Deaths in October 2008

The following is a list of notable deaths in October 2008.

October 2008

1

• Robert Arthur, 83, American actor (Twelve O'Clock High), heart failure.
• Ian Collier, British actor and singer.
• Robert Couturier, 103, French sculptor. (French)
• Boris Efimov, 109, Russian political cartoonist.
• Daphney Hlomuka, 59, South African actress, kidney cancer.
• Val Jansante, 88, American football player (Pittsburgh Steelers).
• Detlef Lewe, 69, German canoeist, 1972 Olympic bronze medalist, after brief illness. (German)
• House Peters, Jr., 92, American actor (Mr. Clean), pneumonia.
• Nick Reynolds, 75, American folk musician (The Kingston Trio), acute respiratory disease.
• Arlene Sherman, c. 61, American television producer.
• LeJuan Simon, 27, Trinidadian athlete, complications of pulmonary hypertension.
• Poornam Viswanathan, 88, Indian actor, multiple organ failure.

2

• Bonnie Bluh, 82, American feminist writer, aortic dissection. .
• Choi Jin-sil, 39, South Korean actress, suicide by hanging.
• Rob Guest, 58, British-born New Zealand actor and singer, stroke.
• Shaharom Husain, 88, Malaysian historian.
• Kataejar Jibas, 55, Marshallese politician, mayor of Bikini Atoll since 2007, injuries from a car accident.
• John Sjoberg, 67, British footballer (Leicester City F.C.).

3

• Zulfiqar Ahmed, 82, Pakistani cricketer, cardiac arrest.
• Mahir al-Zubaydi, Iraqi al-Qaeda leader, shot.
• Geoffrey Davis, Australian doctor.
• Jean Foyer, 87, French politician, Minister of Justice (1962–1967) and Minister of Health (1972–1973). (French)
• Hugo Ironside, 90, British soldier.
• Johnny "J", 39, American hip-hop producer, apparent suicide by jumping.
• Rajendra Singh Lodha, 66, Indian accountant, chairman of the Birla Corporation, heart attack.
• George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth, 87, British businessman and journalist, MP (1952–1973), viral infection.

4

• Harry Bath, 83, Australian National Rugby League player and coach, after long illness.
• Ted Briggs, 85, British sailor, last survivor of the sinking of HMS Hood.
• Craig Fertig, 66, American football player and coach, kidney failure.
• Al Gallodoro, 95, American jazz musician, after brief illness.
• Derek Jones, 81, British colonial official, Hong Kong Secretary for Economic Services (1973–1976), Environment (1976–1981).
• Levi Kereama, 27, Australian 2003 Australian Idol contestant, apparent suicide by jumping.
• Saul Laskin, 90, Canadian politician, first mayor of Thunder Bay, heart attack.
• Peter Vansittart, 88, British writer.

5

• Ernest Beutler, 80, American hematologist, lymphoma.
• Kim Chan, 93/94?, Chinese-born American actor.
• Leopoldo Elia, 82, Italian legal scholar, President of the Constitutional Court, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1994). (Italian)
• Servando González, 85, Mexican documentary film director.
• Roy K. Moore, 94, American FBI agent known for civil rights investigations, pneumonia.
• Mohamed Moumou, 43, Iraqi al-Qaeda second-in-command, shot.
• Howard G. Munson, 84, American judge.
• Iba N'Diaye, 80, Senegalese painter, heart failure.
• Ken Ogata, 71, Japanese actor (The Ballad of Narayama), liver cancer.
• Hans Richter, 89, German actor and director (Emil and the Detectives). (German)
• Lloyd Thaxton, 81, American television personality, multiple myeloma.

6

• Peter Avery, 85, British scholar and Iranian specialist.
• Larry Belcher, 61, American politician, member of Kentucky House of Representatives (1999–2002, since 2006), car accident.
• Peter Cox, 82, Australian politician.
• Paavo Haavikko, 77, Finnish poet and playwright, after long illness.
• Olga Kaljakin, 57, American art director, film poster designer (The Last Samurai, Field of Dreams), emphysema.
• Kim Ji-hoo, 23, South Korean actor, suicide by hanging.
• Nadia Nerina, 80, South African ballerina.
• Janaka Perera, 62, Sri Lankan general and politician, bomb blast injuries.
• Anne Margrethe Strømsheim, 94, Norwegian resistance member. (Norwegian)
• Sir John Young, 88, Australian jurist, Chief Justice of Victoria (1974–1991), Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria (1974–1995).

7

• Peter Copley, 93, British actor.
• Bruce Dal Canton, 66, American baseball player, esophageal cancer.
• Leslie Hardman, 95, British cleric at liberation of Belsen.
• George Kissell, 88, American baseball coach (St. Louis Cardinals), car accident.
• Ivar Mathisen, 88, Norwegian Olympic silver medal-winning (1948) sprint canoer.
• DeWayne McKinney, 47, American ATM entrepreneur wrongfully convicted for murder, traffic accident.
• George Emil Palade, 95, Romanian cell biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 1974).
• Miles Richmond, 85, British painter.

8

• Francisco Jezuíno Avanzi, 59, Brazilian footballer.
• Daniel De Gale, 21, British leukemia campaigner, after short illness.
• Jim Drake, 77, British rugby league player.
• Bob Friend, 70, British newscaster, cancer.
• José Luis Garza, 47, Mexican recorded as world's fifth heaviest person at time of death, heart failure.
• Tanya Halesworth, 73, Australian television news presenter, cancer.
• Eileen Herlie, 90, British-born American actress (Hamlet, All My Children), complications of pneumonia.
• Norman Hogg, Baron Hogg of Cumbernauld, 70, British politician, MP (1979–1997), cancer.
• Les McCrabb, 93, American baseball player (Philadelphia Athletics).

9

• Warrick Brown, 35, American fictional forensic scientist, homicide.
• Gidget Gein, 39, American bassist (Marilyn Manson), drug overdose.
• Al Hall, 74, American hammer throw champion, complications from Alzheimer's disease.
• Milan Kymlicka, 72, Czech-born Canadian composer and conductor.
• David Lett, 69, American winemaker, heart failure.
• Bert Loxley, 74, British footballer and manager, after long illness.
• Ardeshir Mohassess, 70, Iranian illustrator and cartoonist, heart attack.
• Judith Wachs, 70, American musician (Voice of the Turtle) and promoter of Sephardic music, cancer.

10

• James Benson, 63, American entrepreneur (SpaceDev), brain tumor.
• Alton Ellis, 70, Jamaican singer, lymphatic cancer.
• Sid Hudson, 93, American baseball player.
• Muhammad Aslam Khan Khattak, 100, Pakistani politician and diplomat, after long illness.
• Gerald Leeman, 86, American wrestler, Olympic silver medallist (1948).
• Kazuyoshi Miura, 61, Japanese businessman, murder suspect, suicide by hanging.
• Javad Nurbakhsh, 81, Iranian spiritual leader.
• Jiřina Petrovická, 85, Czech actress. (Czech)
• Alexey Prokurorov, 44, Russian cross-country skier, car accident.
• Leo Rosner, 90, Polish-born Australian musician, Holocaust survivor in Schindler's List, complications of Alzheimer's disease.
• Kurt Weinzierl, 77, Austrian actor.

11

• Vija Artmane, 79, Latvian actress, complications from strokes.
• Daniel Awdry, 84, British politician, MP for Chippenham (1962–1979).
• William Claxton, 80, American photographer, complications of heart failure.
• Kevin Foster, 39, American baseball player, renal cancer.
• Jörg Haider, 58, Austrian politician, Governor of Carinthia (1989–1991, since 1999), leader of the FPÖ and BZÖ, car accident.
• Russ Hamilton, 76, British singer.
• Ernst-Paul Hasselbach, 42, Surinamese-born Dutch television producer, car accident.
• Neal Hefti, 85, American composer ("Batman Theme", "The Odd Couple Theme"), heart attack.
• William J. Higginson, 69, American poet and translator.
• Randy Johnston, 20, American male model, drug overdose.
• Hayley Marie Kohle, 26, Canadian fashion model, suicide by jumping.
• Badar Munir, 68, Pakistani actor, complications of cardiac arrest.
• Scarlett, 13, American stray cat, name source of the Scarlett Award for Animal Heroism, animal euthanasia.
• Mark Shivas, 70, British film and television producer, Head of BBC Drama (1988–1993).
• Allan Spear, 71, American politician, first openly gay member of Minnesota Senate (1973–2000), complications of heart surgery.
• Gil Stratton, 86, American television and radio sportscaster (Los Angeles Rams, Santa Anita Racetrack), heart failure.
• Nelson Symonds, 75, Canadian jazz guitarist, heart attack,

12

• Lenvil Elliott, 57, American football player (San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals), heart attack.
• Chuck Evans, 41, American football player (Minnesota Vikings), heart failure.
• Sir Dick Franks, 88, British Head of the Secret Intelligence Service (1979–1982).
• Cliff Nobles, 64, American pop musician, cancer.
• James E. Reilly, 60, American soap opera writer, complications from cardiac surgery.
• John R. Reilly, 80, American lawyer, adviser to six Democratic presidential candidates, cancer.
• Allan Rosenfield, 75, American physician, dean of Columbia University School of Public Health (1986–2008), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
• Emil Steinberger, 79, American physician, lung cancer.
• Adam Watene, 31, Cook Islands rugby league player, heart attack.

13

• Khryss Adalia, 62, Filipino film, television and stage director, colorectal cancer.
• Pablo Barrachina Estevan, 95, Spanish bishop of Orihuela-Alicante (1954–1989).
• Gus Chambers, 52, British vocalist (Grip Inc), suicide.
• Alexei Cherepanov, 19, Russian ice hockey player, acute cardiomyopathy.
• Guillaume Depardieu, 37, French actor, pneumonia.
• Antonio José González Zumárraga, 83, Ecuadorian cardinal, stomach cancer.
• Luciana Pignatelli, 73, Italian socialite, suicide.
• Matthew John Rinaldo, 77, American politician, member of the House of Representatives (1973–1993), Parkinson's disease.
• Paul Rogers, 87, American politician, member of the House of Representatives (1957–1979), lung cancer.
• Frank Rosenthal, 79, American gaming executive, sports handicapper, inspiration for the 1995 film Casino, heart attack.
• Eduardus Sangsun, 65, Indonesian bishop of Ruteng, heart attack.
• Françoise Seigner, 80, French comedienne and actress, pancreatic cancer.
• Eduardo Serrano, 97, Venezuelan musician, conductor and composer. (Spanish)
• Christopher Wicking, 65, British screenwriter.

14

• Barrington J. Bayley, 71, British science fiction author, complications of colorectal cancer.
• Richard Cooey, 41, American convicted murderer, executed by lethal injection.
• Robert Furman, 93, American spy during World War II, foreign intelligence chief for Manhattan Project, metastatic melanoma.
• Antonio Iannucci, 94, Italian archbishop of Pescara-Penne (1959–1990).
• Ray Lowry, 64, British cartoonist and illustrator, after long illness.
• Anne Mackenzie-Stuart, 78, British political activist.
• Pat Moss, 73, British rally driver, sister of Stirling Moss, cancer.
• Martin Peake, 2nd Viscount Ingleby, 82, British peer, activist for the disabled.
• Kazys Petkevičius, 82, Lithuanian basketball player and coach. (Lithuanian)
• Dame Daphne Purves, 99, New Zealand educator.

15

• Edie Adams, 81, American actress and singer, pneumonia and cancer.
• Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, 94, Turkish poet, chronic renal failure.
• Nathan Davis, 91, American actor.
• Chris Mims, 38, American football player.
• Jack Narz, 85, American game show host (Concentration), complications from strokes.
• Suzzanna, 66, Indonesian actress, complications of diabetes.
• Eddie Thompson, 68, British businessman, chairman of Dundee United, prostate cancer.
• Des Townson, 74, New Zealand yacht designer, cancer.
• Tom Tresh, 70, American baseball player (New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers), heart attack.
• Roderick Walker, 76, British SAS commander.
• Wang Yung-ching, 91, Taiwanese entrepreneur and billionaire, founder of Formosa Plastics.

16

• Germán Abad Valenzuela, 89, Ecuadorian radiologist. (Spanish)
• Ere Kokkonen, 70, Finnish film director, after illness. (Finnish)
• David Lee, 70, American sound engineer.
• Paul L. Montgomery, 72, American journalist and reporter (New York Times), cancer.
• Dagmar Normet, 87, Estonian writer and translator. (Estonian)
• Jack Reynolds, 71, American professional wrestling announcer (WWWF/WWF), complications from surgery.

17

• George M. Keller, 84, American oil executive, founder of Chevron Corporation, complications from orthopedic surgery.
• Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, 95, German royal, member of the House of Wittelsbach.
• Urmas Ott, 53, Estonian journalist and television host, heart attack.
• Santo Bartolomeo Quadri, 88, Italian archbishop of Modena-Nonantola (1983–1996).
• Bill Reilly, 70, American publisher, founder of Primedia, bone and prostate cancer.
• Levi Stubbs, 72, American vocalist (The Four Tops), complications of cancer and stroke.
• Nick Weatherspoon, 58, American basketball player, natural causes.
• Ben Weider, 85, Canadian bodybuilding promoter and Napoleon scholar.

18

• Evelyn Ay Sempier, 75, American beauty pageant winner, Miss America (1954), colorectal cancer.
• Salvatore Boccaccio, 70, Italian bishop of Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino.
• Albert Boime, 75, American art historian, myelofibrosis.
• Alfredo E. Evangelista, 82, Filipino archeologist, discovered the Laguna Copperplate Inscription.
• Charley Fox, 88, Canadian pilot credited with strafing Erwin Rommel's car, car accident.
• Peter Gordeno, 69, British actor, singer and dancer.
• Tormod Haugen, 63, Norwegian children's author, after long illness. (Norwegian)
• E.K. Mawlong, 62, Indian politician, Chief Minister of Meghalaya (2000–2001).
• Dave McKenna, 78, American jazz pianist, lung cancer.
• Rudolf Pangsepp, 87, Estonian book designer and artist. (Estonian)
• James J. Rhoades, 66, American politician, member of the Pennsylvania State Senate since 1981, car accident.
• Dee Dee Warwick, 63, American soul singer, sister of Dionne Warwick, after long illness.
• Xie Jin, 84, Chinese film director.

19

• Richard Blackwell, 86, American fashion critic ("Mr. Blackwell's Ten Worst Dressed Women"), intestinal infection.
• John A. Campbell, 67, Australian-born American lumber executive, president and CEO of Pacific Lumber Company, cancer.
• Tony Dean, 67, American outdoors broadcaster, complications from appendicectomy.
• Marilyn Ferguson, 70, American writer (The Aquarian Conspiracy), heart attack.
• Hal Kant, 77, American lawyer for the Grateful Dead, pancreatic cancer.
• Leah Maivia, 81, Samoan wrestling promoter, wife of Peter Maivia, grandmother of Dwayne Johnson.
• Harry T. Mangurian, Jr., 82, American businessman and horse breeder, former owner of the Boston Celtics, leukemia.
• Mireille Marokvia, 99, French writer.
• Rudy Ray Moore, 81, American comedian and actor (Dolemite), complications from diabetes.
• Robert B. Nett, 86, American Medal of Honor recipient, after brief illness.
• Nigel Plews, 74, British cricket umpire, renal cancer.
• Gianni Raimondi, 85, Italian lyric tenor.
• Gail Robinson, 62, American soprano, complications from rheumatoid arthritis.
• Arthur Sendas, 72, Brazilian supermarket magnate, shot.
• Lou Stringer, 91, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox).
• Doreen Wilber, 78, American archer, 1972 Olympic gold medallist, Alzheimer's disease.

20

• Daniel Aguillón, 24, Mexican boxer, brain death caused by knockout.
• Sœur Emmanuelle, 99, Belgian-born French nun, natural causes.
• Shamsiah Fakeh, 84, Malaysian independence activist, lung infection.
• Vittorio Foa, 98, Italian politician, journalist and writer.
• James Gleeson, 92, Australian art critic and surrealist painter.
• William Headline, 76, American CNN bureau chief, fall.
• Gene Hickerson, 73, American football player (Cleveland Browns)and member of the (Pro Football Hall of Fame), after long illness.
• Pat Kavanagh, 68, British literary agent, wife of Julian Barnes, brain tumour
• Joe Lutz, 83, American baseball player (St. Louis Browns), after long illness.
• David Myers, 37, British rugby league player (Widnes and England), car accident.
• John Ringham, 80, British actor.
• Bobi Sourander, 79, Finnish-born Swedish journalist and author. (Finnish)
• C. V. Sridhar, 73, Indian filmmaker, cardiac arrest.
• Krzysztof Zaleski, 60, Polish actor, after long illness.

21

• Sonja Bernadotte, 64, German-born Swedish countess, breast cancer.
• Alex Close, 86, Belgian road bicycle racer, winner of Tour of Belgium (1955) and Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (1956). (French)
• Jake Crawford, 80, American Major League Baseball player.
• George Edwards, 87, British footballer (Wales).
• Peter Levinson, 74, American music industry biographer, fall.
• Ram Ruhee, 81, Mauritian founder of the National Olympic Committee, IOC member, after long illness.
• James John Skinner, 85, Irish-born Zambian jurist and politician.

22

• Robert Adlard, 92, British Olympic silver medal-winning (1948) field hockey player.
• Robert C. Cannon, 91, American jurist.
• William Warren Conolly, 87, Caymanian politician.
• Lou Dorfsman, 90, American television graphic designer, heart failure.
• David Evans, 73, British politician, MP (1987–1997), cancer.
• Jan Hijzelendoorn, 79, Dutch Olympic cyclist.
• Ernest Kombo, 67, Congolese bishop of Owando, cancer.
• David Lloyd Meredith, 74, British actor.
• Paritosh Sen, 90, Indian artist, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

23

• Gianluigi Braschi, 45, Italian film producer (Life Is Beautiful), after long illness.
• Derek Brewer, 85, British mediaevalist.
• Oszkár Csuvik, 83, Hungarian water polo player, Olympic silver medalist (1948). (Hungarian)
• Danny Dill, 83, American songwriter ("Long Black Veil").
• Kevin Finnegan, 60, British boxer.
• E. Roger Muir, 89, American television producer, stroke.
• Ivo Pukanić, 47, Croatian newspaper editor, assassination by car bomb.
• F. W. Walbank, 98, British scholar of Greek history.

24

• Moshe Cotel, 65, American pianist and composer, natural causes.
• Howard French, 95, British newspaper editor.
• Milton Katselas, 74, American film director, heart failure.
• Premasiri Khemadasa, 71, Sri Lankan musician and composer.
• Geoffrey McLean, 77, British police officer.
• Merl Saunders, 74, American keyboardist (The Grateful Dead), collaborator with Jerry Garcia, complications from a stroke.
• Xiao Ke, 101, Chinese general in the People's Liberation Army, illness.
• Helmut Zilk, 81, Austrian politician, Mayor of Vienna (1984–1994), heart failure.

25

• John Axon, 48, British actor (The Royal), grandson of John Axon, heart attack.
• Allen Blanchard, 79, Australian politician.
• Gerard Damiano, 80, American adult film director (Deep Throat), stroke.
• Columb Farrelly, Irish record producer who discovered Sinéad O'Connor and The Pale, after short illness.
• Bob Gambold, 79, American football player (Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles).
• Irwin Gunsalus, 96, American biochemist, heart failure.
• Amos E. Joel, Jr., 90, American inventor, pioneer of the cellphone.
• Federico Luzzi, 28, Italian tennis player, leukemia.
• Muslim Magomayev, 66, Azerbaijani singer.
• Ian McColl, 81, British footballer, team manager for Scotland, natural causes.
• Anne Pressly, 26, American television news anchor (KATV), injuries during home invasion.
• Estelle Reiner, 94, American singer and actress (When Harry Met Sally...), wife of Carl Reiner, mother of Rob Reiner.
• Hal Roth, 81, American sailor and author, lung cancer.
• Tahereh Saffarzadeh, 72, Iranian poet and academic, cancer.

26

• Delfino Borroni, 110, Italian last known World War I veteran from Italy.
• Gábor Delneky, 76, Hungarian Olympic fencer.
• P. Cameron DeVore, 76, American First Amendment attorney, apparent heart attack.
• Eileen Donaghy, 78, Irish singer, cancer.
• Thomas Dunn, 82, American conductor, heart failure.
• Conrad Efraim, 63, Antiguan professional wrestler, stroke.
• Tony Hillerman, 83, American mystery writer, pulmonary failure.
• Karl Kassulke, 67, American football player (Minnesota Vikings), heart attack.
• Pablo Montes, 62, Cuban athlete, heart attack.
• Delmar Watson, 82, American child actor (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), prostate cancer.

27

• Dean Barnett, 41, American columnist and blogger, complications from cystic fibrosis.
• Chris Bryant, 72, British screenwriter and actor.
• Richard Carr-Gomm, 86, British soldier and philanthropist.
• Charles Dubin, 87, Canadian Chief Justice of Ontario (1990–1996), head of the Dubin Inquiry into drugs in sport, pneumonia.
• Ray Ellis, 85, American musician, conductor and television producer, complications from melanoma. .
• Jack Houston, 90, Australian politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland (1957–1980).
• Heinz Krügel, 87, German footballer and coach, after long illness. (German)
• Ed Levy, 91, American baseball player (Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees).
• Es'kia Mphahlele, 88, South African writer and academic, natural causes.
• Frank Nagai, 76, Japanese singer.
• Bernard W. Rogers, 87, American general, Commander of the US European Command (1979–1987).
• Louis Secco, 81, Canadian Olympic gold medal-winning (1952) ice hockey player.
• Roy Stewart, 83, Jamaican-born British actor.
• Andy Young, 83, Scottish footballer (Raith Rovers).

28

• Buck Adams, 52, American pornographic actor and director, complications from heart failure. .
• Dina Cocea, 95, Romanian actress, heart attack.
• Kung Te-cheng, 88, Chinese-born Taiwanese 77th generation descendant of Confucius, heart and respiratory failure.
• Alexander Lowen, 97, American psychotherapist.
• Pak Song-chol, 95, North Korean politician, Premier (1976–1977), after long illness.
• Paul Pesthy, 70, American Olympic modern pentathlete and fencer.
• Augusto Petró, 90, Brazilian bishop of Uruguaiana (1964–1995), complications from Alzheimer's disease.
• John Ripley, 69, American Marine war hero.
• Allan Scott, 80, Australian businessman and road transport magnate, complications from diabetes and heart condition.
• George Sopkin, 94, American cellist, natural causes.
• Ilus Vay, 85, Hungarian actress.

29

• Gerald Arpino, 85, American dancer and choreographer, after long illness.
• Mike Baker, 45, American singer (Shadow Gallery), heart attack.
• Cor Brom, 76, Dutch footballer and coach, Parkinson's disease.
• Yiannis Koskiniatis, 25, Greek footballer, suicide by jumping.
• Mae Mercer, 76, American blues singer.
• William Wharton, 82, American painter and novelist (Birdy), infection.

30

• Edith Evans Asbury, 98, American journalist (The New York Times), after long illness.
• Fred Baron, 61, American trial lawyer and political fundraiser, multiple myeloma.
• Robert H. Barrow, 86, American general, 27th Commandant of the Marine Corps (1979–1983).
• Cundo Bermúdez, 94, Cuban artist.
• Valentin Bubukin, 75, Russian footballer, after long illness.
• John Graham Cuckney, Baron Cuckney, 83, British financier and industrialist.
• David Jeaffreson, 76, British colonial official, Hong Kong Secretary for Security (1982–1988), ICAC Commissioner (1988–1991).
• Tom Moody, 78, American politician. Mayor of Columbus, Ohio (1972–1984).
• Julius Neave, 89, British insurance executive.

31

• Jonathan Bates, 68, British sound engineer.
• John Daly, 71, British film producer, cancer.
• Frank Navetta, 46, American guitarist (Descendents).
• Sir John Page, 89, British politician, MP for Harrow West (1960–1987).
• John Pearse, 69, British guitarist.
• Studs Terkel, 96, American broadcaster and author (The Good War), complications from a fall.