Famous People Who Died Today

Amongst the most popular singers of the 20th century and one of the bestselling artists of all time, Frank Sinatra began his musical career singing with bands and later established his successful solo career with albums like The Voice of Frank Sinatra. Also an award winning actor, he featured in movies like From Here to Eternity and The Manchurian Candidate.

Rita Hayworth was one of the most glamorous Hollywood actresses of the 1930s and 1940s. Her filmography includes 61 films among which the most notable ones are The Strawberry Blonde, Gilda and Cover Girl. The personal life of the actress, who was also known as the Love Goddess, was marked by a series of failed marriages.

Mary Seacole was a British-Jamaican nurse, businesswoman, and healer. She played a major role during the Crimean War, providing aid for wounded servicemen and nursing them back to health. In 1991, Seacole was posthumously honored with the Jamaican Order of Merit. In 2004, she was named the greatest black Briton for her contribution during the war.

Emma Goldman was a writer and anarchist political activist. She played an important role in popularizing the anarchist political philosophy in Europe and North America in the early and mid-20th century. Her lectures and writing spanned a wide variety of subjects, such as atheism, militarism, freedom of speech, homosexuality, capitalism, and free love.

August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, painter, essayist, novelist, and poet. He wrote over 30 works of fiction and more than 60 plays in an illustrious career that spanned 40 years. Widely regarded as the father of modern Swedish literature, Strindberg is best remembered for his work The Red Room, which is considered the first modern Swedish novel.

Born in Dominica, to a Welsh father and a Creole mother, Jean Rhys grew up to be a celebrated author. She soared to fame with her novel Wide Sargasso Sea, which was inspired by the tale of Jane Eyre’s “madwoman in the attic.” She died before completing her memoir.

William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, was an Anglo-Norman statesman and soldier. Knighted in 1166, William Marshal was widely regarded as the best knight of his generation. William Marshal, who served five English kings, is now considered a cultural icon. 

After graduating in English literature, Keizo Obuchi stepped into his father’s shoes, becoming the youngest legislator in the Japanese parliament. His short-sighted policies are largely held responsible for Japan’s economic failure in his time. In his youth, he went on a world tour, taking up odd jobs, such as dishwashing.

Harry Blackstone Jr. was an American magician, television performer, and author. Apart from modernizing and developing the techniques and routines developed by his father, Harry Blackstone Jr. also created best-selling magic kits and appeared on popular TV shows like The Tonight Show. He was also one of the most decorated magicians at the time of his death in 1997.

Romanian-American psychiatrist Jacob L. Moreno is best remembered for introducing the concept of psychodrama, consisting of role-play exercises and dramatizations by patients, as a therapeutic method to cure mental ailments. He also pioneered group psychotherapy, introduced the study of social networks, and coined the terms sociometry and sociatry.

Henri La Fontaine was a Belgian lawyer who served as the president of the International Peace Bureau (IPB), one of the oldest international peace federations. In 1913, Henri La Fontaine was honored with the prestigious Nobel Prize for Peace for his efforts to lead the peace movement in Europe.

Born to Norwegian immigrants in the U.S., Christian Anfinsen initially excelled in both chemistry and football. His research on the structure of complex proteins and their biological functions earned him a Nobel Prize. He was also associated with the NIH and taught at Johns Hopkins University.

Born in Japan, Yasuo Kuniyoshi moved to the U.S. to avoid military school and began studying painting in Los Angeles and New York instead. His works such as I’m Tired depict women. He was the first living artist to earn a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

British colonizer Henry Sewell initially followed in his father’s footsteps to become a solicitor and joined his father’s law firm. He later joined the Canterbury Association and participated in the colonization of New Zealand, becoming the country’s first premier. He had also been an attorney general and a minister of justice.

Frederik van Zyl Slabbert initially studied theology, before switching streams and taking up sociology, eventually earning a PhD in the subject. Apart from leading the Progressive Federal Party, the South African politician also made a mark as a successful entrepreneur, eventually co-founding the trust Khula and serving several corporate boards.