1914–1997
William S. Burroughs
American novelist, short story writer, essayist, painter, and spoken word performer
83years old at death
30,494days lived
78%of the people on this site died younger
William S. Burroughs was born on 5 February 1914 and died on 2 August 1997, aged 83 years and 178 days. That is 30,494 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 William S. Burroughs.
Slightly shorter lives
- Paul ErdősHungarian mathematician · 1913–199683 yrs
- Fethullah GülenTurkish preacher and imam · 1941–202483 yrs
- Gene KellyAmerican dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer · 1912–199683 yrs
- Luis BuñuelSpanish-Mexican filmmaker · 1900–198383 yrs
Slightly longer lives
- Tina TurnerAmerican-born Swiss singer and songwriter · 1939–202383 yrs
- Carlos FuentesMexican writer · 1928–201283 yrs
- Justinian IEastern Roman Emperor who ruled from 527 to 565 · AD 482–56583 yrs
- VoltaireFrench writer, historian and philosopher · 1694–177883 yrs
Others who died at 83
- Victor HugoFrench novelist, poet, dramatist and politician · 1802–188583 yrs
- VoltaireFrench writer, historian and philosopher · 1694–177883 yrs
- Sigmund FreudAustrian psychiatrist and founder of psychoanalysis · 1856–193983 yrs
- Thomas JeffersonFounding Father, U.S. president from 1801 to 1809 · 1743–182683 yrs
- Otto von BismarckGerman statesman and Chancellor · 1815–189883 yrs
- Henry FordAmerican business magnate · 1863–194783 yrs
- Omar KhayyámPersian mathematician and poet · c. 1048–1131c. 83 yrs
- James WattBritish engineer · 1736–181983 yrs
Everyone famous who died at 83
Also born on 5 February
- Robert PeelFormer Prime Minister of the United Kingdom · 1788–185062 yrs
- Robert HofstadterAmerican physicist and Nobel laureate · 1915–199075 yrs
- Adlai Stevenson II ↗American politician and diplomat (1900–1965); 31st governor of Illinois from 1949 to 1953 · 1900–196565 yrs
- Joris-Karl Huysmans ↗French novelist and art critic · 1848–190759 yrs
- Alan Lloyd Hodgkin ↗Physiologist and biophysicist · 1914–199884 yrs
- Johan Ludvig Runeberg ↗Finland’s national poet, author of Finland’s national anthem, Swedish-speaking writer and poet · 1804–187773 yrs
Famous people born on 5 February
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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