Famous People Who Died in 1997

Deaths 1 - 200 of 647

Jan 7 Desmond Flower, English publisher, dies at 89
Jan 7 Sándor Végh, Hungarian-French violinist teacher and conductor, dies at 84
Jan 8 Carole Carr [Carless], British singer and actress (Down Among the Z Men), dies of cancer at 68
Jan 8 George Handy [Hendleman], American bebop jazz arranger, pianist and composer Handyland, U.S.A.), dies at 76
Jan 8 Jesse White [Weidenfeld], American character actor (Bedtime for Bonzo; Harvey; Maytag repairman, 1967-88), dies of a heart attack at 80
Jan 8 Melvin Calvin, American biochemist (Nobel Prize for Chemist 1961 - for discovery of chemical pathways of photosynthesis), dies at 85 [1]
Jan 8 Phyllis Hartnoll, writer/editor, dies at 90
Jan 9 Edward Osobka-Morawski, prime minister of Poland (1945-47), dies
Jan 9 Junaidu ibn Buhari, scholar, dies at 90
Jan 10 Alexander R. Todd, British chemist (Nobel Prize 1957), dies at 89
Jan 10 Alvinio Misciano, Italian tenor, killed in a fall from a window
Jan 10 Darrell A. Amyx, American classical archaeologist (Greek Ceramics), dies at 85
Jan 10 Elspeth Huxley, English author (The Flame Trees of Thika and The Mottled Lizard), dies at 89
Jan 10 George Young, Scottish soccer defender (54 caps; Rangers 293 games), dies at 74
Jan 10 Hilary Grover Barratt Brown, conservationist, dies at 71
Jan 10 Shiv Verma, Indian revolutionary soldier, dies at 88
Jan 11 Cavan O'Connor, British singer ("I'm Only a Strolling Vagabond"), dies at 97
Jan 11 Duncan Wood, television director and producer, dies at 71
Jan 11 Helen Foster Snow, American journalist (reported from China in the 1930s), dies at 89
Jan 11 Sheldon Leonard, American actor, producer and director (Danny Thomas Show, Big Eddie), dies at 89

Jan 12 Charles Huggins, American-Canadian physician and cancer researcher (1966 Nobel Prize), dies at 95
Jan 12 Jean Writer-Edern Hallier, dies at 60
Jan 12 Jill Summers, actress (Agatha Coronation Street), dies at 86
Jan 13 William Mills, painter, dies at 74
Jan 14 Dollard Ménard, French Canadian general (b. 1913)
Jan 14 King Hu, Chinese film director, (wuxia films), dies at 64
Jan 15 Jose Ignacio Domecq, Spanish wine maker, dies at 82
Jan 15 Kenneth Thimann, English American botanist (Balzan Prize), dies at 92
Jan 16 Charlie Alfred Galbraith, English jazz trombonist, dies at 76
Jan 16 Ennis Cosby, son of Bill Cosby, murdered on LA highway at 29
Jan 16 Jim Kensil, NFL president (NY Jets), dies of heart failure at 66
Jan 16 Stephen Fitz-Simon, entrepreneur, dies at 59
Jan 17 Amha Selassie, Crown prince of Ethiopia and son of emperor Haile Selassi, dies at 82
Jan 17 Andrea Fisher, American artist, dies at 41
Jan 17 Bert Kelly, Australian politician (b. 1912)
Jan 17 Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer (discovered Pluto), dies at 90
Jan 18 Myfanwy Piper, British librettist and art critic, dies at 85
Jan 18 Neville Crump, British racehorse trainer, dies at 86 [1]
Jan 18 Paul Tsongas, American politician (Sen-D-Mass), dies of complications from pneumonia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma at 55
Jan 19 Adriana Caselotti, voice of Snow White in Disney's animated film, dies at 70

Jan 19 George Armin Goyder, businessman/social philosopher, dies at 88
Jan 19 James Dickey, American poet, novelist and lecturer (Deliverance, Buckdancer's Choice), dies at 73

Curt Flood (1938-1997)

Jan 20 American baseball player (St Louis Cards), dies of throat cancer at 59

Jan 20 Edith Haisman, the oldest survivor of Titanic, dies at 100
Jan 20 Vladimir Yamnikov, owner (Kristall vodka), dies of cirrhosis at 56
Jan 21 Colonel Tom Parker [Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk], Dutch-born talent manager (Elvis Presley), dies at 87
Jan 21 Dennis Main-Wilson, British TV and radio producer (Marty, Till Death Us Do Part), dies of lung cancer at 72
Jan 21 Michael Duane, British progressive educationalist and author, dies at 81
Jan 22 Billy MacKenzie, Scottish rock vocalist (The Associates-Affectionate Punch), committed suicide at 39
Jan 22 Ian Munro, British medical journalist, humanitarian and cricketer, dies at 73
Jan 22 Irwin Levine, composer (Tie a Yellow Ribbon), dies at 58
Jan 22 Mollie Panter-Downes, British writer and columnist (The Shoreless Sea), dies at 90
Jan 22 Pilar Barbosa, Puerto Rican historian and political activist, dies at 98
Jan 22 Ron Holden, American singer (b. 1939)
Jan 22 Wally Whyton, English musician and broadcaster (BBC 2), dies at 66
Jan 23 Audie Pitre, American bass guitarist (Acid Bath), killed by a drunk driver at 26
Jan 23 Charles Craig, English opera singer, dies at 77
Jan 23 Jeremy Maas, British writer and art dealer, dies at 68
Jan 23 Laura "Dinky" Patterson, dies bungee jumping at Super Bowl rehearsal at 43
Jan 23 Randy Greenawalt, American convicted killer, executed by injection at 47
Jan 23 Richard Berry, African-American singer and musician (Louie Louie), dies at 61
Jan 23 Roger John Tayler, British astrophysicist (author of The Origin of the Chemical Elements), dies at 67
Jan 24 Callum Alexander MacDonald, Scottish historian, dies of cancer at 49
Jan 25 Jean Dixon, psychic (Gift of Prophecy), dies of a heart attack at 79
Jan 25 Jeane Dixon [Lydia Pinckert], American celebrity psychic and astrologer (A Gift of Prophecy), dies of a heart attack at 93
Jan 25 Seldon Powell, American jazz tenor saxophonist and flautist, dies at 68
Jan 26 Margaret Hesse, Irish-born Princess of Hesse and by Rhine, dies at 83
Jan 27 Cecil Arthur Lewis, British fighter pilot and writer, dies at 98
Jan 27 David Townsend, English cricket batsman (3 Tests, HS 36; Durham CCC), dies at 84
Jan 27 Gerald Marks, American songwriter ("All of Me"), dies at 96
Jan 28 Colin Welch, British political journalist and critic of Enid Blyton's Noddy series, dies at 72
Jan 28 Pietro Cavallero, bandit, dies at 68
Jan 29 Eric Schneider, American murderer of 2 teachers, executed in MO at 35
Jan 29 Louis Pauwels, French writer and editor, dies at 76
Jan 29 Osvaldo Soriano, Argentine writer and journalist, dies of cancer at 54
Jan 30 Frank Tejeda, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas), dies at 51
Jan 30 Héctor Campos Parsi, Puerto Rican classical music composer, dies at 75
Jan 31 Eve Lister, British film and television actress (No Limit, Hyde Park), dies at 84
Jan 31 John Joseph Scanlan, Irish Catholic prelate (b. 1930)
Feb 1 Ed Danowski, American football quarterback & halfback (NFL Championship 1934, 38; New York Giants; Pro Bowl 1938), dies at 85
Feb 1 Herb Caen, American columnist (SF Chronicle), dies of lung cancer, at 80
Feb 1 Marjorie Reynolds [Goodspeed], American actress & dancer (Holiday Inn; Life of Riley), dies from congestive heart disease at 79
Feb 1 Mitchell Goodman, American writer, dies at 71
Feb 1 Peter Morris, British historian of France, dies at 50
Feb 1 Thelma Moss, American actress & psychologist, dies at 78
Feb 2 Chico Science Francisco Franca, musician, dies at 40
Feb 2 Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (grandmaster 1952), dies at 83
Feb 2 Godfrey Baseley, British radio executive, dies at 92
Feb 2 Sanford Meisner, American actor and teacher, dies at 91
Feb 3 Anthony Cuthbert Baines, English music scholar, dies at 84
Feb 3 Bohumil Hrabal, Czech writer (Closely Observed Trains), dies at 82
Feb 3 William Geoffrey Biddle, English bomb disposal expert, dies at 79
Feb 4 James Friell, Scottish political cartoonist (Daily Worker), dies at 84
Feb 4 Ross Lee Finney, American composer (Landscapes Remembered), dies at 90
Feb 5 John Richard Patterson, businessman, dies at 51
Feb 5 Pamela Harriman, US Ambassador (to France), dies of stroke at 76
Feb 6 Anne Wadman, Dutch critic and writer who wrote in Frisian (Fioele & faem, Smearlappen), dies at 77
Feb 7 Danil Shafran, Soviet-Russian concert cellist, dies at 74
Feb 8 Elroy Josephs, British jazz dance teacher, dies at 57
Feb 9 Barry Evans, actor (Dr Upton-Dr in the House), dies at 53
Feb 9 Brian Connolly, Scottish rock singer (Sweet, 1968-79- "The Ballroom Blitz"), dies of heart failure at 51
Feb 9 L.F. "Jack" Owen, American blues singer and guitarist ("It Must've Been The Devil"), dies at 92
Feb 10 Lou Bennett, American bebop pianist, and jazz organist, dies at 70
Feb 10 Matthew Eappen of Newton Massachusetts (b. 1996)
Feb 10 Milton Cato, 1st Prime Minister of San Vincent and the Grenadines (1979-84), dies at 82
Feb 11 Don Porter, actor (Gidget), dies at 84
Feb 12 Nora Beloff, journalist, dies at 78
Feb 12 Walter Ritchie, British sculptor (Man's Struggle), dies at 77
Feb 13 Antonius "Ton" Lensink, Dutch actor (Rituelen), dies at 74
Feb 13 Mark Krasnosel'skii, Russian-Ukrainian mathematician (nonlinear functional analysis), dies at 76
Feb 16 Arthur Hewlett, British actor (The Pied Piper), dies at 89
Feb 16 Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American experimental physicist (conduced the Wu experiment), dies at 84
Feb 17 Zein Isa, Palestinian militant imprisoned in the United States for the honor killing of his daughter
Feb 18 Buzurg Alavi, Iranian writer (Panjah va sih nafar, Namal'ha), dies at 93
Feb 18 Emily Hahn, American writer, dies at 92
Feb 18 Enrique Peralta Azurdia, Colonel and military President of Guatemala (1963-66), dies at 88
Feb 18 Eric Fenby, English composer and president (Delius Society), dies at 90

Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997)

Feb 19 Chinese revolutionary and paramount leader of China (1978-92), dies of a lung infection and Parkinson's disease at 92

Feb 19 Leo Rosten, American writer and humourist (Joys of Yiddish), dies at 88
Feb 19 Stan Pearson, English soccer inside forward (8 caps; Manchester United, Bury, Chester), dies at 76
Feb 20 Zachary Breaux, American jazz guitarist, dies of a heart attack while trying to save a distressed swimmer in Miami Beach at 36
Feb 21 Kenneth Rowntree, British painter, dies at 81
Feb 21 Michael Hollings, British Catholic priest/crusader, dies at 75
Feb 22 Albert Shanker, American labor leader (Amer Fed of Teachers), dies at 68
Feb 22 Austin Andrew Wright, British sculptor, dies at 85
Feb 22 Frank Launder, director/scriptwriter, dies at 91
Feb 22 Joseph Aiuppa, American gangster (b. 1907)
Feb 23 Oscar Lewenstein, British impresario, dies at 80
Feb 23 Tony Williams, American jazz drummer (Miles Davis), dies at 51
Feb 24 Isabelle Harriet Lucas, Canadian-born British actress and singer (Outland, Comics), dies at 69
Feb 25 Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky, Russian writer and critic, dies at 71
Feb 26 David Doyle, American actor (Charlie's Angels, Rugrats), dies of a heart attack at 67
Feb 26 Nuccio Bertone, Italian automobile designer, dies at 82
Feb 27 Kingsley Davis, American sociologist and demographer (coined the term "population explosion"), dies at 88
Mar 3 Finn Høffding, Danish composer (Karlsvognen), dies at 97
Mar 3 Stanislav Shatalin, Russian economist (500 Days), dies
Mar 4 Carey Loftin, American actor (Duel, The French Connection), dies at 83
Mar 4 Robert H. Dicke, American physicist (b. 1916)
Mar 5 Samm Sinclair Baker, American diet author (b. 1909)
Mar 6 Anthony Hopkins, English clinical neurologist and Director of the Research Unit at the Royal College of Physicians, dies at 59
Mar 6 Cheddi Jagan, Guyanese politician, 'Father of the Nation' Guyanese Premier (1953, 1957-64), dies at 78
Mar 6 Ed Furgol, American golfer (US Open 1954), dies at 79
Mar 6 Michael Manley, Jamaican PM (PNP, 1972-80, 89-92), dies
Mar 7 E. H. Bronner, German-American soap magnate (b. 1908)
Mar 7 Edward Mills Purcell, American physicist (Nobel 1952), dies at 84
Mar 7 Geraldine Clinton Little, Irish poet (A Little Bouquet), dies at 73
Mar 8 Alexander Salkind, producer (Superman), dies at 75
Mar 8 Raymond Edwards, American doo-wop bass (The Silhouettes - "Get A Job"), dies of cancer at 72
Mar 9 Terry Nation, British screenwriter (Dr Who; Blake 7), and novelist, dies from emphysema at 66
Mar 9 The Notorious B.I.G. [Christopher Wallace], American rapper (Life After Death), shot dead in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles at 24
Mar 10 (Dolores) LaVern Baker [Evans], American pop and R&B vocalist ("Jim Dandy"; "I Cried A Tear"), dies of cardiovascular disease at 67
Mar 11 Hugo Weisgall, American composer (4 Impressions), dies at 84
Mar 11 Lars Ahlin, Swedish writer (My Death is My Own), dies at 81
Mar 13 Leo O'Brien, Australian cricket batsman (5 Tests; Victoria), dies at 89
Mar 14 Fred Zinnemann Austrian-American director (From Here to Eternity, Julia), dies of a heart attack at 89
Mar 14 John Curtis Jr, American executive (Luby's Cafe), commits suicide at 49
Mar 14 Jurek Becker, Polish-born German writer (Jacob the Liar), dies at 59
Mar 14 Lucy Kroll, American talent agent, dies at 87
Mar 15 Gail Davis, American actress (Annie Oakley), dies at 71
Mar 15 Victor Vasarely, Hungarian-French painter and author (Op Art), dies at 90
Mar 17 Jermaine Stewart, American R&B singer (We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off), dies of cancer at 37
Mar 19 Willem De Kooning, Dutch artist (Abstract), dies of Alzheimer at 92
Mar 20 Carlo Fassi, figure skating coach (Fleming, Hamill), dies at 67
Mar 20 Grace Hefner, mother of Hugh Hefner (Playboy), dies at 101
Mar 20 Tony Zale, American boxer (World Middleweight Champion 1940-47, 48), dies at 83
Mar 20 V. S. Pritchett, British literary critic and writer (Myth Makers), dies at 96
Mar 21 Wilbert Awdry, English Anglican cleric and children's writer (Thomas the Tank Engine), dies at 85
Mar 24 Harold Melvin, American soul and R&B singer (The Blue Notes - "If You Don't Know Me By Now"), dies at 57
Mar 24 Martin Caidin, American aviation writer, dies at 69
Mar 25 Roberto Sanchez Vilella, governor of Puerto Rico in (1965-69), dies
Mar 26 Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader (Heaven's Gate), dies leading a mass suicide at 65
Mar 27 Ella Maillart, Swiss adventurer, travel writer, and sportsperson (Forbidden Journey), dies at 94
Mar 29 Eddie Ryder, American actor (General Hospital, Up Yours), dies at 74
Mar 29 Ellen Pollock, British actress (Wicked Lady, Fake), dies at 94
Mar 30 Jon Stone, American director and co-creator of Sesame Street, dies at 64
Mar 31 Arthur Cunningham, American composer, dies at 68
Mar 31 Edwin Alberian, TV celebrity (Clarabell), dies at 76
Mar 31 Laxmishankar Pathak, food retailer, dies at 62
Apr 1 Jolie Gabor, Hungarian-American jeweler and mother of Zsa Zsa & Eva, dies at 100 (birth date disputed)
Apr 1 Nancy Woodhull, news editor (USA Today), dies of cancer at 52
Apr 1 Norman Carr, British conservationist working in Central and Southern Africa, dies at 84
Apr 2 Anthony Bushell, British actor (Journey's End, A Night to Remember), dies at 92
Apr 2 Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese film producer (Godzilla), dies of a stroke at 86
Apr 2 Zsolt Durko, Hungarian composer, dies at 62

On This Day

Famous People Who Died in 1997

Curt Flood (1938-1997)

Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997)

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