Aged 87
Famous people who died at 87
204 of the 11,867 best-known people in our data died aged 87, including Margaret Thatcher, Gabriel García Márquez and Mother Teresa. Here are the 100 best known.
- Margaret ThatcherPrime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 · 1925–2013
- Gabriel García MárquezColombian writer and Nobel laureate · 1927–2014
- Mother TeresaAlbanian-Indian Catholic nun and missionary · 1910–1997
- Giuseppe VerdiItalian opera composer · 1813–1901
- Helen KellerAmerican deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar · 1880–1968
- HirohitoEmperor of Japan from 1926 to 1989 · 1901–1989
- Chiang Kai-shekChinese politician, military leader, and President of the ROC · 1887–1975
- Günter GrassGerman novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, and sculptor · 1927–2015
- José SaramagoPortuguese novelist · 1922–2010
- David Ben-GurionIsraeli politician, Zionist leader, prime minister of Israel (1948–1953, 1955–1963) - · 1886–1973
- Josip Broz TitoYugoslav revolutionary and statesman · 1892–1980
- Helmut KohlChancellor of West Germany and reunified Germany · 1930–2017
- Coco ChanelFrench fashion designer · 1883–1971
- Max BornGerman-Jewish physicist and mathematician · 1882–1970
- Thomas HardyEnglish novelist and poet · 1840–1928
- Isaac Bashevis SingerPolish-American writer · 1904–1991
- Mae WestAmerican actress, singer, screenwriter, and writer · 1893–1980
- Ezra PoundAmerican poet and critic · 1885–1972
- Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor · 1928–2016
- Mary PickfordCanadian actress and producer · 1892–1979
- Jacinto BenaventeSpanish writer · 1866–1954
- Jacques CousteauFrench naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author · 1910–1997
- Gregory PeckAmerican actor · 1916–2003
- Derek WalcottSaint Lucian–Trinidadian poet and playwright · 1930–2017
- Tomáš Garrigue MasarykCzechoslovak politician, statesman, sociologist and philosopher; first Czechoslovak president · 1850–1937
- Claudia CardinaleItalian actress · 1938–2025
- Thor HeyerdahlNorwegian anthropologist and adventurer · 1914–2002
- Ruth Bader GinsburgAmerican lawyer and jurist · 1933–2020
- Clement XIIPope of the Catholic Church from 1730 to 1740 · 1652–1740
- Glenda JacksonBritish actress and politician · 1936–2023
- Larry KingAmerican television and radio host · 1933–2021
- Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'oKenyan writer · 1938–2025
- Aage BohrDanish physicist · 1922–2009
- Riccardo GiacconiItalian-American astrophysicist · 1931–2018
- Robert OwenWelsh textile manufacturer and social reformer · 1771–1858
- Dr. SeussAmerican children's author and cartoonist · 1904–1991
- Martin BuberGerman Jewish Existentialist philosopher and theologian · 1878–1965
- Giovanni Domenico CassiniItalian/French mathematician, astronomer, engineer, and astrologer · 1625–1712
- Harold UreyAmerican physical chemist · 1893–1981
- John WesleyBritish cleric and founder of the Methodist movement · 1703–1791
- Jorge Rafael VidelaArgentina de facto president · 1925–2013
- Martin Lewis PerlAmerican scientist · 1927–2014
- Jonathan WintersAmerican comedian, actor, artist · 1925–2013
- Robert EdwardsEnglish physiologist and pioneer in reproductive medicine and in-vitro fertilisation · 1925–2013
- Kim Young-samPresident of South Korea from 1993 to 1998 · 1927–2015
- Maurice WilkinsNew Zealand-born English physicist and biologist · 1916–2004
- Burton RichterAmerican physicist · 1931–2018
- Harald zur HausenGerman virologist and professor emeritus · 1936–2023
- Olav V of NorwayKing of Norway · 1903–1991
- Hua Guofeng2nd Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, 2nd Premier of the People's Republic of China · 1921–2008
- Jean-Baptiste BiotFrench scientist · 1774–1862
- Loretta YoungAmerican actress · 1913–2000
- Bahadur Shah Zafar18th and last Mughal Emperor from 1837 to 1857 · 1775–1862
- Little RichardAmerican musician · 1932–2020
- James George Frazer ↗Scottish social anthropologist · 1854–1941
- Jerry Lee Lewis ↗American rock 'n' roll musician · 1935–2022
- Paul J. Crutzen ↗Dutch climatologist · 1933–2021
- Christian IX of Denmark ↗King of Denmark from 1863 to 1906 · 1818–1906
- David Baltimore ↗American biologist and Nobel laureate · 1938–2025
- Qianlong Emperor ↗Emperor of the Qing Dynasty · 1711–1799
- Simonides of Ceos ↗Greek lyric poet · c. 556–469 BC
- Tunku Abdul Rahman ↗First Prime Minister of Malaysia · 1903–1990
- Victor Ambartsumian ↗Soviet Armenian astrophysicist · 1908–1996
- Richard Ernst ↗Swiss physical chemist and Nobel laureate · 1933–2021
- Alvin Toffler ↗American writer, futurist and businessman · 1928–2016
- Edgar Douglas Adrian ↗English electrophysiologist · 1889–1977
- Max Perutz ↗Austrian-born British molecular biologist · 1914–2002
- Ferdinand I of Bulgaria ↗Bulgarian ruler · 1861–1948
- Luigi Einaudi ↗(1874-1961) President of Italy from 1948 to 1955 · 1874–1961
- Artaxerxes III ↗11th Achaemenid Emperor · c. 425–338 BC
- Carl Ferdinand Cori ↗Czech Nobel prize laureate and scientist · 1896–1984
- Jack Palance ↗American actor · 1919–2006
- Richard Matheson ↗American fiction writer · 1926–2013
- Connie Francis ↗American singer and actress · 1937–2025
- Hugo de Vries ↗Dutch botanist · 1848–1935
- John J. Pershing ↗United States Army general in World War I · 1860–1948
- Korney Chukovsky ↗Russian children's poet · 1882–1969
- Oliver E. Williamson ↗American economist · 1932–2020
- A. S. Byatt ↗British writer · 1936–2023
- Abraham de Moivre ↗French mathematician · 1667–1754
- Rauf Denktaş ↗Leader of Turkish Cypriots and founding President of TRNC · 1924–2012
- Sven Hedin ↗Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator · 1865–1952
- Howard Zinn ↗American historian, playwright, and socialist thinker · 1922–2010
- Robin Warren ↗Australian microbiologist and Nobel Laureate · 1937–2024
- Joan Didion ↗American writer · 1934–2021
- John Young ↗American astronaut, naval officer, test pilot and aeronautical engineer · 1930–2018
- Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg ↗President of Finland · 1865–1952
- Birgit Nilsson ↗Swedish opera singer · 1918–2005
- Ellen G. White ↗American author, co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church · 1827–1915
- Fritz Albert Lipmann ↗German-American biochemist · 1899–1986
- Julian Huxley ↗British evolutionary biologist, philosopher, author · 1887–1975
- Lee de Forest ↗American inventor · 1873–1961
- Faina Ranevskaya ↗Soviet actress · 1896–1984
- Max Liebermann ↗German painter · 1847–1935
- Trygve Haavelmo ↗Norwegian economist and econometrician · 1911–1999
- André Le Nôtre ↗French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France · 1613–1700
- Franz Halder ↗German general · 1884–1972
- Johann Friedrich Blumenbach ↗German physician, naturalist, physiologist, and anthropologist · 1752–1840
- Kiichi Miyazawa ↗78th Prime Minister of Japan · 1919–2007
- Livia ↗First Roman empress as consort to Augustus, as well as mother of emperor Tiberius · 59 BC–AD 29
"c." means only the years are known, so the age could be a year out. Dates are from Wikidata (CC0), last updated 22 October 2026.
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