Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Famous Deaths on June 27

  • 444 Cyrillus van Alexandria, patriarch of Alexandria, dies
  • 1137 Guigo de Castro [Venerabilis], 5th prior of Grande Chartreuse, dies
  • 1162 Eudes II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1118)
  • 1296 Floris V, Count of Holland & Zeeland, murdered after being captured by local lords in a conspiracy encouraged by the English crown at 41

Alfonso V of Aragon (1396-1458)

King of Aragon, Sicily and Naples (Alfonso I), dies at 61 or 62

  • 1543 Agnolo Firenzuola, Italian poet and litterateur, dies at 49
  • 1574 Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter and art historian (Vasari's Lives), dies at 62
  • 1603 Jan Dymitr Solikowski, Polish archbishop and diplomat (b. 1539)
  • 1627 John Hayward, English historian
  • 1638 Lukaris Cyrillus, patriarch of Alexandria/Constantinople, dies
  • 1641 Michiel Janszoon van Mierevelt, Dutch royal painter, dies at 74
  • 1654 Johann Valentin Andreae, German theologian and writer (claimed to have written Rosicrucian text), dies at 67
  • 1672 Roger Twysden, English antiquarian and royalist, dies at 74
  • 1679 Pablo Bruna, Spanish blind composer, dies at 68
  • 1720 Guillaume Amfrye de Chaulieu, French poet (b. 1639)
  • 1729 Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French harpsichordist, organist, singer, and composer (Les pièces de clavessin; Céphale et Procris), dies at 64
  • 1757 Willem Gideon Deutz, Amsterdam regent, banker and merchant, dies at 59
  • 1773 Mentewab, dowager Empress of Ethiopia (b. circa 1706)
  • 1776 Thomas Hickey, plan to hand George Washington to British, executed
  • 1785 Egbert de Free Temminck, Amsterdam regent, dies at 84
  • 1794 Philippe de Noailles, duc de Mouchy, French soldier (b. 1715)
  • 1794 Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz, Austrian statesman (b. 1711)
  • 1814 Johann Friedrich Reichardt, German composer, dies at 61
  • 1827 Johann Gottfried Eichhorn, German theologian (b. 1754)
  • 1829 James Smithson, English scientist dies at about 64, his will leaves half a million dollars to the United States to establishes the Smithsonian Institute
  • 1829 Louis-Sébastien Lebrun, French composer, dies at 64
  • 1832 Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisla, French army officer, and composer ("La Marseillaise" -the French national anthem), dies at 72
  • 1839 Ranjit Singh, gov of Lahore, dies

Joseph Smith (1805-1844)

American founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, shot by a mob at 38

  • 1848 Denis-Auguste Affre, Archbishop of Paris (1840-48) and opponent of King Louis-Philippe, shot to death at 54
  • 1848 Heinrich Zschokke, German Swiss writer, dies at 77
  • 1859 Jean Chrétien Baud, Dutch gov-gen of Dutch-Indies (1834-36), dies at 69
  • 1862 Chatham Roberdeau Wheat, Confederate major, dies in battle at about 35
  • 1863 Martin E Green, Confederate brigadier general, shot dead at 38
  • 1864 Charles Garrison Harker, US Union-brigadier general, dies at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain battle at 26
  • 1873 Hiram Powers, American sculptor (Greek Slave), dies at 67
  • 1876 Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, German naturalist and zoologist (micro-organisms), dies at 81
  • 1876 Harriet Martineau, British controversial journalist, political economist, abolitionist and life-long feminist, dies at 74
  • 1889 Carlotta Patti, Italian soprano, dies at 48
  • 1889 Whitney Eugene Thayer, American composer, dies at 50
  • 1905 Harold Mahony, Scottish tennis player (Wimbledon 1896), dies in a bicycling accident at 38
  • 1907 Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American educator and the co-founder and first president of Radcliffe College, dies at 84
  • 1912 Frank Furness, American architect (University of Pennsylvania Library; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts), dies at 72 [1]
  • 1912 George Bonnor, Australian cricket batsman (17 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 128; NSW CA, Victoria CA), dies from a heart attack at 57
  • 1917 Gustav von Schmoller, German economist (Lectern Socialism), dies at 79
  • 1917 Karl Allmenröder, German World War I flying Ace, dies at 21
  • 1920 Adolphe-Basile Routhier, French Canadian lyricist ("O Canada"), dies at 81
  • 1935 Eugene Augustin Lauste, French inventor (1st sound-on-film recording), dies at 77
  • 1939 David Werner Amram, American lawyer, legal and Talmudic scholar, Zionist, and author (The Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy), dies at 73
  • 1944 Milan Hodža, Slovak politician (b. 1878)
  • 1944 Werner Wehrli, Swiss composer, pedagogue, and conductor, dies at 52
  • 1948 George Templeton Strong, American composer, dies at 92
  • 1950 Milada Horakova, Czech advocate/anti fascist, hanged
  • 1952 Max Dehn, German mathematician (Dehn’s lemma), dies at 73
  • 1954 Francis L Casadesus, French violinist, composer and conductor, dies at 83
  • 1957 Malcolm Lowry, English writer (Under the Volcano, Ultramarine), dies at 48
  • 1958 Robert Greig, Australian actor (Sullivan's Travels, Horse Feathers), dies at 78
  • 1960 Harry Pollitt, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain dies at 69

Lottie Dod (1871-1960)

British all-round athlete (Wimbledon 1887-88, 1891-93), dies at 88

  • 1961 Harry Hooton, Australian poet, dies of cancer at 52
  • 1961 Muchtar Auezov, Kazakh writer and playwright (Enilik-Kebek), dies at 63
  • 1961 Paul Guilfoyle, American actor and director (White Heat, Cyrano de Bergerac), dies of a heart attack at 58
  • 1962 Paul Viiding, Estonian poet, dies at 58
  • 1964 Daniel Lazarus, French composer, dies at 65
  • 1965 Anthony Veiller, American writer (Night of Iguana, Moulin Rouge), dies at 62
  • 1966 Arthur D Waley [Schloss], British sinology/poet (Monkey), dies
  • 1968 Norman Norton, cricketer (dismissed Hobbs in only Test for South Africa), dies at 87
  • 1969 Richard Maxfield, American instrumental, electro-acoustic, and electronic music composer, jumps to his death from a hotel window at 42
  • 1970 Daniel Kinsey, American hurdler (b. 1902)
  • 1973 Earl Browder, leader US Communist Party (1930-45), dies at 82
  • 1974 Cliff Friend, American pianist and songwriter, dies at 80
  • 1980 Albany "Barney" Bigard, Creole-American jazz clarinetist (Duke Ellington Orchestra, 1927-42 - "Mood Indigo"), dies at 74
  • 1982 Jack Mullaney, American actor (South Pacific; My Living Doll, It's About Time; Spinout), dies of a stroke at 52
  • 1983 Don Ida, American hot air balloonist, dies in a crash at 49
  • 1983 Maxie Anderson, American hot air balloonist (1st Trans-Atlantic crossing, 1978' 1st Trans-North America crossing, 1980; 1st Trans-Pacific crossing, 1981), dies in a balloon crash at 48
  • 1985 Jane Ross [Breslaw], American actress (Star Trek, Rocket Attack U.S.A., Wild Is My Love), dies at 53
  • 1986 (Otis W.) "Joe" Maphis, American session and country music guitarist ("Dim Lights"), dies of lung cancer at 75
  • 1986 Don Rogers, of Cleveland Browns, dies of cocaine poisoning
  • 1986 Edna Mae Cooper, actress (Folly of Vanity, Grounds for Divorce), dies
  • 1986 George Nepia, New Zealand rugby player, dies at 81
  • 1986 Zoltán Gárdonyi, Hungarian composer, dies at 80
  • 1988 Léonie Adams, American poetess (High Falcon), dies at 88
  • 1989 A. J. Ayer, English Neopositivist philosopher (Logical Positivism), dies at 78
  • 1989 Jack Beutel, actor (The Outlaw), dies
  • 1991 Jason Christmas, American actor (That's Adequate), dies of a gunshot wound during robbery in NYC at 49
  • 1991 Klas Bruinsma, leader criminal organization, murdered
  • 1991 Milton Subotsky, American screenwriter (b. 1921)
  • 1992 Allan Jones, American actor and singer (A Day at the Races; Showboat), dies at 84
  • 1992 Sandy Amoros, Bkln Dodger, dies at 62 of pneumonia
  • 1992 Stefanie Ann Sargent, American guitarist (7 Year Bitch), dies of alcohol and heroin overdose at 24
  • 1993 Wolfgang Grams, German RAF-terrorist, shot to death at 40
  • 1994 Jeremy Brooks, English writer (Jampot Smith), dies at 67
  • 1995 Efrem Kurtz, Russian conductor (Houston Symphony, 1948-54), dies at 94
  • 1995 Prez "Kidd" Kenneth, American blues singer and guitarist, dies at 61
  • 1996 Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer (James Bond films), sometimes known as "Cubby", dies at 87
  • 1996 Peter Adair, American documentary filmmaker (Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives), dies of AIDS at 52
  • 1998 Boris Nikolayevich Belousov, Soviet cosmonaut, dies at 67
  • 1998 Desmond Heap, British lawyer and authority on British planning law, dies at 90
  • 1998 Gilles Rocheleau, French Canadian politician, dies at 62
  • 1998 Joyce Wieland, Canadian experimental filmmaker and conceptual artist (1st women to have a retrospective at the Canadian National Gallery), dies at 67 [1]
  • 1999 Brian O'Hara, English rock guitarist and singer (The Foremost - "A Little Loving"), commits suicide at 57
  • 1999 Einar Englund, Finnish composer, dies at 83
  • 1999 Georgios Papadopoulos, Greek military officer who led coup d'etat of 21 April 1967, and dictator (Leader of Greece, 1967-73), dies at 80
  • 1999 Marion Motley, American NFL fullback (all-time leading AAFC rusher), dies at 79
  • 2000 Larry Kelley, American College Football Hall of Fame tight end (Heisman Trophy 1936; unanimous All-American 1936; Yale), commits suicide at 85
  • 2000 Pierre Pflimlin, French politician (briefly French Prime Minister 1958), dies at 93
  • 2000 Rudy Cafaro, American jazz guitarist, dies at 80

Jack Lemmon (1925-2001)

American actor (Days of Wine & Roses, Missing), dies of colon cancer and metastatic cancer of the bladder at 76

Tove Jansson (1914-2001)

Finnish author and illustrator (Moomins), dies at 86

  • 2002 John Entwistle, English rock bassist (The Who - "Boris The Spider"), dies in his sleep of a cocaine fueled heart attack in his Las Vegas hotel room at 57
  • 2002 Russ Freeman, American classically trained bebop and cool jazz pianist and composer (Art Pepper; Charlie Parker; Chet Baker; Clifford Brown; Shelly Manne), dies at 76
  • 2003 David Newman, American filmmaker (b. 1937)
  • 2004 Darrell Russell, American race car driver (b. 1968)
  • 2004 George Patton IV, American general in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, dies of Parkinson's disease at 80
  • 2005 Domino Harvey, English-born bounty hunter (b. 1969)
  • 2005 Frank Harte, traditional Irish singer and song collector, dies of a heart attack at 72
  • 2005 John T. Walton, American businessman (b. 1946)
  • 2005 Ray Holmes, Battle of Britain veteran (b. 1914)
  • 2005 Shelby Foote, American author and historian (b. 1917)
  • 2006 Ángel Maturino Reséndiz, Mexican serial killer, known as "The Railway Killer" (b. 1959)
  • 2007 Dragutin Tadijanović, Croatian poet (b. 1905)
  • 2007 Patrick Allotey, Ghanaian footballer (b. 1979)
  • 2007 William Hutt, Canadian stage and film actor (b. 1920)
  • 2008 Leonard Pennario, American concert pianist (Rózsa's Piano Concerto with L.A. Philharmonic), dies of complications from Parkinson's disease at 83
  • 2008 Michael Turner, American comic book artist (b. 1971)
  • 2008 Sam Manekshaw, Indian Field Marshal (b. 1914)
  • 2009 Fayette Pinkney, American pop and disco singer (The Three Degrees, 1963-76 - "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)"; "When Will I See You Again?"), and psychologist, dies of acute respiratory failure at 61
  • 2009 Gale Storm [Josephine Owaissa Cottle], American singer ("I Hear You Knockin'"), and actress (My Little Margie; The Gale Storm Show), dies at 87
  • 2010 Dolph Briscoe, American businessman and 41st Governor of Texas (1973-79), dies at 87
  • 2011 Betty Callaway, English figure skating coach (Torvill & Dean, Regőczy & Sallay), dies after a fall at 83
  • 2011 Elaine Stewart, American actress and model (The Bad and the Beautiful, Take the High Ground), dies at 81
  • 2011 Gisèle Rabesahala, Malagasy politician (1st female minister) and human righter activist, dies at 82
  • 2011 Mike Doyle, English former footballer (b. 1946)
  • 2012 Bill Gilbert, American sports author (Sports Illustrated, National Geographic), dies at 85
  • 2012 Don Grady [Agrati], American actor (Robbie Douglas-My Three Sons), dies from cancer at 68
  • 2013 Alain Mimoun, Algerian-French distance runner (Olympic marathon gold 1956; 3 x silver 1948, 52), dies at 92
  • 2013 Henrik Otto Donner, Finnish trumpeter, and avant garde and film score composer, dies at 73
  • 2014 Bobby Womack, American R&B singer, guitarist, songwriter, and producer ("It's All Over Now"; "Woman's Got to Have It"; "Across 110th Street"), dies at 70
  • 2015 Chris Squire, British progressive rock bassist, founding and longest serving member of Yes, 1969-2014 ("The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"), dies of acute erythroid leukemia at 67
  • 2015 Denis Vigay, British cellist (BBC Symphony; Academy of St Martin in the Fields; Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band), dies at 89
  • 2015 Harvey McGregor, British barrister and administrator (Warden of New College-Oxford, 1985-96), dies at 86
  • 2016 Alvin Toffler, American author (Future Shock, Power Shift, The Third Wave), dies at 87
  • 2016 Bud Spencer, Italian actor (Aladdin, Extralarge, Go For It), dies at 86
  • 2016 Harry Halbreich, German-Belgian musicologist (Arthur Honegger, Bohuslav Martinů), dies at 85
  • 2016 Mack Rice, American musician and songwriter ("Mustang Sally"; "Respect Yourself"), dies at 82
  • 2017 Geri Allen, American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, and educator, dies of cancer at 60 [1]

Michael Bond (1926-2017)

English writer (Paddington Bear), dies at 91

  • 2018 Joe Jackson, American talent manager (Jackson 5), and patriarch of the Jackson family, dies of pancreatic cancer at 89
  • 2020 (Jesse) "Pete" Carr, American session guitarist (Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section), dies at 70
  • 2020 (Lionel) Frederick "Freddy" Cole, American jazz singer and pianist, dies at 88 [1]
  • 2020 Ilija Petković, Serbian soccer midfielder (43 caps, Yugoslavia; Troyes, OFK Beograd) and manager (Serbia & Montenegro), dies from COVID-19 at 74
  • 2020 Johnny Mandel, American composer, arranger and musician (M*A*S*H theme), dies at 94
  • 2020 Linda Cristal, Argentinian actress (High Chapparal), dies at 89
  • 2020 Mihai Romilă, Romanian soccer midfielder (19 caps; Politehnica Iași 367 games), dies at 69
  • 2021 Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill, Cuban Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz composer, arranger, and conductor, dies of pneumonia at 79
  • 2021 Noel Furlong, Irish businessman and poker player (World Series of Poker main event 1999), dies at 83
  • 2022 Eileen Barton, American singer (Broadway Open House; "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake"), dies of ovarian cancer at 81
  • 2022 Jack Gordon, Canadian ice hockey coach (Minnesota North Stars 1970-75) and executive (GM Minnesota NS 1974-78, Vancouver Canucks 1985-87), dies at 94
  • 2022 Marlin Briscoe, American College Football HOF quarterback/wide receiver (Uni Nebraska–Omaha; Super Bowl 1972, 73 Miami Dolphins; Pro Bowl 1970 Buffalo Bills), dies of pneumonia at 76
  • 2023 Bobby Osborne, American bluegrass mandolin player (The Osborne Brothers - "Rocky Top"), dies at 91
  • 2023 Julian Sands, English actor (A Room With a View; Arachnophobia; 24), confirmed dead after remains are identified, six months after failing to return from a hike at 65
  • 2024 Jack Petchey English businessman, philanthropist and football executive (Chairman Watford FC 1987-94), dies at 98
  • 2024 Landry Nguémo, Cameroonian soccer defensive midfielder (41 caps; Nancy, Bordeaux, Saint-Étienne), dies in a car accident at 38
  • 2024 Manuel Fernandes, Portuguese soccer striker (31 caps; Sporting CP 218 games) and manager (Vitória Setúbal), dies at 73
  • 2024 Martin Mull, American comic singer-songwriter and character actor (Fernwood 2-Night; Roseanne; Clue), dies at 80 [1]
June 27 Highlights