DIED THIS WEEK

American actor born in 1921. He is perhaps best known for playing Tessio in The Godfather and Phil Fish in police comedy series Barney Miller. He died in 2016.

JANUARY 27 MAURICE BUCKLEY

Australian soldier born in 1891. He enlisted in 1914 but was thrown out of the army after contracting a sexually transmitted disease. He later reenlisted under the name Gerald and was awarded a VC for his actions near St Quentin in 1918. He died in 1921 from injuries sustained in a cycling accident.

JANUARY 28

QUEEN ISABELLA OF FRANCE Born in about 1248, the daughter of the King of Aragon married Philip Count of Orleans who became King Philip III of France. She accompanied him on a crusade to Tunis and died after falling from her horse in 1271.

JANUARY 29 JACQUES RIVETTE

French filmmaker born in 1928. He was a pioneer of the French New Wave with films such as Paris Belongs To Us and Julie And Celine Go Boating. He died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.

JANUARY 30 FERDINAND PORSCHE

Automotive engineer born in 1875 in Bohemia, he later became a German citizen. He founded the Porsche car company in 1931. A member of the Nazi party, he created Volkswagens and also military vehicles. He was arrested after the war and died in 1951.

JANUARY 31

English author born in 1882. He studied mathematics at Cambridge but took to writing for various publications. He served in WWI and post-war became famous for children’s poems and his books featuring Winnie the Pooh. He died in 1956.

FEBRUARY 1 MARY SHELLEY

English writer born Mary Godwin in 1797. Married to poet Percy Shelley, she also wrote novels; the best known is Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, published in 1818. She died of a brain tumour in 1851.

MARY SHELLEY DIED: 1851