NNDB
This is a beta version of NNDB
Search: for
Died in 1959

LISTS

NameOccupationBirthDeathKnown for
Adrian
Fashion Designer
3-Mar-1903 13-Sep-1959 Head of wardrobe for Cecil B. DeMille
Maxwell Anderson
Playwright
15-Dec-1888 28-Feb-1959 What Price Glory?
George Antheil
Composer
8-Jul-1900 12-Feb-1959 Le Ballet mécanique
George Archainbaud
Film Director
7-May-1890 20-Feb-1959 Thirteen Women
Max Baer
Boxing
11-Feb-1909 21-Nov-1959 Beat Max Schmeling in 1933
Ethel Barrymore
Actor
15-Aug-1879 18-Jun-1959 None But the Lonely Heart
Sidney Bechet
Jazz Musician
14-May-1897 14-May-1959 Jazz saxophonist
Bert Bell
Football
25-Feb-1895 11-Oct-1959 NFL Commissioner, 1946-59
William Bishop
Actor
16-Jul-1918 3-Oct-1959 The Killer That Stalked New York
Ernest Bloch
Composer
24-Jul-1880 15-Jul-1959 Schelomo
Eric Blore
Actor
23-Dec-1887 2-Mar-1959 Sullivan's Travels
The Big Bopper
Musician
24-Oct-1930 3-Feb-1959 Chantilly Lace
Jim Bottomley
Baseball
23-Apr-1900 11-Dec-1959 St. Louis Cardinal, Hall-of-Famer
Helen Broderick
Actor
11-Aug-1891 25-Sep-1959 Top Hat
Raymond Chandler
Author
23-Jul-1888 26-Mar-1959 Invented hard-boiled detective novel
George Douglas Howard Cole
Economist
25-Sep-1889 14-Jan-1959 British Labour theorist
Lou Costello
Actor
6-Mar-1906 3-Mar-1959 Half of Abbott and Costello
Irving Cummings
Film Director
9-Oct-1888 18-Apr-1959 In Old Arizona
Cecil B. DeMille
Film Director
12-Aug-1881 21-Jan-1959 Pioneering film director
Wild Bill Donovan
Government
1-Jan-1883 8-Feb-1959 Founded the OSS
Paul Douglas
Actor
11-Apr-1907 11-Sep-1959 Angels in the Outfield
John Foster Dulles
Government
25-Feb-1888 24-May-1959 Eisenhower's Secretary of State
Maurice Duplessis
Politician
20-Apr-1890 7-Sep-1959 Premier of Quebec, 1936-39 & 1944-59
Jacob Epstein
Sculptor
10-Nov-1880 21-Aug-1959 Strand Statues
Abraham Flexner
Educator
13-Nov-1866 21-Sep-1959 The American College
Errol Flynn
Actor
20-Jun-1909 14-Oct-1959 Robin Hood
James Gleason
Actor
23-May-1882 12-Apr-1959 Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Mack Gordon
Composer
21-Jun-1904 28-Feb-1959 Chattanooga Choo Choo
Edmund Goulding
Film Director
20-Mar-1891 24-Dec-1959 Grand Hotel
Gilda Gray
Dancer
24-Oct-1901 22-Dec-1959 The Shimmy Queen
George Grosz
Artist
26-Jul-1893 6-Jul-1959 German social caricaturist
Edgar Guest
Poet
20-Aug-1881 5-Aug-1959 A Heap o' Livin'
Joseph F. Guffey
Politician
29-Dec-1870 6-Mar-1959 US Senator from Pennsylvania, 1935-47
Edmund Gwenn
Actor
26-Sep-1875 6-Sep-1959 Miracle on 34th Street
William F. Halsey
Military
30-Oct-1882 20-Aug-1959 WWII Commander of the South Pacific
Charles Halton
Actor
16-Mar-1876 16-Apr-1959 Bespectacled character actor
Ross Granville Harrison
Zoologist
13-Jan-1870 30-Sep-1959 Embryology and tissue culture techniques
E. Newton Harvey
Zoologist
25-Nov-1887 21-Jul-1959 Light-emitting organisms
Duncan Hines
Business
26-Mar-1880 15-Mar-1959 Roadside gourmet
Samuel Hoare
Politician
24-Feb-1880 7-May-1959 UK Home Secretary, 1937-39
Billie Holiday
Singer
7-Apr-1915 17-Jul-1959 Lady Sings the Blues
Buddy Holly
Musician
7-Sep-1936 3-Feb-1959 Buddy Holly and The Crickets
Rufus C. Holman
Politician
14-Oct-1877 27-Nov-1959 US Senator from Oregon, 1939-45
Taylor Holmes
Actor
16-May-1878 30-Sep-1959 Nightmare Alley
Kay Kendall
Actor
21-May-1926 6-Sep-1959 Les Girls
Richard Kirman, Sr.
Politician
14-Jan-1877 19-Jan-1959 Governor of Nevada, 1935-39
Werner Krauss
Actor
23-Jun-1884 20-Oct-1959 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Nap Lajoie
Baseball
5-Sep-1874 7-Feb-1959 MLB Hall of Famer
Carlos Saavedra Lamas
Diplomat
1-Nov-1878 5-May-1959 Diplomat, Nobel Prize recipient
Wanda Landowska
Musician
5-Jul-1879 16-Aug-1959 Harpsichord virtuoso
Lupino Lane
Actor
16-Jun-1892 10-Nov-1959 The Love Parade
William Langer
Politician
30-Sep-1886 8-Nov-1959 Governor and Senator from North Dakota
Mario Lanza
Singer
31-Jan-1921 7-Oct-1959 Voice of the Century
José P. Laurel
Head of State
9-Mar-1891 6-Nov-1959 3rd President of the Philippines
Tim Mara
Football
29-Jul-1887 16-Feb-1959 Founder, Owner of NY Giants, 1925-59
George C. Marshall
Military
31-Dec-1880 16-Oct-1959 US Army Chief of Staff, 1939-45
Douglas McKay
Politician
24-Jun-1893 22-Jul-1959 US Secretary of the Interior, 1953-56
Victor McLaglen
Actor
11-Dec-1883 7-Nov-1959 The Informer
Adam McMullen
Politician
12-Jun-1872 2-Mar-1959 Governor of Nebraska, 1925-29
Eugene Meyer
Publisher
31-Oct-1875 17-Jul-1959 Washington Post publisher, 1933-47
Wayne Morris
Actor
17-Feb-1914 14-Sep-1959 Paths of Glory
Una O'Connor
Actor
23-Oct-1880 4-Feb-1959 Googly-eyed character actress
Luis Palés Matos
Poet
20-Mar-1898 23-Feb-1959 Tuntún de pasa y griferia
David Pinski
Playwright
5-Apr-1872 11-Aug-1959 Yiddish playwright, Der Oitzer
John C. Porter
Politician
4-Apr-1872 27-May-1959 Mayor of Los Angeles, 1929-33
George Reeves
Actor
5-Jan-1914 16-Jun-1959 Television's first Superman
Alfonso Reyes
Author
17-May-1889 27-Dec-1959 Visión de Anáhuac
Owen Willans Richardson
Physicist
26-Apr-1879 15-Feb-1959 Electron emissions of metals
Sid Richardson
Business
25-Apr-1891 30-Sep-1959 Oilman, Bass family benefactor
Russell Simpson
Actor
17-Jun-1880 12-Dec-1959 The Grapes of Wrath
Charles Starkweather
Criminal
24-Nov-1938 25-Jun-1959 Spree killer
Preston Sturges
Screenwriter
29-Aug-1898 6-Aug-1959 Sullivan's Travels
Carl Switzer
Actor
7-Aug-1927 21-Jan-1959 Alfalfa in Our Gang
Myron C. Taylor
Business
18-Jan-1874 6-May-1959 CEO of US Steel, 1932-38
Ritchie Valens
Musician
13-May-1941 3-Feb-1959 La Bamba
Boris Vian
Novelist
10-Mar-1920 23-Jun-1959 L'Écume des jours
Charles Vidor
Film Director
27-Jul-1900 4-Jun-1959 A Farewell to Arms
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Composer
5-Mar-1887 17-Nov-1959 Bachianas Brasileiras
C. T. R. Wilson
Physicist
14-Feb-1869 15-Nov-1959 Cloud chamber
Adolf Windaus
Chemist
25-Dec-1876 9-Jun-1959 Investigated cholesterol, Vitamin D
Grant Withers
Actor
17-Jan-1904 27-Mar-1959 American character actor
Frank Lloyd Wright
Architect
8-Jun-1867 9-Apr-1959 Fallingwater
Lester Young
Jazz Musician
27-Aug-1909 15-Mar-1959 Jazz tenor saxophoneist




Copyright ©2025

๐ŸŽ„
Merry Christmas

or happy holidays, whatever

from the NNDB staff

โ„๏ธ โญ โ„๏ธ
๐Ÿ“š
Bibliographies

NNDB has added thousands of bibliographies for people, organizations, schools, and general topics โ€” listing more than 50,000 books and 120,000 other references.

Access via the "Bibliography" tab or the "Related Topics" sidebar.