List of Famous people who died at 68

Jayaram Jayalalithaa was an Indian politician and film actress who served six times as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for over fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989, she was the general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a Dravidian party whose cadre revered her as their "Amma" (mother) and Puratchi Thalaivi. Her critics in the media and the opposition accused her of fostering a personality cult and of demanding absolute loyalty from AIADMK legislators and ministers, who often publicly prostrated themselves before her.

Josephine Baker was an American-born French entertainer, French Resistance agent, and civil rights activist. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted France. She was the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant.

Ian Robert Maxwell was a British media proprietor, Member of Parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Maxwell rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire. After his death, huge discrepancies in his companies' finances were revealed, including his fraudulent misappropriation of the Mirror Group pension fund.

Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza was a French actor and comedian. According to several polls conducted since 1968, he is France's favourite actor – having played over 130 roles in film and over 100 on stage. His acting style is remembered for its high-energy performance and his wide range of facial expressions and tics. A considerable part of his best-known acting was directed by Jean Girault.

Leon Gary Plauché was an American man known for the 1984 vigilante killing of Jeff Doucet, who had kidnapped and molested Plauché's son, Jody. The killing occurred on Friday, March 16, 1984, and was captured on camera by a local news crew. Although Plauché shot and killed Doucet, he was given a seven-year suspended sentence with five years' probation and 300 hours of community service for the shooting and received no prison time. The case received wide publicity because some people questioned whether Plauché should have been charged with murder or let off. Plauché stated that he was in the right, and that those in a similar position would have done the same thing.

Elijah Eugene Cummings was an American politician and civil rights advocate who served in the United States House of Representatives for Maryland's 7th congressional district from 1996 until his death in 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, Cummings previously served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1983 to 1996.

Harry Guy Stockwell was an American actor who appeared in nearly 30 movies and 250 television series episodes.

Hendrik Johannes Cruijff OON was a Dutch professional football player and coach. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973, and 1974. Cruyff was a proponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football explored by Rinus Michels, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most prolific players in the history of the sport.

Charles Krauthammer was an American political columnist. A conservative political pundit, Krauthammer won the Pulitzer Prize for his column in The Washington Post in 1987. His weekly column was syndicated to more than 400 publications worldwide.

Margarita Carmen Hayworth was an American actress, dancer, and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined the term "The Love Goddess" to describe Hayworth after she had become the most glamorous screen idol of the 1940s. She was the top pin-up girl for GIs during World War II.

Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques from 2 November 1964 to 25 March 1975.

Virgil Keel Fox was an American organist, known especially for his years as organist at Riverside Church in New York City, from 1946 to 1965, and his flamboyant "Heavy Organ" concerts of the music of Bach in the 1970s, staged complete with light shows. His many recordings made on the RCA Victor and Capitol labels, mostly in the 1950s and 1960s, have been remastered and re-released on compact disc in recent years. They continue to be widely available in mainstream music stores.

Eiji Tsuburaya was a Japanese special effects director responsible for many Japanese science-fiction films and television shows. He was one of the co-creators of the Godzilla series, as well as the main creator of the Ultra series. During his rise to post-war fame in the wake of Godzilla (1954), many press accounts gave Tsuburaya's birthdate as July 7, which falls on the high day of Tanabata, a sign of good fortune.

Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer,, styled Viscount Althorp until June 1975, was a British peer and nobleman. He was the father of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the maternal grandfather of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, respectively second and sixth in the line of succession to the British throne.

Angiolino Giuseppe Pasquale Ventura was an Italian actor who grew up in France and starred in many French films. Born in Italy, he was raised in Paris by his Italian mother. After a first career as a professional wrestler was ended by injury, he was offered a part as a gang boss in the Jacques Becker film Touchez pas au grisbi (1954) and rapidly became one of France's favourite film actors, playing opposite many other great stars such as Bourvil, Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, Claude Rich, Bernard Blier, Jacques Brel, Michel Serrault, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and working with other leading directors such as Louis Malle, Claude Sautet, Claude Miller, and the great script writer Michel Audiard. Usually portraying a tough man, either a criminal or a cop, he also featured as a leader of the Resistance in the Jean-Pierre Melville directed Army of Shadows. After one of his four children, a daughter, was born handicapped, he and his wife founded a charity Perce-Neige (Snowdrop) which aids disabled children and their parents. Though he never renounced his Italian citizenship, he was voted 23rd in a poll for the 100 greatest Frenchmen.

Merima Kurtiš, known professionally as Merima Njegomir, was a Serbian folk and sevdah singer. She began her career singing many interpretations of popular Bosnian folk songs, such as "Moj dilbere" and "Sejdefu majka buđaše", which gained her popularity across Serbia and former Yugoslavia. Her career, spanning over four decades, includes 24 albums, and songs in over 20 languages, such as Hungarian, Hebrew, Italian, Greek and Turkish. Her father was a Macedonian Albanian from Ohrid, while her mother was a Bosniak from Bijeljina.

Mychal Fallon Judge, O.F.M., was an American Franciscan friar and Catholic priest who served as a chaplain to the New York City Fire Department. While serving in that capacity he was killed, becoming the first certified fatality of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Enéas Ferreira Carneiro was a Brazilian cardiologist, physicist, mathematician, professor, writer, military and politician. He represented the state of São Paulo in the National Chamber of Deputies and ran for presidency three times. He was founder and leader of the nationalist and conservative Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order (PRONA), which was usually seen as being far-right.

Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Russian nuclear physicist, dissident, Nobel laureate, and activist for disarmament, peace and human rights.

Richard John Parfitt, OBE was an English musician, best known as a singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist with rock band Status Quo.