Famous People Who Died on December 23

Discover the most famous people who died on December 23. The list includes people like Thomas Robert Malthus, Noor Jehan, P. V. Narasimha Rao, Oscar Peterson, Victor Borge. Famous personalities featured on this list, include soldiers, political leaders, actors and military leaders and from other domains of life. This list includes people from United States, United Kingdom, Japan & India and many more countries.

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 1 

Mikhail Kalashnikov

(Inventor of 'AK-47' Assault Rifle, PK Machine Gun and 'RPK Light Machine Gun')

Birthdate: November 10, 1919

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Birthplace: Kur'ya, Russia

Died: 2013

Russian military leader Mikhail Kalashnikov is remembered for inventing the AK-47 assault rifle, along with other weapons such as the AKM, the AK-74, the PK machine gun, and the RPK light machine gun. He was named the Hero of the Russian Federation and received the Order of Military Merit.

 2 

Jack Webb

(Actor)

Birthdate: April 2, 1920

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Santa Monica, California, USA

Died: 1982

Height: 5'10" (178 cm)

Birthdate: August 15, 1925

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Montreal

Died: 2007

Seven-time Grammy-winning jazz pianist Oscar Peterson had initially wished to be a trumpeter but switched to the piano because of a lung ailment. He was the first living person, apart from a king, to get a commemorative Canadian stamp. He used a signature handkerchief between performances.

 4 

Victor Borge

(Pianist and Comedian Known for His Popular Radio and TV Performances in Europe and the US)

Birthdate: January 3, 1909

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Copenhagen, Denmark

Died: 2000

Victor Borge was a Danish-American pianist, conductor, and comedian. He is best remembered for blending comedy and music for which he achieved popularity across Europe and the United States. Recipient of several prestigious awards, Borge received badges of chivalric orders from countries like Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. In 1999, he received the Kennedy Center Honors.

 5 

Billy Barty

(Actor)

Birthdate: October 25, 1924

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Birthplace: Millsboro, Pennsylvania, USA

Died: 2000

Height: 3'9" (114 cm)

Birthdate: May 7, 1828

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: Perth, United Kingdom

Died: 1897

Effie Gray was a Scottish painter. She was married to draughtsman and watercolorist, John Ruskin, before leaving him to marry John Everett Millais. This popular love triangle has been depicted in several plays and films, including the 1912 silent movie, The Love of John Ruskin. After marrying Millais, Effie Gray had a major influence on his works.

 7 

Capital Steez

(He was a founder of the Brooklyn-based rap collective Pro Era)

Birthdate: July 7, 1993

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States

Died: 2012

Birthdate: August 26, 1898

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: New York, New York, United States

Died: 1979

Birthdate: February 13, 1766

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: Surrey, England

Died: 1834

Thomas Robert Malthus was an English economist and demographer, who viewed poverty as man’s unavoidable destiny. Author of An Essay on the Principle of Population; he believed that increase in national food production results in feeling of well-being, leading to population growth, which in turn results in poverty. Commonly referred as Malthusianism, it made immediate impact on British social policy.

 10 

P. V. Narasimha Rao

(Indian Politician Who Served as the 9th Prime Minister of India from 1991 to 1996)

Birthdate: June 28, 1921

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Karimnagar, India

Died: 2004

The ninth Prime Minister of India, P. V. Narasimha Rao, is often called the Father of Indian Economic Reforms due to a major economic transformation in India during his prime ministership. He dismantled the Licence Raj and his economic policies rescued India from an impending economic collapse. 

 11 

Leslie West

(American Guitarist, Singer and Songwriter)

Birthdate: October 22, 1945

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: New York, United States

Died: 2020

Height: 5'10" (178 cm)

Birthdate: September 21, 1926

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Kasur

Died: 2000

Noor Jehan was a Pakistani actress and playback singer. In a career spanning over 60 years, she is estimated to have sung around 20,000 songs. One of the most important Pakistani singers of all time, Noor Jehan is also widely regarded as one of the most influential and greatest South Asian singers of all time.

 13 

Wendell Scott

(One of the First African-American Drivers in Nascar & First African-American Winner in the Grand National Series)

Birthdate: August 29, 1921

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Danville, Virginia, United States

Died: 1990

One of the pioneering Black drivers of NASCAR, Wendell Scott rose to be a NASCAR Cup Series winner. He has been named to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, too. Initially an auto mechanic, he also owned his own auto repair shop. He had also been a cab driver.

 14 

Susan Berman

(Memoirist of Easy Street, detailed her life as a mobster's daughter)

Birthdate: May 18, 1945

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Died: 2000

Height: 5'6" (168 cm)

 15 

Vesna Vulović

(Flight attendant)

Birthdate: January 3, 1950

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Belgrade, Serbia

Died: 2016

 16 

Anthony Fokker

(Aviation Entrepreneur & Aircraft Designer Who Pproduced Fighter Aircraft in Germany During WW I)

Birthdate: April 6, 1890

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Blitar, Indonesia

Died: 1939

Though a high-school drop-out, Dutch aviation designer and entrepreneur Anthony Fokker showed his interest in mechanics quite early. He designed over 40 types of fighter aircrafts for the Germans during World War I. The aircraft that completed the first nonstop flight across the U.S. was also made by him.

 17 

Jean Harris

(Author)

Birthdate: April 27, 1923

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Died: 2012

 18 

Yusef Abdul Lateef

(Musician)

Birthdate: October 9, 1920

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States

Died: 2013

Birthdate: December 30, 1884

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Kōjimachi, Tokyo, Japan

Died: 1948

Hideki Tojo headed the Imperial Japanese Army and was the Japanese minister of war, apart from being Japan’s prime minister from 1941 to 1944. His tenure witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor. After Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers, Tojo was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death.

 20 

Frankie Randall

(Boxer)

Birthdate: September 25, 1961

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Birmingham, Alabama, United States

Died: 2020

Height: 5'8" (173 cm)

Birthdate: August 12, 1915

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: New York City

Died: 2007

 22 

Eddie Hazel

(Guitarist, Songwriter)

Birthdate: April 10, 1950

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States

Died: 1992

 23 

Charles-Michel de l'Épée

(Educator)

Birthdate: November 24, 1712

Sun Sign: Sagittarius

Birthplace: Versailles, Yvelines, France

Died: 1789

Eighteenth-century philanthropic educator Charles-Michel de l'Épée is regarded as the Father of the Deaf for pioneering the education of the deaf and dumb. He laid down the Signed French system, which enabled the deaf to participate in legal proceedings. His French Sign Language laid the path to the American Sign Language.

 24 

Gerard Kuiper

(Dutch Astronomer, Planetary Scientist, Selenographer, Author and Professor)

Birthdate: December 7, 1905

Sun Sign: Sagittarius

Birthplace: Tuitjenhorn, Netherlands

Died: 1973

Gerard Kuiper was blessed with an unusually sharp eyesight and could see stars clearly with the naked eye. The Dutch-born scientist later moved to the U.S., where he established the University of Arizona’s LPL. He also initiated research on the belt of comets surrounding the Sun, known as the Kuiper belt.

 25 

Piers Sellers

(British-American Astronaut and Meteorologist)

Birthdate: April 11, 1955

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Crowborough

Died: 2016

Starting his career with NASA as a research meteorologist, Piers Sellers later became a NASA astronaut. The British-American astronaut and climate scientist was a Space Shuttle mission expert and had visited the International Space Station thrice. He also appeared in the documentary Before the Flood, partially produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.

 26 

Jeremy Lloyd

(Writer)

Birthdate: July 22, 1930

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Danbury, England

Died: 2014

 27 

Henry I, Duke of Guise

(Noblemen)

Birthdate: December 31, 1550

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: France

Died: 1588

 28 

Walton Walker

(Army General)

Birthdate: December 3, 1889

Sun Sign: Sagittarius

Birthplace: Belton, Texas, United States

Died: 1950

 29 

Rick Cassidy

(American Pornographic Actor, Model and Bodybuilder)

Birthdate: July 22, 1943

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States

Died: 2013

Birthdate: January 11, 1907

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Warsaw

Died: 1972

Born into a family of rabbis in Warsaw, Abraham Joshua Heschel managed to move to London before Germany’s invasion of Poland but lost his mother and sisters to the Holocaust. The theologian eventually set base in New York, where he continued his work on Jewish philosophy and American civil rights.

 31 

Denise Darcel

(Actress)

Birthdate: September 8, 1924

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Paris, France

Died: 2011

Height: 5'4" (163 cm)

 32 

Mike Nussbaum

Birthdate: December 29, 1923

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Died: 2023

 33 

George Catlin

(American Painter, Adventurer, Traveler, Lawyer, and Author)

Birthdate: July 26, 1796

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, United States

Died: 1872

 34 

Emilia Plater

(Polish-Lithuanian Revolutionary and Noblewoman)

Birthdate: November 13, 1806

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Birthplace: Vilnius, Lithuania

Died: 1831

Emilia Plater was a Polish-Lithuanian revolutionary and noblewoman. Often compared with France's Joan of Arc, Plater is seen as a national heroine in Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland. Emilia Plater's story has inspired numerous works of art and literature and she is often seen as a symbol of women empowerment in Lithuania.

 35 

Miruts Yifter

(Ethiopian Long-Distance Runner)

Birthdate: May 15, 1944

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: Adigrat, Ethiopia

Died: 2016

Miruts Yifter was an Ethiopian athlete who specialized in long-distance running. He is best remembered for winning two gold medals at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. He also won four gold medals at the IAAF World Cup. Miruts Yifter also had success at the 1973 All-Africa Games where he won a gold medal and a silver medal.

 36 

Jimmy Shand

(Musician)

Birthdate: January 28, 1908

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: East Wemyss, Scotland

Died: 2000

 37 

Saint Naum

(Bulgarian Writer, Enlightener and One of the Seven Apostles of the First Bulgarian Empire)

Birthdate: 0830 AD

Birthplace: Moesia, Bulgaria

Died: 0910

Saint Naum was a Bulgarian enlightener and writer. Counted among the Seven Apostles of the earliest Bulgarian Empire, Naum is often associated with the formation of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic script. He is also credited with co-founding the Pliska Literary School. Saint Naum is also credited with converting many Slavs into Bulgarians.

 38 

Charles Dana Gibson

(Illustrator)

Birthdate: September 14, 1867

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Died: 1944

 39 

Sasha Filippov

(Spy)

Birthdate: June 26, 1925

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Volgograd, Russia

Died: 1942

Birthdate: December 4, 1585

Sun Sign: Sagittarius

Birthplace: Derbyshire, England

Died: 1652

John Cotton was a clergyman in the American and England colonies. He was widely regarded as the greatest theologian and minister of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A prolific writer, John Cotton is credited with writing the first known children's book by an American, Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes.

 41 

Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans

(Duchess)

Birthdate: September 13, 1676

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Château de Saint-Cloud, Saint-Cloud, France

Died: 1744

 42 

Heitarō Kimura

(Military personnel)

Birthdate: September 28, 1888

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Saitama, Japan

Died: 1948

 43 

Ernest B. Schoedsack

(American Cinematographer, Director and Producer Best Known for Being the Co-director of the 1933 Film, ‘King Kong')

Birthdate: June 8, 1893

Sun Sign: Gemini

Birthplace: Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States

Died: 1979

American cinematographer-producer-director, Ernest Beaumont Schoedsack is perhaps best known for his successful collaborations with Merian C. Cooper, together making such hits like King Kong and Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness etc.  Beginning his career as Director of Photography in The Lost Empire, he later went into directing, some of his other important directorial ventures being Dr. Cyclops, and Rango.

 44 

Marjorie Husted

(Businesswoman)

Birthdate: April 2, 1892

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Died: 1986

 45 

Pierre Janssen

(Astronomer)

Birthdate: February 22, 1824

Sun Sign: Pisces

Birthplace: Paris, France

Died: 1907

Apart from discovering helium, astronomer Pierre Janssen also found out a way of observing solar prominences with an eclipse. Permanently lamed due to a childhood accident, Janssen had begun his career as a bank clerk. He later taught physics, too. His photographic revolver paved the path for the motion-picture

 46 

Huneric

(King)

Birthdate: 0415 AD

Birthplace: Algeria

Died: 0484

 47 

Dagobert II

(King)

Birthdate: 0650 AD

Birthplace: Austrasia

Died: 0679

Birthdate: July 1, 1941

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: New Haven, Connecticut

Died: 2015

American pharmacologist and Nobel laureate Alfred G. Gilman is best remembered for his research on G proteins. Born to a Yale pharmacology professor and author father, he was destined to make it big in science. He also taught at the University of Virginia and other institutes and co-established a biotechnology company.

 49 

Robert Shields

(Military Personnel)

Birthdate: 1827 AD

Birthplace: Cardiff, Wales

Died: 1864

 50 

Jan Dismas Zelenka

(Composer & Musician of the Baroque Period Known for His Extensive Composition 'Sub olea pacis et palma virtutis')

Birthdate: October 16, 1679

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Louňovice pod Blaníkem, Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire

Died: 1745

Composer-musician Jan Dismas Zelenka of Baroque period was known for his compositions that are characterized by adventurous compositional structure with an energetic harmonic invention and complex counterpoint. He achieved the feat of composing Sub olea pacis et palma virtutis for coronation of Charles VI as King of Bohemia and conducting it performance before the King shortly after the latter’s coronation.