List of Famous people who died in 2009

John Allen Muhammad was an American convicted murderer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He, along with his partner and accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, carried out the D.C. sniper attacks of October 2002, killing 10 people. Muhammad and Malvo were arrested in connection with the attacks on October 24, 2002, following tips from alert citizens. Although the pair's actions were classified by the media as psychopathy attributable to serial killer characteristics, whether or not their psychopathy meets this classification or that of a spree killer is debated by researchers.

Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhalkov was a Soviet and Russian author of children's books and satirical fables. He wrote the lyrics for the Soviet and Russian national anthems.

Jörg Hube was a German actor and director. He died of cancer.

Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov was a Soviet and Russian actor whose best known role was as Soviet spy, Stierlitz in the television series Seventeen Moments of Spring. He was a recipient of numerous state awards, including the titles of People's Artist of the USSR (1974) and Hero of Socialist Labour (1982).

Haydée Mercedes Sosa, sometimes known as La Negra, was an Argentine singer who was popular throughout Latin America and many countries outside the region. With her roots in Argentine folk music, Sosa became one of the preeminent exponents of La nueva canción. She gave voice to songs written by many Latin American songwriters. Her music made people hail her as the "voice of the voiceless ones".

Dana Vávrová was a Czech-German film actress and director.

Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG was a Mexican-American film and television actor. Born in Mexico, Montalbán's career spanned seven decades, during which he became known for performances in a variety of genres, from crime and drama to musicals and comedy.

Maria Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, popularly known as Cory Aquino, was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th President of the Philippines, becoming the first woman to hold that office. Corazon Aquino was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People Power Revolution, which ended the 20-year rule of President Ferdinand Marcos. She was named Time magazine's Woman of the Year in 1986. Prior to this, she had not held any elective office.

Reiko Ohara was a Japanese actress. Her life story was adapted into the TV Tokyo program Actress Reiko: Like a Flame .

Kiyoshiro Imawano , born Kiyoshi Kurihara , was a Japanese rock musician, lyricist, composer, musical producer, and actor from Tokyo, Japan. He was dubbed "Japan's King of Rock". He formed and led the influential rock band RC Succession. He wrote many anti-nuclear songs following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. He was known for pioneering the adoption of linguistic characteristics of the Japanese language into his songs.