2026 deaths

Iranian naval officer and politician (1955–2026)

Nauruan politician, president

Japanese mathematician

Marshallese politician and government minister

Mohammad Pakpour was an Iranian military officer who served as the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from 2025 until his death in 2026. He had previously served as head of IRGC Ground Forces. On 13 June 2025, he was appointed head of the IRGC following the death of his predecessor, Hossein Salami, in the Twelve-Day War. Pakpour was succeeded as commander of the Ground Forces by Mohammad Karami. On 28 February 2026, Israeli forces announced that he had been killed in the 2026 Iran war. Iranian state media IRNA later confirmed it.

Spanish Lieutenant-Colonel (1932–2026)

Uruguayan and Spanish footballer (1929-2026)

American biologist and environmentalist (1932–2026)

President of Fiji

Israeli computer scientist

Brazilian basketball player (1958–2026)

British track and field athlete and Olympic champion (1940-2026)

South Korean politician (1952-2026)

Syrian Kurdish leader

James Stewart Tolkan was an American character actor. He was best known for portraying the strict high school vice‑principal Mr. Strickland in Back to the Future (1985) and Back to the Future Part II (1989), and the character's ancestor, Marshal James Strickland, in Back to the Future Part III (1990). His other notable film credits included Serpico (1973), Love and Death (1975), Prince of the City (1981), Top Gun (1986), Masters of the Universe (1987), Viper (1988), Dick Tracy (1990), and Problem Child 2 (1991).

Welsh guitarist (1961–2026)

The Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus’-Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church — Kyiv Patriarchate (1929-2026)

American actor, director, and screenwriter (1951-2026)

German association football player and manager

Abdolrahim Mousavi was an Iranian military officer who served as Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces from June 2025 until his death. He assumed the position following the death of his predecessor, Mohammad Bagheri, during the Twelve-Day War. Previously, he served as commander-in-chief of the Iranian Army from 2017 to 2025.

Catholic cardinal (1944–2026)

Syrian former military officer and politician (1937–2026)

Italian racecar driver and handcyclist

Vietnamese Catholic cardinal

Bulgarian footballer (1945-2026)

Kyriaki Papadopoulou (; 19 May 1938 – 28 March 2026), known by her stage name Marinella (), was a Greek singer whose career spanned several decades. She was well regarded due to her impressive vocal range. Since the beginning of her professional singing career in 1956, she released 66 solo albums, and was also featured on many albums by other musicians. She represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 1974, marking the country's first entry in the contest.

American academic (1933–2026)

German politician (1937–2026)

Turkish historian (1947–2026)

Greek/French Byzantinist (1926-2026)

American musician (1942–2026)

Russian historian and writer

Bulgarian footballer

Italian racecar driver

Spanish diplomat and politician

Italian recording artist; singer-songwriter (1934-2026)

French actress (1968–2026)

German racing driver

Peruvian writer (1939–2026)

Irish middle-distance runner (1935–2026)

American documentary filmmaker (1930-2026)

German association football player and manager

French footballer (1934–2026)

American politician (1947 – 2026)

athletics competitor

Robert Hall Weir was an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, he performed with the Other Ones, later known as the Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead. Weir also founded and played in several other bands during and after his career with the Grateful Dead, including Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, RatDog, and Furthur, which he co-led with former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. In 2015, Weir, along with former Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, joined with singer/guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti to form the band Dead & Company.

Austrian‑British Holocaust survivor and memoirist (1929–2026)

Malaysian politician (1943-2026)

British stage and film actress (1944–2026)

American stage and film actress

William Anthony Colón Román was an American salsa musician and social activist. He began his career as a trombonist but also sang, wrote, produced and acted. Colón was a pioneer of salsa music and a best-selling artist in the genre, having been a key figure in the beginnings of the New York City scene associated with Fania Records. He was also noteworthy for having assumed the gangster image in his album covers before it was culturally popular. From the 1980s on, he was at times deeply involved in the politics of New York City. His hit songs include "Aguanilé" with Hector Lavoe, "Tiburón", and "El gran varón".

American songwriter

Australian writer

German-American molecular biologist (born 1936)

German politician and businessman (1930–2026)

Czechoslovak discus thrower

Walter Edward Cox, known professionally as Bud Cort, was an American actor known for his unorthodox starring roles in Robert Altman's Brewster McCloud (1970), for which he was nominated for a Golden Laurel Award, and Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude (1971), for which he was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award. He also had supporting roles in films such as M*A*S*H (1970), Electric Dreams (1984), Heat (1995), Dogma (1999), Coyote Ugly (2000), Pollock (2000), and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004).

German bass guitarist (1954–2026)

English professor of philosophy and law

American and French political and social scientist, activist and writer (1934-2026)