Famous Deaths on December 6

Saint Nicholas

343 Saint Nicholas [Nikolaos of Myra], Greek Bishop who became the model for Santa Claus, dies at 73

Jefferson Davis

1889 Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America (1861-65), dies at 81

1889 Jozef Neuhuys [Joseph Hendrikus Neuhuys], Dutch painter, dies at 48
1891 Émile Bayard, French artist and illustrator, dies at 54

Werner von Siemens

1892 [Ernst] Werner von Siemens, German inventor (siemens electrical conductance unit) and industrialist (Siemens corporation), dies at 75

1903 Frederick Grant Gleason, composer, dies at 54

1914 Eduard Jacobs, Dutch cabaret artist, dies at 47
1920 Karel Kovařovic, Czech composer, dies at 57
1924 Gene Stratton-Porter, American author, screenwriter and naturalist (b. 1863)
1925 Dat So la Lee "Dabuda" or Louise Keyser, Native American (Washoe) basket weaver dies aged about 96
1934 Duke Charles Michael of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, dies at 71
1940 Charlie Hime, cricketer (one Test for South Africa 1895), dies
1941 Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, German author (In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message), dies at 66
1943 Firmin Baes, Flemish painter, dies at 69
1943 Hermann Löhr, British composer, dies at 72
1946 Maximilian Steinberg, Russian composer, dies at 63

Lead Belly

1949 Lead Belly [Huddie William Ledbetter], American blues 12 string guitarist (Rock Island Line), dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at 64

1951 J Edward Bromberg, Hungarian actor (The Mark of Zorro, Under 2 Flags), dies from a heart attack at 47
1951 Harold Ross, American magazine editor and co-founded The New Yorker, dies at 59
1953 Konstanty I Galczynski, Polish poet (Zielona Ges), dies at 48

Honus Wagner

1955 Honus Wagner, American Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop (8-time NL batting champion), dies at 81

1956 B.R. Ambedkar [Baba Saheb], Indian politician, jurist (architect of the Constitution of India) and social reformer who inspired the Dalit Buddhist Movement, dies after suffering from diabetes at 65

Jurist and Social Reformer B.R. Ambedkar — Jurist and Social Reformer
B.R. Ambedkar

1957 Robert Esnault-Pelterie, French engineer and aviation pioneer who contributed to early heavier-than-air flight in Europe, dies at 76
1958 Erwin Bodky, German-American composer, dies at 62
1959 Len Doyle, actor (Harrington-Mr District Attorney), dies at 66
1961 Frantz Fanon, West Indian psychiatrist and philosopher (The Wretched of the Earth), dies of leukemia at 36
1963 Jozef Goossenaerts, Flem philologist (Language Boundary), dies at 81
1964 Consuelo Vanderbilt (b. 1877)
1965 Alberto Vaccari, Italian jesuit/old testament scholar, dies at 90
1966 Hermann Heiss, German composer, dies at 69
1970 Thomas S Power, American USAF-gen (Raid on Tokyo-March 1945), dies at 65

1971 Hugo Godron, Dutch composer, dies at 71
1971 Jan Altink, Dutch painter/co-founder (Plough), dies at 86
1972 Janet Munro, actress (Crawling Eye, Swiss Family Robinson), dies at 38
1973 Justus Hermann Wetzel, composer, dies at 94
1974 Nikolay Kuznetsov, Russian naval commander (Admiral of the Fleet during World War II), dies at 70
1976 João Goulart, President of Brazil (b. 1918)
1983 Lucienne Boyer, French singer (Parlez-moi d'amour), dies at 82
1984 Ruth Cummings, actress (Daybreak, Dream of Love), dies at 90
1985 Burleigh Grimes, American baseball player, dies at 92
1985 Burr Tillstrom, American puppeteer (Kukla Fran & Ollie), dies at 68
1986 Malik Oussekine, Algerian/French student, killed by police at 22
1987 James Dobson, actor (Impulse, Jet Attack, Okinawa), dies
1988 Bill Harris, American guitarist (Clovers-Love Potion No 9), dies at 63
1988 Roy Orbison, American musician (Pretty Woman), dies of a massive heart attack at 52
1989 Frances Beauvier, actress (Aunt Bee, Mayberry), dies at 86
1989 Sammy Fain, American popular music composer, dies at 87
1989 John Payne, American actor (The Restless Gun, Miracle on 34th Street), dies aged 77
1989 Gabor Jodal, Romanian composer, dies at 76

Tunku Abdul Rahman

1990 Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's founding father, 1st Prime Minister of Malaya (1957-63) and Malaysia (1963-70), dies at 87

1990 Bob Hamilton, American golfer (PGA C'ship 1944), dies at 74
1990 Pavlos Sidiropoulos, Greek rock singer, songwriter and guitarist (Electric Theseus) dies from a heroin overdose at 42
1991 Ann Sorg Coston, actress (Anna-Aldrich Family), dies at 62
1992 Hank Worden, American actor (The Searcher, Red River), dies of natural causes at 91
1992 Percy Herbert, actor (Capt Apache), dies of heart attack at 72
1992 Yngve Sköld, Swedish composer, dies at 93
1993 Dominic "Don" Ameche, American actor (Cocoon, Trading Places), dies of prostate cancer at 85
1993 Prof Wolfgang Paul, German physicist (Nobel 1989), dies at 80
1993 Rita Macedo, actress (Divinas Palabras), dies of heart attack at 65
1993 Rouaz Lakhdar, Algerian supreme court justice, murdered
1993 Desmond Barel Hirshfield, Lord Hirshfield, British chartered accountant, dies at 80

1994 AJ Bronkhorst, vicar/theologist (Reform The Netherlands), dies at 80
1994 Alan Owen, English screenplay/actor (Hard Day's Night), dies at 69
1994 Gian Maria Volontè, Italian actor (Fistful of Dollars), dies at 61
1995 Dmitri Volkogonov, Russian soldier and historian, dies at 67
1995 James Reston, American journalist (New York Times), dies at 86
1995 John Trevor Key, British photographer, dies of brain tumour at 48
1995 Kathleen Harrison, English actress (Fast Lady, Big Money), dies at 103
1995 Leslie Wilkinson, journalist, dies at 97
1995 Claire Polin, American composer, dies at 69
1996 Bryan Clieve Roberts, lawyer/civil servant, dies at 83

Pete Rozelle

1996 Pete Rozelle, American football executive (NFL Commissioner 1960-89), dies of brain cancer at 70

1997 Alan Mouncer, film director and producer, dies at 68
1997 Eddie Myers, British WWII soldier and engineer, dies at 91
1997 Eliot Daniel, composer (I Love Lucy theme), dies at 89
1997 Willy den Ouden, Dutch swimmer (WR 100m freestyle, 1:04.06 1933-56; Olympic gold 4×100m freestyle 1936), dies at 79
2000 Werner Klemperer, German-American actor (Judgment at Nuremberg, Hogan's Heroes), dies of cancer at 80
2001 Charles McClendon, Hall of Fame college football coach (b. 1923)
2002 Philip Berrigan, American peace activist and Roman Catholic priest, dies at 79
2003 Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, President of Guatemala (b. 1918)
2003 Jerry Tuite, American professional wrestler (b. 1966)
2003 Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (b. 1909)
2004 Raymond Goethals, Belgian football coach (b. 1921)
2005 Charly Gaul, Luxembourg cyclist (b. 1932)
2005 Devan Nair, Singaporean politician, 3rd President of Singapore (1981-85), dies at 82
2005 Danny Williams, South African-born singer (b. 1942)
2006 John Feeney, Documentary film-director (b. 1922)
2007 Katy French, Irish Supermodel and Socialite, dies at 24
2010 Mark Dailey, Canadian television journalist and announcer (b. 1953)
2010 Hugues Cuénod, Swiss tenor and musical educator, dies at 108
2011 Dobie Gray [Lawrence Brown], American musician and singer (Drift Away), dies of cancer at 71

2013 Stan Tracey, British jazz pianist, dies at 86
2014 Fred Hawkins, American golfer (US Masters 1958 runner-up), dies at 91
2015 Holly Woodlawn, transgender Puerto Rican actress (Warhol films), dies at 69
2016 Peter Vaughan, British actor (Porridge, Game of Thrones), dies at 93
2017 Cy Young, American athlete and only US male to win gold in javelin throwing (1952 Olympics), dies of complications from dementia at 89
2017 William H. Gass, American novelist and philosopher (Omensetter's Luck), dies at 93
2018 Pete Shelley [Peter McNeish], English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Buzzcocks "Going Steady"), dies at 63
2018 Andrew Frierson, pioneering African American opera singer, dies at 94
2018 John "Ace" Cannon, American pop, rock and country music saxophonist (Tuff Sax), dies at 84
2019 Jo Ann Washam, American golfer (Women's PGA C'ship 1975 3rd; 3 LPGA Tour titles), dies at 69
2020 Paul Sarbanes, American politician (Senator-D-MD, 1977-2007, sponsored Sarbanes–Oxley Act), dies at 87
2020 Tabaré Vázquez, Uruguayan politician and physician, President of Uruguay (2005-10, 2015-20), dies at 80 [1]
2020 Neil Armstrong, Canadian ice hockey linesman (1,744 NHL games; Hockey Hall of Fame), dies at 87
2020 Dennis Ralston, American tennis player (4 x Grand Slam doubles champion; Wimbledon singles 1966 runner-up), dies from cancer at 78
2020 Jack Scarbath, American College Football Hall of Fame quarterback (Uni of Maryland; Washington Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers), dies at 90
2020 Petras Bingelis, Lithuania conductor, founder and artistic director (Kaunas State Choir, 1969-2020), dies of Covid-19 at 77

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