List of Famous people who died at 55

Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor who received international recognition. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he took an interest in acting while still in school and pursued the career upon completion of his studies. After performing locally for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson Bean to move and work in New York City. Juliá, who had been bilingual since his childhood, soon gained interest in Broadway and Off-Broadway plays. He took over the role of Orson in the Off-Broadway hit Your Own Thing, a rock musical updating of Twelfth Night. He performed in mobile projects, including the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater.

Katherine Noel Valentine Brosnahan Spade was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. She was the founder and former co-owner of the designer brand Kate Spade New York.

Philip Anthony McKeon was an American child actor and radio personality, best known for his role as Tommy Hyatt, the son of the title character on the television sitcom Alice from 1976 to 1985.

Gustavo Adrián Cerati was an Argentine singer-songwriter, composer and producer, considered one of the most important and influential figures of Ibero-American rock. Cerati along with his band Soda Stereo, were one of the most popular and influential Spanish-language rock and pop groups of the 1980s and '90s.

Susan Jane Berman was an American journalist, author, and the daughter of David "Davie" Berman, a Jewish-American mobster. She wrote about her late-in-life realization of her father's role in organized crime.

Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo. He was a major contributor in broadening the appeal of video games by focusing on novel and entertaining games rather than top-of-the-line hardware.

Keiji Fujiwara was a Japanese actor and voice actor.

Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov was a Russian physicist and liberal politician. Nemtsov was one of the most important figures in the introduction of reforms into the Russian post-Soviet economy. He had a successful political career in the 1990s under President Boris Yeltsin. From 2000 until his death, he was an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. Nemtsov was assassinated on 27 February 2015, beside his Ukrainian partner Anna Durytska, on a bridge near the Kremlin in Moscow, with four shots fired from the back. In the weeks before his death, Nemtsov expressed fear that Putin would have him killed. In late June 2017, five Chechen men were found guilty by a jury in a Moscow court for agreeing to kill Nemtsov in exchange for 15 million rubles (US$253,000); neither the identity nor whereabouts of the person who hired them is known.

Sérgio Vieira de Mello was a Brazilian United Nations diplomat who worked on several UN humanitarian and political programs for over 34 years. The Government of Brazil posthumously awarded the Sergio Vieira de Mello Medal to honor his legacy in promoting sustainable peace, international security and better living conditions for individuals in situations of armed conflict, challenges to which Sergio Vieira de Mello had dedicated his life and career.

Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky was a Russian-American poet and essayist.