Famous People Who Died in 1988

Deaths 1 - 200 of 441

Gaston Eyskens (1905-1988)

Jan 3 Prime Minister of Belgium (1949, 1958-61, 1968-72), dies at 82

Jan 3 Joie Chitwood, American racedriver & Daredevil (b. 1912)
Jan 3 Rose Ausländer, German poet (b. 1901)
Jan 3 William Cagney, American producer and actor (Torrid Zone), brother of James Cagney, dies of a heart attack at 82
Jan 4 Lily Laskine, French harpist, dies at 94
Jan 4 Predrag Milošević Serbian pianist, conductor, composer (Simfonijeta), and pedagogue, dies at 83

Pete Maravich (1947-1988)

Jan 5 American Basketball HOF guard (5 × NBA All-Star; All-NBA First Team 1976, 77; NBA scoring champion 1977 NO/Utah Jazz; Atlanta Hawks), dies of heart failure at 40

Jan 6 Brent Collins, soap actor (Another World), dies of a heart attack at 46
Jan 7 Michel Auclair [Vladimir Vujović], German actor (Funny Face, Day of the Jackal), dies at 65

Trevor Howard (1913-1988)

Jan 7 English actor in over 70 films (Brief Encounter, Superman, The Third Man), dies of bronchitis at 71

Jan 8 Frank Pace Jr, US Secretary of Army (1950-53), dies at 76
Jan 11 Florence Knapp, American, one-time oldest person in the world (b. 1873)
Jan 11 Isidor Isaac Rabi, American nuclear physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1944 for his discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance, dies at 89

Pappy Boyington (1912-1988)

Jan 11 American combat pilot and US Marine Corps fighter ace during World War II, dies of cancer at 75

Jan 12 Connie Mulder, South African politician (b. 1925)
Jan 12 Willem Hendrik van de Pol, Dutch theologist (Christian Dilemma), dies at 90
Jan 13 Chiang Ching-huo, Chinese politician (son of Chinese president Chiang Kai-shek, President of Taiwan 1978-88), dies at 69

Georgy Malenkov (1902-1988)

Jan 14 Soviet leader who was briefly leader of the Soviet Union after Stalin's death (1953-55), dies in obscurity at 86

Seán MacBride (1904-1988)

Jan 15 Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army and founder of Amnesty International (Nobel 1974), dies at 83

Jan 16 Andrija Artuković, Croatian war criminal (b. 1899)
Jan 16 Ballard Berkeley [Blascheck], British actor (Fawlty Towers, East meets West, The BFG), dies at 83
Jan 20 Dora Stratou, Greek choreographer and folklorist (b. 1903)
Jan 20 Philippe de Rothschild, French race-car driver and manager (Bordeaux Vineyard), dies at 86
Jan 21 Abraham Sofaer, Burmese born British actor (Naked Jungle, Elephant Walk), dies at 91
Jan 22 Parker Fennelly, actor (Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm), dies at 96
Jan 23 Charles Glen King, American biochemist and pioneer of nutrition research who isolated vitamin C, dies at 91
Jan 23 Dan Daniel, American politician (Rep-D-VA, 1969-88), dies at 73
Jan 24 Werner Fenchel, German mathematician (b. 1905)
Jan 25 Colleen Moore, actress (These Girls Won't Talk), dies at 87
Jan 27 Edward Pawley, American actor (Angels with Dirty Faces), dies t 86
Jan 27 Massa Makan Diabaté, Malian author (b. 1938)

Klaus Fuchs (1911-1988)

Jan 28 German-British atomic physicist and spy for the Soviet Union, dies at 76

Jan 29 Bantcho Bantchevsky, Bulgarian-American singer, commits suicide during a performance of at the Metropolitan Opera at 81
Jan 29 James R. Killian Jr., 10th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1948-59), dies at 83
Jan 29 Rogier van Otterloo, Dutch composer and conductor, dies at 46
Jan 30 Corry [Cornelia Diderika] Vonk, Dutch cabaret performer, dies at 85
Feb 1 Heather O'Rourke, American actress (Happy Days, Poltergeist), dies of intestinal ailment at 12
Feb 1 Marcel Bozzuffi, French actor (The French Connection), dies at 59
Feb 1 Reinder Zwolsman, Dutch businessman, dies at 75
Feb 2 Clive Epstein, British music artist manager, and brother of Brian Epstein, dies at 51
Feb 2 G. Mennen Williams, American lawyer, politician (Governor of Michigan, 1949-61), diplomat, and jurist (Chief Justice of Michigan Supreme Court, 1983-86), dies at 76
Feb 3 Radames Gnattali, Brazilian composer and conductor (Rádio Nacional), dies at 82
Feb 6 Barclay Plager, Canadian ice hockey defenceman (NHL All-Star 1970, 71, 73, 74 St. Louis Blues) and coach (St. Louis Blues 1977-83), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 46
Feb 6 Lee Goodman, American comedian and stage and screen actor (Imitation of Life), dies of tuberculosis at 64
Feb 6 Marghanita Laski, English journalist and author (Victorian chaise-lounge), dies at 72
Feb 7 Lin[wood V] Carter, American sci-fi writer (Lost World of Time), dies at 57
Feb 8 Allan Cuthbertson, Australian-British stage and screen actor (Man and Superman; Captain Nemo and the Underwater City; The WInds of War), dies at 67
Feb 10 Don Patterson, American jazz organist (Hip Cake Walk; Holiday Soul), dies at 51
Feb 10 Paolo Renosto, Italian composer, dies at 52
Feb 13 John Curulewski, American rock guitarist and singer (Styx), dies of a brain aneurysm at 37
Feb 14 Frederick Loewe [Friedrich Löwe], Austrian-American musical theater composer (with Alan Jay Lerner: My Fair Lady; Camelot; Brigadoon), dies at 86
Feb 15 Gardiner Means, US economist, dies at 91
Feb 15 Gerard Holt, architect, dies at 83
Feb 15 Neil R. Jones, American sci-fi writer (Space War, Twin Worlds), dies at 78
Feb 15 Richard Feynman, American theoretical physicist known for his work on quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics (1965 Nobel), dies of liposarcoma at 69
Feb 16 Charles Delaunay, French writer, magazine publisher (Le Jazz Hot), jazz musiclogist (Hot Discography), record label founder, and music promoter, dies at 77
Feb 16 Jean Carignan, French Canadian fiddler, dies at 71
Feb 18 Joe Loco [José Esteves, Jr], American Latin jazz pianist and arranger, dies from complications of diabetes at 67
Feb 19 André F. Cournand, French physician and physiologist (Nobel 1956), dies at 92
Feb 19 René Char, French poet and painter, dies at 80
Feb 20 Bob O'Farrell, American baseball catcher (World Series, NL MVP 1926, St. Louis Cardinals) and manager (St.L Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds), dies at 91
Feb 24 Irwan Chanin, US theater builder, dies at 96
Feb 24 Memphis Slim [John Len Chatman], American blues musician ("Every Day I Have the Blues"), dies at 72
Feb 24 Uno "Miff" Görling, Swedish jazz trombonist, arranger, bandleader, and composer, dies at 78
Feb 25 Amapola Del Vando, actress (Cowboy), dies at 78
Feb 28 Harvey Kuenn, American baseball utility (AL batting champion 1959; 10 × All-Star 1953–1960²; Detroit Tigers), dies from heart disease and diabetes at 57
Feb 28 Kylie Tennant, Australian novelist (Battlers, Lost Haven), dies at 75
Feb 28 Mikha`il Na'imah, Lebanese playwright, dies at 99
Mar 1 Jean Le Poulain, French actor (Divine), dies at 63
Mar 1 Joe Besser, American actor & comedian (The Three Stooges, Let's Make Love, Africa Screams), dies from heart failure at 80
Mar 3 Lois Wilson, American silent and sound screen actress (Miss Lulu Bett; The Great Gatsby; The Covered Wagon: Bright Eyes), dies of pneumonia at 72
Mar 3 Sewall Wright, US geneticist (evolution model), dies at 98
Mar 5 Alberto Olmedo, Argentine comedian (b. 1933)
Mar 6 Dick Ricketts Jr., American basketball center (# 1 overall pick 1955 NBA draft St. Louis Hawks) and baseball pitcher (St. Louis Cardinals), dies from leukemia at 54
Mar 6 Konstantin Iliev, Bulgarian composer, dies at 63
Mar 7 Divine [Harris Glenn Milstead], American actress, drag queen and international icon of bad taste cinema (Pink Flamingos), dies of natural causes at 42
Mar 7 Robert Livingston, American actor (Three Mesquiteers, The Lone Ranger and Zorro), dies at 83 of emphysema
Mar 8 Amar Singh Chamkila [Dhanni Ram], Punjabi folk singer "The Elvis of Punjab" killed by unknown gunmen as he arrived for concert at age 26 [1]
Mar 8 Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (b. 1918)
Mar 8 Ken Colyer, British New Orleans jazz devotee trumpeter, cornetist, and bandleader, dies at 79
Mar 8 Lala Abdul Rashid, Pakistani field hockey goalkeeper (Olympic gold 1960), dies at 65
Mar 8 Werner Hartmann, German physicist (b. 1912)
Mar 9 Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German politician and author (Chancellor of West Germany 1966-69), dies at 83

Andy Gibb (1958-1988)

Mar 10 British singer-songwriter, performer and teen idol (Bee Gees - "I Just Want to Be Your Everything"), dies of myocarditis at 30

Mar 10 William Brocklesby Wordsworth, English composer, dies at 79
Mar 11 Pham Hung, premier of Vietnam, dies at about 74
Mar 12 Billie Rhodes, American silent film actress, dies at 93
Mar 13 Olive Carey, American actress (Affairs With a Stranger), dies at 92
Mar 14 Willi Apel, German-American musicologist (Harvard Dictionary of Music), dies at 94

Dmitri Polyakov (1921-1988)

Mar 15 Soviet Major General and spy for the CIA, executed at 66

Mar 15 Wilson Ferreira Aldunate, Uruguayan politician ad human rights activist, dies of cancer at 69
Mar 16 Dorothy Adams Foulger, actress (Laura, Devil Commands), dies at 88
Mar 17 Nikolas Asimos, Greek counter-culture composer and singer, dies at 38
Mar 20 Gil Evans, Canadian-American jazz pianist, composer and arranger (Miles Davis; Absolute Beginners, Out of the Cool), dies at 75
Mar 21 Edd Roush, American Baseball HOF outfielder (World Series 1919; NL batting champion 1917, 19; Cincinnati Reds), dies at 94
Mar 25 James J. Howard, American educator and Democratic Party politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey), dies at 60
Mar 25 Robert Joffrey [Abdullah Jaffa Anver Bey Khan], American dancer, teacher, and choreographer (co-founder of Joffrey Ballet), dies of AIDS at 59
Mar 26 Musa Kaleem [Orlando Wright], American jazz saxophonist, dies at 67
Mar 27 Jan van den Weghe, Flemish writer, dies at about 67
Mar 29 Dulcie September, South African teacher and anti-apartheid political activist, assassinated in Paris, France at 62
Mar 29 Ted Kluszewski, American baseball 1st baseman (MLB All Star 1953-56; NL HR & RBI leader 1954; Cincinnati Reds), dies of a heart attack at 63
Mar 30 Edgar Faure, Prime Minister of France (1952, 52-56) and writer, dies at 79
Mar 31 Talib Rasul Hakim, composer, dies at 48
Mar 31 William McMahon, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (Liberal: 1971-72), dies in his sleep at 80
Apr 1 Jim Jordan, American actor and radio comedian (Fibber McGee), dies from a blood clot at 91
Apr 1 Marius Holtrop, Dutch economist and President of Netherlands Bank, dies at 85
Apr 3 Milton A. Caniff, US cartoonist (Terry & the Pirates), dies at 81
Apr 4 Ludwig Stiel, German pianist, composer, and conductor, dies at 86
Apr 5 Alf Kjellin, Swedish actor and director (Juggler), dies
Apr 7 Cesar Bresgen, Austrian organist and composer, dies at 74
Apr 9 Brook Benton [Benjamin Franklin Peay], American soul vocalist (It's Just a Matter of Time; Rainy Night in Georgia), dies of meningitis at 56
Apr 9 Dave Prater, American R&B singer and musician (Sam & Dave - "Soul Man"), dies in a car crash at 50
Apr 10 Cliff Gladwin, cricketer (8 Tests for England 1947-49), dies
Apr 11 Jean "Jeff" Donnell, American actress (Gidget Goes to Rome, Hoedown, 9 Girls), dies at 66 of a heart attack

Alan Paton (1903-1988)

Apr 12 South African author (Cry, the Beloved Country, Too Late the Phalarope) and anti-apartheid activist, dies of cancer at 85

Apr 12 Charles Melvin Price, American politician (Rep-D-Illinois 1945-88), dies at 83
Apr 14 Herbert Reynolds Inch, American composer and teacher, dies at 83
Apr 14 Johan Franco, Dutch composer, dies at 79
Apr 14 John Stonehouse, British politician (b. 1925)
Apr 15 Han G. Hoekstra, Dutch poet (Zandloper), dies at 81
Apr 15 Kenneth Williams, British actor (Hancock's Half Hour, Carry On films), dies of an overdose at 61
Apr 15 Youri Egorov, Soviet classical pianist, dies at 33
Apr 16 Clifford Roach, cricketer (16 Tests early in West Indian cricket history), dies
Apr 16 Jacques de Kadt, Dutch politician and writer (Fascism is War!), dies at 90
Apr 16 Khalil al-Wazir, PLO leader, assassinated by Israeli commandos at 52
Apr 16 Warde Donovan, dies at 72
Apr 17 Eva Novak, American actress (Medicine Man), dies of pneumonia at 90
Apr 17 Louise Nevelson, American sculptor who featured at the 31st Venice Biennale (Sky Cathedral), dies of a brain tumor at 88
Apr 18 Pierre Desproges, French humorist, dies at 48
Apr 19 Kwon Ki-ok, first Korean female pilot (b. 1901)
Apr 21 I. A. L. Diamond, Hollywood screenwriter (1960 Acad Award-Apartment), dies at 67
Apr 22 Irene Rich, American actress (Beau Brumell, Champ), dies at 96
Apr 23 Arthur Michael, Lord Ramsey/archbishop of Canterbury, dies
Apr 24 Bob Newson, South African cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 4 wickets; Transvaal; Rhodesia), dies at 87
Apr 25 Boris Kremenliev, Bulgarian-American composer (The Tell-Tale Heart), educator (UCLA, 1947-78), and ethno-musicologist (Bulgarian-Macedonian Folk Music),r, dies at 76
Apr 25 Carolyn Franklin, American singer-songwriter, sister of Aretha, dies of cancer at 43
Apr 25 Clifford D. Simak, American sci-fi author (Hugo, Way Station), dies at 83
Apr 25 Lanny Ross, American radio singer (Show Boat, The Swift Show), dies at 82
Apr 25 Valerie Solanas, American radical feminist and author of SCUM Manifesto who attempted to assassinate Andy Warhol in 1968, dies of pneumonia at 52
Apr 27 David Scarboro, British actor, dies at 20
Apr 28 B. W. Stevenson, American country singer, dies at 38
Apr 29 Andrew Cruickshank, actor (Body in Library, Murder Most Foul), dies
Apr 29 Jan Kapr, Czech composer, dies at 74
Apr 30 James McCracken, American operatic tenor (Otello), dies at 61
May 1 Ben Lexcen, Australian yacht designer (Australia II 1983 America's Cup), dies of heart disease at 52
May 1 Carroll Righter, American columnist and astrologer to the stars, dies prostate cancer at 88
May 1 Paolo Stoppa, actor (Garibaldi, Visit, Freedom Fighters), dies
May 3 Johannes Driessler, German organist and composer, dies at 67
May 3 Lev Pontryagin, Russian mathematician, dies at 79
May 3 Paul Vario, U.S. Italian Mafia of the Lucchese Family, dies of lung cancer at 73
May 3 Walther Vanbeselaere, Flemish art historian, dies at 79
May 5 George Rose, British actor and singer (Beacon Hill; Holocaust), dies at 68
May 5 Michael Shaara, American author (Killer Angels), dies of a heart attack at 59
May 5 Tamara Pos, Suriname/Dutch activist
May 6 Paul Wilson, American doo-wop baritone singer (Flamingos, 1953-64 - "I Only Have Eyes For You"; "Lovers Never Say Goodbye"), dies at 53
May 8 Domingo Ortega, Spanish bullfighter (The Art of Bullfighting), dies at 82
May 8 Robert A. Heinlein, American sci-fi writer (Friday), dies of heart failure at 80
May 10 Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (Long River), dies at 85

Kim Philby (1912-1988)

May 11 British spy and Soviet mole who was a member of the "Cambridge Five", dies at 76

May 12 Paul Osborn, American playwright (Mornings at 7), dies at 86

Chet Baker (1929-1988)

May 13 American jazz trumpeter and vocalist ("My Funny Valentine"), falls to his death from an Amsterdam hotel balcony at 59

May 14 Willem Drees, Dutch statesman of the Labour Party (PvdA) and Prime Minister of the Netherlands, dies at 101
May 15 Andrew Duggan, American character actor (Secret War of Harry Frigg, Winds of War), dies of cancer at 64
May 15 Greta Nissen, actress (Ambassador Bill), dies
May 16 Charles Keeping, English illustrator (b. 1924)
May 16 Kay Baxter, American bodybuilder (NPC Gold's Classic 1981), dies in car crash at 42
May 16 Louise Wood, director of Girl Scouts of USA (1961-72), dies at 78
May 18 David Moule-Evans, English composer & conductor, dies at 82
May 18 Daws Butler, American animation voice (Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound), dies at 71
May 19 Virginia Farmer, actress (Cyrano de Bergerac), dies at 90
May 20 René Defossez, Belgian composer, composer, and pedagigue, dies at 82
May 21 Bruno Frei [Benedikt Freistadt], Austrian Marxist journalist, dies at 91
May 21 Dino Conte Grandi, Italian Fascist politician and delegate to league of nations (1925-32), dies at 92
May 21 Harry Babasin, American jazz bassist and cellist (Dodo Marmarosa Trio), and archivist (Los Angeles Theaseum), dies of emphysema at 67
May 21 Sammy Davis Sr., American vaudeville dancer (Mr. Wonderful), dies at 87
May 22 Giorgio Almirante, Italian fascist (member of parliament (1948-87)), dies at 73
May 23 David Schoenbrun, American journalist (CBS broadcast bureau head), dies at 73
May 24 James "Hamish" Hamilton, British publisher (Salinger/Mitford), dies at 87
May 24 Tom Burtt, New Zealand cricketer (NZ slow left-arm bowler in 11 Tests 1947-53), dies at 73
May 25 Ernst Ruska, German physicist (1986 Nobel Prize for Physics for work on electron optics, and design of the first electron microscope), dies at 81
May 26 José Muñoz Molleda, Spanish composer and politician, dies at 83
May 27 Florida Friebus, American actress (Bob Newhart Show), dies of a stroke at 79
May 27 Renato Salvatori, actor (Burn, Luna, 2 Women), dies
May 28 (Melvin) "Sy" Oliver, American jazz arranger, songwriter (Jimmie Lunceford; Tommy Dorsey - "Yes, Indeed!"), dies at 77 [1]
May 30 Ella Raines, American actress (Uncle Harry, Runaround, Impact, Brute Force), dies of throat cancer at 67
Jun 1 Leon Belasco [Leonid Simeonovich Berladsky], Russian actor (Lucky Partners, My Sister Eileen), dies at 85
Jun 2 Horace Hildreth, American politician (Gov-Maine, 1945-49) and U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (1953-57), dies at 85
Jun 2 Raj Kapoor, Indian actor known as "the greatest showman of Hindi cinema" (Awaara, Boot Polish), dies of complications related to asthma at 63
Jun 4 Allan Reuss, American jazz, big band, and session guitarist (Benny Goodman; Glenn Miller; Mildred Bailey), dies at 72
Jun 5 Clarence M. Pendleton Jr., African-American chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights (1981-88), dies at 57
Jun 7 Joe Partridge, cricketer (South African pace bowler 1963-65), commits suicide
Jun 7 Vernon Washington, American actor (Roots, The Last Starfighter, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning), dies at 60
Jun 8 Eli Mintz, actor (Boardwalk), dies
Jun 8 Russell Harty, broadcaster, dies
Jun 8 Virgil Oliver Jr, entertainer, dies
Jun 10 Henryk Stazewski, Polish abstract painter and graphic artist, dies at 94
Jun 10 Louis L'Amour, American western writer (Bowdrie), dies of cancer at 80

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