Deaths Date 1985 | History by KabAstro

Deaths 1 - 200 of 408

Jan 16 Robert Fitzgerald, American poet and translator, dies at 74
Jan 17 Jimmy DeBerry, American blues guitarist, banjo player, and singer, dies at 73
Jan 18 Mahmoud Taha, Sudanese Muslim leader, hanged at 76
Jan 18 Wilfrid Brambell, Irish actor (Hard Day's Night, Steptoe and Son), dies from cancer at 72
Jan 20 Jo Juda, Dutch musician (1st concertmaster of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra), dies at 75
Jan 21 Eddie Graham, American professional wrestler and promoter, dies at 55
Jan 21 James Beard, American culinary expert and author (Delights & Prejudices), dies at 81
Jan 22 Arthur Bryant, English historian (biography of Samuel Pepys), dies at 85
Jan 26 James Cameron, British foreign correspondent and journalist, dies at 73
Jan 30 Ken Mayers, American actor (Little Big Man, Dick Tracey, Space Patrol), dies at 66
Jan 31 Barbara Cowsill, American singer and rock band mother (The Cowsills - "Hair"; "We Can Fly"), dies of emphysema at 56
Feb 3 Frank Oppenheimer, American particle physicist, brother of J. Robert Oppenheimer, dies at 72
Feb 5 Cees Bantzinger, Dutch cartoonist and illustrator, commits suicide at 70
Feb 5 Georges-Émile Lapalme, Quebec politician (b. 1907)
Feb 6 Charles Briggs, American actor (13 Frightened Girls, Capt Newman), dies at 53

Feb 6 James Hadley Chase, English writer (b. 1906)
Feb 7 Albert Dondeyne, Belgian philosopher and theologist, dies at 83
Feb 7 Matt Monro [Terence Parsons], English pop singer ("Softly As I Leave You"), dies from liver cancer at 54
Feb 7 Uday Merchant, Indian cricketer (brother of Vijay, prolific scorer), dies at 68
Feb 8 Marvin Miller [Mueller], American actor (Space Patrol, Dead Reckoning, Millionaire), dies from a heart attack at 71
Feb 8 Tom Greenway, American actor (Miami Story), dies of a heart attack at 75

William Lyons (1901-1985)

Feb 8 British industrialist and automobile manufacturer (Jaguar cars), dies at 84

Feb 10 Johnny Mokan, American MLB player (Philadelphia Phillies), dies at 89
Feb 11 Ben Abruzzo, American businessman and balloonist (b. 1930)
Feb 11 Heinz Roemheld, American film composer (Yankee Doodle Dandy; Ruby Gentry), dies of pneumonia at 83
Feb 11 Henry Hathaway, American actor and director of westerns (Nob Hill), dies of a heart attack at 86
Feb 12 Nicholas Colasanto, American actor (Cheers - "Coach"; Family Plot; The Counterfeit Killer), dies of a heart attack at 61
Feb 12 Van Lingle Mungo, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1934, 36, 37, 45; NL strikeout leader 1936; Brooklyn Dodgers, NY Giants), dies at 73
Feb 16 Larry Ward, actor (Frank Ragan-Dakotas), dies at 69
Feb 17 Wanda Perry, actress (Roberta, Death of a Salesman), dies at 67
Feb 18 Willy Alberti [Carel Verbrugge], Dutch singer and actor (Riffin in Amsterdam), dies at 58
Feb 19 Elizabeth Julesberg, author (Dick & Jane), dies
Feb 19 George Holmes, actor (Man in the Trunk), dies at 66
Feb 20 Clarence Nash, American voice actor (Donald Duck), dies of leukemia at 80
Feb 21 Eric Herfst, Dutch cabaret performer (Lurelei) and actor (Floris), dies of a brain tumor at 47
Feb 21 Ina Claire [Fagan], American stage and screen actress (Ninotchika), dies of a heart attack at 91
Feb 21 Louis Hayward, British-American actor (Lone Wolf, Survivors), dies of lung cancer at 75
Feb 22 Alexander Scourby, American actor (Victory at Sea, Ransom), dies at 71
Feb 22 Efrem Zimbalist Sr, Russian-American violinist composer, and educator (Curtis Institute, 1928-68), dies at 95
Feb 22 Salvador Espriu, Spanish poet (b. 1913)
Feb 27 David Huffman, American actor (FIST, Jane Doe, Firefox, Onion Field), murdered at 39
Feb 27 Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American politician (Sen-R) and ambassador (West Germany, Vietnam & UN), dies at 82
Feb 27 J Pat O'Malley, Irish-British actor (101 Dalmatians, The Jungle Book), dies at 80
Feb 27 Ray Ellington [Henry Pitts Brown], British jazz drummer, singer and bandleader (The Goon Show), dies of cancer at 68
Feb 28 Charita Bauer, American actress (The Guiding Light, Aldrich Family), dies following long illness at 62
Feb 28 David Byron [Garrick], British vocalist and songwriter (Uriah Heep), dies of alcohol-related complications at 38
Mar 1 Eugene List, American concert pianist and teacher (Eastman School of Music), dies at 66
Mar 2 John Kelly Jr, American rower (Olympic bronze single sculls 1956; president US Olympic Committee 1985) and brother of Grace Kelly, dies at 57
Mar 3 Sarah Blanding, 1st US fem college head (Vassar 1946-64), dies at 86
Mar 6 Eric Sloane, American artist, dies at 80
Mar 7 George Schick, Czech conductor (Chicago Symphony, 1950-56; Metropolitan Opera, 1958-69), and educator, dies at 76
Mar 7 Robert W. Woodruff, American CEO (Coca-Cola) and philanthropist, dies at 95
Mar 7 Victor W. Farris, American inventor (paper milk carton), dies at 75
Mar 8 Edward Andrews, American actor (Tea & Sympathy, Glass Bottom Boat), dies of a heart attack at 70
Mar 8 Thomas Creighton, US heart patient (3 implants in 46 hrs), dies at 33

Konstantin Chernenko (1911-1985)

Mar 10 General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1984-85), dies of Emphysema at 73

Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985)

Mar 12 Hungarian-American violinist and conductor (Philadelphia Orchestra, 1936-80), dies of pneumonia at 85

Mar 13 Robert "Bob" Shad [Abraham Shadrinsky], American record producer and record label owner (Big Brother and the Holding Company), dies at 65
Mar 15 Radha Krishna Choudhary, Indian historian and writer (b. 1921)

Eddie Shore (1902-1985)

Mar 16 Canadian ice hockey player and NHL hall of famer (Boston Bruins), dies of a lung infection at 82

Mar 16 Jean Purdy, British embryologist and nurse (pioneer in developing IVF), dies from melanoma at 39

Roger Sessions (1896-1985)

Mar 16 American Pulitzer Prize winning composer (Concerto for Orchestra; The Black Maskers), musicologist, and educator (Princeton, 1936-45, 53-65; Berkeley, 1945-53), dies at 88

Mar 17 Anita Boyer, American radio and big band singer (Tommy Dorsey - "I Concentrate On You"), dies at 69 [1]
Mar 17 Dattu Phadkar, Indian cricketer (Indian all-rounder, 31 Tests 1947-58), dies at 59
Mar 18 Jack Miller, Ameerican orchestra leader (Kate Smith Evening Hour), dies at 89
Mar 21 Michael Redgrave, British actor (Browning Version, Goodbye Mr Chips, Lady Vanishes), dies of Parkinson's Disease at 77
Mar 21 Salvador Ley, composer, dies at 78
Mar 23 Anton Constandse, Dutch anarchist and writer, dies at 85
Mar 23 Patricia Roberts Harris, (Rep-D), 1st African American woman cabinet member, dies of cancer at 60
Mar 23 Peter Charanis, Greek-American scholar and professor (b. 1908)
Mar 23 Richard Beeching, English physicist, engineer and chairman of British Railways (1961-64), dies at 71
Mar 24 George London, Canadian bass-baritone (Rigoleto- "Monterone"), dies at 64
Mar 25 Karl Gustav Ahlefeldt, Danish actor (Gertrud, Hooray for the Blue Hussars), dies at 75
Mar 28 Marc Chagall [Moise Shagal], Jewish Belarusan-French modernist painter and stained glass artist (La Mariée; I and the Village), dies at 97
Mar 28 Nand Baert, Flemish radio presenter (Afternoonbeat) and television game show host, dies at 53
Mar 29 Gerhard Stöck, German athlete (Olympic gold javelin, bronze shot put 1936), dies at 73
Mar 29 Jeanine Deckers, Belgian singer-songwriter, and Dominican nun known as 'The Singing Nun' ("Dominique"), cities financial difficulties, and commits suicide with barbiturate overdose at 51
Mar 29 Luther Terry, 9th Surgeon General of the United States, dies at 73
Mar 30 Harold Peary, American actor (Herb-Blondie, Willy), dies of a heart attack at 76
Apr 1 Douglass Wallop, American novelist and playwright (b. 1920)
Apr 1 Herman Roelstraete, Belgium composer, dies at 59
Apr 4 Kate Roberts, Welsh nationalist and writer (b. 1891)
Apr 5 Arthur Negus, English antiques expert and broadcaster (Antiques Roadshow), dies at 82
Apr 5 Tyrell Johnson, West Indian cricketer (WI left-arm quickie, one Test 1939), dies at 68
Apr 6 Mark Lothar [Lothar Hundertmark], German composer (The Story of the Lazy Bear), dies at 82
Apr 7 Carl Schmitt, German political theorist and prominent Nazi (Verfassungslehre), dies at 96
Apr 8 J. Fred Coots, American songwriter ("Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"; "Love Letters In The Sand"), dies at 87
Apr 11 Bunny Ahearne, British ice hockey promoter, dies at 84

Enver Hoxha (1908-1985)

Apr 11 Albanian post-war communist leader and dictator of Albania (1944-85), dies at 76

Apr 14 Noele Gordon, British actress (Crossroads), dies at 65
Apr 14 Reginald Beane, American pianist (Starlit Time: Once Upon a Tune), dies at 63
Apr 15 Ben Stroman, Dutch writer (Jomtof & Blue Beard), dies at 82
Apr 16 Scott Brady [Gerald Tierney], American actor (Shotgun Slade, China Syndrome, Gremlins, Johnny Guitar), dies of pulmonary fibrosis at 60
Apr 18 Gertrude Caton-Thompson, English archaeologist (Zimbabwe, So Arabia), dies at 97
Apr 21 Foster Hewitt, Canadian radio broadcaster (Hockey Night in Canada), dies at 82
Apr 21 Irving Mills [Isadore Minsky], American jazz music publisher, manager (Duke Ellington, 1926-48), singer and lyricist, dies at 91
Apr 21 Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer (monokini, miniskirt), dies of cancer at 62
Apr 21 Tancredo Neves, president-elect of Brazil, dies at 75
Apr 22 José de Lima Siqueira, Brazilian conductor, and composer, dies at 78
Apr 22 Paul H. Emmett, American chemical engineer, dies at 84
Apr 23 Kent Smith, American actor (Peyton Place, Invaders), dies from heart disease at 78
Apr 23 Sam Ervin, American politician (U.S. Senator from North Carolina) and Watergate committee chairman, dies at 88
Apr 24 Sergei Yutkevich, Russian film director, (Otello, Banya), dies at 80
Apr 25 Murray Matheson, actor (Felix-Banacek), dies at 72
Apr 25 Richard Haydn, British actor (The Sound of Music; Alice in Wonderland), dies from a heart attack at 80
May 1 Denise Robins, English romantic novelist (1st Long Kiss), dies at 88
May 1 George Pravda, Czech actor, dies at 68
May 2 Bridget D'Oyly Carte, British theater & hotel director, dies of lung cancer at 77
May 2 Hal LeRoy [John LeRoy Schotte], American vaudeville, Broadway and film dancer (Ziegfeld's Follies of 1931), dies at 71 after surgery
May 2 Larry Clinton, American trumpeter and bandleader, dies at 75
May 2 Milton S Eisenhower, US diplomat, dies at 85
May 4 Clarence Wiseman, the 10th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1907)
May 5 Sir Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (b. 1901)
May 6 Julie Vega, Filipina child actress and singer, dies at 16
May 6 Pete Desjardins, American diver (Olympic gold 10m platform, 3m springboard 1928), dies at 78
May 7 Dawn Addams, British actress (A King in New York, Star Maidens) who married the Prince of Roccasecca, dies of cancer at 54
May 8 Adolphus "Dolph" Sweet, American actor (Gimme a Break, Which Way is Up), dies of cancer at 64
May 8 Karl Marx, German composer and conductor, dies at 87
May 9 Redmond "Edmond" O'Brien, American actor (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Sam Benedict, Johnny Midnight), dies of Alzheimer's at 69
May 9 Reginald Dixon, British theatre organist, dies at 80
May 11 Chester Gould, American cartoonist (Dick Tracy), dies at 84
May 11 Garmt Stuiveling, Dutch writer and poet (Ego & Echo), dies at 77
May 11 Jorja Curtright, American stage and screen actress (Whistle Stop, Heaven Only Knows), and interior decorator, dies of a heart attack at 61
May 12 Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (Landscape with 2 Personages), dies at 83
May 13 Leatrice Joy, silent screen star, dies in Riverdale (Bronx) NYC at 91
May 13 Revaz Dogonadze, Georgian scientist (one of the founders of Quantum electrochemistry), dies at 53
May 13 Selma Diamond, Canadian-American comedy writer (Your Show Of Shows), and actress (Night Court, 1984-85 - "Selma"), dies of lung cancer at 64
May 14 Mohammed Munir, Indonesian worker's union leader, executed
May 15 Jackie Curtis, actor (Underground USA), dies of a drug overdose at 38

Margaret Hamilton (1902-1985)

May 16 American character actress (The Wizard of Oz), dies of a heart attack at 82

May 17 Abe Burrows [Borowitz], American Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning songwriter, composer and writer (Guys and Dolls), dies from Alzheimer's disease at 74
May 17 Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) killed off on television soap opera "Dallas"
May 17 Hugh Burden, actor (Night of Laughing Dead), dies at 72
May 18 Harald Andersson, Swedish discus thrower (world record 52.42m 1934), dies at 78
May 18 Stojan Daskalov, Bulgarian writer (A Farm), dies at 75
May 18 Tex Terry, American actor (Apache Rose, Timberjack), dies at 82
May 20 George Memmoli, American actor (Earl-Hello Larry), dies at 46
May 20 Harm Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch painter, etcher and ceramist, dies at 92
May 24 Joe Darensbourg, Cajun-American dixieland-style jazz clarinetist (Jelly Roll Morton; Louis Armstrong), dies at 78
May 25 Harold Hecht, American choreographer, dies at 77 of cancer
May 25 Robert Nathan, American poet and novelist (Portrait of Jennie), dies at 91
May 27 (Clifton) "Skeeter" Best, American jazz guitarist (Erskine Hawkins; Earl Hines; Oscar Pettiford; Ray Charles; Milt Jackson), dies at 70
May 27 Kay Campbell, actress (All My Children), dies at 80
May 29 39 people die in a confrontation at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium when Juventus and Italian fans are crushed against a wall escaping a breach by Liverpool fans
May 29 Madge West, American actress (McLean Stevenson Show), dies at 93
Jun 1 Richard Greene, English stage and screen actor (The Adventures of Robin Hood), dies of cardiac arrest at 66
Jun 4 John Ringling North, American circus director (Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from 1937-43), dies at 81
Jun 6 Siem Devout, Dutch actor, dies at 54
Jun 10 Bob Prince, American sportscaster (Monday Night Baseball, Pittsburgh Pirates), dies of cancer at 68
Jun 10 George Chandler, American actor (Fury, Lassie, The Fatal Glass of Beer), dies of Alzheimer's disease at 86
Jun 11 Karen Ann Quinlan, comatose patient, dies in Morris Plains NJ at 31
Jun 11 Sapfo Notara, Greek actress (b. 1907)
Jun 12 Edmund Perry, 17 and newly graduated from N.H. prep. high school, shot and killed in Manhattan by NYPD undercover officer Lee Vanhouten, who claimed Perry tried to rob him
Jun 15 Andy Stanfield, American athlete (Olympic gold 200m, 4x100m relay 1952, silver 200m 1956; WR 200m: 20.60 1952), dies at 57
Jun 15 Len Hopwood, cricketer (took 0-155 in two Tests Eng v Aust 1934), dies
Jun 15 Percy Fender, English cricket all-rounder (13 Tests, 29 wickets, BB 5/90, HS 60; Sussex CCC, Surrey CCC, MCC), dies at 92
Jun 15 Robert Stethem, U.S. Navy Seabee diver murdered by terrorists on TWA Flight 847 (b. 1961)
Jun 17 Piet De Somer, Belgian rector of University of Louvain, dies at 67
Jun 18 Paul Colin, French poster designer, dies at 92
Jun 21 Tage Erlander, Swedish politician (25th Prime Minister of Sweden 1946-69), dies at 84
Jun 22 Pat Hales, English tennis player (US C'ships women's singles 1955 runner-up; French C'ship doubles 1955, 60 & Wimbledon doubles 1955 runner-up), dies at 56
Jun 25 Connie "Pee Wee" Crayton, American R&B and blues guitarist and singer ("Do Unto Others"), dies of a heart attack at 70
Jun 25 Morris Mason, American convicted rapist and murderer, executed by electric chair at 31
Jun 27 Jane Ross [Breslaw], American actress (Star Trek, Rocket Attack U.S.A., Wild Is My Love), dies at 53
Jun 28 James Craig [Meador], American actor (Devil & Daniel Webster, Cyclops), dies of lung cancer at 73
Jun 28 Jimmy Thomson, Scottish golfer (US Open 1935, PGA C'ship 1936 runner-up), dies at 76
Jun 28 Lambros Konstantaras, Greek actor (O blofatzis, Anna of Rhodes), dies at 72
Jun 30 James Dewar, Canadian inventor and baker (Twinkie cake), dies at 88
Jul 1 Pauli Murray, African American poet and civil rights activist, dies at 74
Jul 2 David Purley, British Formula 1 driver (b. 1945)
Jul 3 Cooney Weiland, Canadian ice hockey coach (Stanley Cup 1941 Boston Bruins; Harvard Uni) and NHL forward (Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings), dies at 80
Jul 3 Frank J. Selke, Canadian Hockey HOF executive (9 x Stanley Cup Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens), dies at 92
Jul 4 Jan de Quay, Dutch politician (KVP, Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1959-63), dies at 83
Jul 5 Ger Schmook, Flemish librarian (ADB, Antwerp City Library) dies at 86
Jul 5 Marion Byron, actress (Steamboat Bill Jr), dies at 73
Jul 7 Guido Kisch, Czech-American Jewish historian (Jews in medieval Germany), dies at 96
Jul 7 Patti McCarty, actress (Gangster of the Frontier), dies at 64
Jul 8 Gardner Cowles Jr., American publisher (Look Magazine), dies at 82
Jul 8 Phil Foster, American comedian (Frank De Fazio-Laverne & Shirley), dies at 72
Jul 8 Simon Kuznets, American economist (Nobel 1971), dies at 84
Jul 9 Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1896)
Jul 9 Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish founder of Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
Jul 9 Rafael Campos, Dominican born actor (Ramon-Rhoda, Sancho-V), dies of cancer at 49
Jul 10 Fernando Pereira, military activist, murdered