List of Famous people who died at 53

Robert Peck was an English stage, television, and film actor who played Ronald Craven in the television serial Edge of Darkness, for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He was also known for his role as gamekeeper Robert Muldoon in the film Jurassic Park.

Remig Stumpf was a German cyclist. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the 100 km team time trial and in the individual road race and finished in sixth and 14th place, respectively. He won the Tour of Berlin, Rund um Köln and Rund um Düren in 1986. In 1989 he finished third in the Kellogg's Tour of Britain. He won the six-day race of Cologne in 1992 and 1993.

Samora Moisés Machel was a Mozambican military commander and political leader. A socialist in the tradition of Marxism–Leninism, he served as the first President of Mozambique from the country's independence in 1975. Machel died in office in 1986 when his presidential aircraft crashed near the Mozambican-South African border.

Mark Farmer was an English actor and musician. He is probably best remembered for his childhood role of Gary Hargreaves in the first three series of the popular children's television programme Grange Hill, in which he starred from 1978 to 1981.

Maya Vladimirovna Kristalinskaya was a Soviet-Russian singer.

Leonid Petrovich Telyatnikov was the head of the fire department at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and led the team of firefighters to the fire at reactor number 4 which became the Chernobyl disaster. Despite the radiological dangers, they had no radiation suits, no respirators, and no working dosimeters. From results of a blood test it was estimated he received 4 grays of radiation.

Jörg Stübner was a German footballer who amassed 47 international caps for East Germany.

Kenneth Patrick O'Donnell was an American political consultant and the special assistant and appointments secretary to President John F. Kennedy from 1961 until Kennedy's assassination in November 1963. O'Donnell was a close friend of President Kennedy and his younger brother Robert F. Kennedy, and was part of the group of Kennedy's close advisers dubbed the “Irish Mafia.”

Kirsten Walther was a Danish actress. She appeared in more than 50 films and television shows between 1956 and 1983. She is well known for her role in the films of the Olsen Gang and died unexpectedly at the age of 53 from heart failure.

Daniel Rozoum (20 May 1959 – 28 February 2013), known as Daniel Darc, was a French singer, who achieved success with his band Taxi Girl between 1978 and 1986, and also as a solo artist.