Famous Deaths on September 17

• 887 Kōkō, 58th Emperor of Japan (884-7), dies at about 57

• 1312 Ferdinand IV, King of Castile and León (1295-1312), dies at 26
• 1322 Robert III of Flanders (b. 1249)
• 1422 Constantine II, last Tsar of Bulgaria (1397-1422), dies in exile at 52 or 53
• 1563 Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, English soldier
• 1574 Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Spanish admiral and explorer who founded St. Augustine, Florida, dies at 55
• 1575 Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer, dies at 71
• 1604 Lucas Osiander, German composer, dies at 69
• 1621 Roberto Bellarmino, Italian saint (Doctor of the Church), dies at 78
• 1630 Thomas Lake, English statesman (b. 1567)
• 1632 Susenyos I, Emperor of Ethiopia (1606-1632), dies at around 60
• 1652 Bonaventura Elsevier, Dutch book publisher and merchant, dies at about 69

• 1676 Sabbatai Zevi, Montenegrin rabbi, kabbalist, and founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement, dies at 49
• 1679 John Joseph of Austrian, Spanish general and illegitimate son pf Philip IV of Spain (Regent of Spain 1677-79, Governor of South Netherlands), dies at 50
• 1702 Olof Rudbeck, Swedish scientist, writer and composer, dies at 71
• 1727 Glückel of Hameln, German businesswoman (b. 1647)
• 1732 Josef Antonín Plánický, Czech composer, dies at 40
• 1762 Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer, dies at 74
• 1771 Tobias Smollett, Scottish novelist, surgeon and critic (The Adventures of Roderick Random), dies at 50
• 1786 Tokugawa Ieharu, 10th Japanese shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate (1760-86), dies at 49
• 1791 Tomás de Iriarte, Spanish writer (Fabulas Literarias), dies at 40
• 1803 Franz Xaver Sussmayr, Austrian composer and conductor, dies (b. 1766)
• 1808 Benjamin Bourne, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island), dies at 53
• 1820 Henri Hamal, Belgian composer, dies at 76
• 1823 Abraham L Breguet, French clockmaker, dies at 76
• 1824 Giacomo Tritto, Italian composer, dies at 91
• 1836 Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist (Classification of flowering plants), dies at 88
• 1846 Francesco Giuseppe Pollini, Italian composer, singer, and pupil of Mozart, dies at 84

• 1862 Lawrence O’Bryan Branch, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 41
• 1862 William Edwin Starke, Confederate brigadier general, dies in battle at about 48
• 1863 Albartus Telting, Frisian poet (Frisianch Jierboeckjen), dies at 59
• 1863 Alfred Victor, Comte de Vigny, French musketeer and writer (Moise, Chatterton), dies at 66
• 1864 Walter Savage Landor, English poet and writer (Imaginary Conversations), dies at 89
• 1868 Roman Nose (Wiquini), Cheyenne indian leader, dies
• 1873 Alexander Berry, Scottish surgeon and adventurer (established the first European settlement on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia), dies at 91

• 1879 Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (restored medieval monuments including city of Carcassonne), dies at 65
• 1884 Louis Schubert, German, violinist, composer, and pedagogue, dies at 56
• 1892 Ignaz Vincenz Zingerle, Austrian poet, dies at 67
• 1894 Deng Shichang, Chinese Imperial Navy captain, goes down with his ship in Korea Bay during the First Sino-Japanese War at 44
• 1895 Auguste Toulet, Belgian balloonist, dies
• 1899 Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American industrialist and co-founder (Pillsbury Company), dies at 56
• 1907 Ignaz Brull, Moravian-born pianist and composer, dies at 60
• 1908 Thomas Selfridge, early American aviator, 1st person to die in an air crash at 26
• 1916 Seth Low, American politician, President of Columbia University, Mayor of New York (1901-03), dies at 66
• 1926 August Sauer, Austrian literature historian (Euphorion), dies at 70
• 1933 Joseph De Piro, Maltese founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul, dies at 55
• 1934 Edmund van der Straeten, German composer, dies at 79
• 1936 Ettie Rout, New Zealand writer and activist against venereal disease during WWI, dies of a self-administered overdose of quinine at 59 [1]
• 1938 Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet and writer, leader in Polish Futurist movement and communist, executed during the Great Purge at 37
• 1939 Ethel M. Dell, English author (Storm Drift), dies at 58
• 1943 Dick Tyldesley, English cricket spin bowler (7 Tests, 19 wickets, BB 3/50; Lancashire CCC), dies at 46
• 1944 Friedrich Kussin, German Major-General and commander in Arnhem during Operation Market Garden, dies in battle at 49
• 1948 Ferruccio Giannini, Italian-American operatic tenor (one of the first to be recorded), teacher, and impresario (Verdi Opera House, Philadelphia), dies at 79
• 1948 Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (Red Cross; UN mediator for Palestine), assassinated by a Zionist group at 53
• 1948 Lillian Braithwaite, British actress (Man About the House), dies at 75
• 1948 Ruth Benedict, American anthropologist (Patterns of Culture), dies at 61
• 1951 Gelett Burgess, American humorist and author (The Purple Cow), dies at 85
• 1951 Jimmy Yancey, American boogie-woogie jazz and blues pianist, dies somewhere between age 50 and 57 – (birth year documentation uncertain)
• 1953 Emil Ermatinger, Swiss literature historian, dies at 80
• 1953 Henry Holden Huss, American classical pianist, composer, and educator, dies at 91
• 1957 Jan Eisenloeffel, Dutch goldsmith, dies at 81
• 1958 Eugène Jungers, Belgian Governor of Rwanda Urundi, dies at 70
• 1958 Friedrich Adolf Paneth, Austrian-British chemist, dies at 71
• 1958 Herbie Fields [Bernfeld], American jazz saxophonist and bandleader (“Dardanella”), dies from an intentional overdose of sleeping pills at 39
• 1959 Bert Leysen, Belgian TV director (Belgian National TV), dies at 39
• 1961 Adnan Menderes, Turkish politician, Prime Minister of Turkey (1950-60), executed by the junta at 62
• 1963 Eduard Spranger, German psychologist and educator, dies at 81
• 1966 Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (Stuttgart 1955-58), dies at 35
• 1972 Akim Tamiroff, Armenian-Russian actor (Touch of Evil, For Whom the Bell Tolls), dies at 72
• 1973 Hugo Winterhalter, American composer, dies at 63
• 1974 André Dunoyer de Segonzac, French painter and cartoonist, dies at 90
• 1977 Lou Hooper, Canadian jazz pianist, and educator, dies at 83
• 1979 Miloslav Kabeláč, Czech composer, dies at 71

• 1980 Katherine A Porter, American author (Ship of Fools, Pulit-66), dies at 90
• 1982 David Dubinsky, Belarusian-born American labor leader (Freedom Award, 1969 Medal of Freedom), dies at 90
• 1982 Manos Loïzos, Greek composer (Ta Tragoudia Mas) and well known leftist critic of the Greek military junta, dies after suffering several strokes at 44
• 1983 Humberto Madeiros, US cardinal to Boston, dies at 67
• 1984 Richard Basehart, American actor (Rage), dies following several strokes at 70
• 1985 Laura Ashley, Welsh fashion designer, businesswoman and co-founder of Laura Ashley, dies by falling down the stairs of her daughter’s home at 60
• 1986 Patricia “Pat” Phoenix, British actress (Coronation Street, L Shaped Room), dies of lung cancer at 62
• 1987 Harry Locke, British actor (Passport to Pimlico, Town on Trial), dies at 73
• 1988 Hilde Güden [Hulda Geiringer], Austrian soprano (Strauss, Mozart), dies at 71
• 1989 Jay Stewart, American TV and Radio announcer (Let’s Make a Deal), commits suicide at 71 by shooting himself in the carport of his home
• 1991 John Thomas, American co-inventor of fiberglass, dies at 83 [1]
• 1991 René-Charles “Zino” Francescatti, French concert violinist (NY Philharmonic-1939), dies at 89
• 1992 Feodor Chaliapin Jr, Russian actor (The Name of the Rose; The King’s Whore), dies after a brief illness at 87 [1]
• 1992 William A Swanberg, biographer (Henry Luce, Pulitzer 1973), dies at 84
• 1993 Christian Nyby, American director (Big Sleep, Thing), dies at 80
• 1993 James Griffith, American actor (Sheriff of Cochise), dies at 77
• 1994 Henk Figee, Dutch author (Shoes of the Sea), and publisher, dies at 46
• 1994 Iris Adrian, American actress (Blue Hawaii, Bluebeard), dies at 82
• 1994 John DeLaFose, American French speaking zydeco musician, dies at 55

• 1995 Grady Sutton, American actor (The Bank Dick; The Pruitts of Southhampton), dies at 89
• 1995 Lucien Victor, Belgian road racing cyclist, dies at 64
• 1995 Rabbi Yehuda Getz, Tunisian-Israeli soldier and religious leader, dies of a heart attack at 71 [exact birth date uncertain]
• 1996 Jessie Hill, American jazz musician (Ooh Poo Pah Doo), dies at 63

• 1997 Jan Peder Syse, Prime Minister of Norway (1989-90), dies
• 1997 John Seldon Whale, British theologian and lecturer, dies at 100
• 1997 Red Skelton [Richard], American comedian (Red Skelton Show), dies at 84
• 1998 Ted Binion, Las Vegas casino heir (b. 1943)
• 1998 William Hugh Albright, American composer and musician, dies at 53
• 1999 Frankie Vaughan, British pop singer (“Give Me the Moonlight, Give Me the Girl”), dies of heart failure at 71
• 1999 Hasrat Jaipuri [Iqbal Hussain], Indian poet and lyricist for Bollywood films, dies at 77
• 2000 Nicole Reinhart, American cyclist, dies at 24 during a 42-mile circuit race on a course in Arlington, Massachusetts, after hitting a curb, coming off her bike and hitting a tree

• 2001 Barry Shepherd, Australian cricket batsman (9 Tests, 5 x 50s; West Australia CA), dies at 64
• 2001 Lou Dog, Dalmatian dog, mascot for band Sublime, dies at 12
• 2002 (Michael) “Dodo” Marmarosa, American big band and bebop jazz pianist, composer, and arranger (Artie Shaw), dies at 76
• 2003 Erich Hallhuber, German actor known for “Café Meineid”, dies of a seizure at 52
• 2003 Ljubica Marić, Serbian composer (Songs Of Space; Octoïcha), pianist, and pedagogue, dies at 94
• 2005 Alfred Reed [Freidman], American neoclassical composer (In Memoriam, an Elegy for the Fallen), conductor, and music educator, dies at 84
• 2005 Donn Clendenon, American baseball first baseman (World Series MVP 1969 NY Mets; Pittsburgh Pirates), dies at 70
• 2006 Alvin Wayne “Al” Casey, American rock and session guitarist (Duane Eddy: The Wrecking Crew), dies at 69
• 2006 Dorothy Stratton, American coast guard officer (1st woman officer in US Coast Guard, SPARS), dies at 108
• 2006 Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American socialite and sister of President John F. Kennedy, dies at 82
• 2009 Bob Bouma, Dutch TV host (Voor een briefkaart op de eerste rang (For a Postcard in the Front Row)), dies at 79
• 2009 Leon Kirchner, American contemporary classical composer (Pulitzer Prize for Music 1967), dies of congestive heart failure at 90
• 2009 Noordin Mohammad Top, Malaysian Islamist terrorist (b. 1968)
• 2011 Charles H. Percy, American businessman and politician (Senator-R-Illinois 1967-85), dies at 91
• 2011 Colin Madigan, Australian architect (National Gallery of Australia), dies at 90
• 2012 Russell E. Train, American environmentalist and administrator (EPA, WWF), dies at 92
• 2013 Alex [Alexandra Naumik], Polish-Norwegian rock-pop singer-songwriter, and record producer, dies at 64
• 2013 Bernie McGann, Australian jazz alto saxophone player and composer, dies following complications of heart surgery at 76
• 2013 Larry Lake, American-Canadian trumpeter, electronic music composer, artistic director (Canadian Electronic Ensemble, 1985-2013), and radio broadcaster (CBC ‘s Two New Hours, 1978-2007), dies of leukemia at 70
• 2013 Marvin Rainwater, American country and rockabilly singer, dies from heart failure at 88
• 2014 China Zorrilla, Uruguayan actress, filmmaker and writer, dies at 92
• 2014 George Hamilton IV, American country musician, dies from complications from a heart attack at 77
• 2015 David Willcocks, English conductor and composer (Kings College choir), dies at 95
• 2015 Peter Heatly, Scottish diver and Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation, dies at 91
• 2016 Charmian Carr, American actress (The Sound of Music), dies at 73
• 2017 Bob Holland, Australian cricket spin bowler (11 Tests, 34 wickets, BB 6/54; NSW), dies from brain cancer at 70
• 2017 Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, American pro wrestling manager, colour commentator and wrestler (WWE Hall of Fame), dies of throat cancer at 72
• 2017 Laudir de Oliveira, Brazilian percussionist (Sérgio Mendes; Chicago, 1973-81), dies on stage in Rio de Janeiro, of a heart attack at 77
• 2019 Corrine “Cokie” Roberts, American journalist, pioneering newscaster (ABC; NPR; PBS), and author, dies of with metastatic breast cancer at 75
• 2019 Harold Mabern Jr., American post-bop jazz pianist and composer, dies at 83
• 2020 Larry Wilson, American Pro Football Hall of Fame free safety (8 x Pro Bowl; 6 x All Pro 1st Team; NFL Defensive Player of Year 1966; St. Louis Cardinals), dies at 82
• 2020 Robert W. Gore, American businessman and inventor of GORE-TEX, dies at 82 [1]
• 2020 Terry Goodkind, American epic fantasy novelist (The Sword of Truth), dies at 72

• 2021 Michael J. Fitzgerald, American technical writer and novelist (Song of Falling Leaves), dies at 63
• 2021 Roger Brown, College Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle (Maryland Eastern Shore; 6 x Pro-Bowl; Detroit Lions, LA Rams), dies at 84
• 2022 Joseph P. Hoar, American US Marine Corps general (Commander in Chief of US Central Command, 1991-94), dies at 87
• 2022 Maarten Schmidt, Dutch-American astronomer who first identified a quasar, dies at 92
• 2023 Ronnie McKinnon, Scottish soccer defender (28 caps; Rangers FC 301 games), dies at 83
• 2024 (John David) J.D. Souther, American singer and songwriter (“Heartache Tonight”; “New Kid In Town”), dies at 78 [1]

September 17 Highlights