List of Famous people who died in 2008

Rafael del Pino y Moreno was one of the wealthiest men in Europe. He had a net worth of approximately 8.6 billion US dollars in 2007. Del Pino founded the construction company Ferrovial in 1952, which became one of Spain's largest builders. He stepped down as President of Ferrovial in 2000, passing on the position to his son, Rafael del Pino Calvo-Sotelo, who now heads the business. He held an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. In 2000 he founded the Fundación Rafael del Pino with the mission of developing future leaders. He was also member of IESE's International Advisory Board (IAB).

Freddy Breck was a German schlager singer, composer, record producer, and news anchor.

Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. was an American journalist, media executive, and politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001 he had a major voice in foreign policy. Helms helped organize and fund the conservative resurgence in the 1970s, focusing on Ronald Reagan's quest for the White House as well as helping many local and regional candidates.

Heinrich "Heinz" Kwiatkowski was a German football goalkeeper. He was born in Gelsenkirchen.

Alejandro Rafael Puccio was an Argentine rugby union footballer and criminal. He played in the Argentinan national rugby union team and became famous because of his participation on a criminal organization dedicated to kidnap, torture and murder wealthy people.

Lazare Ponticelli, Knight of Vittorio Veneto, was at 110, the last surviving officially recognized veteran of the First World War from France and the last poilu of its trenches to die.

Fujio Akatsuka was a pioneer Japanese artist of comical manga known as the Gag Manga King. His name at birth is 赤塚 藤雄, whose Japanese pronunciation is the same as 赤塚 不二夫.

Pinkas Braun was a Swiss film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1952 and 2002. He was born in Zürich, Switzerland and died in Munich, Germany.

Melchor Gastón Ferrer was an American screen actor, who scored notable hits with Scaramouche, Lili and Knights of the Round Table, before playing opposite his then-wife, Audrey Hepburn, in War and Peace. He was also a director and producer on stage, screen and television.

Reginald Alfred Varney was an English actor, entertainer and comedian best known for his television roles on The Rag Trade and On the Buses, appearing in the latter's three spin-off film versions.