Famous Deaths on December 7

Cicero (106-43 BC)

Roman statesman and philosopher, killed as part of the proscriptions at 63

283 Catholic Pope Saint Eutychian
983 Otto II the Red, German king/emperor (973-83), dies at about 28
1254 Innocent IV [Sinibaldo dei Fieschi], Pope (1243-54), dies
1279 Bolesław V the Chaste, High Duke of Poland (1243-79), dies at 53
1295 Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford, English politician (b. 1243)
1383 Wenceslaus, Duke of Brabant, dies
1498 Alexander Hegius von Heek, German humanist
1649 Charles Garnier, French Jesuit missionary in New France, killed at 43
1661 Adriana Nooseman [van de Bergh], Dutch actress, 1st to perform professionally in the Netherlands ("Onvergelijkelijke Ariana" at Amsterdam Schouwburg), dies at about 35 [birthdate uncertain, c. 1626]
1672 Richard Bellingham, English-born Massachusetts colonial magistrate (b. 1592)
1683 John Oldham, English satirical poet, dies of smallpox at 30
1723 Jan Santini Aichel, Bohemian architect (b. 1677)
1725 Florent Carton Dancourt, French dramatist and actor (Le Chevalier à la mode), dies at 64
1775 Charles Saunders, British admiral, First Lord of the Admiralty, dies at about 60
1793 Joseph Bara, French revolutionary (b. 1780)
1811 Ignaz Spangler, composer, dies at 54
1815 Michel Ney, French marshal (Waterloo), murdered at 46

William Bligh (1754-1817)

British naval officer of "HMS Bounty" fame, dies at 63

1823 Johann Gottlieb Schwencke, German bassoonist, dies at 79
1826 John Flaxman, English Neoclassical sculptor (tombs at St Paul's Cathedral), dies at 71
1829 Johann Christoph Kienlen, German composer, dies at 45
1834 Ludwig Schuncke, composer, dies at 23
1839 Jan August Vitasek, Bohemian composer working in Prague, dies at 69
1842 Thomas Hamilton, Scottish writer (b. 1789)
1860 Konstantin Sergeyevich Aksakov, Russian historian and poet, dies at 43
1862 Sylvester Churchill, US Union brigadier general, dies
1867 Rudolf Viole, German pianist and composer, dies at 42
1870 Mykhailo Verbytsky, Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest and composer (Prostachka; The State Anthem of Ukraine), dies at 55
1874 Constantin von Tischendorf, German biblical scholar (b. 1815)
1877 Benjamin Huger, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 72
1879 Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic independence fighter and Icelandic historian, dies at 68
1881 Julius Bahnsen, German philosopher (Tragic as Weltgesetz), dies at 51
1894 Ferdinand de Lesseps, French diplomat (built Suez Canal), dies at 89
1899 Anton de Kontski [Antoni Kątski], Polish-American pianist and composer (Awakening Of The Lion), Polish pianist and composer, dies at 82

Thomas Nast (1840-1902)

German-American caricaturist and political cartoonist of late 1800s America, dies of yellow fever at 62

1906 Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1833)
1909 Whitcomb Judson, American inventor (zipper), dies at 63
1911 William Griggs, English inventor (photo chromo lithography), dies at 79
1912 George Darwin, theorized Moon was pulled out of Pacific Ocean, dies
1913 José Marraco y Ferrer, Catalan church musician and composer, dies at 78
1913 Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Italian Catholic churchman and last surviving cardinal of Pius IX, dies at 85
1917 [Aloysius] Ludwig Minkus, Austrian violinist, and ballet composer (St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, 1871-86; La Bayadère), dies at 91
1927 Albert Griffiths ("Young Griffo"), Australian boxer (World Featherweight champion 1890-92), dies of apoplexy at 56
1938 Harry Moses, cricketer (6 Tests for Australia 1887-95), dies
1941 Cecil Forsyth, British composer and musicologist, dies at 71
1941 Franklin Van Valkenburgh, United States Navy officer (Captain of USS Arizona), Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at 53
1941 Fusata Iida, Japanese Navy Air Service fighter pilot (commander of the Japanese 3rd Air Group), considered the 1st "kamikaze", dies in battle at U.S. Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii at 28
1941 Herbert C. Jones, United States Navy ensign, Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at 23
1941 Mervyn S. Bennion, United States Navy officer (Captain of USS West Virginia), WWI veteran, and Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at 54
1941 Thomas J. Reeves, United States Navy radioman, Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at 45
1946 Sada Yacco, Japanese stage actress (b. 1871)
1947 Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher, diplomat (Nobel Peace Prize 1931), educator (Columbia University President), dies at 85
1947 Tristan Bernard, French playwright and novelist, dies at 81
1948 Godfrey Turner, composer, dies at 35
1956 Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor, dies at 77
1959 Charlie Hall, English comedic actor (Tit for Tat, A Chump at Oxford), dies at 60
1960 Clara Haskil, Swiss pianist (b. 1895)
1962 Kirsten Flagstad, Norwegian soprano (Wagner), dies at 67
1967 House Peters, British silent film actor (This Is the Life; Kansas Territory), dies at 87
1969 Eric Portman, actor (Naked Edge), dies from heart ailment at 66
1969 Hugh Williams, British dramatist, actor and writer (Wuthering Heights, Bank Holiday), dies after surgery at 65
1969 Lefty O'Doul, American Baseball HOF left fielder (MLB All-Star, World Series 1933; NL batting champion 1929, 32 NY Yankees), dies at 72
1970 Romaine Brooks [Beatrice Romaine Goddard], American painter, dies at 96

Rube Goldberg (1883-1970)

American cartoonist whose carttoons inspired the Rube Goldberg contests (Pulitzer Prize 1948), dies of cancer at 87

1971 Milton Rosmer, British director (Murder in the Red Barn), dies at 90
1975 Beatrix Loughran, American figure skater (Olympic gold 1924, 1928, 1932), dies at 75
1975 Hardie Albright, actress (Silver Streak, Scarlet Letter), dies at 71

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975)

American playwright and writer (Bridge of San Luis Rey), dies at 78

1977 Paul Gibb, cricketer (England batsman, 8 Tests), dies

Peter Carl Goldmark (1906-1977)

Hungarian-American engineer (developed the 33-1/3 rpm LP phonograph record format), dies in a car accident at 77

1978 Alexander Wetmore, American ornithologist (b. 1886)
1979 Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, British-American astronomer and astrophysicist who proposed that stars are composed largely of hydrogen and are not glowing balls of molten rock, dies at 79 [1]
1979 Mari Andriessen, Dutch sculptor (Dock Worker), dies at 82
1979 Nicolas Born, German writer, dies of cancer at 41
1979 Prince Chahryar Shafik, Shah of Iran's nephew, murdered in Paris
1980 Darby Crash, American Punk rocker (Germs), dies of an overdose at 22
1982 Bertus de Harder, Dutch soccer player, 1937-57 (Bordeaux), and manager (1957-64), dies at 62
1982 Charlie Brooks Jr, convicted murderer became 1st US prisoner to be executed by lethal injection, at a prison in Huntsville, Texas
1982 George Kistiakowsky, Ukrainian-American chemist who helped develop the first atomic bomb (Manhattan Project) but later opposed nuclear weapons, dies at 82
1982 William "Will" Lee, American actor (They Live by Night, Melody Lane), dies from a heart attack at 74
1983 Edgar Graham, member of N Ireland Assembly, shot dead by IRA
1983 Fanny Cano, Mexican actress (b. 1944)
1984 Jeanne Cagney, American stage, screen, and radio actress (Lion is in the Streets; Quicksand; Yankee Doodle Dandy), dies of lung cancer at 65
1984 Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough, American race car (Nascar) driver, dies of head injury from a fall at 46
1985 Potter Stewart, 94th Supreme Court Justice (1958-81), dies in NH at 70
1985 Robert Graves, English writer and poet (King Jesus), dies at 90
1988 Andrei P Ershov, Russian computer pioneer, dies
1988 Christopher Connelly, actor (Liar's Moon, Hawmps), dies at 47
1988 Peter Langan, Irish restaurateur (Langans London), dies in fire
1989 William 'Haystacks' Calhoun, American professional wrestler, dies at 55
1990 Dee Clark, American pop singer ("Raindrops"), dies at 52
1990 Horst Bienek, German writer and director (The First Polka), dies at 60
1990 Jean Duceppe, Quebec actor (Mon oncle Antoine), dies at 67
1990 Jean Paul Lemieux, Canadian painter, dies at 86
1990 Joan Bennett, American actress (House Across the Bay), dies at 80
1990 Peter Mieg, Swiss composer, dies at 84
1990 Reinaldo Arenas, Cuban poet and novelist (Pentagonia), dies at 47
1991 Michael Taylor, Male Model (b. 1913)
1992 Maurice Coutinho, writer/translator (Silent Struggle), dies at 79
1992 Ruth Corbett Thom, dies after long illness at 78
1993 Félix Houphouet-Boigny, first President of Ivory Coast (1960-93), dies at 88
1994 Edward Rell Madigan, American politician (US Secretary of Agriculture 91-93, Rep-R-IL, 1973-91), dies of cancer at 58
1994 Elga Andersen, German/French model/actress (Global Affair), dies at 58
1994 J.C. Tremblay, Canadian ice hockey defenseman (Stanley Cup x 5 Montreal Canadiens; 7 x NHL All Star), dies of kidney cancer at 55
1995 Larry Bartlett, photographer, dies at 42
1995 Tom Burns, British-Chilean publisher and editor, dies at 89
1996 Eugene Izzi, mystery writer, hangs himself at 43
1996 Jose Donoso, Chilean writer (The Place Without Limits), dies at 72
1997 Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer (Leeds United), dies at 54 from a suspected heart attack
1998 John Addison, British composer (b. 1920)
2000 Vladimir Gotovac, Croatian poet and politician (b. 1930)
2001 Charles McClendon, LSU Tigers head football coach (b. 1923)
2001 Pauline Moore [Joless Love], American actress (Colorado, Young Mr. Lincoln), dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at 87
2003 Azie Taylor Morton, Treasurer of the United States (b. 1936)
2003 Carl F. H. Henry American theologian and publisher (b. 1913)
2003 Joe Skeen, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Mexico), dies at 76
2004 Frederick Fennell, American conductor (Time & Winds), dies at 90
2004 Jay Van Andel, co-founder and former chairman of Amway (b. 1924)
2004 Jerry Scoggins, American country singer ("The Ballad of Jed Clampett"), dies at 91
2005 Bud Carson, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
2005 Carroll A. Campbell Jr., American politician (Governor South Carolina 1987-95, Rep-R-SC, 1979-87), dies at 65
2005 Lucy d'Abreu, was the oldest living person in the United Kingdom from April 2004 until her death (b. 1892)
2005 Rigoberto Alpizar, airplane passenger fatally shot by U.S. Air Marshals after allegedly claiming he had placed a bomb aboard (b. 1961)
2006 Jay McShann, American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader, dies at 90
2006 Jeane Kirkpatrick, American ambassador (b. 1926)
2006 Jeanne Kirkpatrick (neé Jordan), American diplomat (US Ambassador to UN, 1981-85), and writer, dies of congestive heart failure at 80
2008 Dennis Yost, American vocalist, dies at 65
2008 Marky Cielo, Filipino and Igorot dancer and actor (b. 1988)
2009 Mark Ritts, American actor (b. 1946)
2010 Elizabeth Edwards, American lawyer and wife of John Edwards (b. 1949)
2010 Gus Mercurio, American-born Australian actor (The Blue Lagoon, Crocodile Dundee II), dies at 82

Harry Morgan (1915-2011)

American actor (December Bride; M*A*S*H, 1975-83 - "Col. Sherman Potter"; AfterMASH; Dragnet - "Bill Gannon"), dies in his sleep at 96

2012 Russ "Rusty" Thacker, American stage actor and singer, dies of cancer at 66
2012 Saul Steinberg, American businessman, founder of Leasco and CEO of Reliance Insurance Company, dies at 73
2013 Édouard Molinaro, French film actor, director and screenwriter (La Cage aux Folles), dies a respiratory insufficiency at 85
2013 Jacob Matlala, South African boxer (WBO, WBU, IBA flyweight champion; shortest world champion ever at 1.47m [4-foot-10]), dies from pneumonia at 51
2014 John Bartholomew Tucker, American TV host (Candid Camera, Treasure Island), dies at 84
2014 Ken Weatherwax, American actor, dies from a heart attack at 59
2016 Greg Lake, English rock vocalist and bassist (King Crimson; Emerson, Lake & Palmer), dies of cancer at 69
2016 Hildegard Hamm-Brücher, German politician, dies at 95
2016 Junaid Jamshed, Pakistani singer (Vital Signs 1), dies in a plane crash at 52
2016 Paul Elvstrøm, Danish yachtsman (4 Olympic gold, Finn class 1948, 52, 56, 60), dies at 88
2017 James "Sunny" Murray, American jazz musician and drummer, dies at 81
2017 Peter Walwyn, British thoroughbred trainer (champion trainer 1974-75), dies at 84
2018 Belisario Betancur, Colombian politician, President of Colombia (1982-86), dies at 95
2019 Berkley Bedell, American politician (Rep-D-IA, 1975-87), dies at 98
2019 Chalmers "Bump" Elliott, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback and coach (U of Michigan) and college athletics administrator (Iowa), dies at 94
2019 Denis Lalanne, French sports journalist ('Le grand combat du XV de France'; 'Rugbymania: French flair attitude'), dies at 93
2019 Ron Saunders, English soccer striker (Portsmouth) and manager (Manchester City, Aston Villa, Birmingham City), dies at 87

Chuck Yeager (1923-2020)

American test pilot who was the 1st man to break the sound barrier, dies at 97 [1] [2]

2020 Dick Allen, American baseball infielder (7 × MLB All-Star; NL Rookie of the Year 1964, Philadelphia Phillies; AL MVP 1972, Chicago White Sox), dies at 78 [1]
2020 Doug Scott, English mountaineer (first ascent of south-west face of Mount Everest), dies at 79 [1]
2020 Fred Akers, American football coach (University of Wyoming; University of Texas, Austin; Purdue; career college record 108–75–3), dies at 82
2021 Christopher Hogg, British industrialist and CEO (Courtaulds & Reuters), dies at 85
2021 Steve Bronski Scottish rock keyboard player (Bronski Beat - "Smalltown Boy"), dies from smoke inhalation in a fire at his Soho flat at 61 [1]
2022 Karim Bavi, Iranian soccer striker (23 caps; Shahin FC, Persepolis FC), dies at 57