Famous People Who Died At 86

Inventor, engineer and futurist, Nikola Tesla, is best remembered for his contribution to the development of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. A prolific inventor, he had around 300 patents for his inventions. Even though he earned a considerable amount of money, he had poor money management skills and died a poor man.

American actress Bea Arthur worked extensively in television and was hailed for her comic timing. All in the Family, Maude and The Golden Girls are some of her acclaimed series. In her long career, she also worked in films like Lovers and Other Strangers, History of the World 1 and For Better or Worse. She won many accolades, including two Emmy awards.

James Garner was an American actor and producer. He is credited with mentoring fellow actor and producer Tom Selleck. He is also credited with helping celebrities like Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood establish themselves in the film industry. He was also an avid golfer and racing enthusiast; he owned the American International Racers racing team for a couple of years.

Claude Monet was a French painter. The founder of French Impressionist painting, Monet's painting Impression, soleil levant gave rise to the term Impressionism. Often dubbed the driving force behind Impressionism, Monet mastered the art of painting the same scene several times so as to capture the changing of the light. Since his death, his paintings have sold for record prices.

Baseball player Hank Aaron, also known as Hammer or Hammerin' Hank, is remembered for his stint with the MLB teams Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers. He also competed as part of the Negro League team Indianapolis Clowns. He was named to The Sporting News 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

Alec Guinness went from being an ad copywriter, to a Shakespearean stage actor, to delivering an Academy Award-winning performance as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai. He was part of the Royal Naval Reserve during World War II and received the knighthood for his contribution to arts.

Susan B. Anthony's vital role in the women's suffrage movement changed the course of history. She led one of the two national suffrage organizations, which later became the National American Woman Suffrage Association, with Susan as its leading force. She also played an instrumental role in publishing The Revolution, a women's rights newspaper.

Franz Joseph I of Austria reigned as the Emperor of Austria from 1848 until his death in 1916. He also served as the King of Hungary, Bohemia, and Croatia and monarch of other states of Austria-Hungary. During his reign, Austria-Hungary decided to wage war against the Kingdom of Serbia, which eventually resulted in the First World War.

Sojourner Truth was an American women's rights activist and abolitionist. Born into slavery, Truth escaped to freedom in 1826. She then approached the court to recover her son, subsequently becoming the first black woman to emerge successful against a white man in such a case. In 2014, she was named in Smithsonian's 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time list.

James Cagney was an American dancer and actor who won the Academy Award for his performance in the 1942 musical, Yankee Doodle Dandy. In 1984, he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to the entertainment industry. In 1999, he was named in the American Film Institute's Greatest Male Stars of the Classical Hollywood Cinema list.

Roy Rogers was an American singer, television host, and actor. Credited with co-founding one of America's earliest Western singing groups, Sons of the Pioneers, Rogers is widely regarded as one of the most famous Western stars of his generation. One of the earliest actors to popularize Western films, Roy Rogers was often referred to as the King of the Cowboys.

Widely considered one of the greatest players ever, Bobby Charlton was an important member of the England national football team that emerged victorious at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. The recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Ballon d'Or, Charlton received a knighthood in 1994. 

Deborah Kerr was a Scottish actress who holds the record for having the most Academy Award nominations under the Best Actress category without a win. However, she received an Academy Honorary Award in 1994 for her contribution to the entertainment industry. Deborah Kerr was made a CBE in 1998 and also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Cesar Romero was an American actor, dancer, singer, and vocal artist. He is best known for playing Joker in the television series Batman and his portrayal was included in TV Guide's 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time list in 2013. Cesar Romero's contribution to the TV and film industry was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

B. F. Skinner was an American behaviorist, psychologist, inventor, author, and social philosopher. Skinner, who taught psychology at Harvard University, is credited with founding a school of thought in psychology called the experimental analysis of behavior. Regarded as a pioneer of modern behaviorism, Skinner was named the 20th century's most influential psychologist, according to a survey conducted in June 2002. 

Jazz singer and dancer, Cab Calloway, was a famous vocalist of the swing era.  From the early 1930s to the late 1940s, he led a very popular band that included musicians like  Dizzy Gillespie, Jonah Jones, and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham. A man of color, he became the first African-American musician to sell a million records from a single song.

Frances Bavier was an American actress best known for playing Aunt Bee in the television series, The Andy Griffith Show and its spin-off, Mayberry R.F.D., winning an Emmy Award for her performance in 1967. Bavier chose not to marry and led a quiet life after her retirement. She promoted Easter Seal Societies and Christmas and often wrote letters to fans.

Ratan Tata is a well-known Indian industrialist and the former charman of Indian multinational conglomerate Tata Sons. His reign as chairman was marked by acquisitions of iconic global brands, such as Tetley, Jaguar Land Rover and Corus by the Tata Group. Ratan Tata was instrumental in turning Tata Group from a largely India-centrist group into a global business.

Jimmy Durante was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. Widely regarded as one of America's most popular and familiar personalities of all time, Durante was often characterized by his Lower East Side accent, gravelly speech, and a prominent nose. Also known for his charitable work, Durante worked closely with Fraternal Order of Eagles, which raises money for abused children.

Actor, Danny Aiello, is best remembered for playing Salvatore "Sal" Frangione in the Spike Lee film Do the Right Thing. The role earned him an Academy Award nomination. As a young man, he held many odd jobs before breaking into films. Handsome, talented, and ambitious, he soon made a name for himself in Hollywood.

Charles Grodin is an American actor, author, comedian, and former TV talk show host. He became a household name in the late-1970s and 1980s, as he appeared in prominent roles in several popular comedy films of the era. In 1993, he won the American Comedy Award for his portrayal of Murray Blum in the political comedy film, Dave.

Gore Vidal was an American intellectual and writer. He served as a major inspiration to gays, lesbians, and bisexuals as he was openly bisexual and often incorporated LGBT characters in his novels, which was very unusual at the time. He was also known for his debates with William F. Buckley Jr., which inspired the 2015 documentary film Best of Enemies.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the second President of India and served from 1962 to 1967. He is regarded as one of India’s most eminent scholars and wrote extensively on Indian philosophy and religion. Lifelong he defended Hindu traditions and culture against criticism from the West. September 5, his birthday, is observed as Teachers Day in India, in his honour.

Cyd Charisse was an American dancer and actress best remembered for playing important roles in films that highlighted her dancing skills, although she stopped dancing in films later in her career. In 2006, Cyd Charisse was honored with the prestigious National Medal of the Arts and Humanities.

Margaret Sanger was an American writer and sex educator. She is credited with popularizing the term birth control. A birth control activist, Sanger established the first birth control clinic in America. She also set up organizations that later became the well-known non-profit organization Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She also played a key role in legalizing contraception in the US.

Garrett Morgan is remembered for inventing the Morgan safety hood, which served as a prototype for later gas masks. He also invented the T-shaped traffic signal and a range of hair-care products, such as hair straightening creams. An NAACP member, he also launched a newspaper to cater to African-Americans.

English author Henry Graham Greene, better known as Graham Greene, is remembered for his pathbreaking Catholic novels and thrillers. He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include The Third Man and The Human Factor, and his Academy Award-nominated script of the film The Fallen Idol.

Financier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. Was the only son of Standard Oil co-founder, John D. Rockefeller. An alumnus of Brown University, he was very principled and careful with money from an early age. He joined his father’s business and went on to become one of the largest real estate holders in Manhattan.

Don Shirley was an American jazz and classical pianist and composer. He is best remembered for his association with Cadence Records where he recorded many albums during the 1950s and 1960s. Apart from performing in numerous concert tours, Shirley also wrote organ symphonies and piano concerti. Shirley's friendship with his bodyguard Tony Lip was dramatized in the film Green Book.