Famous People Who Died in 1986

Deaths 1 - 200 of 430

• Jan 1 Bruce Norris, American Hockey Hall of Fame executive (owner Detroit Red Wings 1952-82), dies at 61
• Jan 1 Marty Friedman, American Basketball Hall of Fame guard and coach (tied World C'ship series, New York Whirlwinds 1921), dies at 96

• Jan 2 Herbert Magidson, American lyricist, winner of first Academy Award for Best Original Song ("The Continental"; "Gone With The Wind"; "The Masquerade Is Over"), dies at 79
• Jan 2 Una Merkel, American actress (42nd Street, Abraham Lincoln), dies at 82
• Jan 3 Jens Bjerre, Danish composer, dies at 82
• Jan 4 Christopher Isherwood, English novelist (Lions & Shadows), dies at 81
• Jan 4 Phil Lynott, Irish rock musician (Thin Lizzy), dies of an overdose at 36 [1]
• Jan 5 Ilmari Salminen, Finnish athlete (Olympic gold 10,000m 1936), dies at 83
• Jan 6 Louis Lebeer, Belgian art historian, engraver, and academic, dies at 90
• Jan 7 Juan Rulfo, Mexican writer (Pedro Páramo), dies at 68
• Jan 7 Philip D. Eastman, American children's book writer and illustrator (b. 1909)
• Jan 8 Mansel Treharne Thomas, Welsh composer, dies at 76
• Jan 8 Pierre Fournier, French cellist, and teacher (Paris Conservatoire, 1937-49), dies at 79
• Jan 8 Yaroslav Seifert, Czech poet (Nobel 1984), dies at 84
• Jan 9 Lucia Chase, American ballerina and co-founder of American Ballet Theater, dies at 88
• Jan 10 Jaroslav Seifert, Czech poet (Nobel Prize for Literature 1984), dies at 84 [1]
• Jan 10 Joe Farrell, American jazz saxophonist, dies at 48
• Jan 10 Joseph Kraft, American columnist, dies at 61
• Jan 11 Sid Chaplin, UK novelist (b. 1916)
• Jan 12 Marcel Arland, French author (L'ordre, Lumière du Soir), dies at 86
• Jan 14 Daniel Balavoine, French singer-songwriter, dies in a helicopter crash at 33
• Jan 14 Donna Reed, American actress (From Here to Eternity; It's a Wonderful Life; The Donna Reed Show), dies of cancer at 64
• Jan 14 Walter Leblanc, Belgian avant-garde painter and visual artist, dies in a car accident at 53
• Jan 15 James H "Jim" Crowley, US football player (Notre Dame), dies at 83
• Jan 16 Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892)
• Jan 18 Claire James, American actress (Jack Armstrong), dies at 65
• Jan 20 Franz Kemser, German 4 man bobsled (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 75
• Jan 23 Joseph Beuys, West German avant-garde artist (Fluxus movement), dies at 64
• Jan 24 Gordon MacRae, American singer and actor (Oklahoma!, Carousel), dies of pneumonia at 64
• Jan 24 L. Ron Hubbard, American sci-fi writer (Death Quest; Dianetics) and founder of Church of Scientology, dies at 74
• Jan 25 Dennis Smith, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (1 Test; lone wicket off first ball; Otago, Canterbury), dies at 73
• Jan 25 Ernst Schnabel, German writer and pioneer of the radio documentary, dies at 72
• Jan 27 Lilli Palmer [Peiser], German actress (Cloak and Dagger, Anastasia: The Czar's Last Daughter), dies from abdominal cancer at 71
• Jan 28 Christa McAuliffe, American teacher, dies in the Challenger space shuttle disaster at 37
• Jan 28 Dick Scobee, US Air Force officer and astronaut, dies in the Challenger disaster at 46
• Jan 28 Ellison Onizuka, American Air Force Major and astronaut (STS 51C, 51L), dies in the Challenger space shuttle disaster at 39
• Jan 28 Greg Jarvis, American engineer and astronaut, dies in the Challenger space shuttle disaster at 41
• Jan 28 Judith Resnik, American astronaut, dies in Challenger disaster at 36
• Jan 28 Michael J. Smith, American astronaut (51L-Challenger disaster), dies in Challenger space shuttle disaster at 40

• Jan 29 Leif Erickson, American actor (Invaders from Mars, On the Waterfront), dies at 74
• Jan 30 Ticker Freeman, American pianist (Dinah Shore Show), and songwriter ("Baby Don't Be Mad at Me") dies at 74
• Feb 1 Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist, diplomat and leader of the disarmament movement (Nobel Peace Prize 1982), dies at 84
• Feb 1 Dick James [Leon Vapnick], British dance band vocalist and Beatles' music publisher (Northern Songs), dies of a heart attack at 65
• Feb 6 Dandy Nichols [Daisy Sander], British actress (Till Death Us Do Part, Confessions of a Window Cleaner), dies at 78
• Feb 6 Frederick Coutts, Scottish 8th Salvation Army General, dies at 86
• Feb 6 Minoru Yamasaki, American architect (World Trade Center, NYC), dies of stomach cancer at 73
• Feb 7 Armand Preud'homme, Belgium organist and composer (Kempenland), dies at 81
• Feb 7 Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian (b. 1923)
• Feb 10 "Uncle" Art Satherley, British-American record producer (1968 Academy of Country Music Award), dies at 96
• Feb 10 Brian Aherne, British actor (I Confess, Titanic, Juarez), dies at 83
• Feb 11 Evelio Javier, Filipino politician, lawyer, and civil servant (b. 1942)

• Feb 12 Guy Warrack, Scottish composer, dies at 86
• Feb 12 Sid Stone, American comedian (Milton Berle Show), dies at 82
• Feb 14 Edmund Rubbra, English composer (Morning Watch), dies after a stroke at 86
• Feb 16 Howard Da Silva [Silverblatt], American actor (1776, The Lost Weekend, The Blue Dahlia), dies from lymphoma at 76
• Feb 17 Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (Kingdom Happiness), dies at 90

• Feb 19 Adolfo Celi, Italian film actor and director (Next Man, Murders in Rue Morgue), dies at 63
• Feb 19 James Eastland, American politician (Sen-D-Miss 1943-78), dies at 81
• Feb 19 Paul Stewart, American actor (Citizen Kane, Kiss Me Deadly), dies from a heart attack at 77
• Feb 20 Francisco Mignone, Brazilian composer, dies at 88
• Feb 20 Koss Rietkerk, Dutch foreign minister (VVD), dies at 58
• Feb 21 Helen Hooven Santmyer, American writer ("...And Ladies of the Club"), dies at 90
• Feb 21 Shigechiyo Izumi, Japanese sugarcane farmer, once thought to be the world's oldest man ever but now disputed (b. 1865)
• Feb 24 Rukmini Devi Arundale (née Sastri), Indian dancer, educator (co-founder of Kalakshetra Academy), politician (Member or Parliament, 1952-62), and animal rights activist, dies at 81

• Feb 28 Laura Z. Hobson, American TV writer and panelist (I've Got a Secret), dies at 85

• Feb 28 William Dollar, American ballet dancer and choreographer, dies at 79
• Mar 1 Marcel Liebman, Belgian Marxist historian, dies at 56
• Mar 2 Marcel Liebman, Belgian historian, dies at 56
• Mar 2 Zafer Masri, mayor of Nablus, murdered
• Mar 4 Ding Ling, Chinese writer (The Sun Shines Over the Sanggan River), dies at 81

• Mar 4 Henri Knap, Dutch journalist and writer, dies at 75
• Mar 4 Howard Greenfield, American song lyricist ("Calendar Girl"; "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do"; "Love Will Keep Us Together"; theme to "Bewitched"), dies of a brain tumor at 50
• Mar 4 Richard Manuel, Canadian rock vocalist and pianist (The Band - "The Shape I'm In"; "Tears Of Rage"), commits suicide at 42
• Mar 5 Teddy Hoad, West Indies cricket batsman, captain (4 Tests, Barbados), dies at 90
• Mar 6 Adolph Caesar, actor (Club Paradise, Soldier's Story), dies

• Mar 6 István Pelle, Hungarian gymnast (Olympic gold pommel horse & floor exercise 1932), dies at 78
• Mar 7 Jacob K Javits, American politician (Sen-R-NY), dies in Palm Beach, Florida at 81
• Mar 8 Hubert Fichte, German writer, dies of an AIDS related illness at 50
• Mar 9 Ned Calmer, TV host (In the First Person), dies at 78

• Mar 11 Sherman Kent, American professor known as the father of intelligence analysis, dies at 82
• Mar 11 Sonny Terry, American bind Piedmont blues musician, dies at 74
• Mar 13 Alvaro Fayad Delgado, Colombian guerilla leader (M-19), dies
• Mar 14 Benno Ammann, Swiss composer (Missa Defensor Pacis) and conductor, dies at 81
• Mar 14 Edith Atwater, American actress (Phyllis-Love on a Rooftop), dies at 74
• Mar 14 Huw Wheldon, Welsh broadcaster (BBC), dies at 69
• Mar 14 Jozef Kresanek, Slovak composer, dies at 73
• Mar 17 Hal Buckley, American actor (John Quincy-OK Crackerby), dies at 51
• Mar 17 John Bagot Glubb, British commandant and writer (A soldier with the Arabs), dies at 88
• Mar 18 Bernard Malamud, American novelist (The Fixer, The Natural, Pulitzer 1967), dies at 71
• Mar 21 August De Boodt, Belgian politician (Minister of Reconstruction), dies at 90
• Mar 22 Charles Starrett, American actor (The Mask of Fu Manchu, Bonanza Town), dies at 82
• Mar 22 Derek Farr, British actor (8 O'Clock Walk, Doctor at Large), dies from cancer at 74
• Mar 22 Harriette Arnow, American novelist and historian (Dollmaker), dies at 77
• Mar 22 Mark Dinning, American singer ("Teen Angel"), dies of a heart attack at 52
• Mar 24 Sarah Cunningham, American actress (Trapper John, M.D. - "Nurse Andrews"), dies of a heart attack while attending the Oscar ceremony at 67
• Mar 26 Bartlett Robinson, American actor (Wendy & Me, Mona McCluskey), dies at 73
• Mar 27 Cass Canfield, US publisher, dies at 88
• Mar 28 J. Víctor López, Cuban-American actor (Falcon Crest; Man From Atlantis - "Chuey"), dies of AIDS at 39
• Mar 28 Virginia Gilmore, American actress (Jennie, Western Union), dies at 66
• Mar 29 Harry Ritz [Joachim], American vaudevillian, actor and comedian (Ritz Brothers - The Gorilla;, Hi'ya, Chum; Straight, Place and Show, solo cameo - Silent Movie), dies at 78
• Mar 29 Paul Grimault, French animator (Le Roi et l'oiseau - The King and the Bird), dies at 89

• Mar 30 John Ciardi, American poet and interpreter (Dante), dies at 69
• Mar 31 Jerry Paris, American director (Happy Days) and actor (The Dick Van Dyke Show - "Jerry"), dies at 60
• Mar 31 O'Kelly Isley, American rock singer (Isley Brothers. 1954-86 - "Shout"; "Twist and Shout"; "It's Your Thing"), dies of a heart attack at 48
• Apr 1 Erik Bruhn, Danish dancer (National Ballet of Canada), dies at 57
• Apr 3 Peter Pears, English tenor (Death in Venice), dies at 75
• Apr 4 Frank Mortelmans, Belgian painter, dies at 87
• Apr 5 Colin McCool, Australian cricket all-rounder (14 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 104no, 36 wickets, BB 5/41; NSW, Queensland, Somerset CCC), dies at 69
• Apr 5 Manly Wade Wellman, sci-fi author (Devil's Planet), dies at 82
• Apr 6 Raimundo Orsi, Argentine-born Italian soccer winger (13 caps Argentina, 35 Italy; Independiente, Juventus), dies at 84
• Apr 7 Jean Mogin, Belgian poet (Pastures of Silence), and playwright, dies at 64
• Apr 7 Leonid Kantorovich, Russian Soviet economist (Father of linear programming, Nobel Prize for Economics 1975), dies at 74
• Apr 8 Yukiko Okada, Japanese idol singer, dies at 18
• Apr 10 Joseph P Addabbo, US defense specialist/(Sen-D), dies at 61
• Apr 10 Linda Creed, American singer and songwriter ("The Greatest Love Of All"), dies of breast cancer at 37 [1]
• Apr 12 Valentin Kataev, Russian writer (b. 1897)
• Apr 13 Dorothy Ashby (née Thompson), American jazz harpist, singer, and composer, dies of cancer at 53
• Apr 13 Johnny Dollar, American country and rockabilly singer, commits suicide at 53
• Apr 13 Stephen Stucker, American actor (Trading Places, Airplane), dies at 38
• Apr 14 Horst Bastian, German writer and screenwriter, dies at 46

• Apr 15 Sergei Anokhin, Soviet test pilot who set world records for gliding flights, dies at 76
• Apr 15 Tim McIntire, American actor (Brubaker; Stand By Your Man), singer-songwriter, and musician (Funzone), dies of congestive heart failure at 41
• Apr 17 Bessie Head, Botswana writer (When Rain Clouds Gather, Maru, A Question of Power), dies at 49
• Apr 17 Paul Costello, American rower (Olympic gold double sculls 1920, 24, 28), dies at 86
• Apr 17 Teddy Kotick, American jazz double bassist (Phil Woods; Charlie Parker; Bill Evans), dies of a brain tumor at 57
• Apr 18 Marcel Dassault [Bloch], French airplane engineer and manufacturer, dies at 94
• Apr 19 Alvin Childress, actor (Amos-Amos 'n' Andy), dies at 78
• Apr 19 Dag Wirén, Swedish composer, dies at 80
• Apr 20 Sibte Hassan, Pakistani activist, journalist and writer, dies at 73
• Apr 21 Salah Jaheen, Egyptian poet and cartoonist, dies at 55
• Apr 22 Mircea Eliade, Romanian religious historian (Le Yoga) and author, dies at 79

• Apr 23 Jim Laker, English cricket spin bowler (46 Tests; 193 wickets; world best 19-90 4th Test v Australia 1956), dies from complications of gall bladder surgery at 64
• Apr 23 Otto Preminger, Austro-Hungarian-American theatre and film director, producer (Laura; Advise & Consent; Anatomy of A Murder), and actor (Stalag 17), dies of lung cancer at 80
• Apr 24 Bill Edrich, English cricket all-rounder (39 Tests, 6 x 100, HS 219no, 41 wickets; MCC, Middlesex CCC), dies following a fall at 70

• Apr 26 Bessie Love, American actress (Broadway Melody, Isadora), dies at 87

• Apr 26 Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter, dies at 87
• Apr 29 Seamus McElwaine, Irish IRA-terrorist, killed at 25
• May 1 Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and record producer, dies at 69
• May 1 Hylda Baker, English comedy actress (b. 1905)
• May 2 Henri Toivonen, Finnish rally driver (3 x World Rally C'ship round wins for Talbot, Opel, Porsche, Lancia), dies in a rally accident at 29
• May 3 Robert Alda, American actor (Supertrain, By Popular Demand), dies at 72
• May 5 John William Haussermann Jr., American composer, dies at 76
• May 5 Rui Coelho, Portuguese composer, dies at 94
• May 7 Gaston Defferre, French Socialist politician, dies at 75
• May 7 Jeffrey Mylett, American actor and songwriter (Godspell), dies from complications of HIV/AIDS at 36
• May 9 Dirk de Vroome, Dutch campaigner & Limbourg activist, dies at 60
• May 9 Herschel Bernardi, American actor (Arnie, Voice of Charlie the Tuna, Front), dies of a heart attack at 62

• May 11 Fritz Pollard, early African American NFL star and coach, dies at 92
• May 11 Henry P. McIlhenny, American philanthropist, dies at 76
• May 12 Elisabeth Bergner, Austrian British stage actress, dies at 85
• May 12 Lee Bonnell, American actor, dies at 67
• May 15 Elio de Angelis, Italian race car driver (b. 1958)
• May 15 Theodore H. White, American journalist (Making of President, Pulitzer Prize1962), dies at 71
• May 17 Jack Waldman, American jazz and rock keyboardist and avant garde composer dies of HIV related illness at 33
• May 17 Lyudmila Pakhomova, Russian ice dancer (World C'ship gold x 6; Olympic gold USSR 1976; with Alexandr Gorshkov), dies from leukemia at 39
• May 18 John Bubbles Sublett, American tap dancer (Black & Bubbles), dies at 84
• May 19 Jimmy Lyons, American jazz saxophonist and composer (Cecil Taylor), dies of lung cancer at 54
• May 20 Bernard Naylor, English-Canadian organist, conductor, and composer, dies at 78
• May 20 Willem Pee, Belgian linguist, dies at 83
• May 22 Martin Gabel, American stage, radio and screen character actor (The Thief; Marnie; Lady In Cement), and television panelist (What's My Line?), dies of a heart attack at 73
• May 23 Peter von Siemens, German industrialist, dies at 75
• May 23 Sterling Hayden, actor (Blue & Gray), dies at 70
• May 24 Gunnar Bjornstrand, Swedish actor (7th Seal, Devil's Eye), dies at 76
• May 24 Stephen D Thorne, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut, dies in a plane crash at 33
• May 24 Yakima Canutt [Enos Edward], American rodeo cowboy, actor and director(Texas Terror), dies at 90
• May 25 Chester Bowles, American ambassador and writer (Conscience of a Liberal), dies at 85
• May 27 Gaston Duribreux, Flemish writer (Sour Dove), dies at 82
• May 27 Isma'il Raji' al-Faruqi, Palestinian-born philosopher (b. 1921)
• May 28 Lurene Tuttle, American actress (Father of Bride, Julia), dies at 79
• May 30 Hank Mobley, American hard bop and soul jazz saxophonist, dies of pneumonia at 55
• May 31 James Rainwater, American physicist (Nobel 1975-determining the asymmetrical shapes of certain atomic nuclei), dies at 68
• May 31 Jane Frank, American artist, dies at 67
• Jun 2 Aurel Joliat, Canadian ice hockey player, dies at 84 (b. 1901)
• Jun 2 Daniel Sternefeld, Belgian conductor and composer (Elegie), dies at 80
• Jun 3 Anna Neagle, English actress (London Melody, Nurse Edith Cavell), dies at 81
• Jun 3 Arthur Charles Ernest Hoérée, Belgian-French composer, dies at 89
• Jun 3 Patricia Wheel, American actress (Christine-Woman to Remember), dies at 42
• Jun 6 Herbert Eisenreich, Austrian writer, dies at 61
• Jun 10 Merle Miller, American biographer (b. 1919)
• Jun 11 Chesley Bonestell, American-born engineer, architect, and artist (b. 1888)
• Jun 12 Antoon Breyne, Belgian journalist, dies at 76
• Jun 12 Tony Desimone, combo leader (Ernie in Kovacsland), dies at 66

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