Deaths in 2008

The following is a list of notable deaths in 2008. Names are listed under the date of death, not the date it was announced. Names under each date are listed in alphabetical order by family name.

A typical entry appears in the following sequence:

• Name, age, country of citizenship and reason for notability, established cause of death, reference.

February 2008

23

• Janez Drnovšek, 57, Slovenian Prime Minister (1992-2002) and President (2002–2007), cancer. [1]

22

• Eagle Day, 75, American football player, following a short illness. [2]
• Rubens de Falco, 76, Brazilian actor, heart failure. [3]
• Oswaldo Louzada, 95, Brazilian actor, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. [4] (Portuguese)
• Tsuneyo Toyonaga, 113, oldest living Japanese person. [5]
• Bobby Lee Trammell, 74, American rockabilly singer and former Arkansas state Representative. [6]

21

• Madalena Barbosa, 66, Portuguese feminist (MLM). [7] (Portuguese)
• Ben Chapman, 79, American actor (The Creature from the Black Lagoon). [8]
• Geoff Leek, 76, Australian footballer with Essendon. [9]
• Sunny Lowry, 97, first British woman to swim the English Channel. [10]
• Evan Mecham, 83, American Governor of Arizona (1987–1988). [11]
• Matthew Mechtel, 39, American former candidate for the U.S. House from North Dakota, apparent suicide by gunshot. [12]
• Robin Moore, 82, American author (The French Connection, The Green Berets) [13]
• Emmanuel Sanon, 56, Haitian footballer, pancreatic cancer. [14]
• Sufi Abu Taleb, 83, Egyptian politician; acting President (1981), Speaker of the People's Assembly (1978-1983). [15]

20

• Piet Dam, 61, Dutch five-time international rallycross champion, pancreatic cancer. [16]
• Larry Davis, 41, American convicted murderer, stabbed. [17]
• D. G. S. Dhinakaran, 73, Indian evangelist. [18]
• Arun Kale, 54, Indian poet, heart attack. [19]
• Paranjape Prakash Vishvanath, 61, Indian Shiv Sena politician, cancer. [20]

19

• Barry Barclay, 63, New Zealand film maker, heart attack. [21]
• Basavarajeshwari, 86, Indian politician. [22]
• Jean-Michel Bertrand, 64, French politician. [23] (French)
• Natalia Bessmertnova, 66, Russian prima ballerina, cancer. [24] (Russian)
• Giuseppe Bicocchi, 64, Italian politician and former deputy. [25] (Italian)
• Dorothy Wood Felton, 78, American politician, first and longest-serving female in the Georgia State Legislature (1974–2000). [26]
• Bob Howsam, 89, American sports executive (Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Reds), heart condition. [27]
• Souheil Idriss, 83, Lebanese writer. [28] (Portuguese)
• Yegor Letov, 43, Russian punk rock singer, heart failure. [29] (Russian)
• Teo Macero, 82, American record producer and saxophonist. [30]
• Arakem Peixoto, 77, Brazilian musician, heart attack. [31] (Portuguese)
• Emily Perry, 100, British actress. [32]
• Peter Pianto, 78, Australian footballer. [33]
• Lydia Shum, 62, Hong Kong actress, liver cancer. [34]
• Thawa, Sri Lankan photographer for LTTE. [35]
• David Watkin, 82, British cinematographer, cancer. [36]

18

• Mary Barclay, 92, British actress. [37]
• Grits Gresham, 85, American conservationist, sportsman, and actor, complication of infection and pneumonia. [38]
• Jim Jones, 57, American rock guitarist (Pere Ubu), heart attack. [39]
• Sir Richard Knowles, 90, British leader of Birmingham City Council (1984–1993), bladder cancer. [40]
• Jack Lyons, 92, British financier and philanthropist. [41]
• Mickey Renaud, 19, Canadian ice hockey player. [42] [43]
• Alain Robbe-Grillet, 85, French writer (Last Year at Marienbad), heart failure. [44]
• Yelena Sabitova, 28, Russian women's boxing world champion, pancreatitis. [45] [46] [47] (Russian)
• Alec Wildenstein, 67, French international art dealer, ex-husband of socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein, cancer. [48]
• Miguel Zanetti, 72, Spanish musician. [49] (Portuguese)

17

• Aysel Gurel, 80, Turkish lyric writer, chronic bronchitis. [50]
• Brian Harris, 72, British footballer. [51]
• Val Ross, 57, Canadian journalist and children's writer, brain cancer. [52]
• Benigno G. Tabora, 92, American survivor of Bataan Death March. [53]
• S. M. Aslam Talukder (Manna), 44, Bangladeshi film actor. [54]
• Winning Colors, 23, American racehorse, won 1988 Kentucky Derby, euthanized. [55]

16

• Harry Flemming, 74, Canadian journalist, complications from cancer and pneumonia. [56]
• Brendan Hughes, 59, Irish member of the Provisional IRA. [57]
• Jerry Karl, 66, American racing driver, car accident.[58]
• Boris Khmelnitsky, 67, Russian actor in adventure films. [59] (Russian)
• Bobby Lord, 74, American country musician. [60]
• James Orange, 65, American civil rights activist. [61]

15

• Ayman al-Fayed, 42, Palestinian commander of al-Quds Brigades, explosion. [62]
• Willie P. Bennett, 56, Canadian singer, natural causes. [63]
• Sam Bith, 74, Cambodian former Khmer Rouge commander. [64]
• Ashley Callie, 32, South African actress, car accident. [65]
• Joaquim Costa, 72, Portuguese rock musician. [66] (Portuguese)
• Antoni Heda, 91, Polish Brigadier General, freedom fighter during World War II. [67] (Polish)
• Marijan Oblak, 88, Croatian Archbishop of Zadar. [68]
• Naziha Salim, 81, Iraqi painter, complications from a stroke. [69]
• Mikhail Solomentsev, 94, Russian chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR (1971–1983). [70] (Russian)
• Inge Thun, 62, Norwegian footballer (Strømsgodset), stroke. [71] (Norwegian)
• Johnny Weaver, 72, American professional wrestler, natural causes. [72]

14

• Len Boyd, 84, British footballer. [73]
• Jess Cain, 81, American radio personality (WHDH AM), cancer. [74]
• Werner Giesa, 53, German author. [75] (German)
• Sir Ralph Howell, 84, British Tory MP (1970–1997). [76]
• Steven Kazmierczak, 27, American mass murderer (Northern Illinois University shooting), suicide by gunshot. [77]
• Perry Lopez, 78, American character actor (Chinatown), lung cancer. [78]
• William Modell, 86, American chairman of Modell's Sporting Goods, complications from prostate cancer. [79]
• Pado Mahn Shar, 64, Burmese Secretary General of Karen National Union, gunshot. [80] [81]

13

• Smoky Dawson, 94, Australian country music performer, after a short illness. [82] [83]
• Michele Greco, 83, Italian Mafia boss, lung cancer. [84] (Italian)
• Kon Ichikawa, 92, Japanese film director (Tokyo Olympiad, The Burmese Harp), pneumonia. [85]
• Rajendra Nath, 75, Indian film actor, cardiac arrest. [86]
• Raúl Salinas, 73, American poet, complications of liver cancer. [87]
• Henri Salvador, 90, French jazz singer and guitarist, aneurysm. [88]
• Lionel Mark Smith, 62, American actor (Edmond, Homicide), cancer. [89]
• Roger Voisin, 89, American trumpeter. [90]

12

• John Brunious, 67, American jazz trumpeter, heart attack. [91]
• Ron Chippindale, 75, New Zealand retired chief air accident investigator, car accident. [92]
• Wilson Hermosa González, 64, Bolivian musician and composer (Los Kjarkas). [93] (Spanish)
• David Groh, 68, American actor (Rhoda), kidney cancer. [94]
• Thomas Grosser, 42, German footballer, heart attack during training. [95] (German)
• Geoffrey Lewis, 87, British Professor of Turkish at Oxford University. [96]
• Imad Mugniyah, 45, Lebanese senior member of Hezbollah, car bomb. [97] [98] [99]
• Badri Patarkatsishvili, 52, Georgian business oligarch and 2008 presidential candidate, heart attack. [100]
• Alexander Samarskiy, 88, Russian mathematician, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Hero of Socialist Labor. [101]

11

• Fouad al-Tikerly, 81, Iraqi novelist and judge, pancreatic cancer. [102]
• Sergio "Angese" Angeletti, 56, Italian cartoonist. [103] (Italian)
• Freddie Bell, 76, American rhythm and blues singer, cancer. [104]
• Emilio Carballido, 82, Mexican playwright, heart attack. [105] (Spanish)
• Tom Lantos, 80, American Representative (Cal.) since 1981, only Holocaust survivor elected to Congress, esophageal cancer. [106]
• Edward McDonough, 86, American "healing priest", stroke. [107]
• Torakichi Nakamura, 92, Japanese professional golfer, natural causes. [108]
• Stephane Peru, 26, French comic book colorist, heart attack. [109]
• Frank Piasecki, 88, American aeronautical engineer who invented the tandem rotor placement in helicopter design, stroke. [110]
• Rahatullah, 18, Pakistani cricketer for Peshawar and the Under-19 national side, shot. [111]
• Alfredo Reinado, 40, East Timorese rebel, shot during attack on José Ramos-Horta. [112]
• Zelig Sharfstein, 79, American chief rabbi of Cincinnati, heart condition. [113]
• Melvin Alvah Traylor Jr., 92, American ornithologist and curator emeritus at the Field Museum of Natural History. [114]

10

• Kirk Browning, 86, American television director, heart attack. [115]
• Alaa Abdulkareem Fartusi, 29, Iraqi journalist and cameraman, bomb blast. [116]
• Adeline Jay Geo-Karis, 89, American politician, member of Illinois State Senate (1979–2007), natural causes. [117]
• Steve Gerber, 60, American comic book writer, creator of Howard the Duck, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. [118]
• Ove Jørstad, 37, Norwegian footballer, cardiac arrest. [119] (Norwegian)
• Ron Leavitt, 60, American co-creator of Married With Children, lung cancer. [120]
• Dario Lodigiani, 91, American baseball player. [121]
• Peter Marginter, 73, Austrian author. [122] (German)
• Inga Nielsen, 61, Danish soprano, cancer. [123]
• Roy Scheider, 75, American Academy Award-nominated actor (The French Connection, Jaws, All That Jazz), staph infection. [124]

9

• Baba Amte, 93, Indian social activist, advocate for lepers, RLA recipient. [125]
• Vumile Dladla, 25, South African football player, car crash. [126]
• Robert DoQui, 73, American character actor (RoboCop). [127]
• Scot Halpin, 54, American one time drummer for The Who. [128]
• Gene Knutson, 75, American football defensive end (Green Bay Packers), cancer. [129]
• Joseph T. Sneed III, 87, American senior judge (Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit). [130]
• Guy Tchingoma, 22, Gabonese football player, on-field collision. [131]
• Mindrolling Trichen, 78, Tibetan ceremonial head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. [132]

8

• Ah Meng, 48, Sumatran orangutan, tourist icon at Singapore Zoo. [133]
• Richard Altick, 92, American professor of English (Ohio State University). [134]
• Chua Ek Kay, 61, Singaporean painter and Cultural Medallion winner, nose cancer. [135]
• Eva Dahlbeck, 87, Swedish actress and writer, infection. [136]
• Frank Dixon, 87, American molecular biologist, founder of Scripps Research Institute, aortic stenosis. [137]
• Robert Jastrow, 82, American astronomer, physicist and cosmologist, pneumonia. [138]
• Stephen Arusei Kipkorir, 37, Kenyan long-distance runner, car crash. [139]
• Rudie Sypkes, 57, Australian founder of the Chickenfeed retail chain, pulmonary fibrosis. [140]
• Phyllis A. Whitney, 104, American mystery novelist (A Place for Ann), pneumonia. [141]

7

• Alberto Bustamante Belaunde, 57, Peruvian politician, Prime Minister (1999–2000), heart attack. [142] (Spanish)
• Andrew Bertie, 78, British Grand Master of the Order of Malta. [143] (Italian)
• Hoang Minh Chinh, 85, Vietnamese dissident, pancreatic cancer. [144]
• Tamara Desni, 96, German-born British actress. [145]
• John Dillenberger, 89, American Hartford Seminary President (1978–1983). [146]
• Karl Ehrhardt, 83, American New York Mets fan known for his signs in the crowd. [147]
• Andrew Harwood, 62, Australian radio & TV presenter (It's Academic, Jeopardy!), actor (The Paul Hogan Show), asthma attack. [148]
• Sławomir Kulpowicz, 56, Polish pianist. [149] (Polish)
• Helen Mayer, 75, Australian politician, member for Chisholm (1983–1987). (death notice in The Age, 11 February 2008)
• Benny Neyman, 56, Dutch singer, cancer. [150] (Dutch)
• Guy Severin, 81, Russian academician and engineer. [151] (Russian)
• Kunal Singh, 31, Indian actor, suicide by hanging. [152]
• Frank Wayman, 76, British former footballer, struck by motorcycle. [153]

6

• John Alvin, 59, American artist best known for movie posters (Star Wars, Blade Runner, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), heart attack. [154]
• Max Bănuş, 81, Romanian journalist, heart attack. [155] [156] (Romanian)
• Nikol Faridani, 72, Iranian aerial photographer, prostate cancer. [157]
• Oliver Foot, 61, British President of Orbis International. [158]
• John Grimsley, 45, American football linebacker (Houston Oilers, Miami Dolphins), accidental gunshot. [159]
• George Hekkers, 84, American former NFL player. [160]
• John McWethy, 61, American television news correspondent (ABC News), skiing accident. [161]
• Dieter Noll, 80, German author. [162] (German)
• Ruth Stafford Peale, 101, American writer, widow of Norman Vincent Peale. [163]
• Tony Rolt, 89, British former racing driver and last living participant in the first F1 World Championship race. [164]
• Gwenc'hlan Le Scouëzec, 78, French leader of the Druids of Brittany. [165] (French)

5

• Kenny Konz, 79, American football defensive back (Cleveland Browns), pneumonia. [166]
• Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 91?, Indian founder of Transcendental Meditation movement, former guru to The Beatles. [167]
• Vitaliy Ponomarenko, 33, Ukrainian powerlifting champion, heart condition. [168]

4

• Augusta Dabney, 89, American actress. [169]
• Tata Güines, 77, Cuban percussionist, kidney infection. [170]
• Harry Richard Landis, 108, American second-to-last World War I veteran. [171]
• Stefan Meller, 65, Polish diplomat, foreign minister (2005–2006). [172]
• Boris Nebieridze, 65, Ukrainian film director, brain tumor. [173] (Russian)
• Nikolay Popov, 76, Russian chief designer of T-80 tank, after long illness. [174] [175] (Russian)
• Peter Thomas, Baron Thomas of Gwydir, 87, British Conservative Party chairman (1970–1972), Welsh Secretary (1970–1974). [176]
• Ralph White, 66, American cinematographer, photographed wreck of RMS Titanic, aortic aneurysm. [177]

3

• Samuel Boyle, 59, American bureau chief (New York City) of Associated Press (1981–2002), lung cancer. [178]
• Sheldon Brown, 63, American bicycle mechanic and technical authority, heart attack. [179]
• Charles Fernley Fawcett, 92, American adventurer, actor and freedom fighter. [180]
• Ernesto Illy, 82, Italian food chemist and chairman of the illy coffee company. [181]
• Jorge Liderman, 50, Argentine-American composer, apparent suicide by train impact. [182]
• Jackie Orszaczky, 59, Hungarian-born Australian musician, cancer. [183]
• Charley van de Weerd, 86, Dutch football player. [184] (Dutch)

2

• Gus Arriola, 90, American cartoonist (Gordo), Parkinson's disease. [185]
• Ahmad Bourghani, 48, Iranian politician, heart failure. [186]
• Earl Butz, 98, American politician, Secretary of Agriculture (1971–1976). [187]
• Heinrich Dahlinger, 85, German field handball player, entrepreneur, kidney failure. [188] (German)
• Joshua Lederberg, 82, American Nobel Prize–winning molecular biologist. [189]
• Barry Morse, 89, British-born Canadian actor (The Fugitive, Space: 1999). [190]
• Daoud Soumain, Chadian general, Army Chief of Staff, killed during battle in the War in Chad. [191]
• Roger Testu, 94, French cartoonist. [192] (French)
• Ed Vargo, 79, American baseball umpire. [193]
• Edward Wilson, 60, British actor (When the Boat Comes In), director of the National Youth Theatre, cancer. [194]

1

• Hélio Quaglia Barbosa, 66, Brazilian member of the Superior Court of Justice, multiple organ failure. [195] (Portuguese}
• Floyd Boring, 92, American Secret Service agent, helped foil Truman assassination attempt. [196]
• Beto Carrero, 70, Brazilian theme park owner (Beto Carrero World), endocarditis. [197] (Portuguese)
• Al DeMao, 87, American football center for the Washington Redskins (1945-1953). [198]
• Ralph DiGia, 93, American WWII conscientious objector and peace activist with War Resisters League. [199]
• Joan Eikelboom, 38, Dutch equestrian. [200] (Dutch).
• Allan Grant, 88, American photojournalist for Life magazine. [201]
• Earl Greenburg, 61, American former head of NBC daytime, melanoma. [202]
• Russi Karanjia, 95, Indian journalist, former editor of Blitz. [203]
• Władysław Kawula, 70, Polish footballer. [204] (Polish)
• Shell Kepler, 49, American actress (General Hospital), renal failure. [205] [206]
• Robert Luly, 65, American guitar amplifier inventor, worked as guitarist for Frank Zappa. [207]
• Hans Roth, 91, Austrian entrepreneur. [208] (German)
• Ralph Wallace, 58, American politician, Democratic member of the Texas State House (1977–1992). [209]

January 2008

See Deaths in January 2008.

External links

• Obituaries on the Web
  • General
    • Obituaries.com
    • Recent AP Obituaries
    • Variety Magazine Obituaries
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    • The New York Times: Obituaries
    • Washington Post: Obituaries
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    • Mail & Guardian (South Africa) Obituaries
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    • The Daily Telegraph: Obituaries
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    • Lasting Tribute: Obituaries
  • Australia
    • The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia): Obituaries

• Specialized websites
  • Dead or Alive
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  • The Blog of Death
  • The Death Pool
  • Writers We've Lost
  • Written in Stone - Literary deaths

For earlier deaths, see Deaths in 2007, Deaths in 2006, Deaths in 2005, Deaths in 2004, Deaths in 2003, Deaths in 2002, Deaths in 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, ...