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Famous People Who Died in 1998

Deaths 1 - 200 of 490

  • Jan 1 Åke Seyffarth, Swedish speed skater (Olympic gold 10,000m 1948; WR 3,000 & 5,000m), dies at 78

Helen Wills Moody (1905-1998)

Jan 1 American tennis player (19 Grand Slam titles), dies of natural causes at 92

  • Jan 2 Frank Muir, English writer and raconteur, dies at 77
  • Jan 4 John Gary [Strader], American pop and easy listening singer ("Cold"), dies of cancer at 65
  • Jan 4 Mae Questel, American vaudeville, screen and voice actress (Olive Oyl; Betty Boop), dies from complications of Alzheimer's disease at 89

Sonny Bono (1935-1998)

Jan 5 American actor, musician, vocalist, (Sonny & Cher) and politician (Rep-R-Ca, 1995-98), dies at Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe, California, when he hits a tree at 62

  • Jan 5 David Bairstow, English cricket wicket keeper, broadcaster (4 Tests, 13 dismissals; father of England Test 'keeper Jonny; Yorkshire CCC), dies from suicide at 46
  • Jan 5 Georgi Sviridov, Soviet neoromantic composer, dies of a heart attack at 82
  • Jan 5 Ken Forssi, American musician (Love) (b. 1943)
  • Jan 5 Wilhelm Herz, German motorcycle racer (first to 200mph), dies at 85
  • Jan 6 Georgy Sviridov, Soviet Russian neo-romantic composer (The Blizzard; Time; Forward!), dies of a heart attack at 82
  • Jan 7 Owen Bradley, American pop country music record producer (Patsy Cline; Loretta Lynn; Conway Twitty), dies at 82
  • Jan 7 Richard Hamming, American Mathematician and Computer Scientist (Hamming code), dies of a heat attack at 82
  • Jan 7 Vladimir Prelog, Croatian-Swiss organic chemist (Nobel 1975), dies at 91
  • Jan 8 Michael Tippett, British conductor and composer (Child of Our Time), dies shortly after suffering a stroke at 93
  • Jan 8 Walter Diemer, inventor (bubble gum 1928), dies of heart failure at 93
  • Jan 9 Charito Solis, Filipino actress (b. 1935)
  • Jan 9 Kenichi Fukui, Japanese Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1981), dies at 79
  • Jan 11 C V Gadkari, Indian cricket batsman (6 Tests, 1 x 50; Maharashtra, Services), dies at 69
  • Jan 11 John Wells, English actor (Casino Royale; The Bobo), screenwriter, and satirist (That Was the Week That Was), dies of cancer at 61
  • Jan 11 Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (Fidelio), dies at 71
  • Jan 12 Edgar Palm, Curaçaoan pianist and composer (Padu), dies at 92
  • Jan 12 Peter Jona Korn, German composer, dies at 75
  • Jan 13 Andrew Rutherford, Scottish scholar and Vice-Chancellor of the University of London (1994-97), dies at 68
  • Jan 13 Mihovil Logar, Serbian composer (A Would-be Lady), dies at 95
  • Jan 15 Gulzarilal Nanda, Indian politician and economist. temporary Prime Minister of India (1964, 1966), dies at 99
  • Jan 15 Harriet Van Horne, American columnist and panelist (Leave it to Girls), dies at 77
  • Jan 15 Junior Wells, American blues singer ("In My Younger Days"), dies at 63
  • Jan 16 David "Junior" Kimbrough, American blues musician, dies at 67
  • Jan 16 Dimitris Horn, Greek actor (A Girl in Black), dies of cancer at 66
  • Jan 16 Lionel Birkett, West Indian cricket batsman (4 Tests, 1 x 50; Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago), dies at 92
  • Jan 16 Peter Diamand, artistic administrator, dies at 84
  • Jan 17 Emil Sitka, American actor (Three Stooges shorts), dies of stroke at 83

Carl Perkins (1932-1998)

Jan 19 American rock and rockabilly singer-songwriter ("Blue Suede Shoes"; "Honey Don't"), dies from stroke complications at 65 [1]

  • Jan 20 Bobo Brazil [Houston Harris], American pro wrestler (WWF HOF), dies at 73
  • Jan 20 Zevulun Hammer, Israeli politician, minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel (1996-98), dies at 61
  • Jan 21 Jack Lord, American actor (Hawaii FIVE-O), dies at 77
  • Jan 21 Larry Gilbert, American golfer (Senior Players Championship 1997), dies of lung cancer at 55
  • Jan 23 Hilla Limann, president of Ghana in (1979-81), dies at 63
  • Jan 24 Jay Monahan, husband of Katie Couric, dies of cancer at 42
  • Jan 24 Justin Tubb, American country singer (Grand Ole Opry), dies at 62
  • Jan 24 Walter Bishop, Jr, American bebop jazz pianist, music theorist, and educator, dies of a heart attack at 70
  • Jan 25 Attila Zoller, Hungarian-American jazz guitarist, educator (Vermont Jazz Center, 1974-98), and inventor (bi-directional pickup), dies at 70
  • Jan 25 Mohammad Yusuf Khan, prime minister of Afganistan in (1963-65), dies
  • Jan 26 S. P. Leary, Texan blues drummer (Muddy Waters), dies at 67
  • Jan 26 Shinichi Suzuki, Japanese music teacher (Suzuki Method), dies at 99
  • Jan 26 Walter D. Edmonds, American historical writer (Drums Along the Mohawk), dies at 93
  • Jan 28 Colin Sanders, British computer engineer (Solid State Logic), dies in a helicopter crash at 50
  • Jan 29 Joseph Alioto, American politician (Mayor of San Francisco 1968-76), dies at 81
  • Jan 30 Richard Cassilly, American tenor, dies at 70
  • Jan 30 Ricky Lee Sanderson, American murderer, stabbed 16-year old girl in NC, executed at 38
  • Feb 1 Sheila Watson, Canadian writer (Double Hook), dies at 88 [1]
  • Feb 2 Roger L. Stevens, American real estate magnate, Broadway theater producer (West Side Story) and fundraiser (John F. Kennedy Center), dies at 87 [1]
  • Feb 3 Karla Faye Tucker, American murderer, executed at 38
  • Feb 5 Timothy "Tim" Kelly, American guitarist (Slaughter), dies in a car accident at 35
  • Feb 6 Carl Wilson, American rock vocalist and guitarist (Beach Boys), dies of lung cancer at 51
  • Feb 6 Falco [Johann Hoelzel], Austrian singer (Rock Me Amadeus), dies at 40
  • Feb 6 Haroun Tazieff, French vulcanologist and geologist (b. 1914)
  • Feb 6 Nazim al-Kudsi, Syrian PM (1949, 1950-51)/pres (1961-63), dies
  • Feb 7 Lawrence Sanders, American author (b. 1920)

Enoch Powell (1912-1998)

Feb 8 British Conservative MP and shadow cabinet member infamous for his "Rivers of Blood" speech, dies at 85

Halldór Laxness (1902-1998)

Feb 8 Icelandic writer (Nobel 1955), dies at 95

  • Feb 8 Julian Lincoln Simon, American economist and author (b. 1932)
  • Feb 8 William Lambert, American Pulitzer prize-winning reporter, dies at 78
  • Feb 9 Ken Weekes, West Indian cricket batsman (2 Tests, top score 137; first Test cricketer born in US), dies at 86
  • Feb 10 Buddy the Wonder Dog, dog (Air Bud), dies of cancer at 9
  • Feb 10 Maurice Schumann, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (1969-73), dies at 86
  • Feb 13 Jo Clayton, author, Cancer Died, Drums of Chaos, dies at 58
  • Feb 14 Claude Prey, French composer, dies at 72
  • Feb 15 Arthur Cohn, American composer and writer on music, dies at 87
  • Feb 15 Martha Gellhorn, American novelist and journalist who was one of the first female war correspondents (Reuters), dies at 89
  • Feb 15 Samuel Curran, British physicist (invented scintillation counter, 1st Vice Chancellor Strathclyde University - UK's 1st technological university), dies at 85
  • Feb 15 Valentin Yershov, Soviet Russian cosmonaut, dies at 69
  • Feb 17 Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (People, Mambo Italiano), commits suicide at 72
  • Feb 17 Ernst Jünger, German soldier (WWI and WWII), author (Storm of Steel), and entomologist, dies at 102
  • Feb 18 Harry Caray, American Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster (Chicago Cubs), dies of heart attack complications at 83
  • Feb 18 Mya Than Tint, Myanmarese author, dies of brain hemorrhage at 69
  • Feb 18 Robbie James, Welsh soccer midfielder (46 caps; Queens Park Rangers, Swansea City, Bradford City), dies from a heart attack at 40
  • Feb 19 (Louis) "Grandpa" Jones, American country music singer and banjo wizard (Hee Haw), dies at 84
  • Feb 20 Martindale Sidwell, English organist and conductor, dies at 82
  • Feb 22 Abraham Ribicoff, American politician (b. 1910)
  • Feb 22 Athol Rowan, South African cricket spin bowler (15 Tests, 54 wickets, BB 5/68; Transvaal), dies at 77
  • Feb 22 Jose Maria de Areilza, Sp minister of foreign affairs (1975-76), dies
  • Feb 22 Sandy Hume, American correspondent (Fox News), commits suicide at 28
  • Feb 23 Philip Abbott, American character actor (The FBI, Sweet Bird of Youth), dies at 73
  • Feb 24 Antonio Prohias, Cuban-born cartoonist (b. 1921)
  • Feb 24 Henny Youngman, American comedian and violinist (Take my wife ... please), dies at 91
  • Feb 25 B.A. Santamaria, Australian political activist and journalist, dies at 82
  • Feb 25 Celestine Tate Harrington, a quadriplegic street musician and writer.
  • Feb 25 Luigi Veronesi, Italian abstract artist (Campo Grafico), dies at 90
  • Feb 25 Rockin' Sidney [Simien], American zydeco and R&B singer-songwriter, accordionist, guitarist, organist, and harmonica player ("My Toot-Toot"; "You Ain't Nothing But Fine"), dies of throat cancer at 59
  • Feb 25 Umberto Mastroianni, Italian sculptor, dies at 87
  • Feb 26 Pete Livesey, English rock climber, dies of cancer at 54
  • Feb 26 Theodore Schultz, American agricultural economist (1979 Nobel Prize for Economics for development economics), dies at 95 [1]

George H. Hitchings (1905-1998)

Feb 27 American medical doctor (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1988), dies at 92 [1]

  • Feb 27 J. T. Walsh, American actor (Good Morning, Vietnam, Pleasantville), dies of a heart attack at 54
  • Feb 28 Arkady Shevchenko, Soviet diplomat eho defe tef to the US (Foreign Ministry, 1958-73; United Nations Under-Secretary, 1973-78), dies of a heart attack at 67
  • Feb 28 Dermot Morgan, Irish actor and comedian (Father Ted Crilly-Father Ted), dies of a heart attack at 45
  • Mar 2 Henry Steele Commager, American historian (Atlas of Civil War), dies at 95
  • Mar 3 Fred W. Friendly, American journalist and broadcast executive, dies at 82
  • Mar 5 Donald Woods, Canadian actor (True Grit, Craig Kennedy; Criminologist), dies at 91
  • Mar 6 Adem Jasari, Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leader, killed
  • Mar 6 Frank Barrett, American baseball player (b. 1913)
  • Mar 7 Leopoldine "Leonie" Rysanek, Austrian dramatic soprano (Vienna State Opera 1954-96; Metropolitan Opera, 1959-96), dies of bone cancer at 71

Ray Nitschke (1936-1998)

Mar 8 American Pro Football HOF linebacker (5 × NFL C'ship; Super Bowl I, II; First-team All-Pro 1964, 66; GB Packers), dies of a heart attack at 61

  • Mar 9 Alfred Pugsley, English civil engineer (R101 airship), dies at 94
  • Mar 10 Lloyd Bridges, American actor (Sea Hunt, Roots, Airplane!), dies of natural causes at 85
  • Mar 11 Jean Shiley, American high jumper (Olympic gold 1932), dies at 86
  • Mar 12 Beatrice Wood, American artist, ceramist and editor (The Blind Man, inspiration for Titanic film character Rose), dies at 105
  • Mar 12 Jozef Kroner, Slovak actor (The Shop on Main Street), dies at 74
  • Mar 12 Judge Dread [Alexander Hughes] English reggae musician, dies from a heart attack at 52
  • Mar 13 Bill Reid, Canadian artist (b. 1920)
  • Mar 13 Hans von Ohain, German-American aerospace engineer, developed 1st turbojet engine, dies at 86 [1]
  • Mar 15 (Robert) "Jheri" Redding, American hairdresser, businessman, and National Cosmetology Foundation's Hall of Fame member (created the Jheri curl and hair conditioner), dies at 91
  • Mar 15 (Sebastião) "Tim" Maia, Brazilian rock, soul, sambalanço, and funk singer-songwriter, and musician, dies at 55

Benjamin Spock (1903-1998)

Mar 15 American pediatrician and writer (Common Sense Book of Baby Care), dies at 94

  • Mar 16 Derek Barton, British organic chemist ( Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1969), dies at 79 [1]
  • Mar 16 Esther Bubley, American photographer, dies at 77
  • Mar 17 Bernarr Rainbow, English historian of music education, organist, and choir master, dies at 83
  • Mar 20 Beverley Cross, English playwright and screenwriter (Strip the Willow; Half a Sixpence), dies at 66
  • Mar 20 George Howard, American smooth jazz saxophonist (Dream Ride), dies of colon cancer at 41
  • Mar 21 Galina Ulanova, Russian ballet dancer considered one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century (Bolshoi Theatre), dies at 88
  • Mar 23 Gerald Stano, American serial killer (confessed to killing 41 people), dies at 46
  • Mar 25 Daniel Massey, English actor (Vault of Horror), dies at 64
  • Mar 25 Max Green, Australian lawyer (b. 1952)
  • Mar 25 Steve Schiff, American politician (Rep-R-New Mexico 1989-98), dies of cancer at 51
  • Mar 27 David McClelland, American psychologist (b. 1917)
  • Mar 27 Ferry Porsche, Austrian automobile pioneer (Porsche AG), dies at 88
  • Mar 29 Dudley Wysong, American golfer (PGA C'ship 1966 runner-up), dies of an aneurysm at 58
  • Mar 30 Ramsay Ames [Phillips], American actress, model and dancer (The Mummy's Ghost; Ali Baba & the 40 Thieves), dies of lung cancer at 79
  • Mar 31 Bella Abzug "Battling Bella", American politician, feminist and activist (Rep-D-NY, 1970-74), dies at 77
  • Mar 31 Tim Flock, American auto racer (Winston Cup 1952, 55), dies of liver and throat cancer at 73
  • Apr 1 Eugene "Gene" Evans, American actor (My Friend Flicka, Johnny Ringo, Alamo), dies of heart failure at 75
  • Apr 1 Rozz Williams, American musician (Christian Death), dies at 34
  • Apr 3 Mary Cartwright, English mathematician (b. 1900)
  • Apr 3 Rob Pilatus, American-German model, dancer, and de-frocked Grammy Award winner (Milli Vanilli - "Girl You Know It's True"), dies of accidental prescription drug and alcohol overdose at 42
  • Apr 5 Charles Frank, British theoretical physicist (work on crystal dislocations), dies at 87
  • Apr 5 Cozy Powell [Colin Flooks] English rock drummer (Jeff Beck Group; Emerson, Lake & Powell), dies in a car crash at 50
  • Apr 5 John Wilbraham, British classical, baroque, and session trumpeter (Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields; English Chamber Orchestra; The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour), and educator, dies at 53

Tammy Wynette (1942-1998)

Apr 6 American country singer ("Stand By Your Man"), dies at 55

  • Apr 6 Wendy O. Williams, American singer (Plasmatics) (b. 1949)
  • Apr 7 Broery Marantika [Simon Pesulima], Indonesian blues and jazz singer, and actor, dies at 51
  • Apr 7 Nick Auf der Maur, Canadian journalist and politician, dies at 55
  • Apr 9 John Tate, American boxer (WBA heavyweight championship 1979-80), dies from a stroke at 43
  • Apr 9 Tom Cora, American cellist and composer, dies at 44
  • Apr 11 Ivan Tcherepnin, American experimental and postmodern composer, dies at 55
  • Apr 11 Rodney Harvey, American actor and model (Salsa), dies of a drug overdose at 30
  • Apr 13 Patrick de Gayardon, French skydiver & skysurfer, dies at 38
  • Apr 14 Maurice Stans, American politician, Secretary of Commerce and Watergate figure, dies at 90

Pol Pot (1925-1998)

Apr 15 Cambodian dictator (1976-79), revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge (1963-97) and perpetrator of the Cambodian genocide, dies at 72

  • Apr 15 Rose Maddox, American country and bluegrass singer-songwriter, and fiddle player (Sing a Little Song of Heartache), dies of kidney failure at 72
  • Apr 16 Alberto Calderón, Argentine mathematician, dies at 77
  • Apr 16 Fred Davis, English 8-time World Snooker Champion (1948-49, 51), dies at 84

Linda McCartney (1941-1998)

Apr 17 American photographer, musician (Wings) and wife of Paul McCartney, dies of breast cancer at 56

  • Apr 18 Terry Sanford, American politician, dies at 80
  • Apr 19 Liam Sullivan, American singer and actor (Star Trek; The Magic Sword; Monroes), dies of a heart attack at 74
  • Apr 19 Octavio Paz, Mexican poet (Salamandra; Topoemas), writer and diplomat who won the 1990 Nobel Prize laureate, dies at 84
  • Apr 20 Trevor Huddleston, English Anglican bishop in South Africa and anti-apartheid activist (wrote Naught for Your Comfort), dies at 84
  • Apr 21 Jean Francois Lyotard, French philosopher and sociologist (b. 1924)
  • Apr 21 Peter Lind Hayes, American comedian and singer (Peter Lind Hayes Show), dies at 82
  • Apr 22 Kitch Christie, South African rugby coach, dies at 58

James Earl Ray (1928-1998)

Apr 23 American assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., dies while still under detention of complications related to kidney disease and liver failure caused by hepatitis C at 70

  • Apr 23 Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek politician, President of Greece (1980-85), dies at 91
  • Apr 24 Mel Powell [Epstein], American composer (Duplicates: A Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra - Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1990), dies from liver cancer at 75
  • Apr 25 Wright Morris, American writer (b. 1910)
  • Apr 27 Carlos Castaneda, Peruvian-born American writer and mystic, dies at 72
  • Apr 27 Dominique Aury, French novelist, dies at 90
  • Apr 27 Godfrey Kenton, English actor (The Tempest, Well's Theater), dies at 96
  • Apr 27 John Bassett, Canadian publisher & media baron, dies at 47
  • Apr 28 Ramakant Desai, Indian cricket fast bowler (28 Tests, 74 wickets, 1 x 50; Bombay), dies from cardiac arrest at 58
  • Apr 29 Hal Laycoe, Canadian ice hockey coach (inaugural HC Vancouver Canucks 1969-72), dies at 75
  • Apr 30 Francis Avery Jones, Welsh gastroenterologist, dies at 87
  • Apr 30 Nizar Qabbani, Syrian poet (b. 1926)
  • May 1 Eldridge Cleaver, American activist, Black Panther leader turned Republican, dies at 62
  • May 2 Gene Raymond [Raymond Guion], American actor (Paris 7000, Love on a Bet, Fireside Theater), dies from pneumonia a 89
  • May 2 Hide [Hideto Matsumoto], Japanese rock guitarist, singer-songwriter and record producer (X Japan; Zilch), takes his own life at 33
  • May 2 Justin Fashanu, English soccer forward (first openly gay pro footballer; first black footballer to command £1 million transfer fee), dies from suicide at 37
  • May 2 Kevin Lloyd, British actor (b. 1949)
  • May 5 Syd Lawrence, British bandleader (Syd Lawrence Orchestra), dies at 74
  • May 7 Allan McLeod Cormack, South African physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1924)
  • May 7 Eddie Rabbitt, American songwriter ("Kentucky Rain"), and country singer ("I Love a Rainy Night"), dies of lung cancer at 56
  • May 8 Bebe Rebozo, American banker and Watergate figure (b. 1912)
  • May 8 Jack Heslop-Harrison, English botanist, Director of Kew Gardens (1970-76), dies at 78
  • May 9 Alice Faye [Leppert], American actress and singer (Hello Frisco, Hello; Fallen Angel; Stowaway), dies of stomach cancer at 83
  • May 11 Willy Corsari, Dutch writer (the Dutch Agatha Christie) and actor, dies at 100
  • May 12 Hermann Lenz, German writer (Swabian Chronicles), dies at 75

Frank Sinatra (1915-1998)

May 14 American singer (Strangers in the Night; My Way; The Summer Wind) and actor (From Here to Eternity; Guys and Dolls), known as the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", dies at 82

  • May 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas, American journalist, conservationist (1st Lady of the Everglades) and women's suffrage advocate, dies at 108
  • May 15 Earl Manigault, American basketball player (b. 1944)
  • May 15 John Hawkes, American writer (2nd Skin), dies at 72
  • May 19 (Edwin) "Ted" Astley, British arranger, bandleader, and film and television composer (The Mouse That Roared; The Saint), dies at 76
  • May 19 Dorothy Donegan, American boogie-woogie, swing jazz, and classical pianist, and vocalist, dies of cancer at 76
  • May 19 Sōsuke Uno, Japanese prime minister (b. 1922)
  • May 20 Robert Normann, Norwegian jazz guitar pioneer, accordionist, and composer, dies at 81
  • May 21 Douglas Fowley, American actor (Singin' in the Rain, Pistols 'n' Petticoats), dies at 86
  • May 22 John Derek, American actor, director and photographer (Knock on Any Door, All the King's Men, Rogues of Sherwood Forest), dies at 71
  • May 22 José Enrique Moyal, mathematical physicist (b. 1910)
  • May 22 Milton Banana [Antônio de Souza], Brazilian bossa nova jazz drummer (João Gilberto and Stan Getz), dies at 63
  • May 23 Andreas Liebenberg, South African military commander, dies at 60
  • May 26 (Emmanuel) "Emil" Braginsky, Soviet Russian screenwriter (The Irony of Fate), dies at 77