Deaths in May 2009

The following is a list of deaths in May 2009.

May 2009

1

• Ralph J. Cappy, 65, American jurist, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (2003–2008).
• Delara Darabi, 22, Iranian convicted murderer, executed by hanging.
• Fred Delmare, 87, German actor, complications from pneumonia. (German)
• Ric Estrada, 81, Cuban-born American penciler of comic books, prostate cancer.
• Danny Gans, 52, American entertainer.
• Norman Gash, 97, British historian.
• Albert Hamilton Gordon, 107, American businessman.
• George Hannan, 98, Australian politician.
• Jokke Kangaskorpi, 37, Finnish footballer. (Finnish)
• Jack D. Maltester, 95, American politician, mayor of San Leandro, California.
• Derek Noonan, 62, British rugby league and rugby union player.
• Marc Rocco, 46, American film director (Murder in the First, Where the Day Takes You) and screenwriter.
• Sunline, 13, New Zealand champion racehorse, euthanized.
• John Wilke, 54, American investigative reporter, pancreatic cancer.

2

• Alfred Appel, 75, American scholar, expert on Vladimir Nabokov, heart failure.
• K.Balaji, 74, Indian Tamil actor and producer, multiple organ failure.
• Augusto Boal, 78, Brazilian dramatist and theater director (Theatre of the Oppressed), respiratory failure. (Portuguese)
• Marilyn French, 79, American writer, heart failure.
• Kiyoshiro Imawano, 58, Japanese rock musician. (Japanese)
• Janus Kamban, 95, Faroese sculptor and graphic designer.
• Jack Kemp, 73, American politician and football player, candidate for Vice President (1996), cancer.
• Carole C. Noon, 59, American primatologist, founder of Save the Chimps, pancreatic cancer.
• Robert Pauley, 85, American executive, President of ABC Radio (1961–1967), heart failure.
• Virginia Prince, 96, American transgender activist.

3

• Robert B. Choate, Jr., 84, American food lobbyist.
• John Elsworthy, 77, British footballer.
• Hui Ki On, 65, Hong Kong public servant, Commissioner of Police (1994–2001), cancer.
• Eleanor Perenyi, 91, American gardener and writer, cerebral hemorrhage.
• Ram Shewalkar, 78, Indian Marathi writer, cardiac arrest.
• Ralph Thompson, 95, British animal artist.

4

• Bobby Campbell, 86, British footballer and manager.
• Nicholas Clemente, 80, American judge (New York Supreme Court).
• Dom DeLuise, 75, American actor and comedian (The Cannonball Run, The Secret of NIMH), writer and chef, kidney failure.
• Edward Stewart Kennedy, 97, American historian.
• Charles Lugano, 59, Kenyan politician, after short illness.
• Martha Mason, 71, American author, lived 60 years in an iron lung.
• Fritz Muliar, 89, Austrian actor.
• Jane Randolph, 93, American actress.
• Gisela Stein, 73, German actress. (German)

5

• Benjamín Flores, 24, Mexican boxer, brain injury during a match.
• David S. King, 91, American politician, U.S. Representative for Utah (1959–1963).
• Richard Miller, 83, American operatic tenor and educator, Professor Emeritus of Voice (Oberlin Conservatory of Music).
• Dewey Smith, 36, American diver.
• Elsie B. Washington, 66, American author, wrote first African American romance novel, multiple sclerosis and cancer.
• Murasaki Yamada, 60, Japanese manga artist.

6

• Erik Bluemel, 32, American professor (University of Denver), bicycle accident.
• Sam Cohn, 79, American talent agent, after short illness.
• Leon Despres, 101, American attorney and politician, heart failure.
• Ean Evans, 48, American bassist (Lynyrd Skynyrd), cancer.
• Kevin Grubb, 31, American NASCAR driver, suicide by gunshot.
• Sid Laverents, 100, American amateur filmmaker, pneumonia.
• Lev Losev, 71, Russian poet and literary critic. (Russian)
• Guy Mascolo, 65, Italian hairdresser, co-founder of Toni & Guy.
• Bob Meyer, 76, Australian logician, lung cancer.
• Valentin Varennikov, 85, Russian general. (Russian)
• Viola Wills, 69, American pop singer, cancer.

7

• Robin Blaser, 83, American-born Canadian poet, Griffin Poetry Prize winner.
• Mickey Carroll, 89, American actor (The Wizard of Oz).
• Ian Cundy, 64, British Anglican prelate, Bishop of Peterborough, mesothelioma.
• Linda Dangcil, 66, American actress (The Flying Nun), throat cancer.
• John Furia, Jr., 79, American screenwriter (The Twilight Zone, Dr. Kildare), President of the Writers Guild, West (1973–1975).
• Tony Marsh, 77, British racing driver.
• David Mellor, 78, British industrial designer, manufacturer and retailer.
• Frank Melton, 60, American politician, mayor of Jackson, Mississippi.
• Danny Ozark, 85, American baseball manager.
• Wayland Young, 2nd Baron Kennet, 85, British politician and writer.

8

• Gianni Baget Bozzo, 84, Italian Roman Catholic priest and politician.
• Fons Brijdenbach, 54, Belgian athlete, cancer. (Dutch)
• Dom DiMaggio, 92, American baseball player (Boston Red Sox), brother of Joe DiMaggio, pneumonia.
• Hideyuki Fujisawa, 83, Japanese Go player, aspiration pneumonia. (Japanese)
• Carlos Kloppenburg, 89, Brazilian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Novo Hamburgo (1986–1995).
• Ninel Kurgapkina, 80, Russian prima ballerina, road accident.
• Greg Palmer, 61, American writer, television reporter and Emmy Award-winning journalist, lung cancer.
• Bud Shrake, 77, American journalist and novelist, lung cancer.
• Eunice Taylor, 75, American baseball player (Kenosha Comets).

9

• Stephen Bruton, 60, American songwriter and guitarist (Kris Kristofferson band), throat cancer.
• Chuck Daly, 78, American basketball coach, pancreatic cancer.
• Sahan Dosova, 130?, Kazakhstani supercentenarian and longevity claimant. (Hungarian)
• Travis Edmonson, 76, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Bud & Travis), heart failure.
• Michael Fox, 75, British-born Israeli lawyer.
• Henry T. King, 89, American attorney, Nuremberg trials prosecutor, cancer.
• David Marcus, 85, Irish literary editor, after long illness.
• Ernest Millington, 93, British politician and educator, last living World War II-era member of the British Parliament.
• Eugene Smith, 88, American gospel singer.
• Evgenios Spatharis, 85, Greek shadow play artist, fall.
• Jean-Claude Van Geenberghe, 46, Belgian-born Ukrainian equestrian. (German)
• George Zinkhan, 57, American academic and suspected murderer, suicide by gunshot.

10

• Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, Libyan Al-Qaeda paramilitary trainer accused of terrorism, alleged suicide.
• Robert John Cornell, 89, American politician and Roman Catholic priest, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin (1975–1979).
• Sergio Escobedo, 78, Mexican Olympic modern pentathlete and fencer.
• James Kirkup, 91, British poet, translator and travel writer, stroke.
• Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano, 47, Guatemalan lawyer, shot.
• Clive Scott, 64, British keyboardist and songwriter (Jigsaw), stroke.
• Brian Simnjanovski, 27, American football player (Berlin Thunder), car accident.
• Robert J. Sinclair, 77, American executive, CEO of Saab-Scania of America, cancer.

11

• Pat Booth, 66, British model and writer, cancer.
• Lude Check, 91, Canadian ice hockey player.
• Abel Goumba, 82, Central African politician, Prime Minister (1957–58, 1959, 2003) and Vice-President (2003–2005). (French)
• Claudio Huepe, 69, Chilean politician and diplomat, heart attack.
• Bill Kelso, 69, American baseball player.
• Mark Landon, 60, American actor, adopted son of Michael Landon.
• Shanthi Lekha, 79, Sri Lankan actress.
• S. M. Nanda, 93, Indian admiral, Chief of Naval Staff (1970–1973).
• Peter Philips, 81, Australian politician, Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council (1976–1988).
• Leonard Shlain, 71, American surgeon and writer, brain cancer.
• Angel Arce Torres, 78, American hit and run victim, bronchial pneumonia due to spinal injury.

12

• Christopher Bathurst, 3rd Viscount Bledisloe, 74, British aristocrat and politician, heart failure.
• Dame Heather Begg, 76, New Zealand operatic soprano, leukemia.
• Mohan Saliya Ellawala, 61, Sri Lankan politician, Governor of Sabaragamuwa Province (2008–2009), after long illness.
• Eden Ross Lipson, 66, American book editor, pancreatic cancer.
• Thomas Nordseth-Tiller, 28, Norwegian screenwriter (Max Manus), cancer. (Norwegian)
• Roger Planchon, 77, French theatre director, heart attack. (French)
• Sidique Ali Merican, 78, Malaysian sprinter, stroke.
• Antonio Vega, 51, Spanish pop singer-songwriter (Nacha Pop), pneumonia. (Spanish)
• Heini Walter, 81, Swiss racing driver.

13

• Frank Aletter, 83, American character actor (It's About Time), cancer.
• Waldemar Levy Cardoso, 108, Brazilian Field Marshal, WWI-era veteran. (Portuguese)
• Achille Compagnoni, 94, Italian mountaineer, first person to ascend K2. (Italian)
• Don Cordner, 87, Australian footballer.
• Rafael Escalona, 81, Colombian Vallenato composer and troubador. (Spanish)
• Norbert Eschmann, 75, Swiss footballer. (French)
• Anne Scott-James, 96, British journalist and author, widow of Sir Osbert Lancaster.
• L. William Seidman, 88, American public servant, Chairman of the FDIC (1985–1991), after short illness.
• Joe Tandy, 26, British auto racing team owner, car crash.

14

• Monica Bleibtreu, 65, Austrian actress, screenwriter and drama teacher, cancer.
• Newt Heisley, 88, American commercial artist, designer of POW/MIA flag, after long illness.
• Ken Hollyman, 86, British footballer.
• Marian McDougall, 95, American amateur golfer.
• Buddy Montgomery, 79, American jazz musician, heart failure.
• William J. Passmore, 77, American jockey, complications from emphysema.
• Bob Rosburg, 82, American golfer and television color analyst, fall.
• George Williams, 69, American baseball player.

15

• Susanna Agnelli, 87, Italian politician and writer, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1995–1996).
• Alexander Gordon Bearn, 86, British physician.
• Si Frumkin, 78, Lithuanian-born Holocaust survivor.
• Alan Hackney, 84, British screenwriter.
• Rodger McFarlane, 54, American gay rights activist, first executive director of Gay Men's Health Crisis, suicide.
• Mohammad-Amin Riahi, 86, Iranian historian and literary scholar.
• E. Beatrice Riley, 112, Australian supercentenarian.
• Edwin S. Shneidman, 91, American suicidologist.
• Helvi Sipilä, 94, Finnish diplomat.
• Roy Talbot, 94, Bermudan calypso musician, last surviving member of original Talbot Brothers.
• Bud Tingwell, 86, Australian actor, prostate cancer.
• Wayman Tisdale, 44, American basketball player and jazz bassist, cancer.
• Hubert van Es, 67, Dutch photographer at the fall of Saigon, brain hemorrhage.

16

• Prospero Amatong, 77, Filipino politician, Congressman (1998–2007), Governor of Davao del Norte (1992–1998), fall.
• Antonio Chocano, 96, Guatemalan Olympic fencer and diplomat, emphysema. (Spanish)
• John E. Connelly, 82, American entrepreneur, founder of Gateway Clipper Fleet, heart failure.
• Henry David Halsey, 90, British Anglican prelate, Bishop of Carlisle (1972–1989), after short illness.
• Sándor Katona, 66, Hungarian footballer and Olympic champion. (Hungarian)
• Craig G. Roberts, 78, American racehorse trainer.
• Peter Sampson, 81, British footballer (Bristol Rovers), Alzheimer's disease.

17

• Mohammad-Taqi Bahjat Foumani, 96, Iranian cleric, heart disease.
• Mario Benedetti, 88, Uruguayan author and poet.
• Daniel Carasso, 103, Greek-born French businessman (Groupe Danone).
• Adolf Dickfeld, 99, German World War II Luftwaffe flying ace.
• David Herbert Donald, 88, American historian, heart failure.
• Masaru Hayami, 84, Japanese public servant, Governor of the Bank of Japan (1998–2003), respiratory failure.
• David Ireland, 78, American sculptor and conceptual artist, pneumonia.
• Jung Seung-hye, 44, South Korean film producer, colon cancer.
• Guillermo Lora, 87, Bolivian revolutionary leader, liver cancer.
• Dame Patricia Mackinnon, 97, Australian community worker and philanthropist, President of the Royal Children's Hospital.
• Prakash Mehra, 69, Indian film producer and director, pneumonia and multiple organ failure.
• William Moore, 60, British loyalist paramilitary, member of the Shankill Butchers, suspected heart attack.
• Peter Slabakov, 86, Bulgarian actor.
• Ron Snidow, 67, American football player (Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns), complications from Lou Gehrig's disease.
• Octavia St. Laurent, American transwoman and performer.
• Mark Young, 23, British motorcycle racer, race crash.

18

• Wayne Allwine, 62, American voice artist (Mickey Mouse), complications from diabetes.
• Carole Cole, 64, American actress (Sanford and Son, Grady), daughter of Nat King Cole, lung cancer.
• Dolla, 21, American rap artist, shot.
• Sir David Hay, 92, Australian public servant, Ambassador to the United Nations, Administrator of Papua New Guinea.
• K. Pattabhi Jois, 93, Indian yoga teacher, after short illness.
• Balasingham Nadesan, Sri Lankan rebel, political chief of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), missile attack.
• Paul Parin, 92, Swiss psychoanalyst, author and ethnologist. (German)
• Velupillai Prabhakaran, 54, Sri Lankan rebel, leader of the LTTE, missile attack.
• Türkan Saylan, 74, Turkish doctor, cancer.
• Thillaiyampalam Sivanesan, 45, Sri Lankan rebel, leader of the LTTE naval wing (Sea Tigers), missile attack.
• Shanmugalingam Sivashankar, Sri Lankan rebel, leader of the LTTE intelligence wing, missile attack.
• Lee Solters, 89, American press agent, natural causes.

19

• Michael Preston Barr, 82, American composer, diabetes.
• Robert F. Furchgott, 92, American scientist, Nobel Prize winner.
• Andrei Ivanov, 42, Russian footballer. (Russian)
• Knut Hammer Larsen, 38, Norwegian footballer, leukemia. (Norwegian)
• Nicholas Maw, 73, British composer (Odyssey), heart failure.
• Clint Smith, 95, Canadian ice hockey player (New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks).
• Herbert York, 87, American physicist.

20

• John Brown Jr., 88, American Navajo code talker.
• Arthur Erickson, 84, Canadian architect (Simon Fraser University, Roy Thomson Hall).
• Lucy Gordon, 28, British actress (Spider-Man 3, The Four Feathers), suicide by hanging.
• Alan Kelly, Sr., 72, Irish footballer, cancer.
• Matthew Krel, 64, Russian-born Australian conductor, founder of the SBS Youth Orchestra, encephalitis.
• Randi Lindtner Næss, 104, Norwegian actress. (Norwegian)
• Nguyễn Bá Cẩn, Vietnamese politician, Prime Minister of South Vietnam (1975).
• Simon Oates, 77, British actor, prostate cancer.
• Larry Rice, 63, American racing driver, lung cancer.
• María Amelia López Soliño, 97, Spanish blogger, world's oldest blogger.
• Paul Vinar, 69, Australian footballer.
• Ralph D. Winter, 84, American missionary (U.S. Center for World Mission), multiple myeloma and lymphoma.
• Oleg Yankovsky, 65, Russian actor, pancreatic cancer.
• Yehoshua Zettler, 91, Israeli resistance fighter (Lehi).
• Jerzy Zubrzycki, 89, Polish-born Australian sociologist.

21

• Joan Alexander, 94, American radio actress (The Adventures of Superman), intestinal blockage.
• Walter da Silva, 68, Brazilian footballer and coach, heart attack.
• Fathi Eljahmi, 68, Libyan political activist, blood infection.
• Barry England, 77, British novelist and playwright.
• Anatoli Kirilov, 42, Bulgarian football coach (PFC Spartak Varna), car accident.
• Him Mark Lai, 83, American historian, bladder cancer.
• Sam Maloof, 93, American woodworker, pneumonia.
• Rolf McPherson, 96, American evangelist, son of Aimee Semple McPherson, natural causes.
• Robert Müller, 28, German ice hockey player, brain cancer. (German)
• Kanagasabai Pathmanathan, 64, Sri Lankan politician.
• Togo Tanaka, 93, American journalist, natural causes.

22

• Alexander Mezhirov, 86, Russian poet. (Russian)
• Zé Rodrix, 61, Brazilian musician. (Portuguese)
• Yeo Woon Kye, 69, South Korean actress, kidney cancer.

23

• Charles Albury, 88, American co-pilot of the Bockscar at atomic bombing of Nagasaki, heart failure.
• Raleigh Brown, 87, American politician, state representative (Texas), heart attack.
• Lawrence Daly, 84, British trade union leader.
• Joseph Duval, 80, French Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Rouen (1981–2004).
• Ken Gill, 81, British trade union leader.
• David Lunceford, 75, American football player, Alzheimer's disease.
• Tadeusz Pyka, 79, Polish politician. (Polish)
• Roh Moo-hyun, 62, South Korean politician, President (2003–2008), suicide by jumping.
• Sir Tangaroa Tangaroa, 88, Cook Islands public servant, Queen's Representative (1985–1990).

24

• Jay Bennett, 45, American musician (Wilco) and songwriter, accidental drug overdose.
• Jack Lewis, 84, American screenwriter, lung cancer.

25

• Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, 48, Nigerian Pan African activist, car accident.
• Billy Baxter, 70, British footballer, cancer.
• Rolf Brahde, 91, Norwegian astronomer. (Norwegian)
• Amos Elon, 82, Austrian-born Israeli author and journalist. (German)
• Haakon Lie, 103, Norwegian politician. (Norwegian)
• Ivan van Sertima, 74, Guyanese-born British historian, linguist and anthropologist (Rutgers University).

26

• Antonio Braga, 80, Italian composer. (Italian)
• Kaoru Kurimoto, 56, Japanese author, pancreatic cancer.
• Mihalis Papagiannakis, 68, Greek politician, MP, cancer.
• Michael Ross, 89, American screenwriter and director (Three's Company), complications from a heart attack and stroke.
• Ronald Takaki, 70, American sociologist, professor of ethnic studies (University of California, Berkeley), suicide.
• Marek Walczewski, 72, Polish actor.
• Peter Zezel, 44, Canadian ice hockey player, haemolytic anemia.

27

• Ammo Baba, 74, Iraqi footballer and athletic trainer, diabetes. .
• Thomas Franck, 77, American lawyer.
• Sir Clive Grainger, 74, British economist, Nobel Prize winner for economics.
• Mona Grey, 98, British public servant, Chief Nursing Officer for Northern Ireland. .
• Abram Hoffer, 92, Canadian orthomolecular psychiatrist.
• Gérard Jean-Juste, 62, Haitian political activist, after long illness.
• Carol Anne O'Marie, 75, American Roman Catholic nun and mystery novelist, Parkinson's disease.
• Sir William Refshauge, 96, Australian public health administrator.
• Paul Sharratt, 75, British-born American television producer, cancer.

28

• Mort Abrahams, 93, American film and television producer (Planet of the Apes, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), natural causes.
• Terence Alexander, 86, British film and television actor (Bergerac).
• Terry Barr, 73, American football player (Detroit Lions), Alzheimer's disease.
• Friedrich Blond, 89, German Waffen SS member. (Portuguese)
• Manuel Collantes, 91, Filipino diplomat, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs (1984), cardiac arrest.
• Ed Dorohoy, 80, Canadian ice hockey player.
• Carlton Forbes, 72, Jamaican-born British first-class cricketer.
• Roger Kaffer, 81, American Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Joliet.
• Luis María de Larrea y Legarreta, 91, Spanish Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Bilbao. (Spanish)
• Lenrie Peters, 76, Gambian surgeon and novelist, after short illness.
• Ercole Rabitti, 87, Italian footballer and trainer. (Italian)
• Oleg Shenin, 71, Russian politician, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1990–1991).
• Betty Tancock, 98, Canadian Olympic swimmer (1932).
• John Tolos, 78, Canadian professional wrestler, renal failure.

29

• Hank Bassen, 76, Canadian ice hockey player, heart attack.
• Kevin Beurle, 53, British scientist, hot air balloon accident.
• Reginald Golledge, 71, Australian-born American geographer.
• Phale Hale, 94, American politician, member of the Ohio House of Representatives.
• Ed Murray, 80, American politician, speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives (1987–1991).
• Bill Perkins, 89, Australian footballer (Richmond).
• Steve Prest, 43, British snooker player and coach, peritonitis.
• Karine Ruby, 31, French Olympic gold (1998) and silver (2002) medal-winning snowboarder, fall.

30

• Torsten Andersson, 82, Swedish painter. (Swedish)
• Luís Cabral, 78, Guinea-Bissauan politician, President (1973–1980).
• Eva Dawes, 96, Canadian bronze medal-winning Olympic high jumper (1932), stroke.
• Susanna Haapoja, 42, Finnish politician, cerebral haemorrhage.
• Eric Hammond, 79, British trade unionist, General Secretary of the EETPU.
• Ephraim Katzir, 93, Israeli biophysicist and politician, President (1973–1978).
• Herma Kirchschläger, 93, Austrian widow of former President Rudolf Kirchschläger. (German)
• Waldemar Matuška, 76, Czech singer, pneumonia and heart failure. (Czech)
• Gaafar Nimeiry, 79, Sudanese politician, President (1969–1985).
• Alexander Obregón, 32, Colombian footballer, car accident.

31

• Martin Clemens, 94, British colonial administrator and soldier.
• Millvina Dean, 97, British woman, last living passenger aboard the Titanic, pneumonia.
• Brian Edrich, 86, British cricketer.
• Sir John Holland, 94, Australian engineer, construction magnate.
• Danny La Rue, 81, Irish-born British female impersonator and singer, prostate cancer.
• Vyacheslav Nevinny, 74, Russian actor, diabetes. (Russian)
• Emil L. Smith, 97, American biochemist, heart attack.
• Kamala Surayya, 75, Indian writer, after long illness.
• George Tiller, 67, American physician and abortion provider, shot.