List of Famous people who died at 87

Pierre Chambon was the founder of the Institute for Genetics and Cellular and Molecular Biology in Strasbourg, France. He was one of the leading molecular biologists who utilized gene cloning and sequencing technology to first decipher the structure of eukaryotic genes and their modes of regulation. His major contributions to science include the identification of RNA polymerase II(B), the identification of transcriptional control elements, the cloning and dissection of nuclear hormone receptors, revealing their structure and showing how they contribute to human physiology. His group was also one of the first to demonstrate, biochemically and electron-microscopically, that the nucleosome is the smallest unit of chromatin. He accomplished much of his work in the 1970-90s.

Patricia Anne "Patsey" Stephens was a female United States badminton international.

Robert Ellenstein was an American actor. The son of Meyer C. Ellenstein, a Newark dentist, Ellenstein grew up to see his father become a two-term mayor from 1933 to 1941. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II: earning a Purple Heart during his service.

Anita Brookner was an English novelist and art historian. She was Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cambridge from 1967 to 1968 and was the first woman to hold this visiting professorship. She was awarded the 1984 Booker–McConnell Prize for her novel Hotel du Lac.

Frigyes Puja was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1973 and 1983.

Richard James Duffin was an American physicist, known for his contributions to electrical transmission theory and to the development of geometric programming and other areas within operations research.