Famous People Who Died Today

TV personality, musician, and author, Fred Rogers, is best remembered for hosting the preschool TV series, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran for over 30 years, from 1968 to 2001. His work was widely lauded and he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. Besides his TV career, he was also an ordained Presbyterian minister.

Dale Robertson was an American actor who achieved popularity in the 1950s, playing important roles in Western films, such as Return of the Texan and The Outcasts of Poker Flat. In 1985, he was honored with a Golden Boot Award for his contribution to Western films and TV series. 

Richard Lewis is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Well-known for his self-deprecating humor, Lewis was named in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Standups of All Time list. He has also written comic articles for popular publications like Playboy. As an actor, Richard Lewis is best known for playing Marty Gold in the popular sitcom, Anything But Love.

After losing his parents at 10, Louis Vuitton ran away to Paris, where he gained repute as a box-maker/packer, and was even hired by Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie de Montijo. He then founded the iconic French fashion and luxury goods brand Louis Vuitton, which now operates in 50 countries.

Spike Milligan was a British-Irish actor, writer, poet, comedian, and playwright. He is credited with co-creating and writing the popular radio comedy program, The Goon Show. His comic novel Puckoon has been adapted into a film and stage play. In August 1999, BBC conducted a poll, according to which Spike was voted the funniest person of the last millennium.

Former prime minister of Sweden, Olof Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Workers’ Party and rose to be one of Sweden’s most internationally renowned politicians. A prominent lawyer, he started his political career as PM Tage Erlander’s personal secretary. He had also held the ministries of education and communications.

Chandra Shekhar Azad joined India’s freedom struggle against the British after being deeply affected by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Born Chandra Shekhar Tiwari, he declared himself as Azad when arrested in connection with Gandhiji’s non-cooperation movement. He shot himself to death to escape being held captive by the British.

Boris Spassky is a Russian chess player who held the World Chess Championship title from 1969 to 1972. He was part of the famous World Chess Championship match in 1972 where he lost his championship title to Bobby Fischer of the United States. In Bobby Fischer's 2014 biopic Pawn Sacrifice, Boris Spassky is portrayed by American actor Isaac Liev Schreiber.

Known as The Wonderman, 18th-century French adventurer Comte de Saint-Germain was also a talented musician, especially skilled in the violin, and a well-known chemist. Not only was he proficient in almost all European languages, he had traveled to places such as Russia, the Dutch Republic, and Germany.

Aleksandr Borodin was a Russian musical composer. He was one of the popular 19th-century group of musicians known as The Five, who worked together to create a national style of classical music. A chemist and doctor by profession, Borodin also made important contributions to organic chemistry. His best known work as a chemist is his work pertaining to organic synthesis.

Boris Nemtsov was a Russian liberal politician and physicist. He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia in 1998. A fierce critic of Vladimir Putin, Nemtsov claimed that Putin's government was becoming increasingly authoritarian. Nemtsov was murdered in 2015 in Moscow. Interestingly, Boris Nemtsov expressed fear that Vladimir Putin would hire men to kill him weeks before his assassination.

Anna Julia Cooper was an American author, sociologist, educator, Black liberation activist, and speaker. She was one of the most important African-American scholars in US history. In 1924, Anna Julia Cooper earned her PhD from the University of Paris, becoming only the fourth African-American woman to receive a doctoral degree.

Linda Smith was an English comedian who appeared regularly on Radio 4 panel games. She studied at the University of Sheffield. A lifelong socialist, she performed many benefit concerts to support various causes. She was popular for starring in her own Radio 4 sitcom, Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting. She died of ovarian cancer, at the age of 48. 

Born to a tailor in Australia, Orry-Kelly initially studied banking but later sailed to the US to explore his dreams in theater. Starting with painting murals at a US nightclub, he later grew to design costumes for legends such as Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn. He also won 3 Academy Awards.

Astrophysicist Samuel Pierpont Langley had worked as an engineer before he taught physics and astronomy at the Western University of Pennsylvania. He later took over as the director of the Allegheny Observatory. He is best remembered for his research on solar radiation and for inventing the bolometer.

Tina Strobos was a Dutch psychiatrist and physician remembered for her resistance work during the Second World War. When she was still a student, Strobos helped rescue over 100 Jewish refugees. In 1989, Yad Vashem recognized her rescue work with the Righteous Among the Nations honor. For her medical work, Strobos was honored with the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal in 1998.

Eddie Kirkland was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and harmonicist. After working alongside John Lee Hooker for 13 years, Kirkland established a successful solo career, recording for labels like King Records and Fortune Records. Eddie Kirkland never stopped working and his last performance was the night before his death at the age of 87.

Japanese craftsman, lacquerer, potter, and calligrapher Hon'ami Kōetsu of the Tokugawa-period is best-known for creating Rinpa, a major historical school of Japanese painting, along with Tawaraya Sōtatsu during the 17th century Kyoto. It was initially referred to as the Sōtatsu-Kōrin school, the Kōetsu school and the Kōetsu-Kōrin school. Notable works of Kōetsu include White Raku and Writing Box with Pontoon Bridge.

Moacyr Scliar was a Brazilian physician and writer best remembered for his 1981 book Max and the Cats. A prolific writer, Scliar published more than 100 books in Portuguese and his fiction has been translated into many languages including English, French, German, Spanish, Hebrew, and Italian. Moacyr Scliar was inducted into the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 2003.

Huber Matos was a Cuban activist, military leader, political dissident, and writer. He is best remembered for his rebellion against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista alongside Che Guevara and Fidel Castro among others. After the success of the Revolution, he continued to criticize Fidel Castro's government. Huber Matos was then convicted of treason and spent 20 years in prison.

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes was a Cuban revolutionary who declared Cuban independence and became the first president of Cuba in 1868. His actions started the famous Ten Years' War, the first of three wars that led to the independence of Cuba in 1902. Since Carlos' actions led to Cuba's independence, he is referred to as the Father of the Fatherland.