List of Famous people who died in 2008

Heath Ledger

Heathcliff Andrew Ledger
First Name Heath
Last Name Ledger
Born on April 4, 1979
Died on January 22, 2008 (aged 28)
Height 184 cm | 6'0

Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian actor, photographer, and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to further develop his film career. His work consisted of twenty films, including 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), The Patriot (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), Monster's Ball (2001), Lords of Dogtown (2005), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Candy (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), the latter two being posthumous releases. He also produced and directed music videos and aspired to be a film director.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Bobby Fischer

Robert James Fischer
First Name Bobby
Last Name Fischer
Born on March 9, 1943
Died on January 17, 2008 (aged 64)
Height 185 cm | 6'1

Robert James Fischer was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Paul Newman

Paul Leonard Newman
First Name Paul
Last Name Newman
Born on January 26, 1925
Died on September 26, 2008 (aged 83)
Height 177 cm | 5'10

Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, race car driver, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

George Carlin

George Denis Patrick Carlin
First Name George
Last Name Carlin
Born on May 12, 1937
Died on June 22, 2008 (aged 71)
Height 175 cm | 5'9

George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic and author. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comics of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of counterculture comedians". He was known for his dark comedy and reflections on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and taboo subjects. His "seven dirty words" routine was central to the 1978 United States Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, in which a 5–4 decision affirmed the government's power to censor indecent material on the public airwaves.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Sam Manekshaw

First Name Sam
Last Name Manekshaw
Born on April 3, 1914
Died on June 27, 2008 (aged 94)
Born in India

Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw,, widely known as Sam Manekshaw and Sam Bahadur, was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal. His military career spanned four decades and five wars, beginning with service in the British Indian Army in World War II.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Bruce Edwards Ivins

First Name Bruce
Last Name Ivins
Born on April 22, 1946
Died on July 29, 2008 (aged 62)

Bruce Edwards Ivins was an American microbiologist, vaccinologist, senior biodefense researcher at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Fort Detrick, Maryland, and the suspected perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks. Ivins died on July 29, 2008, of an overdose of acetaminophen (Tylenol) in an apparent suicide after learning that criminal charges were likely to be filed against him by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for an alleged criminal connection to the attacks.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Leo Major

First Name Leo
Last Name Major
Born on January 23, 1921
Died on October 12, 2008 (aged 87)

Léo Major was a French-Canadian soldier who was the only Canadian and one of only three soldiers in the British Commonwealth to receive the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) twice in separate wars. Major earned his first DCM in World War II in 1945 after a successful reconnaissance mission in Zwolle. As he was sent to scout the city with one of his best friends, a firefight broke out in which his friend was killed, yet he still continued, after which he found that the city was mostly deserted by the German occupational army. Thanks to his efforts Zwolle was spared from the artillery fire that was planned the next day by the Allies. He received his second DCM during the Korean War for leading the capture of a key hill in 1951.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent
First Name Yves
Born on August 1, 1936
Died on June 1, 2008 (aged 71)

Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, professionally known as Yves Saint-Laurent, was a French fashion designer who, in 1961, founded his eponymous fashion label. He is regarded as being among the foremost fashion designers in the twentieth century. In 1985, Caroline Rennolds Milbank wrote, "The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture's rise from its 1960s ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable." He was able to adapt his style to accommodate the changes in fashion during that period. He approached fashion in a different perspective by wanting women to look comfortable yet elegant at the same time. He is also credited with having introduced the tuxedo suit for women and was known for his use of non-European cultural references, and non-white models.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Yegor Letov

Игорь Фёдорович Летов
First Name Yegor
Born on September 10, 1964
Died on February 19, 2008 (aged 43)
Born in Russia, Omsk Oblast

Igor Fedorovich "Yegor" Letov was a Russian poet, musician, singer-songwriter, audio engineer and conceptual art painter, best known as the founder and leader of the post-punk/psychedelic rock band Grazhdanskaya Oborona. He was also the founder of the conceptual art avant-garde project Kommunizm and psychedelic rock outfit Egor i Opizdenevshie. Letov collaborated with singer-songwriter Yanka Dyagileva and other Siberian underground artists as a record engineer and producer.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Rudy Ray Moore

First Name Rudy
Last Name Moore
Born on March 17, 1927
Died on October 19, 2008 (aged 81)

Rudolph Frank Moore, known as Rudy Ray Moore, was an American comedian, singer, actor, and film producer. He created the character Dolemite, the pimp from the 1975 film Dolemite and its sequels, The Human Tornado and The Return of Dolemite. The persona was developed during his early comedy records. The recordings often featured Moore delivering profanity-filled rhyming poetry, which later earned Moore the nickname "the Godfather of Rap". Actor and comedian Eddie Murphy portrayed Moore in the 2019 film Dolemite Is My Name.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Muslim Magomayev

First Name Muslim
Last Name Magomayev
Born on August 17, 1942
Died on October 25, 2008 (aged 66)
Born in Azerbaijan

Muslim Magometovich Magomayev, dubbed the "King of Songs" and the "Soviet Sinatra" was a Soviet, Azerbaijani and Russian opera and pop singer. He achieved iconic status in Russia and the post-Soviet countries for his vocal talent and charisma. People's Artist of the USSR (1973).

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

John List

First Name John
Last Name List
Born on September 17, 1925
Died on March 21, 2008 (aged 82)

John Emil List was an American mass murderer and long-time fugitive. On November 9, 1971, he killed his wife, mother, and three children at their home in Westfield, New Jersey, and then disappeared; he had planned the murders so meticulously that nearly a month passed before anyone suspected that anything was amiss.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Rutilio Torres Mantecón

First Name Rutilio
Born on December 30, 1976
Died on February 24, 2008 (aged 31)
Born in Mexico

Rutilio Torres Mantecón, also known as Rui Torres was an artist known for being the presenter for the first and second seasons of the Latin American version of the TV show Art Attack of the TV channel Disney Channel.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Charlton Heston

First Name Charlton
Last Name Heston
Died on April 5, 2008 (aged 38)
Height 189 cm | 6'2

Charlton Heston was an American actor and political activist. As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film The Ten Commandments (1956), for which he received his first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. He also starred in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), Secret of the Incas (1954), Touch of Evil (1958) with Orson Welles, The Big Country (1958), Ben-Hur (1959), for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor, El Cid (1961), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Planet of the Apes (1968), The Omega Man (1971) and Soylent Green (1973).

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

First Name Aleksandr
Died on August 3, 2008 (aged 38)

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was a Russian novelist, philosopher, historian, short story writer and political prisoner. Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of the Soviet Union and Communism and helped to raise global awareness of the Soviet Gulag forced-labor camp system.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Tukaram Omble

First Name Tukaram
Born on November 30, 1953
Died on November 27, 2008 (aged 54)
Born in India

Tukaram Omble AC was a Mumbai police officer and army soldier, who served as assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Mumbai Police. He was martyred in action while fighting terrorists during the 2008 Mumbai attacks, at Girgaum Chowpatty Mumbai, and was instrumental in apprehending Ajmal Kasab alive. The lone surviving terrorist Kasab was later convicted and hanged. The Indian government posthumously honoured Omble, on 26 January 2009, with the Ashoka Chakra – the country's highest peace-time gallantry award for extraordinary bravery and valour in the line of duty.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Adelir Antonio de Carli

First Name Adelir
Born on February 8, 1967
Died on April 20, 2008 (aged 41)

Adelir Antônio de Carli, also known in Brazil as Padre Baloeiro or Padre do Balão, was a Brazilian Catholic priest, who died during an attempt at cluster ballooning on April 20, 2008. Carli, an experienced skydiver, undertook the exercise in order to raise money to fund a spiritual rest area for truck drivers in the Paraná port city of Paranaguá.

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Roy Scheider

Roy Richard Scheider
First Name Roy
Last Name Scheider
Born on November 10, 1932
Died on February 10, 2008 (aged 75)
Height 175 cm | 5'9

Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor and amateur boxer. He played Martin Brody in the thriller film Jaws (1975), reprising the role in its sequel Jaws 2 (1978).

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Burhaneddin Cem

First Name Burhaneddin
Born on February 2, 1920
Died on October 31, 2008 (aged 88)

Şehzade Burhaneddin Cem was the heir apparent to the headship of the Ottoman dynasty. He was born at Beşiktaş, Istanbul as the son of Prince Ibrahim Tevfik (1874–1931) and his fourth wife Hatice Sadiye Hanım (1898–1986). Burhaneddin was a descendant of Sultan Abdülmecid I. He married Irene Starosselskaya of Russian–Georgian noble descent and had two children, Nilüfer Sultan and Şehzade Selim (1955).

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her

Marpessa Dawn

First Name Marpessa
Born on January 3, 1934
Died on August 25, 2008 (aged 74)

Marpessa Dawn, also known as Gypsy Marpessa Dawn Menor, was an American born French actress, as well as a singer and dancer. She is best remembered for her role in the film Black Orpheus (1959).

Know him/her \
Don't know him/her
Show More
    index: 1x 0.085410833358765s
fmsppl-page-output: 1x 0.07392406463623s
t_/pages/list-of-people: 1x 0.073863983154297s
t_/blocks/list-of-people: 1x 0.062804937362671s
t_/blocks/person-card: 20x 0.062258720397949s
router_page: 1x 0.0103440284729s
list-of-people-content: 1x 0.0094509124755859s
t_/common/header: 1x 0.0073931217193604s
headline: 2x 0.002655029296875s
t_/common/footer: 1x 0.00048112869262695s
t_/common/head: 1x 0.00045990943908691s
head-facts: 1x 0.00042486190795898s
t_/blocks/switcher: 1x 9.5844268798828E-5s
qids: 1.5x 1.0013580322266E-5s
related: 1x 5.9604644775391E-6s
using-file-qids-cache: 1x 9.5367431640625E-7s
using-qids-cache: 1x 9.5367431640625E-7s
----- END OF DUMP (2023-06-03 11:15:06)  -----