Famous People Who Died Today

Considered one of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time, Richard Pryor entertained his audience and influenced generations of stand-up comedians with his pointed observations and skilful art of storytelling. He began by performing at clubs and gained immense fame with his third comedy album, That Nigger’s Crazy. He also became an acclaimed actor and an award winning writer.

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, and inventor. A prolific inventor, he held 355 different patents. Most popular as the inventor of dynamite, he was concerned with how he would be remembered after his death and bequeathed his fortune to the Nobel Prize institution. A wide traveler, he was proficient in several languages.

Former child actor and teen idol Philip McKeon is best known as Tommy Hyatt from the long-running sitcom Alice. He has also appeared in film such as Ghoulies 4 and in series such as The Love Boat. He is the older brother of actor Nancy McKeon.

Charles Marvin Green Jr., better known as Angry Grandpa, was a popular American YouTube celebrity who soared to fame with his pranks on the channels TheAngryGrandpaShow and Grandpa's Corner. Initially a firefighter and a small business owner, he later appeared on shows such as TruTV's Most Shocking and MTV's Pranked.

Canadian singer and The Band member Rick Danko initially performed as a rhythm guitarist and bassist for The Hawks. Part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Danko struggled with drug addiction and was once even arrested in Japan for smuggling drugs. He died in his sleep after a performance.

One of the most significant leaders of the Oglala Lakota tribe of the Sioux group of Native Americans, Red Cloud is remembered for his fearless resistance to the American plan of accessing the goldfields in Montana. He attached workers along the Bozeman Trail and eventually forced the U.S. to withdraw.

American Trappist monk and theologian Thomas Merton was ordained a priest and named Father Louis. He was a member of the monastery Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani. He is remembered for his bestselling autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, and for his study of Eastern religions such as Buddhism.

Tom Lister Jr. was an American actor whose career spanned four decades. Often cast to play negative roles, Tom Lister Jr. thrived playing bad guys and bullies in popular movies. Tom, who also dabbled in professional wrestling, passed away on December 10, 2020, leaving a vacuum in the film industry.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, and artist. He was married to fellow artist Margaret Macdonald, and they both were influential on the European design movements Art Nouveau and Secessionism. Mackintosh is considered one of the most important figures of Modern Style (British Art Nouveau style). In his later years, he worked largely as a watercolorist. 

Luigi Pirandello was an Italian novelist, short story writer, poet, and dramatist. Best remembered for his plays, Pirandello was honored with the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934. An Italian nationalist, Pirandello supported Fascism; he asked the Fascist government to melt down his Nobel Prize medal for the Abyssinia Campaign.

Ethel Roosevelt Derby was an American nurse best remembered as the youngest daughter of Theodore Roosevelt. Ethel played an important role in preserving the legacy of her family home and the legacy of her father for future generations. Ethel Roosevelt Derby also played a prominent role during the First World War, serving as a nurse in France.

Affectionately called Dadamoni by his fans and well-wishers, Ashok Kumar was a veteran actor who gave Indian cinema some of its iconic hits, such as Kismet and Howrah Bridge. He had started his career as an assistant filmmaker. Of his countless awards are the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan.

Paolo Uccello was a 15th-century Florentine painter and mathematician. He worked in the Late Gothic tradition and had a style best described as idiosyncratic. As a young man, he was apprenticed to the famous sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti, with whom he collaborated on his later works. His paintings representing the battle of San Romano are considered his best. 

Nikola Pašić was a Serbian and Yugoslav diplomat and politician. A leading political figure for nearly four decades, Pašić served as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Serbia on several occasions between 1891 and 1918. Nikola Pašić is also remembered for his service as the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia on three occasions between 1918 and 1926.

British botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker is remembered as one of Charles Darwin’s greatest supporters. The man who is known as the pioneer of geographical botany, Hooker followed in the footsteps of his botanist father. The Copley Medal winner is also known for his iconic work Genera Plantarum.

Joseph Safra was a Swiss-based Lebanese Brazilian banker and businessman. A billionaire, he ran the Brazilian banking and investment empire, Safra Group, and was the chairman of all Safra companies. At the time of his death in 2020, he was the richest person in Brazil. He was married to a Greek-born woman named Vicky and had four children. 

Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi was an Indian Islamic scholar. A member of the famous Naqshbandī Sufi order, Sirhindi was widely known as a reviver for his work in resurrecting Islam during Mughal Emperor Akbar's reign. He is also remembered for his contributions to Sufi practices and epistemology. There is a shrine named Rauza Sharif dedicated to Sirhindi in Sirhind, Punjab, India.

Belgian author and lawyer Paul Otlet went down in history as the man predicted the emergence of the internet as a world-wide information network over 50 years before its arrival. He also laid down the Universal Decimal Classification and penned the iconic book Traité de Documentation.