Famous Deaths on October 23

• 930 Daigo, 60th Emperor of Japan (897-930) and Buddhist monk, dies at 46
• 949 Yōzei, 57th Emperor of Japan (876-84), dies at 80
• 1260 Koetoez, Turkish sultan of Egypt, murdered
• 1456 Saint John of Capistrano, Franciscan friar and Catholic priest from the Italian town of Capestrano, Abruzzo, dies at 70
• 1550 Tiedemann Giese, Polish Catholic bishop and theologian, dies at 70 [1] [2]
• 1581 Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer, dies at 52
• 1602 Franciscus Junius, French-Dutch calvinist theologist and vicar, dies at 57
• 1616 Leonhard Hutter, German theologian (b. 1563)
• 1688 Charles du Fresne, du Cange, French philologist and scholar, dies at 77
• 1730 Anne Oldfield, English actress (The Maiden Queen), dies from cervical cancer at 47
• 1753 Columban Praelisauer, German music director and composer, dies at 50
• 1764 Emmanuel-Auguste de Cahideuc, Comte Dubois de la Motte, French naval officer (b. 1683)
• 1774 Michel Benoist, French Jesuit missionary and scientist, dies at 59
• 1782 Joseph Riepel, Austrian-born German composer, dies at 73
• 1799 William Paca, American judge and signer (Declaration of Independence), dies at 58
• 1801 Johann Gottlieb Naumann, German composer, dies at 60
• 1806 Franz Seydelmann, German composer, dies at 58
• 1856 Alexander Ross, Canadian fur trader, dies at 73
• 1868 Cullen Whipple, American inventor (pointed screw machine), dies at 67

• 1869 Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Tolbecque, Belgian-French violinist, composer and conductor, dies at 72
• 1872 Théophile Gautier, French writer, historian and poet (Albertus, La Chanson de Roland, Émaux et camées), dies at 61
• 1874 Abraham Geiger, German theologian and leader of Reform Judaism, dies at 64
• 1885 Charles S. West, American jurist and politician, dies at 56
• 1886 Johann Nepomuk Kafka, Bohemian pianist and composer, dies at 67
• 1890 Charles Verlat, Flemish painter, dies at 65
• 1892 Emin Pasha, German explorer and governor (Equatoria), murdered at 52
• 1899 Penn Symons, British Major General during Second Boer War, dies in battle during the Battle Of Talana Hill at 56
• 1901 Georg von Siemens, German banker and politician (helped found Deutsche Bank), dies at 62
• 1903 Francis Ellingwood Abbot, American theologian (Scientific Theism), dies at 66
• 1910 Rama V [Chulalongkorn], King of Thailand (1868-1910), dies at 57
• 1913 Edwin Klebs, German physician and bacteriologist (bacterial theory of infection, diphtheria bacillus), dies at 79

• 1921 John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish inventor and vet (pneumatic rubber tire, Dunlop Rubber), dies at 81
• 1925 Vyacheslav Gavrilovich Karatigin, Russian composer and music critic, dies at 50
• 1928 François Victor Alphonse Aulard, French historian, dies at 79
• 1929 Thomas Frederick Tout, British historian (Manch school of historiography), dies at 74
• 1939 Zane Grey, American western novelist (Spirit of the Border), dies at 67
• 1942 Georg Stumme, German general, commandant of African corps, dies at 56
• 1942 Ralph Rainger [Reichenthal], American song and film composer (Thanks for the Memory; Love In Bloom), dies in a plane crash at 41
• 1944 Charles Glover Barkla, English physicist (1917 Nobel Prize for Physics for X-ray scattering), dies at 67
• 1944 Hana Brady, Jewish Czech Holocaust victim (Hanna’s Suitcase), dies at 13
• 1948 Eugeniusz Morawski-Dabrowa, Polish composer, dies at 71
• 1949 Bill Traylor, African-American artist of folk and modern art, dies at 95 [1]

• 1951 Charlie Creath, American jazz trumpeter, saxophonist, accordionist, and bandleader, dies at 60
• 1952 Susan Peters [Suzanne Carnahan], American actress (Random Harvest; Young Ideas), dies of complications resulting from pyelonephritis, pneumonia, and starvation at 31
• 1953 Maurice Lugeon, Swiss geologist (nappism), dies at 83
• 1954 Henri Zagwijn, Dutch composer and musicologist, dies at 76 [1]

• 1957 Frederick Burton, American actor (The Big Trail, One Way Passage), dies at 86
• 1959 Gerda Lundequist ‘The Swedish Sarah Bernhardt’, Swedish stage actress, dies at 88
• 1966 Claire McDowell, American silent film actress (Big Parade), dies after long illness at 88
• 1969 Tommy Edwards, American R&B singer-songwriter (“It’s All In The Game”), dies from complications of cirrhosis of the liver at 47
• 1975 Barboura Morris, American actor (Wasp Woman, Machine-Gun Kelly), dies at 43
• 1975 Charles Brokaw, American actor (Outer Gate, I Cover the War), dies at 77
• 1976 Leonard Lee, American vocalist (Shirley & Lee – “I’m Gone”), dies at 40

• 1982 Jacques Klein, Brazilian pianist and composer, dies at 52
• 1983 Jessica Savitch, American broadcast journalist and pioneering female news anchor (NBC Weekend), drowns in a car accident at 36 [1]
• 1983 Tamara Shayne, Russian-American actress (Moma Yoelson-The Jolson Story), dies of a heart attack at 80
• 1984 David Gorcey, actor (Angel’s Alley), dies at 63 in a diabetic coma
• 1984 James Petrillo, American labor leader (American Federation of Musicians president, 1940-58), and radio orchestra music director (WBBM Chicago), dies at 92
• 1984 Oskar Werner [Bschließmayer], Austrian stage and screen actor an(The Spy Who Came In from the Cold; Ship of Fools; Fahrenheit 451), dies of a heart attack at 61
• 1986 Edward A Doisy Sr, American bio-chemist (Vitamin K1, Nobel 1943), dies at 92
• 1989 Armida, Mexican-American stage, vaudeville and film actress (b. 1911)
• 1990 Louis Althusser, French Marxist philosopher (“For Marx”; “Reading Capital”) who strangled his wife, dies at 72
• 1992 Kees Spermon, Dutch painter and graphic artist, dies
• 1992 William Masselos, American pianist, dies of Parkinson’s complications at 72
• 1993 Algernon Rumbold, English diplomat who advocated for Tibet, dies at 87
• 1994 Robert Lansing [Brown], American stage and screen actor (12 O’Clock High; The Equalizer), dies of cancer at 66
• 1994 William Leonard, head (CBS News), dies of a stroke at 78
• 1995 Gavin Ewart, English poet (Pleasures of the Flesh), dies at 79
• 1996 Alexander Kelly, British pianist and composer, dies at 67
• 1996 Diana Trilling, American critic and writer, dies at 91
• 1996 Lin Onus, Australian Aboriginal artist (Michael and I are just slipping down to the pub for a minute), dies at 47
• 1996 Ronald “Rags” Butler, British sailor, survibor on HMS Jervis Bay, dies at 68
• 1997 Bert Haanstra, Dutch filmmaker and director (Fanfare; Glass), dies at 81
• 1997 Luther Simjian, Armenian-American Inventor (teleprompter and first self-posing portrait camera), dies at 92
• 1998 Barnett Slepian, American physician, murdered in his Amherst, New York home by anti-abortionist James Charles Kopp, at 52
• 2000 Rodney Anoa’i (aka Yokozuna), American pro wrestler, dies from pulmonary edema at 34
• 2001 Daniel Wildenstein, French art dealer and racehorse owner (4 x winner Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe; 6 x France’s leading owner), dies at 84
• 2001 Ronald William Kirby, British artist, dies at 72

• 2002 Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford, British historian, dies at 96
• 2002 Marianne Hoppe, German theater and film actress (Der Schimmelreiter), dies at 93
• 2002 Richard Helms, American intelligence official (CIA head 1966-73), dies at 89

• 2003 Tony Capstick, English actor, comedian, and musician. dies of an aneurysm at 59
• 2004 Edward Toner Cone, American pianist, composer and pedagogue, dies at 87
• 2004 Robert Merrill [Moishe Miller], American operatic baritone (NY Metropolitan Opera, 1945-76), and actor, dies at 87
• 2005 John Muth, American economist (b. 1930)
• 2005 Pete Nelson [Lipscomb], British pop singer (The Flower Pot Men – “Let’s Go To San Francisco”), dies at 60
• 2005 Stella Obasanjo, Nigerian First Lady and politician activist dies of complications after liposuction surgery at 59
• 2005 William Hootkins, American actor, dies at 57
• 2006 Lebo Mathosa, South African entertainer (b. 1977)
• 2006 Leonid Hambro, American concert pianist and composer, dies at 86
• 2007 (Mustaf) “John” Ilhan, Turkish-Australian entrepreneur (Crazy John’s mobile phones), dies of a hereditary heart condition at 42
• 2007 Lim Goh Tong, Malaysian Chinese businessman (Founder of Genting Group), dies at 89
• 2008 Billy Nair, South African trade unionist, anti-apartheid activist, South African Communist Party leader, and political prisoner (20 years in Robben Island Prison), dies from complications of a stroke at 78
• 2009 Lou Jacobi, Canadian actor and comedian (Irma la Douce, The Dean Martin Show), dies at 95 [1]
• 2010 Leo Cullum, American cartoonist (The New Yorker), dies at 68
• 2011 Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician whose models for determining the chemical crystal structures vital for life revolutionized chemistry (Nobel 1985), dies at 94
• 2011 Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (250cc World Championship 2008), dies in a track accident at 24
• 2013 Bill Mazer, American sports broadcaster (New York institution in sports reporting; sports trivia expert), dies at 92
• 2014 Alvin Stardust [Bernard Jewry], English rock singer(“Jealous Mind”), dies of prostate cancer at 72
• 2014 Frank Mankiewicz, American journalist, president of National Public Radio and Democratic political adviser, dies at 90 [1]
• 2014 Tullio Regge, Italian physicist (Regge theory), dies at 83
• 2015 Bill Keith, American bluegrass, country, and session banjoist, and tuning instrument tuner inventor, dies of cancer at 75
• 2015 Jimmy Roberts, Canadian ice hockey defenceman (NHL All Star 1965, 69, 70; Stanley Cup 1965, 66, 73, 76, 77; Montreal Canadiens), dies at 75
• 2016 Jack Chick, American religious cartoonist (Chick tracts), dies at 92
• 2016 Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar (1972-95), dies at 84
• 2016 Tom Hayden, American civil rights and antiwar activist and politician (Rep-D-Ca), dies at 76
• 2019 Bernie Parrish, American football cornerback (Pro Bowl 1960, 63; Cleveland Browns; best-selling book, ‘They Call It A Game’), dies of prostate cancer at 83
• 2019 Hansheinz Schneeberger, Swiss violinist (Duo Paganini), dies at 93
• 2020 David Barnes, New Zealand sailor (470 world champion 1981, 83, 84), dies from multiple sclerosis at 62
• 2020 Ebbe Skovdahl, Danish soccer manager (Brøndby IF, Benfica, Aberdeen), dies from cancer at 75
• 2020 Jerry Jeff Walker [Ronald Clyde Crosby], American country music singer and songwriter (“Mr. Bojangles”), dies of throat cancer at 78
• 2020 W. C. Gorden, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (Jackson State University, 1976-91, record 119–48–5), dies at 90
• 2021 Bob Neumeier, American sportscaster (WBZ-radio, TV Boston; NBC Sports), dies from heart disease at 70
• 2022 Libor Pešek, Czech conductor (Czech Philharmonic, 1982-90; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, 1987-98), dies at 89
• 2022 Walt Corey, American football linebacker (AFL C’ship 1962, 66; AFL All-Star 1963; Dallas Texans/KC Chiefs) and coach (KC Chiefs, Buffalo Bills), dies at 84
• 2023 Bishan Singh Bedi, Indian cricket spin bowler (67 Tests, 22 as captain, 266 wickets, BB 7/98, 1 x 50; Northern Punjab, Delhi, Northamptonshire CCC), dies at 77 [1]
• 2023 Chronis Aidonidis, Greek folk and traditional music singer, dies at 95
• 2023 István Láng, Hungarian composer (Impulsioni), and pedagogue, dies at 90
• 2023 Mervin Shiner, American honky-tonk country and hillbilly singer, and guitarist, dies at 102
• 2024 Geoff Capes, English strongman (World’s Strongest Man 1983, 85), dies at 75
• 2024 Leon Cooper, American physicist who co-developed the BCS theory of superconductivity (Nobel 1972), dies at 94

October 23 Highlights