1897–1975
Thornton Wilder
American playwright and novelist
78years old at death
28,722days lived
67%of the people on this site died younger
Thornton Wilder was born on 17 April 1897 and died on 7 December 1975, aged 78 years and 234 days. That is 28,722 days in all.
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Who lived about as long
Everyone here is ranked by days lived. These are the people just either side of Thornton Wilder.
Slightly shorter lives
- John Amos ComeniusCzech teacher, educator, philosopher and writer · 1592–167078 yrs
- Jean-Baptiste Camille CorotFrench landscape and portrait painter and printmaker in etching · 1796–187578 yrs
- Islam Karimov1st President of the Republic of Uzbekistan · 1938–201678 yrs
- Wilhelm OstwaldBaltic German chemist · 1853–193278 yrs
Slightly longer lives
- Dennis GaborNobel Prize-winning physicist and inventor of holography · 1900–197978 yrs
- Jacob GrimmGerman philologist, linguist, jurist and mythologist · 1785–186378 yrs
- Mario PuzoAmerican author, screenwriter, and journalist · 1920–199978 yrs
- Theodor FontaneGerman novelist and poet · 1819–189878 yrs
Others who died at 78
- Mahatma GandhiIndian independence activist · 1869–194878 yrs
- Sarah BernhardtFrench stage actress, painter and sculptor · 1844–192378 yrs
- Dwight D. EisenhowerPresident of the United States from 1953 to 1961 · 1890–196978 yrs
- Simone de BeauvoirFrench philosopher, social theorist and activist · 1908–198678 yrs
- Henrik IbsenNorwegian playwright and theatre director · 1828–190678 yrs
- Andrew JacksonPresident of the United States from 1829 to 1837 · 1767–184578 yrs
- Ralph Waldo EmersonAmerican philosopher · 1803–188278 yrs
- Vladimir NabokovRussian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor · 1899–197778 yrs
Everyone famous who died at 78
Also born on 17 April
- TimurThe founder of the Timurid Empire · 1336–140568 yrs
- Karen BlixenDanish writer · 1885–196277 yrs
- Francis XavierSpanish Catholic saint and missionary · 1506–155246 yrs
- Sirimavo BandaranaikePrime Minister of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) from 1960–65, 1970–77, 1994–2000 · 1916–200084 yrs
- J. P. MorganAmerican financier, banker, and art collector · 1837–191375 yrs
- William HoldenAmerican actor · 1918–198163 yrs
Famous people born on 17 April
Where this comes from
Dates are from Wikidata (free to use under CC0), last updated 22 October 2026. Dates in old records are sometimes disputed.
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