List of Famous people who died in 1959

Jean Wall (1900–1959) was a French stage and film actor. He also directed two films.

Gabrielle Fontan was a French film actress. She appeared in 125 films between 1927 and 1959.

Georgette Tissier (1910–1959) was a French actress. She was the wife of the actor Jean Tissier.

Germaine Deschanel was the well-born wife of Paul Deschanel, the French statesman-academician who served as President of France from 18 February to 21 September 1920.

Granville Gustavus Withers was an American film actor who acted under the screen name Grant Withers. With early beginnings in the silent era, Withers moved into sound films establishing himself with a list of headlined features as a young and handsome male lead. "As his career progressed,...his importance diminished, but he did manage a 10-year contract with Republic.

Harold Huber was an American actor who appeared on film, radio and television.

Helen Broderick was an American film and stage actress known for her comic roles, especially as a wisecracking sidekick.

Arthur Cecil Pigou was an English economist. As a teacher and builder of the School of Economics at the University of Cambridge, he trained and influenced many Cambridge economists who went on to take chairs of economics around the world. His work covered various fields of economics, particularly welfare economics, but also included Business cycle theory, unemployment, public finance, index numbers, and measurement of national output. His reputation was affected adversely by influential economic writers who used his work as the basis on which to define their own opposing views. He reluctantly served on several public committees, including the Cunliffe Committee and the 1919 Royal Commission on Income tax.

Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, frequently referred to as S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, was the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon and founder of the left-wing and Sinhalese nationalist Sri Lanka Freedom Party. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike became the prime minister of Ceylon in 1956 and carried out left wing reforms such as nationalizing bus services and introducing legislation to prohibit caste based discrimination. Bandaranaike is also remembered for removing British naval and air bases in Sri Lanka and establishing diplomatic missions with a number of communist states.

Keita Gotō was a Japanese businessman who built the Tokyu Group into one of the leading corporate groups in Japan.