Wilde, Oscar
Writers and Poets
Age 46
October 16, 1854 - November 30, 1900
Cimetière du Père Lachaise / Paris / France / Europe
Oscar Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill. Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. Undeniably brilliant, the author, playwright...
Williams, Big Joe
Music
Age 79
December 17, 1982 - December 17, 1982
Crigler Cemetery / Crawford / Mississippi / USA / North America
As a first generation bluesman, Joseph Lee "Big Joe" Williams recorded more often, performed longer and lived longer than almost all of his contemporaries. In 1935 Williams recorded his signature song “Baby Please Don’t Go,”...
Williams, Cootie
Music
Age 74
July 10, 1911 - September 15, 1985
Woodlawn Cemetery / Bronx / New York / USA / North America
Cootie Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter who is best remembered for his tenure with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Cootie first played professionally with the Young Family Band (which include...
Williams, Edward P.
Business and Finance
Age 59
May 10, 1943 - May 4, 1903
Lake View Cemetery / Cleveland / Ohio / USA / North America
Edward Williams was the vice-president and co-founder (with Osborn and Sherwin) of the Sherwin-Williams Company - one of the largest paint and coating manufacturing companies in the world. In February 1870 the three gentleman each...
Williams, Hank
Music
Age 29
November 17, 1923 - January 1, 1953
Oakwood Cemetery Annex / Montgomery / Alabama / USA / North America
American Country singer, songwriter, and musician. Hank Williams was one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century. Some of his best hits include "Move It on Over", "Lovesick Blu...
Williams, Ted
Sports
Age 83
August 30, 1918 - July 5, 2002
Alcor Life Extension Foundation / Scottsdale / Arizona / USA / North America
Ted Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960; his career was interrup...
Williamson II, Sonny Boy
Music
Age 52
December 5, 1912 - May 24, 1965
Whitfield Church Cemetery / Tutwiler / Mississippi / USA / North America
Sonny Boy Williamson II was one of the most influential harmonica players in blues history. Often compared to Little Walter and John Lee Williamson (aka Sonny Boy Williamson I), Sonny Boy Williamson II was a legendary blues charac...
Willie, Boxcar
Music
Age 67
September 1, 1931 - April 12, 1999
Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery / Branson / Missouri / USA / North America
Perhaps the most successful invented character in the history of country music, Boxcar Willie was an American country music singer and songwriter who sang in the "old-time hobo" music style, complete with dirty face, overalls, and...
Wills, Bob
Music
Age 70
March 6, 1905 - May 13, 1975
Memorial Park Cemetery / Tulsa / Oklahoma / USA / North America
Bob Wills was a bandleader, fiddler, singer, and songwriter who is the most famous exponent of the popular musical genre now known as western swing, which synthesized ragtime, traditional fiddling, New Orleans jazz, blues, Mexican...
Wilson, Al
Music
Age 68
June 19, 1939 - April 21, 2008
Evergreen Memorial Park / Riverside / California / USA / North America
Al Wilson is best remembered for the #1 pop hit "Show and Tell". From the age of 12 Wilson was already singing professionally - his own spiritual quartet and singing in the church choir, even performing covers of country & western...
Wilson, Carl
Music
Age 51
December 21, 1946 - February 6, 1998
Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
Carl Wilson playing the guitar as a teenager when brothers Brian and Dennis, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine formed a music group called the Beach Boys in 1961. In addition to guitar Brian's vocals can be heard on Good Vibr...
Wilson, Nancy
Music
Age 81
February 20, 1937 - December 13, 2018
Forest Lawn Cemetery / Cathedral City / California / USA / North America
Nancy Wilson was an American singer whose career spanned over five decades, from the mid-1950s until her retirement in the early 2010s. She was especially notable for her single "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" and her version of ...
Wilson, Ricky
Music
Age 32
March 19, 1953 - October 12, 1985
Oconee Hills Cemetery / Athens / Georgia / USA / North America
With their bouffant coifs, thrift store fashion and dance-infected retrofitted sound, The B-52's rocked the house in the early 80s by capturing the attentions of the "so what?" generation. Founded by Ricky Wilson and his fellow ki...
Winchester, Oliver
Business and Finance
Age 70
November 30, 1810 - December 10, 1880
Evergreen Cemetery / New Haven / Connecticut / USA / North America
Oliver Fisher Winchester was an American businessman and politician, best known as the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in New Haven, Connecticut. Interesting to note that repeating rifles were used to some extent ...
Winchester, Sarah
Business and Finance
Age 83
September 1, 1839 - September 5, 1922
Evergreen Cemetery / New Haven / Connecticut / USA / North America
Sarah Winchester was an American heiress who amassed great wealth after the death of her husband, William Wirt Winchester (son of Winchester Repeating Arms Company founder Oliver Winchester). Her inheritance included $20 million (...
Wolf, Edith Anisfield
Writers and Poets
Age 73
August 2, 1889 - January 23, 1963
Knollwood Cemetery / Mayfield Heights / Ohio / USA / North America
Edith Anisfield Wolf was an American poet and philanthropist from Cleveland, Ohio who founded and endowed an award in 1935 for non-fiction books that advance racial understanding. In 1941 the foundation expanded the award, now cal...
Wolf, Howlin'
Music
Age 65
June 10, 1910 - January 10, 1976
Oakridge-Glen Oaks Cemetery / Hillside / Illinois / USA / North America
Chester Arthur Burnett, known as Howlin’ Wolf or Howling Wolf, was one of the most influential musicians of the post–World War II era. His electric blues guitar, backing his powerful, howling voice, helped shape rock and roll....
Wolfe, Thomas
Writers and Poets
Age 37
October 3, 1900 - September 15, 1938
Riverside Cemetery / Ashville / North Carolina / USA / North America
Thomas Wolfe is considered one of the most autobiographical novelists in American literature and is probably the greatest writer to come out of North Carolina. During his short life he wrote four novels; Look Homeward, Angel, Of T...
Wolfe, Tom
Writers and Poets
Age 88
March 2, 1930 - May 14, 2018
Hollywood Cemetery / Richmond / Virginia / United States / North America
Tom Wolfe was an innovative journalist and novelist whose technicolor, wildly punctuated prose brought to life the worlds of California surfers, car customizers, astronauts and Manhattan’s moneyed status-seekers in works like "T...
Wood, Natalie
Show Business
Age 43
July 20, 1938 - November 29, 1981
Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park / Los Angeles / California / USA / North America
A doe-eyed, brunette beauty, Natalie Wood was one of Hollywood's brightest stars and a legend both on and off the silver screen. She was the recipient of four Golden Globes, and received three Academy Award nominations during her ...