Famous Deaths on October 25

• 79 Gaius Plinius Secundus [Pliny the Elder], Roman admiral and writer, dies during eruption of Mount Vesuvius [approx date, month of eruption disputed] [1] [2]
• 304 Marcellinus, Bishop of Rome, Catholic Pope (296-304), and Catholic & Serbian Orthodox saint dies (age unknown)
• 625 Boniface V, Italian Pope (619-25), dies

• 1047 Magnus I Godhi, king of Norway/Denmark (1035-47), dies
• 1154 Stephen of Blois, King of England (1135-54) who fought his cousin Matilda for the throne, dies (b. c. 1097)

• 1415 Anton of Burgundy, French son of Philip the Stout, and Duke of Brabant and Limburg, dies in the Battle of Agincourt at 31
• 1415 Edward of Norwich, Duke of York, English nobleman and military commander, dies in the Battle of Agincourt at about 45 [birthdate uncertain]
• 1415 Phillip II, Count of Nevers, French earl, dies in the Battle of Agincourt at 25 or 26 [birthday uncertain]
• 1415 Robert of Bar, Count of Marle, French knight, dies in the Battle of Agincourt at 24 or 25 [birthday uncertain]

• 1510 Il Giorgione [Giorgio del Castelfranco], Italian painter, dies at 32
• 1604 Claude de la Tremoille, French duke of Thouars/huguenot, dies
• 1647 Evangelista Torricelli, Italian physicist (inventor of barometer), dies at 39
• 1676 Justus Georgius Schottel [Schottelius], German linguist and poet, dies at 64
• 1757 Antoine Augustine Calmet, French Benedictine monk and theologian, dies at 85

• 1833 Abbas Mirza, Crown Prince of Qājār dynasty of Iran, introduced Western military techniques, dies at 44
• 1845 Carel Hendrik Verhuell, Dutch-French vice-admiral who served Holland then France, dies at 81
• 1855 Willem Frederik van Bylandt, Dutch military officer, dies at 84
• 1861 Friedrich Carl von Savigny, German jurist and legal scholar (historical school of jurisprudence), dies at 82
• 1878 Ludwig Wilhelm Maurer, German-Russian violinist, composer, and conductor, dies at 89
• 1892 Caroline Harrison, 1st lady of the U.S. (1889-1892), wife of Benjamin Harrison, dies at 60
• 1895 Charles Hallé, Anglo-German pianist, conductor and founder (Halle Orchestra), dies at 76
• 1902 Frank Norris, American journalist and writer (McTeague), dies at 32
• 1904 Teresa Milanollo, Italian violin prodigy, and composer, dies at 77
• 1907 Edmund Hart Turpin, English composer, dies at 72
• 1910 Hermann Kipper, German music teacher and composer, dies at 84
• 1910 Willie Anderson, Scottish golfer (US Open 1901, 1903-05), dies of epilepsy at 31
• 1916 William Merritt Chase, American impressionist painter, and educator (Chase School, now known as the Parsons School of Design), dies at 66
• 1920 Alexander, King of Greece (1917-20), dies of sepsis after being bitten by a monkey at 27
• 1921 Bat Masterson, American gunfighter in the Wild West, dies of a heart attack at 67
• 1922 Oskar Hertwig, German embryologist (discovered fertilization), dies at 73
• 1926 Frederick Zech, Jr., American pianist and composer, dies at 68
• 1929 James Lillywhite, English cricket slow bowler (1st England Test captain; 2 Tests, 8 wickets; Sussex CCC) and umpire (6 Tests 1881–99), dies at 87
• 1933 Lillian Hall-Davies actress (Farmer’s Wife, Ring), dies at 36
• 1934 Frank Sprague, American inventor who installed the first U.S. electric trolley system, dies at 77
• 1935 Bernard “Lulu” Rosenkrantz, American gangster (chauffeur and bodyguard for Dutch Schultz), murdered at 33
• 1936 Jaime de Magalhães Lima, Portuguese author and poet (Salmos do Prisoneiro), dies at 76
• 1938 Alfonsina Storni, Argentine poet (La inquietud del rosal), dies at 46
• 1939 Cornelis JK van Aalst, president Dutch Business Society, dies at 73
• 1941 Robert Delaunay, French artist, dies at 56
• 1942 Ted Arnold, English cricketer (England all-rounder in 10 Tests 1903-05), dies at 65
• 1943 H van Zanten, guerrilla leader on North Sumatra, executed
• 1944 Fake Krist, nazi collaborator, killed
• 1951 Amélie of Orléans, Queen of Portugal, wife of Carlos I, dies at 86
• 1952 Sergei Bortkiewicz, Ukranian composer, dies at 75
• 1954 Marika Stiernstedt, Swedish author (Ulla Bella), dies at 79
• 1956 Risto Ryti, Finnish politician (Prime Minister of Finland 1939-41, President of Finland 1940-44), dies at 67
• 1957 (Maria) “Mary” Beekman, Flemish stgae and silent screen actress (Genius Against Violence; Moderne Landhaaien), dies at 73

• 1957 Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, Irish sci-fi writer (Time & Gods), dies at 79
• 1957 Henry Van de Velde, Flemish painter and architect (Art Nouveau), dies at 94
• 1959 Bob Murphy, TV host (RFD America), dies at 42

• 1960 José Padilla, Spanish composer and pianist (La Violetera – City Lights; Ça c’est Paris – Moulin Rouge), dies at 71
• 1961 Peter Jensen, Danish-American engineer, entrepreneur (Magnavox), and co-inventor (moving-coil loudspeaker), dies at 75
• 1963 Abu-Bakr Khairat, Egyptian composer, dies at 53
• 1964 Belle Montrose, actress (Mrs Harrison-Hathaways), dies at 78
• 1967 Margaret Ayer Barnes, American playwright and writer (Years of Grace), dies at 81
• 1968 Jean Schlumberger, French writer (Passions), dies at 91
• 1968 Rudolf Forster, Austrian actor (Threepenny Opera), dies at 83
• 1971 Albert van Dalsum, Dutch actor and director (Wilton’s Zoo; Little Rascal), dies at 82
• 1972 Johnny Mantz, American auto racer (Southern 500, 1950, first 500-mile race in NASCAR history), dies in a car accident at 54
• 1972 Norman Norell [Levinson], US fashion designer, dies at 72

• 1973 Paul Schuitema, Dutch graphic designer and photographer, dies at 76
• 1975 Frank Puglia, Italian actor (Black Orchid, Jungle Book), dies at 83
• 1976 Raymond Queneau [M Presle], French writer (Last Days), dies at 73
• 1980 Víctor Galíndez, Argentine boxer (WBA light heavyweight title 1974-79), dies in stock-car race pit area accident at 31
• 1980 Virgil Fox, American organist, dies at 68

• 1983 Hermann Ambrosius, German composer and educator who worked with the Nazi Ministry of Propaganda, dies at 86
• 1984 Pascale Ogier, actress (Ghost Dance), dies of a heart attack at 24
• 1985 (John) Morton Downey, American pop tenor, known as “The Irish Nightengale”, songwriter, radio and television host, dies at 83
• 1985 Elsa Moranet, writer, dies at 67
• 1986 Forrest Tucker, American actor (F-Troop; Dusty’s Trail; The Crawling Eye), dies of lung cancer and emphysema at 67
• 1987 Cecil Brown, American CBS war correspondent who worked closely with Edward R. Murrow during World War II, dies at 80
• 1987 Gerald Pearson, American physicist and inventor of the solar cell, dies at 82
• 1988 Bill Cody, actor (Blazing Justice, Ghost City), dies at 75
• 1988 Johnnie Richardson, American R&B musician (Johnnie & Joe), dies at 53
• 1989 Gerard Walschap, Flemish writer (Men of Goods), dies at 91
• 1989 Mary McCarthy, American novelist (Group), dies, at 77
• 1991 Bill Graham, [Wulf Grajonca], German-American impresario and rock concert promoter (Fillmore; Winterland Ballroom; Live-Aid), dies in a helicopter crash in California at 60
• 1991 Khigh Dhiegh [Kenneth Dickerson], American actor (Forbidden Nights; The Manchurian Candidate; Hawaii Five-0 – “Wo Fat”), dies of kidney and heart failure at 81
• 1991 Margo J. Sylvia (née Lopez), American pop singer (Tune Weavers – “Happy, Happy Birthday, Baby”), dies of heart attack and stroke at 55
• 1992 Adelino Da Palma Carlos, Prime Minister of Portugal (1974), dies
• 1992 Richard Pousette-Dart, American abstract expressionist artist, sculptor, and photographer, dies at 76

• 1993 Francisco Velis, El Salvador guerilla leader (FMLN), murdered
• 1993 Mary C Lawton, jurist (CIA’s Agency Seal Medallion), dies at 58
• 1993 Philip P. Cohen, American medical researcher, dies at 85
• 1993 Vincent Price, American actor (House on Haunted Hill, Fly, Laura), dies of lung cancer at 82
• 1994 David Cox, British medievalist, historian and mountaineer, dies at 81
• 1994 Lillian Hayman, American actress (Leslie Uggams Show), dies at 72
• 1994 Mildred Natwick, American stage and screen actress (Barefoot in the Park; She Wore a Yellow Ribbon; The House Without a Christmas Tree), dies at 89

• 1995 David Healy, American-born actor (Supergirl, Doomsday Gun, Patton), dies following a heart operation at 66
• 1995 Kenneth Dadzie, Ghanaian diplomat and 1st African Secretary-General of UNCTAD, dies at 65
• 1995 Robert Grieve, Scottish civil servant and planner, dies at 84
• 1995 Viveca Lindfors, Swedish actress (Way We Were, Life Goes On), dies from complications of rheumatoid arthritis at 74

• 2000 Don Frank Brooks, American session and touring blues harmonica player (Waylon Jennings; Ken Burns’ “The Civil War”), dies of leukemia at 53
• 2000 Jeanne Lee, American jazz and avant garde music singer, composer, and poet, dies of cancer at 61 [1]
• 2001 Yoritsune Matsudaira, Japanese contemporary classical composer (The Tale of Genji; Bugaku), dies at 94
• 2002 Paul Wellstone, American politician (Sen-D-Minnesota 1991-2002), dies in a plane crash at 58
• 2002 Rene Thom, French mathematician, 1958 Fields Medal for work in topology, dies at 79

• 2003 Hemu Adhikari, Indian cricket batsman (21 Tests; HS 114 1st Test v WI 1948), dies at 84
• 2003 Pandurang Shastri Athavale, Indian philosopher, spiritual leader and social revolutionary who founded the Swadhyaya Parivar, dies of cardiac arrest at 83
• 2003 Robert Strassburg, American composer, conductor and educator (Leaves of Grass: A Choral Symphony), dies at 88
• 2004 John Peel [Ravenscroft], British popular music radio presenter (BBC Radio 1, 1967-2004), dies of a heart attack at 65
• 2006 Danny Rolling, the Gainesville Ripper, American serial killer sentenced to death row, executed at 52
• 2008 Anne Pressly, American news anchor (b. 1982)
• 2008 Estelle Reiner, American actress, singer, and wife of Carl Reiner, dies at 94
• 2010 Gregory Isaacs, Jamaican reggae musician, dies of lung cancer at 59
• 2010 Lisa Blount, American actress and producer (b. 1957)
• 2010 Vesna Parun, Croatian poet (b. 1922)
• 2011 Anna van Beers [Graeve], Dutch actress (A Woman like Eve, Diary of a Hooker), dies at 95
• 2011 Howard Wolpe, American politician (Rep-D-MI, 1979-93), dies at 71
• 2012 Jacques Barzun, French author (The House of Intellect), dies at 104
• 2012 John Connelly, English footballer (20 English caps), dies from cancer at 74

• 2013 Hal Needham, American stuntman known for “Smokey and the Bandit” and “The Cannonball Run”, dies from cancer at 82
• 2013 Marcia Wallace, American actress (The Bob Newhart Show – “Carol”), dies from pneumonia at 70
• 2013 Nigel Davenport, British actor (Without a Clue, Masada), dies at 85
• 2014 Jack Bruce, Scottish bassist and singer-songwriter (Cream – “White Room”), dies at 71
• 2015 Basil Williams, West Indian cricket batsman (7 Tests, 2 x 100s; century on debut 1978), dies at 65
• 2015 Lisa Jardine, British historian and writer, dies of cancer at 71
• 2016 Carlos Alberto Torres, Brazilian footballer, Captain of winning World Cup team (1970), dies at 72
• 2017 Jack Bannon, American actor (Art in Lou Grant, Trauma Center), dies at 77
• 2017 John Manduell, British-based South African composer and educator (Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, 1973-96), dies at 89
• 2018 John A Ziegler Jr, American lawyer, and sports league executive (4th NHL president, 1977-92), dies at 84
• 2018 Sonny Fortune [Cornelius Fortune], American jazz saxophonist, dies at 79
• 2019 Chou Wen-chung, Chinese-American composer (Mode of Shang), dies at 96
• 2020 Diane di Prima, American beat poet (This Kind of Bird Flies Backward, Loba), dies at 86
• 2021 Aleksandar Shalamanov, Bulgarian soccer defender (42 caps; PFC Slavia Sofia) and alpine skier (Winter Olympics 1960), dies at 80
• 2022 Brian Robinson, English cyclist (Tour de France: first Briton to finish 1955; first stage winner 1957), dies at 91
• 2022 Jules Bass, American director, producer, lyricist (Rankin/Bass Productions -The Year Without A Santa Claus; Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer; Frosty The Snowman), and cookbook author, dies at 87
• 2023 Ed Sandford, Canadian ice hockey forward (NHL All-Star 1951, 52, 53, 54, 55; Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings), dies at 95
• 2023 Zdeněk Mácal, Czech conductor (Milwaukee Symphony, 1986-95; New Jersey Symphony, 1992-2003; Czech Philharmonic, 2003-07), dies at 87 [1]
• 2024 Bill Hay, Canadian Hockey HOF centre (Calder Memorial Trophy 1960; NHL All Star 1960, 61; Stanley Cup 1961 Chicago Black Hawks) and executive (CEO Calgary Flames), dies at 88
• 2024 David Harris, American character actor (The Warriors; Hill Street Blues), dies of cancer at 75
• 2024 Phil Lesh [Chapman], American rock bassist (Grateful Dead – “Box of Rain”), dies at 84 [1] [2]

October 25 Highlights