1985 – Dick Pollard, cricketer (England fast-medium bowler 1946-48), dies
1985 – Paul Castellano, American organized-crime chief, shot dead at a NYC restaurant at 70
1994 – Mary Durack, Australian author and historian (Kings in Grass Castles and Keep Him My Country), dies at 81
2003 – Gary Stewart, American country singer (She’s Actin’ Single), commits suicide by shooting himself in the neck at 59
2006 – Taliep Petersen, South African singer and composer (b. 1950)
2021 – Taniela Moa, Tongan rugby union halfback (20 caps; Auckland Blues, Section Paloise RUFC), dies at 36
Famous Deaths for 15th December 2023
1598 – Philip van Marnix, Flemish ruler of St Aldegonde/poet, dies at 58
1621 – Charles d’Albert, duc of Luynes, French courtier, favourite of Louis XIII and Constable of France, dies at 43
1934 – Maggie L. Walker, African-American teacher and businesswoman (1st female Bank President), dies at 69
1953 – Kishio Hirao, Japanese composer, dies at 46
1971 – Paul Pierre Lévy, French mathematician (b. 1886)
1984 – Frank Spedding, Canadian chemist whose uranium extraction process helped make possible the first atomic bomb, dies at 82
1986 – Serge Lifar, Russian-French dancer, choreographer (Paris Opera Ballet), dies at 81
1991 – Ray Smith, British actor (And Then You Die), dies at 55
2008 – León Febres Cordero, Ecuadorian politician (President of Ecuador 1984-88), dies at 77
2011 – Christopher Hitchens, English author and journalist (Vanity Fair, New Statesman), dies of oesophageal cancer aged 62
Famous Deaths for 14th December 2023
1553 – Hanibal Lucić, Croatian writer, dies at 68
1651 – Pierre Dupuy, French historian and scholar, dies at 69
1735 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop and antiquarian (b. 1674)
1760 – Kacic Miosic, Croatian poet (Razgovar Ugodni Naroda Slovinskoga), dies at 56
1823 – Vincenzo Cuoco, Italian historian (Naples Revolution 1799), dies at 53
1985 – Charlie Bachman, American College Football Hall of Fame guard and coach (Notre Dame, Florida, Michigan State), dies at 93
1991 – John Arlott, British cricket commentator and writer (BBC), dies of emphysema at 77
1997 – Owen Barfield, British philosopher of language, dies at 99
2016 – Garrett K. Gomez, American jockey (US Champion Jockey by earnings 2006-09; Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey 2007-08), dies of a drug overdose at 44
2021 – Jethro [Geoffrey Rowe], British stand-up comedian (This Train Don’t Stop Camborne Wednesdays), dies of lymphoma complicated by Covid-19 at 73