Famous People Who Died in 2007 a to z

Momofuku Ando was the founder of Nissin Food Products Company and the inventor of instant noodles.

Brooke Astor was a philanthropist who served on the boards of many cultural institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Jean Baudrillard was a French postmodern social theorist and philosopher who developed theories of "hyperreality" and "simulacrum."

Chris Benoit was a popular professional wrestler who, in 2007, killed his wife and son and then committed suicide.

David Berger was a lawyer who won large settlements in several high-profile class-action lawsuits as a pioneer in the practice of such suits.

Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director and producer best known for films such as The Seventh Sea (1956), Cries and Whispers (1971) and Autumn Sonata (1978).

Benazir Bhutto became the first female prime minister of Pakistan in 1988. She was killed by a suicide bomber in 2007.

Entertainer Joey Bishop starred in his own TV sitcom, and hosted his own late-night talk show. He was a member of the Rat Pack, along with Frank Sinatra.

Isabella Blow was a British fashion director and style icon known for wearing flamboyant hats, many by designer Philip Treacy.

Since the end of the 1960s, Actor Roscoe Lee Browne made steady television appearances, including on Barney Miller, The Cosby Show, ER and Will & Grace.

Art Buchwald is known for writing humor columns for Paris newspaper The Herald Tribune, and for winning a Pulitzer Prize for Outstanding Commentary in 1982.

Dancer and choreographer Maurice Béjart founded Switzerland's Béjart Ballet Lausanne, known for his 2000 version of The Nutcracker.

Actress, singer, television personality and arts advocate Kitty Carlisle is best known for her long run as a panelist on the television show To Tell The Truth.

Student Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 30 people on Virginia Tech's campus in 2007. The mass murder ended when he turned the gun and shot himself in the head.

Liz Claiborne was a fashion designer and icon who created a clothing empire. She's also the first woman to found a company (Liz Claiborne Inc.) that landed on the Fortune 500 list.

Barbara West Dainton survived the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912, and was the second-to-last remaining survivor when she died in 2007.

American actress Laraine Day portrayed steadfast women in Hollywood films of the 1940s, including nurse Mary Lamont in seven Dr. Kildare movies.

Actress Yvonne De Carlo was Moses' wife in DeMille's The Ten Commandments, but is better known for playing the matriarch on TV's The Munsters.

Denny Doherty was an original member of the 1960s harmonizing rock group the Mamas and the Papas.

Jerry Falwell is a religious leader, political activist and television evangelist. He restarted The Moral Majority Coalition in 2004.

Steve Fossett was an American businessman and adventurer best known for circumnavigating the globe in a hot air balloon in 2002.

Ernest Gallo and brother Julio founded E. & J. Gallo Winery and built an empire by shaping American drinking tastes with inexpensive, non-vintage wines.

Merv Griffin was an American television host, singer and business magnate. He created the game shows Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune and Click.

E. Howard Hunt was a CIA agent and PR consultant before he teamed up with G. Gordon Liddy to organize the Watergate break-in.

A popular film actress of the 1940s and 1950s, Betty Hutton starred in such films as Annie Get Your Gun and Greatest Show on Earth.

Actor Richard Jeni was best known as a popular stand-up comedian, appearing often on television comedy shows, including a few of his own HBO comedy specials.

The wife of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson served as first lady from 1963 to 1969.

Deborah Kerr was a Scottish actress known for the poise and serenity she exhibited in portraying complex, prim characters.

Author Ira Levin wrote some of the gripping novels of the 1960s and 1970s, including Rosemary's Baby and The Boys from Brazil.

Sol Lewitt was an American artist best known for helping to launch Conceptual Art and Minimalism of the Post-War era.

Author Norman Mailer used a style combining fiction and journalism to write the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Executioner's Song.

Theodore H. Maiman was a physicist, company leader, consultant and author who created the first working laser in 1960.

Tommy Makem was an internationally celebrated Irish folk musician, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.

Marcel Marceau was best known for his work as a mime artist in France.

Lois Maxwell was an actress best known for her role as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond film series.

Tammy Faye Messner was the wife of disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker, with whom she hosted The 700 Club and the Praise the Lord Club. The couple split in 1992, after Jim Bakker's affair with a church secretary surfaced.

A tenor known for his larger-than-life showmanship, Luciano Pavarotti helped expand the popularity of opera worldwide.

Charles Nelson Reilly was a Tony-Award winning actor also known for a variety of roles on TV programs, including The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and The Match Game.

Max Roach was a jazz drummer and pioneer of the bebop style.

King Mohammed Zahir Shah was king of Afghanistan from 1933 to 1973, during which time he provided an era of stable government to his country.

Chandra Shekhar Singh was a politician and legislator who served as Prime Minister of India from 1990-1991.

Sidney Sheldon was a best-selling novelist who won Oscar, Tony and Emmy awards for his work on the stage and screen.

Beverly Sills is best known for her soprano voice as an opera performer. After many successful decades, she made her debut with the Met in 1975.

Anna Nicole Smith gained early fame as a model for Guess and Playboy magazine, and later became known for her marriage to 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II.

Tom Snyder co-anchored the first noon news show in the country. He was the host of the NBC interview show Tomorrow and The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder.

Brett Somers was a TV actress and personality perhaps best known for her appearances on Match Game, the top game show during much of the 1970s.

Sean Taylor was the No. 5 NFL draft pick in 2004 and played with the Washington Redskins until he was murdered in 2007.

Chef Tell was one of the first culinary celebrities, giving cooking demonstrations on television beginning in the 1970s.

Ike Turner made a string of R&B hits with singer and wife Tina Turner. He struggled with drug addiction and died of an accidental cocaine overdose.

Kurt Vonnegut was an American author best known for the novels Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions.

Jane Wyman was a Academy Award-winning American screen actress who was also Ronald Reagan's first wife.

Boris Yeltsin was the first freely elected President of Russia. He voluntarily resigned from the post after nine years, leaving the job to Putin.