Famous People Who Died in September a to z

Tennis star Althea Gibson was the first African American to play at Wimbledon. She also broke racial barriers in professional golf.

A highly popular film actress in the 1950s, Grace Kelly starred in movies such as Dial M for Murder and To Catch a Thief. She married Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

Minister and lecturer Sylvester Graham was a major figure of the 19th century dietary reform movement and was also known as the person behind Graham crackers.

Hank Greenberg became one of Major League Baseball's first Jewish super stars, while playing for the Detroit Tigers.

Jacob Grimm was a 19th century German scholar who, along with brother Wilhelm, published Grimms' Fairy Tales, a collection famous for its children's stories.

British actor Edmund Gwenn's claim to fame was his unforgettable role as Santa Claus in the classic Miracle on 34th Street.

Nathan Hale graduated from Yale University in 1773, joined the American Revolution and was hanged by the British for espionage in 1776.

Alice Hamilton was a physician and authority on lead poisoning and industrial disease. The NIOSH present an award in her name.

Swedish statesman Dag Hammarskjöld served as secretary-general of the United Nations for eight years, from 1953 until his death on September 18, 1961.

William S. Harley was an American entrepreneur and one of the founders of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company.

Guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Jimi Hendrix delighted audiences in the 1960s with his outrageous electric guitar playing skills and his experimental sound.

Henry VI was the German king and Holy Roman emperor (1165-1197). His main achievement was increasing his dynasty's power by acquiring of the kingdom of Sicily.

Robert Hichens was a British mariner best known for being at the wheel of the RMS Titanic when it hit the iceberg that resulted in its sinking.

Crazy Horse was an Oglala Sioux Indian chief who fought against removal to an Indian reservation. He took part in the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Bernardo Alberto Houssay was an Argentinian doctor whose research on the role of pituitary hormones regulating blood sugar won him a Nobel Prize.

Astronomer Edwin Hubble revolutionized the field of astrophysics. His research helped prove that the universe is expanding, and he created a classification system for galaxies that has been used for several decades.

Steve Irwin was a famous Australian wildlife enthusiast who was at the helm of the popular Crocodile Hunter series.

Martha Jefferson was married to Thomas Jefferson for 10 years and bore six of his children, but died in 1781, at age 33.

Muslim statesman Muhammad Ali Jinnah led Pakistan’s independence from India, and was its first governor-general and president of its constituent assembly.

Musician Jo Jones, considered one of the most influential of all jazz drummers, noted for his swing and finesse, played with Count Basie’s Kansas City band.

Chief Joseph was a Nez Percé chief who, faced with settlement by whites of tribal lands in Oregon, led his followers in a dramatic effort to escape to Canada.

Olympic gold medalist Florence Joyner brought style to track and field with form-fitting bodysuits, six-inch fingernails and amazing speed. She still holds the world records in the 100- and 200-meter events.

Raden Adjeng Kartini is a Javanese noblewoman and is best known as a pioneer in the area of women's rights for native Indonesians.

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev publicized Stalin's crimes, initiated the Cuban Missile Crisis and established a more open form of Communism in the USSR.

DaSusan La Flesche Picotte was the first Native American female to become a physician in the United States. A member of the Omaha Reservation, she worked there as a physician until 1894.

Henry Lawson was a revered Australian writer of short stories and poetry.

British religious leader Ann Lee, also known as "Mother Ann," had a vision of the second coming of Christ, which led her to found an American society of Shakers.

Roy Lichtenstein was an American pop artist best known for his boldly-colored parodies of comic strips and advertisements.

Vince Lombardi was an NFL coach, notably for the Green Bay Packers, a team he led to five championships.

Louis VII was king of France who pursued a long rivalry with Henry II of England.

King Louis XIV of France led an absolute monarchy during France’s classical age. He revoked the Edict of Nantes and is known for his aggressive foreign policy.

Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan political and environmental activist and her country's assistant minister of environment, natural resources and wildlife.

Academy-award winning Italian stage and film actress Anna Magnani was in the movie Open City, and inspired playwright Tennessee Williams to pen The Rose Tattoo.

Aristide Maillol was a French artist, mostly known as a sculptor of monumental statues of female nudes.

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

Known for running a corrupt, undemocratic regime, Ferdinand Marcos was the president of the Philippines from 1966 to 1986.

Harpo Marx was a talented comedian and mime best known for his performances as part of the Marx Brothers comedy act.

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

The work of Carson McCullers, author of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and The Member of the Wedding, is must-read southern gothic fiction.

William McKinley is best known for being president when the United States acquired Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

Aimee Semple McPherson was a controversial Pentecostal evangelist whose International Church of the Foursquare Gospel had tens of thousands of followers.

Herman Melville wrote the classic American novel Moby-Dick (1851), a whaling adventure which regarded as one of the greatest literary works of all time.

Though primarily remembered for her lavish tastes, heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post was a shrewd businesswoman and a dedicated philanthropist.

Elizabeth Monroe was popular in France as the wife of diplomat James Monroe. As first lady, her sophisticated style was often mistaken for aloofness.

Keith Moon was a legendary drummer for the rock band the Who before his untimely death by accidental drug overdose in 1978.

Sun Myung Moon was founder and leader of the Unification Church, a religious movement whose followers were labeled "Moonies."

Stage, television and screen actor Zero Mostel won a Tony Award playing Tevye in Jerome Robbins' Fiddler on the Roof, and starred in Mel Brooks' film The Producers.

Mother Teresa was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to helping the poor.

Constance Baker Motley was a legal advocate in the Civil Rights Movement. She became the first female African-American federal judge in 1966.

Pablo Neruda was a Nobel Prize–winning Chilean poet who was once called “the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language.”

Paul Newman came to be known as one of the finest actors of his time. He also started the Newman's Own food company, which donates all profits to charity.

John G. Nicolay served as secretary to President Abraham Lincoln, and later co-wrote a 10-volume biography on the president, Abraham Lincoln: A History.

Irish nationalist and playwright Sean O’Casey wrote about life in the slums of Dublin, in plays like The Shadow of a Gunman and The Plough and the Stars.

Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, regent of Yugoslavia following Alexander I's assassination, was deposed by a Serbian military coup after the signing of the Tripartite Pact.

José Clemente Orozco was a painter who helped lead the revival of Mexican mural painting in the 1920s. His works are complex and often tragic.

Scientist Louis Pasteur came up with the food preparing process known as pasteurization; he also developed a vaccination for anthrax and rabies.

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

Anthony Perkins is an Oscar-nominated stage and film actor who is best known for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

King Philip II of Spain, also known as Philip the Prudent, ruled one of the world's largest empires. The Philippines are named after him.

Psychologist Jean Piaget identified stages of mental development, called Schema, and established the fields of cognitive theory and developmental psychology.