Deaths in December 2007
The following is a list of notable deaths in December 2007.
December 2007
1
- Rassim al-Jumaili, 69, Iraqi actor and comedian, kidney failure. [1]
- Jennifer Davidson, 38, American executive, senior vice president of programming and scheduling for Cartoon Network. [2]
- Elisabeth Eybers, 92, South African-born poet. [3] (Afrikaans)
- Tony Fall, 67, British rally driver and Opel Motorsport Team director, heart attack. [4]
- Ken McGregor, 78, Australian tennis player, stomach cancer. [5]
- Danny Newman, 88, American publicist for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, pulmonary fibrosis. [6]
- Anton Rodgers, 74, British actor. [7]
2
- Jennifer Alexander, 35, Canadian-born American ballet dancer, car accident. [8]
- Robert O. Anderson, 90, American founder and former CEO of ARCO. [9]
- Elizabeth Hardwick, 91, American co-founder of The New York Review of Books. [10]
- David Maybury-Lewis, 78, British anthropologist. [11]
- Eleonora Rossi Drago, 82, Italian actress, cerebral haemorrhage. [12] (Italian)
- Les Shannon, 81, English football player (Liverpool, Burnley) and manager (Bury, Blackpool). [13]
- Thomas F. Torrance, 94, British theologian. [14]
3
- Art Arfons, 81, American jet-car driver and drag racer, three-time world land speed record holder. [15]
- John Belgrave, 67, New Zealand public servant, Chief Ombudsman (2003–2007), cancer. [16]
- Jaime Fuster, 66, Puerto Rican politician and jurist, Resident Commissioner (1985–1992), heart attack. [17] (Spanish)
- Susumu Katsumata, 63, Japanese manga artist and illustrator, melanoma. [18] (Japanese)
- James Kemsley, 59, Australian cartoonist (Ginger Meggs), motor neurone disease. [19]
- Keshav Meshram, 70, Indian writer and critic, lung cancer. [20]
- Lord Bloody Wog Rolo, 62, Australian activist, renal cell carcinoma. [21]
4
- Chad "Pimp C" Butler, 33, American rap artist (UGK), sleep apnea and accidental overdose. [22]
- Jake Gaudaur, 87, Canadian Commissioner of the Canadian Football League (1968–1984), cancer. [23]
- Jay H. Gordon, 77, American politician, Vermont Auditor of Accounts (1965–1969), smoke inhalation. [24]
- Stanley McArdle, 85, British admiral. [25]
- Norval Morrisseau, 75, Canadian Ojibwe artist, founder of the Woodlands Style, Parkinson's disease. [26]
- David "Chip" Reese, 56, American professional poker player, heart attack. [27]
- Herman Rose, 98, American cityscape painter, cancer. [28]
- Carlos Valdes, 81, Cuban conga player, respiratory failure. [29]
5
- M. V. Dhond, 93, Indian literary and art critic. [30] (Marathi)
- Robin Gloag, 64, British co-founder of Stagecoach Group, car accident. [31]
- Arnold Hardy, 85, American Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, complications from hip surgery. [32]
- Andrew Imbrie, 86, American composer. [33]
- Dan Iosif, 57, Romanian revolutionary, lung cancer. [34]
- Jillian Kesner-Graver, 58, American actress (Happy Days), Orson Welles historian, staph infection. [35]
- Alois Kracher, 48, Austrian winemaker, pancreatic cancer. [36]
- George Paraskevaides, 91, Cypriot businessman (Joannou & Paraskevaides) and philanthropist. [37]
- Karlheinz Stockhausen, 79, German composer. [38]
- Tony Tenser, 87, British film producer. [39]
- Rene Villanueva, 53, Filipino playwright and author, stroke. [40]
- John Winter, 83, Australian athlete, 1948 Olympics high jump gold medalist. [41]
6
- Wolfgang Assbrock, 55, German politician, member of the CDU and Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. [42] (German)
- Mike Donkin, 56, British reporter and journalist (BBC News), cancer. [43]
- Katy French, 24, Irish model, suspected overdose. [44]
- Jacques Hébert, 84, Canadian politician, Senator (1983–1998). [45]
- John Hill, 95, British politician, Conservative MP for South Norfolk (1955–1974). [46]
- John Pilkington Hudson, 97, British hortculturist and bomb disposal expert. [47]
- Murray Klein, 84, American businessman, co-owner of New York City's Zabar's food emporium, lung cancer. [48]
- Shelley Rohde, 74, British journalist and author. [49]
- Ken Southworth, 89, American cartoon animator (Hanna-Barbera, Walt Disney Animation Studios), stroke. [50]
- András Szöllősy, 86, Hungarian composer. [51]
7
- Noel Forster, 75, British artist. [52]
- Fuad Hassan, 78, Indonesian Minister of Education (1985–1993), cancer. [53]
- John Hollowbread, 73, British football goalkeeper (Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton). [54]
8
- Donald Burton, 73, British actor, husband of actress Carroll Baker, emphysema. [55]
- Ioan Fiscuteanu, 70, Romanian actor, colon cancer. [56]
- Dmitry Grigorieff, 89, American Episcopalian prelate, dean emeritus of Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, D.C., cardiac arrest. [57]
- Roger King, 63, American TV executive (King World, CBS), developed Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! and The Oprah Winfrey Show, stroke. [58]
- Gerardo García Pimentel, 24, Mexican crime reporter, homicide by gunshot. [59]
- Al Scaduto, 79, American cartoonist (They'll Do It Every Time). [60]
9
- John Stuart Archer, 64, British chemical engineer and academic administrator. [61]
- Edward Dutkiewicz, 46, British artist. [62]
- Wayne Howard, 58, American comic book artist (Charlton Comics), heart attack. [63]
- Apichet Kittikorncharoen, 25, Thai singer, brain injury.
- Jim Langley, 78, British footballer for England, Fulham, and QPR, heart attack. [64]
- Matthew J. Murray, 24, American spree killer, suicide by gunshot. [65]
- Elspeth Rostow, 90, American academic, University of Texas dean, widow of Walt Whitman Rostow, heart attack. [66]
- Kurt Schmied, 81, Austrian footballer, former member of the national team. [67] (German)
- Thore Skogman, 76, Swedish musician, stroke. [68] (Swedish)
- Rafael Sperafico, 26, Brazilian racing driver, race crash. [69]
- J. Fife Symington Jr., 97, American diplomat to Trinidad and Tobago, complications of old age. [70]
- Gordon Zahn, 84, American Catholic peace activist, co-founder of Pax Christi USA, complications of Alzheimer's disease. [71]
10
- Jack Crichton, 91, American industrialist. [72]
- George Morris, 76, American football player (Georgia Tech, San Francisco 49ers), apparent heart attack. [73]
- Aqsa Parvez, 16, Canadian allegedly killed for refusing to wear hijab, strangled. [74]
- Jerry Ricks, 67, American blues guitarist. [75]
- James Roxburgh, 86, British prelate, Bishop of Barking. [76]
- Gordon Samuels, 84, Australian Governor of New South Wales (1996–2001). [77]
- Henrietta Yurchenko, 91, American folklorist. [78]
11
- Ashleigh Aston Moore, 26, American-born Canadian actress, accidental heroin overdose. [79]
- Allan Berube, 61, American gay historian and writer, complications from stomach ulcers. [80]
- José Luis Calva, 38, Mexican writer, serial killer and cannibal, apparent suicide. [81]
- Freddie Fields, 84, American Hollywood agent, producer and studio executive, lung cancer. [82]
- Pat Hannigan, 71, Canadian NHL ice hockey player. [83]
- Christie Hennessy, 62, Irish singer and songwriter, cancer. [84]
- Nicholas Kao Se Tseien, 110, Chinese supercentenarian, world's oldest Catholic priest. [85]
- Carl Ludwig, Archduke of Austria, 89, Austrian son of Emperor Charles I of Austria. [86] [87] (German).
- Ottomar Pinto, 76, Brazilian politician, Governor of Roraima (2004–2007), heart attack. [88]
- Tatsuzō Shimaoka, 88, Japanese potter, living national treasure, acute liver failure. [89]
- Terry Yates, 57, American biologist, discovered source of hantavirus, brain cancer. [90]
12
- Basuki, 51, Indonesian comedian. [91]
- Ted Corbitt, 88, American ultramarathon runner, respiratory complications. [92]
- Shawn Eckardt, 40, American bodyguard and businessman, conspired to assault Nancy Kerrigan, natural causes. [93]
- Josep Guinovart, 80, Spanish artist. [94] (Spanish)
- François al-Hajj, 54, Lebanese Army general, roadside bomb. [95] [96]
- Alfons Maria Stickler, 97, Austrian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. [97] (German)
- Jim Nevill, 80, British government official, former head of Scotland Yard bomb squad. [98]
- Ike Turner, 76, American R&B musician and record producer, ex-husband of singer Tina Turner, cocaine overdose. [99] [100]
- Schuster Vance, 47, American actor, cancer. [101]
- Lee Vincent, 91, American bassist and radio personality (WILK), heart failure. [102]
- Yuli Mikhailovich Vorontsov, 78, Russian diplomat, former ambassador to the United Nations and United States. [103]
13
- Philippe Clay, 80, French singer and actor. [104]
- Fuat Deniz, 40, Swedish-Assyrian sociologist, homicide by stabbing. [105]
- Wiggo Hanssen, 84, Norwegian Olympic speed skater. [106]
- Laura Huxley, 96, American musician and author, widow of Aldous Huxley, cancer. [107]
- Alain Payet, 60, French adult film director. [108] (French)
- Robert Russin, 93, American sculptor. [109]
- Floyd Red Crow Westerman, 71, American musician, actor (Dances With Wolves) and Native American activist, leukemia. [110]
14
- Issam al-Zaim, 67, Syrian economist, heart attack. [111]
- Hank Kaplan, 87, American boxing historian, cancer. [112]
- Maria Lauterbach, 20, American marine and murder victim. [113]
- Clarence Marshall, 82, American Major League Baseball pitcher (New York Yankees). [114]
- Frank Morgan, 73, American saxophonist. [115]
- Hryhoriy Nestor, 116?, Ukrainian who claimed to be the oldest person in the world. [116]
- Emory Sekaquaptewa, 78, American indigenous Hopi anthropologist. [117]
15
- John Berg, 58, American actor, suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. [118]
- Jean Bottéro, 93, French historian. [119] (French)
- St. Clair Bourne, 64, American documentary filmmaker (Half Past Autumn), pulmonary embolism. [120]
- Julia Carson, 69, American member of the House of Representatives from Indiana since 1997, lung cancer. [121]
- Gerard Fairtlough, 77, British biochemist and entrepreneur. [122]
- Andrzeja Górska, 91, Polish nun, abbess of the Grey Ursulines. [123] (Polish)
- Ryan Gracie, 33, Brazilianmartial artist. [124]
- Clem Jones, 89, Australian Lord Mayor of Brisbane (1961–1975), pneumonia. [125]
- Matjaž Klopčič, 73, Slovenian film director. [126]
- Diane Middlebrook, 68, American biographer and poet, cancer. [127]
- Tejeshwar Singh, 60, Indian publisher, newsreader and theatre activist, cardiac arrest. [128]
- Ace Vergel, 55, Filipino actor, cardiac arrest. [129]
- Jonathan Witchell, 33, British BBC reporter for Radio Kent. [130]
16
- Dan Fogelberg, 56, American singer-songwriter ("Same Old Lang Syne"), prostate cancer. [131]
- Harald Genzmer, 98, German composer of classical music. [132] (German)
- Ismail Gulgee, 81, Pakistani painter, homicide by strangulation. [133]
- Serge Vinçon, 58, French politician. [134] (French)
17
- Don Chevrier, 69, Canadian sportscaster. [135]
- Joel Dorn, 65, American jazz, pop and R&B record producer, heart attack. [136]
- Jim Holstein, 77, American basketball player (Minneapolis Lakers). [137]
- Tom Murphy, 83, American politician, speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives (1973–2002), complications of a stroke. [138]
- Jack Zander, 99, American animator (Tom and Jerry). [139]
18
- Walter Bowart, 68, American co-founder of East Village Other, colon cancer. [140]
- Gerald Le Dain, 83, Canadian jurist, Justice of the Supreme Court. [141]
- Carl Graff-Wang, 64, Norwegian Olympic handball player. [142]
- Samuel Karlin, 83, American mathematician, heart attack. [143]
- Jack Linkletter, 70, American television host, son of Art Linkletter, lymphoma. [144]
- Motiur Rahman, 58, Indian politician, Rashtriya Janata Dal member of the Rajya Sabha since 2005, heart attack. [145]
- Bill Strauss, 60, American writer and satirist, founder of political comedy group Capitol Steps, pancreatic cancer. [146]
19
- Frank Capra, Jr., 73, American movie studio executive, son of director Frank Capra, prostate cancer. [147]
- James Costigan, 81, American actor and television writer (Eleanor and Franklin), heart failure. [148]
- Desmond C. Derbyshire, 83, British linguist. [149]
- John A. Garraty, 87, American historian, heart failure. [150]
- Albert L. O'Neil, 87, American politician, Boston City Council (1971–1999). [151]
20
- Tommy Byrne, 87, American baseball player. [152]
- Jeanne Carmen, 77, American actress and pin-up girl, lymphoma. [153]
- Arabella Churchill, 58, British founder of Children's World charity, granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill, pancreatic cancer. [154]
- Russell Coffey, 109, American serviceman, one of three known remaining American veterans of World War I. [155]
- Lorne Davis, 77, Canadian ice hockey player (Montreal Canadiens) and scout (Edmonton Oilers). [156]
- Ted Finn, 68, Canadian intelligence official, director of CSIS (1984–1987). [157]
- John Gibbs, 90. British Anglican prelate, Bishop of Coventry (1976–1985). [158]
- Peer Hultberg, 72, Danish author and psychoanalyst. [159]
- Geoffrey Martin, 79, British historian and Keeper of the Public Records (1982–1988). [160]
- Lydia Mendoza, 91, American Tejano music singer and guitarist. [161]
- Kazumi Tanaka, 56, Japanese voice actor, brother of Ryouichi Tanaka, heart failure. [162]
- Robbie Williams, 45, Australian politician, first Indigenous Australian Brisbane City councillor, former ATSIC commissioner, heart attack. [163]
21
- Carol Bly, 77, American author and poet, ovarian cancer. [164]
- Kex Gorin, 56, British drummer (Magnum), kidney cancer. [165]
- Ken Hendricks, 66, American contractor and billionaire, fall from roof. [166]
- Hans Imhoff, 85, German businessman, founder of Imhoff Chocolate Museum in Cologne. [167] (German)
- Jack Lamabe, 71, American Major League Baseball pitcher. [168]
- Ken Lee, 75, Chinese-born Australian businessman, owner and co-founder of Bing Lee superstores, cancer. [169]
- Saadia Marciano, 57, Israeli Black Panthers leader, member of the Knesset. [170]
- Norton Nascimento, 45, Brazilian actor, heart failure. [171] (Portuguese)
- Jiří Pauer, 88, Czech composer, theatre director and academic. [172]
- Jeani Read, 60, Canadian journalist, cancer. [173]
- Battista Serioli, 107, Italian World War I veteran. [174] (Italian)
22
- Joe Ames, 86, American singer (Ames Brothers), heart attack. [175]
- Chrysostomos I, 80, Cyprian prelate, Archbishop of Cyprus (1977–2006). [176]
- Sir Charles Court, 96, Australian politician, Premier of Western Australia (1974–1982). [177]
- Andy Davis, 80, American football player (Washington Redskins). [178]
- Sylvan Fox, 79, American journalist, complications from pneumonia. [179]
- Andrew Glyn, 64, British economist. [180]
- Julien Gracq, 97, French writer. [181]
- Lucien Teisseire, 88, French road bicycle racer. [182]
- Marvin Wachman, 90, American historian, President of Lincoln University and Temple University, heart failure. [183]
- Ruth Wallis, 87, American singer-songwriter, complications of Alzheimer's disease. [184]
- Takashi Yamamoto, 58, Japanese politician. [185] (Japanese)
23
- Dale Baird, 71, American thoroughbred horse trainer, car crash. [186]
- Donald Chant, 79, Canadian biologist and environmental advocate. [187]
- Evelyn Gandy, 87, American politician, Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi (1976–1980). [188]
- W.F. Ganong, 83, American neuroendocrinologist, prostate cancer. [189]
- Michael Kidd, 92, American film and stage choreographer, cancer. [190]
- Aloísio Lorscheider, 83, Brazilian Roman Catholic prelate and cardinal, heart failure. [191]
- Tyler MacDuff, 82, American actor. [192]
- Hans Mild, 73, Swedish footballer and ice hockey player. [193](Swedish)
- Oscar Peterson, 82, Canadian jazz pianist, kidney failure and complications from a stroke. [194] [195]
- Rhoda Pritzker, 93, American philanthropist, member of the Pritzker family. [196]
- Ferreira Queimado, 94, Portuguese former chairman of S.L. Benfica, after long illness. [197] [198] (Portuguese)
- Kevin Sinclair, 65, New Zealand-born Hong Kong reporter, editor and columnist for the South China Morning Post, cancer. [199]
- Osvaldo Reyes, 88, Chilean painter, stroke. [200]
- Frank Swaelen, 77, Belgian politician, former President of the Senate and Minister of State. [201] [202] (Dutch)
24
- Jim Angel, 67, Australian radio newsreader, stroke. [203]
- Cláudio Camunguelo, 60, Brazilian composer and singer, diabetes. [204] (Portuguese)
- Reinhard Heß, 62, German ski jumping coach, pancreatic cancer. [205]
- Wilhelmina Jashemski, 97, American archaeologist, renal failure. [206]
- Andreas Matzbacher, 25, Austrian cyclist, car accident. [207]
- Nicholas Pumfrey, 56, British judge, stroke. [208]
- George Warrington, 55, American transportation official, President of Amtrak (1998–2002), pancreatic cancer. [209]
25
- Jim Beauchamp, 68, American Major League Baseball player and coach, leukemia. [210]
- Tommy Harmer, 79, British footballer (Tottenham Hotspur, Watford and Chelsea). [211]
- John Hayes, 80, New Zealand test cricketer. [212]
- Patricia Kirkwood, 86, British actress, Alzheimer's disease. [213]
- Hugh Massingberd, 60, British genealogist and journalist, former The Daily Telegraph obituary editor. [214]
- Mighty King Kong, 34, Kenyan reggae musician. [215]
- Hans Otte, 81, German avant-garde composer and pianist. [216]
- G. P. Sippy, 93, Indian film producer and director. [217]
- Carlos Eduardo Sousa Jr., 17, American student, tiger attack. [218]
- Tatiana, 4, Siberian tiger at San Francisco Zoo, mauled a visitor to death, shot. [219]
26
- Raúl Bernao, 66, Argentine footballer, hepatitis. [220]
- Jim Castiglia, 89, American football and baseball player, natural causes. [221]
- Joe Dolan, 68, Irish singer and entertainer, brain haemorrhage. [222]
- John A. Garraty, 87, American biographer, heart failure. [223]
- Andrew Grima, 86, British jeweller. [224]
- Voitto Liukkonen, 67, Finnish sports commentator. [225] (Finnish)
- Paul D. MacLean, 94, American physician, developed triune brain concept, heart attack. [226]
- Nina Menshikova, 79, Russian actress. [227] (Russian)
- Stu Nahan, 81, American sportscaster, lymphoma. [228]
- John Pappenheimer, 92, American physiologist, respiratory failure. [229]
27
- Kit Ahern, 92, Irish politician. [230]
- Ben D. Altamirano, 77, American politician, member of the New Mexico Senate since 1971, heart attack. [231]
- Ben Bamfuchile, 47, Zambian coach of the Namibia national football team, after short illness. [232]
- Benazir Bhutto, 54, Pakistani Opposition Leader and former Prime Minister (1988–1990, 1993–1996), assassinated. [233]
- Edward A. Brennan, 73, American businessman, former Chairman of Sears, Roebuck and Company. [234]
- Sir Howard Colvin, 88, British architectural historian. [235]
- Steven Florio, 58, American businessman, former CEO of Condé Nast, heart attack. [236]
- Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 85, Polish film director. [237] (Polish)
- Jaan Kross, 87, Estonian writer. [238] (Estonian)
- Ed LaDou, 52, American pizza chef, popularized gourmet California-style pizzas, cancer. [239]
- Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza, 94, Brazilian pretender to the title Emperor of Brazil. [240] (Portuguese)
- Peter Wing, 93, Canadian politician, mayor of Kamloops, North America's first mayor of Chinese descent, stroke. [241]
28
- Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami, 25, Iranian basketball player, road accident. [242]
- Serigne Saliou Mbacké, 92, Senegalese religious leader, fifth caliph of the Mouride Islamic movement. [243]
- Amarnath Sehgal, 85, Indian sculptor. [244]
- Sun Daolin, 86, Chinese actor. [245]
- Tab Thacker, 45, American NCAA wrestling champion, actor (Police Academy films, City Heat, Wildcats), diabetes complications. [246]
29
- Olayr Coan, 48, Brazilian actor and theater director, car accident. [247] (Portuguese)
- Phil Dusenberry, 71, American advertising executive, lung cancer. [248]
- Kevin Greening, 44, British former BBC Radio 1 disc jockey. [249]
- Vincent Gruppuso, 67, American businessman, founder of Kozy Shack puddings, complications from diabetes. [250]
- Abdullah ibn Husayn al-Ahmar, 74, Yemeni politician, Parliamentary speaker since 1993, cancer. [251]
- Joan Ingpen, 91, British classical music manager (Ingpen & Williams), launched the career of Luciano Pavarotti. [252]
- Rex King-Clark, 94, British soldier and racing driver. [253]
- Robert Morris, 81, English cricketer. [254]
- Nonja, 55, Indonesian Sumatran orangutan thought to be world's oldest. [255]
- Phil O'Donnell, 35, Scottish footballer (Motherwell) with one Scotland cap, heart failure. [256] [257]
- H. D. Thoreau, Jr., 84, American track-and-field authority and Olympics official, complications from Alzheimer's and stroke. [258]
- Shu Uemura, 79, Japanese makeup artist, pneumonia. [259]
30
- Bert Bolin, 82, Swedish meteorologist, stomach cancer. [260]
- Kinkri Devi, 82, Indian environmentalist. [261]
- Laila Kaland, 68, Norwegian politician, MP (1985–2001), after long illness. [262] (Norwegian)
- Jorge Machiñena, 71, Uruguayan deputy (1985–2000), President of the Chamber (1996–1997), heart attack. [263] (Spanish)
- Leonard B. Meyer, 89, American musicologist. [264]
- Victor Navarra, 55, American coordinator for New York Marathon, cancer. [265].
- Doreen Norton, 85, British nursing pioneer. [266]
- Willie Robinson, 81, American blues singer, injuries from a fire. [267]
- Ric Williamson, 55, American chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, heart attack. [268]
- Louis Wolfson, 95, American businessman, bred and raced 1978 U.S. Triple Crown champion Affirmed, colon cancer. [269]
31
- Tommy Dickson, 78, British footballer (Linfield, Northern Ireland), after long illness. [270]
- Tony Elliott, 48, American football player (New Orleans Saints), natural causes. [271]
- Ralph Emmerson, 94, British Anglican prelate, Bishop of Knaresborough (1972–1979). [272]
- Michael Goldberg, 83, American abstract expressionist painter, heart attack. [273]
- Bill Idelson, 88, American actor and script writer, complications from a broken hip. [274]
- Kathryn Ish, 71, American television, voiceover and theater actress (Laverne & Shirley), cancer. [275]
- Milton L. Klein, 97, Canadian politician, MP for Cartier (1963–1968). [276]
- Markku Peltola, 51, Finnish actor and musician. [277] (Finnish)
- Muhammad Osman Said, 85, Libyan Prime Minister (1960–1963). [278]
- Ettore Sottsass, 90, Italian designer, heart failure. [279]