Famous People Who Died in November a to z

Country musician Roy Acuff performed hits suchs as "It Won't Be Long" and "Tennessee Waltz" nearly every weekend on the Grand Ole' Opry during the 1930, 40s and 50s.

Ahmadou Ahidjo was the first president of the United Republic of Cameroon. He lead one of the few successful attempts at supraterritorial African unity.

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

Filmmaker Robert Altman is best known for his highly individualistic films and use of simultaneous layers of dialogue.

Sparky Anderson was the manager of baseball’s Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers, winning three World Series championships.

British photographer Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield achieved success in personal royal portraits, and created the well-known Unipart calendar.

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.

Chester A. Arthur was 21st president of the United States. Arthur was vice president at the time President Garfield was assassinated, and acceded to the presidency thereafter.

Entrepreneur Mary Kay, founder of Mary Kay Inc., built a profitable business from scratch that created new opportunities for women to achieve financial success.

William Backhouse Astor was the second son of John Jacob Astor and became the richest man in the U.S. upon his father's death.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a revolutionary who helped establish the Republic of Turkey. He was Turkey's first president, and his reforms modernized the country.

Head of the famous Barrymore acting family, Lionel Barrymore was one of the most important character actors of the early 29th century.

Daisy Bates was an African American civil rights activist and newspaper publisher who documented the battle to end segregation in Arkansas.

Cesare Beccaria was one of the greatest minds of the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century. His writings on criminology and economics were well ahead of their time.

Robert Benchley was an American humorist, drama critic and film actor who is best known for his small roles in over 40 films, including How To Sleep.

Irving Berlin was one of the most prolific and popular songwriters of the 20th century, counting among his many hits "White Christmas" and "Cheek to Cheek."

Isaiah Berlin was a trailblazing 20th century scholar, philosopher and author, who championed pluralistic thinking and openness to ideas.

Athlete George Best played for Manchester United and was named European Footballer of the Year in 1968. His brief career ended by the time he was 25.

The daughter of famous suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriot Stanton Blatch continued her mother's work in the women's rights movement.

Niels Bohr was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and humanitarian whose revolutionary theories on atomic structures helped shape research worldwide.

Jean-Bedel Bokassa was the president of the Central African Republic (1966-1976) and a self-proclaimed emperor of the Central African Empire (1976-1979).

James Booker was an African-American musician known for his unique fusion of jazz and rhythm-and-blues, and for songs like "The Sunny Side of the Street," "A Taste of Honey" and "Papa Was a Rascal."

James J. Braddock the American world heavyweight boxing champion from 1935 until 1937. His astonishing comeback in 1934 earned him the nickname, "The Cinderella Man."

Maeve Brennan was an Irish short story writer and journalist known for her wit, charm and tragic end.

Rhythm and blues singer Ruth Brown signed with Atlantic Records at a young age and recorded a number of hit songs throughout the 1950s.

Freddie Mercury is best known as the rock worlds most versatile and engaging performers and for his mock operatic masterpiece, Bohemian Rhapsody.

Anthony Burgess was an English novelist and composer best known for his novel A Clockwork Orange, which became a popular 1971 Stanley Kubrik film.

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

Jazz singer and dancer Cab Calloway performed in Harlem’s Cotton Club in the 1930s. He also appeared on stage and in films, such as 1979’s The Blues Brothers.

Stokely Carmichael was a Trinidadian-American political activist, best known as the leader of the civil rights group SNCC in the 1960s.

Dale Carnegie is the author of How To Win Friends and Influence People, one of the bestselling self-help books of all time.

Art Carney was an Oscar-winning actor and comedian best known for his role as Jackie Gleason's best friend, Ed Norton, on the pioneering sitcom The Honeymooners.

In 1935, actor John Carradine began a non-stop film career. He appeared in 10 films by director John Ford, including The Prisoner of Shark Island.

A.P. Carter is best known for forming the Carter Family band, which combined traditional Appalachian sounds with a unique guitar style and African American gospel influences.

Catherine II was empress of Russia, and led her country into the political and cultural life of Europe, carrying on the work begun by Peter the Great.

Robert Cascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, is best known as one of the chief architects behind the League of Nations.

Neville Chamberlain was the British Prime Minister as England entered World War II. He is known for his policy of "appeasement" towards Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.

Charles Chesnutt was a trailblazing short-story author and novelist who presented African-American life in works like The Conjure Woman and The Colonel's Dream.

James Coburn was a prolific Oscar-winning film and TV actor known for projects like Our Man Flint and Affliction.

Michael Crichton was an American author best known for his sci-fi and medical thrillers. The movie based on his book, Jurassic Park, was one of the highest-grossing films in history.

Hawley Crippen became the first criminal to be caught with the aid of wireless communication when police arrested him in 1910 for murdering his wife.

Quentin Crisp became a gay icon in the 1970s after publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant, describing his life in homophobic British Society.

Children's author Roald Dahl wrote the kids' classics Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, among other famous works. He was married to actress Patricia Neal.

Notorious sex offender and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer killed 17 men between from 1978 to 1991. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms, and then murdered by a fellow prison inmate in 1994.

Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr., was the first African-American general for the U.S. Army, after starting as a volunteer in the Spanish-American War.

Dorothy Day was an activist who worked for such social causes as pacifism and women's suffrage through the prism of the Catholic Church.

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

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.

Charles de Gaulle rose from French soldier in World War I to exiled leader and, eventually, president of the Fifth Republic. He served as president from 1959 to 1969.

St. Martín de Porres is the patron saint of interracial harmony, known for his social work and miraculous healing powers.

Vittorio de Sico was a film director and actor who was a major figure in the Italian Neorealist movement.

Alberto DeSalvo is best known for confessing to be the Boston Strangler.

A controversial figure, U.S. Congressman Martin Dies, Jr. led the Committee to Investigate Un-American Activities from 1937 to 1944, targeting alleged communists.

Tommy Dorsey was an American trombonist and band leader who, with his brother Jimmy, was best known as one-half of The Dorsey Brothers during the Big Band and Swing eras.

The music of British singer-songwriter Nick Drake wasn't a hit during his lifetime, but his albums Fruit Tree and Pink Moon have gained fans over the years.

Ann Dunham was the mother of Barack Obama, who became the 44th president of the United States and the first African-American to hold this office.

American swimmer Gertrude Ederle achieved fame when she competed in the 1924 Olympics and became the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1926.

Mamie Eisenhower was first lady of the United States when her husband, Dwight Eisenhower, was president from 1953 to 1961.

Physicist Enrico Fermi built the prototype of a nuclear reactor and worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bomb.

Writer John Fowles's works include The French Lieutenant's Woman and combine a respect for the Victorian novel and an interest in contemporary French novels.

Joe Frazier was the world heavyweight boxing champion from February 1970 until January 1973 and fought in the famous "Thrilla in Manila" in 1975.

English explorer Martin Frobisher is best known for his attempts to discover a Northwest Passage and his voyages to Labrador and Frobisher Bay in Canada.

Dubbed “King of Hollywood,” Gone with the Wind actor Clark Gable epitomized Hollywood's Golden Age, and was a legend for his on- and off-screen romances.

Actor Cary Grant performed in films from the 1930s through the 1960s. He starred in several Hitchcock films, including the 1959 hit North by Northwest.

Journalist Horace Greeley launched the New Yorker and the New York Tribune. He also ran for president under the Liberal Republican Party, which he founded.

Solomon R. Guggenheim was an American business magnate and art lover who provided the initial collection and name for the Guggenheim Museum.