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.
- Erkki Junkkarinen, 78, Finnish singer[1]
- John Button, 74, Australian senator, Minister for Industry, Technology and Commerce (1983–1993), pancreatic cancer. [2]
- Nadezhda Rumyantseva, 77, Russian actress, after long ilness. [3] (Russian)
- Jacqueline Voltaire, 59, British-born Mexican soap opera actress, cancer. [4] (Spanish)
- Cedella Marley Booker, 81, mother of Bob Marley, natural causes. [5]
- Ludu Daw Amar, 92, Burmese journalist, writer and activist. [6]
- Sir Frank Little, 82, Australian Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Melbourne.[7]
- Gloria Taylor, 57, British campaigner and mother of murdered schoolboy Damilola Taylor, heart attack. [8]
- Andrey Tolubeev, 63, Russian actor, after long illness. [9] (Russian)
- Esko Tommola, 77, Finnish news anchor, after long illness. [10] (Finnish)
- Phil Urso, 82, American jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. [11]
- Lakshman de Alwis, 68, Sri Lankan national athletics coach, suicide bomb attack. [12]
- Tony Davies, 68, New Zealand rugby union player (All Blacks). [13]
- Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, 55, Sri Lankan Highways Minister, suicide bomb attack. [14]
- Kuruppu Karunaratne, 47, Sri Lankan Olympic marathoner, suicide bomb attack. [15]
- Gib Shanley, 76, American radio sportscaster (Cleveland Browns). [16]
- Herbert Breiteneder, 54, Austrian European Rallycross Championship runner-up (1987, 1988), rally accident. [17] (German)
- Evangelino da Costa Neves, 82, Brazilian football manager (Coritiba), multiple organ failure. [18] (Portuguese)
- Charlton Heston, 84, American Academy Award–winning film actor (Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments), NRA executive. [19]
- McKelvey, 9, British race horse, euthanised after fall during Grand National. [20]
- Saad Razuqui, Iraqi Army commander, shot. [21] (Spanish)
- Steve Sinnott, 56, British General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers since 2004. [22]
- Jeu Sprengers, 69, Dutch chairman of the Royal Netherlands Football Association. [23]
- Michael White, Australian inventor of narrative therapy, cardiac arrest. [24]
- Kaku Yamanaka, 113, Japanese supercentenarian, oldest person in Japan. [25]
- Jerry Rosholt, 85, American journalist and historian. [26]
- Wu Xueqian, 87, Chinese politician, Foreign Minister (1982–1988). [27]
- Johnny Byrne, 73, Irish writer (Doctor Who, Space: 1999, All Creatures Great and Small). [28]
- Hrvoje Ćustić, 24, Croatian footballer (NK Zadar), head injury. [29]
- William D. Eberle, 84, American businessman and former U.S. Trade Representative (1971-1974), kidney failure. [30]
- Frosty Freeze, 44, American B-boy, breakdancer and member of the Rock Steady Crew. [31]
- Jeremy Knowles, 72, British-born Harvard University Dean of Arts and Sciences (1991–2002), prostate cancer. [32]
- Ivan Korade, 44, Croatian general and murder suspect, apparent suicide by gunshot. [33]
- Brendan O'Brien, 67, Irish musician (The Dixies), probable heart attack. [34]
- Vladimir Preclik, 78, Czech sculptor and writer. [35]
- Norberto Collado Abreu, 87, Cuban naval officer, helmsman of the yacht Granma which carried Fidel Castro to Cuba in 1956. [36]
- Sir Geoffrey Cox, 97, British founder of ITN News at Ten. [37]
- Ray Poole, 86, American football player (New York Giants), cancer. [38]
- Yakup Satar, 110, Crimean-born supercentenarian, believed to be the last Turkish veteran of World War I. [39] (Turkish)
- Mona Seilitz, 65, Swedish actress and entertainer, cancer. [40] [41] (Swedish)
- Adam Studziński, 97, Polish Roman Catholic Dominican priest, World War II chaplain of Polish forces. [42]
- Taotao, 36, Chinese oldest captive giant panda, brain thrombus and cerebral hemorrhage. [43]
- Mosko Alkalai, 77, Israeli actor (Blaumilch Canal, The Fox in the Chicken Coop, Yana's Friends), respiratory failure. [44] [45]
- Triston Jay Amero, 26, American hotel bomber, pulmonary edema. [46]
- Shosh Atari, 58, Israeli radio presenter and actress, heart attack. [47]
- Péter Baczakó, 56, Hungarian weightlifter, 1980 Olympic champion, cancer. [48]
- Sabin Bălaşa, 75, Romanian painter, heart attack. [49]
- Sherry Britton, 89, American burlesque dancer turned musical stage actress (Guys and Dolls). [50] [51]
- Wally Bronner, 81, American founder of Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, cancer. [52]
- Jim Finney, 83, British football referee. [53]
- Marvin Stone, 26, American basketball player for Saudi Arabian Al-Ittihad (Jeddah) team, heart attack. [54]
See Deaths in March 2008.
External links
- Obituaries on the Web
- General
- US
- South Africa
- UK
- Australia
- Specialized websites
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, ...