Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Famous People Who Died in 1997

Deaths 1 - 200 of 666

  • Jan 1 Hagood Hardy, American-Canadian jazz and easy listening pianist, vibraphonist and film score composer ("The Homecoming"), dies from lymphoma at 59
  • Jan 1 James B. Pritchard, American theologist & archaeologist, dies at 87
  • Jan 1 Joan Rice, British actress (His Majesty O'Keefe, The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men), dies at 66
  • Jan 1 John Burgess, English rugby coach and administrator (England coach 1971-75; RFU President 1987-88), dies at 71
  • Jan 1 Townes Van Zandt, American singer-songwriter ("Pancho and Lefty"), dies of a heart attack at 52
  • Jan 2 Randy California, American rock guitarist, dies at 45
  • Jan 3 Burton Lane, American film and stage composer and lyricist (Finian's Rainbow), dies at 84
  • Jan 3 Cornelius Kee, Dutch organist and composer, dies at 96
  • Jan 3 David Kraehenbuehl, American composer (March of the Trolls), pianist, teacher (Yale), and music theorist (Journal of Music Theory), dies of a heart attack at 73
  • Jan 3 Roger Goeb, American composer, dies at 82
  • Jan 4 Harry B Helmsley, American billionaire real estate developer (purchased Empire State Building, 1961), dies at 87
  • Jan 5 Andre Franquin, Belgian cartoonist (Gaston), dies at 73
  • Jan 6 Catherine Scorsese [Cappa], Italian-American actress (The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear), dies from Alzheimer's disease at 84
  • Jan 6 Ian Peter Leslie Smith, British journalist, dies at 52
  • Jan 6 Litz Pisk, British movement teacher in the theater, dies at 87
  • Jan 6 Vince Williams, American actor (Hampton in "Guiding Light"), dies of cancer at 39
  • 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

Melvin Calvin (1911-1997)

Jan 8 American biochemist (Nobel Prize for Chemistry 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, British conservationist and for the WWF, 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, English TV director and producer (Hancock's Half Hour, Steptoe & Son), 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, English 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 Los Angeles highway at 29
  • Jan 16 Jim Kensil, American NFL executive (New York Jets president), dies of heart failure at 66
  • Jan 16 Stephen Fitz-Simon, British fashion retailer and entrepreneur (Biba), 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 (Grand National 1948, 52, 60), 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 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 after suffering a stroke 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 Jeane Dixon [Lydia Pinckert], American celebrity psychic and astrologer (A Gift of Prophecy), dies of a heart attack at 93
  • Jan 25 Jim Boyd, American boxer (Olympic gold light-heavyweight, 1956), dies at 66
  • Jan 25 Seldon Powell, American jazz tenor saxophonist and flautist, dies at 68
  • Jan 26 Margaret, Princess of Hesse and by Rhine (née Geddes), and patron of the arts, 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 'the laughing bandit', Italian 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 and 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 and psychologist, dies at 78
  • Feb 2 Chico Science [Francisco Franca], Brazilian musician (manguebeat), dies in a car accident at 30
  • 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 Esteban Sánchez, Spanish classical pianist and pedagogue (Badajoz Conservatoire, 1978-97), dies at 62
  • 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, English businessman (computer dating service Dateline), 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, English actor (Dr Upton-Dr in the House), dies in mysterious circumstances 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, American child involved in the Louise Woodward court case, dies at 8 months
  • Feb 10 Milton Cato, 1st Prime Minister of San Vincent and the Grenadines (1979-84), dies at 82
  • Feb 11 Don Porter, American actor (Gidget), dies at 84
  • Feb 12 James Cossins, English stage and screen character actor (The Anniversary; Fawlty Towers), dies of hear disease at 63
  • Feb 12 Nora Beloff, English journalist, first female political correspondent for a UK newspaper (Observer) 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 Jarmil Burghauser [Mokrý], Czech composer, choirmaster, conductor, and musicologist, dies at 75
  • 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 theater impresario (Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera), and film producer (The Knack ...and How to Get It), dies of heart failure 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, Polish-French film producer (Superman film franchise), dies at 75
  • Mar 8 Raymond Edwards, American doo-wop bass (The Silhouettes - "Get A Job"), dies of cancer at 72
  • Mar 9 Cicely Veronica Wedgwood [C. V. Wedgwood], British historian (William the Silent), dies at 86
  • Mar 9 Terry Nation, British screenwriter (Dr Who; Blake 7), and novelist, dies from emphysema at 66

The Notorious B.I.G. (1972-1997)

Mar 9 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, Italian figure skating coach (Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, John Curry, Robin Cousins, Jill Trenary) and skater (World C'ship bronze men's singles 1953), 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 [Janka Tilleman], Hungarian-American jeweler and mother of Magda, 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