List of Famous people who died in 2008

Jean Desailly was a French actor. He was a member of the Comédie-Française from 1942 to 1946, and later participated in about 90 movies.

Helmut Zilk was an Austrian journalist and politician in the Austrian Social Democratic Party. He served as mayor of Vienna between 1984 and 1994.

Charles Van Dell Johnson was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor, singer, and dancer. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II.

Donald Leroy LaFontaine was an American voice actor who recorded more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements, network promotions, and video game trailers.

Robert James Anderson was an American child actor and television producer, whose roles included young George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life.

Thierry Gilardi was a French football commentator.

Hiroaki Aoki , best known as Rocky Aoki, was a Japanese-American amateur wrestler and restaurateur who founded the popular Japanese cuisine restaurant chain Benihana, and Genesis magazine.

Ivan Rebroff was a German-born vocalist, allegedly of Russian ancestry, who rose to prominence for his distinct and extensive vocal range of four and a half octaves, ranging from the soprano to bass registers.

Heinrich Ratjen, born Dora Ratjen, was a German athlete who competed for Germany in the women's high jump at the 1936 Summer Olympics at Berlin, finishing fourth, but was later determined to be male and/or intersex. In some news reports, he was erroneously referred to as Hermann Ratjen and Horst Ratjen.

Olga Vasiliyevna Lepeshinskaya was a Soviet ballerina. She was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1951.