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Died November 20

by Legacy Staff

Sergei Grinkov skated to world renown with his wife and skating partner, Ekaterina Gordeeva. We remember Grinkov’s life today as well as the lives of other notable people who died this day in history.

Sergei Grinkov skated to world renown with his wife and skating partner, Ekaterina Gordeeva. The pair dazzled audiences for nearly a decade, taking home gold medals in two Olympic Games and winning four world championships together. During a training session for their third season touring with “Stars on Ice,” Grinkov had a fatal heart attack while executing a maneuver on the ice. He was only 28. After his death, it was discovered that he had a genetic risk factor that predisposed him to premature heart attacks. This condition has been named the Grinkov Risk Factor. We remember Grinkov’s life today as well as the lives of other notable people who died this day in history.

Click to discover notable people who were born this day in history including politician Robert F. Kennedy.

2016: William Trevor, Irish writer known for his short stories, dies at 88.

2015: Jim Perry, U.S. game show personality who hosted “Card Sharks,” dies at 82.

2013: Sylvia Browne, U.S. psychic and author who appeared regularly on television and radio, dies at 77.

Sylvia Browne (Getty Images/Steve Snowden)Browne said she believed in reincarnation and could help people communicate with their dead loved ones as well as see the future. She was a regular on “The Montel Williams Show,” where she fielded questions on topics ranging from marriage and careers to ghosts. Browne was criticized after telling the mother of Ohio kidnapping victim Amanda Berry on the show in 2004 that her daughter was dead. Berry and two other women were later found alive; they had been held captive for more than a decade. Read more

 

 

 

2006: Robert Altman, influential U.S. motion picture director whose many credits include “M*A*S*H,” “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” and “Nashville,” dies of cancer complications at 81.

Altman had one of the most distinctive styles among modern filmmakers. He often employed huge ensemble casts, encouraged improvisation and overlapping dialogue, and filmed scenes in long tracking shots that would flit from character to character. Perpetually in and out of favor with audiences and critics, Altman worked ceaselessly since his anti-war black comedy, “M*A*S*H,” established his reputation in 1970, but he would go for years at a time directing obscure movies before roaring back with a hit. Read more

 

 

 

2006: Andre Waters, U.S. NFL defensive back, dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at 44.

Waters joined the Eagles out of Cheyney State in 1984 and played with them at cornerback and safety through 1993. He spent his last two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. “Everybody has been in such shock,” said Fort Valley State University spokeswoman Cindy Gambill at the time. Waters was in his first year as an assistant coach at Fort Valley State. Read more

 

 

 

2005: Chris Whitley, U.S. blues singer-songwriter and guitarist, dies of lung cancer at 45.

2003: Jim Siedow, U.S. actor known best for his role as Drayton “The Cook” Sawyer in “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” dies at 83.

1995: Sergei Grinkov, Russian pairs figure skater who won Olympic gold in 1988 and 1994 with his partner and wife, Ekaterina Gordeeva, dies of a heart attack at 28.

1993: Heather Farr, U.S. professional golfer, dies of breast cancer at 28.

1993: Emile Ardolino, Academy Award-winning U.S. motion picture director whose credits include the films “Dirty Dancing” and “Sister Act,” dies of AIDS complications at 50.

1989: Lynn Bari, U.S. actress whose films include “Shock,” “Nocturne,” and “The Bridge of San Luis Rey,” dies of a heart attack at 75.

1973: Allan Sherman, U.S. television writer and song parodist who scored his biggest novelty hit with the Grammy-winning “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh,” dies of respiratory failure at 48.

1968: Helen Gardner, U.S. actress in silent films including “Vanity Fair,” dies at 84.

1968: Cathy Lewis, U.S. actress whose roles include the television sitcom “Hazel” and films “Double Trouble” and “The Party Crashers,” dies of cancer at 51.

1910: Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist and short story writer whose realistic fiction includes “War and Peace,” dies of pneumonia at 82.

Click to discover notable people who were born this day in history including politician Robert F. Kennedy.

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