List of Famous people who died at 56

Pierre Pellizza was a French tennis player in the years before and after World War 2. In 1948 he settled in America. His younger brother was tennis and badminton player Henri Pellizza. Allison Danzig of The New York Times said of Pierre Pellizza "Pellizza was a bulldog for tenacity. He showed a forehand that rivalled Petra's...and a backhand that excelled his countryman's". The best results of Pierre Pellizza's career came at Monte Carlo, where he won the title in 1939 and 1946. Pellizza played Davis Cup from 1938 to 1947. At the French Championships, Pellizza reached the quarter finals in 1946 and 1947. At Wimbledon his best performance was in 1946, when he reached the quarter finals. At the U.S. Championships, Pellizza's best results were the last 16 in 1936 and 1946 He turned professional in 1948. Like Paul Féret and Henri Cochet, Pellizza was reinstated as an amateur. He played the French Championships for the last time in 1957, when he lost in the first round to Andres Gimeno.

Christian Dotremont,, was a Belgian painter and poet who was born in Tervuren, Belgium. He was a founding member of the Revolutionary Surrealist Group (1946) and he also founded COBRA together with Danish artist Asger Jorn. In this capacity he was responsible for bringing Henri Lefebvre's Critique de la vie quotidienne (1946) to the group's attention. He later became well known for his painted poems, which he called logograms.

Fred Ho was an American jazz baritone saxophonist, composer, bandleader, playwright, writer and Marxist social activist. In 1988, he changed his surname to "Ho".

Pierre Chanal was a French soldier and suspected serial killer. He was convicted of the rape and kidnapping of a young man, Balázs Falvay, whom he picked up hitchhiking in 1988. He received a ten-year sentence for the attack, and was released in 1995 on probation. He was accused of murdering three of eight young men who disappeared in northeastern France between 1980 and 1987. One of his alleged victims was Trevor O'Keeffe. Chanal committed suicide in prison in 2003 while on trial.

John William Corrington was an American film and television writer, novelist, poet, and lawyer.

Kazem Rajavi was a university professor known for his work as a human rights advocate. He was also the elder brother of Iranian Mujahedin leader Massoud Rajavi. When, in 1971, Massoud Rajavi was arrested and sentenced to death, Kazem Rajavi managed to prevent the execution by forming an international campaign and changing the verdict to life imprisonment.

Capt. Ronald Ellwin Evans Jr., USN was an American naval officer and aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut. As command module pilot on Apollo 17 he was one of the 24 astronauts to have flown to the Moon, and one of 12 people to have flown to the Moon without landing on it.

Mauro Cristofani was a linguist and researcher in Etruscan studies.

Karen Steele was an American actress and model with more than 60 roles in film and television. Her most famous roles include starring as Virginia in Marty, as Mrs Lane in Ride Lonesome, and as Eve McHuron in the Star Trek episode "Mudd's Women".