2008 deaths

Russian writer, publicist, poet and politician (1918–2008)

New Zealand mountaineer and philanthropist (1919–2008)

Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian military officer and politician who served as the second and longest-serving president of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto led Indonesia as an authoritarian regime from 1967 until his resignation in 1998 following nationwide unrest. His 31-year dictatorship is considered one of the most brutal and corrupt of the 20th century: he was central to the perpetration of mass killings against alleged communists and subsequent persecution of ethnic Chinese, Islamists, irrelig

American chess player (1943–2008)

British playwright (1930–2008)

Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian actor. Known for his versatility across independent and major studio films, his work consisted of 20 films in a variety of genres. He received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, an Actor Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award.

Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, filmmaker, racecar driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He has been described as "one of the last of the great 20th-century movie stars". He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, seven Golden Globe Awards, an Actor Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Silver Bear for Best Actor, a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, and nominations for two Grammy Awards and a Tony Award. Along with his Best Actor Academy Award win, Newman also received the Academy Honorary Award and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

American stand-up comedian (1937–2008)

Soviet and Kyrgyz author (1928–2008)

South African singer and civil rights activist (1932–2008)

American actor (1923–2008)

American author, screenwriter, film director (1942–2008)

American political scientist (1927–2008)

American singer and actress (1927–2008)

Swiss chemist (1906–2008)

American film director, producer and actor (1934-2008)

French fashion designer (1936–2008)

The national Palestinian poet, and author (1941–2008)

American physicist (1913–2008)

Polish resistance fighter and Holocaust rescuer (1910-2008)

2nd Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, 2nd Premier of the People's Republic of China (1921–2008)

Slovenian politician (1950–2008)

Romanian cell biologist, physician and Nobel laureate

American physicist (1911-2008)

American actor (1957–2008)

American dancer and actress (1921–2008)

English keyboardist, co-founder of Pink Floyd (1943–2008)

American musician and actor (1942-2008)

American medical researcher

American actress (1937-2008)

American molecular biologist (1925–2008)

American fiction writer and essayist (1962–2008)

5th President of the Republic of Cyprus (2003-2008)

French author and film director (1922–2008)

British film director, playwright and screenwriter (1954-2008)

American actor (1932–2008)

15th Patriarch of Moscow and all the Rus', the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (1929–2008)

British actor (1922–2008)

Indian spiritual master

second President of Guinea (1934–2008)

Danish architect (1918–2008)

Prime Minister of India (1989-1990)

Martinican writer, poet and politician (1913–2008)

Soviet-Azerbaijani singer

former President of Zambia (1948-2008)

Japanese farmer and philosopher (1913-2008)

Italian film director (1916-2008)

American actor and producer (1914–2008)

American race car driver (1927-2008)

American virologist (1915-2008)

American painter and graphic artist (1925–2008)

founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (1926-2008)

French mathematician (1904–2008)

American actor, director and producer (1917–2008)

American film director (1911–2008)

American mathematician and meteorologist (1917–2008)

American professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design

American guitarist (1928–2008)

American actor (1982–2008)

Belgian author (1929–2008)