Famous People Who Died Today

American stand-up comedian Bob Newhart is renowned for his slightly stammering delivery style and dry humor for which he was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2002. Over the years, his comedic style has influenced many comedians. Also an actor, he was ranked 17th on TV Guide's list of 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.

Rebecca Schaeffer started her career as a model and is best remembered for her role as Patricia "Patti" Russell in the comedy My Sister Sam. She was shot to death at 21, by an obsessed fan named Robert John Bardo, who had been stalking her for a while.

Benito Juarez was a Mexican lawyer and politician. He served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 to 1872, becoming the first president of Mexico who was of indigenous origin. He died of a heart attack in 1872. To date,  he is revered as "a preeminent symbol of Mexican nationalism and resistance to foreign intervention." 

Nico was a German musician, singer, and songwriter. Her work continues to serve as an inspiration to several musicians like Björk, Morrissey, and the English rock band The Cure. In 2017, Susanna Nicchiarelli directed Nico's biographical film titled Nico, 1988. Also an actress, Nico appeared in many films, including Andy Warhol's experimental underground film Chelsea Girls.

Jack Hawkins was an English actor best remembered for playing military men during the 1950s. Hawkins achieved international stardom in the '50s when he entered Hollywood. In 1958, Jack Hawkins was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to the art.

Lou Dobbs is an American author, political commentator, and former TV host. He is best known for hosting the popular political and financial talk program Lou Dobbs Tonight. For his immense contribution to television journalism, Dobbs has won major awards including an Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement. He has also won the George Foster Peabody Award and Eugene Katz Award.

Best known for discovering the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet, with his wife, Carolyn, and David H. Levy, Eugene Merle Shoemaker was an American astrogeologist who had also worked with the U.S. Geological Survey. He had been part of NASA’s lunar exploration missions. Following his death, his ashes were transported to the Moon.

Best remembered for reinventing the film noir genre, director Jean Negulesco earned the tag of "the first real master of CinemaScope.” Born in Romania, he later moved to Paris, where he worked as a stage designer and painter. His Oscar-nominated direction in Johnny Belinda made him popular in Hollywood.

Once a popular child actor, Haruma Miura stormed the Japanese film scene after an impactful performance as Hiro in Koizora. He had also tried his luck in singing and had starred in series such as Last Cinderella. He shocked his fans by committing suicide by hanging at age 30.

A Holocaust survivor, Bloeme Evers-Emden was deported to Auschwitz on the same train as Anne Frank’s family. She grew up to be a prominent child psychologist and lecturer and devoted herself to the research related to the “hidden children" of World War II. Her books include Borrowed Children.

Jerry Hadley was an American operatic tenor who received three Grammy Awards over the course of his career. He was a leading tenor in America for nearly two decades and could perform equally well in operetta, opera, and on Broadway.

Vicente Saldivar was a Mexican boxer who holds the record for the longest unified featherweight championship reign. Considered one of the finest southpaws of all time, Saldivar is also widely regarded as one of the greatest featherweight boxers in the history of featherweight division.  

Vasily Polenov was a Russian painter best remembered for his association with a group of realist artists called The Wanderers. Polenov believed that art could play a major role in promoting joy and happiness. He was also a humanist and worked towards improving the living conditions of those around him.

Carl O. Sauer was an American geographer best remembered for his association with the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a professor of geography from 1923 to 1957. Over the course of his career, Carl O. Sauer was honored with several prestigious awards, such as the Charles P. Daly Medal, Alexander von Humboldt Medal, and Victoria Medal.

Gilberto Freyre was a Brazilian anthropologist, sociologist, painter, writer, historian, and journalist. He is best remembered for his sociological treatise titled Casa-Grande & Senzala, which is translated as The Masters and the Slaves. This book caused a revolution in Brazil and helped create a modern Brazil.

Rashid-al-Din Hamadani was a statesman, historian, and physician in 13th-century Iran. He was born into a Persian Jewish family and converted to Islam as a young man. He became the powerful vizier of the Ilkhan, Ghazan, and began his career as a historian as well. He was later arrested and executed on charges of poisoning the Ilkhanid king Öljaitü.