Famous People Who Died in 1984

Deaths 1 - 200 of 411

Brooks Atkinson (1894-1984)

Jan 14 American drama critic (The New York Times), dies at 89

Jan 14 Mary Zeldenrust-Noordanus, Dutch sexuologist (NVSH), dies at 55
Jan 14 Paul Ben Haim [Frankenburger], Israeli composer, dies at 86

Ray Kroc (1902-1984)

Jan 14 American fast food entrepreneur (McDonald's) and owner of baseball's San Diego Padres, dies of heart failure at 81

Jan 17 Kostas Giannidis [Yannis Constantinidis], Greek composer and pianist, dies at 80
Jan 18 Malcolm H. Kerr, 9th President of American University of Beirut, shot dead at 52
Jan 18 Vassilis Tsitsanis, Greek singer, rebetiko and laïkó songwriter, and bouzouki player, dies on his 69th birthday
Jan 19 Max Bentley, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame center (Hart Trophy 1946; Chicago Blackhawks), dies at 63

Johnny Weissmuller (1904-1984)

Jan 20 Romanian-American actor (Tarzan) and swimmer (5 Olympic gold 1924, 28), dies of pulmonary edema at 79

Jan 21 Giannis Skaribas, Greek writer, dramatist, and poet (b. 1893)

Jackie Wilson (1934-1984)

Jan 21 American soul singer-songwriter and performer ("Lonely Teardrops"; "Higher And Higher": "I Get the Sweetest Feeling"), dies from stroke complications at 49

Jan 22 Mikiel Gonzi, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Malta (1944-76), dies at 98
Jan 23 Dean Goffin, New Zealand composer, dies at 67
Jan 23 Mu'in Bseiso, Palestinian poet (b. 1926)
Jan 23 Samuel Gardner, American composer, dies at 92
Jan 27 Lou Crosby, American actor, and radio and TV announcer (Lum and Abner; The Lawrence Welk Show), dies at 69
Jan 28 John Macvane, newscaster (United or Not), dies at 71
Jan 29 Edzard Schaper, German author (Der Henker 'The Hangman'; The Fourth King) who wrote about Estonia and Christianity and was sentenced to death by both the Soviet Union and Germany, dies at 76
Jan 29 Frances Goodrich, American actress and dramatist (Diary of Anne Frank), dies at 93 of lung cancer
Feb 3 Ravindra Mhatre, Indian diplomat, murdered at 48 by Kashmiri terrorists in Birmingham, England
Feb 5 Manès Sperber, Austrian-French writer (Like a Tear in the Ocean: A Trilogy), dies at 78
Feb 7 Brooks West, actor (Richard-My Friend Irma), dies at 67
Feb 8 Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (Olympic bronze 1928), dies at 80
Feb 9 (Tanjore) Balasaraswathi, Indian classical dancer, dies at 65

Yuri Andropov (1914-1984)

Feb 9 General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1982-84) and KGB Chief (1967-82), dies of total renal failure at 69

Feb 10 David Von Erich, professional wrestler (b. 1958)
Feb 12 Anna Anderson [possibly born Franziska Schanzkowska], best-known of several imposters claiming to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov, dies still maintaining her fraudulent claim at 87
Feb 12 Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (Blow-Up, Underground Game), dies at 69
Feb 13 Andre Stander, South African police captain and bank robber (b. 1946)
Feb 14 Elmer Keith, American firearms enthusiast and author (Guns & Ammo), dies at 84
Feb 15 Avon Long, American actor (Roots: Next Generation;The Sting; Harry and Tonto), dies of cancer at 73

Ethel Merman (1908-1984)

Feb 15 American Tony and Grammy Award-winning stage and screen singer ("There's No Business Like Show Business"), and actress (It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World), dies of brain cancer at 76

Feb 15 Leamon Hunt, American Director General of Multinational Force and Observers (international peacekeepers) in Sinai, assassinated Red Brigade communists in Rome, at 56
Feb 16 Ken Williams, TV announcer (Video Village), dies at 69
Feb 17 Lucille Benson, American actress (Halloween II, 1941, Bosom Buddies), dies of liver cancer at 69
Feb 19 Claude Hopkins, American jazz stride pianist, arranger, bandleader, and musical director (Josephine Baker), dies at 80
Feb 19 Ina Ray Hutton [Odessa Cowan], American singer and big band bandleader (Ina Ray Hutton Show), dies of complications from diabetes at 67
Feb 20 Fikret Amirov, Azerbaijani-Soviet composer (Azerbaijan Capriccio, Shur), dies at 61
Feb 21 Mikhail Sholokhov, Soviet writer (And Quiet Flows the Don, Nobel 1965), dies at 78
Feb 22 David, boy who spent most of his life in a plastic bubble, dies at 12
Feb 22 Jessamyn West, American writer (b. 1902)

Max Newman (1897-1984)

Feb 22 British mathematician and codebreaker (Colossus), dies at 87

Feb 22 Uwe Johnson, German writer (Gruppe 47), dies of heart disease at 49
Feb 24 Helmut Schelsky, German sociologist (Sociology of Sex), dies at 71
Feb 24 Uwe Johnson, writer, dies at 59
Feb 28 Leslie Walcott, cricketer (Test for WI v England 1930), dies
Feb 29 Roland Culver, English actor (Thunderball), dies of heart problems at 83

Jackie Coogan (1914-1984)

Mar 1 American actor (The Addams Family - "Uncle Fester"; The Kid; Oliver Twist), dies of a heart attack at 69

Mar 2 Louis Basile, actor (Louie-The Super), dies at 48
Mar 3 Heinrich Kirchner, German sculptor, dies at 81
Mar 4 Ernest Buckler, Canadian novelist (b. 1908)
Mar 4 Geoffrey Lumsden, British actor (b. 1914)
Mar 4 Jewel Carmen, American actress (b. 1897)
Mar 4 Shalva Mikhailovich Mshvelidze, Russian composer, dies at 79
Mar 5 Harry Salter, orchestra leader (Stop the Music), dies at 85
Mar 5 Michael Sklar, American comedian (Laugh-In; Sha Na Na), dies at 39
Mar 5 Tito Gobbi, Italian baritone (Scarpia in Tosca), dies at 70
Mar 5 William Powell, American actor (My Man Godfrey), dies at 91
Mar 6 Henry Wilcoxon, British actor (Cleopatra, Jericho, The Ten Commandments), dies from heart failure and cancer at 78
Mar 6 Ian Cromb, New Zealand cricketer (5 Tests for NZ, 123 runs, 8 wkts), dies at 78
Mar 6 Martin Niemöller, German theologian who supported then opposed the Nazi regime, famous for his widely quoted poem "First they came ...", dies at 92
Mar 6 Pierre Cochereau, French composer, dies at 59
Mar 7 Paul Rotha, English director (b. 1907)
Mar 10 June Marlowe, American actress (Pardon US), dies at 81
Mar 11 Kostas Roukounas, Greek rembetiko singer and songwriter, dies at about 81 (b. 1903)
Mar 11 Nakagawa Soen, Taiwanese-born Japanese Zen master and poet, dies in Rytutakuji monastery at 76
Mar 12 Arnold Ridley, English playwright and actor, dies at 88
Mar 13 Dick Whitington, journalist/cricketer (South Aust & AIF batsman), dies
Mar 14 Aurelio Peccei, Italian industrialist and chairman (Club of Rome), dies at 75
Mar 16 Evencio Castellanos, Venezuelan pianist, and composer, dies at 68
Mar 16 John Hoagland, American photographer (b. 1947)
Mar 16 Roloff Beny, Canadian painter and photographer (A Time of Gods), dies of a heart attack at 60
Mar 18 Charlie Lau, White Sox coach/renowned hitting instructor, dies at 50
Mar 18 Paul Frances Webster, lyricist, dies of Parkinson's disease at 76
Mar 19 Garry Winogrand, American photographer, dies of cancer at 56
Mar 20 Stan Coveleski, American Baseball HOF pitcher (World Series 1920; AL ERA leader 1923, 25; AL strikeout leader 1920; Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators), dies at 94
Mar 23 Shauna Grant [Colleen Applegate], American pornographic actress, commits suicide at 20
Mar 24 Sam Jaffe, American actor (The Asphalt Jungle; Gunga Din; Dr Zorba), dies of cancer at 93
Mar 26 Ahmed Sékou Touré, first President of Guinea (1958-84), dies of a heart attack at 62
Mar 28 Benjamin Mays, African-American educator (Morehouse, Howard University) and civil rights leader, dies at 89
Mar 28 Carmen Dragon, American composer and conductor (Hollywood Bowl Symphony), dies of cancer at 69
Mar 28 Kenneth Whitty, 1st sec at British Embassy in Athens, shot dead
Mar 30 Gaëtan Dugas, French Canadian flight attendant and HIV patient erroneously vilified as "Patient Zero", dies of AIDS related kidney failure at 32 [1]
Mar 30 Peter Yarrall, strongest Englishman (weighed 826 lb (374.7 kg), dies
Mar 31 Ronald Clark O'Bryan, American murderer, dies of lethal injection at 39
Apr 1 Chepín [Electo Rosell], Cuban violinist, bandleader, and composer (Orquesta Chepín-Chovén), dies at 76

Marvin Gaye (1939-1984)

Apr 1 American soul singer-songwriter ("It Takes Two"; What's Going On"; "Let's Get It On"), shot to death by his father Marvin Gay, Sr., during a domestic dispute in Los Angeles at 44

Apr 3 Antanas Račiūnas, Lithuanian composer and pedagogue, dies at 78
Apr 4 Johnny Arnold, English cricket batsman (1 Test, HS 34; Hampshire CCC) and soccer winger (1 cap; Oxford City, Southampton, Fulham), dies at 76
Apr 4 Oleg Antonov, Soviet airplane engineer (b. 1906)
Apr 5 Arthur Harris, British RAF Commanding Chief known as "Bomber/Butcher Harris" for commanding the bombing campaign against Nazi Germany, dies at 91
Apr 5 Arthur Travors Harris, marshal of British RAF, dies
Apr 5 Robert Adams, English sculptor and designer, dies at 67
Apr 5 Theo Koomen, Dutch sportscaster, dies in auto-accident at 54
Apr 6 Jimmy Kennedy, Irish singer-songwriter ("Teddy Bears' Picnic"; "My Prayer"), dies at 81
Apr 6 Ral Donner, singer/narrator, dies at 41
Apr 7 Frank Church, American lawyer and politician (United States Senator from Idaho), dies at 59
Apr 7 Samuel C Engel, poet, dies of heart failure at 79
Apr 8 Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist (Nobel 1978), dies at 89
Apr 9 Basil Henry Blackwell, British publisher, dies
Apr 10 Ray Middleton, American actor (1776;, Hurricane Smith), dies at 75
Apr 11 Fred Robinson, American jazz trombonist (Louis Armstong's Hot Five; Fats Waller; Cab Calloway), dies at 83
Apr 12 Ruth Taylor, actress (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), dies at 76
Apr 13 Christopher Wilder, Australian serial killer, dies at 39
Apr 13 Dionyssis Papayannopoulos, Greek actor, dies at 71
Apr 13 George Fierstone, British jazz and session drummer, (The Skyrockets), dies at 67
Apr 13 Ralph Kirkpatrick, American musician, musicologist and harpsichordist (Domenico Scarlatti), dies at 72
Apr 13 Richard Hurndall, British actor (Doctor Who, The Inheritors, It's Murder But Is It Art), dies from a heart attack at 73
Apr 14 Dioniysis Papagiannopoulos, Greek stage and screen actor, dies of a stroke at 71
Apr 15 Alexander Trocchi, Scottish writer, dies at 58
Apr 15 Machito [Francisco "Frank" Grillo], Latin jazz musician and creator of Cu-bop and salsa music (Afro-Cubans), dies following a stroke at 76
Apr 15 Tommy Cooper, British comedian & magician, collapses and dies on stage at 61
Apr 15 William Empson, English poet & critic (Milton's God), dies at 77
Apr 16 Charles G. Finney, American fantasy author (Circus of Dr Lao), dies at 78
Apr 17 Claude Provost, French Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1933)
Apr 17 Mark W. Clark, American general, dies at 87
Apr 18 Arvi Kivimaa, Finnish writer (Groenende Cross), dies at 79
Apr 18 Francis De Wolff, British character actor (A Christmas Carol, From Russia With Love), dies at 71
Apr 18 John Lee Mahin, American screenwriter, dies of emphysema at 81
Apr 20 Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian mountaineer (b. 1943)
Apr 20 Mabel Mercer, British jazz and cabaret singer whose style and phrasing influenced Frank Sinatra ("Fly Me to the Moon"), dies at 84

Ansel Adams (1902-1984)

Apr 22 American landscape photographer and environmentalist (Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980), dies at 82

Apr 23 (William) "Red" Garland, American jazz pianist (Miles Davis Quintet), dies of a heart attack at 60
Apr 23 Guus Oster, Dutch stage and screen actor and director (Voorbij, Voorbij; Kiss Me Kate), dies at 68
Apr 23 Juan Tizol, Puerto Rican jazz trombonist (Duke Ellington), and composer ("Caravan"; "Perdido"), dies at 84
Apr 25 Richard Benedict, actor (Okinawa), dies at 64 of a heart attack

Count Basie (1904-1984)

Apr 26 Jazz pianist, organist, and bandleader ("One O'Clock Jump"; "April In Paris"), dies of pancreatic cancer at 79

Apr 26 Barry Gray [John Livesey Eccles], British pianist, ondist, Hammond organ player, film and television composer (Thunderbirds; Space:1999), dies at 75
Apr 26 Henry Rowland, American actor (Rogue's Regiment), dies at 70
Apr 26 May McAvoy, American actress (Ben Hur), dies at 82 after a heart attack
Apr 28 Glen H. Taylor, American senator, dies at 80
Apr 28 Moses "Whispering" Smith, American blues harmonica player and singer ("A Thousand Miles From Nowhere"; "Hound Dog Twist"), dies at 52
Apr 28 Piet Kraak, Dutch soccer goalkeeper (33 caps; Stormvogels, Elinkwijk), dies from a stroke at 55
Apr 28 Silvia Ashton-Warner, New Zealand writer, dies at 76
May 1 Gordon Jenkins, American arranger and orchestra leader (Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra), dies of Lou Gehrig's disease at 73
May 1 Jüri Lossmann, Estonian athlete (Olympic silver marathon 1920), dies at 93
May 2 Jack Barry, American game show emcee (Joker's Wild), dies of cardiac arrest at 66
May 2 Piet van Aken, Flemish writer (Klinkaart, Het begeren), dies at 64
May 4 Bob Clampett, American cartoonist (b. 1913)
May 4 Diana Dors [Fluck], British actress and singer (Berserk!; Steaming), dies of cancer at 52
May 4 Larry Stock, American singer-songwriter ("Blueberry Hill"; "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You"), dies at 87
May 6 Bonner Pink, Conservative Party politician
May 6 Mary Cain, Mississippi newspaper editor and politician (b. 1904)
May 8 Gino Bianco, Brazilian racing driver (b. 1916)
May 9 Nudie Cohn, Ukrainian-American tailor (created the rhinestone 'nudie suits' worn by musicians), dies at 81 [1]
May 10 Jean-Louis Viale, French jazz drummer, dies at 51
May 10 Joaquin Agostinho, Portuguese cyclist, dies at 41
May 10 Robert Moore, American director and actor (Murder by Death, Marshall-Diana), dies from AIDS-related pneumonia at 56
May 12 Doris May, American silent film actress (Peck's Bad Boy), dies at 81 of heart failure

Stanislaw Ulam (1909-1984)

May 13 Polish-American mathematician and nuclear physicist (Manhattan Project, H-bomb), dies at 75

May 14 Elmer Riddle, American baseball pitcher (NL wins leader 1943; Cincinnati Reds), dies at 69
May 14 Walter Rauff, Nazi German military officer, mobile gas chamber developer, and spy, dies of a heart attack while suffering from lung cancer at 77
May 15 Francis Schaeffer, American theologian, philosopher, and pastor (b. 1912)
May 15 Lionel Charles Robbins, British economist, dies at 85
May 16 Andy Kaufman, American comedian and actor (Taxi -"Latka"), dies of cancer at 35
May 16 Irwin Shaw, American writer (Rich Man, Poor Man), dies at 71
May 16 Wessel Couzijn, Dutch sculptor and cartoonist (Auschwitz-monument), dies at 71
May 19 Bill Holland, American auto racer (Indianapolis 500 1949; runner-up 1947, 48, 50), dies at 76
May 19 John Betjeman, poet (Mount Zion) and English Poet Laureate (1972-1984), dies at 77
May 20 Peter Bull, British actor and author (The African Queen, Tom Jones, Dr Strangelove), dies of a heart attack at 72
May 21 Andrea Leeds, actress (Stage Door, Earthbound), dies of cancer at 70
May 21 Ann Little, actress (Roaring Road), dies at 93
May 22 John Marley [Mortimer Marlieb], American actor (Cat Ballou; Love Story; The Godfather), dies following unsuccessful open-heart surgery at 76
May 24 Vincent J. McMahon, American professional wrestling promoter (b. 1914)
May 25 Piet Ketting, Dutch pianist, conductor and composer, dies at 79
May 28 Eric Morecambe [John Bartholomew], British comedian (Morecambe & Wise, Picadilly Palace), dies of a heart attack at 58
Jun 1 Nate Nelson, American singer (Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes for You), dies at 52
Jun 2 Georgios Kasassoglou, Greek violinist, composer (Four Preludes on The Return from The Front; Clouds), educator and arts advocate, dies at 75
Jun 5 Frederick Stratten Russell, English marine biologist (plankton life history and long-term changes in marine ecosystems), dies at 86
Jun 5 Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Indies Sikh leader
Jun 6 A. Bertram Chandler, Anglo-Australian mariner and sci-fi author (Empress of Outer Space), dies at 72
Jun 6 Bill Voce, English cricket fast bowler (27 Tests, 98 wickets, BB 7/70; Nottinghamshire CCC), dies at 74
Jun 7 George Givot, actor (Versatile Vaudeville), dies at 81
Jun 8 Gordon Jacob, British composer, dies at 88
Jun 11 Enrico Berlinguer, Italian National Secreatary of Italian Communist Party (PCI), dies at 62
Jun 13 António Variações [António Joaquim Rodrigues Ribeiro], Portuguese singer-songwriter (Dar & Receber), dies at 39 of AIDS-related pneumonia complications
Jun 13 Marinus de Jong, Dutch composer, dies at 92
Jun 13 Nathaniel Owings, American architect (Oak Ridge, TN; Sears Tower), dies at 81
Jun 15 Meredith Willson, American composer for stage (The Music Man), and screen (The Great Dictator; Little Foxes), dies at 82
Jun 15 Ned Glass, Polish-American actor (Sol-Julia, Uncle Moe-Bridget Loves Bernie), dies of heat failure at 78
Jun 16 Harmonica Slim [Travis Blaylock], American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter ("You Better Believe It"), dies at 49
Jun 16 Lew Andreas, American basketball coach (b. 1895)
Jun 17 Chet Allen, American child actor (Amahl and the Night Visitors), intentionally overdoses at 45
Jun 17 Klavdiya Shulzhenko, Soviet jazz and pop singer ("Let's Smoke"), dies at 78
Jun 17 Swale, Kentucky Derby winner, collapses & dies
Jun 18 Alan Berg, American radio talk show host, dies after being shot by White Nationalists at 50
Jun 19 Lee Krasner, American abistract expressionist painter, dies at 75
Jun 19 Sunny Johnson, American actress (Flashdance), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 30
Jun 19 Wladimir Rudolfovich Vogel, composer, dies at 88
Jun 20 Estelle Winwood [Goodwin], British-American stage and screen character actress (Quality Street; Darby O'Gill and the Little Peoples; The Producers), and oldest member of the Screen Actors Guild, dies at 101
Jun 20 Hans Studer, Swiss composer, dies at 73
Jun 22 (Dillwyn) "Dill" Jones, Welsh jazz stride pianist, dies of throat cancer at 60