Famous People Who Died in 1989 ·

23 Sep 2024, 00:00

1989 Calendar

Deaths 1 - 200 of 438

Jan 7 124th Emperor of Japan (1926-89), dies at 87 after a 62-year reign

Jan 8 Johnny Jordaan [Johannes van Musscher], Dutch pop and levenslied singer, dies at 64
Jan 8 Kenneth McMillan, American actor (Malone, Concrete Beat), dies of liver disease at 56

Jan 9 American Baseball HOF first baseman (MLB All-Star 1933–35; World Series 1933; NL batting champion 1930; NY Giants) and manager (NY Giants 1932-41), dies at 90

Jan 10 Colin Winchester, Australian Assistant Police Commissioner, murdered (b. 1933)
Jan 10 Donald Voorhees, American conductor (Bell Telephone Hour), dies at 85
Jan 10 Herbert Morrison, American radio reporter (b. 1905)
Jan 13 Joe Spinell, actor (Maniac, Star Crash, Strike Force), dies at 51
Jan 14 George Kilpatrick, Canadian-British bible scholar (University of Oxford), dies at 78
Jan 15 Wilf Slack, English cricketer, dies while playing cricket in Gambia at 34
Jan 16 Pierre Boileau, French screenwriter (Vertigo), dies at 82
Jan 16 Romo Vincent, actor (Naked Jungle), dies
Jan 16 Trey Wilson, actor (Bull Durham, Twins, Raising Arizona), dies
Jan 17 Alfredo Zitarrosa, Uruguayan folk and milonga singer-songwriter ("Recordándote"), poet, and journalist, dies at 52
Jan 17 Sterling A Brown, American poet/critic (Southern Road), dies at 87
Jan 18 Bruce Chatwin, British travel writer and novelist (In Patagonia, On a Black Hill), dies of AIDS at 49
Jan 19 Norma Varden, English-American actress (Loose in London), dies at 90
Jan 20 Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi film director (b. 1938)
Jan 20 Beatrice Lillie, actress (Thoroughly Modern Millie), dies at 94
Jan 20 Halsey Stevens, American composer (Triskelion), dies at 80
Jan 20 Józef Cyrankiewicz, Polish socialist, and later communist, politician, (Premier of Polish People's Republic, 1947-52 & 1954-70), dies at 87
Jan 21 Billy Tipton [Dorothy Tipton], American jazz pianist, saxophone player, and bandleader, dies from an untreated hemorrhaging peptic ulcer at 74 [1] [2]
Jan 21 Carl Furillo, American baseball outfielder (NL Batting Champ 1953; MLB All-Star 1952, 53; World Series 1955, 59; Brooklyn/LA Dodgers), dies from leukemia at 66
Jan 22 Willie Wells, American Baseball HOF shortstop (10 NgL All Star; 2 × Cuban League MVP; Chicago American Giants, Newark Eagles), dies at 82

Jan 24 George Knudson, Canadian golfer (8 PGA Tour titles; Masters 1969 runner-up), dies of lung cancer at 51

Jan 26 Morton DaCosta, American film and theatre director (Island of Love; The Music Man), dies at 74
Jan 27 Bayani Casimiro, Filipino dancer and actor [Okey Ka Fairy Ko!], dies at 70
Jan 27 Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer (b. 1888)
Jan 29 Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower (Olympic gold 1928), dies at 88
Jan 30 Ruth Shaw Wylie, American composer (Spring Madness; Psychogram; Nova), and educator (Wayne State University, 1949-69), dies at 72
Jan 31 Jack Douglas, English comedian (My Brother Was an Only Child), dies at 80
Jan 31 Yasushi Akutagawa, Japanese composer (Orpheus of Hiroshima, Ellora Symphony), dies at 63
Feb 1 Blaze Foley [Michael Fuller], American outlaw country singer-songwriter (Wanted More Dead Than Alive), shot to death by a family friend at 39
Feb 1 Elaine de Kooning, American artist, dies at 70
Feb 2 Ondrej Nepela, Slovak figure skater (Olympic gold men's singles 1972; World C'ships gold 1971, 72, 73), dies from cancer of the lymph nodes at 38
Feb 3 Glenna Collett-Vare, American golfer (6-time US Amateur champion), dies at 85
Feb 3 John Cassavetes, Greek-American actor, film director, and screenwriter (Dirty Dozen, Rosemary's Baby), dies at 59
Feb 4 (Kenneth) "Jethro" Burns, American country singer, and mandolin player (Homer & Jethro -"The Battle of Kookamonga"), dies from prostate cancer at 69
Feb 4 Trevor Lucas, Australian folk singer-songwriter, and guitarist (Fairport Convention), dies of a heart attack at 45
Feb 5 Joe Raposa, American composer and songwriter (Sesame Street), dies at 51
Feb 6 Andre Cayatte, French filmmaker, dies at 80
Feb 6 Barbara Tuchman, American historian (Guns of August-Pulitzer), dies at 77
Feb 6 Chris Gueffroy, East German attempted defector (b. 1968)
Feb 6 King Tubby [Osbourne Ruddock], Jamaican sound engineer and record producer, shot to death outside his home at 48
Feb 6 Nuno Oliveira, Portuguese equestrian, horse trainer, dressage instructor, author ('baroque' or 'classical' style), dies at 63
Feb 7 Gilbert Simondon, French philosopher (On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects), dies at 64
Feb 8 Maurits Mok, Dutch author and poet (Cheese & Bread Game; The Railroad Strike), dies at 81

Feb 9 Japanese 'the godfather of manga' (Kimba the White Lion), dies of cancer at 60

Feb 10 Dan Kelly, Canadian-born NHL sportscaster ("He shoots, he scores!"), dies of cancer at 52,
Feb 11 George O'Hanlon, American actor (Life of Riley - "Calvin"' Joe McDoakes shorts), voice actor (The Jetsons - "George Jetson"), and screenwriter, dies after a stroke at 76
Feb 11 Leon Festinger, American psychologist who developed the theory of cognitive dissonance, dies of cancer at 69
Feb 12 Mauritius Balfoort, French-Belgian director, dies at 83
Feb 12 Thomas Bernhard, Austrian novelist, playwright and poet whose work some describe as "the most significant literary achievement since World War II", dies at 58
Feb 13 Wayne Hays, American politician (b. 1911)
Feb 14 James Bond, American ornithologist (b. 1900)
Feb 14 Vincent Crane [Cheesman], British rock Hammond organist, and songwriter (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - "Fire"), dies of deliberate painkiller overdose at 45
Feb 17 Lefty Gomez, American Baseball HOF pitcher (7 × MLB All-Star; 5 × World Series; Triple Crown 1934, 37; NY Yankees), dies of congestive heart failure at 80
Feb 19 Jaap van de Merwe, Dutch journalist/cabareter (Hadjememaar), dies
Feb 21 Alex Thépot, French footballer (b. 1906)
Feb 21 Otar Vasilisdze Taktakishvili, Georgian composer, conductor, teacher, and musicologist, dies at 64
Feb 22 Joan Woodbury, American actress (Super Sleuth, Northwest Trail), dies at 73
Feb 22 Moisés da Costa Amaral, East Timorese leader, dies at 50
Feb 23 Hans Hellmut Kirst, German author (The Lieutenant Must Be Mad), dies at 74
Feb 26 Melvin Moore, American jazz trumpeter, and singer, dies at 65
Feb 26 Roy Eldridge, American jazz trumpet player, dies at 78
Feb 27 Conrad Lorenz, Austria zoologist (Nobel 1973), dies
Feb 27 Joseph "Joe" Silver, American actor (Lenny, Mr I Magination), dies of liver cancer at 66
Feb 27 Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist and ethologist (Man & His Ideas, Nobel Prize 1973), dies at 85
Feb 27 Paul Oswald Ahnert, German astronomer, dies at 91
Feb 28 Hermann Burger, Swiss poet and writer, dies at 46
Mar 1 Henk van Stipriaan, Dutch journalist and VARA radio host, dies at 64
Mar 1 Josephine van Gasteren, Dutch actress and director (Bluejackets, De kleine zielen), dies at 71
Mar 4 James A. Parsons, American metallurgist and inventor (stainless steel), dies at 88 [1]
Mar 4 Lloyd "Tiny" Grimes, American jazz and R&B guitarist (Art Tatum), dies of meningitis at 72
Mar 6 Harry Andrews, English actor (Equus, Helen of Troy, Hill), dies at 77
Mar 8 Stuart Hamblen, American singer and composer (This Ole House), dies at 80
Mar 9 Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer, dies at 42
Mar 10 Doc Green, American pop baritone vocalist (The Drifters - "Under the Boardwalk"; "Up on the Roof"), dies of cancer at 54
Mar 11 James Kee, American politician (US Representatives for West Virginia, 1965-73), dies at 71
Mar 11 Johan Fleerackers, Flemish civil servant and cultural attaché (Minister of Cutlure, 1965-77), dies at 57
Mar 11 John Jay McCloy, American lawyer and banker (Secretary of War 1941-45, Chairman Chase Manhattan Bank, President of World Bank 1947-49), dies at 93
Mar 11 William Challee, American stage and screen actor (Desperate; Five Easy Pieces; Moonchild), dies at 84
Mar 12 Maurice Evans, British actor (Planet of the Apes; Bewitched), dies at 87
Mar 14 Edward Abbey American environmental author (The Monkey Wrench Gang), dies after surgery at 62
Mar 14 Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, dies at 96
Mar 15 Muhammad Jameel Didi, Maldivian poet (b. 1915)
Mar 17 Marek Bliziński, Polish jazz guitarist and composer, dies of skin cancer at 41
Mar 17 Merritt Butrick, American actor (Shy People, Square Pegs), dies of AIDS at 29
Mar 18 Harold Jeffreys, English mathematician (Theory of Probability) and geophysicist, dies at 97
Mar 18 Piet Kruiver, Dutch soccer player, dies at 51
Mar 19 Alan Civil, British horn player (played solo on Beatles "For No One"), dies of liver and kidney failure at 59
Mar 20 Alan Gifford [John Lennox], American actor (Time Lock, 2001: A Space Odyssey), dies at 78
Mar 20 Archie Bleyer, American orchestra leader (Arthur Godfrey), dies at 79
Mar 21 Milton Frome, actor (Family Jewels), dies
Mar 24 Arnett Cobb, American jazz tenor saxophonist (Lionel Hampton), dies at 70
Mar 27 May Allison, American actress (Youth for Salem Men of Steel), dies of respiratory failure at 98
Mar 29 Bernard Blier, French character actor (Les Miserables; Women & War), dies at 73
Mar 31 Bill Chappell Jr., American politician (Rep-D-FL, 1969-89), dies at 67
Apr 1 Henk Gortzak [Hendricus Gortzak], Dutch carpenter and politician (CPN/PSP), dies at 57
Apr 3 Norman Wooland, German actor (Ivanhoe, Quo Vadis, Hamlet), dies at 79
Apr 5 María Cristina Gómez, Salvadoran teacher, literacy and civil rights activist, murdered at 46
Apr 5 William Hibbard, American composer, musician and conductor, dies of an AIDS related illness at 49
Apr 6 Elizabeth Becker-Pinkston, American platform diver (Olympic gold 1924 and 1928), dies at 86
Apr 7 Alberto Morin, Puerto Rican actor (Two Mules for Sister Sara; Rio Grande), dies at 86
Apr 8 John Wyer, English sports car racing team manager, dies at 79
Apr 10 Joan Barry, dies at 85
Apr 11 Henk van Galen Last, Dutch journalist, dies at 68
Apr 12 Abbie Hoffman, yippie peace activist of the 60's, dies at 52
Apr 12 Gerald Flood, British actor (Doctor Who, Patton), dies of a heart attack at 61
Apr 12 Herbert Mills, American pop singer (The Mills Brothers - "Paper Doll"; "Lazy River"), dies at 77

Apr 14 Lance Pierre, West Indian cricketer (Test WI v Engl 1948, DNB, 7 overs 0-28), dies at 67
Apr 15 Charles Vanel, French actor and director (Wages of Fear), dies at 96

Apr 15 Nesuhi Ertegün, Turkish–American jazz record producer and label executive (Atlantic Records; Warner Music), dies from complications of cancer surgery at 71
Apr 16 John "Jocko" Conlan, American Baseball HOF umpire (National League 1941-65), dies after heart surgery at 89
Apr 16 Tawfieq Yusuf Awwaad, Lebanese writer, dies
Apr 17 Charles Lampkin, American character actor (Frank’s Place - "Tiger Shepin"; Roots: The Next Generation), spoken word artist, musician, and educator, dies at 76 [1]
Apr 18 Julia Smith, American composer (Prairie Kaleidoscope; Cynthia Parker), pianist (Orchestrette Classique), teacher, and musicologist (Aaron Copland: His Work and Contribution to American Music), dies at 84
Apr 19 Daphne Du Maurier, English writer (Rebecca, Jamaica Inn), dies at 82
Apr 20 H.B. "Toby" Halicki, American filmmaker, stunt driver, and actor (Gone In 60 Seconds), killed by felled telephone pole while filming a stunt at 48
Apr 21 James Kirkwood, American actor, author and playwright (A Chorus Line, P. S. Your Cat Is Dead!), dies of cancer at 64
Apr 21 Princess Deokhye of Korea, last princess of the Korean Empire, dies at 76
Apr 22 Benjamin "Bull Moose" Jackson, American R&B saxophone player and singer ("Hurry, Hurry"), dies at 70

Apr 24 Franz Binder, Austrian soccer striker and manager (19 caps Austria, 9 caps Germany; Rapid Vienna), dies at 77
Apr 25 George Coulouris, British actor (Runaway Bus), dies at 85

Apr 27 Kōnosuke Matsushita, Japanese industrialist (founded Panasonic), dies at 94
Apr 28 Olaf J. de Landell, Dutch writer, dies at 77
Apr 30 Guy Williams [Armando Joseph Catalano], American actor (Zorro, Lost in Space), dies of a brain aneurysm at 65
Apr 30 Sergio Leone, Italian director who invented spaghetti westerns (The Man with No Name trilogy), dies of a heart attack at 60
Apr 30 Yi Bangja, Crown Prince Euimin of Korea (1926-70), dies at 87
May 1 Antonio Janigro, Italian cellist (Zagreb Soloists), dies at 71
May 1 David Webster, South African white anti-apartheids activist, murdered
May 1 Douglass Watson, American actor (Satan Murders, Another World), dies at 68
May 1 Marion Mack, actress (General), dies
May 1 Sally Kirkland, American fashion editor (Vogue magazine) and manager (Lord & Taylor), dies at 76
May 2 Giuseppe Siri, Italian Catholic Cardinal (b. 1906)
May 2 Veniamin Kaverin, Russian writer (b. 1902)
May 3 Christine Jorgensen, American pioneering transsexual and the first person widely known for having had sex reassignment surgery, dies of bladder and lung cancer at 62
May 3 Edward Ochab, Polish Communist politician (b. 1906)
May 3 Muriel Ostriche, American silent film actress dies at 92
May 4 Evelle Jansen Younger, American prosecutor (Charles Manson; Sirhan Sirhan), dies at 70
May 5 Frank Easton, cricket wicket-keeper (NSW 1933-39), dies
May 6 Earl Blaik, American College Football coach (NCAA C'ship 1944–46; AFCA Coach of the Year 1946; Army) and executive (AD Army 1948–59, dies at 92
May 8 Rudolf Uhlenhaut, British-German automotive engineer and test driver (Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, 300 SLR, and Uhlenhaut Coupé), dies at 82
May 9 Keith Whitley, American country music singer ("Don't Close Your Eyes"), dies of alcohol poisoning at 33
May 10 Woody Shaw, American jazz trumpeter (Rosewood), and educator, dies from kidney failure and other complications after being struck by a subway train in Brooklyn, NYC, at 44
May 11 Jitka Snížková, Czech composer, music educator and musicologist, dies at 64
May 12 Joe Valdez Caballero, American creator of hard taco, shell, dies at 81
May 12 Marcelle de Manziarly, French pianist and composer, dies at 89
May 12 Ron Wilson, American drummer and percussionist (The Surfaris - "Wipe Out"), dies of a brain aneurysm at 44
May 14 Joe Primeau, Canadian Hockey HOF center (Stanley Cup, Lady Byng Memorial Trophy 1931–32; Toronto Maple Leafs) and coach (Stanley Cup 1950-51 Toronto Maple Leafs), dies at 83
May 15 Johnny Green, American singer (Body and Soul) and film score composer who won 5 Academy Awards, dies at 80
May 16 Hassan Khaled, sheik of Lebanon, murdered
May 17 Dan Alderson, American scientist (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and sci-fi fandom figure, dies of diabetes at 47
May 19 Abel Herzberg, Russian-Dutch Jewish lawyer (Eichmann in Jerusalem), dies at 95
May 19 Anton Diffring [Alfred Pollack], German character actor (Assignment Vienna), dies of cancer at 72
May 19 Robert Webber, American actor (12 Angry Men, Moonlighting, 79 Park Avenue), dies of Lou Gehrig's disease at 64
May 20 Erzsébet Galgoczi, Hungarian writer, dies at 58
May 20 Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (SNL, 1975-80; Haunted Honeymoon), dies of ovarian cancer at 42
May 20 John R. Hicks, English economist (Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Sciences 1972), dies at 85
May 22 Steven DeGroote, South African classical pianist, dies from multiple organ failure due to AIDS at 36
May 23 Georgy Tovstonogov, Russian theatre director (b. 1915)
May 23 Lindembergue Cardoso, Brazilian composer, and music educator (Brazilian Contemporary Music Ensemble), dies at 49
May 24 Herwig Hensen [Flor Mielants], Flemish dramatist and poet, dies at 72
May 26 Don Revie, English soccer forward (6 caps; Leicester City, Hull City, Manchester City, Sunderland, Leeds) and manager (Leeds, England, UAE), dies from MND at 61
May 27 Arseny Tarkovsky, Russian poet and translator, dies at 81
May 27 Jack Starrett, director/actor (Chase, Nightwish, 1st Blood), dies
May 29 John Cipollina, American rock guitarist (Quicksilver Messenger Service), dies from a longterm lung disease at 45
May 30 Claude Pepper, American politician (Rep-D-FL, 1963-89), dies at 88
May 30 Zinka Milanov (née Kunc), Croatian soprano (Ljubljana Opera 1927-34; NY Metropolitan Opera, 1937-66), dies of a stroke at 83
May 31 C. L. R. James [Cyril Lionel Robert James], Trinidadian historian (The Black Jacobins), journalist, intellectual and socialist, dies at 88 [1]
May 31 Charles A. Hufnagel, American surgeon (artificial heart valve pioneer), dies at 72
May 31 Terry Drinkwater, American CBS news correspondent, dies at 53 of cancer
Jun 1 Aurelio Lampredi, Italian automobile and aircraft engine designer (Ferrari), dies at 71
Jun 2 Dick Mayer, American golfer (US Open 1957), dies from alcoholism complications at 64
Jun 2 Ted à Beckett, Australian cricket fast bowler (4 Tests, 3 wickets; Victoria), dies at 81

Jun 3 Supreme leader of Iran (1979-89), religious figure and political leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, dies of a heart attack at 89

Jun 3 John McCauley, American NHL official, dies at 44
Jun 3 Scott Ross, American-French harpsichordist (recorded all 555 sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti), dies of AIDS related pneumonia at 38
Jun 4 Andor Kovács, Hungarian classical guitarist, and composer, dies at 60
Jun 4 Dik Browne, American cartoonist (Hi & Lois, Hagar the Horrible), dies at 71
Jun 4 Václav Kašlík, Czech opera composer (Krakatit), conductor, and director, dies at 71
Jun 6 Richard F. Kahn, English economist, worked with John Maynard Keynes (concept of the "multiplier"), dies at 83
Jun 7 Chico Landi, Brazilian auto racer (6 x F1 GP; first Brazilian to driver in a F1 GP, and to score points; Mil Milhas Brasil 1960), dies at 81
Jun 7 Milton van Embricqs, Suriname/Dutch publicist, dies
Jun 7 Percy Stuart, Suriname/Dutch sports journalist, dies
Jun 9 George Beadle, American geneticist (biochemical genetics - Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1958), dies at 85
Jun 9 Piet[er J] Lieftinck, Dutch minister of Finance (1945-52), dies
Jun 9 Rashid Behbudov, Azerbaijani singer and actor, dies of kidney disease at 73
Jun 9 Wolfdietrich Schnurre, German writer, dies at 68
Jun 10 Richard Quine, American actor and director (How to Murder Your Wife, Clay Pigeon), commits suicide at 68

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Famous People Who Died in 1989

Deaths 1 - 200 of 438 Jan 7 124th Emperor of Japan (1926-89), dies at 87 after a 62-year reign Jan 9 American Baseball HOF first baseman (MLB All-Star 193335; World Series 1933; NL batting champion 1930; NY Giants) and manager (NY Giants 1932-41), dies at 90

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