List of Famous people who died in 1964

Jawaharlal Nehru was an Indian independence activist and, subsequently, the first Prime Minister of India, as well as a central figure in Indian politics both before and after independence. He emerged as an eminent leader of the Indian independence movement, serving India as Prime Minister from its establishment in 1947 as an independent nation, until his death in 1964. He was also known as Pandit Nehru due to his roots with the Kashmiri Pandit community, while Indian children knew him better as Chacha Nehru.

Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British writer, journalist and naval intelligence officer who is best known for his James Bond series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.

Lucy Wills, LRCP was an English haematologist and physician researcher. She conducted research in India in the late 1920s and early 1930s on macrocytic anaemia of pregnancy, a disease which is characterized by enlarged red blood cells and is life-threatening.

Hedwig Kohn was a physicist who was one of only three women to obtain habilitation in physics in Germany before World War II. Born in Breslau in the German Empire, she was forced to leave Germany during the Nazi regime because she was Jewish. She continued her academic career in the United States, where she settled for the rest of her life.

Samuel Cook, known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He was also influential as a composer and producer, and is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocals and significance in popular music.

Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, also called the Lion of Africa, was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of its forces in the German East Africa campaign. For four years, with a force of about 14,000, he held in check a much larger force of 300,000 British, Indian, Belgian, and Portuguese troops.

Herbert Clark Hoover was an American politician, businessman, and engineer, who was the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933. A member of the Republican Party, he held office during the onset of the Great Depression. Before serving as president, Hoover led the Commission for Relief in Belgium, served as the director of the U.S. Food Administration, and served as the third U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Alvin Cullum York, also known as Sergeant York, was one of the most decorated United States Army soldiers of World War I. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking at least one machine gun, killing at least 25 enemy soldiers and capturing 132. York's Medal of Honor action occurred during the United States-led portion of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France, which was intended to breach the Hindenburg line and force the Germans to surrender. He earned decorations from several allied countries during WWI, including France, Italy and Montenegro.

Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone, better known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He made 1950s and 1960s classics such as Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam and Chaudhvin Ka Chand. In particular, Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool have been included among the greatest films of all time, Pyaasa by Time magazine's "All-TIME" 100 best movies list and by the 2002 Sight & Sound critics' and directors' poll, where Dutt himself is included among the greatest film directors of all time.

Alan Walbridge Ladd was an American actor and film and television producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in Westerns, such as Shane (1953) and in films noir. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in noirish films, such as This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942), and The Blue Dahlia (1946).

Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film.

Rachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist, author, and conservationist whose book Silent Spring and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement.

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American five-star general and Field Marshal of the Philippine Army. He was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines campaign, which made him and his father Arthur MacArthur Jr. the first father and son to be awarded the medal. He was one of only five to rise to the rank of General of the Army in the US Army, and the only one conferred the rank of field marshal in the Philippine Army.

Mary Eno Pinchot Meyer was an American painter who lived in Washington D.C. She was married to Central Intelligence Agency official Cord Meyer from 1945–1958, and became involved romantically with President John F. Kennedy after her divorce from Meyer.

Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor, was an American-born British politician who was the second elected female Member of Parliament (MP) but the first to take her seat, serving from 1919 to 1945. Sinn Féin's Constance Markievicz had become the first elected female MP in 1918, but refused to take her seat in line with party policy, instead joining the First Dáil of the revolutionary Irish Republic.

Peter Lorre was a Hungarian-American actor. Lorre began his stage career in Vienna before moving to Germany where he worked first on the stage, then in film in Berlin in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Lorre caused an international sensation in the German film M (1931), directed by Fritz Lang, in which he portrayed a serial killer who preys on little girls.

Arthur "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and musician, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Groucho Marx and Chico Marx, Harpo's comic style was visual, being an example of both clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish blond wig and was silent in all his movie appearances, instead blowing a horn or whistling to communicate. Marx frequently employed props such as a horn cane, constructed from a lead pipe, tape, and a bulbhorn.

Gerardo Murillo Cornado, also known by his signature "Dr. Atl", was a Mexican painter and writer.

Louisa Florence Durrell, was an Anglo-Irish woman born in India during the British Raj. She was the mother of Lawrence and Gerald Durrell. She was featured in Gerald Durrell's autobiographical Corfu trilogy, which tells about the Durrells' years in Corfu from 1935 to 1939 in a somewhat fictionalized way.

Rajkumari Bibiji Amrit Kaur Ahluwalia, DStJ was an Indian activist and politician. Following her long-lasting association with the Indian independence movement, she was appointed the first Health Minister of India in 1947 and remained in office until 1957. She also held the charge of Sports Minister and Urban Development Minister and was instrumental in setting up the National Institute of Sports,Patiala.During her tenure, Kaur ushered in several healthcare reforms in India and is widely remembered for her contributions to the sector and her advocacy of women's rights. Kaur was also a member of the Indian Constituent Assembly, the body that framed the Constitution of India.