List of Famous people who died in 1987

Tawfiq al-Hakim or Tawfik el-Hakim was a prominent Egyptian writer and visionary. He is one of the pioneers of the Arabic novel and drama. The triumphs and failures that are represented by the reception of his enormous output of plays are emblematic of the issues that have confronted the Egyptian drama genre as it has endeavored to adapt its complex modes of communication to Egyptian society.

Vice Admiral Sir Alan Wedel Ramsay McNicoll, was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and a diplomat. Born in Melbourne, he entered the Royal Australian Naval College at the age of thirteen and graduated in 1926. Following training and staff appointments in Australia and the United Kingdom, he was attached to the Royal Navy at the outbreak of the Second World War. As torpedo officer of the 1st Submarine Flotilla in the Mediterranean theatre, McNicoll was decorated with the George Medal in 1941 for disarming enemy ordnance. He served aboard HMS King George V from 1942, sailing in support of several Arctic convoys and taking part in the Allied invasion of Sicily. McNicoll was posted for staff duties with the Admiralty from September 1943 and was involved in the planning of the Normandy landings. He returned to Australia in October 1944.

Ilse Sonja Totzke (1913-1987) was a German musician who had studied in Würzburg where she made a number of Jewish friends. After the Nuremberg Laws were enacted in 1935, she was reported to the Gestapo for associating with Jews but it was not until 1941 that she was warned not to continue these relationships. In late 1942, she nevertheless began a friendship with Ruth Basinski, a Jew, with whom she attempted to flee to Switzerland the following February. They reached the border but the Swiss guards handed them over to the Germans. Basinski was sent to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp while Totzke was returned to Würtzburg. After insisting on maintaining relationships with her Jewish friends, she was sent to the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp in May 1943. A gifted flautist, Basinski became a member of the Auschwitz orchestra. Totzke survived until she was liberated in April 1945. Totzke was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in March 1995.

Yevgeniya Nikandrovna Khanayeva was a Soviet and Russian actress. People's Artist of the USSR (1987).

Chögyam Trungpa was a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master and holder of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, the 11th of the Trungpa tülkus, a tertön, supreme abbot of the Surmang monasteries, scholar, teacher, poet, artist, and originator of a radical re-presentation of Tibetan Buddhist teachings and the myth of Shambhala as an enlightened society that was later called Shambhala Buddhism.

Audrey Marie Hilley was an American murderer. Her life and killing spree are the subjects of the 1991 telefilm Wife, Mother, Murderer.

Arthur Lake was an American actor known best for bringing Dagwood Bumstead, the bumbling husband of Blondie, to life in film, radio, and television.

Lucy Monroe was an American operatic soprano and dancer. She was noted for her performances of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the United States, at sporting and military events, which earned her the nickname of "The Star-Spangled Soprano".

Jeevan, born Omkar Nath Dhar, was an Indian actor who played Narad Muni in mythological films of the 1950s a total of 49 times. Later, he played the villain in popular Bollywood films of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. His son Kiran Kumar is also a film and television actor.

Major John "Johnnie" Whitby Cradock was an English cook, writer and broadcaster and the fourth husband of television cook and writer Fanny Cradock.