Famous Deaths on September 21

• 687 Conon, Sicilian Pope (686-87), dies
• 1217 Lembitu of Lehola, Estonian military leader who led resistance during Livonian (Northern) Crusade, dies at the Battle of St. Matthews Day

• 1397 Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel, English military leader (executed) (b. 1346)
• 1433 Zweder van Kuilenberg, bishop of Utrecht
• 1440 Frederick I van Hohenzollern, Monarch of Brandenburg (1417-40), dies at 68
• 1481 Bartholomeus Platinum, Italian humanist and pontifical librarian, dies
• 1519 Hans Backofen [Backoffen], German sculptor, dies at about 49
• 1520 Selim I ‘the Grim’ Sultan of Turkey (1512-1520), conquered Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, dies of illness at 49
• 1542 Juan Boscán Almogáver, Spanish poet (b. c. 1490)

• 1586 Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, Spanish cardinal and viceroy of Naples (1571-75), dies at 69
• 1591 Ascanio Trombetti [Cavallari], Italian cornetist, composer, and maestro di cappella (San Giovanni de Monti, 1583-1591), murdered by his lover’s husband at 46
• 1626 François de Bonne, Duke of Lesdiguières, last Constable of France to be appointed (1622-26), dies from a fever at 83
• 1629 John Pieterszoon Coen, Dutch merchant and Governor-General of the East Indies, dies at 42
• 1705 Willem Hadriaan of Nassau, Dutch corrupt mister of Odijk, dies
• 1719 Johann Heinrich Acker, German writer dies at 72
• 1743 Sawai Jai Singh II, Kachwaha Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Amber (1699-1743), founded Jaipur, dies at 54
• 1748 John Balguy, English clergyman and moral philosopher, dies at 62
• 1796 François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, French general (b. 1769)
• 1798 George Read, American judge and signer (Declaration of Independence), dies at 65
• 1809 Alexander Reinagle, English-American composer, dies at 53
• 1812 Emmanuel Schikaneder, German performing arts impresario, dramatist, actor, singer, and librettist (Mozart’s “Magic Flute”), dies at 61
• 1820 Joseph Rodman Drake, American poet (American Flag), dies of consumption at 25

• 1836 John Stafford Smith, British organist, and composer (“The Anacreontic Song”, later used for the American national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner”), dies at 86
• 1839 (Jacob) Gottfried Weber, German composer, and writer (Theory of Musical Composition), dies at 60
• 1860 Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (“The World as Will and Representation”) known for his philosophical pessimism, dies of pulmonary-respiratory failure at 72
• 1874 JBAL Leonce Elie the Beaumont, French geologist, dies at 75
• 1883 Johannes van Vloten, Dutch man of letters and theologist, dies at 65
• 1887 William Preston, American lawyer, politician and Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 70
• 1897 Wilhelm Wattenbach, German historian, known for his work on the Middle Ages, dies at 77

• 1905 Rudolf Baumbach, German writer of student drinking songs, dies at 64
• 1906 Samuel Arnold, American conspirator who plotted to kidnap Abraham Lincoln, dies at 72
• 1911 Arab Pasha, “al-Misri” [Pasha Ahmad Arab), Egyptian minister, dies
• 1915 Anthony Comstock, American anti-vice crusader, special agent to the U.S. Post Office, dies at 71
• 1921 George Foottit, English clown, dies at 57
• 1921 José Celso Barbosa, Puerto Rican physician, sociologist and political leader, dies at 64
• 1922 Tom Armitage, English cricketer (took part 1st two cricket test match England played), dies at 74
• 1926 Léon Charles Thévenin, French telegraph engineer (Thévenin’s theorem), dies at 69
• 1926 Reginald Heber Roe, 1st Vice-Chancellor of the University of Queensland and 2nd Headmaster of Brisbane Grammar School, dies at 76
• 1933 Eduard van Oort, Dutch ornithologist (Ornithology of Netherlands), dies at 56
• 1935 Herm McFarland, American MLB outfielder (first grand slam in AL history), dies at 65
• 1937 Henri Capitant, French lawyer (Loi Falcidie), dies at 72
• 1938 Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian writer (The Brave Adventures of Lapitch), dies at 64
• 1939 Armand Călinescu, Prime Minister of Romania, assassinated by the iron guard at 46
• 1946 Leo Bittermieux, Belgian missionary and ethnologist in the Congo, dies at 66
• 1946 Olga Engl, Austrian actress (Phantom), dies at 75
• 1947 Harry Carey [Henry DeWitt Carey II], American actor (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Red River), dies at 69
• 1948 Bokke R. S. Pollema, Dutch Frisian journalist, poet, and author (Lok en Lijen (Happiness and Suffering)), dies at 65
• 1950 Edward Arthur Milne, English astrophysicist (kinematic relativity), dies of a heart attack at 54
• 1953 Roger Quilter, British composer, dies at 75
• 1954 Kōkichi Mikimoto, Japanese inventor and entrepreneur (cultured pearls), dies at 96
• 1955 Jacqueline Reyneke van Stuwe, Dutch author, dies at 84
• 1956 Anastasio Somoza García [Tacho], General, dictator and President of Nicaragua (1937-56), assassinated by Roliberto Lopez at 60
• 1956 Robert Mills Delaney, American composer, dies at 53
• 1957 Haakon VII, King of Norway (1905-57), dies at 85
• 1957 Henry E. Warren, American inventor (Telechon electric clock), dies at 85
• 1961 Earle Dickson, American inventor (Band-Aid), dies at 68
• 1961 Maurice Delage, French composer, dies at 81
• 1963 Paulino Masip, Spanish playwright, screenwriter and novelist (El Diario de Hamlet Garcia), dies at 64
• 1964 Jim Koethe, American reporter for the Dallas Times Herald, investigated death of John F. Kennedy, strangled
• 1964 Otto Grotewohl, German politician (Prime Minister of East Germany, 1949-64), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 70
• 1966 Paul Reynaud, Premier of France (May-June 1940), dies at 87
• 1970 Gijsbert Friedhoff, Dutch architect (Wibautstraat tax office, Amsterdam), dies at 78
• 1971 Bernardo Houssay, Argentine physiologist (Nobel 1947), dies at 84
• 1972 Henry de Montherlant, French novelist and stage author (La Reine Morte), dies at 76
• 1973 Charles Dodd, Welsh theologian (expert on the New Testament), dies at 89
• 1973 Diana Sands, American stage and screen actress (A Raisin in the Sun; Doctors’ Wives; The Landlord), dies of leiomyosarcoma (muscle cancer) at 39
• 1973 William Plomer, South African-British libretto writer (Curlew River), dies at 69

• 1974 Walter Brennan, American actor (Real McCoys, At Gun Point), dies at 80
• 1976 Orlando Letelier, Chilean economist and politician, dies at 44
• 1979 John McQuade, American actor (Charlie Wild Private Detective), dies at 73
• 1980 Ernest White, Canadian organist, organ designer, and composer, dies at 79
• 1980 Willem Ravelli, Dutch baritone singer (St Matthew Passion), dies at 88
• 1981 Nigel Patrick, English actor and director (Sapphire, Prize of Gold), dies of lung cancer at 69
• 1981 Tony Aubin, French composer (Actaeon; Sinfonie Romantique), conductor, and educator (Paris Conservatory, 1944-77), dies at 73
• 1982 (C. Dudley) “Pete” King, American film and easy listening music arranger and composer (The Pied Piper of Hamelin; The Last of the Secret Agents?), dies at 68
• 1982 Hovhannes Bagramyan, Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union of Armenian origin, dies at 84
• 1983 Andrew Brewin, Canadian lawyer and MP for Greenwood, dies at 76
• 1985 Gu Long, Taiwanese writer of wuxia novels (b. 1937)
• 1986 Pierre Wigny, Belgium politician (Minister of Foreign affairs 1958-61), dies at 81
• 1987 Jaco Pastorius, American jazz-fusion musician and bass guitarist (Weather Report; Joni Mitchell; Word of Mouth), dies from injuries sustained in a bar fight at 35
• 1987 Ruth Attaway, American actress (Porgy and Bess; Conrack, Being There), dies at 77
• 1988 Christine Norden, British actress (Little Shop of Horrors, Night Beat), dies from pneumonia at 63
• 1988 Glenn Robert Davis, American politician, dies at 73
• 1988 Henry Koster, German-born Hollywood director, discovered Abbott and Costello, dies at 83
• 1988 Robert Gwathmey, American social realist artist, dies at 85
• 1988 Walter Vogt, Swiss writer (Wüthrich) and psychiatrist, dies at 61
• 1991 Angelo Rossitto, American dwarf actor (known as “Little Moe”, Carousel), dies at 83
• 1992 (Johan) “Hans” Rosenberg, Dutch astrophysicist, politician (Alderman of Utrecht, 1974-82), and administrator (University of Utrecht, 1984-91), dies of AIDS at 48
• 1992 Bill Williams [Herman Wilhelm Katt], American actor (The Adventures of Kit Carson; Date With the Angels), dies of a brain tumor at 77
• 1993 Fernand Ledoux, Belgian-French actor (L’Homme de Londres), dies at 96
• 1993 Kamaran Abdalla, Iraqi-English-Dutch actor (Best Thing in Life), dies at 34
• 1994 “Ossie” O. S. Nock, English railway writer, dies at 69
• 1994 Arthur Krim, American director (United Artists, Orion Pictures), dies
• 1995 Irven Spence, American animator, dies at 86
• 1995 John Lapsley, British air marshal, dies at 78
• 1995 Peter Shankland, British filmmaker and historian (The Phantom Flotilla, Malta Convoy), dies at 94
• 1995 Rudy Perpich, American politician, 34th & 36th Governor of Minnesota, dies at 67
• 1995 Vernell Townsend, American blues and gospel singer, dies at 64
• 1995 William Murray, British teacher and educationalist, dies at 83
• 1996 John Stachniewski, American literary scholar, specializing in 17th-century English Puritan literature (The Persecutory Imagination, Grace Abounding), dies at 42 [1]
• 1996 Julius Silverman, British Labour Party politician, dies at 90
• 1996 Sabine Zlatin, Polish-born French nurse, who tried save Izieu children from Nazis, dies at 89
• 1996 Sulkhan Nasidze, Georgian composer, dies at 69
• 1997 Eric William Hunter Christie, British lawyer and advocate for the Falkland Islands, dies at 75
• 1997 Jennifer Holt, American actress (b. 1920)
• 1997 Tommy Cecil, Irish ferryman, dies at 51
• 1998 Dragutin Gostuški, Serbian composer (Concerto Accelerato), musicologist, and educator, dies at 75

• 2000 Bengt Hambraeus, Swedish Canadian composer and organist, dies at 72
• 2000 Bryan Smith, American man who ran over Stephen King, dies at 43
• 2002 Nils Bohlin, Swedish mechanical engineer and inventor of the three-point seat belt, dies from heart attack at 82
• 2002 Robert L. Forward, American physicist and writer (b. 1932)
• 2002 Rocco Rock [Ted Petty], American professional wrestler, dies of a heart attack at 49
• 2003 Tom Glazer, American folk singer and songwriter (Because All Men Are Brothers; A Dollar Ain’t A Dollar Anymore), dies at 88
• 2004 Barry Noble Wakeman, American naturalist and educator (b. 1939)
• 2006 Raymond “Boz” Burrell, British rock bassist and singer (King Crimson, 1971-72; Bad Company, 1973-82), dies of a heart attack at 60
• 2007 Alice Ghostley, American stage and screen actress (Bewitched, 1969-72 – “Esmeralda”; Designing Women, 1986-93 – “Bernice”), and singer dies of colon cancer and stroke complications at 84
• 2007 Hallgeir Brenden, Norwegian cross country skier (Olympic gold 1952, 56), dies at 78
• 2007 Rex Humbard, American television evangelist (Cathedral of Tomorrow), dies at 88
• 2007 Ruth Jessen, American golfer (11 LPGA Tour wins, 3-time major runner-up), dies of lung cancer at 70
• 2009 Robert Ginty, American actor (The Paper Chase: Coming Home; The Exterminator), and director, dies of cancer at 60
• 2010 Geoffrey Burgon, British jazz trumpeter, and film, television and concert composer (City Adventures), dies at 69
• 2011 John Du Cann, English rock guitarist (Atomic Rooster), dies of a heart attack at 65
• 2011 Jun Henmi, Japanese writer and poet (b. 1939)
• 2011 Pamela Ann Rymer, American federal appellate judge (b. 1941)
• 2011 Troy Anthony Davis, American high-profile death row inmate and human rights activist (executed) (b. 1968)
• 2013 Heiko Wierenga, Dutch politician (Mayor of Enschede, 1977-94), dies at 80
• 2013 Michel Brault, Canadian filmmaker (Direct Cinema – pioneered hand-held camera work), dies at 85 [1]
• 2013 Roman Vlad, Romanian-born Italian composer, dies at 93
• 2015 Ben Cauley, American R&B trumpeter (The Bar-Kays – “Soul Finger”) and Otis Redding plane crash survivor, dies at 67
• 2016 John D. Loudermilk, American country singer and songwriter (“Tobacco Road”; “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye”), dies of cancer at 82
• 2017 Liliane de Bettencourt, French heir to L’Oreal and richest woman in the world from 2016, dies at 94
• 2018 José Luis de Delás, Spanish composer and conductor, dies at 90
• 2018 Katherine Hoover, American flautist, composer (Eleni: A Greek Tragedy), teacher, and conductor, dies at 80
• 2019 Christopher Rouse, American Grammy Award-winning composer (Trombone Concerto – Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1993), and educator (Eastman School, 1981-2002; Juilliard, 1997-2017), dies of renal cancer at 70
• 2019 Shuping Wang, Chinese doctor who exposed China’s HIV crisis, dies at 59
• 2020 Arthur Ashkin, American scientist (Nobel Prize for Physics 2018 Optical Tweezers), dies at 98 [1]
• 2020 Bob Nevin, Canadian ice hockey right wing (Stanley Cup 1962, 63; Toronto Maple Leafs; NY Rangers; 1,128 career NHL games), dies at 82
• 2020 Jackie Stallone (née Labofish);, American astrologer, television personality, and mother of Sylvester Stallone and Frank Stallone, dies at 98
• 2020 Jacques-Louis Monod, French pianist, conductor, and composer (Cantus Contra Cantum), dies at 93
• 2020 Jaime Alves, Portuguese soccer midfielder (3 caps; Boavista), dies at 55
• 2020 Lars-Åke Lagrell, Swedish sports administrator (President Swedish Football Association 1991-2012) and politician (Governor Kronoberg County 2002-06), dies at 80
• 2020 Michael Lonsdale, French actor (The Day of the Jackal; Moonraker), dies at 89
• 2020 Robert Freeman Smith, American politician (Rep-R-Oregon), dies at 89
• 2020 Tommy Devito, American rock baritone vocalist and guitarist (Four Seasons – “Sherry”), dies of COVID-19 at 93
• 2021 Al Harrington [born Tausau Ta’a], Samoan-American actor (Hawaii Five-O, 1969-75 -“Ben”; Hawaii Five-O, 2011-18 – “Mamo”), dies after a stroke at 85

• 2021 Romano Fogli, Italian soccer midfielder (13 caps; Torino FC, Bologna FC 1909, A.C. Milan, Calcio Catania) and manager (Bologna FC), dies at 83
• 2022 Anton Fier, American drummer (The Feelies; The Lounge Lizards; The Golden Palominos), and record producer, dies at 66
• 2022 Darrell Mudra, American College Football HOF coach (Adams State, North Dakota State, Uni of Arizona, Western Illinois Uni, Florida State, Eastern Illinois Uni; Montreal Alouettes), dies at 93
• 2024 Benny Golson, American jazz tenor saxophonist, arranger, and composer (“I Remember Clifford”, “Whisper Not”, “Blues March”), dies at 95 [1]
• 2024 Mercury Morris, American football running back (Super Bowl VII, VIII, Pro Bowl 1971, 72, 73; Miami Dolphins; San Diego Chargers), dies at 77

September 21 Highlights