Deaths

Paul Guth, romancier et essayiste français (° 5 mars 1910).

Anton LaVey

Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan in 1966 and declared himself the High Priest. He wrote The Satanic Bible. He didn't believe in Satan—it was all theater and Ayn Rand. He played organ in nightclubs. He had a pet lion. He died in 1997. His daughter took over, then his other daughter started a rival church. They're still fighting.

Andreas Gerasimos Michalitsianos

Andreas Michalitsianos discovered symbiotic stars—binary systems where a white dwarf feeds off a red giant in a slow stellar cannibalism. He used ultraviolet telescopes to watch matter stream between them at thousands of miles per second. He identified dozens of these pairs before dying of cancer at 50. His catalog is still the standard reference.

František Domažlický, tschechischer Geiger, Bratscher und Komponist

Zoël Saindon, médecin et homme politique canadien (° 18 octobre 1919).

Anthony J. Celebrezze, US-amerikanischer Politiker und Jurist

Gilda Lousek, actriz argentina (n.

Gilda Lousek, actriz argentina (n. 1937).

Reine Flachot, violoncelliste française (° 10 octobre 1922).

Paul Misraki

Paul Misraki wrote "Tout va très bien Madame la Marquise" in 1935 — a song about disasters delivered as good news. It became a French standard. He fled to the U.S. during World War II, composed film scores in Hollywood, returned to France. Wrote over 300 songs. That one absurdist tune from before the war outlived everything else. It's still on the radio.

1999

Michel Regnier

Michel Regnier created Achille Talon, a pompous Frenchman who speaks in elaborate puns that don't translate. The series ran for 42 albums. Regnier edited Tintin magazine for years, published other cartoonists, and refused to let anyone adapt his work to film. Achille Talon is still untranslatable.

1999

Greg

Greg drew Achille Talon comics for 50 years — 42 albums total. The character was a pompous French anti-hero who never succeeded at anything. Greg wrote and illustrated every panel. The series sold 10 million copies. He spent half a century drawing the same failure over and over.

2000s 121

Accioly Neto, cantor e compositor brasileiro (n.

Accioly Neto, cantor e compositor brasileiro (n. 1950).

Carlos Guastavino

Carlos Guastavino composed over 500 songs and never left Argentina. European publishers wanted him in Paris. American labels offered contracts. He stayed in Santa Fe, taught piano, wrote music for his country's poets. He died at 88 with a melody nobody outside Argentina knows.

Jacqueline Brumaire, französische Sopranistin

Manolo Muñoz, cantante y compositor mexicano (n.

Manolo Muñoz, cantante y compositor mexicano (n. 1941).

2001

Grigori Tschuchrai, sowjetischer Filmregisseur

2001

Jacques Riboud, industriel et urbaniste français (° 4 février 1908).

2001

Clota Lanzetta, empresario y cantante argentino (n.

Clota Lanzetta, empresario y cantante argentino (n. 1962).

2002

Glenn McQueen

Glenn McQueen animated Woody in Toy Story — the first feature-length computer-animated film. He made a digital cowboy doll move like a human. Supervised animation on A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo. Died of melanoma at 41 while working on Cars. Pixar dedicated the film to him. Every animator there learned from watching his work.

2002

Lorenzo Artale, italienischer Drehbuchautor, Filmregisseur und Schauspieler

Fermín Murillo, matador espagnol (° 4 novembre 1934).

Eduard Buess, Schweizer evangelischer Geistlicher und Hochschullehrer

Hal Clement

Hal Clement wrote hard science fiction where the science was actually hard. Mission of Gravity featured a planet with 700 times Earth's gravity. He calculated the physics. Taught high school chemistry while writing 20 novels. Flew bombers in World War II. His students didn't know he was famous in science fiction until reporters showed up. He kept both lives separate.

Franco Corelli

Franco Corelli had the loudest voice in opera. He could fill La Scala without a microphone, hit high notes that made chandeliers shake. He also had terrible stage fright and sometimes vomited before performances. He retired at 55 and spent 20 years teaching. His students recorded him coaching. His speaking voice was bigger than most tenors' singing.

Jaime Castillo Velasco, abogado y político chileno (n.

Jaime Castillo Velasco, abogado y político chileno (n. 1914).

Vaughn Meader

Vaughn Meader released a comedy album impersonating JFK in 1962. The First Family sold four million copies in six weeks. Fastest-selling album in history. Won a Grammy. Then Kennedy was assassinated. Every copy was pulled from stores. Meader's career ended instantly. He spent 40 years doing small clubs, never escaping that one impression. The album was reissued after he died.

Edward Oliver LeBlanc

Edward Oliver LeBlanc became Dominica's first Chief Minister in 1961, leading the island toward independence. He spoke Creole in the legislature, championed land reform, and resigned in 1974 due to poor health. He died in 2004, three decades after leaving office. The airport in Dominica is named after him, though few tourists know why.

Washington Castro, argentinischer Komponist und Dirigent

Jean-Jacques Brochier, journaliste français (° 28 décembre 1937).

Princess Alice

Princess Alice became the longest-living member of the British royal family at the time of her death. She was 102. She'd married the Duke of Gloucester in 1935 and spent 69 years as a royal duchess. She outlived her husband by 30 years, watching the monarchy shrink around her.

Ordal Demokan

Ordal Demokan researched quantum mechanics and taught physics at Bilkent University in Turkey for decades. He published over 60 papers on condensed matter physics. He died in 2004 at 58. His students still cite his work.

Peter Twinn

Peter Twinn was the first person at Bletchley Park to break an Enigma-encoded message. He was a mathematician, worked with Alan Turing. After the war, he became an entomologist, studied beetles. He never talked about Bletchley—it was classified until the 1970s. He published papers on insect taxonomy. He died in 2004. He'd helped win the war and nobody knew for thirty years.

Fernando Alegría, escritor, crítico literario y diplomático chileno (n.

Fernando Alegría, escritor, crítico literario y diplomático chileno (n. 1918).

Robert Gerle, US-amerikanischer Geiger und Musikpädagoge ungarischer Herkunft

Ion Irimescu

Ion Irimescu created over 3,000 sculptures across 80 years, working until he was 102. He carved wood, stone, and bronze. He survived two world wars, communism, and revolution. He outlived every art movement of the 20th century. His studio in Fălticeni became a museum before he died. He kept working in it anyway.

Lloyd Bochner

Lloyd Bochner played the villain so often that audiences forgot he was Canadian. He was the mind-reading alien in The Twilight Zone's "To Serve Man." He was the evil tycoon in Dynasty. He did 400 television appearances over 50 years, almost always as the man you were supposed to distrust. He died at 81, having made a career of making people uncomfortable.

Wiktorija Tschajewa, sowjetische bzw.

Wiktorija Tschajewa, sowjetische bzw. russische Schauspielerin, Synchronsprecherin und -regisseurin sowie Drehbuchübersetzerin

Mohammadu Maccido, religioso musulmán nigeriano, 18.º sultán de Sokoto (n.

Mohammadu Maccido, religioso musulmán nigeriano, 18.º sultán de Sokoto (n. 1928).

Peter Gingold, deutscher Kommunist und Widerstandskämpfer gegen den Nationalsozialismus

Muhammadu Maccido

Muhammadu Maccido served as Sultan of Sokoto from 1996 until his death in October 2006 — the spiritual leader of Nigeria's Muslim population, estimated at 70 million people, and the most important Islamic authority in sub-Saharan Africa. He succeeded his father, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, and was known for advocacy of interfaith dialogue and Nigerian national unity in a country deeply divided between the Muslim north and Christian south. He died in a plane crash near Abuja on October 29, 2006, along with his son and dozens of others. The crash was Nigeria's deadliest aviation accident in years. His death was mourned across the Muslim world. He was 78.

Nigel Kneale, escritor británico (n.

Nigel Kneale, escritor británico (n. 1922).

Léon Walker, footballeur puis entraîneur suisse (° 29 juillet 1937).

2007

Frane Matošić, footballeur puis entraîneur yougoslave puis croate (° 25 novembre 1918).

2007

Christian d'Oriola, escrimeur français (° 3 octobre 1928).

2007

René Pingeon, cycliste sur route français (° 23 novembre 1943).

Mike Baker

Mike Baker sang for Shadow Gallery for 18 years. The band never toured. They recorded six albums in Pennsylvania and refused to play live because Baker had stage fright. He died of a heart attack at 45. The band released one more album using vocals he'd recorded before he died, then stopped.

William Wharton, romancier américain (° 7 novembre 1925).

Habib Draoua, footballeur puis entraîneur algérien (° ?

Habib Draoua, footballeur puis entraîneur algérien (° ? 1914).

Cor Brom, footballeur puis entraîneur néerlandais (° 27 août 1932).

Russell Lincoln Ackoff, théoricien des organisations américaines (° 12 février 1919).

Jürgen Rieger, deutscher Rechtsanwalt und Politiker

Olav Hodne, norwegischer Missionar und Autor

Jean-François Bergier, Schweizer Sozial- und Wirtschaftshistoriker

Ricard Terré, fotógrafo español (n.

Ricard Terré, fotógrafo español (n. 1928).

Anna Yegorova, militar soviética (n.

Anna Yegorova, militar soviética (n. 1916).

2010

Takeshi Shudo (首藤剛志), scénariste japonais, créateur des Pokémon (° 18 août 1949).

2010

Bernard Musson, acteur français (° 22 février 1925).

2010

Marcelino Camacho, sindicalista y político español (n.

Marcelino Camacho, sindicalista y político español (n. 1918).

2011

Robert Lamoureux, acteur français (° 4 janvier 1920).

2011

Walter Vidarte, actor uruguayo (n.

Walter Vidarte, actor uruguayo (n. 1931).

2011

Jimmy Savile

Jimmy Savile raised £40 million for charity, received a knighthood, and spent decades sexually abusing hundreds of children in hospitals, schools, and BBC buildings. Police investigated him multiple times while he was alive. Nothing stuck. After his death in 2011, 450 victims came forward. His headstone was removed and destroyed at night to prevent vandalism.

Albano Harguindeguy, militar argentino (n.

Albano Harguindeguy, militar argentino (n. 1927).

J. Bernlef

J. Bernlef wrote Out of Mind, a novel told from inside dementia. The narrator forgets his wife's name, then his own. It was translated into 15 languages. Bernlef also wrote jazz poetry and lyrics for Dutch pop songs. He died at 75 of the disease he'd written about 30 years earlier, memory finally catching up to fiction.

Letitia Baldrige

Letitia Baldrige was Jackie Kennedy's social secretary and answered 50,000 letters during the Kennedy administration. She wrote the guest lists, planned the state dinners, and told America how to hold a fork. After the White House, she wrote 20 books on manners. Her last, published at 82, was about civility in the digital age. Etiquette outlives administrations.

Kenneth G. Ryder

Kenneth Ryder became president of Northeastern University in 1975. The school had 14,000 students and was nearly bankrupt. He created the co-op program, alternating classroom study with paid work. Enrollment tripled. He retired in 1989. He'd turned a commuter school into a national model by making students leave campus.

Wallace L. W. Sargent

Wallace Sargent discovered that quasars—the brightest objects in the universe—were powered by supermassive black holes. He did it by measuring their spectra at Caltech in the 1960s. He trained a generation of astronomers and helped design the Keck Observatory's twin telescopes in Hawaii. He died at 77, having spent his life looking at things billions of light-years away.

Jack Vaughn

Jack Vaughn was a professional boxer who won 23 of 26 fights, then quit to join the Foreign Service. He became Peace Corps director under Johnson and Ambassador to Colombia. He'd spent his twenties getting punched in the face for money. He spent his forties negotiating treaties. Both required knowing when to take a hit.

Cordelia Edvardson, schwedische Journalistin, Holocaustüberlebende

Kenneth G. Ryder, American academic (born 1924)

Sheikh Salahuddin

Sheikh Salahuddin played one Test match for Bangladesh in 2006, scoring 2 and 0. He played 23 One Day Internationals and averaged 12 with the bat. He died at 44 from cancer. He's remembered in Bangladesh not for statistics but for being there at the beginning, when just fielding a team felt like victory.

Jean Rénald Clérismé

Jean Rénald Clérismé served as Haiti's Foreign Minister in the 1990s during a period of political chaos and military coups. He was a Catholic priest before entering politics. He died in 2013. He'd tried to represent a country that couldn't govern itself.

Sherman Halsey

Sherman Halsey directed 300 music videos, including Van Halen's "Jump" and "Panama." He filmed David Lee Roth doing a flying kick off a lighting rig. He shot Whitney Houston, ZZ Top, and Def Leppard. He died at 56 of cancer, leaving behind three minutes of footage at a time, the entire visual language of 1980s rock.

John Spence

John Spence served in World War II as an Army engineer, then worked on dam projects across the American West for 40 years. He built structures designed to last centuries. He died at 95, having outlived most of what he'd built. Dams crack. Engineers don't expect to.

Graham Stark

Graham Stark appeared in eight Pink Panther films, usually as a bumbling assistant. Peter Sellers was his best friend—they'd known each other since 1945. Stark directed Sellers' final film and wrote a memoir about him after he died. He worked until he was 88, mostly in bit parts, still showing up. He left behind 140 credits and one long friendship.

Robert Bahl, footballeur français (° 21 août 1928).

Allal Benkassou (علال بن قصو), footballeur marocain (° 1941).

Ayrton Vieira de Moraes, arbitre de football brésilien (° 14 février 1929).

Julia von Grolman, actriz argentina (n.

Julia von Grolman, actriz argentina (n. 1935).

Klas Ingesson

Klas Ingesson played 57 times for Sweden and was in the squad that finished third at the 1994 World Cup. He played for Sheffield Wednesday, PSV, and Marseille. He managed three Swedish clubs after retiring. He died at 46 from multiple myeloma, diagnosed just months earlier. He'd been healthy, then gone. Cancer doesn't care what you've won.

H. Gary Morse

Gary Morse inherited a retirement community in Florida called The Villages. He turned it into the fastest-growing metro area in America — 130,000 residents, three zip codes, its own hospitals and radio stations. Golf carts outnumber cars. He built a city for people over 55 and died at 77, still expanding it.

Rosa Posada, abogada y política española (n.

Rosa Posada, abogada y política española (n. 1940).

Rainer Hasler, futbolista liechtensteinense (n.

Rainer Hasler, futbolista liechtensteinense (n. 1958).

Michel Corajoud, paysagiste français (° 14 juillet 1937).

Frank Domínguez, compositeur et pianiste cubain (° 9 octobre 1927).

Christopher J. Turner, fonctionnaire britannique (° 17 août 1933).

Rainer Hasler

Rainer Hasler played 51 matches for Liechtenstein's national team across 13 years. Liechtenstein has 39,000 people. He was a police officer who played football on weekends. He never won an international match—Liechtenstein almost never does. He died at 56 from cancer, having spent his career losing for a country that doesn't expect to win.

Roger Freeman

Roger Freeman served as California State Treasurer and ran for governor in 2002. He'd been a lawyer and businessman before entering politics. He died at 48 of a heart attack, twelve years after leaving office. Most political careers end with retirement, not mid-life death.

Ena de Silva, artiste srilankaise (° 22 octobre 1922).

Boris Kristančič

Boris Kristančič played basketball for Yugoslavia in the 1950s, then coached for 40 years. He built Slovenia's basketball program after independence. He was 84, having spent his entire life around the game.

Ranko Žeravica

Ranko Žeravica won Olympic silver with Yugoslavia in 1968 and coached the national team to gold in 1980. He coached in seven countries across four decades. He spoke five languages and adapted his system to each culture. He won as a player once and as a coach forever. The clipboard outlasted the jersey.

María Luisa Aguilar, astrónoma peruana (n.

María Luisa Aguilar, astrónoma peruana (n. 1938).

Luther Burden

Luther Burden scored 1,000 points at Utah and was drafted by the Knicks in 1975. He played three NBA seasons, then coached high school basketball in Utah for 30 years. He taught geometry between practices. He played three years and coached 30. The teaching mattered more than the scoring.

Ernesto Herrera

Ernesto Herrera served in the Philippine Congress for 12 years. He was a businessman first, then entered politics in his 50s. He died at 73, having spent his later years in government.

2016

Roland Dyens, guitariste, arrangeur et compositeur français (° 19 octobre 1955).

2016

Christiane Gilles, syndicaliste et féministe française (° 1er avril 1930).

2017

Linda Nochlin, US-amerikanische Kunsthistorikerin und Essayistin

2017

Raúl García Zárate, concertista de guitarra y abogado peruano (n.

Raúl García Zárate, concertista de guitarra y abogado peruano (n. 1931).

2018

Mariama Keïta, periodista nigeriana (n.

Mariama Keïta, periodista nigeriana (n. 1946).

Mihai Constantinescu, chanteur roumain de musique pop (° 4 janvier 1946).

Rebeca González, actriz venezolana (n.

Rebeca González, actriz venezolana (n. 1951).

John Witherspoon

John Witherspoon played Pops on The Wayans Bros. for five seasons. He played Ice Cube's father in Friday. He worked until he was 77. Comedy doesn't have a retirement age when you're that funny.

محمد المختار بن محمد الأمين الشنقيطي، عالم وفقيه أصولي ومُفسر موريتاني.

Gerald L. Baliles, homme politique américain (° 8 juillet 1940).

2020

Angelika Amon

Angelika Amon discovered how cells know when to divide and what goes wrong in cancer. She won the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences in 2019 for her work on chromosome segregation. She died of ovarian cancer at 53, killed by the kind of cellular chaos she'd spent her career trying to understand.

2020

Karim Akbari Mobarakeh, actor y cineasta iraní (n.

Karim Akbari Mobarakeh, actor y cineasta iraní (n. 1953).

2021

Ashley Mallett

Ashley Mallett took 132 Test wickets for Australia spinning off-breaks. He also wrote 40 books about cricket — biographies, histories, novels. He wrote about Clarrie Grimmett while recovering from cancer. He kept writing until months before he died. His bowling figures are in the record books; his books are how people remember the players who aren't.

2021

Clément Mouamba, político congoleño (n.

Clément Mouamba, político congoleño (n. 1943).

2022

Hugo Camps, periodista, columnista y escritor belga (n.

Hugo Camps, periodista, columnista y escritor belga (n. 1943).

2022

François Chesnais.

Charlie Aitken, footballeur écossais (° 5 janvier 1942).

René Exbrayat, footballeur puis entraîneur français (° 30 octobre 1947).

Danilo Santos Miranda, gestor cultural e sociólogo brasileiro (n.

Danilo Santos Miranda, gestor cultural e sociólogo brasileiro (n. 1943).

Huguette Maure, femme de lettres et journaliste française (° 16 novembre 1932).

Rutt Hinrikus, estnische Literaturwissenschaftlerin und Kritikerin

Hiroshi Morie

Hiroshi Morie fronted the Japanese rock band Hysteric Blue. They had hits in the late '90s. He went solo after they disbanded. Japanese rock careers burn bright and fade fast.

David Musuguri, militaire tanzanien (° 4 janvier 1920).

Matilde Lorenzi, italienische Skirennläuferin

Mohamed Bouhalla, footballeur algérien (° 29 septembre 1954).

Ahmat Mahamat Karambal, diplomate, homme politique et administrateur tchadien (° 1947).

Gérard Burkle, footballeur français (° 21 novembre 1947).

Teri Garr

Teri Garr got her start as a background dancer in six Elvis movies — you can spot her if you know where to look. She danced behind the credits for years before landing speaking roles. Then "Young Frankenstein." Then "Tootsie." She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999 but didn't tell anyone for three years. She kept auditioning anyway.

Hassan Youssef, acteur égyptien (° 14 avril 1934).

Muhammad Younis, athlète de demi-fond pakistanais (° 4 novembre 1949).

Steven Rudich, informaticien théoricien américain (° 4 octobre 1961).

John Little, peintre canadien (° 20 février 1928).

Alison Knowles, artiste, compositrice et poète américaine (° 29 avril 1933).

Maria Riva, actrice et biographe américano-allemande (° 13 décembre 1924).

Ilona Kassai, actrice de doublage hongroise (° 8 juillet 1928).

Günter Haritz, coureur cycliste allemand (° 16 octobre 1948).

Louis-Jean Calvet, linguiste français (° 5 juin 1942).

Lise Bacon, femme politique canadienne (° 25 août 1934).