1978 48 years ago Notable Deaths April 22

Will Geer, American actor (born 1902)

On April 22, in the year 1978, Will Geer, American actor (born 1902). This event is recorded as a Notable Deaths event in the history of April 22, one of 297 recorded events on this date across all of history.

1 notable person is associated with this event, including Will Geer. Learn more below.

Will Geer was an American actor, musician, and social activist who was active in labor organizing and communist movements in New York City and Southern California in the 1930s and 1940s. In California, he befriended rising singer Woody Guthrie. They both lived in New York City for a time in the 1940s. He was blacklisted in the 1950s by Hollywood after refusing, in testimony before Congress, to name persons who had joined the Communist Party USA.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on April 22, 1978 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Notable Deaths event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 1 Wikipedia article.
  • 1 notable person is recorded as involved in or associated with this event.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 20 April 2026.

On This Date in History 297

Type Year Date Event
Historical Events 2025 Apr 22 At least 26 people are killed in a terrorist attack on a group of tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir
Notable Deaths 2023 Apr 22 Len Goodman, English ballroom dancer and television personality (born 1944)
Notable Deaths 2022 Apr 22 Guy Lafleur, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1951)
Selected Events 2022 Apr 22 American climate activist Wynn Bruce set himself on fire outside the United States Supreme Court Building in an apparent
Notable Deaths 2021 Apr 22 Adrian Garrett, American professional baseball player (born 1943)
Historical Events 2020 Apr 22 Four police officers are killed after being struck by a truck on the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne while speaking to a sp
Notable Deaths 2020 Apr 22 Shirley Knight, American actress (born 1936)
Selected Events 2020 Apr 22 A truck struck and killed four Victoria Police officers on the Eastern Freeway, Australia, the force's deadliest single
Notable Deaths 2017 Apr 22 Donna Leanne Williams, Australian writer, artist, and activist (born 1963)
Historical Events 2016 Apr 22 The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming
Selected Events 2016 Apr 22 The Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change, opened for signature and was signed by 175 parties
Notable Deaths 2015 Apr 22 Dick Balharry, Scottish environmentalist and photographer (born 1937)
Notable Deaths 2014 Apr 22 Oswaldo Vigas, Venezuelan painter (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2013 Apr 22 Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1941)
Notable Deaths 2013 Apr 22 Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist and composer (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2013 Apr 22 Robert Suderburg, American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1936)
Selected Events 2013 Apr 22 The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested two men who were plotting to commit terrorist attacks against Via Rail operat
Notable Deaths 2012 Apr 22 George Rathmann, American chemist, biologist, and businessman (born 1927)
Notable Births 2011 Apr 22 Violet McGraw, American actress
Notable Deaths 2010 Apr 22 Richard Barrett, American lawyer and activist (born 1943)
Notable Deaths 2009 Apr 22 Jack Cardiff, British cinematographer, director and photographer (born 1914)
Notable Deaths 2007 Apr 22 Juanita Millender-McDonald, American educator and politician (born 1938)
Notable Deaths 2006 Apr 22 Henriette Avram, American computer scientist and academic (born 1919)
Notable Deaths 2006 Apr 22 Alida Valli, Italian actress (born 1921)
Historical Events 2005 Apr 22 Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan's war record
Notable Deaths 2005 Apr 22 Erika Fuchs, German translator (born 1906)
Notable Deaths 2005 Apr 22 Philip Morrison, American physicist and academic (born 1915)
Notable Deaths 2005 Apr 22 Eduardo Paolozzi, Scottish sculptor and artist (born 1924)
Selected Events 2004 Apr 22 Flammable cargo exploded at a railway station in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing at least 54 people and injuring more th
Notable Deaths 2003 Apr 22 Felice Bryant, American songwriter (born 1925)
Selected Events 2000 Apr 22 In a pre-dawn raid, U
Notable Deaths 1999 Apr 22 Munir Ahmad Khan, Pakistani nuclear engineer (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 1996 Apr 22 Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 1996 Apr 22 Jug McSpaden, American golfer and architect (born 1908)
Notable Deaths 1995 Apr 22 Jane Kenyon, American poet and author (born 1947)
Notable Deaths 1994 Apr 22 Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (born 1913)
Historical Events 1993 Apr 22 Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Elth
Selected Events 1993 Apr 22 Stephen Lawrence, a black British teenager, was murdered while waiting for a bus in Eltham, London, leading to cultural
Historical Events 1992 Apr 22 A series of gas explosions rip through the streets in Guadalajara, Mexico, killing 206
Notable Births 1992 Apr 22 Adam Lanza, American mass murderer (died 2012)
Notable Births 1991 Apr 22 Danni Wyatt, English cricketer
Notable Births 1990 Apr 22 Machine Gun Kelly, American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor
Notable Births 1990 Apr 22 Kevin Kiermaier, American baseball player
Notable Births 1990 Apr 22 Eve Muirhead, Scottish curler
Notable Deaths 1990 Apr 22 Albert Salmi, American actor (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 1989 Apr 22 Emilio G
Notable Births 1988 Apr 22 Dee Strange-Gordon, American baseball player
Notable Deaths 1988 Apr 22 Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer and academic (born 1917)
Notable Deaths 1988 Apr 22 Irene Rich, American actress (born 1891)
Notable Births 1987 Apr 22 David Luiz, Brazilian footballer

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Will Geer

American actor (1902–1978)

death

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