The following is a list of famous persons who have died recently.
- 30 Robert McCloskey, children's book writer and illustrator
- 30 Buddy Hackett, comic
- 29 Katharine Hepburn, actress
- 26 Strom Thurmond, United States Senator
- 26 Marc-Vivien Foe, footballer
- 26 Sir Denis Thatcher Bt., husband to Baroness Thatcher, former UK Prime Minister
- 25 Lester Maddox, segregationist Governor of the State of Georgia
- 24 Maynard Jackson[?],former Mayor of Atlanta, GA[?] first black mayor of a major southern U.S. city
- 24 Leon Uris, author
- 23 Vasil Bykau[?], Belarusian writer
- 21 Roger Neilson, legendary Canadian hockey coach
- 20 Bob Stump[?], Arizona Senator
- 19 Laura Sadler, British television actress, after falling 40 feet from a building
- 18 Larry Doby, baseball Hall of Famer, second Black man to play in the MLB
- 15 Hume Cronyn, actor
- 15 William Wentworth[?], Australian politician, first Minister of Aboriginal Affairs
- 12 Gregory Peck, actor
- 11 David Brinkley, broadcast journalist
- 10 Donald Regan, Chief of Staff and Treasury Secretary during the Reagan administration
- 10 Phil Williams, highly-respected Welsh politician, in a Cardiff massage parlour
- 7 Tony McAuley[?] BBC Northern Ireland broadcaster & film-maker associated with traditional Irish music and arts
- 7 Trevor Goddard, actor
- 5 Meir Vilner[?], last surviving signatory to Israel's declaration of independence and former chairman of the Communist Party of Israel[?]
- 5 Jürgen Möllemann, former German minister
- 3 Fabrice Salanson[?], a french pro-cyclist
- 2 Fred Blassie, 85, former professional wrestler
- 2 Richard Cusack[?], 77, ad executive turned actor/screenwriter, father of actors John Cusack and Joan Cusack, dies of pancreatic cancer in Evanston, Illinois
- 2 Jack Frazier, former Saddam Hussein hostage
- 30 Mickie Most[?], music producer, produced acts such as Lulu, Donovan, The Animals, Hot Chocolate, Suzi Quatro and Kim Wilde
- 28 Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry
- 28 Martha Scott, actress
- 28 Oleg Makarov, cosmonaut
- 27 Luciano Berio, composer
- 26 Kathleen Winsor, author of Forever Amber
- 21 Elfren Bernier[?], Puerto Rican Olympic athlete and lawyer
- 18 Anna Santisteban, legendary figure in the Miss Universe contests
- 18 Barb Tarbox[?], Canadian anti-smoking activist
- 16 Mal Florence[?], longtime sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times[?]
- 16 William E. Day[?], broadcaster and preservationist, early proponent of the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act[?]
- 16 Mark McCormack[?], sports business pioneer, founder of IMG[?]
- 15 Rik Van Steenbergen, Belgian cyclist
- 15 George Francis, British mobster
- 15 June Carter Cash, musician, singer, wife of Johnny Cash
- 15 David O. Ives[?], public broadcasting pioneer, longtime executive at WGBH[?], Boston, which introduced such television programs as "Nova[?]," "Frontline," "Masterpiece Theatre," and "This Old House[?]"
- 14 Robert Stack, Hollywood actor, host of Unsolved Mysteries, 84 years old
- 14 Dame Wendy Hiller, British actress (August 15, 1912 - May 14, 2003)
- 14 Dave DeBusschere, NBA basketball player
- 13 John Savage, former Premier of Nova Scotia, Canada
- 12 Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 1965 - 1977
- 11 Noel Redding, former bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- 10 Milan Vukcevich, chemist and chess problem composer
- 9 Russell B. Long, former U.S. Senator
- 6 Evelio Lopez Falcon[?], alleged Mexican drug trafficker
- 6 David Woodley[?], former quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, who started in Super Bowl XVII
- 5 Walter Sisulu, ANC activist
- 3 Suzy Parker[?], actress; top model of the 1950s
- 1 Miss Elizabeth, WWE wrestling figure
- 30 Peter 'Possum' Bourne, 3 Times Asia-Pacific Rally Champion
- 30 Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist
- 29 Etti Plesch, who married three counts, an American heir, and a Hungarian Lawyer
- 27 Elaine Steinbeck[?], former actress; widow of author John Steinbeck
- 26 Rosemary Brown, Canadian politician (NDP), first woman elected to a provincial legislature
- 26 Caroline Newhouse[?], arts patron; widow of Theodore Newhouse
- 26 Max Nicholson, environmentalist
- 26 Peter Stone, Oscar-and-(3-time)Tony-winning writer
- 25 Hidefumi Minorikawa[?], a Diet of Japan member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party[?]
- 23 Bernard Katz biophysicist, Nobel Prize winner
- 23 James H. Critchfield, CIA cold warrior
- 22 Martha Griffiths[?], Congresswoman, women's rights proponent
- 21 Rocco Theunissen[?], Rally Driver
- 21 Nina Simone, jazz singer, "High Priestess of Soul"
- 19 Conrad Leonard[?] (aged 104), British musican and composer
- 19 Norberto Longo[?], Telemundo sportscaster
- 18 Daijiro Kato, Japanese 500cc MotoGP Star, former 250cc Champion
- 18 Edgar F. Codd, computer pioneer
- 17 Earl King, R&B musician/songwriter
- 17 Paul Getty, philanthropist
- 17 Robert Atkins, diet doctor
- 16 Sarah Marple-Cantrell, a student
- 10 Noel Fox[?], former singer of gospel band The Oak Ridge Boys
- 12 Sydney Lassick, actor, best known playing asylum resident Cheswick in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest[?]
- 12 Cecil H. Green (aged 102), Texas Instruments founder
- 10 Little Eva[?] (Eva Narcissus Boyd), who sang the 1962 hit The Loco-Motion
- 8 Anita Borg, computer scientist
- 7 Cecile de Brunhoff[?] (aged 99), who inspired the Babar the Elephant childrens' books when she told it to her children as a bedtime story in 1931 (it was then illustrated by her husband)
- 6 Babatunde Olatunji, African drummer, recorded Drums of Passion
- 6 Lance Corporal Ian Keith Malone Dublin-born soldier in the Irish Guards regiment of the British Army, who featured in a Radio Telifís Éireann documentary on Irish-born British soldiers, killed in Iraq
- 6 David Bloom, an NBC reporter, died from a pulmonary embolism while embedded with the 3rd Infantry Division covering the war in Iraq
- 5 Seymour Lubetzky (aged 104), cataloging theorist and librarian
- 5 Ali Hissan Al-Majid, first cousin of Saddam Hussein, nicknamed Chemical Ali, and alleged mastermind of the attack against Kurds in 1988. He was reportedly found dead April 7 after an aerial attack on his house. However, this has not been yet absolutely confirmed.
- 4 Resortes, legendary Mexican comedian, real name Adalberto Martinez Chavez
- 2 Michael Wayne[?], film producer; eldest son of John Wayne
- 2 Edwin Starr, soul singer
- 2 Pat Leavy[?], Irish actress who played Hannah Finnegan in the Radio Telifís Éireann soap opera Fair City, died after being taken ill on set
- 2 Edward Keating[?], founder of Ramparts[?] magazine
- 1 Leslie Cheung, actor and singer, one of the superstars in Hong Kong during late 1980s, committed suicide
- 31 H.S.M. Coxeter, noted geometer and author of many books, passed away at age 96
- 31 Michael Jeter, actor, friend, as "The Other Mr. Noodle" to Sesame Street's Elmo
- 30 Valentin Pavlov, former prime minister of the Soviet Union
- 30 Gaby Rado[?], UK journalist
- 29 Dr. Carlo Urbani, WHO doctor, discoverer of SARS, of which he died
- 26 Daniel Patrick Moynihan, former Senator from New York
- 24 Hans Hermann Groër[?], former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vienna (1986 - 1995) who resigned in 1995 after allegations of sexually abusing boys
- 24 Philip Yordan[?], screenwriter; won Oscar for "Broken Lance"
- 22 Terry Lloyd, reporter
- 18 Adam Osborne, computer pioneer
- 16 Major Ronald Ferguson, father of UK royal divorcee Sarah, Duchess of York, aged 71 [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2857115.stm)
- 16 Rachel Corrie, International Solidarity Movement activist, crushed to death by an Israeli armoured bulldozer
- 15 Dame Thora Hird, veteran British actress
- 12 Howard Fast, novelist
- 12 Lynne Thigpen, actor, co-star of CBS television show "The District[?]", and star of PBS show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?[?]
- 12 Harry The Kid Matthews[?] boxer, world title challenger in three divisions
- 12 Zoran Djindjic, Prime Minister of Serbia (assassinated)
- 10 Bernard Dowiyogo, President of Nauru
- 10 Barry Sheene, 2 Times 500cc MotoGP Champion
- 9 Stan Brakhage, filmmaker
- 9 F. William Sunderman[?] (aged 104), physician and scientist
- 8 Adam Faith, British singer and actor
- 8 Karen Morley[?], blonde star of 1930s movies; ex-wife of Charles Vidor[?]
- 6 John Sanford, author
- 3 Horst Buchholz, German actor
- 2 Malcolm Williamson, Australian composer, Master of the Queen's Music
- 2 Hank Ballard, singer, composer, famous for his hit "The Twist"
- 28 Roger Needham, computer pioneer
- 28 Fidel Sanchez Hernandez, former President of El Salvador
- 28 Chris Brasher, athlete
- 27 Fred Rogers, host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
- 25 Alberto Sordi, Italian comedy film legend
- 25 Tom O'Higgins[?], former Irish Chief Justice & twice defeated Irish presidential candidate
- 22 Jesica Santillan, heart and lung patient whose wrong transplant made headlines
- 22 Daniel Taradash[?], former president of AMPAS; Oscar-winning screenwriter of "From Here to Eternity"
- 20 Harry Jacunski[?], former NFL player, Green Bay Packers
- 20 Orville Lothrop Freeman, former Governor of Minnesota and Secretary of Agriculture for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
- 19 Johnny PayCheck, country music singer
- 18 Jack Brodsky[?], movie producer and publicist[?]
- 17 Steve Bechler[?], baseball pitcher, Baltimore Orioles
- 14 Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal
- 14 Johnny Longden[?], jockey[?]
- 13 Kid Gavilan, world boxing champion and hall of famer
- 13 Stacy Keach Sr[?], character actor; father of actors Stacy and James Keach
- 13 Walt Rostow[?], political advisor
- 10 Clark MacGregor[?], former United States Congressman
- 10 Al Ruffo[?], former mayor of San Jose, California who helped form the San Francisco 49ers football team in 1946
- 10 Ron Ziegler[?] former press secetary for Richard Nixon during the Watergate Scandal
- 9 Vera Hruba Ralston[?], star of Ice Capades and Republic Pictures B-movies of the 1940s
- 9 Kerri Yascheshyn Canadian cancer patient whose friendship with Madonna made headlines
- 7 John Reading[?], Mayor of Oakland, California from 1966 to 1977 who supported the building of the Oakland Coliseum[?]
- 6 Robert St. John[?] (aged 100) globetrotting reporter and author
- 2 Dr. Harold S. Ginsberg[?], microbiologist
- 2 Lou Harrison, American composer, noted for his microtonal works
- 1 Astronauts Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia
- 1 Mongo Santamaria[?], percussionist, band leader, Latin jazz[?] musician
- 29 Frank Moss[?] Former Utah Senator
- 29 Peter Shaw[?], producer; husband of actress Angela Lansbury
- 26 Lord Younger, (George Younger) British politician, Secretary of State for Scotland[?] between 1979 and 1986
- 26 Lord Dacre (Hugh Trevor-Roper), British historian, authenticator of the hoaxed Hitler Diaries
- 26 Valeriy Brumel, track and field athlete
- 25 Robert Rockwell[?], actor; Philip Boynton on TV's "Our Miss Brooks"
- 24 Gianni Agnelli, Italian entrepreneur and president of Fiat
- 23 Nell Carter, singer, actress
- 23 Aodhagán Brioscú[?], last surviving founder of Irish cultural organisation Gael Linn[?]
- 22 Bill Mauldin, World War II cartoonist
- 21 Tony O'Malley[?], Irish artist and painter
- 21 Seán Malone[?], retired university professor and pioneer of biological psychiatry in the Republic of Ireland
- 20 Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player
- 20 Al Hirschfeld, caricaturist
- 19 Françoise Giroud[?], French writer and politician
- 18 Richard Crenna, actor
- 15 Doris Fisher, singer & songwriter
- 13 Norman Panama, screenwriter and director
- 12 Maurice Gibb, of the Bee Gees
- 12 Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, former dictator of Argentina
- 12 Estelle Blanc[?], widow of cartoon voice Mel Blanc
- 12 Koloman Sokol[?] (aged 100), Slovakian artist
- 11 Richard Simmons[?], actor; TV's "Sgt Preston of the Yukon"
- 11 Anthony Havelock-Allan[?], British screenwriter
- 11 Mickey Finn, of T. Rex
- 11 Maurice Pialat, French movie director
- 8 Ron Goodwin, British film music composer and conductor
- 6 Lila Mayoral[?], former first lady of Puerto Rico, wife of Rafael Hernandez Colon
- 5 Roy Jenkins, British Labour MP and co-founder, first leader of, then Peer for, the Social Democratic Party
- 4 Conrad Hall, Hollywood cinematographer, a two-time Academy Award-winner
- 3 Sid Gillman, American football coach
- 2 Sydney Omarr[?], astrologer, newspaper columnist
- 2 Bob Chalker[?], former United States diplomat
- 1 Joe Foss, politician, fighter pilot, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor
For earlier deaths see 20th century, 2002 in memoriam, 2001 in memoriam, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, ...