Died November 4

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We remember famous people who died this day, November 4, in history, including actress Sheree North.

2015

MELISSA MATHISON, U.S. award-winning screenwriter of “E.T.” and “The Black Stallion,” dies at 65. Steven Spielberg, who worked closely with Mathison on the concept for “E.T.,” said in a statement, “Melissa had a heart that shined with generosity and love and burned as bright as the heart she gave E.T.” Read more

2014

S. DONALD STOOKEY, U.S. inventor of CorningWare, dies at 99. Over his decades-long career as a researcher and inventor, Stookey pioneered new technologies using glass and ceramics. He held 60 patents and helped to advance everything from eyewear to military defense systems. Read more

2012

TED CURSON, U.S. jazz trumpeter who recorded and performed with Charles Mingus, dies of a heart attack at 77.

2011

ANDY ROONEY, U.S. radio and TV writer known best for his end-of-show commentaries on the CBS News program “60 Minutes,” dies at 92. For more than 40 years, Rooney spared few punches as he skewered pretty much anything that had ever annoyed him on the “60 Minutes” segment “A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney.” Rooney was crotchety, sour, and sarcastic – and we loved it. Even when he struck a too-raw nerve – as he sometimes did while opining about subjects like race, sexuality, and suicide – his public generally accepted his explanation and apology, and tuned in for his next rant. We tolerated Rooney even when we disagreed with his views … but we liked him best when he expressed the super-curmudgeonly version of our own feelings. Read more

2010

SPARKY ANDERSON, U.S. Major League Baseball manager and the first manager to win the World Series in both the National and American leagues, dies at 76. Anderson got his nickname in the minor leagues because of his spirited play. He made it to the majors for only one season, batting .218 for the Phillies in 1959, according to his obituary by The Associated Press. Anderson learned to control a temper that nearly scuttled his fledgling career as a manager in the minors, and went on to become one of baseball’s best at running a team. His Reds teams that won crowns in 1975 and 1976 rank among the most powerful of all time. And Anderson won with a humility that couldn’t obscure his unique ability to manage people. Read more

MICHELLE NICASTRO, U.S. actress and singer who appeared in the film “When Harry Met Sally,” dies at 50.

2008

ROSELLA HIGHTOWER, U.S. Choctaw ballerina who achieved fame in both America and Europe, dies at 88.

MICHAEL CRICHTON, U.S. best-selling author, screenwriter, film director and producer best known for novels such as “Jurassic Park” and “The Andromeda Strain,” dies of lymphoma at 66. In 1995, a Time magazine cover dubbed Crichton “The Hit Man” with a “golden touch.” A year earlier, Crichton became the only creative artist ever to have works simultaneously charting at No. 1 in television, film, and book sales – with “ER,” “Jurassic Park,” and “Disclosure.” Read more

2005

SHEREE NORTH, U.S. actress and singer known as 20th Century Fox’s replacement for Marilyn Monroe, dies during cancer surgery at 73. Though she didn’t achieve the same wild success as Monroe, North appeared in a number of films in the 1950s, highlighted by “How To Be Very, Very Popular” and “In Love and War.” Her movie career stalled in the 1960s, making way for a prolific career on TV in the 1970s and beyond. North starred in a number of made-for-TV movies, had recurring roles on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Golden Girls,” and “Seinfeld,” and also guest-starred in dozens of shows, earning two Emmy nominations.

1997

RICHARD HOOKER, author of the best-selling 1968 book “MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors,” dies at 73. The Korean War lasted about three years, but it took the U.S. Army surgeon 12 years to pen his wartime memoirs. The book spawned not only a hit movie, but also a phenomenally popular sitcom that became a cultural touchstone. Read more

1995

YITZHAK RABIN, Israeli prime minister who served 1974-77 and was elected again in 1992, is assassinated at 73.

1994

FRED “SONIC” SMITH, U.S. rock guitarist known best as a member of the band MC5, dies of apparent heart failure at 45.

1992

REGINA CARROL, U.S. actress whose movies included “Jessi’s Girls” and “Doctor Dracula,” dies of cancer at 49.

GEORGE KLEIN, prolific Canadian inventor who made key contributions to the first electric wheelchairs for quadriplegics, dies at 88.

1982

DOMINIQUE DUNNE, U.S. actress whose work included “Poltergeist” and who was the daughter of writer-journalist Dominick Dunne, dies at 22 after being strangled by her ex-boyfriend.

1975

SHEILA RYAN, U.S. actress who appeared in “Dressed To Kill” and “Great Guns,” dies at 54.

1967

JUNE THORBURN, English actress who played the forest queen in the musical motion picture “Tom Thumb,” dies in a plane crash at 36.

1956

FREDDIE DIXON, English motorcycle racer and racing car driver, dies at 64.

1955

CY YOUNG, U.S. Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher who earned 511 career wins and has the award for best pitcher of the year named after him, dies at 88.

1950

GROVER CLEVELAND ALEXANDER, U.S. Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher who notched 373 career wins, dies at 63.

1931

CHARLES BUDDY BOLDEN, U.S. ragtime jazz cornet player, dies at 54.

1921

HARA TAKASHI, the first commoner appointed to the office of prime minister of Japan, is assassinated at 65.

1918

WILFRED OWEN, English poet and World War I soldier whose works included “Dulce et Decorum est” and “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” is killed in action at 25, one week before the end of the war.

1847

FELIX MENDELSSOHN, German pianist and composer of the early Romantic period, dies at 38.

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Discover notable people who were born this day in history including TV news anchor Walter Cronkite.