Deaths Date 1996 December | History by KabAstro

Pete Rozelle (1926-1996)

Dec 6 American football executive (NFL Commissioner 1960-89), dies of brain cancer at 70

Dec 6 Trevor Key, British photographer and graphic designer, known for his album cover art (Mike Oldfield; Phil Collins; New Order; OMD), dies of a brain tumor at 48 [1]
Dec 7 Eugene Izzi, mystery writer, hangs himself at 43
Dec 7 Jose Donoso, Chilean writer (The Place Without Limits), dies at 72
Dec 8 Howard Rollins, American actor (Bannister-Wildside, Ed Harding-Another World), dies of AIDS related lymphoma complications at 46
Dec 8 Marin Sorescu, Romanian poet, playwright and artist (Iona, House under surveillance), dies of a heart attack at 60
Dec 9 Alain Poher, French politician and President of the European Parliament (1966-69), dies at 87
Dec 9 Anne Bolt, photo-journalist and trade unionist, dies at 84
Dec 9 Heinrich Schmidt-Barrien, German author (Moorkeerl), dies at 94
Dec 9 Ivor Roberts-Jones, British sculptor (known for sculpted heads of Yehudi Menuhin and George Thomas), dies at 83
Dec 9 Mary Leakey, British archaeologist and anthropologist who discovered the earliest human footprints (3.6 million years old), dies at 83
Dec 9 Patty Donahue, American new wave rock singer (The Waitresses - "I Know What Boys Like"; "Christmas Wrapping), dies of lung cancer at 40
Dec 9 Raphael Samuel, British Marxist historian, dies at 61
Dec 10 Faron Young, American country and honky-tonk singer ("Hello Walls"; "It's Four in the Morning"), and actor (Hidden Guns; Daniel Boone, Trailblazer), commits suicide at 64
Dec 10 John Duffey, bluegrass guitarist, dobro, and mandolin player (Country Gentlemen), dies of a heart attack at 62
Dec 11 Herbert Sally Frankel, South African born economist, dies at 93
Dec 11 Robert Bromston Thesiger Daniell, English soldier, dies at 95
Dec 11 W. G. G. Duncan-Smith, British WWII fighter pilot, dies at 82
Dec 11 William Rushton, actor, author and cartoonist (TW3, Private Eye), dies of a heart attack at 59
Dec 12 Gerald Ian Lacey, architect/town planner, dies at 70
Dec 12 Jack Perry, English businessman and the 1st Western businessperson to visit Communist China, dies at 81
Dec 12 Jean-Pierre Guerlain, French cosmetics pioneer, dies at 91
Dec 12 Larry Gates, American actor (Guiding Light, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Body Snatchers), dies of leukemia at 81
Dec 12 Vance Packard, American journalist and writer (The Hidden Persuaders), dies at 82
Dec 13 Cao Yu, Chinese dramatist (Peking Man), dies at 86
Dec 13 Charles Edwin Molnar, computer pioneer, dies at 61
Dec 13 Edward Blishen, English author (The God Beneath the Sea), dies at 76
Dec 13 Mae Barnes [Stith], American dancer and jazz singer ("The Sunny Side Of The Street"), dies of cancer at 89 (or older, year of birth disputed)
Dec 14 Norman Hackforth, British musician and radio broadcaster (Noel Coward; Twenty Questions), dies at 88
Dec 15 Gerald Moverley, first Bishop of the Diocese of Hallam in Yorkshire, dies at 74
Dec 15 Guiseppe Dossetti, Italian politician (drafted Italian constitution) and priest, dies at 83
Dec 15 Harry Kemelman, American detective author (rabbi-omnibus), dies at 88
Dec 15 Tristan Keuris, Dutch composer (Sinfonia), dies at 50
Dec 16 Jean-Pierre Levy, French resistance leader during WWII, dies at 85
Dec 16 Joe Coral [Joseph Kagarlitski], British bookmaker (Gala Coral Group), dies at 92
Dec 16 Laurens Jan van der Post, South African writer, explorer and conservationist, dies at 90
Dec 16 Quentin Bell, artist author/teacher, dies at 86
Dec 17 Elizabeth Hill, Russian-English teacher of Salvonic languages, dies at 96
Dec 17 Francesco Siciliani, Italian opera administrator, dies at 85
Dec 17 Irving Caesar, American lyricist and theater composer ("Tea for Two"; "Just A Gigilo"; "Sometimes I'm Happy"; "Animal Crackers In My Soup"), dies at 101 [1]
Dec 17 Lawrie Miller, New Zealand cricket batsman (13 Tests), dies at 73
Dec 17 Ruby Murray, Irish singer ("Heartbeat"; "Softly, Softly"), dies of liver cancer at 61
Dec 17 Stanko Todorov, Bulgarian communist politician, Prime Minister of Bulgaria (1971-81), dies at 76
Dec 17 Wayne Barlow, American composer, dies at 84
Dec 18 Arthur Jacobs, English musicologist (Penguin Dictionary of Music), dies at 74
Dec 19 Marcello Mastroianni, Italian actor (8½; La Dolce Vita; Dark Eyes; The Pizza Triangle), dies of pancreatic cancer at 72
Dec 19 Ronald Howard, British actor (Naked Edge; Come September; Murder She Said), dies at 78
Dec 19 Yuli Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist and "chief nuclear weapon designer" for the Soviet Union, dies at 92
Dec 20 Amata Kabua, President of Marshall Islands (1979-96), dies

Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Dec 20 American scientist, astronomer and author (Broca's Brain, Cosmos, Contact) known for his research on extraterrestrial life, dies of pneumonia after suffering from myelodysplasia at 62

Dec 20 Roger Peacock, English writer (Thursday is missing, dies at 76
Dec 21 Barry Gray [Bernard Yaroslaw], American radio personality and interviewer (started call-in radio), dies at 80
Dec 21 Margaret E Rey, author of children's books, dies at 90
Dec 21 Olga Maria Nicolis di Robilant, Portuguese patron of the arts, dies at 96
Dec 22 Hetta Empson, South African-British artist, dies at 81
Dec 23 Krešimir Fribec, Croatian composer, dies at 88
Dec 23 Rina Ketty [Cesarina Picchetto], Italian singer (J'attendrai), dies at 85
Dec 23 Ronnie Scott [Schatt], British jazz saxophonist and club-owner, dies at 69
Dec 24 Joseph Muhler, American biochemist and dentist (developed Crest - 1st fluoride toothpaste), dies at 73 [1]
Dec 24 Nguyen Huu Tho, President of Vietnam (1980-81), dies
Dec 24 Peter Dormer, British arts writer, dies at 47
Dec 24 Ted Leadbitter, British politician (Labour), dies at 77
Dec 25 Bill Osmanski, American College Football HOF fullback (Holy Cross; NFL C'ship 1940, 41, 43, 46; 3 × Pro Bowl; First-team All-Pro 1939; Chicago Bears), dies at 80
Dec 25 Jon Benet Ramsey, Colorado child beauty queen, murdered at 6
Dec 25 Rupert John, gov-gen of Grenadines (1970-76), dies
Dec 27 Johnny Heartsman [Eastman], American R&B, soul and electric blues session musician and songwriter, dies of a stroke at 60
Dec 29 Alma Birk, journalist/politician, dies at 77
Dec 29 Daniel Mayer, French journalist and resistance fighter, dies at 87
Dec 29 Mireille Hartuch, singer/songwriter, dies at 90
Dec 29 Oswald Szemerényi, Hungarian linguist, dies at 83
Dec 29 Peggy (Margaret McCrorie) Herbison, politician, dies at 89
Dec 29 Pennar Davies, Welsh poet, author and theologian, dies at 85
Dec 29 Robert Morris, American lawyer, dies at 81
Dec 30 (Marvin John) "Jack" Nance, American stage and screen actor (Eraserhead; Twin Peaks), dies at 53
Dec 30 Lew Ayres, American actor (All Quiet on Western Front; Holiday; Dr. Kildare (films); Johnny Belinda), dies at 88
Dec 30 Robert Grant Ferris, British politician, dies at 89
Dec 31 61 law enforcement officers, killed by felons in US this year
Dec 31 Ann Susan Hills, freelance journalist, dies at 55
Dec 31 David Sinclair, actor (Love & Hate), dies at 62
Dec 31 Frederico Davia, Italian operatic basso singer, and artistic director, dies at 63
Dec 31 Michael Roberts, English historian ("The Military Revolution: 1560-1660"), dies at 88
Dec 31 Philip Manson-Bahr, English zoologist and specialist in tropical medicine, dies at 85
Dec 31 Wesley Addy, American actor (Kiss Me Deadly, Bostonians, Loving), dies at 83

Famous People Who Died in December 1996

Pete Rozelle (1926-1996)

Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Famous People by Cause of Death