List of Famous people who died in 2004

Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989 and became a highly influential voice of modern conservatism. Prior to his presidency, he was a Hollywood actor and union leader before serving as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 to 1975.

Marlon Brando Jr. was an American actor and film director with a career spanning 60 years, during which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice. He is well-regarded for his cultural influence on 20th-century film. Brando was also an activist for many causes, notably the civil rights movement and various Native American movements. Having studied with Stella Adler in the 1940s, he is credited with being one of the first actors to bring the Stanislavski system of acting and method acting, derived from the Stanislavski system, to mainstream audiences.

Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, director, and activist, best known for playing the main character and title role in the film Superman (1978) and its three sequels.

Janet Leigh was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author, whose career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California by working-class parents, Leigh was discovered at 18 by actress Norma Shearer, who helped her secure a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Leigh had her first formal foray into acting, appearing in radio programs before making her film debut in the drama The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947).

Russell Tyrone Jones, better known by his stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard, was an American rapper and producer. He was one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, a rap group primarily from Staten Island, New York City, which rose to mainstream prominence with its 1993 debut album Enter the Wu-Tang .

Patrick Daniel Tillman Jr. was an American professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) who left his sports career and enlisted in the United States Army in May 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. His service in Iraq and Afghanistan, and subsequent death, were the subject of national attention when he was killed in action as a result of friendly fire.

Darrell Lance Abbott, best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside his brother Vinnie Paul.

Ray Charles Robinson was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called "Brother Ray." He was often referred to as "The Genius." Charles was blinded during childhood due to glaucoma.

Koose Munisamy Veerappan was an Indian bandit who was active for 36 years, and who kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching of elephants in the scrub lands and forests in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

Bobbie Jo Stinnett was a pregnant 23-year-old American woman found murdered in her home in Skidmore, Missouri. The perpetrator, Lisa Marie Montgomery, then aged 36, strangled Stinnett and cut Stinnett's unborn child, eight months into gestation, from her womb. The baby was safely recovered by authorities and returned to the father.

Colin Bertie John Sutton QPM was a British police officer.

Ahmed Sefrioui was a Moroccan novelist and pioneer of Moroccan literature in the French language.

Olga Aleksandrovna Ladyzhenskaya was a Russian mathematician who worked on partial differential equations, fluid dynamics, and the finite difference method for the Navier–Stokes equations. She received the Lomonosov Gold Medal in 2002. She is the author of more than two hundred scientific works, among which are six monographs.

Marvin John Heemeyer was an American welder and an automobile muffler repair shop owner who demolished numerous buildings with a modified bulldozer in Granby, Colorado on June 4, 2004.

Jack Roy, popularly known by the stage name Rodney Dangerfield, was an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, musician and author. He was known for his self-deprecating one-liner humor, his catchphrase "I don't get no respect!" and his monologues on that theme.

Frances Ruth Shand Kydd was the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales. She was the maternal grandmother of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, respectively second and sixth in the line of succession to the British throne. Following her divorce from Viscount Althorp in 1969, and Diana's death in 1997, Shand Kydd devoted the final years of her life to Catholic charity work.

Terrence Paul Melcher was an American record producer, singer, and songwriter who was instrumental in shaping the mid-to-late 1960s California Sound and folk rock movements. His best-known contributions were producing the Byrds' first two albums Mr. Tambourine Man (1965) and Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965), as well as most of the hit recordings of Paul Revere & the Raiders and Gentle Soul. He is also known for his brief association with Charles Manson, a songwriter and cult leader who was later convicted of several murders.

Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini, popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004 and President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from 1994 to 2004. Ideologically an Arab nationalist, he was a founding member of the Fatah political party, which he led from 1959 until 2004.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was the ruler of Abu Dhabi for more than 30 years. He was the founding father and the principal driving force behind the formation of the United Arab Emirates, becoming the Union's first Raʾīs (President), a post which he held for a period of almost 33 years. He is popularly referred to in the UAE as the Father of the Nation.

Gary Stephen Webb was an American investigative journalist.