Famous Deaths on August 23

• 93 Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman general and Governor of Britain, conquered Wales and Northern England, dies at 53
• 634 Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, father-in-law and friend of Mohammed, 1st Caliph (632-34), dies at 60
• 1106 Magnus, Duke of Saxony

• 1176 Rokujō, 79th Emperor of Japan (1165-8), dies at 11

• 1328 Nicolaas Zannekin, leader of rebel Flemish farmers, dies in battle
• 1387 King Olav IV of Norway (b. 1370)
• 1478 Yolande of Valois, Duchess of Savoy, daughter of King Charles VII of France, dies at 43
• 1484 Diogo, Duke of Viseu, murdered by his cousin, King João II of Portugal at 34
• 1498 Isabella of Aragon, Spanish heir of the Catholic Monarchs and Queen consort of Portugal (1497-98) had Jews expelled from Portugal, dies after childbirth at 27
• 1507 Jean Molinet, Burgundy historian (Chroniques), dies at about 72
• 1519 Philibert Berthelier, Swiss patriot
• 1540 Guillaume Budé, French scholar and humanist, first keeper of the royal library at the Palace of Fontainebleau, dies at 73
• 1591 Luis de Leon, Spanish scholar and poet, dies at 64
• 1618 Gerbrant Bredero, Dutch poet and playwright (Moortje), dies at 33

• 1652 John Byron, 1st Baron Byron, English royalist politician (b. 1600)
• 1668 Artus Quellinus, Flemish sculptor (Amsterdam townhall), dies at 58
• 1706 Colonel Edward Nott, Esq., British Crown Governor of Virginia (b. 1654)
• 1723 Antoine Mouque, Flemish composer, organist and singer, dies at 64
• 1723 Increase Mather, New England Puritan minister, dies at 84
• 1777 Giuseppe Sellitto, Italian opera composer (Nitocri), dies at 77
• 1802 Corona Schröter, German singer. and composer, dies at 51
• 1806 Charles Augustin de Coulomb, Fren physicist (coulometrie), dies at 70
• 1813 Alexander Wilson, Scottish ornithologist and naturalist, dies at 47
• 1819 Oliver Hazard Perry, American naval hero (Battle of Lake Erie), dies on 34th birthday
• 1825 Amos Bull, American hymn composer, dies at 81
• 1831 August WA Grave von Gneisenau, Prussian fieldmarshal, dies at 70
• 1839 Charles Philippe Lafont, French violinist and composer, dies at 57
• 1853 Alexander Calder, first mayor of Beaumont, Texas (b. 1806)
• 1867 Auguste-Marseille Barthélemy, French poet (b. 1796)
• 1878 Adolf Fredrik Lindblad, Swedish lieder and classical composer, dies at 77
• 1884 LeRoy Pope Walker, American lawyer and 1st Confederate States Secretary of War (1861), dies at 67
• 1886 Henry Hopkins Sibley, American career officer, commander of a Confederate cavalry brigade (Civil War), dies at 70
• 1887 Thomas Tinsley Craven, American naval commander for the Union during the Civil War, dies at 78
• 1888 Philip Henry Gosse, English naturalist (created 1st public aquarium at London Zoo, coined term ‘aquarium’), dies at 78
• 1892 Deodoro da Fonseca, Brazilian military officer and the 1st President of Brazil (1889-91), dies at 65
• 1898 Joseph Robinson, Irish singer, organist and composer, dies at 82
• 1903 Paul Gabriël, Dutch water colors painter and etcher, dies at 75
• 1914 Felix Fivet, Belgian baby, executed by German troops at 3 weeks
• 1914 George Ambrose Pogson, British consul in Hamburg (1880-1914), dies
• 1924 Heinrich Berté [Bettelheim], Slovak-Austrian opera composer (Das Dreimäderlhaus, aka Blossom Time), dies at 66

• 1927 Nicola Sacco & Bartolomeo Vanzetti, executed in Massachusetts
• 1927 Therese Zamara, Austrian harpist and music teacher, dies at 71
• 1933 Adolf Loos, Austrian post-modern architect (building of houses) and critic (Ornaments and Crime), dies of a stroke at 62 [1]
• 1937 Albert Roussel, French composer (Rapsodie Flamande), dies at 68
• 1939 Sidney Coe Howard, American playwright (Silver Cord, Pulitzer 1925), dies at 48
• 1941 Jack O’Connor, Australian cricket fast bowler (4 Tests, 13 wickets, BB 5/40; NSW CA, SA CA), dies at 65
• 1943 Paul Zilcher, German pianist, composer, and piano teacher, dies at 88
• 1944 Nikolay Andreyevich Roslavets, Ukrainian composer, dies at 63
• 1945 Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, Crown Princess of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, dies at 81
• 1955 Reginald Tate, British actor (b. 1896)
• 1957 Eugène Schueller, French chemist, founder of L’Oréal, dies at 76
• 1958 Martin du Gard, writer, dies

• 1962 Edmund “Hoot” Gibson, American rodeo champion, western actor, director, and producer (Horse Soldier, Last Outlaw), dies from cancer at 70
• 1962 Irving Fine, American composer (Toccata), dies of heart disease at 47
• 1962 Walter Anderson, German folklorist, dies at 76
• 1963 Glen Gray [Knoblauch], American jazz saxophonist and bandleader (Casa Loma Orchestra), dies of lymphoma, at 63
• 1965 Jan Antonín Bata, Czech shoe manufacturer (Bata), dies at 67
• 1966 Francis X. Bushman, American silent film actor (Sabrina, Ben-Hur), dies at 83
• 1967 Georges Berger, Belgian racing driver, dies at 48
• 1970 Nel Roos, Dutch ballerina and dance teacher, dies of a heart attack at 55
• 1971 Gisela Hernández [Gonzalo], Cuban composer (Diálogo), and music educator, dies at 58
• 1971 Oliver McGowan, American actor (Banning, Stagecoach), dies at 64
• 1971 The original Shamu, Sea World orca
• 1972 Balys Dvarionas, Lithuanian pianist, composer and educator, dies at 68
• 1974 Roberto Assagioli, Italian psychiatrist and writer (Psychosynthesis,), dies at 86
• 1975 Hank Patterson, American actor (Gunsmoke, Fred Ziffel-Green Acres), dies at 87
• 1977 Naum Gabo [Pevsner], Russian-American sculptor (Stillife Flower), dies at 87
• 1979 Mian Mohammad Saeed, cricketer (1st Pakistan captain 1948-49), dies
• 1979 Richard Hearne, British actor (Tons of Trouble, The Time of His Life), dies at 71
• 1980 Norman Shelley, English radio actor (Churchill’s Speech), dies at 77
• 1981 (Thaman) “Pete” Daily, American swing and dixieland jazz cornetist and valve trombonist (The Chicagoans), dies at 70
• 1982 Alberto Cavalcanti, Brazilian director (Herr Puntila), dies at 85
• 1982 Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman and heir to the Bloomingdale’s department store, dies at 66
• 1982 Stanford Moore, American biochemist (Nobel 1977), dies at 68
• 1986 Charles Janssens, Belgian actor (Mira, Malpertuis), dies at 80
• 1987 Didier Pironi, French auto racer who won 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978 and 3x F1 GPs, dies in power boat accident at 35
• 1987 Siegfried Borris, German composer, dies at 80
• 1987 Thomas D’Alesandro Jr, American politician (US Representative for Maryland (D), 1939-47; Mayor of Baltimore, 1947-59), and father of Nancy Pelosi, dies at 84
• 1989 Helen le Clerq, Dutch dancer and choreographer, dies at 57
• 1989 Mohammed Abed Elhai, Sudanese writer and academic and poet, dies at 45
• 1989 R.D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist (anti-psychiatry), and writer (The Politics of Experience and The Bird of Paradise), dies of a heart attack at 61
• 1989 Yusef Hawkins, shot by 30 whites in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn NY in a racially motivated attack
• 1990 David Rose, American Emmy Award-winning composer (“The Stripper”; “Holiday For Strings”), and orchestra leader (The Red Skelton Show), dies at 80
• 1991 Florence B Seibert, bio-chemist (TB), dies at 93
• 1992 Malcolm Atterbury, American actor (Jonas-Thicker than Water, Apples Way), dies at 85
• 1992 Virginia Sale-Wren, entertainer, dies of heart failure at 92
• 1993 Charles Scorsese, actor (Cape Fear, Goodfellas, Wise Guys), dies at 80
• 1993 Edwina Lewis, actress (Boy Who Cried Bitch), dies of heart attack 42
• 1993 Victorine Hefting, historian/wife of Bert Baker, dies at 88
• 1994 Henri Rousselot, French admiral (submarine commander WWII), dies at 82
• 1994 Paolo Volponi, Italian communist/author (Machina Mondiale), dies at 70
• 1994 Rabah Stambouli, Algerian sociologist/politician, murdered at 65
• 1994 Richard Jock Kinneir, British graphic designer (modern road signs), dies at 77
• 1995 Adele Simpson, American fashion designer (Neiman-Marcus Award-1946), dies at 91
• 1995 Alfred Eisenstaedt, German-American photojournalist (V-J Day in Times Square), dies at 96
• 1995 Dwayne Goettel, Canadian keyboardist and industrial-electronic music composer (Skinny Puppy), dies of a heroin overdose at 31
• 1995 Gordon White, British business tycoon and co-founder of corporate raider Hanson Group, dies at 72
• 1995 Hedda J. Garza, American writer and political activist, dies at 66
• 1995 James Pilditch, designer, dies at 66
• 1995 Johnny Carey, Irish professional footballer, dies at 76
• 1995 Leslie Graves, American actress (Brenda-Capitol, Death Wish 2), dies of AIDS at 35
• 1997 Eric Gairy, first Prime Minister of Grenada (1974-79), dies at 75
• 1997 John Kendrew, British molecular biologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1962, dies at 80 [1]
• 1999 James White, Northern Irish sci-fi author (Star Surgeon, Star Healer), dies of a stroke at 71
• 1999 Norman Wexler, American screenwriter known for “Saturday Night Fever”, dies at 73
• 2000 John Anthony Kaiser, American Roman Catholic priest assassinated near his mission at Morendat, Kenya at 67
• 2000 Robert Knox, British bacteriologist known for his contributions to antibiotic therapy, dies at 96 [1]
• 2001 Eric Allandale [Dubuisson], West Indian-British rock and soul trombonist, and songwriter (The Foundations – “Baby Now That I’ve Found You”), dies at 65
• 2001 Kathleen Freeman, American actress (Beverly Hillbillies, 3 Ring Circus), dies of lung cancer at 82
• 2001 Peter Maas, American novelist (b. 1929)

• 2003 Jack Dyer, Australian rules footballer (b. 1913)
• 2003 John Geoghan, American Catholic priest, and convicted sex offender, killed in prison at 68
• 2005 Brock Peters [George Fisher], American actor and singer (Carmen Jones; To Kill a Mockingbird), dies at 78
• 2005 Harold “Hal” Kalin, American singer (Kalin Twins), dies in a road accident at 71
• 2005 Jack Hibbert, British economic statistician (Central Statistical Office, 1960-92, as director, 1985-92), dies at 73
• 2005 Ninjalicious, Canadian author and urban explorer (b. 1973)

• 2006 Jacques Wildberger, Swiss composer (In My End is My Beginning), dies at 84
• 2006 Maynard Ferguson, Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader, dies at 78
• 2006 Wasim Raja, Pakistani cricket all-rounder (57 Tests, 4 x 100, HS 125, 51 wickets; Lahore, Durham CCC), dies from a heart attack at 54
• 2007 Philip Wilkinson, British banker and the group chief executive director of National Westminster Bank (1982-87), dies of a brain haemorrhage at 80
• 2007 Robert Symonds, American actor and associate director of the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center, dies at 80
• 2007 William E. McAnulty, Jr., American lawyer (1st African American justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court), dies at 59
• 2007 William John McKeag, Canadian politician, Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (1970-76), dies at 79
• 2008 John Russell, British-born American art critic and author
• 2009 Anna-Maria Müller, German luger (Olympic gold GDR women’s singles 1972), dies at 60
• 2011 John Howard Davies, British child actor (Oliver Twist), and television comedy producer and director (Monty Python’s Flying Circus; Fawlty Towers; The Good Life), dies of cancer at 72
• 2011 June Wayne, American artist and lithographer (Tamarind Lithography Workshop), dies at 93
• 2012 Byard Lancaster, American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and flutist, dies of pancreatic cancer at 70
• 2012 Jerry Nelson, American puppeteer, dies from prostate cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at 78
• 2012 Steve Van Buren, Honduran-American Pro Football HOF halfback (5 × First-team All-Pro; 4 × NFL rushing yards leader; 4 × NFL rushing TDs leader; Philadelphia Eagles), dies from pneumonia at 91
• 2013 David Garrick [Philip Darryl Core], British singer (“Dear Mrs. Applebee”), dies at 67
• 2013 William Glasser, American psychiatrist, dies from respiratory failure from pneumonia at 88
• 2015 Asher Ben-Yohanan, Israeli composer, dies at 86
• 2015 Jean Darling, American child actress (Our Gang), dies at 93
• 2016 Reinhard Selten, German economist (Nobel Prize 1994), dies at 85
• 2016 Steven Hill, American actor (Mission Impossible, Law & Order), dies at 94
• 2017 Susan Vreeland, American author (The Passion of Artemisia), dies at 71
• 2017 [Jacob] “Jack” Rosenthal, American journalist and government official, dies of pancreatic cancer at 82
• 2018 George Theophilus Walker, African-American pianist, composer and teacher (Lilacs; In Praise Of Folly), dies at 96

• 2019 Mario Davidovsky, Argentine-American electro-acoustic composer (Synchronisms), dies at 85
• 2019 Sheila Steafel, South African British actress (The Frost Report), dies at 84
• 2020 Charlie Persip, American jazz drummer (Dizzy Gillespie; The Jazz Statesmen; Billy Eckstine), dies at 91
• 2020 Lori Nelson, American actress (Greta-How to Marry a Millionaire), dies at 87
• 2021 José Yudica, Argentine soccer forward (4 caps; Newell’s Old Boys, Boca Juniors) and manager (Newell’s Old Boys, Quilmes), dies at 85
• 2021 Michael Nader, American actor (Dynasty, 1983-89 – “Dex”; All My Children, 1991-2001 – “Dmitri”; Gidget – “Peter”), dies of cancer at 76
• 2022 Carlos Duarte, Portuguese soccer forward (7 caps; FC Porto, Leixões SC), dies at 89
• 2023 Austin Robertson Jr., Australian Football HOF forward (WANFL record 1211 goals Subiaco FC; South Melbourne; WA 10 games), dies at 80
• 2023 Bob Feldman, American pop songwriter and record producer (“My Boyfriend’s Back”, “I Want Candy”), dies at 83
• 2023 Erkin Koray, Turkish psychedelic rock guitarist, electro baglama player, and singer, dies of lung disease at 82
• 2023 Terry Funk, American HOF pro wrestler (WWF Tag Team C’ship 1998; NWA World Heavyweight C’ship 1975-76) and actor (Paradise Alley; Roadhouse), dies at 79
• 2023 Theuns Stofberg, South African rugby union flanker (21 caps, captain 1980, 81, 84; Orange FS, Northern Transvaal, Western Province), dies in a traffic collision at 68
• 2023 Vicente Lecaro, Ecuadorian soccer defender (8 caps; FC Barcelona, CS Emelec), dies at 87

• 2024 Peter Lundgren, Swedish tennis coach (Marat Safin, Marcelo Ríos, Grigor Dimitrov, Stanislas Wawrinka) and player (World #25 1987), dies at 59
• 2024 Russell Malone, American jazz guitarist (Harry Connick, Jr.; Diana Krall; Ron Carter), dies of a heart attack at 60

August 23 Highlights