List of Famous people who died at 72

Kiyoshi Yoshimoti was a Japanese swordsman.

Nicolas Rashevsky was an American theoretical physicist who was one of the pioneers of mathematical biology, and is also considered the father of mathematical biophysics and theoretical biology.

Jack Westelman, known as Danny Wells, was a Canadian actor. He was best known for his role as Charlie, the bartender on The Jeffersons, as well as his role as Luigi in the live-action/animated series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!.

Paul K. Friedhoff was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and former member of the German Bundestag.

Robert Coleman Atkins was an American physician and cardiologist, best known for the Atkins Diet, which requires close control of carbohydrate consumption and emphasizes protein and fat as the primary sources of dietary calories in addition to a controlled number of carbohydrates from vegetables.

Paul Gerhart Hatfield was an American attorney, politician, and jurist. He served briefly as United States Senator from Montana in 1978, and then as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana.

John Wayne Glover was an English-Australian serial killer convicted of the murders of six elderly women, over a period of 14 months from 1989-1990 including Winifreda, Lady Ashton, widow of the English-Australian impressionist painter Sir Will Ashton, in suburbs located in Sydney's North Shore. The fact that the victims were all elderly women, led to Glover attaining the nickname by the press of The Granny Killer. Following his arrest in 1990, he admitted to the murders and was sentenced to consecutive terms of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He hanged himself in prison on 9 September 2005.