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Fred Astaire
Dancer / 1899 - 1987
Fred Astaire was an American dancer of stage and film who is best known for a number of successful musical comedy films in which he starred with Ginger Rogers.
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(1899-1987)
Dancer
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Mary Astor
Film Actress, Theater Actress, Journalist, Author / 1906 - 1987
Mary Astor was an Academy Award-winning actress of the stage and screen. Her best known role was in The Maltese Falcon.
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(1906-1987)
Film Actress, Theater Actress, Journalist, Author
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James Baldwin
Writer / 1924 - 1987
James Baldwin was an essayist, playwright and novelist regarded as a highly insightful, iconic writer with works like The Fire Next Time and Another Country.
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(1924-1987)
Writer
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Clare Boothe Luce
Diplomat, Journalist, Playwright / 1903 - 1987
Clare Boothe Luce was a socialite who satirized New York society, wrote plays, worked as a war correspondent for Life, and served as an ambassador to Italy.
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(1903-1987)
Diplomat, Journalist, Playwright
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Joseph Campbell
Anthropologist, Academic Author, Journalist / 1904 - 1987
Joseph Campbell was a professor and author who focused on comparative folklore with books like The Power of Myth and The Hero With a Thousand Faces.
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(1904-1987)
Anthropologist, Academic Author, Journalist
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Septima Poinsette Clark
Educator, Civil Rights Activist / 1898 - 1987
Septima Poinsette Clark was a pioneering educator and activist who championed teacher’s rights with organizations like the NAACP.
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(1898-1987)
Educator, Civil Rights Activist
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Bob Fosse
Choreographer, Director / 1927 - 1987
Bob Fosse was an American theater and motion-picture choreographer and director of musical plays.
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(1927-1987)
Choreographer, Director
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Jackie Gleason
Actor, Comedian / 1916 - 1987
Jackie Gleason was a pioneer of television comedy. "The Honeymooners" and "The Jackie Gleason Show" have been audience favorites for more than half a century.
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(1916-1987)
Actor, Comedian
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John Hammond
Civil Rights Activist, Music Producer / 1910 - 1987
Record producer John Hammond crusaded for racial integration in the music business, and is regarded as the most important nonmusician in the history of jazz.
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(1910-1987)
Civil Rights Activist, Music Producer
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Rita Hayworth
Film Actress, Dancer, Pin-up / 1918 - 1987
American film actress Rita Hayworth is best known for her stunning explosive sexual charisma on screen in films throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
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(1918-1987)
Film Actress, Dancer, Pin-up
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Woody Herman
Songwriter, Conductor, Saxophonist, Singer / 1913 - 1987
Woody Herman was a clarinetist, saxophonist, singer and leader of one of the most popular big bands in jazz.
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(1913-1987)
Songwriter, Conductor, Saxophonist, Singer
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Rudolf Hess
Military Leader, Political Leader / 1894 - 1987
Adolf Hitler appointed Rudolf Hess deputy of the Nazi party in 1939. Following World War II, Hess was convicted at the Nuremberg Trials and sentenced to life in prison.
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(1894-1987)
Military Leader, Political Leader
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John Huston
Film Actor, Director / 1906 - 1987
American motion-picture director whose taut dramas, including The Maltese Falcon, were some of the most popular films from the 1940s on.
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(1906-1987)
Film Actor, Director
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Danny Kaye
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor, Comedian, Dancer, Singer, Philanthropist, Television Personality / 1913 - 1987
Actor and comedian Danny Kaye was enormously popular across stage, radio, TV and movie venues for his singing, dancing, impersonations and improvisations.
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(1913-1987)
Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor, Comedian, Dancer, Singer, Philanthropist, Television Personality
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Primo Levi
Chemist, Journalist, Poet / 1919 - 1987
Italian Jewish chemist Primo Levi survived a year at Auschwitz against all odds. He is best known his moving memoir, If This Is a Man.
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(1919-1987)
Chemist, Journalist, Poet
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Liberace
Pianist / 1919 - 1987
Liberace was a flamboyant pianist who twice had his own TV show and frequently performed in Las Vegas.
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(1919-1987)
Pianist
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Luis Federico Leloir
Chemist / 1906 - 1987
Luis Federico Leloir received the 1970 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery and study of sugar nucleotides.
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(1906-1987)
Chemist
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Rene Levesque
Political Leader / 1922 - 1987
Canadian reporter René Lévesque is best known for being the first Quebec politician since Confederation to attempt to negotiate political separation for Quebec.
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(1922-1987)
Political Leader
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Lee Marvin
Film Actor / 1924 - 1987
Actor Lee Marvin’s appeared in about 70 films, including Hell in the Pacific and The Dirty Dozen, between 1951 and 1986.
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(1924-1987)
Film Actor
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André Masson
Painter / 1896 - 1987
André Masson was a French painter and graphic artist associated with Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism.
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(1896-1987)
Painter
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Gunnar Myrdal
Economist, Journalist, Sociologist / 1898 - 1987
Nobel Prize-winning Swedish economist and sociologist Gunner Myrdal is regarded as a major theorist of international relations and developmental economics.
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(1898-1987)
Economist, Journalist, Sociologist
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Geraldine Page
1924 - 1987
Actress Geraldine Page, born in Missouri 1924, was well respected for her dedication to her roles on stage and screen, winning an Oscar and an Emmy.
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(1924-1987)
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Robert Preston
Film Actor, Theater Actor / 1918 - 1987
Actor Robert Preston was best known for his portrayal of the charismatic huckster in The Music Man - a role he played on Broadway and in the film adaptation.
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(1918-1987)
Film Actor, Theater Actor
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Buddy Rich
Drummer / 1917 - 1987
Buddy Rich played drums in swing bands with Artie Shaw and Tommy Dorsey, and was known for his drumming speed.
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(1917-1987)
Drummer
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Bayard Rustin
Civil Rights Activist / 1912 - 1987
Bayard Rustin was a civil rights organizer and activist, best known for his work as adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1950s and '60s.
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(1912-1987)
Civil Rights Activist
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Andrés Segovia
Guitarist / 1893 - 1987
Andrés Segovia was an influential Spanish classical guitarist.
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(1893-1987)
Guitarist
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Dick Shawn
Film Actor, Television Actor, Comedian / 1923 - 1987
Known as an unusual comic performer, Dick Shawn had both TV and film roles, including in Mel Brooks' The Producers and the sitcom Three's Company.
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(1923-1987)
Film Actor, Television Actor, Comedian
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David Susskind
Talk Show Host, Television Producer / 1920 - 1987
David Susskind was a TV producer and host of the talk shows Open End (1958–67) and The David Susskind Show (1967–86).
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(1920-1987)
Talk Show Host, Television Producer
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Maxwell D. Taylor
Military Leader, Government Official / 1901 - 1987
Maxwell Davenport Taylor was a U.S. Army officer who helped organize the army's first airborne division during World War II.
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(1901-1987)
Military Leader, Government Official
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Peter Tosh
Musician / 1944 - 1987
Peter Tosh was a renowned reggae artist and founding member of the band the Wailers, which gave reggae artist Bob Marley his start.
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(1944-1987)
Musician
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Santo Trafficante
Organized Crime Boss / 1914 - 1987
Santo Trafficante is best known for running casinos in Cuba, prior to Castro's revolution.
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(1914-1987)
Organized Crime Boss
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Sam J. Wagstaff
Art Collector / 1921 - 1987
Sam J. Wagstaff was an important art curator and collector of photography. He was also a companion and benefactor of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.
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(1921-1987)
Art Collector
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Andy Warhol
Painter, Filmmaker / 1928 - 1987
Illustrator Andy Warhol was one of the most prolific and popular artists of his time, using both avant-garde and highly commercial sensibilities.
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(1928-1987)
Painter, Filmmaker
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Harold Washington
Mayor, U.S. Representative / 1922 - 1987
Harold Washington became the first African-American mayor of Chicago in 1983.
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(1922-1987)
Mayor, U.S. Representative
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Wudi
Military Leader, Emperor / 1156 - 1987
Wudi was a Chinese emperor who vastly increased the authority of the Han dynasty and extended Chinese influence abroad.
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(1156-1987)
Military Leader, Emperor