Famous Deaths on August 26

• 1278 Ottokar II, King of Bohemia (1253-78), dies in battle
• 1346 Charles II of Alençon, killed in the Battle of Crécy (b. 1297)
• 1346 John the Blind, King of Bohemia (1310-46), Count of Luxemburg, dies at the Battle of Crécy at 50

• 1346 Louis of Nevers, Count of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel (1322-46), killed in the Battle of Crécy at about 41
• 1346 Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine, killed in the Battle of Crécy (b. 1320)
• 1349 Thomas Bradwardine, English Archbishop of Canterbury, dies of the plague at Rochester, just after taking office
• 1368 Engelbrecht van der Mark, Prince-Bishop of Liège (1345-64), dies
• 1486 Ernst I, Elector of Saxony (1464-86), dies at 45
• 1518 Giberto X, Italian mister of Correggio, husband of Veronica Gambara
• 1551 Margaret Leijonhufvud, Queen consort of Gustav I of Sweden, dies of pneumonia at 35
• 1572 Petrus Ramus, French philosopher (b. 1515)
• 1595 Antonio, Prior of Crato, claimant to the throne of Portugal (b. 1531)
• 1616 Johan van de Veeken, Dutch merchant, co-founder of VOC Chamber of Rotterdam, dies at 66
• 1666 Frans Hals, Dutch painter known for his portraiture (Laughing Cavalier) (b. circa 1580)
• 1683 Christoph Schultze, German composer, dies at 76
• 1712 Sebastian Anton Scherer, German composer, dies at 80

• 1713 Denis Papin, French physicist, and inventor (steam piston engine; Papinian pot (pressure cooker), buried at 66
• 1714 Edward Fowler, English Bishop of Gloucester (b. 1632)

• 1728 Anne Marie of Orléans, Queen of Italy, dies at 58
• 1770 Domingos dos Reis Quita, Portuguese playwright and poet, dies at 42
• 1785 George Sackville Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, British soldier and politician (British Secretary of State for the Americas during War of Independence), dies at 69
• 1795 Alessandro Cagliostro [Giuseppe Balsamo], Italian adventurer and magician (Prince of Quacks), dies while serving a life imprisonment for being a freemason in Castel Sant’Angelo at 52
• 1813 Daniel Gottlob Turk, German composer, dies at 63
• 1813 Theodor Körner, German soldier and poet (Zriny, Sword Song), dies fighting in the Napoleonic wars at 21
• 1849 Jacques- Féréol Mazas, French composer, conductor and violinist, dies at 66
• 1850 Louis-Philippe, Duke of Chartres, the last King of France (1830-48), dies in exile in England at 76
• 1857 Adolf Schlagintweit, German botanist and explorer (Tarimbekken, executed in Kashgar after being mistaken for a spy at 28
• 1860 Philipp Friedrich Silcher, German composer, dies at 71
• 1863 John Bz. Floyd, American Governor (Virginia), Secretary of War (1857-60) and Confederate general, dies of failing health at 57
• 1865 Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (Comet Encke), dies at 73
• 1865 Marcellus Monroe Crocker, US attorney/Union brigadier general, dies at 35
• 1869 Jan August Hendrik Leys, Belgian Romantic painter, dies at 54
• 1871 Charles Scribner, American magazine and book publisher, dies of typhoid fever at 50
• 1873 Carl Wilhelm, German composer, dies at 57
• 1894 PPH van Ham, Dutch general-major, dies in battle on Lombok
• 1894 Te Wherowhero Tāwhia, Second Māori King and leader of the Waikato tribes in New Zealand, dies at 71 or 72
• 1908 Tony Pastor, American vaudeville performer, dies at 71

• 1915 John Bunny American film comedian, dies at 51
• 1921 Ludwig Thoma, German writer, dies at 54
• 1921 Matthias Enzberger, German writer and politician (Minister of Finance, 1919-20), assassinated at 45
• 1929 Ernest Mason Satow, British diplomat and scholar, dies at 86
• 1930 Leonidas “Lon” Chaney, American actor nicknamed “the man of a 1000 faces” (The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera), dies after long illness at 47

• 1943 Ted Ray, British golfer (British Open 1912, US Open 1920), dies at 66
• 1944 Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer, diplomat, opponent of Nazi party, and July 20 plotter, hanged for treason at 35
• 1945 Franz Werfel, Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet (Mirror Man, The Forty Days of Musa Dagh), dies at 54
• 1946 Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter (b. 1887)
• 1948 Oscar L. Fernandez, Brazilian conductor and composer (Imbapara), dies at 50
• 1949 Nico van Suchtelen, Dutch writer and publisher, dies at 70
• 1950 Ransom Eli Olds, American auto (Oldsmobile) & truck (REO) manufacturer, dies at 86
• 1955 Sol White, American Baseball HOF executive (Philadelphia Giants 4 x consecutive black C’ships 1904–1907), dies at 87
• 1956 Alfred Wagenknecht, German-American Marxist activist who helped establish the American Communist Party, dies at 75
• 1957 Umberto Saba, Italian writer, dies at 74
• 1958 Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (Hugh the Drover), dies at 85
• 1960 Mark Hambourg, Russian-British composer, dies at 81
• 1961 Gail Russell, American actress (The Uninvited, Moonrise, Unseen), dies from complications of alcohol abuse at 36 [1]
• 1963 Larry Keating, American radio announcer and quiz master, and actor (The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, 1953-58 – “Harry”; Mr. Ed – “Roger”), dies of leukemia at 64
• 1966 Art Baker, American TV host (You Asked For It), dies at 68
• 1967 Andres Sas, Belgian Peruvian composer, dies at 67
• 1967 Dilawar Hussain, Indian cricketer (Indian wicketkeeper in the 1930’s), dies at 60
• 1968 Kay Francis, American actress (Charley’s Aunt, False Madonna), dies of cancer at 63
• 1971 Francesco Santoliquido, Italian composer, dies at 88

• 1972 Jacques Gans, Dutch author and journalist, dies at 63

• 1975 (James) Cullen Landis, American silent and sound screen actor (Soul of the Beast; Peacock Feathers), and director, dies at 79
• 1975 Juliette Béliveau, Canadian actress (Le gros Bill) and singer, dies at 85
• 1976 Lotte Lehmann, German soprano (Der Rosenkavalier, More than singing), dies at 88
• 1976 Warner Anderson, American actor (The Bubble, Destination Moon, Peyton Place), dies at 65
• 1977 H. A. Rey, American author of popular constellation book, dies at 78
• 1977 Heinz Röttger, German composer (Phaeton), and music director (Landestheater Dessau, 1954-77), dies at 67
• 1978 Charles Boyer, French actor (Gaslight, Rogues), dies at 78
• 1978 Charles Trowbridge Haubiel, American composer, pianist and lecturer (Tre Ritratti Characteristici), dies at 86
• 1978 José Manuel Moreno, Argentine footballer, dies at 62
• 1979 Mika Waltari, Finnish novelist (The Egyptian), dies at 70
• 1980 Jimmy Forrest, American jazz saxophonist (Night Train), dies at 60
• 1980 Miliza Korjus, Polish-American actress (Great Waltz), dies at 71
• 1980 Rosa Albach-Retty, German actress (b. 1874)
• 1980 Tex Avery, American cartoonist (b. 1908)
• 1981 Lee Hays, American folk singer (The Weavers), songwriter (“Wasn’t That a Time?”; “If I Had a Hammer”; “Kisses Sweeter than Wine”), and civil rights activist, dies at 67dies of a heart attack at 67
• 1981 Roger Nash Baldwin, American founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, dies at 97
• 1981 Walter “Foots” Thomas, American saxophonist, flutist, and arranger (Cab Calloway Orchestra), dies from cancer at 74
• 1982 Anna German, Polish popular music singer, dies of cancer at 46
• 1983 Mike Kellin [Myron Kellin], American actor (Pipe Dream, American Buffalo), dies of cancer at 61
• 1984 Julie Stevens, actress (Lorelei-Big Town), dies at 67
• 1985 Alfredo Carmelo, Filipino aviator, lithographer, and painter, dies at 89
• 1986 Jennifer Levin, American murder victim, strangled by Robert Chambers in New York City’s Central Park aged 18
• 1986 Ted Knight [Tadeusz Wladyslaw Konopka], American actor (The Mary Tyler Moore Show – “Ted Baxter”; Too Close for Comfort), dies of colorectal cancer at 62
• 1987 Georg Wittig, German chemist and winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, dies at 90 [1]
• 1987 John Goddard, West Indian cricket all-rounder and captain (27 Tests @ 30.67; 33 wickets; Barbados), dies at 68
• 1988 Carlos Paião, Portuguese singer-songwriter (“Os Namorados” (The Valentine); “Playback”), dies in a car crash at 30
• 1989 Henk Heidweiler, Suriname politician and diplomat (Ambassador to the UN, 1968-75; Ambassador to the US, 1981-84; Ambassador to Netherlands, 1984-85), dies at 60
• 1989 Irving Stone, American writer (Love is Eternal, Lust for Life), dies at 86
• 1990 Minoru Honda, Japanese astronomer (discovered 12 comets), dies at 77
• 1990 Roh Ogura, Japanese composer and writer, dies at 74
• 1992 Arthur Leigh Allen, American elementary school teacher and suspected Zodiac serial killer, dies at 58
• 1992 Bob the Moor, Flemish comic strip artist (Tintin, Kuifje), dies at 66
• 1992 Daniel Gorenstein, American mathematician known for the classification of finite simple groups, dies at 69 [1]
• 1993 Rockin Dopsie Sr. [Alton Jay Rubin], American zydeco singer, and accordion player, dies of a heart attack at 61
• 1994 Tariq Yunus, Indian actor (Bollywood; Ashanti; Deceivers), dies at 54
• 1995 Annie Kriegel, French historian of communist history, dies at 68
• 1995 Evelyn Wood, American businesswoman who popularized speed reading, dies at 86
• 1995 John Costello, British military historian, dies at 52
• 1995 Olimi III, African king of Toro (Uganda), dies at 49
• 1995 Ronnie White, American singer (The Miracles – “Shop Around”), dies of leukemia at 57
• 1996 Alejandro Agustín Lanusse, President of Argentina (1971-73), dies at 77
• 1996 Baron Baker, Jamaican-British anti-racism activist, dies at 71
• 1996 Catherine Hall, British nurse who raised the professional profile of nursing and to establish its central role in health care, dies at 73
• 1997 Jaap van Meekren, Dutch TV anchor and host (AVRO, RTL4), dies at 73
• 1998 Frederick Reines, American physicist, (1995 Nobel Prize for Physics for co-discovering the Neutrino), dies at 80
• 1999 Lilo Hardel, German writer, dies at 85
• 2000 Akbar Adibi, Iranian engineer and professor (electronics and VLSI technology), dies at 61
• 2000 Lynden Pindling, Bahamas ‘Father of the Nation’ Prime Minister of Bahamas (1967-92), dies at 70
• 2000 [Douglas] Allen Woody, American bassist (The Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule), dies at 44
• 2001 Louis Muhlstock, Canadian painter, dies at 97
• 2002 Bea Barrett, American golfer (Western Open 1938), dies at 85
• 2002 Miguel Querol Gavalda, Spanish musicologist and composer, dies at 90
• 2003 Jim Wacker, American football coach (Southwest Texas State), dies of cancer at 66
• 2003 Wayne Andre, American jazz and session trombonist, dies at 72
• 2003 Wilma Burgess, American country-pop singer (Baby; Misty Blue), dies of a heart attack at 64
• 2004 Laura Branigan, American singer-songwriter (Gloria), dies of a brain aneurysm at 52 [1]
• 2005 Denis “Piggy” D’Amour, Canadian heavy metal guitarist and songwriter (Voivod), dies of colon cancer at 45
• 2005 Ed White, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1949)

• 2005 Robert Denning, American interior designer, dies at 78
• 2005 Wolfgang Bauer, Austrian playwright known for “Magic Afternoons”, dies at 64
• 2006 Josef Hadar, Israeli violinist and composer (Evening of Roses), dies at 79
• 2006 Rainer Barzel, German politician CDU-CSU) and minister, dies at 82
• 2006 Sir Clyde Walcott, West Indian cricket batsman (44 Tests @ 56.68; 15 x 100s) and administrator (ICC chairman 1997-2000), dies at 80
• 2007 Edward Brandt Jr., American physician and public health official, dies at 74
• 2007 Gaston Thorn, 20th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (1974–79) and 7th President of the European Commission (1981–85), dies at 78
• 2007 Judah Nadich, American rabbi and the Jewish affairs adviser to General Dwight Eisenhower, dies at 95
• 2007 Ramon Zamora, Filipino martial arts actor, dies at 72
• 2007 Roy McLean, South African cricket batsman (40 Tests, 5 x 100, HS 142; Natal), dies at 77
• 2009 Dominick Dunne, American writer and producer (Panic in Needle Park), dies at 83
• 2009 Ellie Greenwich, American singer-songwriter (“Da-Doo Ron Ron”; “Leader of the Pack”), dies of a heart attack at 68
• 2011 George Band, English mountaineer (1st to climb Kangchenjunga, world’s 3rd highest mountain), dies at 82
• 2011 John McAleese, British SAS Trooper, Team leader during 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege (b. 1949)
• 2012 A K Hangal, Indian freedom fighter and Bollywood character actor (Aaina, Sholay), dies of respiratory disease at 98
• 2013 Ruth S. White, American electronic music composer (Flowers Of Evil), dies at 87
• 2015 P J Kavanagh [Patrick Joeseph], British poet, actor and journalist (The Perfect Stranger), dies at 84

• 2018 Rosa Bouglione, French circus performer, dies at 107
• 2020 Dan Yochum, American football offensive lineman (CFL All-Star 1975, 76, 77, 78; Grey Cup 1974, 77; Montreal Alouettes; CFHOF), dies at 70
• 2020 Joe Ruby, American animator (co-creator of Scooby-Doo), dies at 87
• 2021 Kenny Malone, American Nashville-based session drummer (Dolly Parton; Dobie Gray: Waylon Jennings), dies of COVID-19 at 83
• 2021 Vladimir Shadrin, Russian Hockey HOF centre (Olympic gold Soviet Union 1972, 76; 5 x World C’ship gold; HC Spartak Moscow, Oji Seishi), dies at 73
• 2022 Mable John, American blues, R&B, and gospel vocalist (Tamla-Motown; Ray Charles; “Your Good Thing (Is About to End)”), and minister, dies at 91

• 2023 John Kezdy, American punk-rock guitarist and singer (The Effigies), and later prosecuting attorney, dies from injuries sustained in a bicycle crash at 64
• 2023 Tony Roberts, American College Football HOF broadcaster (play-by-play announcer Notre Dame Fighting Irish football 1980-2006), dies at 94
• 2023 Yvon Pedneault, Canadian Hockey HOF journalist and broadcaster (Montreal Canadiens: Réseau des sports, Télévision de Radio-Canada, TVA, TQS), dies from cancer at 77
• 2024 Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish soccer manager (England 2001-06; Roma, Fiorentina, Benfica, Sampdoria, Lazio, Manchester City, Leicester City), dies at 76

August 26 Highlights