Famous People Who Died in 1977

Deaths 1 - 200 of 339

Jan 1 Roland Hayes, American lyric tenor, arranger, and composer, dies at 89

Erroll Garner (1923-1977)

Jan 2 American jazz pianist (Misty), dies at 53

Jan 3 Avraham Ofer, Israeli minister of housing, commits suicide
Jan 3 Benno Stokvis, Dutch attorney/politician, dies at 75
Jan 5 Onslow Stevens, American actor (This is the Life), dies at 74
Jan 6 Hanns Lilje, German Lutheran bishop and antifascist (Church und Welt), dies at 77
Jan 6 Niall MacGinnis, Irish character actor (Curse of the Demon, Helen of Troy), dies from cancer at 63
Jan 9 Alexey Fedorovich Kozlovsky, Russian composer, dies at 71
Jan 9 Hal Sawyer, TV host (Sawyer Views Hollywood), dies at 62
Jan 10 Ruth Wakefield, American inventor who created the Toll House Cookie, the first chocolate chip cookie, dies at 73
Jan 12 Henri-Georges Clouzot, French director (Les Diaboliques, Truth), dies at 69
Jan 14 Anaïs Nin, French author (Henry and June), dies of cervical cancer at 73

Anthony Eden (1897-1977)

Jan 14 British Prime Minister (Conservative: 1955-57) and Foreign Secretary, dies of liver cancer at 79

Peter Finch (1916-1977)

Jan 14 British-Australian radio, stage, and BAFTA and Academy Award-winning screen actor (Network; The Nun's Story; Raid on Entebbe), dies of a heart attack at 60

Jan 16 Leif Panduro, Danish writer ('k Have varnish on traditions), dies at 53
Jan 17 Gary Gilmore, American murderer executed in Utah at 36, 1st US execution since 1967
Jan 18 Carl Zuckmayer, German-Swiss-American playwright (Second Wind), dies at 80
Jan 18 Paul Nordoff, American composer (Every Soul Is a Circus), and music therapist (Nordoff-Robbins method), dies at 67
Jan 18 Yvonne Printemps, French singer and actress (Paris Waltz, Voyage to America), dies at 81
Jan 21 John Vincent, American composer, dies at 74
Jan 21 Sandro Penna, Italian poet, dies at 70
Jan 21 Zoltan Vasarhelyi, composer, dies at 76
Jan 22 Pascual Pérez, Argentine boxer (World flyweight champion 1954-60; Olympic gold Flyweight 1948), dies at 50
Jan 23 Bernard "Toots" Shor, New York restaurateur (Toot's Shor's Restaurant), dies at 73
Jan 23 Dick Burnett, American musician ("Man of Constant Sorrow"), dies at 93
Jan 25 Donald Kerr, American actor (Devil Bat, Killer Bats), dies at 85
Jan 26 Margaret Hayes, American actress (Blackboard Jungle, Robert Montgomery Presents), dies from cancer and hepatitis at 60
Jan 27 Walter Baldwin, American actor (The Best Years of Our Lives, The Long, Long Trailer), dies at 88
Jan 28 Burton "Burt" Mustin, American actor (All in the Family, The Andy Griffith Show), dies at 92
Jan 29 Buster Nupen, South African cricket all-rounder (17 Tests, 50 wickets; one eye only), dies at 75
Jan 29 Freddie Prinze, American comedian and actor (Chico & the Man), commits suicide by shooting himself in the head at 22
Feb 1 Edmond Hamilton, American sci-fi author ("City at World's End"; "The Star Kings"), dies at 72
Feb 3 Pauline Starke, American actress (Dante's Inferno; Dance Magic; Sun Up), dies at 76
Feb 4 Brett Halliday, American writer (Dividend on Death), dies at 72
Feb 5 Izaak Boleslavski, Russian chess player, dies at 67
Feb 5 Oskar Klein, Swedish physicist (b. 1894)
Feb 7 Herman Dooyeweerd, Dutch philosopher (suite of fifteen aspects), and legal scholar (Vrije Universiteit, 1926-65), dies at 82
Feb 8 Eivind Groven, Norwegian composer and ethnomusicologist, dies at 75
Feb 9 (Woodrow Wilson) "Buddy" Johnson, American jump blues pianist, bandleader, and songwriter ("They All Say I'm The Biggest Fool"; "Since I Fell for You"), dies from a brain tumor and sickle cell anemia at 62
Feb 9 Denys Amiel, French dramatist/playwright (Le mouton noir), dies at 92
Feb 9 Gaus, an orangutan who lived to be 59
Feb 9 Sergei Ilyushin, Russian airplane builder (designed Il-2 Shturmovik - world's most produced military aircraft), dies at 82
Feb 10 Grace Williams, Welsh composer (1st British woman to score a feature film), dies at 70
Feb 11 Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian leader and 5th President of India (1974-77), dies of a heart attack at 72
Feb 11 Louis Beel, Dutch premier (1946-48, 58-59), dies at 74
Feb 13 Jack Gardner, American actor (The Secret Code; Three Russian Girls), dies at 74
Feb 17 Janani Luwum, Ugandan Archbishop (b. 1922)
Feb 17 Quincy Howe, American newscaster (CBS Weekend News), dies at 76
Feb 18 Andy Devine, American character actor (Roy Roger's sidekick - "Cookie"; Stagecoach; Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, 1951-58), dies of leukemia at 71
Feb 18 Maria Realino [Frederikus Janssen], teacher (Botany of Curacao), dies at 87
Feb 18 Ralph Graves, American actor (Dirigible, Extra Girl, Flight, Dream Street), dies at 77
Feb 19 Anthony Crosland, British politician (b. 1918)
Feb 19 Mike González, Cuban baseball player, dies at 86
Feb 21 Henry Jordan, American Pro Football HOF defensive tackle (Super Bowl 1967, 68; 7 × All-Pro; 4 × Pro Bowl; Cleveland Browns, GB Packers), dies from a heart attack at 42
Feb 22 Edith Barrett, actress (Molly & Me, Ghost Ship), dies at 64
Feb 22 Jack O'Connor, English cricket all-rounder (4 Tests, 1 x 50; Derbyshire CCC), dies at 79
Feb 25 Billy Coutu, Canadian ice hockey defenceman (Stanley Cup 1924; Montreal Canadiens; only player banned from NHL for life, attacked referee 1927), dies at 84
Feb 26 (Booker T. Washington) "Bukka" White, American country and Delta blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter ("Shake'Em On Down"; "Parchman Farm Blues"), dies of cancer at 70
Feb 26 Maxime Jacob, French composer and organist, dies at 71
Feb 26 Sherman Garnes, American rock vocalist (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers), dies of a heart attack at 36
Feb 27 Allison Hayes, American model and actress (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman), dies of leukemia or lead poisoning at 47
Feb 27 John Dickson Carr, American mystery writer, dies of lung cancer at 70
Feb 28 Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, American comedian and actor (The Jack Benny Program), dies at 71
Mar 2 Eugénie Brazier, French chef who was the 1st woman to earn 3 Michelin stars (1933), and the 1st person earn 3 Michelin stars for 2 restaurants, dies at 81
Mar 3 Percy Marmont, British actor (Secret Agent, Lisbon, Captain Apache), dies at 93
Mar 4 Andrés Caicedo, Colombian writer (b. 1951)
Mar 4 Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, German politician and former Chancellor of Germany (b. 1887)
Mar 4 Toma Caragiu, Romanian actor (b. 1925)
Mar 5 Jansen Van Vuuren, Dutch volunteer safety marshal at the 1977 South African Grand Prix, dies in a car crash at 19
Mar 5 Lockrem Johnson, American pianist, composer (A Letter to Emily), educator, and music publisher, dies at 52
Mar 5 Moses Pergament, Finnish-Swedish classical composer (The Jewish Song Choral Symphony) and music critic, dies at 83
Mar 8 Henry Hull, American actor (Werewolf of London, Boys Town), dies at 86
Mar 10 E. Power Biggs, British classical organist and composer (CBS; Bach), dies at 70
Mar 10 Pieter Jan Bouman, Dutch sociologist and historian, dies at 74
Mar 10 Willem Schermerhorn, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1945-46), dies at 82
Mar 11 Alberto Rodriguez Larreta, Argentine racing driver (b. 1934)
Mar 11 Ulysses S. Grant IV, American geologist (b. 1893)
Mar 13 Jan Patocka, Czech philosopher, dies in prison

Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977)

Mar 14 American civil rights activist (Freedom Summer, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), dies of breast cancer at 59 [1]

Mar 14 Gyula David, Hungarian composer (Viola Concerto) and violinist, dies at 63
Mar 15 Antonino Rocca, Italian-Argentine professional wrestler, dies at 49
Mar 15 Hubert Aquin, French Canadian novelist, political activist and editor, dies at 47
Mar 16 Kamal Jumblatt, Lebanese politician and founder of the Progressive Socialist Party, assassinated by unknown gunmen at 59
Mar 18 José Carlos Pace, Brazilian racing driver (b. 1944)
Mar 18 Marien Ngouabi, president of Congo-Brazzaville, murdered
Mar 19 Buck Shaw, American College Football HOF coach (NC State, Nevada, Santa Clara, California, Air Force; NFL: SF 49ers; NFL Championship 1960 Philadelphia Eagles), dies of cancer at 77
Mar 22 A.K. Gopalan, Indian Communist leader and politician (Member of Indian parliament, 1952-71), dies at 72
Mar 22 Hymie Shertzer, American jazz and session saxophonist (Benny Goodman; NBC's Tonight Show), dies at 67
Mar 22 Witold Friemann, Polish composer, pianist, conductor and pedagogue, dies at 87
Mar 23 Bennie Green, American swing jazz and soul trombonist (Earl Hines), dies at 53
Mar 24 Saburō Moroi, Japanese composer and educator, dies at 73
Mar 25 Nunnally Johnson, American screenwriter and producer, dies at 79
Mar 27 A. P. Hamann, American politician and city manager of San Jose, California, dies in the Tenerife airport disaster at 67
Mar 27 Diana Hyland, actress (Peyton Place, 8 is Enough), dies at 41
Mar 27 Eve Meyer, X actress (Immoral Mr Teas), dies in a plane crash at 46
Mar 27 Lodewijk de Vocht, Belgian composer (Prayer for My Fatherland), conductor, kapellmeister (Antwerp Cathedral, 1913-50), and educator (Antwerp Conservatory, 1921-52), dies at 89
Mar 29 Madeleine Dring, British composer and pianist, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 53
Mar 30 Abdel Halim Hafez [Shabana], Egyptian singer and actor, dies of liver failure due to schistosomiasis (parasitic flatworm infection) at 47
Mar 30 Levko Revutsky, Ukrainian composer, music editor and pedagogue, dies at 88
Apr 3 Jack Ryder, Australian cricket all-rounder (20 Tests, 1,394 runs @ 51.62), dies at 87
Apr 4 Jeno Zador, composer, dies at 82
Apr 5 John Marriott, dies at 83
Apr 7 Jim Thompson, American author (The Killer Inside Me), dies at 70
Apr 7 Siegfried Buback, German Federal Prosecutor, assassinated by far-leftist militant group Red Army Faction, at 57
Apr 8 Frank Milan, American actor (Witness), dies at 71
Apr 11 Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter (b. 1900)
Apr 11 Karen Krantzcke, Australian tennis player (Australian Open doubles 1968; Federation Cup 1970), dies of a heart attack whilst jogging at 31
Apr 12 Philip K Wrigley, American baseball executive (owner Chicago Cubs 1932-77), dies of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage at 82
Apr 14 Riekus Waskowsky, Dutch poet, dies at 44
Apr 17 Marjorie Gateson, American actress (One Man's Family), dies at 86
Apr 17 William Cardinal Conway, Northern Irish clergyman (b. 1913)
Apr 18 Irene Steer, Welsh swimmer (Olympic gold GB 4 x 100m relay 1912), dies at 87
Apr 19 Günter Bruno Fuchs, German writer, poet and artist, dies at 48
Apr 20 Bryan Foy, director/writer, dies at 80
Apr 20 Len Johnson, Australian cricket fast bowler (1 Test, 6 wickets, BB 3/8; Queensland), dies at 58
Apr 20 Wilmer Allison, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1935), dies at 72
Apr 21 Milton "Gummo" Marx, American comic (Marx Brothers), dies at 84
Apr 22 Charles Sanford, American orchestra leader (Your Show of Shows), dies at 71
Apr 27 Joe Garland, American big band jazz saxophonist, arranger, and composer (In the Mood; Serenade To A Savage), dies at 73
Apr 27 Stanley Adams, American character actor (Star Trek - "Cyrano Jones"; Breakfast at Tiffany's; Lilies of the Field), commits suicide at 62
Apr 28 Ricardo Cortez [Jacob Krantz], American actor and director (The Maltese Falcon), dies at 76
Apr 28 Sepp Herberger, German soccer manager (Germany 1936–42; West Germany 1950-64) and striker (3 caps; SV Waldhof Mannheim 127 games), dies at 80
Apr 30 Clive Douglas, Australian composer (Kaditcha; Carwoola), conductor (Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1938-68, and educator, dies at 73
May 5 Ludwig Erhard, German politician (CDU, as Chancellor of Germany 1963-66 led German "economic miracle"), dies at 80
May 5 Sam Lanin, American sweet jazz arranger and bandleader (Roseland Orchestra; The Ipana Troubadors), dies at 85
May 7 Irwin Fischer, American composer and organist (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), dies at 73
May 9 James Jones, American novelist (Bad Blood, From Here to Eternity), dies at 55
May 9 Walter Kraft, German organist and composer, dies at 71

Joan Crawford (1905-1977)

May 10 American actress (Mildred Pierce), dies of a heart attack between 69 and 74 [year of birth disputed]

May 12 Luc van Brabant, Flemish writer and erotic poet, dies at 67
May 14 Robert Maynard Hutchins, American educational philosopher (University of Chicago), dies at 78
May 15 Modibo Keïta, 1st President of Mali (1960-68), dies at 61
May 16 Edouard Van Remoortel, Belgian conductor (St Louis Symphony, 1958-62), dies at 50
May 22 Gijs van Hall, Dutch politician and Mayor of Amsterdam (1957-67), dies at 73
May 22 Marius Monnikendam, Dutch choir composer, dies at 80
May 23 Joe Stydahar, American NFL player and coach (Chicago Bears), dies at 65
May 25 Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer, dies at 72
May 26 Jim Boles, American actor (The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, One Man's Family), dies of cardiac arrest at 63
May 26 William Powell, American R&B singer (O'Jays - "Love Train"; "Backstabbers"), dies of cancer at 35
May 28 Jiří Reinberger, Czech organist and composer, dies at 63
May 29 Ba Maw, Burmese politician (b. 1893)
May 29 Goddard Lieberson, English composer and President of Columbia Records, dies at 66
May 30 Claire Goll, German-French writer, dies at 86
May 30 Marinus Adam, Dutch conductor and composer, dies at 76
May 30 Paul Desmond, American jazz alto saxophonist (Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five), dies of lung cancer at 52
May 31 William Castle, American film director (b. 1914)
Jun 2 Forrest Lewis, American actor (All That Heaven Allows, Monster of Piedras Blancas), dies at 77
Jun 2 Henri D Gagnebin, Belgian-Swiss organist and composer, dies at 91
Jun 2 Stephen Boyd [William Millar], Irish actor (Fantastic Voyage, Ben-Hur), dies of a heart attack at 45
Jun 3 Archibald Vivian Hill, English physiologist (1922 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine - discovery of production of heat in muscle), dies at 90

Roberto Rossellini (1906-1977)

Jun 3 Italian film director (General della Rovere, Open City), dies at 71

Jun 5 "Sleepy" John Estes, American Blues musician ("Drop Down Mama"), dies at 78
Jun 6 Sophie Stewart, actress (As You Like It), dies at 69
Jun 9 Bill Merritt, New Zealand cricket spin bowler (6 Tests, 12 wickets; Canterbury, Northamstonshire CCC), dies at 68
Jun 9 Hans Andreus [Johan Wilhem van der Zant], Dutch children's author (Mr. Bumblemoose books), and poet (Muziek voor Kijkdieren), dies at 51
Jun 13 Matthew Garber, British child actor (Mary Poppins), dies of pancreatitis at 21
Jun 13 Tom C Clark, former Supreme Court Justice (1949-67), dies in NY at 77
Jun 14 Alan Reed, American actor (Breakfast at Tiffany's) and voice artist (Fred Flintstone, Lady and the Tramp), dies at 69
Jun 14 Robert Middleton, American actor (Barney-Monroes), dies at 66

Wernher von Braun (1912-1977)

Jun 16 German-American rocket scientist (Germany - V1 and V2, US -Saturn V, NASA), and Disney space consultant, dies of pancreatic cancer at 65

Jun 19 Ali Shariati, Iranian sociologist (b. 1933)
Jun 19 Geraldine Brooks [Stroock], American stage and screen actress (Brightower; Embraceable You; The Dumplings), dies of a heart attack at 51
Jun 20 Abner Biberman, American director and actor (His Girl Friday, The Leopard Man), dies at 68
Jun 22 Peter Laughner, American singer, songwriter and guitarist (Rocket From the Tombs; Pere Ubu), dies of acute pancreatitis at 24
Jun 24 André-Gilles Fortin, Canadian politician, dies in car crash at 33
Jun 25 Endre Szervánszky, Hungarian composer (Dark Heaven Requiem), dies at 65
Jun 25 Olave Baden-Powell, English founder of the Girl Guides, dies at 88
Jun 25 Petko Staynov, Bulgarian composer and pianist, dies at 80
Jun 26 Lou Reizner, American rock vocalist and producer (Rod Stewart; Tommy), dies of cancer at 43
Jun 26 Oskar Morgenstern, German-American economist, dies at 75
Jun 29 Anton Hildebrand, Dutch children's book writer (Monus), dies at 70
Jun 29 Magda Lupescu, consort of King Carol II of Romania (b. 1895)
Jul 1 (Robert) "Baby Boy" Warren, American blues singer and guitarist, dies of a heart attack at 57

Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977)

Jul 2 Russian-American novelist (Lolita, Ada), dies at 78

Jul 3 Hugh Le Caine, Canadian physicist and composer, dies at 63
Jul 3 Mohammed al-Zahaby, Egyptian minister, murdered by Moslem extremists at 64
Jul 4 Gersh Budker, Russian physicist (b. 1918)
Jul 6 Oedoen Partos, Hungarian-Israeli violist (Israel Philharmonic, 1938-56), composer, and teacher dies at 69
Jul 8 Rie Cramer, Dutch writer and illustrator, dies at 89

Alice Paul (1885-1977)

Jul 9 American suffragist (National Woman's Party), dies at 92

Jul 9 Loren Eiseley, American anthropologist and natural science writer (The Unexpected Universe), and poet (Another Kind of Autumn), dies of cardiac arrest at 69
Jul 10 Norman Paris, American orchestra leader (For Your Pleasure), and composer (" Big Blue Marble", "I've Got A Secret"), dies of stroke complications at 51
Jul 12 Ed Holmes, actor (Growing Paynes, Once Upon a Tune), dies at 66
Jul 12 Frantisek Suchy, Czech oboist and composer (Moravian Wind Quintet), dies at 75
Jul 15 Konstantin Fedin, writer, dies
Jul 19 John R Powers, American director model bureau, dies at 80

Noel Wien (1899-1977)

Jul 19 American aviation pioneer (Wien Air Alaska), dies at 78

Jul 20 Carter DeHaven, American actor (Courage, Great Dictator), dies at 90
Jul 20 Gary Kellgren, American music producer who co-founded The Record Plant studios, drowns in a swimming pool, along with his girlfriend, at 38
Jul 21 Lee Miller, American photographer (War correspondent for Vogue in WWII), dies at 70
Jul 23 René de Vos, Dutch actor and composer (Jij Bent Mijn Leven), dies at 79
Jul 26 Gena Branscombe, Canadian pianist and composer, dies at 95
Jul 26 Hans-Otto Borgmann, German film score composer under the Third Reich, dies at 75
Jul 26 Karac Plant, son of Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, dies of respiratory failure at 6
Jul 27 Jacob Marschak, Ukrainian-American economist (econometrics), dies at 79
Jul 29 Austin Matthews, cricketer (Test Eng v NZ 1937), dies
Jul 30 Jorgen Ponto, West German banker, murdered
Jul 31 Stacy Moskowitz, shot to death by Son of Sam, at 20