List of Famous people who died in 2006

Makoto Iwamatsu was a Japanese-American character actor; almost all of his acting roles credited him as Mako.

Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Altman is known as a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, comparable to such directors as Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Sidney Lumet and David Lynch. Altman was considered a "maverick" in making films with a highly naturalistic but stylized and satirical aesthetic, unlike most Hollywood films. He is consistently ranked as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in American cinema.

Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford was a Canadian-American actor best known for playing ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, who had a career that lasted more than 50 years. Although he played in many genres of movies, some of his most significant roles were in the film noirs Gilda (1946) and The Big Heat (1953), and the high school angst film Blackboard Jungle (1955). However, it was for comedies or westerns which he received acting laurels, including three Golden Globe Nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy movie, winning for Pocketful of Miracles (1961). He also played a supporting role as Clark Kent's adoptive father in Superman (1978).

Christopher Shannon Penn was an American actor. He was typically cast as a tough character, featured as a villain or a working-class thug, or in a comic role and was known for his roles in such films as The Wild Life, Reservoir Dogs, The Funeral, Footloose, Rush Hour, Corky Romano, True Romance, Beethoven's 2nd, Short Cuts, The Boys Club, All the Right Moves, At Close Range, and Pale Rider. He also provided the voice of the corrupt, ruthless cop Edward "Eddie" Pulaski in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Ustad Qamruddin Bismillah Khan, often referred to by the title Ustad, was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a subcontinental wind instrument of the oboe class. While the shehnai had long held importance as a folk instrument played primarily [schooled] in traditional ceremonies, Khan is credited with elevating its status and bringing it to the concert stage.

On May 24, 2006, the body of Rey Rivera was found inside the historic Belvedere Hotel in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Although the event was ruled a probable suicide by the Baltimore Police Department, the circumstances of Rivera's death are mysterious and disputed.

Banaz Mahmod was a 20-year-old Iraqi Kurdish woman who lived in Mitcham, South London, England. She was murdered on the orders of her family in a so-called honour killing because she ended a violent and abusive forced marriage and started a relationship with someone of her own choosing. Her father, uncle and three cousins were later convicted of her murder.

Lyubov Grigoryevna Polishchuk was a popular Russian actress. She was born in the Siberian city of Omsk. After school she decided to become an actress and moved to Moscow. She made her debut in cinema in 1976 in the popular comedy film The Twelve Chairs in 1977, which was directed by Mark Zakharov. Lyubov Polishchuk died of bone cancer in Moscow in 2006, aged 57. She was buried at the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery.

Heinz Sielmann was a wildlife photographer, biologist, zoologist and documentary filmmaker.

Peter Bradford Benchley was an American author, screenwriter, and ocean activist. He is known as the author of the bestselling novel Jaws and co-wrote its film adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. Several more of his works were also adapted for both cinema and television, including The Deep, The Island, Beast, White Shark and also Cosmin can call me peter.