Notable Deaths on July 3

James Douglas Morrison was an American singer-songwriter and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his charismatic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, and unpredictable performances, along with the dramatic circumstances surrounding his life and early death, Morrison is regarded by music critics and fans as one of the most influential and controversial frontmen in rock history. Since his death, his fame has endured as one of popular culture's top rebellious and oft-displayed icons, representing the generation gap and youth counterculture.

Andy Samuel Griffith was an American actor, comedian, television producer, singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, as well as his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).

Theodor Herzl was a Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine, which, in the late 19th century was part of the Ottoman Empire, in an effort to form a Jewish state. Due to his Zionist work, he is known in Hebrew as Chozeh HaMedinah, lit. 'Visionary of the State'. He is specifically mentioned in the Israeli Declaration of Independence and is officially referred to as "the spiritual father of the Jewish State".

James Gilmore Backus was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom Gilligan's Island, the father of James Dean's character in Rebel Without a Cause, the voice of the near-sighted cartoon character Mr. Magoo, the rich Hubert Updike III on the radio version of The Alan Young Show, and Joan Davis's character's husband on TV's I Married Joan. He also starred in his own show of one season, The Jim Backus Show, also known as Hot Off the Wire.

Marie de' Medici was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as regent legally expired in 1614, when her son reached the age of majority, but she refused to resign and continued as regent until she was removed by a coup in 1617. After Henry's assassination in 1610, Maria became Queen Regent of France for her young son, Louis XIII, giving her significant political influence.

Henrietta "Hetty" Howland Robinson Green was an American businesswoman and financier known as "the richest woman in America" during the Gilded Age. Those who knew her well referred to her admiringly as the "Queen of Wall Street" due to her willingness to lend freely and at reasonable interest rates to financiers and city governments during financial panics. Her extraordinary discipline during such times enabled her to amass a fortune as a financier at a time when nearly all major financiers were men.

Gaylord Anton Nelson was an American lawyer, Democratic politician, and environmentalist from Wisconsin. He served three terms as a United States senator from Wisconsin, from 1963 to 1981, and was chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Small Business for the last six years of his tenure. During his time in the U.S. Senate, he was the creator of Earth Day, which launched a new wave of environmental activism. After losing his bid for re-election in 1980, he continued his environmental activism as counselor for The Wilderness Society, and was honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom for his environmental efforts by President Bill Clinton.

Robert A. Clay Allison, also known as Clay Allison was an American cattle rancher, cattle broker, and sometimes gunfighter of the American Old West. He fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Allison had a reputation for violence, having survived several one-on-one knife and gunfights, as well as being implicated in a number of vigilante jail break-ins and lynchings. A drunken Allison once rode his horse through town nearly naked—wearing only his gunbelt. Later most reports stated that he was dangerous not only to others but to himself, accidentally shooting himself in the foot.

Lewis Alan Hoad was an Australian tennis player whose career ran from 1950 to 1973. Hoad won four Major singles tournaments as an amateur. He was a member of the Australian team that won the Davis Cup four times between 1952 and 1956. Hoad turned professional in July 1957. He won the Kooyong Tournament of Champions in 1958 and the Forest Hills Tournament of Champions in 1959. He won the Ampol Open Trophy world series of tournaments in 1959, which included the Kooyong tournament that concluded in early January 1960. Hoad's singles tournament victories spanned from 1951 to 1971.

Radu Vasile was a Romanian politician, historian, academic, writer and poet who served as Prime Minister of Romania from 17 April 1998 to 13 December 1999. A leading member of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚ-CD), he played a prominent role within the Romanian Democratic Convention (CDR). Before becoming active in national politics, Vasile pursued an academic career at the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (ASE), where he specialized in economic history and the history of economic thought. He served in the Senate of Romania, from 1992 to 2004, originally as a PNȚ-CD member, and then, from 2000 to 2004, on behalf of the Democratic Party (PD). His premiership was mainly marked by his handling of the January 1999 Mineriad, during which miners marched toward Bucharest in protest against planned mine closures and government restructuring measures, an event that some commentators and media outlets described as an attempted coup d'état. In addition to his political career, Vasile published poetry under the pen name Radu Mischiu.

Yvonne Bond Miller was a Virginia educator and American politician who became the first African-American woman to serve in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. A Democrat, in 1983 Miller became the first African-American woman elected to the state house, where she served for four years before winning election to the state Senate, where she consistently won re-election until her death in office. Miller taught in the Norfolk Public schools, and later taught early and childhood education at one of her alma maters, which had become Norfolk State University during her lifetime.

Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, personal name Li Xian, and at other times Li Zhe or Wu Xian, was the fourth and seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling briefly in 684 and again from 705 to 710. During the first period, he did not have actual power, which was in the hands of his mother Empress Wu Zetian, and he was overthrown on her orders after opposing his mother. During his second reign, most of the power was in the hands of his consort Empress Wei.

Jini Dellaccio was an American photographer best known for her images of rock and pop acts of the 1960s, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Her photographs of the Sonics, the Wailers, Merrilee Rush, the Daily Flash and many others were frequently used for album covers, posters, and publicity stills, and - along with her shots of major acts such as Neil Young, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, and The Who - have been widely reproduced in books, CDs, articles, and gallery exhibitions.

David Dabede Mabuza, also known as DD Mabuza, was a South African politician who served as deputy president of South Africa from February 2018 to February 2023. He was the deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC) from December 2017 to December 2022 and was previously the premier of Mpumalanga from 2009 to 2018, throughout the presidency of his onetime political ally Jacob Zuma. Mabuza served as a Member of Parliament from 2018 until his resignation in 2023.

Siegfried Adolf Handloser was a German physician, career military officer and war criminal. As the chief of all medical services in the Wehrmacht, he was brought to trial for overseeing medical atrocities at concentration camps during World War II. He was convicted at the 1947 Doctors' Trial during the subsequent Nuremberg trials and sentenced to life imprisonment. His sentence was reduced to a 20-year term, though he was released in 1954 and died of cancer the same year.

John Crowe Ransom was an American educator, scholar, literary critic, poet, essayist and editor. He is considered to be a founder of the New Criticism school of literary criticism. As a faculty member at Kenyon College, he was the first editor of the widely regarded Kenyon Review. Highly respected as a teacher and mentor to a generation of accomplished students, he also was a prize-winning poet and essayist. He was nominated for the 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Boyd Kenneth Packer was an American religious leader and educator who served as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2008 until his death. He also served as the quorum's acting president from 1994 to 2008 and was an apostle and member of the Quorum of the Twelve from 1970 until his death. He served as a general authority of the church from 1961 until his death.

Mark Sandman was an American singer, songwriter, musical instrument inventor, multi-instrumentalist and comic writer. Sandman possessed a distinctive, deep bass-baritone voice and a mysterious demeanour. He was an indie rock icon and longtime fixture in the Boston/Cambridge music scene, best known as the lead singer and slide bass player of the band Morphine. Sandman was also a member of the blues-rock band Treat Her Right and founder of Hi-n-Dry, a recording studio and independent record label.

Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre-Guiral was a Spanish Navy officer. He spent much of his career in the Americas, where he carried out important scientific work that earned him a reputation as one of the major figures of the Enlightenment in Spain. As a military officer, Ulloa achieved the rank of vice admiral. He also served the Spanish Empire as an administrator in the Viceroyalty of Peru and as governor of Spanish Louisiana.