Famous People Who Died in July a to z

Jelly Roll Morton was an American pianist and songwriter best known for influencing the formation of modern day jazz during the 1920s.

Twice appointed the United States' poet laureate, Howard Nemerov was a writer with wit and illuminating irony.

Alexei Nikolaevich was the only son of Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia, and the tsarina Alexandra. He was killed with his family during the Russian Revolution.

Anastasia was the daughter of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II. After she and her family were executed, rumors claimed that she might have survived.

David Niven was an actor of stage and the big screen who epitomized dapper charm in films like The Pink Panther.

Mary White Ovington was a civil rights activist and one of the white reformers who helped found the NAACP.

Suffragette Alice Paul dedicated her life's work to women's rights and was a key figure in the push for the 19th Amendment.

Annie Smith Peck was a trailblazing scholar, writer and athlete who set records as a mountain climber in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Eva Perón used her position as the first lady of Argentina to fight for women's suffrage and improving the lives of the poor.

Peter III was the Emperor of Russia for a mere six months in 1762 before he was overthrown by his wife, Catherine the Great, and assassinated in 1762.

German serial killer Peter Kürten, known as the "Dusseldorf Vampire", murdered at least nine people before surrendering to police in 1931.

Alexei Petrovich was the son of Peter the Great and heir to the Russian throne. He was sentenced to death by his father.

American record producer Sam Phillips is best known for discovering musicians Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Howlin' Wolf, among other blues, country and rock 'n' roll artists. He is also known for revolutionizing the music industry and introducing rock 'n' roll to the world throughout the 1950s.

Allan Pinkerton was a Scottish-born detective and founder of a famous American private detective agency, the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.

Horace Pippin was a self-taught, African-American painter whose art documented slavery and his experiences in World War I.

George Arthur Plimpton expanded the educational publishing company Ginn & Co worldwide. He had a renowned collection of manuscripts and books.

Rabbi and author Chaim Potok wrote The Chosen, along with several other novels featuring characters grappling with clashing secular and religious views.

Czech experimental physiologist Johannes Purkinje discovered the Purkinje effect, Purkinje cells and Purkinje fibers and first introduced the term protoplasm.

Mario Puzo became famous when he adapted his novel The Godfather into a screenplay for director Francis Ford Coppola in the 1960s.

Sir Henry Raeburn was a Scottish painter known for his full-scale portraiture from the late 18th to early 19th century.

Stamford Raffles was an English administrator and traveler who oversaw the establishment of Singapore.

Actress Lee Remick appeared with Andy Griffith in Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd and starred opposite Jack Lemmon in Days of Wine and Roses.

Alma Reville, also known as "Lady Hitchcock," was Alfred Hitchcock's lifetime partner, assistant director and closest collaborator.

Syngman Rhee became South Korea’s first president in 1948. He was re-elected twice after the Korean War, but was overthrown by a 1960 student uprising.

Musician Charlie Rich had several No. 1 country songs in the 1970s, including "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl."

In 1983, astronaut and astrophysicist Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Ride died on July 23, 2012 at the age of 61, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.

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

Roy Rogers was an American actor and singer best known as the “King of the Cowboys” for his heroic roles in musical westerns. His sidekick palomino, Trigger, and dog, Bullet often appeared with him.

Nicholas II was the last tsar of Russia under Romanov rule. His poor handling of Bloody Sunday and Russia’s role in World War I led to his abdication and execution.

Known for his fast and easy "wet-on-wet" painting technique, Bob Ross reached millions of art lovers with his popular television program The Joy of Painting.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau is best known as an influential 18th-century philosopher who wrote the acclaimed work A Discourse on the Arts and Sciences.

Dick Sargent was an actor of film and television mostly remembered for his portrayal of Darrin Stephens on TV's Bewitched.

May Sarton was a writer of poetry, novels and memoirs including her Journal of a Solitude.

Sherwood Schwartz created two of television's most enduring comedies: Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch.

British actor Peter Sellers was incredibly versatile, playing Chief Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films with as much ease as Clare Quilty in Lolita.

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.

Dr. Anna Howard Shaw was the first female minister in the Methodist Protestant Church. She spent most of her life working for the cause of women's suffrage.

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

Known for his lyrical and long-form verse, Percy Bysshe Shelley is one of the most highly regarded English Romantic poets of the 19th century. His works include The Masque of Anarchy and Queen Mab.

Alan Shepard became one of the original seven Mercury program astronauts in 1959. He later commanded the Apollo 14 flight.

Kate Sheppard was a leader in the New Zealand women's suffrage movement, helping women gain the right to vote in New Zealand.

Roger Sherman was an American government leader best known as a founding father that signed and drafted the Declaration of Independence and signed the U.S. Constitution.

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.

French novelist Claude Simon’s novels include The Wind; The Grass; and The Flanders Road. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1985.

Isaac Bashevis Singer was a Jewish-American writer who won the 1978 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Isaac Singer founded the Singer Sewing Machine Company, the first company to make sewing machines practical and easy to use at home.

Scottish social philosopher and political economist Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations and achieved the first comprehensive system of political economy.

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.

Rod Steiger was an Academy Award-winning actor known for his roles in On the Waterfront and In the Heat of the Night.

Gertrude Stein was an American author and poet best known for her modernist writings, extensive art collecting and literary salon in 1920s Paris.

Jimmy Stewart was a major motion-picture star known for his portrayals of diffident but morally resolute characters in films such as It’s a Wonderful Life.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was an author and social activist best known for her popular anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Zachary Taylor was an American military war hero best known as the 12th president of the United States.

Mary Church Terrell was a charter member of the NAACP and an early advocate for civil rights and the suffrage movement.

Mary Todd Lincoln was the wife of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States.

Football player Emlen Tunnell was the first African American to play for the New York Giants, and the first African American to be inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.

Rudy Vallée was an American singer and entertainer best known as the host of the variety hour The Rudy Vallee Show (1929-43).

Martin Van Buren was the eighth president of the United States. His shrewd dealings laid the foundations for the Democratic Party and the modern political machine.

One of the earliest Flemish oil painters, artist and portraitist Jan van Eyck, painted the "Adoration of the Lamb," the altarpiece for the Church of St. Bavon.

Vincent van Gogh is considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt, although he remained poor and virtually unknown throughout his life.

A designer to celebrities and royalty such as Princess Diana, Gianni Versace brought vitality and art to an industry considered out of touch with the street.

Gore Vidal was best known as a prolific American writer, but was also famous for frequent talk-show appearances and witty political criticisms.

Pancho Villa was a top military leader of the Mexican Revolution whose exploits were regularly filmed by a Hollywood company.

Antonio Vivaldi was a 17th and 18th century composer who’s become one of the most renowned figures in European classical music.