Deaths in 2009

The following is a list of notable deaths in 2009. Names are listed under the date of death and not the date it was announced. Names under each date are listed in alphabetical order by family name.

Deaths of notable animals (that is, those with their own Wikipedia articles) are also reported here.

A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:

• Name, age, country of citizenship and reason for notability, established cause of death, reference.

October 2009

22

• Paul Andrews, 53, Australian Politician, Cancer
• Moinudin Ahmed, Pakistani Army brigadier, shot. [1]
• Howard Darwin, 78, Canadian sports promoter, founder of the Ottawa 67's, complications from heart surgery. [2]
• Ray Lambert, 87, British footballer. [3]
• Don Lane, 75, American-born Australian entertainer, Alzheimer's disease. [4]
• Dmitry Potapov, 25, Russian circus director, bear attack. [5]
• Soupy Sales, 83, American comedian. [6]
• Suchart Chaovisith, 69, Thai politician, Finance Minister (2003–2004) and Deputy Prime Minister (2004), laryngeal cancer. [7]

21

• Ranjan Das, 42, Indian CEO of SAP India, cardiac arrest. [8]
• Yōko Minamida, 76, Japanese actress. [9]
• Jack Nelson, 80, American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist (1960), pancreatic cancer. [10]
• Ted Sizer, 77, American education reformer, colon cancer. [11]

20

• Yvonne Carter, 50, British general practitioner and medical academic, breast cancer. [12]
• Louise Cooper, 57, British science fiction author, aneurysm. [13]
• Attila Dargay, 83, Hungarian animator. [14] (Hungarian)
• Margaret Fitzgerald, 113, Canadian supercentenarian, natural causes. [15]
• Clifford Hansen, 97, American politician, Governor of Wyoming (1963–1967) and U.S. Senator (1967–1978). [16]
• Liam Maher, 41, British singer (Flowered Up). [17]
• Charles Mills, 88, American painter. [18]
• Jef Nys, 82, Belgian comic book artist (Jommeke). [19] (Dutch)
• Yuri Ryazanov, 22, Russian artistic gymnast, car accident. [20]
• Winai Senniam, 51, Thai parliamentarian, liver and colon cancer. [21]
• Alberto Testa, 82, Italian composer and lyricist. [22] (Italian)

19

• Dame Doreen Blumhardt, 95, New Zealand potter. [23]
• Moni Fanan, 63, Israeli basketball team manager, suicide by hanging. [24]
• Werner Heubeck, 85, German-born British managing director of Ulsterbus and Citybus, cancer. [25]
• Sushila Kerketta, 71, Indian politician, heart attack. [26]
• Kirill Laskari, 73, Russian choreographer. [27] (Russian)
• Shlomo Lorincz, 91, Hungarian-born Israeli politician, heart failure. [28]
• Reg McKay, 56, British journalist and crime fiction writer, brain and lung cancer. [29]
• Radu Timofte, 60, Romanian intelligence officer, director of the Serviciul Român de Informaţii (2001–2006), leukemia. [30]
• Howard Unruh, 88, American spree killer. [31]
• Joseph Wiseman, 91, Canadian actor (Dr. No). [32]

18

• Ion Cojar, 78, Romanian actor and film director, Parkinson's disease. [33] (Romanian)
• Jasper Howard, 20, American football player, stabbed. [34]
• Leonard B. Keller, 62, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient, motorcycle accident. [35]
• Sir Ludovic Kennedy, 89, British author and journalist, after long illness. [36]
• Elvis Ndoda Mdakane, South African football referee, after short illness. [37]
• Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh, Iranian Chief Provincial Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, victim of suicide bomber. [38]
• Ovidiu Muşetescu, 54, Romanian politician, cancer. [39] (Romanian)
• Ignacio Ponseti, 95, Spanish physician and inventor (Ponseti method). [40]
• Theruvathu Raman, 93, Indian journalist. [41]
• Lars Schmidt, 92, Swedish theatre producer, former husband of Ingrid Bergman. [42] (Swedish)
• Nar Ali Shooshtari, Iranian Deputy Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, victim of suicide bomber. [43]
• Nancy Spero, 83, American artist, heart failure. [44]
• Basie Vivier, 82, South African rugby union player, captain of the Springboks (1956). [45]
• Heiner Will, 82, German Olympic athlete. [46] (German)

17

• Carla Boni, 84, Italian singer, after long illness. [47] (Italian)
• Diana Elles, Baroness Elles, 88, British diplomat and politician. [48]
• Jay W. Johnson, 66, American U.S. Representative for Wisconsin (1997–1999), U.S. Mint Director (2000–2001), heart attack. [49]
• Vladimir Kashpur, 82, Russian film actor, People's Artist of Russia. [50] (Russian)
• Kazuhiko Kato, 62, Japanese musician (The Folk Crusaders, Sadistic Mika Band), suicide by hanging. [51]
• Norma Fox Mazer, 78, American author, brain cancer. [52]
• Vic Mizzy, 93, American composer (The Addams Family, Green Acres), [53]
• Rosanna Schiaffino, 69, Italian film actress, cancer. [54] (Italian)
• Sheldon J. Segal, 83, American reproductive biologist. [55]
• Michael Shea, 71, British diplomat, press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II (1978–1987), dementia. [56]

16

• Bob Davis, 77, American politician, U.S. Representative for Michigan (1979–1993), heart and kidney failure. [57]
• Inglis Drever, 10, British hurdles racehorse, euthanised. [58]
• Andrés Montes, 53, Spanish sports commentator. [59] (Spanish)
• Marian Przykucki, 85, Polish Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archbishop of Szczecin-Kamień (1992–1999). [60] (Polish)

15

• Josias Kumpf, 84, Austrian Nazi concentration camp guard. [61] (German)
• Jack Parrish, 56, American actor, pancreatic cancer. [62]
• Elizabeth Clare Prophet, 70, American New Age religious leader, co-founder of The Summit Lighthouse, Alzheimer's disease. [63]
• George Tuska, 93, American Golden Age comic book artist (Iron Man). [64]
• Heinz Versteeg, 70, Dutch football player, cancer. [65] (German)

14

• Lou Albano, 76, American professional wrestler and manager, and actor (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!), natural causes. [66]
• Antônio do Carmo Cheuiche, 82, Brazilian Auxiliary Bishop of Santa Maria (1969–1971) and Porto Alegre (1971–2001). [67]
• Fred Cress, 71, British-born Australian artist, Archibald Prize winner (1988), pancreatic cancer. [68]
• Johnny Jones, 73, American R&B guitarist and bandleader (Johnny Jones and the King Casuals). [69]
• Roy Lane, 74, British hillclimbing competitor, peritonitis. [70]
• C. B. Muthamma, 88, Indian first female diplomat and ambassador. [71]
• Willard Varnell Oliver, 88, American Navajo code talker. [72]
• Krishna Pal, 79, Indian football player (1956 Olympics), cardiac arrest. [73]
• Martyn Sanderson, 71, New Zealand actor. [74]
• Bruce Wasserstein, 61, American investment banker and businessman. [75]
• Collin Wilcox, 74, American actress (To Kill a Mockingbird), brain cancer. [76]

13

• Stephen Barnett, 73, American legal scholar, opposed the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970, cardiac arrest. [77]
• Cullen Bryant, 58, American football player (Los Angeles Rams), natural causes. [78]
• Rodger Doxsey, 62, American physicist and astronomer, cancer. [79]
• Grietje Jansen-Anker, 112, Dutch supercentenarian. [80] (Dutch)
• Atle Jebsen, 73, Norwegian shipowner and businessman, car crash. [81] (Norwegian)
• William Wayne Justice, 89, American federal judge. [82]
• Lü Zhengcao, 104, Chinese general, last survivor of the original Shang Jiang. [83]
• Al Martino, 82, American singer and actor (The Godfather), first person to top the UK Singles Chart. [84]
• Daniel Melnick, 77, American studio chief (MGM, Columbia), television producer, executive producer (That's Entertainment!). [85]
• Paul Barbă Neagră, 80, Romanian film director and essayist. [86] (Romanian)
• Roger Nixon, 88, American composer, complications from leukemia. [87]
• Nan C. Robertson, 83, American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, heart disease. [88]
• Oraine Simpson, 26, Jamaican football player, stabbed. [89]
• Richard T. Whitcomb, 88, American aeronautical engineer. pneumonia [90]
• Leo Williams, 68, Australian rugby union official. [91]

12

• Maurice Agis, 77, British sculptor. [92]
• Alberto Castagnetti, 66, Italian Olympic swimmer, complications from cardiac surgery. [93] (Italian)
• Mikheil Kalatozishvili, 50, Russian film director, script writer and producer. [94] (Russian)
• Donald Kaufman, 79, American toy car collector, heart attack. [95]
• Christopher Klicka, 48, American lawyer, homeschooling advocate, senior counsel for HSLDA, multiple sclerosis. [96]
• Stephen Lagakos, 63, American biostatistician, car accident. [97]
• Brendan Mullen, 60, American punk impresario and club owner (The Masque), stroke. [98]
• Stan Palk, 87, British footballer. [99]
• Dickie Peterson, 63, American rock singer (Blue Cheer), liver cancer. [100]
• Joe Rosen, 88, American Golden Age comic book letterer. [101]
• Frank Vandenbroucke, 34, Belgian cyclist, pulmonary embolism. [102]
• Ian Wallace, 90, British bass-baritone singer, after long illness. [103]

11

• Joan Martí i Alanis, 80, Spanish archbishop, Bishop of Urgell and co-Prince of Andorra (1971–2003), after long illness. [104]
• Peter Callanan, 74, Irish politician, member of the Seanad (since 1997). [105]
• Patrick Hannan, 68, British broadcaster, author and journalist, after short illness. [106]
• Gustav Kral, 26, Austrian footballer, car accident. [107] (German)
• Herb Leblanc, 81, Canadian musician. [108]
• Abigail McLellan, 40, Scottish artist, multiple sclerosis. [109]
• Halit Refiğ, 75, Turkish film director, cholangiocarcinoma. [110] (Turkish)

10

• Luis Aguilé, 73, Argentinian singer and songwriter, stomach cancer. [111] (Spanish)
• Sonny Bradshaw, 83, Jamaican jazz musician, stroke. [112]
• Stephen Gately, 33, Irish pop singer (Boyzone), pulmonary oedema. [113]
• Larry Jansen, 89, American baseball player (New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds), heart failure and pneumonia. [114]
• Veronika Neugebauer, 39, German actress, voice actress and singer. [115] (German)
• Joan Orenstein, 85, British-born Canadian actress. [116]
• Paz Rodríguez Ortiz, 66, Mexican human rights activist, shot. [117] (Spanish)
• Lionel Pincus, 78, American businessman, founder of Warburg Pincus, after long illness. [118]
• Rodrigo del Rosario, 92, Filipino Olympic weightlifter. [119]
• Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, 66, American psychologist, breast cancer. [120]

9

• Arne Bakker, 79, Norwegian football and bandy player. [121] (Norwegian)
• Francis Baldacchino, 73, Maltese-born Bishop of Malindi, Kenya. [122]
• Raymond A. Brown, 94, American lawyer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. [123]
• Aldo Buzzi, 99, Italian author and architect. [124]
• Arturo "Zambo" Cavero, 68, Peruvian folk singer, complications of sepsis. [125]
• Jacques Chessex, 75, Swiss author, first non-French recipient of the Prix Goncourt, heart attack. [126]
• Marvin Fishman, 84, American businessman, original owner of Milwaukee Bucks, stroke. [127]
• Vyacheslav Ivankov, 69, Russian crime figure, gunshot wounds. [128] (Russian)
• Stuart M. Kaminsky, 75, American mystery writer, hepatitis. [129]
• Barry Letts, 84, British television actor, director and producer (Doctor Who). [130]
• John Daido Loori, 78, American Zen Buddhist monk, lung cancer. [131]
• Hermann Raich, 75, Austrian Roman Catholic Bishop of Wabag (1982–2008). [132]
• Louis Sanmarco, 97, French colonial administrator, Governor (1954–1957) and High Commissioner (1957–1958) of Ubangi-Shari. [133]
• Richard Sonnenfeldt, 86, German-born American interpreter at the Nuremberg Trials, complications from a stroke. [134]
• Dré Steemans, 55, Belgian television and radio host, cardiac arrest. [135] (Dutch)
• Horst Szymaniak, 75, German footballer, after long illness. [136] (German)
• Rusty Wier, 65, American country music singer-songwriter, cancer. [137]

8

• Gordon Boyd, 86, British-born Australian television personality, after short illness. [138]
• James Delgrosso, 66, American politician, former Mayor of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (2003–2004), leukemia. [139]
• Gerald Ferguson, 72, American-born Canadian artist. [140]
• Juan Carlos Mareco, 83, Uruguayan actor. [141]
• Torsten Reißmann, 56, German Olympic judoka. [142] (German)
• Jean Sage, 68, French racing driver, former sporting director of the Renault F1 team. [143]
• Michael Angelo Saltarelli, 77, American Roman Catholic Bishop of Wilmington (1995–2008), bone cancer. [144]
• Abu Talib, 70, American blues musician, cancer. [145]
• Sir Sydney Walling, 102, Antiguan cricketer. [146]

7

• Ben Ali, 82, American restaurateur (Ben's Chili Bowl), heart failure. [147]
• Bikram Keshari Deo, 58, Indian politician, cardiac arrest. [148]
• Steve Ferguson, 60, American guitarist (NRBQ), cancer. [149]
• Alecks Pabico, 42, Filipino journalist (Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism), liver cancer. [150]
• Irving Penn, 92, American fashion photographer (Vogue). [151]
• Shelby Singleton, 77, American record producer and record label owner (Sun Records), brain cancer. [152]
• Helen Watts, 81, British contralto. [153]
• Pedro E. Zadunaisky, 91, Argentinian astronomer and mathematician. [154]

6

• Jimmy Bates, 99, Australian football player, oldest living VFL player. [155]
• Pamela Blake, 94, American actress, natural causes. [156]
• Douglas Campbell, 87, Scottish-born Canadian actor, complications of diabetes and heart disease. [157]
• Raymond Federman, 81, French-born American writer and academic, cancer. [158]
• Tony Fein, 27, American football player (Baltimore Ravens). [159]
• Aengus Finucane, 77, Irish priest, Chief Executive of Concern Worldwide (1981–1997), after short illness. [160]
• Pyarelal Khandelwal, 80, Indian politician, cancer. [161]
• Werner Maihofer, 90, German Minister of the Interior (1974–1978). [162] (German)
• Donna Mae Mims, 82, American race driver, first female SCCA champion, stroke. [163]
• Gilberto Zaldívar, 75, American founder of the Repertorio Español, complications of Lewy body disease. [164]

5

• Mike Alexander, 32, British bassist (Evile), cerebral haemorrhage. [165]
• Leon Clarke, 76, American football player (Los Angeles Rams), pancreatitis. [166]
• Suzanne Fiol, 48, American photographer, founder of Issue Project Room, cancer. [167]
• Israel Gelfand, 96, Russian mathematician. [168]
• Giselher Klebe, 84, German composer. [169] (German)
• Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, 87, British classical scholar. [170]
• Kevin McGee, 32, British television producer, ex-civil partner of Matt Lucas, apparent suicide by hanging. [171]
• Heidi Oetinger, 100, German publisher (Oetinger Verlag). [172] (German)
• Brian Powell, 35, American baseball player, self-inflicted gunshot wound. [173]
• René Sommer, 58, Swiss co-inventor of the computer mouse. [174]
• Tim Wheatley, 48, American journalist, business editor of The Baltimore Sun, car accident. [175]
• Johnny Williams, 77, British rugby player, Alzheimer's disease. [176]

4

• Valerie Crockett, 53, American folk musician, leiomyosarcoma. [177]
• Koichi Haraguchi, 68, Japanese chief of staff, Imperial House of Japan, heart attack. [178] (Japanese)
• Veikko Huovinen, 82, Finnish writer. [179] (Finnish)
• Grace Keagy, 87, American actress, ovarian cancer. [180]
• Ernő Kolczonay, 56, Hungarian Olympic silver medal-winning fencer (1980, 1992). [181] (Hungarian)
• James Lin Xili, 91, Chinese underground Bishop of Wenzhou, Alzheimer’s disease. [182]
• Shōichi Nakagawa, 56, Japanese politician, Minister of Finance (2008–2009). [183]
• Jim Nettleton, 69, American disc jockey (WFIL), lung cancer. [184]
• Nikiforos, 78, Greek Bishop of Didymoteicho, after long illness. [185] (Greek)
• Günther Rall, 91, German Luftwaffe flying ace during WWII, heart attack. [186]
• Mercedes Sosa, 74, Argentinian folk singer, liver failure. [187]

3

• Alexander Basilaia, 67, Georgian composer, after long illness. [188]
• Fernando Caldeiro, 51, Argentine-born American astronaut, brain cancer. [189]
• Rino Di Silvestro, 77, Italian film director, brain cancer. [190]
• Fatima of Libya, 98, Queen of Libya (1951–1969), widow of King Idris I. [191] (Arabic)
• Gunnar Haarberg, 92, Norwegian television presenter. [192] (Norwegian)
• Robert Kirby, 61, British folk rock arranger, after short illness. [193]
• Ernie Lopez, 64, American boxer, complications from dementia. [194]
• Fritz Marsch, 83, Austrian politician. [195] (German)
• Reinhard Mohn, 88, German entrepreneur and publisher, founder of Bertelsmann Foundation. [196] (German)
• Mike Peters, 42, American Mayor of Liverpool, Texas, apparent suicide by train impact. [197]
• Vasile Louis Puscas, 94, American Bishop of St George's in Canton in the Romanian Catholic Church. [198]

2

• Alain Bernheim, 86, French-born American film producer, complications of dialysis. [199]
• Marek Edelman, 86, Polish political and social activist, cardiologist, last surviving leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. [200]
• Jack Evans, 80, Australian politician, Senator (1983–1984), co-founder of the Australian Democrats, cancer. [201]
• Nat Finkelstein, 76, American photographer and photojournalist. [202]
• John "Mr. Magic" Rivas, 53, American radio personality, heart attack. [203]
• Saleh Meki, 61, Eritrean cabinet minister and politician, heart attack. [204]
• Peg Mullen, 92, American author, subject of film Friendly Fire. [205]
• Desmond Plummer, Baron Plummer of St. Marylebone, 95, British politician, leader of Greater London Council (1967–1973). [206]
• Rolf Rüssmann, 58, German football manager, prostate cancer. [207]
• Herman D. Stein, 92, American professor (Case Western Reserve University). [208]
• Eugenie Turenschi, 87, Romanian botanist and professor (USAMV). [209] (Romanian)
• Harvey Veniot, 93, Canadian MLA for Pictou West (1956–1974), Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (1961–1968). [210]
• Shaun Wylie, 96, British mathematician and World War II codebreaker. [211]

1

• Otar Chiladze, 76, Georgian writer, heart failure. [212] (Georgian)
• André-Philippe Futa, 66, Congolese politician, Minister of the Economy and Foreign Trade (since 2002). [213]
• Syed Kamal, 72, Pakistani actor, after long illness. [214]
• Luigi Moro, 91, Canadian footballer and football coach. [215]
• V. M. Muddiah, 80, Indian cricketer, stroke. [216]
• Bhandit Rittakol, 58, Thai film director, producer and screenwriter, heart failure. [217]
• Cintio Vitier, 88, Cuban poet. [218]

September 2009

See Deaths in September 2009.

August 2009

See Deaths in August 2009.

July 2009

See Deaths in July 2009.

June 2009

See Deaths in June 2009.

May 2009

See Deaths in May 2009.

April 2009

See Deaths in April 2009.

March 2009

See Deaths in March 2009.

February 2009

See Deaths in February 2009.

January 2009

See Deaths in January 2009.

For earlier deaths, see Deaths in 2008, 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, ...