Famous Deaths on July 4

• 907 Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria and mother of Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia, killed east of Vienna in the Battle of Pressburg
• 943 Taejo of Goryeo, ruler of Korea (918 to 943), unified the Later Three Kingdoms, dies at 70
• 965 Pope Benedict V, Italian Roman Catholic Pope (b. unknown)

• 973 Ulrich of Augsburg, Prince-Bishop of Augsburg and first saint to be canonized by a Pope, dies at 82 or 83 (b. 890)
• 1187 Raynald of Châtillon, French knight and Prince of Antioch, killed in Battle of Hattin at 61 or 62
• 1301 Willem II Berthout van Mechelen, Bishop of Utrecht, dies in battle
• 1307 Rudolf I, Habsburg nobleman (King of Bohemia, 1306-07; Duke of Austria and Styria 1298-1307), dies of stomach issues at about 26
• 1336 Elisabeth of Portugal, Spanish-born Queen Consort of Portugal (1282-1325) and Catholic saint, know as the ‘Peacemaker’, dies at about 65
• 1498 Philip of Burgundy-Beveren, Lord of Beveren and military officer in the Netherlands, dies at about 48
• 1541 Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish occupier, dies at about 56
• 1546 Hayreddin Barbarossa, Admiral of the Ottoman Navy (b. 1478)
• 1578 Charles de Berlaymont, baron of Hierges, Governor and Viceroy of Names, dies
• 1603 Philippe de Monte, Dutch priest, bandmaster and composer, dies at 82
• 1623 William Byrd, British composer (Ave verum corpus), dies at 80
• 1627 Thomas Middleton, English playwright (A Game at Chess), dies at 47
• 1648 Antoine Daniel, French Jesuit missionary and martyr, dies at 47

• 1657 Charles de Montmagny, French official (First Governor of New France 1636-48), dies in the Caribbean
• 1672 Ambrosius Reiner, German composer, dies at 67
• 1672 Govert Dircksz Camphuysen, Dutch painter, dies at about 48
• 1742 Luigi Guido Grandi, Italian mathematician and monk, dies at 70
• 1754 Philippe Néricault Destouches, French dramatist and author, dies at 74
• 1757 Jean-Joseph Vadé, French songwriter, poet, and playwright, dies at 38
• 1761 Samuel Richardson, English novelist (Pamela), dies at 71
• 1768 Willem van Haren, Dutch poet (Suicide), dies at 58
• 1780 Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Imperial Army field marshal, dies at 67
• 1787 Charles de Rohan, Prince de Soubise, Marshal of France, dies at 71
• 1789 Cláudio Manuel da Costa, Brazilian poet, dies at 59
• 1821 Richard Cosway, English portrait painter, dies at 78

• 1848 Francois Rene de Chateaubriand, French novelist (Atala), dies at 79
• 1850 William Kirby, English entomologist and original member of the Linnean Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society, dies at 90
• 1851 Martin-Joseph Mengal, Belgian composer, and educator (Royal Conservatory of Ghent, 1835-51), dies at 67
• 1854 Karl Friedrich Eichhorn, German jurist, dies at 72
• 1856 István Ferenczy, Hungarian sculptor, dies at 64
• 1857 William L. Marcy, American statesman, dies at 70
• 1863 Paul Joseph Revere, American grandson of Paul Revere, Brigadier General (Union Army), dies at 30
• 1873 Józef Michał Poniatowski [Giuseppe Michele Luci], Poilsh-Italian-French nobleman, diplomat, operatic tenor, and composer, dies at 58
• 1881 Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish statesman (b. 1806)
• 1882 Joseph Brackett, American religious leader (Shakers) and composer (Simple Gifts), dies at 85
• 1886 Pitikwahanapiwiyin [Poundmaker], Plains Cree chief (wrongly imprisoned for treason), dies at about 44 [1]
• 1888 Theodor Storm, German judge and author (Immensee, Der Schimmelreiter), dies at 70
• 1889 Auguste Mermet, French opera composer, dies at 79
• 1891 Frédérick Louis Ritter, French composer, add eductator (Vassar, 1867-91), dies at 67
• 1891 Hannibal Hamlin, American attorney and 15th Vice President of U.S. (1861-65), dies at 81
• 1901 Johannes Schmidt, German linguist, known for the ‘wave theory’ of language development, dies at 57
• 1901 John Fiske [Edmund Fisk Green], American historian and philosopher, dies at 59
• 1901 Julian Scott, American artist and Civil War Medal of Honor recipient, dies at 55
• 1902 Swami Vivekananda, Indian Hindu spiritual leader and a key figure in the introduction of Yoga to the Western world, dies while meditating at 39
• 1905 Élisée Reclus, French geographer and anarchist known for his “La Nouvelle Géographie universelle”, dies at 75
• 1910 Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (discovered canals of Mars), dies at 75
• 1910 Louis Bourgault-Ducoudray, French Breton composer, dies at 70
• 1910 Melville Fuller, American 8th Chief Justice of the United States, dies at 77
• 1916 Alan Seeger, American war poet (b. 1888)
• 1917 Johan Hendrik Kern, Dutch linguist (Sanskreet), dies at 84
• 1922 Lothar von Richthofen, German pilot, dies at 27
• 1923 Florimond Fonteyne, Belgian priest and politician (Volkseeuw), dies at 67
• 1925 Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian Catholic beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1990, dies of polio at 24
• 1929 Otto Taubmann, German composer, dies at 70
• 1931 Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta, Italian WWI general and fascist, dies at 62
• 1931 Hussein ibn-Ali, king of Hedzjaz (1917-24) Sharif and Emir of Mecca, dies at 77
• 1934 Fritz Graebner, German geographer and ethnologist, dies at 57
• 1934 Hayyim Nahman Bialik, Jewish poet, dies at 61

• 1938 Otto Bauer, Austrian Social Democrat, dies at 56

• 1941 Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician, shot by the Nazi as part of the massacre of Lwów professors at 60
• 1943 Władysław Sikorski, Polish World War II general and Prime Minister of Poland in exile (1939-43), killed in a plane crash at 62
• 1946 Gerda Steinhoff, Nazi concentration camp overseer, dies at 24
• 1946 Othenio Able, Austrian artist, fossil creator and founder of paleobiology, dies at 71
• 1948 Monteiro Lobato, Brazilian writer (b. 1882)
• 1950 William C. Fownes Jr, American golfer and administrator (US Amateur C’ship 1910; President US Golf Ass’n 1926-27), dies at 72
• 1952 Walter Long, American actor (Moby-Dick, Sheik, Sea Devils, Dragnet Patrol), dies at 73
• 1957 Gregory Lafayette, American actor, dies at 19 from injuries sustained in a car crash that killed his wife, actress Judy Tyler (24), the day earlier
• 1958 Adolf Herckenrath, Flemish playwright and poet (Avondvlam), dies at 79
• 1961 William Franklin “Frank” Smith, American actor (Cowboy & Bandit, Scarlet Car, Frontier Days), dies of lung cancer at 83
• 1962 Rex Bell [George Francis Beldam], American cowboy actor (Cowboys & Injuns) and 21st Lieutenant Governor of Nevada, dies from a heart attack at 58
• 1963 Bernard Freyberg, British-New Zealand army officer (Victoria Cross, Governor General of New Zealand 1946-52), dies at 74
• 1963 Fritz Reutter, German composer, dies at 66
• 1963 Grant Richards, American actor (Doug-Doorway to Danger), dies at 48
• 1964 Hank Sylvern [Henry Silverstein], American organist, radio and television theme composer and musical director (Suspense; Jane Froman’s USA Canteen; The Phil Silvers Show), dies at 56
• 1965 Valdemar Eiberg, Danish jazz pioneer, saxophonist, and bandleader (“I’ve Got a Cross-Eyed Papa”), dies at 72
• 1966 Dorothy Aldis, American children’s writer, dies at 70
• 1969 Georges Ronsse, Belgian road cyclist (UCI Road World C’ship 1928, 29), dies at 63
• 1970 Barnett Newman, American abstract expressionist painter (Black Fire I), dies at 65
• 1970 Harold Vanderbilt, American yachtsman and America’s Cup winner (1930, 34, 37), dies at 85
• 1971 August Derleth, American writer (Judge Peck Mysteries) and editor, dies of a heart attack at 62
• 1971 Don McPherson, American R&B singer (The Main Ingredient – “Everybody Plays the Fool”), dies of leukemia at 29
• 1971 Joe Cox, South African cricket fast medium bowler (3 Tests; Natal), dies at 85
• 1971 Maurice Bowra, British classics scholar (Greek experience), dies at 73
• 1971 Thomas C. Hart, U.S. admiral and commander (Pacific Fleet), dies at 94
• 1973 Leonid Stein, Russian chess player, dies at about 39
• 1974 Francis Bull, Norwegian writer (Norsk literature historian), dies at 86
• 1974 Georgette Heyer, English novelist known for her regency romances (Friday’s Child), dies of cancer at 71
• 1974 Mohammed SA al-Hoesseini, Mufti of Jerusalem/pres Com Palestine, dies
• 1976 Antoni Słonimski, Polish writer, journalist and satirist, dies in a car accident at 80
• 1976 Yonatan Netanyahu, Israel commander killed freeing Israeli hostages during Operation Entebbe in Uganda, at 30 years
• 1977 Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (b. 1918)
• 1979 Lee Wai Tong, Chinese footballer, dies at 73
• 1980 Maurice Grevisse, Belgian grammarian (b. 1895)
• 1982 Antonio Guzman Fernandez, Dominican politician (President of the Dominican Republic 1978-82), found shot to death (presumed suicide) at 71
• 1982 Terry Higgins, early British AIDS death (b. 1945)
• 1983 Claus Adam, American composer and cellist (Juilliard Quartet), dies at 65
• 1984 Jimmie Spheeris, American singer-songwriter (“You Must Be Laughing Somewhere”; “Let It Flow”), dies when his motorcycle is struck by drunken driver at 34
• 1985 Jan de Quay, Dutch politician (KVP, Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1959-63), dies at 83
• 1986 Flor Peeters, Flemish organist (St. Rumbold’s Cathedral – Mechelen, 1923-86), composer (Lied Symphony), and pedagogue, dies on his 83rd birthday
• 1986 Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (algebraic geometry), dies at 87
• 1988 Adrian Adonis [Keith A. Franke Jr.], American professional wrestler, killed in auto accident at 34
• 1989 Jack Haig [John Cecil Coppin], English actor (‘Allo, Allo!), dies of stomach cancer at 76
• 1989 Vic Perrin, American actor (Mission: Impossible), dies at 73
• 1990 Ludi Claire, American actress, dies at 70
• 1991 Victor Chang, Australian pioneering cardiac surgeon, murdered at 54
• 1992 (Robert) “Sonny” Averona, American standards singer, dies of a heart attack while performing on stage at 55
• 1992 Astor Piazzolla, Argentinian bandoneon player, and composer (Tango Nuevo), dies at 71
• 1992 Joe Newman, American jazz trumpeter (Count Basie), dies at 69
• 1993 Anne Shirley [Dawn Evelyeen Paris], British actress (The Devil and Daniel Webster, Murder My Sweet), dies of lung cancer at 75
• 1993 Charles Crain, actor, dies in Hollywood at 83
• 1993 Felix White, choreographer (Black Vibrations Theatre), dies at 65
• 1994 Arthur Berry, English artist and playwright, dies at 69
• 1994 Joey Marella, American professional wrestling referee (b. 1964)
• 1994 Juan Gil-Albert, Spanish poet and writer, dies at 90
• 1994 Liesbeth Struppert, Dutch actress (Pipo the Clown, Anne Frank), dies at 55
• 1994 Rupert Davies, English methodist scholar, dies at 84
• 1994 Tawfik Ziad, Palestinian communist/Israeli MP/mayor of Nazareth, dies
• 1995 Bob Ross, American artist and television host, dies at 52
• 1995 Eva Gabor, Hungarian-born American actress (Green Acres'”Lisa”;, Gigi), comedian, singer and socialite, dies at 76
• 1995 Jacques Berque, French Islamic scholar, dies at 85
• 1996 Clay [David] Jones, Welsh gardener (BBC Gardener’s Question Time), dies at 72
• 1996 Leo Avery, abbot of Quarr, dies at 58
• 1997 Amado Carrillo Fuentes, Mexican drug lord (Juárez Cartel), dies at 40
• 1997 Charles Kuralt, American Emmy and Peabody Award-winning broadcast journalist (CBS News – On the Road), dies of heart failure at 62
• 1999 Leo Garel, American artist and cartoonist (b.1917)
• 1999 Ronny Graham [Stringer], American composer, lyricist, screenwriter (M*A*S*H (TV series), and actor (Chico & the Man; Mel Brooks films), dies of liver disease at 79
• 1999 Ruby Johnson, American singer (I’ll Run Your Hurt Away), dies at 63
• 2000 Gustaw Herling-Grudzinski, Polish writer (b. 1919)
• 2002 Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American general (b. 1912)
• 2002 Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician, 1950 Fields Medal for his theory of distributions, dies at 87
• 2002 Mansoor Hekmat, Iranian politician (b. 1951)
• 2002 Winnifred Quick, British-born American Titanic survivor, dies at 98
• 2003 André Claveau, French pop singer (Eurovision, 1958 – “Dors, mon amour”), and actor, dies at 87

• 2004 Frank Robinson (Xylophone Man), an eccentric street entertainer in Nottingham, England (b. 1932)
• 2004 Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss conductor, dies at 84
• 2005 Hank Stram, American Pro Football Hall of Fame coach (KC Chiefs Super Bowl 1970), dies of diabetes complications at 82
• 2005 Heinrich Schirmbeck, German author and activist (Das Spiegellabyrinth), dies at 90
• 2005 John Stubblefield, American jazz saxophonist, flute and oboe player (Mingus Big Band), dies at 60
• 2005 June Haver [Stovenour], American actress (Dolly Sisters, Girl Next Door), dies at 79
• 2007 Barış Akarsu, Turkish rock musician (“Gözlerin”/ “Your Eyes”), and actor (My Lying Lover), dies of injuries sustained in a car accident at 28
• 2007 Bill Pinkney, American bass vocalist (Drifters – “Ruby Baby”), dies of a heart attack at 81
• 2008 Charles Wheeler, British journalist (b. 1923)
• 2008 Evelyn Keyes, American actress (Gone With The Wind), dies at 91
• 2008 Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch author (Hugh Pine books; Murder By Remote Control), dies at 77 [1]
• 2008 Jesse Helms, American politician (Senator -D/R-North Carolina, 1973-2003), dies at 86
• 2008 Terrence Kiel, American Football Player (b. 1980)
• 2008 Thomas M. Disch, American sci-fi author (Genocides, 102 H-Bombs), dies at 68
• 2009 Allen Klein, American record label executive (b. 1931)
• 2009 Brenda Joyce [Betty Graffina Leabo], American actress (Tarzan, The Rains Came), dies of complications from pneumonia at 92
• 2009 Drake Levin, American rock musician (b. 1946)
• 2009 Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard, Congolese politician (b.1938)
• 2009 Jim Chapin, American jazz drummer, and author, dies at 89
• 2009 Khan Mohammad, Pakistani cricket fast bowler (13 Tests, 54 wickets; Pakistan’s first ball and wicket in Test cricket), dies of prostate cancer at 81
• 2009 Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish writer and actor, dies at 74
• 2009 Steve McNair, American football quarterback (NFL Most Valuable Player 2003 Tennessee Titans; 3 x Pro Bowl; Houston Oilers), dies of gunshot woulds at 36
• 2010 Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, Iraqi-born Lebanese Shiite Muslim cleric and Hezbollah mentor (b. 1935)
• 2011 Otto von Habsburg, last crown prince of Austria-Hungary and MEP (1979-1999), dies at 98
• 2012 Eric Sykes, British radio, stage and television comedy writer, actor and director (Goon Show, Sykes and A…), dies at 89
• 2012 Jimmy Bivins [James], American Hall of Fame boxer, dies from pneumonia at 92
• 2012 Larance Marable, American jazz drummer (Charlie Haden’s Quartet West; Stan Getz; Groove Holmes), dies at 83
• 2015 James Swaffield, British civil servant (Director-General of Greater London Council), dies at 91
• 2016 Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian author and director (Under the Olive Trees, Close Up, Taste of Cherry), dies at 76
• 2016 Geoffrey Shovelton, English opera singer, dies at 80
• 2017 Gene Conley, American baseball pitcher (4 x MLB All Star; Boston/Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies) and basketball forward (NBA C’ship 1959–1961; Boston Celtics), dies at 86
• 2021 Dicky Maegle [born Moegle], American College Football HOF halfback (Rice Uni; Pro Bowl 1955, SF 49ers) and broadcaster (color announcer Houston Oilers), dies at 86 [1]
• 2021 Eddie Payne, American college basketball coach (USC Upstate, Oregon State Uni, Greensboro College), dies from a stroke at 69
• 2021 Rick Laird, Irish jazz-fusion bassist (Mahavishnu Orchestra, 1971-73; Gerry Niewood & Timepiece), and photographer, dies of lung cancer at 80
• 2021 Sanford Clark, American country-rockabilly singer and guitarist (“The Fool”; “Son Of A Gun”), dies of COVID-19 while undergoing cancer treatment at 85
• 2021 Terry Donahue, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (head coach UCLA 1976-96, record 151–74–8; Pac-10 Coach of the Year 1985, 93), dies from cancer at 77
• 2022 Hank Goldberg, American sports broadcaster (radio colour commentator Miami Dolphins 1978-92; ESPN2, ESPN Radio), dies from chronic kidney disease at 82
• 2022 Janusz Kupcewicz, Polish soccer midfielder (20 caps; KS Arka Gdynia, ASSE Saint-Étienne), dies from a stroke at 66
• 2022 Remco Campert, Dutch writer and poet (son of Jan Campert), dies at 92
• 2023 Georges Bereta, French soccer striker (44 caps; ASSE Saint-Étienne, Olympique de Marseille), dies at 77

July 4 Highlights