Famous People Who Died Today

English playwright, poet, and actor William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. He is also often called England's national poet. Many of his works have been translated into other languages and his plays continue to be produced till day. Popular during his lifetime, he acquired an iconic status after his death.

English poet William Wordsworth, along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, released Lyrical Ballads in 1798, which set the tone for the Romantic Age of English Literature. Wordsworth was known for his poems I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, The Prelude, and The Solitary Reaper. He also served as the Poet Laureate.

Saint George was a Christian soldier in the Roman army who is accepted as a saint in Christianity. He was sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith and was executed by decapitation, according to Greek tradition.  Saint George's Day is celebrated in his memory on 23 April. He is one of the most venerated saints in Christianity.

Paulette Goddard was an American actress best known for playing the female lead in Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times. Goddard, who started her career as a child fashion model, went on to establish herself as a major star in the 1940s. Over the years, she has been depicted in many films by actresses like Diane Lane and Natalie Wilder.

Sawyer Sweeten gained prominence with his performance in Everybody Loves Raymond. He took his own life from a self-inflicted gunshot a fortnight before his 20th birthday. The news of his death left his fans and co-stars shocked.

Australian-British author and Shakespearean actor Pamela Lyndon Travers, known by her pseudonym, P. L. Travers, soared to fame with her Mary Poppins series of children's books. Disney later bought the rights to her Mary Poppins series and released a film version. It was later made into a Broadway play, too.

Sir John Mills was an English actor whose career spanned 70 years. During the course of his career, Mills won several prestigious awards, including an Academy Award for his portrayal of Michael in the 1970 epic romantic drama film, Ryan's Daughter. In 2002, he was honored by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts with a BAFTA Fellowship.

Satyajit Ray was an Indian film director, music composer, and writer. Considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Ray became the first Indian to be honored with an Academy Honorary Award in 1992. Apart from Indian filmmakers, international directors like Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola, Wes Anderson, and Christopher Nolan have been influenced by Satyajit Ray. 

While he initially wished to follow in his prosecutor father’s footsteps to be a lawyer, Otto Preminger later discovered his love for theater. A master stage director, he later signed with Fox as one of its first independent filmmakers. He soared to fame with the 1944 film Laura.  

Apart from being an Olympic gold-winning swimmer, Buster Crabbe later also became a well-known actor. He was seen in over 170 movies, with lead roles in series such as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. The International Swimming Hall of Fame inductee had also penned fitness books and owned a swimming pool company.

Alfred Eisenstaedt was a German-born American photojournalist and photographer who achieved popularity as a photographer for Life magazine. Remembered for capturing memorable images, Eisenstaedt is credited with capturing the V-J Day in Times Square, which became one of his most popular cover photographs. In 1989, he was honored with the prestigious National Medal of Arts.

Journalist and historian David Halberstam is known for his works in areas as diverse as the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and American sports and culture. The Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter had worked with The New York Times. He later died in a car crash.

Apart from being a political economist, Karl Polanyi was also a prominent Hungarian political leader. The Great Transformation remains his best-known work. He taught at institutes such as the Columbia University and is known for proposing the idea of a cultural version of economics known as substantivism.

Andre Gunder Frank was a German-American economic historian and sociologist who advocated dependency theory and world-systems theory. In the 1950s and 1960s, Frank taught subjects, such as economics and anthropology at several American universities. He then went on to serve as a professor at the University of Chile. From 1981 to 1994, he taught at the University of Amsterdam.

Adalbert of Prague was a Bohemian Christian saint and missionary who served as the Bishop of Prague. He also served as a missionary to the Poles, Hungarians, and Prussians. Adalbert was martyred for his attempt to convert the Baltic Prussians to Christianity. Today, he is known as the patron saint of the Duchy of Prussia, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Inca Garcilaso de la Vega was a Peruvian chronicler and writer. Vega, who spent most of his life in Spain, is remembered for his chronicles of Inca culture, history, and society. His work became popular in Europe, where it was widely read, making Inca Garcilaso de la Vega the first author from the Americas to enter the western literary world.

Former president and chairman of the Japanese technology conglomerate Sony Corporation, Norio Ohga was also the man who launched the CD. Initially an opera singer, he complained about the quality of the tape recorders of Tokyo Tsushin, which was later renamed Sony, and was soon hired by its owners.

Peter Porter was a British-based Australian poet. Born in Australia, he had a difficult early life. He later moved to the United Kingdom, where he was able to establish himself in a successful writing career. He was made a Royal Society of Literature Companion of Literature in 2007.  The Peter Porter Poetry Prize is named in his honor. 

German-born American opera singer Elisabeth Schumann who was known for her lieder performances. She performed at iconic venues such as the Hamburg Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and Covent Garden. She is perhaps best remembered for her role of Sophie in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier. She later taught at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute.

Apart from being the first Black coach of an American Olympic team, LeRoy T. Walker was also the first Black president of the US Olympic Committee. The fame track and field coach also excelled in basketball and football initially. He also held an Olympic Order and 15 honorary degrees.

Anglo-Welsh metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan was a major literary figure of the Commonwealth period and is best remembered for Silex Scintillans. While he initially studied law, the Civil War disrupted his studies and he was called back home to serve Sir Marmaduke Lloyd. He was also a practicing physician.

Krzysztof Komeda was a Polish jazz pianist and film music composer. He is best remembered for his collaboration with popular filmmaker Roman Polanski; he worked as a composer for many of Polanski's films like Knife in the Water and Rosemary's Baby. Krzysztof Komeda's 1965 album Astigmatic is often counted among the most prominent European jazz albums of all time.