9 Famous people to die in 1986

 Pixabay / CC-BY-SA-3.0 / GFDL

Cary Grant

(Actor)

18 January 1904 – 29 November 1986 (Aged 82)

Grant was a British-born American actor who went on to become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars during its’ ‘Golden Age’.

Among his most famous films are ‘North by Northwest’, ‘Charade’, ‘To Catch a Thief’, ‘Notorious’, and ‘The Philadelphia Story’.

In 1966, at the age of 62, Grant retired from acting to raise his daughter, Jennifer, a decision influenced by his own unhappy childhood and growing disillusionment with Hollywood.

After his film career, Grant spent more time pursuing his business interests, which he had been involved in from the 1930’s onward.

Among other roles, he served on the board of directors at both Fabergé and MGM.

In 1970, Grant was presented with an Honorary Academy Award by his friend Frank Sinatra.

He married five times during his life, before suffering a fatal stroke at the age of 82.

Harold Macmillan

(British Prime Minister)

10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986 (Aged 82)

MacMillan was a conservative British politician, who served as Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963.

Earlier in his life, he served as a Grenadier Guard in World War I, where he was wounded three times and left with partial immobility for the remainder of his life.

Among the most notable of his achievements while in office were the decolonization of sub-Saharan Africa, negotiating the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and his efforts to join, what is now, the European Union.

Towards the end of his leadership term, an economic downturn coincided with a number of scandals to rock the Conservative party, which ultimately led to his resignation in October 1963.

In 1984, MacMillan accepted his peerage after refusing it on numerous occasions, making him the Earl of Stockton.

He died from pneumonia two years later at the age of 82.

Phil Lynott

(Singer)

20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986 (Aged 36)

Lynott was an Irish singer and musician, best known for being the frontman of Irish band Thin Lizzy during the 1970s.

Among their most famous hits are ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’, ‘Jailbreak’, and ‘Whiskey in the Jar’.

Despite his short life, Lynott became an iconic and influential artist, producing one of the most acclaimed live music albums of all time.

Lynott’s final years were dogged by drug and alcohol problems.

He was diagnosed with septicemia, which led to his death from pneumonia and heart failure shortly after in January 1986. He was only 36 years old.

Tenzing Norgay

(Nepalese Sherpa)

29 May 1914 – 9 May 1986 (Aged 71)

Norgay was a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer, who became the first person to climb to the peak of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953, along with Edmund Hillary.

Following his ascent to the top of Everest, Norgay was a national hero.

In 1954, he was made the first Director of Field Training of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling.

Tenzing Norgay died from a brain hemorrhage at the age of 71.

His remains were cremated on the grounds of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling.

Donna Reed

(Actress)

27 January 1921 – 14 January 1986 (Aged 64)

Reed was an American actress.

She was best known for her starring role in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and ‘From Here to Eternity’, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Following her success in film, Reed went on to have a successful career in television, winning a Golden Globe for her part in ‘The Donna Reed Show’.

She also appeared in ‘Dallas’ for one season in 1984/85.

Reed died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 64.

James Cagney

(Actor)

17 July 1899 – 30 March 1986 (Aged 86)

Cagney was an American actor, widely considered to be one of the greatest in film history.

Primarily known for his tough guy, gangster roles, among his best-loved films are ‘White Heat’, ‘Angels With Dirty Faces’, ‘The Roaring Twenties’ and ‘The Public Enemy’.

In 1942, Cagney won his only Academy Award, the Best Actor Award in ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’.

Off-screen, Cagney fell out numerous times with Warner Bros. and became one of the first actors to successfully sue the studio for breach of contract.

In 1984, Cagney was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honour by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

He died of a heart attack at the age of 86.

Vyacheslav Molotov

(Soviet Politician)

9 March 1890 – 8 November 1986 (Aged 96)

Molotov was a leading Soviet politician, most notably in his role as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Joseph Stalin.

During his foreign ministry role, Molotov was responsible for signing a non-aggression pact with the Nazis in 1939, known as the ‘Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact’.

Molotov also played key roles in attending the Tehran, Yalta, Potsdam, and San Francisco Allied Conferences.

After Leonid Brezhnev came to power in the Soviet Union, Molotov’s power weakened before Brezhnev’s de-Stalinisation policy ultimately saw Molotov expelled from the Communist Party in 1961.

Molotov did not suffer the same repercussions as other Communist Party members who fell out of favor and survived to live until the ripe old age of 96.

Simone de Beauvoir

(Writer)

9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986 (Aged 78)

De Beauvoir was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, and feminist, widely known for her open relationship with fellow existentialist, Jean-Paul Sartre.

The release of her 1949 book, The Second Sex, is seen as playing a hugely influential in the modern feminist movement.

De Beauvoir died from pneumonia at the age of 78 and is buried in Paris’ Montparnasse Cemetery beside her lifelong partner, Sartre.

L. Ron Hubbard

(Author/Religious Leader)

13 March 1911 – 24 January 1986 (Aged 74)

Hubbard, also known as LRH, was an American author, who, as a result of prolific pulp fiction stories, holds the Guinness World Record as the world’s most published author.

In 1952, Hubbard founded the Church of Scientology, based on his philosophy known as Dianetics.

Throughout a large part of his later life, Hubbard spent much of his time in hiding due to legal and financial disputes, while also suffering numerous health problems.

Hubbard died shortly after suffering a stroke while at his Californian ranch at the age of 74.