(FILES) Pioneering heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey speaks after being presented with the Congressional Gold Medal during a ceremony in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2008. DeBakey, whose clients ranged from actress Marlene Dietrich to Russian president Boris Yeltsin, has died in Houston, Texas, at the age of 99, media reports said on July 12, 2008. The Houston Chronicle said Debakey died of "natural causes" late July 11 at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, where the surgeon who pioneered heart bypass operations had worked. During his career, he estimated that he had performed more than 60,000 operations, the paper said. Many illustrious names dotted that list, including the US presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, and the last Shah of Iran and King Hussein of Jordan. AFP PHOTO/SAUL LOEB/FILES