- January 5
- German billionaire Adolf Merckle commits suicide at age 74, stepping in front of a train in Germany. [35]
- January 14
- Ricardo Montalban, Mexican-born American actor (The Colby's, Mr. Roarke - Fantasy Island, Khan Noonien Singh - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), dies at age 88 of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles, California. [105] [398] [457]
- January 15
- Patrick McGoohan, actor (Danger Man, The Prisoner, Emmy awards for Colombo, Bafta award for The Greatest Man In The World), dies at age 80 in Los Angeles, California. [57] (January 13 [398])
- January 16
- Longtime CBC Vancouver announcer Dan McAfee ("Dr. Bundolo") dies at age 73. [457]
- January 20
- Death of Stéphanos II Ghattas, Egyptian Patriarch of Alexandria (born 1920). [398]
- January 25
- Death of Mamadou Dia, 1st Prime Minister of Senegal (born 1910). [398]
- January 27
- American novelist John Updike (Pulitzer prize for Rabbit series, Rabbit, Run, Couples, Rabbit Redux, The Witches of Eastwick, Memories of the Ford Administration) dies at age 76 from lung cancer. [57] [374.89] [398]
- Death of R. Venkataraman, 8th President of India (born 1910). [398]
- January 28
- Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell dies at the age of 56 of a suspected heart attack in Florida. [457]
- January 30
- Ingemar Johansson, heavyweight champion (silver medal 1952 Olympics, heavyweight champ 1959, Associated Press athlete of the year, Sports Illustrated sportsman of the year), dies in Sweden at age 76 from complications of pneumonia. [105] [398]
- Death of Teddy Mayer, McLaren Formula 1 boss, at age 73 of complications from Parkinson's Disease, in London, England. [329.10]
- February 7
- James Whitmore, actor of movies (The Last Frontier, Oklahoma!, Planet of the Apes, The Shawshank Redemption, Battleground, Golden Globe award), television (The Law and Mr. Jones, Temperatures Rising, The Practice, Emmy award), and theater (Give 'em Hell, Harry, Command Decision, Tony award), dies at age 87 in Malibu, California, of lung cancer. [105]
- February 9
- Death of Eluana Englaro, Italian patient in right-to-die case (born 1970). [398]
- February 11
- Ronettes singer Estelle Bennett ("Be My Baby") dies at age 67 in Englewood, New Jersey. [457]
- February 20
- Death of William J. Jorden, former New York Times correspondent, American ambassador to Panama (1974-78), author (Panama Odyssey), at age 85, or lung cancer, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. [299.A2]
- February 22
- Toronto-based Laddie Dennis, the first woman to appear on Canadian television, dies at age 88. [457]
- February 27
- Death of Manea Manescu, Romanian Prime Minister (born 1916). [398]
- February 28
- Death of Paul Harvey, American radio broadcaster, in Phoenix Arizona, at age 90. [300.A2]
- March 2
- The President of Guinea-Bissau, João Bernardo Vieira, is assassinated during an armed attack on his residence in Bissau. [398]
- March 3
- Death of Sydney Chaplin, age 82, of a stroke, in Rancho Mirage, California. Chaplin was a stage actor (Bells are Ringing, Funny Girl, Subways are for Sleeping). [314.A2]
- March 4
- Death of Horton Foote, Oscar- and Pulitzer Prize winning stage and screenwriter, at age 92, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Notable works: The Young Man From Atlanta (Pulitzer), To Kill a Mockingbird (Oscar), Tender Mercies (Oscar), The Trip to Bountiful. [331.A2]
- March 8
- Death of Hank Locklin, American country and western music singer ("Please Help Me, I'm Falling"), at age 91. [334.A2]
- March 10
- Death of George Hedges, Hollywood lawyer and archaeologist, at age 57 in South Pasadena, California. [367.A2]
- March 15
- Death of Ron Silver, American actor (Speed-the-Plow Tony Award, Kissinger and Nixon, Reversal of Fortune), political activist, or esophageal cancer at age 62, in Manhattan, New York, USA. [368.A2] [398]
- March 18
- Death of stage and screen performer Natasha Richardson (wife of actor Liam Neeson, daughter of Vanessa Redgrave), at age 45, in New York from a severe brain injury from a skiing accident in Quebec, Canada. [35] [398]
- March 20
- Death of Abdellatif Filali, 13th Prime Minister of Morocco (born 1928). [398]
- March 24
- Death of George Kell, third baseman (Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Baseball Hall of Fame), in his sleep at age 86 in Swifton, Arkansas. [335.A2]
- March 25
- Death of Yukio Endo, Japanese gymnast (born 1937). [398]
- March 27
- Death of Jack Dreyfus, American investment innovator, the "Lion on Wall Street" at age 95 in New York. [35]
- March 28
- Death of Janet Jagan, first white and female president of Guyana (1997-), of abdominal aneurysm, at age 88, in Georgetown, Guyana. [337.A2] [398]
- March 29
- Death of Maurice Jarre, French composer and conductor, at age 84 (born 1924). [398] [425.92]
- March 31
- Death of Raúl Alfonsín, 49th President of Argentina (born 1927). [398]
- April 7
- Death of Samuel Beer at age 97; chairman of political science department at Harvard University, author of British Politics in the Collectivist Age, speech-writer for President Franklin Roosevelt. [426.88]
- April 13
- Former major-league pitcher (Detroit Tigers, 1976-80) Mark Fidrych dies in an apparent accident at his farm in Northborough, Massachusetts, at age 54. [105]
- April 19
- English author J.G. Ballard (Crash, Empire of the Sun) dies at age 78 after a long illness (born 1930). [57] [398]
- April 25
- Death of Beatrice Arthur, American actress (All in the Family, Maude [Emmy award], The Golden Girls [Emmy award], Mame [Tony award]), at age 86 from cancer, in Los Angeles, California. [57] [398]
- April 28
- Death of Ekaterina Maximova, Soviet-Russian ballerina (born 1939). [398]
- April 30
- Death of Ted Reynolds, Canadian sports broadcaster, at age 84 in West Vancouver, British Columbia. [105]
- May 2
- Marilyn French, author of The Women's Room, dies of heart failure at age 79 in New York. [57]
- May 4
- Dominick "Dom" DeLuise, American comic actor (Blazing Saddles, The Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit II) dies at age 75 from prostate cancer in Los Angeles, California. [35] [398]
- May 18
- Sri Lanka's army defeats the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, unifying the country for the first time in 25 years. Rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is killed, at age 54. An estimated 70,000 people died in the civil war. [105] [398] [529.29,92]
- May 19
- Death of Robert F. Furchgott, American scientist (born 1916). [398]
- May 21
- Linda Fleming, 66-year-old US woman with advanced cancer, becomes the first person to die under a new assisted suicide law in Washington State. [57]
- May 23
- South Korea's former President (2002-2008) Roh Moo-hyunal dies from a fall while hiking on Ponghwa Mountain near Bongha village at age 62, possibly a suicide. [35] [378.96] [398]
- May 27
- Death of Clive Granger, British economist (born 1934). [398]
- May 30
- Death of Luís Cabral, first President of Guinea-Bissau (born 1931). [398]
- Death of Ephraim Katzir, 4th President of Israel (born 1916). [398]
- Death of Gaafar Nimeiry, 5th President of the Sudan (born 1930). [398]
- June 3
- Death of David Carradine, American actor (Kung Fu, Kill Bill), in a hotel closet in Bangkok, Thailand, at age 72. Carradine was found hanging naked by a rope. [35] [398]
- June 6
- Death of Jean Dausset, French immunologist and Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916). [398]
- June 8
- Death of Africa's longest serving leader (42 years), Gabonese President Omar Bongo, at age 73 of a heart attack. [57] [398]
- June 12
- Death of Félix Malloum, 3rd President of Chad (born 1932). [398]
- June 19
- Ken Roberts, American radio and TV announcer (The Secret Storm and Love of Life), founder of broadcast performers' union (AFTRA), dies at age 99. [457]
- June 21
- Vancouver-based actress, director and writer Lorena Gale (The X Files, Battlestar Gallactica, Smallville, MANTIS, Neon Rider and The Outer Limits) dies from cancer at age 51. [457]
- June 23
- Longtime Johnny Carson announcer/sidekick (The Tonight Show for 30 years) Ed McMahon dies at age 86 in California; host of Star Search from 1983 to 1995, co-host of Bloopers and Practical Jokes from 1982 to 1986, and emceed game shows Missing Links, Snap Judgment, Concentration, and Whodunnit!. [57] [457]
- June 24
- Death of Roméo LeBlanc, 25th governor general of Canada (1995-1999), in New Brunswick, at age 81. [105]
- June 25
- Death of American performer Michael Jackson ("Beat It", "Billie Jean", Thriller, 13 Grammy Awards, sold 750 million albums), dubbed the "King of Pop", in Los Angeles following cardiac arrest, at age 50. [5] [105] [398] [530.83]
- Death of American actress Farrah Fawcett Charlie's Angels at age 62 from cancer, in Santa Monica, California. [5] [105] [398]
- July 1
- Death of Karl Malden, Hollywood actor (How the West Was Won, Birdman of Alcatraz, Patton, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Streets of San Francisco), president of Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (1989-92), at his Los Angeles home at age 97. [105] [398]
- Death of Alexis Arguello, mayor of Managua, Nicaragua, former champion lightweight boxer, at age 57, of a gunshot. [355.A8] [398]
- July 6
- Death of Robert Strange McNamara at age 93; Ford Motor Co (1946-), Air Force Office of Statistical Control (1943-45), U.S. Secretary of Defence (1961-68) during the Vietnam War, President of the World Bank (1968-81), author (In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam). [105] [398] [531.88]
- July 7
- French tennis player Mathieu Montcourt is found dead in the stairwell of his Paris apartment, at age 24. [57]
- July 17
- Death of Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician (born 1921). [398]
- Former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, "the most trusted man in America," dies in New York at age 92. [35] [398]
- July 25
- The last British survivor of the World War I trenches, Harry Patch, dies at age 111 in Wells, Somerset. [57]
- July 26
- Former world boxing champion Vernon Forrest is shot dead in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the victim of an apparent robbery. [35]
- July 31
- Death of former Philippine leader Corazon Aquino, of colon cancer, at age 76. [57] (August 1 [398])
- August 5
- Death of Baitullah Mehsud, by missile fired by US drone in South Waziristan, leader of Tehrik-Taliban in Pakistan. [532.36]
- August 11
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of President John F Kennedy and founder of the Special Olympics, dies at age 88 in Massachusetts, USA. [57] [398]
- August 13
- Les Paul, country and jazz musician, electric guitar pioneer, dies at the age of 94 from complications of pneumonia in New York, USA. He was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. [57] [398]
- Death of Mary Elizabeth Higby in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA at age 94; superintendent of the Denver Mint (1969-1978). [574.68]
- August 15
- Death of Virginia McGhee at age 90 in Corona, California; at age 4, as Virginia Davis, played the role of Alice in Walt Disney's Alice Comedies films in 1923. [358.A2]
- August 18
- Veteran US newspaper columnist Robert Novak dies at age 78 after a battle with brain cancer. [57]
- Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung dies at age 85 in Seoul. [57] [398] [532.76]
- August 25
- U.S. Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, brother of assassinated president John Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy, dies at age 77 of brain cancer in Massachusetts, USA. [35] [398]
- August 30
- British TV talk show host Simon Dee (real bame Nicholas Henty-Dodd), one of the biggest stars on British TV in the 1960s (Dee Time), dies at the age of 74 of bone cancer, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. [57]
- September 4
- British author (Billy Liar) and playwright (Whistle Down the Wind, Mr and Mrs Nobody, Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell) Keith Waterhouse dies at the age of 80. [57]
- September 14
- American actor Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing, Ghost) dies after a long battle with pancreatic cancer at age 57. [35] [398]
- September 15
- Keith Floyd, pioneer of the modern British TV cooking show (Floyd on Fish), dies after a heart attack at the age of 65. [57]
- September 23
- Death of Ertugrul Osman, 43rd Head of the Ottoman Dynasty (born 1912). [398]
- September 27
- William Safire dies at age 79 in Rockville, Maryland, after suffering from pancreatic cancer; 30-year columnist for The New York Times, author of Political Dictionary, former speechwriter for Richard Nixon, Pulitzer Prize winner. [35] [533.110]
- September 28
- Death of Guillermo Endara, President of Panama, 1989-1994 (born 1936). [398]
- October 4
- Death of Japan's former finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa, at age 56 of unknown cause. [57] [398]
- October 17
- Death of Jay W. Johnson at age 66 of an apparent heart attack in Virgina, USA; television broadcaster for 32 years, US Congressman (1996-97), 36th director of US Mint (1999-2001). [559.10]
- October 25
- American billionaire philanthropist Jeffry Picower and friend of Bernie Madoff drowns in his Florida swimming pool after suffering a heart attack, at age 67. Picower was the subject of a US$7.2 billion lawsuit filed by the Madoff fraud case trustee. [35]
- November 8
- Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist (Soviet atomic bomb project, 2003 Nobel Prize for physics of superconductors), dies in Moscow, Russia, after a long illness at age 93. [35] [398]
- November 11
- At the Greensville Correctional Center in In Jarratt, Virginia, USA, John Allen Muhammad is executed by lethal injection. Muhannad was convicted of sniper shootings that killed 10 people and terrified the Washington, D.C., region in 2002. [35]
- November 15
- Death of Patriarch Pavle, Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (born 1914). [398]
- Death of Pierre Harmel, 39th Prime Minister of Belgium (born 1911). [398]
- November 24
- Death of Samak Sundaravej, 25th Prime Minister of Thailand (born 1935). [398]
- December 2
- Death of Coronation Street actress Maggie Jones, at age 75 in England. [57]
- December 13
- Death of Paul Samuelson, American economist and Nobel Prize laureate (born 1915). [398]
- December 15
- US television evangelist Oral Roberts dies in Newport Beach, California at age 91 from complications from pneumonia. [57]
- December 16
- Death of Roy E. Disney, American businessman (Walt Disney Company) (born 1930). [398]
- December 19
- Death of Iran's most senior dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, at age 87. [35] [398]
- December 20
- Death of American actress Brittany Murphy (Clueless, Sin City, 8 Mile, The Dead Girl) at age 32, in Los Angeles, California, possibly of cardiac arrest. [105] [398]
- December 24
- Death of Rafael Caldera, 54th and 60th President of Venezuela (born 1916). [398]
- December 30
- Humam Jhalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi blows himself up in CIA base in Afghanistan, killing seven Americans and a Jordanian intelligence officer. [636.69]
- Former Indonesian President (1999-2001) Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid dies at age 69. [57] [398]
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