Famous Deaths in December 1989

  • Dec 1 Alvin Ailey, US choreographer (Blues Suite, Revelations), dies at 58
  • Dec 1 William "Billy" Lyall, Scottish musician (Bay City Rollers), dies of AIDS-related causes at 36
  • Dec 5 John M Pritchard, British conductor, dies at 68
  • Dec 6 Frances Beauvier, actress (Aunt Bee, Mayberry), dies at 86
  • Dec 6 Sammy Fain, composer, dies at 87
  • Dec 6 John Payne, American actor (The Restless Gun, Miracle on 34th Street), dies aged 77
  • Dec 6 Gabor Jodal, Romanian composer, dies at 76
  • Dec 7 William Calhoun, professional wrestler (b. 1934)
  • Dec 7 Haystacks Calhoun, American professional wrestler, dies at 55
  • Dec 8 Hans Hartung, German/French painter, dies
  • Dec 11 Louise Dahl-Wolfe, American photographer (b. 1895)

Person of interestAndrei Sakharov

Dec 14 Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist/dissident (Nobel 1975), dies at 68

Nuclear Physicist & Soviet Dissident Andrei Sakharov
Nuclear Physicist & Soviet Dissident
Andrei Sakharov
  • Dec 14 Jock Mahoney [Jacques Joseph O'Mahoney], American actor and stuntman (Dallas, Yancy Derringer, Day of Fury), dies of a stroke at 70
  • Dec 14 Pattie Santos, American singer (It's a Beautiful Day), dies in a car accident at 40
  • Dec 15 Arnold Moss, American actor (Loves of Carmen, Kim, Quebec, Viva Zapata), dies at 79
  • Dec 15 Edward Underdown, British actor (Beat the Devil, Thunderball), dies at 81
  • Dec 16 Aileen Pringle, actress (Age of Consent, Convicted, Night Parade), dies
  • Dec 16 Lee Van Cleef, US actor (Good, Bad & Ugly), dies at 64
  • Dec 16 Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (Death in Venice, Barabbas), dies at 59
  • Dec 16 Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Argentine racing driver (b. 1913)
  • Dec 19 Dorothea "Stella" Gibbons, English journalist and author (Cold Comfort Farm), dies at 87
  • Dec 20 Audrey Christie, American actress (Splendor in the Grass, Fair Exchange), dies at 77
  • Dec 21 Jan Cikker, Slovak composer, dies at 78

Person of interestSamuel Beckett

Dec 22 Samuel Beckett, Irish French writer (Molloy, Nobel 1969), dies at 83

Playwright, novelist, and poet Samuel Beckett
Playwright, novelist, and poet
Samuel Beckett
  • Dec 23 Josef Alexander, composer, dies at 82
  • Dec 23 Peter Bennett, British actor (Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Adventures of Robin Hood), dies at 72
  • Dec 25 Georgy Mushel, Uzbek pianist and composer, dies at 80
  • Dec 25 Barrel Regtien, student leader, dies
  • Dec 25 Billy Martin, American MLB player and manager (NY Yankees), killed in a car accident at 61
  • Dec 25 Elena Ceausescu, wife of Romania's Communist dictator Nicolae, executed at 73

Person of interestNicolae Ceausescu

Dec 25 Nicolae Ceausescu, Communist dictator of Romania, executed at 71

Dictator of Romania Nicolae Ceausescu
Dictator of Romania
Nicolae Ceausescu
  • Dec 25 Ton Regtien, Dutch student leader, dies at 51
  • Dec 26 Lennox Berkeley, composer, dies at 86
  • Dec 26 Peggy Thorpe-Bates, actress (Alcatraz Island), dies

Person of interestDoug Harvey

Dec 26 Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey defence player ('100 Greatest NHL Players), dies of cirrhosis of the liver at 65

NHL Legend Doug Harvey
NHL Legend
Doug Harvey
  • Dec 28 Hermann Oberth, German physicist (founded modern astronautics), dies at 95
  • Dec 30 Madoline Thomas, actress (Girl in the Canal), dies
  • Dec 30 Lenore Lemmon, wife of George Reeves (b. 1923)