2023 deaths

Fred_Benners

Frederick Hagaman Benners (June 22, 1930 – January 6, 2023) was an American football player. He played the 1952 NFL season for the New York Giants. Benners also played at Southern Methodist University and is considered one of the greatest Mustang players of all time.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Benners attended Highland Park High School in the Dallas suburb of University Park. In 1947 he took the Scots to the Texas state final, which his team lost 22-13 to Brackenridge High School of San Antonio. Benners then attended Sewanee, and later Southern Methodist in Dallas, where he was part in one of the greatest upsets in college football history. On October 13, 1951, SMU beat University of Notre Dame 27-20 in a rare nationally televised game, powered by Benners' historic performance, as he hit on 22 passes in 44 attempts for 326 yards and four touchdowns. “No one could have been more adroit in picking the spot for a super-duper performance,” wrote The New York Times.Already picked in the 1951 NFL Draft by the New York Giants at 97th overall, Benners played his rookie season in 1952. He then, however, left the NFL, pursuing a career as lawyer in Dallas.

Elías_López_Sobá

Elías López Sobá (17 April 1927 – 14 August 2023) was a Puerto Rican classical music pianist and educator. Together with musical director Justino Diaz, Elias López Sobá co-directed the annual Casals Festival from 2010. Some sources considered him one of the most outstanding pianists and instrumentalists in 20th century Puerto Rico.

Daniel_Roche_(historian)

Daniel Roche (26 July 1935 – 19 February 2023) was a French social and cultural historian, widely recognized as one of the foremost experts of his generation on the cultural history of France during the later years of the Ancien Régime. Roche was elected an International member of the American Philosophical Society in 2009.

Rafael_Ángel_García

Rafael Ángel "Felo" García Picado (30 July 1928 – 2 December 2023) was a Costa Rican painter, architect, and footballer.
García was one of Costa Rica's most outstanding art teachers and administrators in the late 20th century. His work as a promoter of Costa Rican culture earned him the nickname "El adelantado" ("The advanced").

Elsa_Lystad

Elsa Lystad (9 July 1930 – 26 December 2023) was a Norwegian film and stage actress. She was a recipient of the Leonard Statuette, the King's Medal of Merit, the Amanda Honorary Award, and Gullruten.

Jean-Jacques_Favier

Jean-Jacques Favier (13 April 1949 – 19 March 2023) was a German-born French engineer and a CNES astronaut who flew aboard the STS-78 NASA Space Shuttle mission in 1996. Favier was due to fly aboard the doomed Columbia mission in 2003 (STS-107), but later opted out of the mission. Jean-Jacques Favier was deputy director for space technology and deputy director for advanced concepts and strategy at CNES, director of the Solidification Laboratory at the French Atomic Energy Commission and research program director at the International Space University.

George_T._Miller

George Trumbull Miller (28 November 1943 – 17 February 2023) was a Scottish-born Australian film and television director and producer. He directed The Man from Snowy River, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, and Zeus and Roxanne.
He also directed the 1992 film Frozen Assets, widely considered by critics and audiences alike to be one of the worst films in the history of cinema.
Miller was born in Edinburgh on 28 November 1943. He started his career in 1966 working for Crawford Productions. "They trained you to do everything, they'd throw you in at the deep end to see if you sank or swam," he said. "I was one of the ones who swam – you wouldn't get that training anywhere now."Miller said he was offered to direct Crocodile Dundee; but he had to turn it down, because he was going to make another film at the time, which ended up not being made.Miller died from a heart attack in Melbourne on 17 February 2023, at the age of 79.

Juliette_Mayniel

Juliette Mayniel (22 January 1936 – 21 July 2023) was a French actress. She appeared in more than 30 films and television shows between 1958 and 1978. At the 10th Berlin International Film Festival, she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress for her role in the film The Fair.

Alexandre_de_Lur_Saluces

Count Alexandre de Lur Saluces (20 May 1934 – 24 July 2023) was a French viticulturist who for 36 years acted as manager of Château d’Yquem, and at the time of his death still acted in this capacity for Château de Fargues, both Sauternais châteaux held by the Lur Saluces family for generations.