Aged 85
Famous people who died at 85
247 of the 11,867 best-known people in our data died aged 85, including Agatha Christie, James Madison and Hermann Hesse. Here are the 100 best known.
- Agatha ChristieEnglish mystery and detective writer · 1890–1976
- James MadisonPresident of the United States from 1809 to 1817 · 1751–1836
- Hermann HesseNobel Prize winning German-Swiss poet, novelist and painter · 1877–1962
- Carl JungSwiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist · 1875–1961
- Theodor MommsenGerman classical scholar and historian · 1817–1903
- Ariel SharonPrime Minister of Israel from 2001 to 2006 · 1928–2014
- Harriet Beecher StoweAmerican abolitionist and author · 1811–1896
- Thomas CarlyleScottish essayist, historian and philosopher · 1795–1881
- StraboGreek geographer, philosopher and historian (64/63 BC–c.24 AD) · c. 63 BC–AD 23
- Jean-Baptiste de LamarckFrench naturalist · 1744–1829
- V. S. NaipaulTrinidadian-British writer · 1932–2018
- Pius IXPope of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878 · 1792–1878
- Cato the ElderRoman politician, soldier and writer · c. 234–149 BC
- Ernst HaeckelGerman zoologist · 1834–1919
- Robert Andrews MillikanAmerican physicist · 1868–1953
- Johannes Diderik van der WaalsDutch physicist · 1837–1923
- Hedy LamarrAustrian-American actress and co-inventor of an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping · 1914–2000
- Edmond HalleyEnglish astronomer, mathematician, geophysicist, meteorologist and physicist · 1656–1742
- Camilo José CelaSpanish writer · 1916–2002
- Shirley TempleAmerican actress and diplomat · 1928–2014
- Carlo GoldoniItalian playwright · 1707–1793
- Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-PérigordFrench diplomat · 1754–1839
- Konrad LorenzAustrian zoologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973 · 1903–1989
- Richard StraussGerman composer and orchestra director · 1864–1949
- Kim Dae-jung8th President of the Republic of Korea · 1924–2009
- F. W. de Klerk7th state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 · 1936–2021
- Philip RothAmerican novelist · 1933–2018
- Alexey LeonovSoviet-Russian pilot and cosmonaut, first human to conduct a spacewalk · 1934–2019
- Montserrat CaballéSpanish operatic soprano · 1933–2018
- Carl David AndersonAmerican physicist · 1905–1991
- Grace HopperAmerican computer scientist and United States Navy officer · 1906–1992
- Louis AragonFrench poet · 1897–1982
- Karl LagerfeldGerman fashion designer · 1933–2019
- AnacreonAncient Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and hymns · c. 570–485 BC
- Annie BesantBritish socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator · 1847–1933
- Benoit MandelbrotPolish-born, French and American mathematician · 1924–2010
- Tony CurtisAmerican actor · 1925–2010
- Innocent XIIPope of the Catholic Church from 1691 to 1700 · 1615–1700
- Alexander ProkhorovSoviet and Russian physicist · 1916–2002
- Patrice de MacMahonThird President of the French Republic · 1808–1893
- Pavel CherenkovSoviet physicist · 1904–1990
- Walter Houser BrattainAmerican physicist · 1902–1987
- Simon van der MeerDutch physicist · 1925–2011
- Carl RogersAmerican psychologist · 1902–1987
- Cassius DioGreco-Roman statesman and historian · c. AD 150–235
- Fritz LangAustrian filmmaker · 1890–1976
- Urho KekkonenEighth President of Finland · 1900–1986
- Charles G. DawesVice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929 · 1865–1951
- Wilford BrimleyAmerican actor and singer · 1934–2020
- Tigranes the GreatKing of Armenia · c. 140–55 BC
- Charles RichetFrench physiologist and parapsychologist · 1850–1935
- Haakon VII of NorwayKing of Norway from 1905 to 1957 · 1872–1957
- Marie von Ebner-EschenbachAustrian writer · 1830–1916
- Owen ChamberlainAmerican physicist · 1920–2006
- Selman Abraham WaksmanAmerican scientist, biochemist, microbiologist who discovered Streptomycin and many antibiotics · 1888–1973
- Baba VangaBulgarian psychic · 1911–1996
- Betty FriedanAmerican feminist writer and activist · 1921–2006
- Erich von MansteinGerman field marshal · 1887–1973
- Konrad ZuseGerman computer scientist and engineer · 1910–1995
- Melvin CalvinAmerican biochemist · 1911–1997
- Frederick HopkinsEnglish biochemist · 1861–1947
- Pietro BadoglioItalian Military General Officer and Marshal of the Royal Italian Army from 1916-1943 during both World Wars and Prime Minister of Italy from 1943-1944 · 1871–1956
- Ei-ichi NegishiJapanese chemist · 1935–2021
- Morihei Ueshiba ↗Japanese aikidoka · 1883–1969
- Baruch Samuel Blumberg ↗American physician, geneticist and Nobel prize winner · 1925–2011
- Charles Francis Richter ↗American seismologist · 1900–1985
- Roman Jakobson ↗Russian linguist · 1896–1982
- Shelley Winters ↗American actress · 1920–2006
- Bertram Brockhouse ↗Canadian physicist · 1918–2003
- Frank Macfarlane Burnet ↗Australian virologist · 1899–1985
- Zhao Ziyang ↗Former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) · 1919–2005
- Daniel Bovet ↗Nobel Prize-winning pharmacologist and Esperantist · 1907–1992
- Jessica Tandy ↗British actress · 1909–1994
- Oliver Wendell Holmes ↗American poet and physician · 1809–1894
- Polycarp ↗Bishop of Smyrna and martyr · c. AD 70–155
- V. V. Giri ↗Indian politician and 4th president of India · 1894–1980
- Archytas ↗4th-century BC Greek philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and statesman · c. 430–345 BC
- Clifford Shull ↗American physicist · 1915–2001
- John Richard Hicks ↗British economist · 1904–1989
- K. R. Narayanan ↗President of India from 1997 to 2002 · 1920–2005
- Svetlana Alliluyeva ↗Joseph Stalin's daughter · 1926–2011
- Ausonius ↗Late Roman poet · c. AD 310–395
- John Russell, 1st Earl Russell ↗Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1846–1852 and 1865–1866 · 1792–1878
- Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib ↗Paternal uncle of Muhammad · c. AD 568–653
- Franco Modigliani ↗Italian-American economist · 1918–2003
- George Wells Beadle ↗American geneticist · 1903–1989
- James Black ↗Scottish doctor and pharmacologist · 1924–2010
- Evgeny Primakov ↗4th Russian Prime Minister · 1929–2015
- Mary of Teck ↗Queen consort of the United Kingdom from 1910 to 1936 · 1867–1953
- Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ↗Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2003 to 2009 · 1939–2025
- Reinhard Selten ↗German economist · 1930–2016
- Robert Lucas ↗American economist · 1937–2023
- Stanley Matthews ↗English association football player · 1915–2000
- Tim Conway ↗American actor and comedian · 1933–2019
- Viktor Korchnoi ↗Soviet-Swiss chess grandmaster · 1931–2016
- Armen Dzhigarkhanyan ↗Armenian, Soviet, Russian actor · 1935–2020
- Raymond Kopa ↗French footballer · 1931–2017
- Alain Robbe-Grillet ↗French author and film director · 1922–2008
- Art Carney ↗American actor and comedian · 1918–2003
- Daniel Carleton Gajdusek ↗American medical researcher · 1923–2008
"c." means only the years are known, so the age could be a year out. Dates are from Wikidata (CC0), last updated 22 October 2026.
Other ages
Keep score on your phone
Outlived for iPhone tracks every famous person you outlive, tells you who is next, and gives you a nudge on the day.