List of Famous people who died at 88

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, The Tramp, and is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both adulation and controversy.

Frank Lucas was an American drug trafficker who operated in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in the Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia. Lucas boasted that he smuggled heroin using the coffins of dead American servicemen, but this claim is denied by his Southeast Asian associate, Leslie "Ike" Atkinson. Rather than hide the drugs in the coffins, they were hidden in the pallets underneath, as depicted in the feature film American Gangster (2007) in which he was played by Denzel Washington, although the film fictionalized elements of Lucas' life for dramatic effect. In 1976, Lucas was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 70 years in prison; however, after becoming an informant, his sentence was reduced to five years. He was convicted of the same offense in 1984, and sentenced to seven years in prison. He died in 2019.

Wilbur Addison Smith was a Zambian-born South African novelist specialising in historical fiction about international involvement in Southern Africa across four centuries, seen from the viewpoints of both black and white families.

Fred Astaire was an American actor, dancer, singer, choreographer, and television presenter. He is widely considered the most influential dancer in the history of film.

María de los Ángeles Alvariño González, known as Ángeles Alvariño, was a Spanish fishery research biologist and oceanographer globally recognized as an authority in plankton biology. She was the first woman ever appointed as scientist aboard any British or Spanish exploration ships. She discovered 22 new species of marine animals and published over a hundred scientific books, chapters and articles. In her late career she studied the history of early marine scientific exploration.

Gudrun Margarete Elfriede Emma Anna Burwitz was the daughter of Heinrich Himmler and Margarete Himmler. Her father, as Reichsführer-SS, was a leading member of the Nazi Party, and chief architect of the Final Solution. After the Allied victory, she was arrested and made to testify at the Nuremberg trials. Never renouncing Nazi ideology, she consistently fought to defend her father's reputation and became closely involved in Neo-Nazi groups that give support to ex-members of the SS. She married Wulf Dieter Burwitz, an official of the extremist NPD.

Yoram Jerzy Gross was a Polish-born Australian producer of children's and family entertainment. Internationally acclaimed for his films and television series, Gross established a worldwide reputation for the adaptation of children's characters from books and films to animation that won the hearts of children and adults worldwide. His company is best known for producing the films Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala and Dot and the Kangaroo.

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd president of the United States from 1945 to 1953, succeeding upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt after serving as the 34th vice president. He implemented the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, and established the Truman Doctrine and NATO.

Thomas Savage was an American author of novels published between 1944 and 1988. He is best known for his Western novels, which drew on early experiences in the American West.

Bhumibol Adulyadej, conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great in 1987, was the ninth monarch of Thailand from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama IX. Reigning since 9 June 1946, he was the world's longest-reigning current head of state from the death of Emperor Hirohito of Japan in 1989 until his own death in 2016, and is both the second-longest reigning monarch of all time and the longest-reigning monarch to have reigned only as an adult, reigning for 70 years and 126 days. During his reign, he was served by a total of 30 prime ministers beginning with Pridi Banomyong and ending with Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist, essayist, book editor, and college professor. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed Song of Solomon (1977) brought her national attention and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1988, Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987); she gained worldwide recognition when she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.

William West Anderson, known professionally as Adam West, was an American actor, known primarily for his role as Batman in the 1960s ABC series of the same name and its 1966 theatrical feature film. West began acting in films in the 1950s. He played opposite Chuck Connors in Geronimo (1962) and The Three Stooges in The Outlaws Is Coming (1965). He also appeared in the science fiction film Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) and performed voice work on The Fairly OddParents (2003–2017), The Simpsons, and Family Guy (2000–2018), playing fictional versions of himself in all three. Late in his career, West starred in two direct-to-video animated Batman films, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, and Batman vs. Two-Face, the latter of which was released posthumously.

Paulette Nardal was a french writer from Martinique, journalist, and one of the drivers of the development of a black literary consciousness. She was one of the authors involved in the creation of the Négritude genre and introduced French intellectuals to the works of members of the Harlem Renaissance through her translations.

Josef "Pepi" Bican was an Austrian-Czech professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the second most prolific goalscorer in official matches in recorded history according to Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) with over 948 goals scored in 621 matches. FIFA recognises 805 goals. In 2000, the IFFHS awarded Bican the "Golden Ball" in recognition of his status as the greatest goalscorer of the 20th century.

Paul Schäfer Schneider was the founder and leader of a sect and agricultural commune of 300 German immigrants called Colonia Dignidad —later renamed Villa Baviera—located in the south of Chile, about 340 km south of Santiago from 1961-2005. Aside from severe human right abuses of his followers, and sexual abuse of 200 boys, pedophile Schäfer colluded with the Pinochet regime with weapon smuggling, contract torture and dozens of executions. After 40 years of terror, a handful of Chilean boys brought the end to his reign of terror. Living underground for 8 years, he spent the last 5 years of life in prison in Chile.

Mary Anne Trump was a Scottish-American philanthropist known for being the mother of Donald Trump and the wife of real-estate developer Fred Trump. Born in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, she emigrated to the United States in 1930 and became a naturalized citizen in March 1942. She raised five children with her husband and lived in the New York area.

María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, 18th Duchess of Alba GE was one of the most senior aristocrats in Spain, as well as the most titled aristocrat in the world.

Şehzade Burhaneddin Cem was the heir apparent to the headship of the Ottoman dynasty. He was born at Beşiktaş, Istanbul as the son of Prince Ibrahim Tevfik (1874–1931) and his fourth wife Hatice Sadiye Hanım (1898–1986). Burhaneddin was a descendant of Sultan Abdülmecid I. He married Irene Starosselskaya of Russian–Georgian noble descent and had two children, Nilüfer Sultan and Şehzade Selim (1955).

Ursula Kroeber Le Guin was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the Earthsea fantasy series. She was first published in 1959, and her literary career spanned nearly sixty years, yielding more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories, in addition to poetry, literary criticism, translations, and children's books. Frequently described as an author of science fiction, Le Guin has also been called a "major voice in American Letters." Le Guin herself said she would prefer to be known as an "American novelist".

Abdul Sattar Edhi NI LPP GPA was a Pakistani philanthropist, ascetic, and humanitarian who founded the Edhi Foundation, which runs the world's largest volunteer ambulance network, along with various homeless shelters, animal shelters, rehabilitation centres, and orphanages across Pakistan. Following his death, his son Faisal Edhi took over as head of the Edhi Foundation.