Famous People Who Died in July a to z

John Adams was a Founding Father, the first vice president of the United States and the second president. His son, John Quincy Adams, was the sixth president.

John Bodkin Adams is best known for standing trial in the suspicious deaths of 163 former patients in England.

Beginning with his first film in 1911 and in the years leading up to World War II, Hans Albers was one of Germany's most beloved movie stars.

Anne of Cleves was the fourth wife of Henry VIII. She briefly served as queen of England.

Photographer Diane Arbus's distinctive portraits showed the world how crazy (and beautiful) New Yorkers were in the 1950s and '60s. She was married to actor Allan Arbus.

Louis Armstrong was a trumpeter, bandleader, singer, soloist, film star and comedian. Considered one of the most influential artists in jazz history, he is known for songs like "Star Dust," "La Via En Rose" and "What a Wonderful World."

John Jacob Astor V, the fifth member of the American Astor family to bear the name John Jacob, became owner and chairman of The Times of London in 1922.

Jane Austen was a Georgian era author, best known for her social commentary in novels including Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma.

A magnificent classical composer, Johann Sebastian Bach is revered through the ages for his work's musical complexities and stylistic innovations.

Jim Backus was a film and TV actor known for his roles in Rebel Without a Cause and Gilligan’s Island, as well as being the voice of Mr. Magoo.

Vernon Baker was a highly decorated soldier and the only living black WWII veteran to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The first U.S. commissioner of education, Henry Barnard founded the Connecticut Common School journal and the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction.

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

Guitarist Syd Barrett helped found the psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd. After a mental break forced his departure, he spent 30 years as a painter and recluse.

Sir Herbert Beerbohm was a stage actor and well-known figure in English theater. He both managed and produced several plays in London including Charles Dickens and Shakespearean classics.

Gertrude Bell was a British writer, archaeologist and political officer best known for helping to establish modern Iraq after World War I.

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).

Maeve Binchy was the author of various literary works, including 16 novels. Her most popular books include Light a Penny Candle, Echoes, Circle of Friends and Tara Road.

Montgomery Blair was a 19th century lawyer and politician who represented Dred Scott and served as Abraham Lincoln's postmaster general.

Mel Blanc was a voice actor and entertainer who provided voices for Bugs Bunny and over 400 other cartoon characters.

Jean-Pierre Blancard was a French balloonist who crossed the English Channel by balloon in 1785. He spurred interest in ballooning in Europe and the United States.

Joseph Bonaparte was the older brother of Napoleon I, who made him king of Spain. He served as Spain's king from 1808 to 1813.

Louis Bonaparte was Napoleon I's third surviving brother and was king of Holland from 1806 to 1810.

Actor Ernest Borgnine’s role in the film Marty transformed him from a stereotyped character actor to a leading man, earning him an Academy Award as Best Actor.

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.

Don Brinkley is known for his work on several TV programs, including Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Untouchables and The Fugitive. He is the legal father of supermodel Christie Brinkley.

Reggae artist Dennis Brown began his career at the age of 12, when he recorded the hit single "No Man is an Island."

Poet Robert Burns is considered one of the most famous characters of Scotland's cultural history. He is best known as a pioneer of the Romantic movement.

Actor Red Buttons got his name from the flame-colored hair and uniform as a bellhop. He is best known as a comedian but he had a prolific film career as well.

Caravaggio, or Michelangelo Merisi, was an Italian painter who is considered one of the fathers of modern painting.

Anita Carter is best known for singing with Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, a family band of early country music.

Lon Chaney Jr. was known for being the only actor to play all of the "big four" monsters: the Mummy, the Wolf Man, Frankenstein and Dracula.

Folk singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, famous in the 1970s for hits like "Cat's in the Cradle," was also a philanthropist dedicated to fighting world hunger.

Charles I of Hungary was forced to surrender his power to Wenceslas of Bohemia, but later reclaimed the throne and formed a defensive alliance with Poland.

Anton Chekhov is best known for his short stories and plays, including The Proposal, The Wedding and The Anniversary.

British serial killer John Christie murdered at least six women, including his wife, before being arrested and hanged in 1953.

Cicely Saunders was a nurse, social worker who founded the first modern hospice, St. Christopher's Hospice, in 1967 to provide palliative care to those in need.

Actor Montgomery Clift starred in films like Red River (1948), A Place in the Sun (1951), and From Here To Eternity (1953).

Mickey Cohen became the West Coast racket boss in 1947, after his mentor and predecessor, Bugsy Siegel, was assassinated.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet of the Romantic Movement, best known for his allegorical sea-faring poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

John Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer, and is an iconic figure of 20th century jazz.

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

Celia Cruz was a Cuban-American singer, best known as one of the most popular salsa performers of all time, recording 23 gold albums. 

Andrew Cunanan was a serial murder who killed fashion designer Gianni Versace, and at least four other people, before commiting suicide in a Miami houseboat.

Marie Curie was a Polish-born French physicist famous for her work on radioactivity and twice a winner of the Nobel Prize.

Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac was a French author and playwright best known for his political satire and science fantasy, including the play The Pedant Imitated (1654).

Chemist John Dalton is credited with pioneering modern atomic theory. He was also the first to study color blindness.

Maximilien de Robespierre was an official during the French Revolution and one of the principal architects of the Reign of Terror.

Marie de' Medici is best known for serving as queen consort of Henry IV of France.

Dizzy Dean was a Major League Baseball pitcher who led the St. Louis Cardinals to World Series victory in 1937.

Michael DeBakey was an American cardiovascular surgeon and surgical pioneer.

Howard Dietz was a songwriter and the creator of the famous MGM lion mascot.

John Dillinger was an infamous gangster and bank robber during the Great Depression, and was know as "Jackrabbit" and "Public Enemy No. 1."

Dorothea Dix was an educator and social reformer whose devotion to the welfare of the mentally ill led to widespread international reforms.

Actor James Doohan will forever be remembered as the Scottish chief engineer Scotty in the popular science fiction television and film series Star Trek.

Author Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 60 mystery stories featuring the wildly popular detective character Sherlock Holmes and his loyal assistant Watson.

Alfred Dreyfus was a French army officer who was wrongly convicted of treason based primarily on anti-semitism. The scandal was known as the Dreyfus Affair.

Heinrich Eberbach was a German General der Panzertruppen in the German Army of World War II.

Dancer and actor Buddy Ebsen performed on Broadway and films, but he’s best known for his role as Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies, which ran for nine seasons.

King Edward I reigned England from 1272 to 1307, during which time he conquered Wales, expelled the Jews and signed many parliamentary statutes.

Cass "Mama Cass" Elliot was known for her heavyset figure, and was one of four members of the late 1960s pop sensation The Mamas and the Papas.

Ruth Ellis is best known for the murder of her lover, leading to her execution, the last of a woman in England.

Arthur Evans was a noted archaeologist and curator known for unearthing the remains of ancient Minoan civilization.

Isabella Farnese was the Queen consort of Spain, wife of Philip V of Spain. She exerted tremendous influence of Spain's foreign policy and expansion.

William Faulkner was a Nobel Prize-winning novelist of the American South, who wrote challenging prose and created the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. He is known for novels like Sartoris.