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

Famous Deaths on March 30

  • 988 Arnulf II, count of Flanders (965-988), dies
  • 1202 Joachim Van Fiore, Italian religious founder (Joachimism), dies
  • 1465 Isabella of Clermont, Queen of Naples as wife of Ferdinand I and heir to principality of Taranto, dies at abut 40
  • 1486 Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury
  • 1526 Konrad Mutian, German humanist, dies at 54
  • 1540 Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg, German statesman and Archbishop of Salzburg (b. 1469)
  • 1559 Adam Ries, German mathematician, dies at about 67
  • 1587 Ralph Sadler, English statesman (b. 1507)
  • 1662 François le Métel de Boisrobert, French poet (b. 1592)
  • 1707 Vauban [Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban], French military engineer under Louis XIV, dies at 73
  • 1764 Pietro Locatelli, Italian violinist and composer, dies at 68
  • 1783 William Hunter, Scottish anatomist and physician, dies at 64
  • 1804 Victor-François, 2nd duc de Broglie, Marshal of France (b. 1718)
  • 1832 Stephen Groombridge, English Astronomer, dies at 77

Beau Brummell (1778-1840)

English dandy famous for his fashion style of simplicity and elegance, dies of syphilis at 61

  • 1842 Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, French painter (b. 1755)
  • 1864 Louis Schindelmeisser, German clarinetist and composer, dies 52
  • 1871 Louise, Dutch-born Queen of Sweden and Norway, dies at 42
  • 1872 John Morrison Oliver, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), and lawyer, dies at 43
  • 1873 Benedict Augustin Morel, Austrian-French psychologist (dementia praecox), dies at 63
  • 1875 Marie Moke Pleyel, Belgian composer, dies at 63
  • 1879 David van der Kellen, Dutch coin engraver, dies at 74
  • 1879 Thomas Couture, French painter/author, dies at 63
  • 1884 Hans Hampel, Czech composer, dies at 61
  • 1886 Joseph-Alfred Mousseau, French Canadian politician (b. 1838)
  • 1896 Charilaos Trikoupis, Greek politician (Prime Minister of Greece for 7 times from 1875-1895), dies at 63
  • 1903 William Hicks "Red" Jackson, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 67
  • 1906 Betsy Perk [Christina Elizabeth], Dutch journalist, writer and pioneer of the Dutch women's movement, dies at 73
  • 1911 Ellen Henrietta Richards, American chemist (Amer Home Economics Association-1st Pres), dies at 68
  • 1912 Karl May, German writer (Winnetou, Kara Ben Nemsi), dies at 70
  • 1925 Rudolf Steiner, Austrian-born spiritualist and philosopher (founder of doctrine of anthroposophy), dies at 64
  • 1935 Romanos Melik'yan, Armenian composer, dies at 51
  • 1936 Conchita Supervía, Spanish opera singer, dies at 40
  • 1942 Alfred Coville, French historian (Lesson premier Valois), dies at 81
  • 1943 Jan Bytnar, Polish activist (b. 1921)
  • 1943 Maciej Aleksy Dawidowski, Polish activist (b. 1920)
  • 1945 Karel Moor, Czech composer and conductor, dies at 71
  • 1946 John Vereker, British-Irish aristocrat (6th Viscount Gort), decorated military officer (WWI, WW2), and administrator (Governor of Malta, 1942-44; High Commissioner of British Mandate of Palestine, 1944-45), dies of liver cancerat 59
  • 1949 Dattaram Hindlekar, Indian cricket wicketkeeper (4 Tests, 3 dismissals; Bombay), dies at 40
  • 1949 Friedrich Bergius, German chemist (benzine from brown coal, Nobel Prize 1931), dies at 64

Léon Blum (1872-1950)

French politician, Prime Minister of France (People's Front Government), dies at 77

  • 1953 Roderich Mojsisovics-Mojsvar, Austrian composer, dies at 75
  • 1959 Daniil Andreev, Russian writer, poet and Christian mystic, dies at 52
  • 1959 Riccardo Zanella, president of Free State of Fiume (b. 1875)
  • 1960 Fritz Klimsch, German sculptor and painter, dies at 90
  • 1960 Joseph Haas, German late romantic opera composer (Tobias Wunderlich; Totenmesse), dies at 81
  • 1961 Philibert Melotte, British astronomer (discovered Jupiter's 8th satellite Pasiphae), dies at 81
  • 1962 Jack Purvis, American jazz trumpet player and composer, dies at 55
  • 1963 Alexander Gauk, Russian-Soviet composer, dies at 69
  • 1964 Nellallitea "Nella" Larsen [Nellie Walker], African-American Harlem Renaissance novelist (Quicksand, Passing), dies at 72
  • 1964 Willem Andriessen, Dutch composer and pianist (Beethoven), dies at 76
  • 1965 Philip Showalter Hench, American physician, (Nobel Prize 1950 for cortisone), dies at 69
  • 1966 Erwin Piscator, German theater and film director (Nathan the Wise; Revolt of the Fishermen), dies at 72
  • 1966 Maxfield Parrish, American painter and illustrator, dies at 95
  • 1966 Newbold Morris, American politician, dies at 64
  • 1967 Jean Toomer, American writer (b. 1894)
  • 1968 Bobby Driscoll, American Academy Juvenile Award-winning actor (Song Of The South; The Window), dies of heart failure at 31 [date reflects discovery of his body in a deserted NYC tenement]
  • 1969 Lucien Bianchi, Italian-Belgian auto racer (24 Hours of Le Mans 1968), dies during Le Mans testing accident at 34
  • 1970 Heinrich Brüning, German politician and Chancellor of Germany (1930-32), dies at 84
  • 1971 Selmer Jackson, American actor (The Grapes of Wrath, Life & Legend of Wyatt Earp), dies at 82
  • 1972 Gabriel Heatter, American radio commentator famous for his WWII sign-on "There's good news tonight", dies of pneumonia at 81
  • 1972 Peter Whitney, American actor (Rough Riders), dies at 55
  • 1974 Lodewijk Rogier, Dutch historian (Reborn in Freedom), dies at 79
  • 1975 Peter Bamm, German physician and writer, dies at 87
  • 1976 Jacqueline Royaards-Sandberg, Dutch actress (Hostage Rights), dies at 99
  • 1976 Reuben "Rube" Bloom, American pianist, arranger, bandleader (The Bayou Boys), songwriter ("Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)"; "Give Me the Simple Life"), dies at 73
  • 1977 Abdel Halim Hafez [Shabana], Egyptian singer and actor, dies of liver failure due to schistosomiasis (parasitic flatworm infection) at 47
  • 1977 Levko Revutsky, Ukrainian composer, music editor and pedagogue, dies at 88
  • 1978 George Paine, English cricket spin bowler (4 Tests, 17 wickets; Warwickshire CCC), dies at 69
  • 1978 Harold Gimblett, English cricket batsman (3 Tests, 1 x 50; 265 career FC sixes; Somerset CCC), dies from an overdose at 63
  • 1978 Larry Young [aka Khalid Yasin], American hard-bop and jazz-fusion Hammond B-3 organist (Unity), dies from several untreated illnesses, including pneumonia, at 37
  • 1979 Airey Neave, British MP (Conservative), killed in a car bomb by the Irish National Liberation Army at 63
  • 1981 DeWitt Wallace, American publisher who founded Readers Digest, dies at 91
  • 1981 Noel Harford, New Zealand cricket batsman (8 Tests, 2 x 50; Manawatu, Hawke's Bay, Franklin), dies at 50
  • 1984 Gaëtan Dugas, French Canadian flight attendant and HIV patient erroneously vilified as "Patient Zero", dies of AIDS related kidney failure at 32 [1]
  • 1984 Peter Yarrall, strongest Englishman (weighed 826 lb (374.7 kg), dies
  • 1985 Harold Peary, American actor (Herb-Blondie, Willy), dies of a heart attack at 76

James Cagney (1899-1986)

American actor (Yankee Doodle Dandy), dies at 86

  • 1986 John Ciardi, American poet and interpreter (Dante), dies at 69
  • 1987 Efrain Jonckheer, Premier of the Dutch Antilles, dies at 69
  • 1988 Edgar Faure, Prime Minister of France (1952, 52-56) and writer, dies at 79
  • 1988 Taneli Kuusisto, Finnish organist and composer (Suomalainen rukous - Finnish Prayer), dies at 82
  • 1991 Jan Willem Hofstra, Dutch actor/writer (Friends of My Friends), dies
  • 1992 Art Hannes, American actor and announcer, dies of a respiratory ailment at 72
  • 1992 Luigi De Laurentiis, Italian producer (Toto, Macaroni), dies at 75
  • 1992 Manolis Andronikos, Greek archaeologist who discovered ancient royal Macedonian tombs in northern Greece, dies at 72
  • 1993 Andrée Bunet, French figure skater (Olympic gold pairs 1928, 32; World C'ship gold pairs 1926, 28, 30, 32), dies at 91
  • 1993 Richard Diebenkorn, American painter (Ocean Park Paintings), dies at 70
  • 1994 Sid Weiss, American jazz bassist, dies at 79
  • 1995 Paul A. Rothchild, American record producer (Janis Joplin - Pearl), dies at 59
  • 1995 Rozelle Claxton, American jazz pianist and arranger, dies at 82
  • 1995 Tony Lock, English cricket spin bowler (49 Tests, 174 wickets, BB 7/35, 2 x 50; Surrey CCC, Western Australia, Leicestershire CCC), dies from cancer at 65
  • 1996 Hugh Falkus, British filmmaker and naturalist, dies at 78
  • 1996 Ryoei Saito, Japanese businessman (Daishowa Paper Manufacturing), dies at 79
  • 1997 Jon Stone, American director and co-creator of Sesame Street, dies at 64
  • 1998 Ramsay Ames [Phillips], American actress, model and dancer (The Mummy's Ghost; Ali Baba & the 40 Thieves), dies of lung cancer at 79
  • 1999 Gary Morton [Morton Goldaper], American comedian, television producer, studio executive (Desilu), and second husband of Lucille Ball, dies of lung cancer at 74
  • 1999 Terry Wilson, American actor (Wagon Train; Escape to Witch Mountain), dies at 75
  • 2000 Beryl McBurnie, Trinidadian dancer (Little Carib Theatre), dies at 84
  • 2002 Anand Bakshi, Indian poet and lyricist, dies of multiple organ failure at 72

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (1900-2002)

British consort of King George VI and Queen Mother after his death, dies at 101

  • 2003 Michael Jeter, American Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor (The Fisher King; Evening Shade; Assassins), dies epileptic seizure complications at 50
  • 2003 Valentin Pavlov, Russian politician and Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (1991), dies at 65
  • 2004 (Rosemary) "Timi" Yuro, American singer ("Hurt"), dies at 63
  • 2004 Alistair Cooke, British-American TV host (Masterpiece Theatre), dies at 95
  • 2004 Frances Schreuder, American socialite convicted of murder, dies at 65
  • 2004 Hubert Gregg, British broadcaster (b. 1914)

Michael King (1945-2004)

New Zealand historian and author (Penguin History of New Zealand), dies in a car crash at 58

  • 2005 Derrick Plourde, American punk rock drummer, takes his own life at 33
  • 2005 Emil Dimitrov, Bulgarian singer (b. 1940)
  • 2005 Fred Korematsu, American civil rights activist (b. 1919)
  • 2005 Milton Green, American athlete (WR 45-yard high hurdles 5.8s 1935; WR 60m high hurdles 7.5s 1936), dies at 91
  • 2005 O. V. Vijayan, Indian author and cartoonist (b. 1930)
  • 2005 Robert Creeley, American poet (b. 1926)
  • 2006 Red Hickey, American football coach (HC SF 49ers 1959-63; devised shotgun formation), dies at 89
  • 2008 Dith Pran, Cambodian photojournalist, survivor of the Cambodian genocide, and subject of the movie "The Killing Fields", dies of pancreatic cancer at 65
  • 2009 Andrea Mead-Lawrence, American alpine skier (Olympic gold slalom, giant slalom 1952), dies of leiomyosarcoma at 76
  • 2009 Herman Franks, American baseball manager (SF Giants 1965–68, Chicago Cubs 1977–79) and coach (World Series 1954 NY Giants), dies at 95
  • 2010 Jaime Escalante, Bolivian-born American high school teacher at Garfield High School (b. 1930)
  • 2010 John Bunch, American jazz pianist (New York Swing Trio), dies of melanoma at 88
  • 2010 Martin Sandberger, German military officer (b. 1911)
  • 2012 Ron Gaunt, Australian cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 7 wickets, BB 3/53; WA, Victoria), dies at 78
  • 2012 Viktor Kosichkin, Russian speed skater (Olympic gold 5,000m, silver 10,000m 1960), dies at 74
  • 2013 Bob Turley, American baseball pitcher (World Series 1956, 58 [MVP] New York Yankees; 3 x MLB All-Star; Cy Young Award 1958), dies from liver cancer at 82
  • 2013 Phil Ramone [Rabinowitz], American 14-time Grammy Award-winning music producer (Burt Bacharach; Paul Simon; Billy Joel; Tony Bennett), and studio owner (co-founded A&R Recording), dies from an aortic aneurysm at 79
  • 2014 Kate O'Mara, English actress (Dynasty) and writer, dies at 74
  • 2016 Bram Beekman, Dutch organist, composer and teacher (Brabants Conservatory, 1980-2012), dies at 66
  • 2016 Gianmaria Testa, Italian singer-songwriter, dies of cancer at 57
  • 2016 Howard Cable, Canadian conductor, arranger, and composer, dies at 95
  • 2016 Mike Gibbons, American rocker (Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods - "Billy Don't Be A Hero"), dies at 69
  • 2017 Donald Harvey, American serial killer, healthcare worker who killed at least 37 patients, dies after being attacked in prison at 64
  • 2017 Rosalie “Rosie” Hamlin, American singer-songwriter (Rosie and The Originals – “Angel Baby”), dies at 71
  • 2018 Bill Maynard [Walter Williams], English actor (Greengrass-Heartbeat) and comedian, dies at 89

Bill Withers (1938-2020)

American singer-songwriter and rhythm & blues musician ("Ain't No Sunshine"; "Lean on Me"; "Just The Two Of Us"), dies of heart complications at 81

  • 2020 Frank Maloney, American football coach (Syracuse University 1974-1980), dies from brain cancer at 79
  • 2020 Manolis Glezos, Greek politician, writer and resistance hero (took down Nazi flag from Acropolis), dies at 97
  • 2021 G. Gordon Liddy, American Watergate felon and radio host, dies at 90
  • 2022 Yanick Étienne, Haitian singer (Roxy Music - "Avalon"; Bryan Ferry), dies of cancer at 64
  • 2023 Mark Russell, American political satirist, song parody writer, and pianist (Real People), dies at 90 [1]
  • 2023 Michael Rudman, American theater director and producer working in the UK (Death of the Salesman, Donkeys' Years), dies at 84 [1]
  • 2023 Ray Shulman, Scottish progressive rock bassist, songwriter (Gentle Giant), and record producer (The Sugarcubes), dies at 73
  • 2024 Casey Benjamin, American R&B and hip-hop saxophonist, vocoder wizard, and songwriter (The Robert Glasper Experiment), dies at 45 [1]
March 30 Highlights