Famous Deaths on July 27

1720 Johann Samuel Welter, German composer, dies at 69
1759 Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, French mathematician and astronomer (Système de la nature), dies at 60
1770 Robert Dinwiddie, British colonial governor of Virginia (b. 1693)
1777 William Hayes, English composer and organist, dies at 69
1783 Johann Philipp Kirnberger, German music theorist and violist, dies at 62
1833 Bartolomea Capitanio, Italian teacher, co-foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Lovere, and saint, dies of tuberculosis at 26
1833 William Bainbridge, American naval officer, dies at 59
1841 Mikhail Lermontov, Russian poet and writer (Demon & other poems), dies at 26

John Dalton (1766-1844)

English physicist and chemist who developed the atomic theory of matter and researched colour blindness, dies at 77

1863 William Lowndes Yancey, American Confederate leader (b. 1813)
1864 John Putnam Chapin, American politician (10th Mayor of Chicago (1846-47), dies at 54
1864 Margaret E Breckinridge, US nurse/daughter of VP John, dies
1876 Walter Channing, American physician who was the first to use anesthesia during childbirth, dies at 90
1881 Johann Christian Lobe, German composer, dies at 84
1883 Albert Franz Doppler, Austrian flautist and composer, dies at 61
1883 Montgomery Blair, American lawyer (Dred Scott v. Sandford), dies at 70
1905 Robert Bullock, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 76
1907 Edward Pettus, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 86
1916 Charles Fryatt, British capt of SS Brussels, executed by Germans, dies
1917 Emil Theodor Kocher, Swiss surgeon, Thyroid specialist (Nobel 1909), dies at 75
1924 Ferruccio Busoni, Italian piano prodigy, composer (Fantasia Contrappuntistica; Arlecchino), conductor, and pedagogue, dies of heart failure at 58
1929 Raoul Pictet, Swiss physicist who invented liquid nitrogen and was a pioneer of cryogenics, dies at 83
1931 Auguste-Henri Forel, Swiss entomologist (b. 1848)
1933 James E. Talmage, English religious leader (LDS Church apostle), dies at 70
1934 Louis HG Lyautey, French minister of Defense (1916-17), dies at 79
1938 Catherine Wolfe Donohue, American watch dial painter, dies of radium poisoning at 35 [1]
1939 Alexandre Stellio [Fructueux], Martinican biguine clarinetist, composer, and bandleader, dies at 54
1941 Alfred Henry O'Keeffe, New Zealand artist, dies at 83
1942 William Matthew Finders Petrie, Egyptologist, dies
1943 H B G Austin, cricketer (capt of 1923 WI team to England), dies
1944 Victor Vreuls, Belgian violinist, teacher, and composer, dies at 68
1946 Gertrude Stein, American-French writer and poet (Ida, Tender Buttons), dies at 72
1948 Francesco Spetrino, Italian conductor and composer, dies at 91
1948 Joe Tinker, American Baseball HOF shortstop (World Series 1907, 08 Chicago Orphans/Cubs) and manager (Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs), dies of complications from diabetes at 68
1948 Woolf Barnato, British financier and racing driver, dies at 52
1952 Roland Pope, cricketer (Test for Australia 1885), dies
1952 W de Basil [US Voskresenski], Russian ballet dancer, dies
1956 Mick Commaille, South African cricketer and soccer rep (12 Tests for South Africa 1910-28), dies at 73
1958 Claire Chennault, American aviator and military leader (Flying Tigers), dies at 64
1961 Theodore Chanler, American composer, dies at 59
1962 Conrad Elvehjem, American biochemist and nutrition scientist (discovered niacin), dies at 61
1962 Edward Godfrey Richard Aldington, novelist/biographer, dies
1962 James H. "Dutch" Kindelberger, American aerospace pioneer (b. 1895)
1962 Richard Adlington, writer, dies at 70
1963 Garrett Morgan, American inventor (gas mask and traffic signal), dies at 86
1963 George "Hooks" Dauss, American MLB baseball pitcher, 1912-26 (Detroit Tigers), dies at 73
1965 Henri Daniel-Rops, French writer and historian (b. 1901)
1968 Anton van Duinkerken [Willem Jan Marie Anton Asselbergs], Dutch poet and academic, dies at 65
1968 Babe Adams, baseball player (b. 1882)
1968 Lillian Harvey [Pape], British actress (Invitation to the Waltz; Congress Dance), dies of liver failure at 62

António de Oliveira Salazar (1889-1970)

Dictator of Portugal (1932-68) who founded and controlled the Estado Novo (New State), dies from a cerebral hemorrhage at 81

1971 Bernhard Paumgartner, Austrian conductor, composer, and musicologist, dies at 83
1972 Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, Austrian-Japanese politician, dies at 77
1974 Lightnin' Slim [Otis Hicks], American Louisiana blues electric guitarist, singer, and songwriter ("Nothing But The Devil"; "Bad Luck And Trouble"), dies of stomach cancer at 61
1976 Ray Brennan, retired US Air Force captain, American Legion bookkeeper and the 1st American to die of "Legionnaire's Disease," dies of an apparent heart attack at 61
1977 Jacob Marschak, Ukrainian-American economist (econometrics), dies at 79
1978 Willem Van Otterloo, Dutch cellist, composer, and conductor (Residentie Orkest, 1949-73; Melbourne Symphony, 1967-70; Sydney Symphony, 1971-77), dies in a car crash at 70
1979 Ettore Manni, Italian actor (Street People, Divine Nymph, Fatal Desire, Heroes in Hell), accidentally shoots himself at 52
1979 Shirley Mason, actress (Let it Rain, Dark Skies), dies at 79

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980)

last Shah of Iran (Persia) (1941-79), dies in Cairo of splenomegaly at 60

1981 Ray Harrison, dancer (American Song), dies at 64

William Wyler (1902-1981)

American film director (Ben-Hur, Mrs Miniver), dies at 79

1982 Vladimir Smirnov, Russian foil fencer (Olympic gold 1980), dies at 28
1983 Mufasir-ul-Haq, cricketer (Pakistani left-arm quick 1965), dies
1984 Guillermo Díaz-Plaja, Spanish literary and poet (Lorca), dies at 75
1984 James Mason, British actor (Lolita, North by Northwest, Bloodline, Boys From Brazil), dies of a heart attack at 75
1984 Oswald Jacoby, US contract bridge champion, dies at 81
1985 'Smoky' Joe Wood, American baseball pitcher/outfielder (World Series 1912, 15, 20; MLB wins leader 34–5 1912; pitched no-hitter 1911; Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians), dies at 95
1986 Leroy Holmes, American orchestra leader (The Tonight Show, 1956-57), dies at 72
1987 Travis Jackson, American Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop (World Series 1933; MLB All Star 1934; NY Giants), dies of Alzheimer's disease at 83
1988 Brigitte Horney, German actress (Das Erbe der Guldenburgs), dies at 77
1988 Frank Zamboni, American inventor (b. 1901)
1990 Bobby Day [Robert Byrd], American rock musician (Rockin' Robin), dies of cancer at 58
1990 Elizabeth Allan, actress (Tale of 2 Cities, Camille, Java Head), dies
1990 Kim Thomas-Friedland, news anchor (FNN), dies at 32
1990 Nick Pippins, American actor (Simon), dies of AIDS at 35
1990 Salim Ali, Indian Ornithologist (Birdman of India), dies at 90
1991 Carol Gillies, actress (Back Home, Baby Boom), dies at 50
1991 Pierre Brunet, French figure skater pair (Olympic gold 1928, 32), dies at 89
1992 Jenny Karezi, Greek actress (Red Lanterns), dies of cancer at 56
1992 Max Dupain, Australian photographer ("Sunbaker"), dies at 81
1993 Reggie Lewis, NBA star (Boston Celtics), dies of heart failure at 27
1994 Kevin Carter, a South African photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner & member of the Bang-Bang Club, suicide at 33
1994 Rosa Chacel, Spanish author, dies at 96
1994 Tatiana Tauer, Russian classical harpist, dies of cancer at 48
1995 Charles Hugh Shirley, publisher, dies at 56
1995 Doris Mae Akers, American gospel singer-songwriter (Sky Pilot Choir - "Sweet, Sweet Spirit"), dies at 72
1995 Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American classical and film music composer (Spellbound; A Double Life; Ben-Hur), dies at 88
1995 Rick Ferrell, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher (8 x MLB All Star; Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators), dies of arrhythmia at 89
1996 Ivan V. Lalić, Serbian poet, dies at 65
1996 Jane Beverly Drew, English modernist architect, dies at 85
1996 Peter James Frederick Green, CEO (LLoyd's of London), dies at 71
1997 Isabel Dean, English actress (Five Days One Summer Virgin Island, Ransom), dies at 79
1997 K'Tut Tantri [Muriel Stuart Walker], Scottish-American broadcaster during Indonesian National Revolution, dies at 99
1998 Bill Tuttle, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers), dies at 69
1998 Binnie Barnes, British actress (Last of the Mohicans, 3 Musketeers), dies at 95
1998 William McChesney Martin, American Chairman of Federal Reserve Bank (1951-70), dies at 91
1999 Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov, Russian mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and mountaineer, dies at 86
1999 Harry "Sweets" Edison, American jazz and session trumpet player, dies of prostate cancer at 83
2000 Gordon Solie, American wrestling commentator (b. 1929)
2000 Val Dufour, American actor (Eugenie Grandet, Another World), dies at 73
2001 Harold Beeley, British diplomat to the Arab world, dies at 92
2001 Leon Wilkeson, American guitarist (Lynyrd Skynyrd), dies at 49
2001 Rhonda Singh, professional wrestler (b. 1961)
2003 Artie Anton, American jazz drummer, conguero, and timbalero (Stan Kenton, Jimmy Guiffre), dies at 79

Bob Hope (1903-2003)

English-born American actor, comedian and entertainer, dies at 100

2003 Vance Hartke, American politician (b. 1919)
2004 Bob Tisdall, Irish athlete (Olympic gold 400m hurdles 1932 WR 51.7s; first man under 52s), dies after a fall at 97
2005 Al Held, American painter and sculptor (hard edge-style), dies at 76
2005 Marten Toonder, Dutch comic writer and cartoonist (Tom Puss), dies at 93
2005 Swami Shantanand, Mahasamadhi Day, Indian Saint, Philosopher (b. 1934)
2006 Maryann Mahaffey, American politician (b. 1925)
2007 Lucky Grills, Australian actor (b. 1928)
2007 Roland Gaucher, French journalist, dies at 88
2008 Horst Stein, German conductor (Hamburg State Opera, 1963-77), dies at 80
2008 Isaac Saba Raffoul, Mexican Businessman (b. 1923)
2008 Julius B. Richmond, 12th US Surgeon General (1977-81) created Head Start program, dies at 91
2008 Youssef Chahine, Egyptian film director (b. 1926)
2009 George Russell, American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and theorist (The Jazz Workshop; Jazz in the Space Age), dies of complications from Alzheimer's disease at 86
2010 Jack Tatum, American NFL defensive back, 1971-80 (Oakland Raiders, Houston Oilers), dies of a heart attack at 61
2010 Maury Chaykin, American-born Canadian actor (b. 1949)
2011 Ágota Kristóf, Hungarian writer (The Notebook), dies at 75
2011 Bejaratana Rajasuda, Princess of Thailand (b. 1925)
2011 Hideki Irabu, Japanese-American NPB and MLB baseball pitcher, 1988-2004 (New York Yankees, 1997-2002), takes his own life at 42
2011 Richard Rutt, English bishop of Leicester, dies at 85
2012 Geoffrey Hughes, British actor, dies from prostate cancer at 68
2012 Norman Alden, American character actor (I Never Promised You a Rose Garden), dies from natural causes at 87
2012 R G Armstrong [Robert Golden], American actor (Predator, Dick Tracey, T.H.E. Cat), dies of natural causes at 95
2012 Tony Martin, American singer, dies from natural causes at 98
2013 Lindy Boggs (née Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne), American politician (US Representative from Louisiana, 1973-97), and diplomat, dies from natural causes at 97
2015 A. P. J. [Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen] Abdul Kalam, Indian scientist and politician, 11th President of India (2002-07), dies at 83
2016 James Alan MacPherson, American writer, 1st black writer to win Pulitzer Prize, dies at 72
2016 Piet de Jong, Dutch politician (Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1967-71), dies at 101
2017 Sam Shepard Ill, American actor and playwright (Frances; Crimes of the Heart), dies at 73
2018 Vladimir Voinovich, Russian writer and dissident (Moscow 2042), dies of a heart attack at 85
2019 John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist (Nobel Prize for Physics 1972 for BCS theory), dies at 88
2020 Denise Johnson, British rock and soul singer (Primal Scream - "Don’t Fight It, Feel It"), and songwriter ("Where Does It Go"), dies at 56
2021 Mike Hendrick, English cricket fast bowler (30 Tests, 87 wickets; 22 ODIs; Derbyshire CCC), dies from bowel cancer at 72
2021 Pete George, American weightlifter (Olympic gold middle-heavyweight 1952, silver 1948, 56), dies at 92
2021 Saginaw Grant, Native American character actor, hereditary chief of the Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma, musician, and U.S. Marine, dies at 85
2021 Willie Winfield, American doo-wop singer (Harptones - "Life Is But A Dream"; “A Sunday Kind of Love”), dies of a heart attack at 91
2022 Mary Alice [Smith], American stage and screen actress (Fences - Tony Award, 1987; I'll Fly Away - Emmy Award, 1993; A Different World - "Lettie"), dies at 85 or 80 [year of birth disputed]
2022 Tony Dow, American actor (Leave it to Beaver - "Wally"), director, and sculptor, dies of cancer at 77