Welcome! Check out today's deaths, recent deaths, or our deaths stats.

Feeling experimental? Head on over to our newest (and darkest) feature: Next-2-Die™ predictions

In the year 1988

458 Notable deaths

Jean-Michel Basquiat

American artist (1960-1988).

Born December 22nd, 1960 in Brooklyn. [ref]

Died August 12th, 1988 at 27 years old in New York City (drug overdose). [ref]

Roy Orbison

American singer.

Born April 23rd, 1936 in Vernon. [ref]

Died December 6th, 1988 at 52 years old in Nashville (myocardial infarction). [ref]

Raj Kapoor

Indian film actor, producer and director.

Born December 14th, 1924 in Peshawar.

Died June 2nd, 1988 at 63 years old in New Delhi (asthma). [ref]

Richard Feynman

American theoretical physicist (1918-1988).

Born May 11th, 1918 in Far Rockaway. [ref]

Died February 15th, 1988 at 69 years old in UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center (kidney failure). [ref]

Andy Gibb

British–australian singer.

Born March 5th, 1958 in Manchester.

Died March 10th, 1988 at 30 years old in Oxford (coronary artery disease).

Judith Barsi

American child actress (1978-1988).

Born June 6th, 1978 in Los Angeles.

Died July 25th, 1988 at 10 years old in Canoga Park (ballistic trauma).

Heather O'Rourke

American actress (1975-1988).

Born December 27th, 1975 in San Diego.

Died February 1st, 1988 at 12 years old in San Diego (cardiac arrest).

John Holmes

American pornographic actor.

Born August 8th, 1944 in Ashville. [ref]

Died March 13th, 1988 at 43 years old in Los Angeles (death from AIDS-related complications). [ref]

Valery Legasov

Soviet nuclear chemist, chief of the commission investigating the chernobyl disaster (1936-1988).

Born September 1st, 1936 in Tula.

Died April 27th, 1988 at 51 years old in Moscow (hanging).

Pete Maravich

American basketball player.

Born June 22nd, 1947 in Aliquippa.

Died January 5th, 1988 at 40 years old in Pasadena (myocardial infarction).

Deaths 1 to 10 of 458

« 1987
1989 »

Even trees do not die without a groan. Henry David Thoreau