Famous People Who Died in 2004 a to z

Red Adair was an American oil well firefighter best known for completing over 1,000 jobs internationally.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan (1918–2004) was ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates 1971–2004.

Yasser Arafat was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization from 1969 until his death in 2004, a tumultuous period in which clashes with neighboring Israel were prevalent.

American photographer Richard Avedon was best known for his work in the fashion world and for his minimalist, large-scale character-revealing portraits.

Pharmacologist Julius Axelrod’s studies of neurotransmission of adrenalin and amphetamines led to his investigations into drugs for treatment of mental illness.

British playwright and screenplay writer Peter Barnes was well known for his unique, anti-naturalistic approach to theater and film.

Arnold Beckman was an American chemist who founded Beckman Instruments and funded the first silicon transistor company, giving rise to Silicon Valley.

Legendary screen presence Marlon Brando performed for more than 50 years and is famous for such films as A Streetcar Named Desire and The Godfather.

Herbert C. Brown was a scientist and professor who won the Nobel Prize for his work in organic chemistry.

British historian Alan Bullock is the author of several works on 20th century Europe, including studies of Hitler, Bevin and Stalin.

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer whose humane, spontaneous photographs helped establish photojournalism as an art form.

Ray Charles was a pioneer of soul music, integrating R&B, gospel, pop and country to creat hits like "Unchain My Heart," "Hit the Road Jack" and "Georgia on My Mind." A blind genius, he is considered one of the greatest artists of all time.

TV chef and author Julia Child adapted complex French cooking for everyday Americans, with her groundbreaking cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Alistair Cooke was a British-born journalist who worked in newspaper, radio and television. He hosted television's Masterpiece Theatre.

Francis Crick is responsible for discovering, along with James Watson, the double-helix structure of the DNA strand.

Rodney Dangerfield was a stand-up comedian and actor known for his "I don't get no respect" routine. He starred in the hit movie comedies, Caddyshack and Back to School, during the 1980s.

Philippe de Broca was a French filmmaker, best known for his light-hearted comedies. He was awarded the Legion of Honor for his contributions to French culture.

Jacques Derrida was an influential postmodern French philosopher who developed the analytic method known as Deconstruction.

Leon Golub was an American painter who was both horrified and inspired by the Vietnam War.

Actor, playwright and screenwriter Spalding Gray wrote and performed his own roles in Monster in a Box and Gray’s Anatomy; both became feature films.

Thom Gunn was an award-winning poet known for works that included Fighting Terms, Touch and The Man With Night Sweats.

J.J. Jackson was disc jockey, television personality and one of the first VJs (video jockeys) on MTV.

African American musician Rick James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and is best known for hits such as "Super Freak", "Mary Jane" and "You and I".

Daniel J. Boorstin was a writer and historian known for his Americans trilogy and The Discoverers.

Thomas Klestil was an Austrian statesman and the 10th president of Austria.

Alan King was a Jewish-American stand-up comedian who honed his skills in vaudeville, and went on to perform a number of memorable film and television roles.

Stieg Larsson was the Swedish author best known for his Millenium novels, including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Estée Lauder started her own beauty company in 1946. Her business, which includes such product lines as Estée Lauder, MAC Cosmetics and Clinique, continues to thrive to this day.

Jerome Lawrence was an American playwright. He collaborated with Robert Edwin Lee for over 50 years. Inherit The Wind is their most well known play.

Film actress Janet Leigh, once Tony Curtis’s wife, is best remembered for her shower scene as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller, Psycho.

James Ling was the former head of the Ling-Temco-Vought corporation, or LTV.

Thomas H. Moorer was a U.S. Navy admiral and naval aviator who later served as chief of naval operations (1967-70), and then as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1970-4).

Jerry Orbach was a Tony Award-winning American actor best known for his role as Detective Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order.

Jack Paar had no singing, dancing or acting talent, but he was blessed with "the gift of gab." That gift was enough to endear him to millions of American television viewers during his tenure as host of The Tonight Show (1957-1962).

Tony Randall was an actor who played popular television character Felix Unger on the hit series The Odd Couple.

President Ronald Reagan helped redefine the purpose of government and pressured the Soviet Union to end the Cold War. He solidified the conservative agenda for decades after his presidency.

Actor Christopher Reeve played Superman in the movie and its sequels. After a spinal cord injury, he started a foundation to help other paraplegics.

Venture capitalist and environmentalist Laurance Rockefeller founded the American Conservation Association and put conservationism on the American agenda.

British serial killer Harold Shipman, who worked in England as a medical doctor, killed over 200 of his patients before his arrest in 1998.

Susan Sontag was a critical essayist, cultural analyst, novelist and filmmaker. She wrote On Photography, Illness as Metaphor, The Volcano Lover and In America.

British fashion icon John Stephen is considered the leader of the 1960s male "peacock revolution."

Italian operatic soprano Renata Tebaldi was best known for her exquisite and emotional quality of her singing.

Football player Pat Tillman enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002. He was killed in action in 2004, and the exact circumstances of his death are still in question.

Peter Ustinov was an English actor, writer and director who is known for his Oscar-winning performances in Spartacus (1960) and Topkapi (1964).

Mona Jane Van Duyn was a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and academic.

Tom Wesselmann was a 20th century American painter associated with the Pop Art movement.

Actor Paul Winfield was best known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper in the film Sounder, which earned him an Academy Award nomination.