List of Famous people who died at 97

Doris Day was an American actress, singer, and animal welfare activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey" and "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" with Les Brown & His Band of Renown. She left Brown to embark on a solo career and recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967.

Qian Xuesen, or Hsue-Shen Tsien, was a Chinese mathematician, cyberneticist, aerospace engineer, and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineering cybernetics. Recruited from MIT, he joined Theodore von Kármán's group at Caltech. During WWII, he was involved in the Manhattan Project, which ultimately led to the successful development of the first atomic bomb in America. Later on, under the pressure of deportation for suspicions of association with Communists, he would eventually return to China, where he would make important contributions to China's missile and space program.

Empress Kōjun , born Princess Nagako , was a member of the Imperial House of Japan, the wife of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) and the mother of Shigeko Higashikuni, Princess Sachiko Hisa-nomiya, Kazuko Takatsukasa, Atsuko Ikeda, the Emperor Emeritus Akihito, Prince Masahito Hitachi-nomiya and Takako Shimazu.

Edward John Patty, better known as Budge Patty, was an American world no. 1 tennis player whose career spanned a period of 15 years after World War II. He won two Grand Slam singles titles in 1950. He was the second American male player to win the Channel Slam and one of only three as of 2021.

Louis Silvie Zamperini was an American World War II veteran, an evangelical Christian, and an Olympic distance runner. He took up running in high school and qualified for the US in the 5,000 m race for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, finishing 8th, but not without setting a new lap record. In 1941, he was commissioned into the United States Army Air Forces as a lieutenant. He served as a bombardier in B-24 Liberators in the Pacific. On a search and rescue mission, Zamperini's plane experienced mechanical difficulties and crashed into the ocean. After drifting at sea on a lifeboat for 47 days, with 2 other crewmates, he landed on the Japanese occupied Marshall Islands and was captured. He was taken to two different prison camps in Japan where he was tortured and beaten by Japanese military personnel and specifically by a man named Mutsuhiro Watanabe, A.K.A. The Bird due to his being a famous Olympic runner. When Louis was a prisoner of war, the Japanese tried to convince him to speak Axis power propaganda in return for a warm place to live and food. However, as he declined, he was forced back into the prisoner of war camp. He was later taken to a new prison camp at a coal factory, and after much struggle, he was finally released. Following the war he initially struggled to overcome his ordeal, and struggled with post traumatic stress. There have been many movies in which Zamperini was featured, as listed below.

Carol Elaine Channing was an American actress, singer, dancer, and comedian, known for starring in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, whether singing or for comedic effect.

Walter Scheel was a German politician. A member of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), he first served in government as Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development from 1961–66. He led the FDP from 1968–74.

Ahmet Kenan Evren was a Turkish politician and military officer, who served as the seventh President of Turkey from 1980 to 1989. He assumed the post by leading the 1980 military coup.

Luis Trenker was a South Tyrolean film producer, director, writer, actor, architect, alpinist, and bobsledder.

Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. She was the founder and director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, an institute for imparting training in dance, drama, music and puppetry, in the city of Ahmedabad. She received many awards and citations in recognition of her contribution to art. She trained over 18,000 students in Bharatnatyam and Kathakali.