Famous Deaths on February 3

John of Gaunt (1340-1399)

English son of King Edward III, 1st Duke of Lancaster, statesman and founder of the English royal House of Lancaster, dies at 58

1428 Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shogun (b. 1386)
1451 Murad II, sultan of Turkey (1421-51), dies

Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1395-1468)

German inventor (movable printing press), dies at 70 (birth date c. 1400)

1520 Sten Sture the Younger, Swedish nobleman and Regent of Sweden (1512-20), dies at about 26
1536 Garcia de Resende, Port writer/publisher (Cancioneiro Geral), dies
1558 Alfonsus de Castro, Spanish theologist (council of Trente), dies
1566 George Cassander, Flemish theologian (b. 1513)
1602 Paul Melissus [Paul Schede], German poet/composer, dies at 62
1669 Catharina Questiers, Dutch poet (Friend of Abandoned Child), dies at 31
1679 Jan Havicksz Steen, Dutch painter (St Nicolas Feast), dies at 53
1697 Sjoucke Gabbes, Frisian sailor, dies/buried on Dirk-Hartog Island
1700 Diogo Dias Melgás, Portuguese composer of sacred polyphonic music, dies at 61
1715 Gottfried Vopelius, composer, dies at 70
1737 Tommaso Ceva, Italian Mathematician (b. 1648)
1748 Henri Madin, French composer, dies at 49
1803 Pedro Rodríguez de Campomanes y Pérez, 1st Count of Campomanes, Spanish economist and literary, dies at 79
1814 Jan Antonín Koželuh, Czech composer, dies at 75
1832 George Crabbe, English poet (Everlasting Mercy), dies at 77
1846 Joseph Weigl, German-Austrian composer (La Principessa d’Amalfi; Emmeline), and conductor, dies at 79
1862 Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist (Biot-Savart law), dies at 87
1864 Jarena Lee, African American travelling minister (1st woman preacher in African Methodist Episcopal Church), dies at 80
1866 François-Xavier Garneau, French Canadian poet and historian (b. 1809)
1871 Thomas William Robertson, English playwright (Society, Caste), dies at 42
1874 Lunalilo, Hawaiian monarch (b. 1835)
1875 Everhardus Johannes Potgieter, Dutch writer (Liedekens van Bontekoe), dies at 66
1876 Gino Capponi, Italian marquis, literary and Premier of Toscane, dies at 83
1881 John Gould, British ornithologist and bird artist, dies at 76
1882 Guglielmo Quarenghi, Italian composer and cellist, dies at 55
1882 Mary Elizabeth Lange, Cuban-American educator, Catholic nun, and co-founder of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first African-American Catholic religious order, dies at about 92 [birthdate uncertain, c. 1769]
1889 Belle Starr [Myra Belle Shirley], American outlaw (wild west), murdered at 40
1890 C. H. D. Buys Ballot, Dutch meteorologist (Buys Ballot's law), dies at 72

Theodore Dwight Weld (1803-1895)

American abolitionist and writer (American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses), dies at 91

1896 Jane Wilde, Irish poet, nationalist and mother of Oscar Wilde, dies at 74
1900 Ottokar Eugen Novacek, composer, dies at 33
1900 William W. Averell, American Major General (Union Army), dies at 67
1902 Isaac Fransen van der Putten, Dutch PM (1866), dies
1903 Frederick E Kitziger, composer, dies at 59
1909 Johann Georg Herzog, composer, dies at 86
1919 Charles Edward Pickering, American astronomer and pioneered American spectroscopist, dies at 72
1919 Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Bavaria, dies at 69
1921 Max Wilhelm Zach, Polish-American violinist and conductor (Boston Symphony 1896-1907; St. Louis Symphony, 1907-21), dies at 56
1922 Christiaan R. de Wet, South African rebel leader, politician and general in the Boer War, dies at 67
1922 John Butler Yeats, Northern Irish artist (b. 1839)

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)

28th President of the United States (Democrat: 1913-21) and 1919 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, dies at his home in Washington at 67

1929 Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish scientist (b. 1878)
1931 Hans Schardt, Swiss geologist, dies at 72
1935 Hugo Junkers, German engineer (b. 1859)
1936 Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg, consort of William of Wied, Prince of Albania (b.1885)
1937 Marija Leiko, Latvian film actress (b. 1887)
1943 Alexander Goode, American US Navy chaplain and rabbi (The Four Chaplains) drowns in the sinking of the Dorchester at 31 [1]
1943 Clark Poling, American US Army chaplain and Protestant minister (The Four Chaplains) drowns in the sinking of the Dorchester at 32 [1]
1943 George Fox, American US Army chaplain and Methodist minister (The Four Chaplains) drowns in the sinking of the Dorchester at 42 [1]
1943 John Washington, American US Army chaplain and Catholic priest (The Four Chaplains) drowns in the sinking of the Dorchester at 34 [1]
1945 José Roló, Mexican composer, dies at 61
1945 Roland Freisler, German Nazi judge (July 20th plotter case) and politician, dies at 51
1947 Marc Mitscher, American naval commander (WWII - Task Force 58 in the Pacific), dies at 60
1950 Karl Seitz, President of Austria (1920), dies at 80
1952 Harold L. Ickes, American government official and politician (responsible for implementing the New Deal under FDR), dies at 77
1956 Émile Borel, French mathematician (b. 1871)
1956 Johnny Claes, Belgian racing driver (b. 1916)
1958 Henry Kuttner, American sci-fi author (Dark World, As You Were), dies of a heart attack at 42
1958 Johan Buziau, Dutch cabaret performer and clown (1 great dog), dies at 81

Buddy Holly (1936-1959)

American rock and roll musician and songwriter ("Peggy Sue"; "That'll Be the Day"; "Words Of Love"), dies in a plane crash at 22 [1]

1959 Ritchie Valens [Valenzuela], American rock singer ("Donna"; "La Bamba"), dies in plane crash at 17
1959 The Big Bopper [Jiles Perry Richardson], American radio disc jockey, singer and songwriter (Chantilly Lace; White Lightning), dies in plane crash at 28
1960 Ferdinando "Fred" Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor, dies in an automobile accident at 38
1960 Johannes Geelkerken, Dutch theologian and vicar, dies at 80
1961 Anna May Wong [Wong Liu-tsong], Chinese-American actress, 1st Asian-American movie star (Shanghai Express; Gallery of Mme Lui-Tsang), and 1st Asian-American on US currency (American Women series quarter, 2022), dies of a heart attack at 56
1961 William Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil, British politician (Governor-General of Australia 1960-61), dies at 67
1962 Werner Bock, writer, dies
1964 Haakon Stotijn, Dutch oboist (Orkestgebouw Orchestra), dies at 49
1964 Sir Albert Richardson, English architect (b. 1880)
1966 June Walker, actress (War Nurses), dies at 65
1967 Joe Meek, English record producer (Telstar), commits suicide at 37
1967 Winifred Kingston, British silent screen actress (The Squaw Man, Davy Crockett), dies at 72
1969 C. N. Annadurai, Indian politician and 1st Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, dies of cancer at 59
1969 Eduardo C Mondlane, Tsonga anthropologist and President of Mozambique, assassinated by a bomb at 48
1971 Jay C Flippen, American actor (Jet Pilot, The Killing, Thunder Bay), dies at 71
1972 John Litel, American actor (Jezebel, Virginia City, My Hero), dies at 79
1973 Edward Lockspeiser, British composer and musicologist (Debussy: His Life and Mind), dies at 67
1975 Robert Evett, American composer, dies at 52
1975 Umm Kulthum [Ibrahim], Egyptian singer and actress, dies at 76
1975 William D. Coolidge, American physicist and inventor (modern x-ray tube), dies at 101
1976 Neville Lindsay, cricketer (South African batsman in Test v Aust 1921), dies
1977 Pauline Starke, American actress (Dante's Inferno; Dance Magic; Sun Up), dies at 76
1979 Jody Gilbert, American actress (Willard, Shaggy, Blonde Dynamite), dies at 62
1983 Tullio Campagnolo, Italian racing cyclist and inventor (quick release skewer patent; founder bicycle component company Campagnolo), dies at 81
1984 Ravindra Mhatre, Indian diplomat, murdered at 48 by Kashmiri terrorists in Birmingham, England
1985 Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist (b. 1912)
1988 Radames Gnattali, Brazilian composer and conductor (Rádio Nacional), dies at 82
1989 Glenna Collett-Vare, American golfer (6-time US Amateur champion), dies at 85
1989 John Cassavetes, Greek-American actor, film director, and screenwriter (Dirty Dozen, Rosemary's Baby), dies at 59
1991 Harry Ackerman, American TV executive producer (b. 1912)
1991 Nancy Kulp, American actress (The Beverly Hillbillies, The Aristocats, Shane), dies of cancer at 69
1993 Karel Goeyvaerts, Flemish contemporary classical and minimalist composer (Zomerspelen/Summer Games; Aquarius), dies at 69
1993 Reid Miles, American photographer, and album cover art designer (Blue Note Records, 1955-67), dies at 65
1995 Art Kane [Kanofsky], American art director (Seventeen Magazine), and portrait photographer (A Great Day In Harlem), takes his own life at 69
1995 John Pinsent, English classical scholar (Greek mythology), dies at 72
1995 Turner Fodrell, American blues and folk singer, and guitarist, dies at 66
1996 Audrey Meadows [Cotter], American actress (The Honeymooners - "Alice Kramden"; The Jackie Gleason Show), dies of lung cancer at 73
1996 Brodrick Haldane, Scottish photographer, dies at 83
1996 Edward Adamson, English artist, 'father of art therapy' and collector, dies at 84
1996 Tibor Reich, British textile designer (Tibor Ltd), dies at 79
1996 Wild Jimmy Spruill, blues guitarist, dies at 61
1997 Anthony Cuthbert Baines, English music scholar, dies at 84
1997 Bohumil Hrabal, Czech writer (Closely Observed Trains), dies at 82
1997 Esteban Sánchez, Spanish classical pianist and pedagogue (Badajoz Conservatoire, 1978-97), dies at 62
1997 William Geoffrey Biddle, English bomb disposal expert, dies at 79
1998 Karla Faye Tucker, murderer, executed at 38
1999 Gwen Guthrie, American singer ("Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent"), dies of cancer at 48
2000 Richard Kleindienst, American lawyer and civil servant (Attorney General during Watergate scandal, 1972-73), dies of lung cancer at 76
2003 Lana Clarkson, American actress, shot and killed by Phil Spector at 40
2004 Cornelius Bumpus, American saxophonist and keyboardist (Doobie Brothers; Steely Dan), dies of a heart attack at 58
2004 Jason Raize, American musical theatre actor (b. 1975)
2005 Corrado Cardinal Bafile, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1903)
2005 Ernst Mayr, German-American biologist (evolutionary theory), dies at 100
2005 Zurab Zhvania, Prime Minister of Georgia (b. 1963)
2006 Al Lewis [Alexander Meister], American actor (The Munsters, Used Cars), dies at 82
2006 Lou Jones, American athlete (Olympic gold 4x400m relay 1956), dies at 74
2006 Romano Mussolini, Italian jazz pianist, and bandleader, dies of heart failure at 78
2007 George Becker, American president of United Steelworkers (1993-2001) (b. 1928)
2007 Pedro Knight, Cuban-American trumpeter, husband and manager of legendary singer Celia Cruz, dies from complications of diabetes at 85
2007 Ralph de Toledano, Moroccan-born American political columnist and author (b. 1916)
2008 Douglas Fraser, Scottish pilot (b. 1916)
2009 Max Neuhaus, American classical musician and experimental percussionist (sound sculptures), dies of cancer at 69
2009 Sheng-yen, Buddhist monk and founder of Dharma Drum Mountain. (b. 1930)
2010 Frances Reid, American actress (Days of Our Lives, The Andromeda Strain), dies at 95
2010 Regina, Crown Princess of Austria (b. 1925)
2011 Maria Schneider, French actress (Last Tango in Paris, Crime of Honor), dies at 58
2011 Ron Piché, Quebec baseball player (Milwaukee Braves), dies at 75
2012 Ben Gazzara, American actor, dies from pancreatic cancer at 81
2012 Christopher Samuel Youd, British sci-fi writer (Tripods Trilogy), dies at 89
2012 Norton Zinder, American biologist (genetic transduction), dies from pneumonia at 83
2012 Zalman King, American actor and director, dies from cancer at 69
2013 Cardiss Collins, American politician (first African-American woman to represent the Midwest in Congress), dies at 81
2014 Joan Mondale (née Adams;), American artist, author, and wife of US vice-president Walter Mondale, dies of Alzheimer's disease at 83

Louise Brough (1923-2014)

American tennis player (Wimbledon 1948-50, 55), dies at 90

Charlie Sifford (1922-2015)

American golfer (first African-American to join PGA Tour, 2 titles), dies of a stroke at 92

2015 Norman Yemm, Australian actor (Oklahoma!), dies at 81
2015 Sir Martin Gilbert, British historian (Winston Churchill biography), dies at 78
2015 William Thomas McKinley, American composer and jazz pianist, dies at 76
2016 Joseph Francis "Joe" Alaskey, American stand-up comedian, actor, voice artist, and impressionist (Buggs Bunny, Daffy Duck), dies from cancer at 63
2016 Mary Healy, American actress (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, He Married his Wife), dies of natural causes at 96
2016 Saulius Sondeckis, Lithuanian violinist, conductor, orchestra leader (Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, 1960-2004), dies at 87
2018 Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, American pop, funk and jazz session and touring drummer, (Michael Jackson -"Billie Jean"; George Duke; Herbie Hancock), composer, and producer, dies of prostate cancer at 65
2019 Bob Friend, American baseball pitcher (4 x MLB All Star; World Series 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates; MLB wins leader 1958), dies from cardiac arrest at 88
2019 Carmen Duncan, Australian actress (Another World), dies at 76

Matti Nykänen (1963-2019)

Finnish ski jumper (4 Olympic gold 1984, 88), dies of diabetes complications at 55

2020 Eric Parkin, British classical pianist and champion of British composers, dies at 95
2020 George Steiner, French American literary critic and educator, dies at 90
2020 Robert Alner, British racehorse trainer (Cheltenham Gold Cup: Cool Dawn 1998), dies at 76
2020 Willie Wood, American Pro Football Hall of Fame safety (Pro Bowl 1962, 64–70; Super Bowl 1967, 68; Green Bay Packers), dies of dementia at 83
2021 Jean-Pierre Bastiat, French rugby union lock (32 Tests; US Dax), dies from a stroke at 71
2021 Jim Weatherly, American pop and country songwriter ("Midnight Train To Georgia"), dies at 77

Tony Trabert (1930-2021)

American tennis player (Wimbledon 1955; US Open 1953, 55; French Open 1954, 55), dies at 90

2022 Tom Kiernan, Irish rugby union fullback (54 caps [captain 24]; British & Irish Lions 5 [captain 1968]; Munster RUFC), dies at 83
2023 Paco Rabanne [Francisco Cuervo], Spanish fashion designer and perfumer, dies at 88

February 3 Highlights