List of Famous people who died at 53

Michael Vaillancourt Aris was a historian who wrote and lectured on Bhutanese, Tibetan and Himalayan culture and history. He was the husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, the former State Counsellor of Myanmar.

Sabine Oberhauser was an Austrian physician and politician. At the time of her death, she was Austria's Minister for Health and Minister for Women.

Samir Kuntar was a Lebanese Druze member of the Palestine Liberation Front and Hezbollah. He was convicted of terrorism and murder by an Israeli court. After his release from prison as part of the 2008 Israel–Hezbollah prisoner exchange, he received Syria's highest medal, honored by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US government.

Márcia Martins Alves, better known by her stage name Márcia Cabrita, was a Brazilian film, television and theater actress known mostly for her comedic roles.

Kenneth Yen was a Taiwanese entrepreneur who was listed as one of the richest people in the world.

Nicholas Anthony Phillip Clay was an English actor.

Héctor Manuel Beltrán Leyva was a Mexican drug lord and leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel, a drug-trafficking organization. He was the brother of Arturo Beltrán Leyva (deceased), former leader of the cartel. Héctor was the second-in-command and rose to the leadership of the criminal organization after his brother's death on 16 December 2009 during a confrontation with Mexican marines.

Rachel Roberts was a Welsh actress. She is best remembered for her screen performances as the older mistress of the central male character in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) and This Sporting Life (1963). For both films, she won the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress. She was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for This Sporting Life. Her other notable film appearances included Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and Yanks (1979).

Samuel John Bottoms was an American actor and producer.

Errol Christie was an English professional boxer and boxing trainer. He was the captain of the English amateur boxing team from 1980 to 1983 and European amateur champion in 1983. After turning professional he was a regular fixture on ITV Fight Night in the 1980s. After retiring from boxing he became a trainer in white-collar boxing.