Famous People Who Died At 99

Betty White, American actress and comedian, is considered as the pioneer of television and has had the longest television career of any entertainer, straddling more than 80 years. She’s known for her award-winning performances in shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls and Hot in Cleveland. 

Prince Philip was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Born into the Greek and Danish royal families, he first met Elizabeth in 1934. After courting her for a few years, he married her in 1947. He was formally made a British prince in 1957. He was the oldest-ever male member of the British royal family. 

Charlie Munger is an American businessman, investor, architectural designer, and former real estate attorney. Over the years, he has played an important role as the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. A well-known philanthropist, Charlie Munger has donated millions of dollars to universities and schools.

Fe del Mundo was a Filipina paediatrician who achieved international recognition in 1977 when she was honored with the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. In 1980, she was named National Scientist of the Philippines, becoming the first woman to be named so. Del Mundo is credited with founding Philippines' first pediatric hospital.

Cardiac surgeon Michael DeBakey pioneered many treatments of cardiovascular ailments and also invented instruments such as the roller pump, later used for open-heart surgery procedures. He was also instrumental in developing MASH units and was awarded several prestigious awards, such as the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.

Gulzarilal Nanda was the acting prime minister of India after the deaths of sitting prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964 and Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966. The Bharat Ratna winner had previously been jailed twice for his participation in Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement. He had also been an economics professor.

Mathilde Kschessinska was a Russian ballerina hailing from the Polish noble family Krzesiński. She was the daughter of Feliks Krzesiński, who danced in Saint Petersburg.  As a young woman, she married Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia. She later opened her own ballet school and trained students, such as Margot Fonteyn, Alicia Markova, and André Eglevsky. 

Initially a physicist and mathematician, Ernesto Sabato did his postdoctoral research at prestigious institutes such as MIT. His articles opposing the Juan Peron government of Argentina in La Nación got him removed from his teaching posts. The Cervantes Prize-winning author is best remembered for his works such as El Túnel.

Risë Stevens was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for playing the titular role in Carmen. She is also remembered for her association with the Metropolitan Opera National Company, where she worked as director from 1963 to 1968. Stevens' life and career inspired two biographies, namely Subway to the Met and Risë Stevens: A Life in Music.

Jack Steinberger was a German-born American experimental particle physicist who was known for his path-breaking work on neutrinos. Working with Leon M. Lederman and Melvin Schwartz, Jack Steinberger obtained the first laboratory-made stream of neutrino and in the process discovered the muon neutrino. The beam so produced later became a basic research tool for studying subatomic particles, earning the trio the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics.

The highest-ranked female judoka in the history of the sport, Keiko Fukuda was also the last-surviving student of the founder of the art, Kanō Jigorō. Apart from breaking the male bastion of the judo circuit, she also penned books, launched a kata championship, and taught judo around the world.

Elisabeth Welch was an American actress, singer, and entertainer who came up with popular songs like Far Away in Shanty Town, Love for Sale, and Stormy Weather during an illustrious career spanning more than 70 years. In February 2012, she was posthumously honored by Bonnie Greer who unveiled a blue plaque at Ovington Court where Welch lived during the mid-30s.

American biochemist, analytical chemist, and professor Paul Delos Boyer was the first Utah-born Nobel laureate. His elucidation of enzymatic mechanism underlying synthesis of adenosine triphosphate with John E. Walker led the two to jointly win the 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry which they co-received with Jens C. Skou for a separate research of the latter.

Ismail Samani was the Samanid amir of Khorasan and Transoxiana. His reign as the Amir of the Samanid Empire witnessed the development of the Samanids as a dominant force. Ismail Samani is remembered as a strong ruler and a competent general.

Yvette Chauviré was a French actress and ballet dancer. Regarded as the greatest ballerina from France, Chauviré also served as the coach of prima ballerinas like Marie-Claude Pietragalla and Sylvie Guillem. Her life and career inspired a documentary film titled Yvette Chauviré: une étoile pour l'example which was released in 1983. In 1964, she was awarded the Legion of Honour.

Swiss chemist Tadeusz Reichstein is remembered for his Nobel Prize-winning research on the hormones of the adrenal cortex. He also taught pharmaceutical chemistry and organic chemistry at the University of Basel and independently discovered the synthesis of vitamin C. At 99, he was the oldest-living Nobel laureate until his death.

Maurice Allais was a French economist and physicist. Much revered and respected within the realm of economic analysis, Maurice Allais was honored with the prestigious Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1988. Allais' works served as a major influence on popular French economists like Jacques Lesourne, Gérard Debreu, Marcel Boiteux, and Edmond Malinvaud.

Jens C. Skou was a Danish biochemist best known for his work in the field of animal cells. Along with Paul D. Boyer and John E. Walker, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1997. He had a brilliant academic career and remained active well into his 90s. He died at the age of 99. 

American pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton conducted ground-breaking studies on newborn behavioral research. He is also remembered for his Emmy-winning show What Every Baby Knows and for his books such as Toddlers and Parents. He had advocated for parental and medical leaves and been part of the National Commission on Children.