Famous Deaths on October 4

• 1052 Vladimir of Novgorod, Prince of Novgorod (1036-52) (b. 1020)
• 1221 William III Talvas, Count of Ponthieu (b. 1179)
• 1250 Herman VI, Margrave of Baden

• 1305 Kameyama, 90th Emperor of Japan (1260-74), dies at 56
• 1540 Helius Eobanus Hessus, German humanist and poet (Silvae), dies
• 1564 Pietro P Vergerio, Italian theologist/bishop of Croatia, dies
• 1571 Claude Togniel d’Espence, French theologist (Sorbonne), dies at 60
• 1582 Teresa of Ávila, Spanish Carmelite nun, mystic, saint and 1st female Doctor of the Church, dies at 67
• 1590 Cujacius [Jacques Cujas], French lawyer, dies at about 68
• 1597 Sarsa Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1550)
• 1611 Ralph Fitch, English merchant traveller, 1st English person to travel extensively and record a journey to India and South East Asia, mentioned in “MacBeth” dies at about 60
• 1646 Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English courtier and art collector (Arundel Marbles), dies at 60
• 1660 Francesco Albani, Italian painter (Dance of the Amorini), dies at 82
• 1661 Jacqueline Pascal, French child prodigy poet, and nun, dies on her 36th birthday

• 1680 Pierre-Paul Riquet, French engineer
• 1688 Philips Koninck, Dutch painter, chiefly of landscapes (View at the mouth of a rive; The Feast of Bacchus), dies at 68
• 1713 Valentin Molitor, Swiss composer, dies at 76
• 1721 Abraham Alewijn, Dutch poet and playwright (Beslikte Swaantje), dies at 36
• 1743 John Campbell, 2nd duke of Argyll and field marshal (Union of 1707), dies at 64
• 1749 Franz von der Trenck, Austrian soldier whose unit is considered one of the worst in European history due to insubordination and plundering, dies in captivity at 38
• 1754 Tanacharison, Catawba Indian chief
• 1755 Samuel von Cocceji, German lawyer, dies
• 1785 David Brearly, American statesman (b. 1703)
• 1821 John Rennie, Scottish engineer, dies at 60
• 1830 Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, Prussian Generalfeldmarschall, dies at 71
• 1838 Eleanore Sophia Maria Westenholz, German composer, dies at 79
• 1848 Louis Massonneau, composer, dies at 82
• 1851 Manuel de Godoy, Spanish statesman (b. 1767)
• 1859 Karl Baedeker, German publisher (known for guidebooks for tourists), dies at 57
• 1862 William Duncan Smith, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 36
• 1863 Gerrit Schimmelpenninck, Dutch politician (1st Dutch PM as Chairman of the Council of Ministers 1848), dies at 69
• 1864 Joseph Montferrand, French Canadian logger and strong man, dies at 61
• 1867 Francis Xavier Seelos German-American Roman Catholic priest (b. 1819)
• 1880 William Lassell, British astronomer who discovered satellites of Uranus and Neptune, dies at 81
• 1888 Tom King, English boxer (English heavyweight champion 1862-63), rower and bookmaker, dies of bronchitus at 53

• 1892 Guillaume Van Kerckhoven, Belgian captain, dies at 39
• 1893 Pieter Elout van Soeterwoude, Dutch judge and politician (AR), dies at 88
• 1894 John Chivington, American officer involved in the Sand Creek Massacre, dies at 73
• 1902 Lionel Pigot Johnson, British poet and critic (Ireland & Other Poems), dies of a stroke at 35
• 1903 Otto Weininger, Austrian philosopher (b. 1880)
• 1904 Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist (invented Beyer Process to produce aluminium), dies at 57

• 1904 Karl Bayer, Austrian chemist (b. 1847)
• 1907 Alfredo Keil, Portuguese composer, dies at 57
• 1912 Gen Zeledon, Nicaraguan opponent of US occupation, is executed
• 1915 George Edwardes, British composer (Gaiety Girl), dies at 59
• 1915 Karl Staaff, Sweden’s first liberal Prime Minister of Sweden (1905-06, 1911-1914), dies of pneumonia at 55
• 1934 Jimmy ‘Nixey’ Callahan, American baseball pitcher, outfielder and manager (Chicago White Sox; first AL no-hitter 1902), dies at 60
• 1935 Barbados Joe Walcott, Barbadian boxer (World Welterweight champion 1901-06; first Black to hold that title), dies in a car accident at 62
• 1935 Jean Béraud, French Belle Époque painter, dies at 86
• 1935 Marie Gutheil-Schoder, German operatic soprano (Vienna State Opera, 1920-26), and pedagogue, dies at 61
• 1943 Irena Iłłakowicz, Polish agent of Intelligence, dies at 37
• 1943 Richard T. Ely, American economist and author (Ground under our feet), dies at 89
• 1944 Alfred “Al” Smith, American politician, 4 time Governor of New York (1919-20 and 1923-28), and 1st Roman Catholic presidential candidate (D, 1928), dies at 70
• 1946 Barney Oldfield, American auto racer (International Motorsports Hall of Fame; first to drive at 60mph on circular track), dies of a heart attack at 67
• 1947 Max Planck, German physicist, father of Quantum Physics (Planck Constant, Nobel 1918), dies at 89
• 1948 Arthur Whitten Brown, British aviator (first nonstop airplane crossing of the Atlantic with John W. Alcock), dies at 62
• 1948 Georg Kulenkampff, German concert violinist, dies of encephalitis at 50
• 1949 Edmund Eysler, Austrian composer, mostly of operettas (Bruder Straubinger; The Golden Mistress), dies from injuries from falling off of a stage at 75
• 1951 Henrietta Lacks [Loretta Pleasant], African-American tobacco farmer whose cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line, extensively used in medical research since the 1950s (1st immortalised cell line), dies of cervical cancer at 31
• 1951 Willie Moretti, American gangster (b. 1894)
• 1952 Keith Murdoch, Australian journalist and newspaper owner, founded Murdoch media, dies at 67
• 1955 Alexander Papagos, Greek fieldmarshal and supreme commander, dies at 71
• 1961 Benjamin (Fedchenkov), Bishop of the Russian Church and Orthodox missionary, dies at 81
• 1961 Max Weber, Polish-Russian-American painter, dies at 80
• 1962 E H (Patsy) Hendren, English cricket batsman (51 Tests, 7 x 100s, HS 205no; 57,611 1st-class runs, 3rd-best ever; Middlesex CCC), dies from Alzheimer’s disease at 73
• 1962 John Lowry, NYC builder (Radio City Music Hall), dies at 79
• 1966 Mike Tresh, American baseball catcher (MLB All Star 1945; Chicago White Sox), dies from cancer at 52
• 1966 Sherman Billingsley, American bootlegger and nightclub owner (Stork Club – NYC), dies at 66
• 1968 Francis Biddle, 58th United States Attorney General (1941-45), dies at 82
• 1969 Natalino Otto [Natale Codognotto], Italianswing-jazz singer, dies at 56
• 1969 Vibart Wight, West Indian cricket batsman (2 Tests; v/c WI first touring team v England 1928), dies at 67
• 1970 Curtis Turner, American auto racer (184 NASCAR races over 17 years, 17 wins), dies in aeroplane crash at 46
• 1970 George Frederick McKay, American composer, dies at 71

• 1971 Edit Angold, German actress (Suspense, Molly, Blue Angel), dies at 76
• 1972 Colin Gordon, British actor (The Pink Panther, Casino Royale), dies at 61
• 1974 Anne Sexton (née Harvey), American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (Live or Die; The Awful Rowing Toward God), dies by suicide at 45
• 1975 Joan Whitney Payson, American heiress, businesswoman and philanthropist (co-founder and majority owner of MLB’s New York Mets), dies at 72
• 1975 May Sutton, American tennis player (first American woman to win Wimbledon singles title 1905), dies at 89
• 1976 Alexander Gray, American actor (Sally, This is Music), dies at 85
• 1977 Del Porter, American jazz singer (Foursome – “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home”; Spike Jones and His City Slickers – “Der Fuehrer’s Face”), dies at 75
• 1979 Christina Spierenburg, Dutch singer, dies at 56
• 1981 Freddie Lindstrom, American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder and third baseman, 1924-36 (New York Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, and two other teams), dies at 75
• 1982 Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr, Iraqi fieldmarshal and President of Iraq (1968-79), dies at 68
• 1982 Glenn Gould, Canadian classical pianist (Bach’s Goldberg Variations) and broadcaster (Solitude Trilogy), dies after suffering a stroke at 50
• 1982 Leroy Grumman, American aeronautical engineer, industrialist, and co-founder of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Co., dies at 87
• 1989 Graham Chapman, British comedian and screenwriter (Monty Python; Life of Brian), dies of cancer at 48

• 1990 Avis Bunnage, British actress (Rising Damp, Coronation Street), dies at 67
• 1990 Jill Bennett, British actress (Lady Jane, Concrete Jungle), overdoses at 58
• 1991 Leonard C. Odell, wrote 7,000 Burma Shave poems, dies at 83
• 1992 Arnon Ohad, Israeli pilot and first officer of EI Al flight 1862, dies in the Bijlmer air disaster at 32
• 1992 Denny Hulme, New Zealand auto racer (F1 World Drivers’ Champion 1967, 3rd 1968, 72; 112 F1 GP starts, 8 wins), dies of a heart attack driving in Bathurst 1,000 at 56
• 1992 Itzhak Fuks, Israeli El Al airline captain, crashed in the Bijlmer air disaster in the Netherlands, dies at 59
• 1993 Fran Carlon, dies of cancer at 80
• 1993 Jim Holton, Scottish soccer defender (15 caps; Manchester United, Coventry City), dies of a heart attack at 42
• 1993 Varetta Dillard, American R&B singer (“Mercy, Mr. Percy”; “Easy, Easy Baby”; “Johnny Has Gone”), and civil rights activist, dies of cancer at 60 [1]
• 1994 Bill Challis, American jazz arranger and pianist, dies at 90
• 1994 Daniel Wood “Danny” Gatton, American guitarist (88 Elmira St.), commits suicide at 48
• 1994 F. Gwendolen Rees, Welsh zoologist and parasitologist, dies at 88
• 1994 Heinz Rohmann, German actor/dir (Brave Soldier Schwejk), dies at 92
• 1994 Scoville “Toby” Browne, American jazz saxophone and clarinet player, dies at 84
• 1995 Peter Nicholson Gunn, Australian writer (The Churches of Rome), dies at 81
• 1996 Martyn Harris, journalist, dies at 43
• 1996 Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese film director and screenwriter (Joi-uchi), dies at 80
• 1996 Silvio Piola, Italian soccer striker (34 caps, 30 goals; Lazio), dies at 83
• 1996 Tim N Gidal Gidalewitsch, photojournalist, dies at 87
• 1997 Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese inventor and video game designer, dies in a car accident at 56
• 1997 John Ashley, American B-movie actor (Suicide Battalion; Straightaway – “Clipper”; Beach Blanket films), pop singer, and film and TV producer (The A-Team), dies of a heart attack at 62
• 1998 Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, Swiss politician and president of the Confederation in 1989 and 1996, dies due to ill-health at 62
• 1999 Art Farmer, American trumpet player (Farmer’s Market, The Jazztet), dies of a heart attack at 71
• 1999 Bernard Buffet, French painter (Expressionism), dies at 71
• 1999 Grim [Erik Brødreskift], Norwegian black metal drummer commits suicide at 29
• 2000 Michael Smith, English-Canadian biochemist (Nobel 1993- Site-directed mutagenesis), dies at 68
• 2000 Yu Kuo-hwa, former Premier of Taiwan (b. 1914)
• 2001 Ahron Soloveichik, Orthodox Jewish rabbi, dies at 84
• 2002 Alphonse Chapanis, founder of ergonomics (b. 1917)
• 2002 André Delvaux, Belgian film director and screenwriter (Benvenuta), dies at 76
• 2002 William “Buddy” Lester, American comedian and actor (Barney Miller, Phil Silvers Show), dies at 85
• 2003 Sid McMath, American politician (b. 1912)
• 2004 Gordon Cooper, American aerospace engineer, test pilot and astronaut (Mercury-Atlas 9, Gemini 5), dies of heart failure at 77
• 2004 Rio Diaz, Filipino actress and TV hosts (b. 1959)
• 2005 Mike Gibbins, Welsh musician and drummer (Badfinger – “Come and Get It”: No Matter What”), dies of a brain aneurysm at 56
• 2005 Stanley K. Hathaway, American politician (27th Governor of Wyoming), dies at 81
• 2006 Oskar Pastior, Romanian-born German writer, dies at 78
• 2006 Tom Bell, English actor on stage, television and film (b. 1933)
• 2009 Günther Rall, German fighter ace, dies at 91
• 2009 Mercedes Sosa, Argentinian singer (exponent of nueva canción), dies at 74
• 2010 Norman Wisdom, English comedian (Kraft Music Hall, Trouble In Store), dies at 95
• 2013 Akira Miyoshi, Japanese composer (Conversations; A Diary of the Sea), dies at 80

• 2014 Konrad Boehmer, German-Dutch composer, dies at 73
• 2014 Paul Revere [Dick], American rock organ player and pianist (Paul Revere & Raiders – “Kicks”: “Indian Reservation”), dies of cancer at 76
• 2016 Caroline Crawley, British alt-rock singer (Shelleyan Orphan; Babacar), dies at 53
• 2016 Donald H. White, American composer (Lyric Suite for Euphonium and Winds; Tuba Sonata) and educator, dies at 95
• 2016 Hso Khan Pha, 1st President of the democratic and newly independent Union of Burma from 1948-52, dies at 78
• 2017 John Miller, American politician (Rep-R-WA, 1985-93), dies at 79
• 2017 Liam Cosgrave, Irish politician (Fine Gael Party; President of Ireland, 1973-77), dies at 97
• 2018 Hamiet Bluiett, American jazz baritone saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer (World Saxophone Quartet – “Hattie Wall’), dies at 78
• 2018 John Tyrrell, British musicologist (Leoš Janáček; The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians), dies at 76
• 2019 Diahann Carroll [Carol Diann Johnson] American Tony Award-winning stage and screen actress (No Strings; Julia; Claudine; Dynasty – “Dominique”), dies of cancer at 84
• 2020 Kenzō Takada, Japanese fashion designer (Kenzo), dies of COVID-19 complications at 81
• 2021 Alan Kalter, American television announcer (Late Show with David Letterman, 1995-2015), dies at 78
• 2021 Alberto Vilar, American investor convicted of fraud and philanthropist, dies at 80
• 2021 Eddie Robinson, American baseball first baseman (MLB All Star 1949, 51–53; Washington Sens, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia A’s) and executive (GM Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves), dies at 100
• 2021 Laurie Davidson, New Zealand yacht designer (Black Magic 1995; Team New Zealand 2000; America’s Cup HOF 2007), dies at 94
• 2022 Dave Dryden, Canadian ice hockey goaltender (designer first mask-cage combination goalie mask; Chicago Black Hawks, Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers), dies at 81
• 2022 Jesús del Muro, Mexican soccer defender (40 caps; Atlas FC, CF Cruz Azul) and manager (Toluca FC, CF Pachuca, Jalisco AC), dies at 84
• 2022 Jürgen Sundermann, German soccer manager (Servette, VfB Stuttgart, Schalke 04, Strasbourg, Hertha BSC) and midfielder (1 cap West Germany; FC Basel, Servette), dies at 82

• 2022 Lucienne Schmidt-Couttet, French alpine skier (World C’ship gold Giant Slalom 1954), dies at 95
• 2023 Giannis Ioannidis, Greek basketball coach (12 × Greek League C’ship; 6 × Greek Cup winner; GS Larissas, Aris, Olympiacos, AEK, Greece 1982–90), dies at 78
• 2023 Jason Wynyard, New Zealand woodchopper (9 x World C’ship; 14 x Stihl Timbersports Series), dies of Burkitt lymphoma at 49
• 2024 Anatoliy Konkov, Ukrainian soccer midfielder (47 caps USSR; Dynamo Kyiv 193 games) and manager (Ukraine, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit Leningrad), dies at 75
• 2024 Billy Shaw, American Pro Football HOF guard (AFL C’ship 1964, 65; 7 × All-AFL; 8 × AFL All-Star; Buffalo Bills), dies from hyponatremia at 85
• 2024 Greg Landry, American football quarterback (First-team All-Pro & Pro Bowl 1971; NFL Comeback Player of the Year 1976; Detroit Lions), dies at 77
• 2024 Jack Colwell, Australian pop singer-songwriter, vocal arranger and music director (Polyphony Choir), dies at 34
• 2024 Willi Giesemann, German soccer defender (14 caps FRG; VfL Wolfsburg, Bayern Munich, Hamburger SV), dies at 87
• 2024 Yukio Hattori [Yukihiko Someya], Japanese food critic and television commentator (Iron Chef), dies at 78

October 4 Highlights