Deaths in 2009

The following is a list of notable deaths in 2009. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:

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

December 2009

24

• Rafael Caldera, 93, Venezuelan politician, former President (1969-1974; 1994-1999), Parkinson's disease. [1]
• Terry Lawless, 76, British boxing manager and trainer. [2]
• George Michael, 70, American sportscaster and disc jockey, cancer. [3]

23

• Grigory Baklanov, 86, Russian novelist. [4]
• Robert L. Howard, 70, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (1971), pancreatic cancer. [5]
• Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, 99, Chinese politician, Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region (1964–1968; 1981–1983). [6]
• Edward Schillebeeckx, 95, Belgian theologian. [7] (Dutch)

22

• Mick Cocks, Australian musician (Rose Tattoo), liver cancer. [8]
• Luis Francisco Cuéllar, 69, Colombian politician, Governor of Caqueta, cut throat. [9]
• Bernhard Droog, 88, Dutch actor, pneumonia. [10] (Dutch)
• Milena Dvorská, 71, Czech actress. [11] (Czech)
• Duncan Paterson, 66, Scottish rugby union player and administrator. [12]
• Sir Bob Phillis, 64, British media executive, cancer. [13]
• Albert Scanlon, 74, English footballer (Manchester United), survivor of Munich air disaster. [14]
• Bob Willoughby, 82, American photographer, cancer. [15]

21

• Suryakant Acharya, 80, Indian politician, natural causes. [16]
• Jaime Agudelo, 84, Colombian comedian, respiratory failure. [17] (Spanish)
• Ann Nixon Cooper, 107, American civil rights activist. [18]
• Pete King, 80, British saxophonist and co-founder of Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, after long illness. [19]
• Edwin G. Krebs, 91, American Nobel Prize winning biochemist.
• Christos Lambrakis, 75, Greek businessman, publisher and journalist, cardiac arrest. [20] (Greek)
• Marianne Stone, 87, British character actress (Carry On series). [21]

20

• Joan Brosnan Walsh, Irish actress (Fair City), motor neurone disease. [22], [23]
• Jack Brownsword, 86, British footballer (Scunthorpe United). [24]
• James Gurley, 69, American guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company), heart attack. [25]
• Jack Hixon, 88, British football scout. [26]
• Toomas Liiv, 62, Estonian poet. [27] (Estonian)
• Yiannis Moralis, 93, Greek visual artist. [28] (Greek)
• Brittany Murphy, 32, American actress (Girl, Interrupted; 8 Mile), voice actress (King of the Hill) and singer. [29]
• Lester Rodney, 98, American sports journalist. [30]
• Arnold Stang, 91, American actor (Top Cat, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World), pneumonia. [31]

19

• Charles Birch, 91, Australian geneticist. [32]
• Tony Bukovich, 94, American ice hockey player. [33]
• Lincoln Gordon, 96, American Ambassador to Brazil (1961–1966). [34]
• Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri, 87, Iranian cleric and dissident, natural causes. [35]
• Zeki Ökten, 68, Turkish film director, heart disease. [36]
• Kim Peek, 58, American savant, inspiration for Rain Man, heart attack. [37]
• Donald Pickering, 76, British actor.[38]

18

• José Bardina, 70, Venezuelan actor, bladder cancer. [39]
• Connie Hines, 78, American actress (Mister Ed), heart failure. [40]
• Emina Hrenovica, 53, Bosnian journalist, illness. [41] (Bosnian)
• Harold Lundrigan, 81, Canadian businessman. [42]
• Joasaph (McLellan), 47, American Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem of the ROCOR, cancer. [43]
• László Nagy, 88, Hungarian-born Swiss Secretary General of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (1968–1988). [44]
• Job (Osacky), 63, American Archbishop of the Orthodox Church in America. [45]
• Mike Simpson, 47, American politician, Michigan state Representative (since 2006), heart attack. [46]
• Del St. John, 78, Canadian-born Austrian ice hockey player. [47] (German)
• Robin Wood, 78, British film critic. [48]
• Rex Yetman, 76, Canadian bluegrass musician. [49]
• Jack Zilly, 88, American football player (Los Angeles Rams). [50]

17

• Amin al-Hafiz, 88, Syrian politician, President (1963–1966). [51] (Arabic)
• P.R. Anthonis, 98, Sri Lankan surgeon. [52]
• Fred Baden, 75, American politician, Mayor of Pineville, Louisiana (1970–1998), complications from a fall. [53]
• Paolo Barlera, 27, Liberian-born Italian basketball player, leukemia. [54] (Italian)
• Alaina Reed Hall, 63, American actress (Sesame Street, 227), breast cancer. [55]
• Chris Henry, 26, American football player (Cincinnati Bengals), car accident. [56]
• Jennifer Jones, 90, American Academy Award-winning actress (The Song of Bernadette), natural causes. [57]
• Miljenko Mihić, 75, Serbian football coach. [58] (Serbian)
• Dan O'Bannon, 63, American screenwriter, director and actor, Crohn's disease. [59]
• Albert Ràfols-Casamada, 86, Spanish artist. [60] (Spanish)

16

• Marcos Arturo Beltrán-Leyva, 48, Mexican drug lord, shot. [61]
• Arthur Cores, 52, American businessman, founder of Boston Market, esophageal cancer. [62]
• Drexell R. Davis, 88, American politician, Kentucky Secretary of State and state treasurer. [63]
• Roy E. Disney, 79, American entertainment executive (The Walt Disney Company), nephew of Walt Disney, stomach cancer. [64]
• Yegor Gaidar, 53, Russian politician, acting Prime Minister (1992), thrombus. [65]
• Fred Honsberger, 58, American radio personality. [66]
• Kelly Kwalik, Indonesian West Papua separatist leader and commander (Free Papua Movement), shot. [67]
• Dame Victoire Bennett, Lady Ridsdale, 88, British politician, World War II intelligence agent, inspiration for Miss Moneypenny. [68]
• Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, 69, South African politician, Minister of Health (1999–2008), complications from a liver transplant. [69]
• Vladimir Turchinsky, 46, Russian actor, bodybuilder and showman, heart attack. [70]
• Josef Voß, 72, German Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Munster, Titular Bishop of Thisiduo (since 1988). [71]
• Bob Waldmire, 64, American Route 66 artist, cancer. [72]

15

• Courtlandt Bryan, 73, American author (Friendly Fire), cancer. [73]
• Arnaldo Ribeiro, 79, Brazilian Roman Catholic Archbishop of Ribeirão Preto (1988–2006). [74]
• Oral Roberts, 91, American evangelist, founder of Oral Roberts University, complications from pneumonia. [75]
• James Rossant, 81, American architect, designer of Reston, Virginia, leukemia. [76]

14

• Alan A'Court, 75, British footballer (Liverpool F.C.), cancer. [77]
• Dennis deLeon, 61, American human rights commissioner and AIDS activist, heart failure. [78]
• Jack Denham, 85, Australian horse trainer, winner of 1997 Caulfield and Melbourne Cup (Might and Power), after long illness. [79]
• Chris Feinstein, 42, American bassist (Ryan Adams & The Cardinals). [80]
• Conard Fowkes, 76, American actor (Dark Shadows). [81]
• David Pecaut, 54, Canadian municipal entrepreneur, colorectal cancer. [82]
• Daniel Piscopo, 89, Maltese politician. [83]
• Sol Price, 93, American businessman, founder of Price Club, natural causes. [84]

13

• Dan Barton, 88, American actor and voice-over actor, heart failure and kidney disease. [85]
• Julio Bravo Ducal, 83, Spanish track and field athletics trainer and pioneer. [86] (Spanish)
• Moyra Fraser, 86, Australian-born British actress (As Time Goes By). [87]
• Yvonne King, 89, American singer (The King Sisters). [88]
• Arne Næss, 84, Norwegian politician, Mayor of Bergen. [89] (Norwegian)
• Piergiorgio Nesti, 78, Italian Roman Catholic Archbishop of Camerino-San Severino Marche. [90] (Italian)
• Paul Samuelson, 94, American economist, Nobel Prize winner (1970), after short illness. [91]
• Thomas F. Stroock, 84, American politician, Ambassador to Guatemala (1989–1992), after long illness. [92]
• Larry Sultan, 63, American photographer, cancer. [93]
• Joseph Tierney, 68, American politician, five-time president of Boston City Council, cancer. [94]
• Wilton Cezar Xavier, 62, Brazilian footballer. [95] (Portuguese)

12

• Val Avery, 85, American actor (The Killing of a Chinese Bookie). [96]
• Klavdiya Boyarskikh, 70, Russian cross-country skier, Olympic gold medalist (1964). [97] (Russian)
• Charles Davis, 84, Irish-born American actor, heart attack. [98]
• Robert G. Heft, 67, American designer of the 50-star American flag. [99]

11

• Garland Adair, 111, American supercentenarian. [100]
• Brindley Benn, 86, Guyanese politician, Deputy Prime Minister, natural causes. [101]
• Francisco Piquer Chanza, 87, Spanish actor. [102] (Spanish)
• Mike Cinqmars, 31, American freestyle motocross racing pioneer and X-Games medalist. [103]
• D'Arcy D'Souza, 96, Pakistani Roman Catholic priest. [104]
• Jean-Robert Gauthier, 80, Canadian MP for Ottawa East (1972–74), Ottawa—Vanier (1974–94); Senator (1994–2004), stroke. [105]
• Jamil Haddad, 83, Brazilian politician, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro (1983) and Health Minister, heart attack. [106] (Portuguese)
• Colin Clement Walter James, 83, British Anglican prelate, Bishop of Winchester (1985–1995), chest infection. [107]
• Ciarán Mac Mathúna, 84, Irish radio presenter and music collector. [108]
• Mohammed Majid Al Muhairi, 34, Emirati offshore powerboat racing driver, race crash. [109]
• Jean-Marc Sanchez, 48, French offshore powerboat racing throttleman, race crash. [110]
• Sultan bin Saqr, 63, Emirati son of Ras al-Khaimah sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qassimi. [111]
• Damien Truth, 29, Canadian wrestler, heart attack. [112]
• Eric Wrinkles, 49, American murderer, execution by lethal injection. [113]

10

• Najeeb Ahmed, 48, Pakistani journalist, cardiac arrest. [114]
• Dilip Chitre, 70, Indian poet, cancer. [115]
• Kenny Dino, 67, American pop singer. [116]
• Sir John Gingell, 84, British Air Chief Marshal and Black Rod (1985–1992). [117]
• Thomas Hoving, 78, American director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1967–1977), lung cancer. [118]
• József Kóczián, 83, Hungarian table tennis player. [119] (Hungarian)
• William L. Reilly, 94, American Jesuit and philosophy professor, President of Le Moyne College (1964–1976). [120]
• Roy Shatzko, 69, Canadian football player. [121]

9

• Luiz Carlos Alborghetti, 64, Brazilian television presenter and politician, lung cancer. [122] (Portuguese)
• Gene Barry, 90, American actor (Burke's Law, Bat Masterson), heart failure. [123]
• Francis Blanchard, 93, French civil servant, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (1974–1989). [124]
• Nasim Jamil, 54, Pakistani-born British radio presenter, murdered. [125]
• Sa'ad Khair, 56, Jordanian secret service chief, heart attack. [126]
• Petr Kocman, 39, Czech football player, traffic collision. [127] (Czech)
• Piotr Krzywicki, 45, Polish politician, pancreatic cancer. [128] (Polish)
• Kjell Eugenio Laugerud García, 79, Guatemalan President (1974–1978), complications of cancer. [129]
• Rodrigo Carazo Odio, 82, Costa Rican politician, President (1978–1982), heart failure. [130]
• Faramarz Payvar, 77, Iranian composer and santur player, brain damage. [131]
• Onofre Cândido Rosa, 85, Brazilian Roman Catholic Bishop of Jardim (1981–1999). [132]
• Goldie Semple, 56, Canadian stage actor, breast cancer. [133]
• Luther Smith, 89, American pilot, member of the Tuskegee Airmen, heart attack. [134]
• Kathryn Waldo, 33, American ice hockey player (Northeastern University Huskies), lung and kidney failure. [135]
• Håkan Wickberg, 66, Swedish Olympic ice hockey player. [136] (Swedish)

8

• James Bingham, 84, British artist. [137]
• Kenneth Biros, 51, American murderer, execution by lethal injection. [138]
• Louis Blondel, 70, French Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the White Fathers. [139]
• Rupert Cherry, 100, British sports journalist, rugby union correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. [140]
• Su Cruickshank, 63, Australian jazz singer and actress (Young Einstein), heart and kidney failure. [141]
• Luis Días, 57, Dominican musician and song writer, heart attack. [142].
• John Givens, 83, American basketball coach (Kentucky Colonels, 1967). [143]
• Arthur Glasser, 95, American missionary and theologian. [144]
• Elza Medeiros, 88, Brazilian nurse, World War II veteran. [145] (Portuguese)
• Anthony Sanusi, 98, Nigerian Roman Catholic Bishop of Ijebu-Ode (1969–1990). [146]
• Sir Philip Watson, 90, British admiral. [147]
• Yang Yanming, 51, Chinese securities trader, executed. [148]
• Yosef Haim Yerushalmi, 77, American scholar, emphysema. [149]

7

• Nur Akbar, 56, Afghan Al-Qaeda terrorist, airstrike. [150] (German)
• Frank M. Coffin, 90, American politician, Representative from Maine (1957–1961), complications from aortic aneurysm surgery. [151]
• Royden G. Derrick, 94, American general authority of the LDS Church, natural causes. [152]
• Al Dorow, 80, American football player (Washington Redskins, New York Titans), bone cancer. [153]
• Shunkichi Hamada, 99, Japanese Olympic silver medal-winning (1932) field hockey player. [154] (Japanese)
• Rose Kaufman, 70, American screenwriter, cancer. [155]
• William C. McInnes, 86, American Jesuit, president of Fairfield University (1964–1973) and USF (1973–1976), after long illness. [156]
• Lorenzo Ochoa Salas, Mexican archeologist. [157]. (Spanish)
• Grady Patterson, 85, American politician, South Carolina state Treasurer (1966–1995; 1999–2007), natural causes. [158]
• Mark Ritts, 63, American actor and puppeteer (Beakman's World), kidney cancer. [159]
• Pyotr Vail, 60, Russian essayist and journalist. [160]

6

• Pedro Altares, 74, Spanish journalist, after long illness. [161] (Spanish)
• Dennis P. Collins, 85, American politician, Mayor of Bayonne, New Jersey (1974-1990), multiple health problems. [162]
• Rupprecht Geiger, 101, German painter. [163] (German)
• Uno Mereste, 81, Estonian economist. [164] (Estonian)
• Gul Mola, 46, Pakistani Al-Qaeda terrorist, airstrike. [165]
• Dermott Monteith, 66, Irish cricketer, after short illness. [166]
• John Pittenger, 79, American politician, Pennsylvania Secretary of Education (1972–1976), Parkinson's disease. [167]
• Bina Rai, 78, Indian actress (Anarkali), heart attack. [168]
• Daouda Sow, 76, Senegalese politician, President of National Assembly (1984-1998). [169] (French)

5

• Jerry Birn, 86, American television writer. [170]
• Nina Fishman, 63, British historian and political activist, cancer. [171]
• Alfred Hrdlicka, 81, Austrian architect and draughtsman. [172]
• Otto Graf Lambsdorff, 82, German politician, Minister of Economics (1977–1982; 1982–1984). [173]
• Kálmán Markovits, 78, Hungarian Olympic gold (1952, 1956) and bronze (1960) medalist in water polo, after long illness. [174]
• Tim "Barrel Man" McKernan, 69, American fan of the Denver Broncos, lung failure. [175]
• Garfield Morgan, 78, British actor, cancer. [176]
• Malcolm Perry, 80, American attending physician to President John F. Kennedy after his assassination, lung cancer. [177]
• Manuel Prado y Colón de Carvajal, 78, Spanish diplomat. [178] (German)
• Jim Rohn, 79, American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker, pulmonary fibrosis. [179]
• Jack Rose, 38, American guitarist, heart attack. [180]
• Hans-Jürgen Simon, 70, German football player and official. [181] (German)
• Princess Vimolchatra of Thailand, 88, Thai royal, cousin of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, renal failure. [182] (Thai)
• William A. Wilson, 95, American Ambassador to the Holy See (1984–1986). [183]

4

• Richard T. Antoun, 77, American anthropologist and professor, stabbed. [184]
• Harold Bell, 90, American television producer, creator of Woodsy Owl. [185]
• Liam Clancy, 74, Irish folk singer (The Clancy Brothers), pulmonary fibrosis. [186]
• Eddie Fatu, 36, American professional wrestler, heart attack. [187]
• Matthew Luo Duxi, 90, Chinese Roman Catholic Bishop of Jiading. [188]
• Jérôme-Michel-Francis Martin, 68, French Roman Catholic Bishop of Berbérati (1987–1991). [189]
• Bryan O'Byrne, 78, American character actor. [190]
• Spyridon, 83, Greek Metropolitan Bishop of Lagkadas, after long illness. [191] (Greek)
• Vyacheslav Tikhonov, 81, Russian actor (Seventeen Moments of Spring). [192] (Russian)
• Stephen Toulmin, 87, British philosopher and author, heart failure. [193]
• Jordi Solé Tura, 79, Spanish politician and lawyer, Minister of Culture (1991–1993). [194] (Spanish)
• Mall Vaasma, 64, Estonian mycologist. [195] (Estonian)

3

• Ibrahim Hassan Addou, Somali Higher Education Minister, bombing. [196]
• Qamar Aden Ali, Somali Health Minister, bombing. [197]
• Luis María Bandrés, 65, Spanish leader of Basque Nationalist Party, after long illness. [198] (Spanish)
• Estêvão Cardoso de Avellar, 92, Brazilian Roman Catholic Bishop of Uberlândia (1978–1992). [199]
• Ahmed El-Fahal, 35, Iraqi anti Al-Qaeda coordinator, terrorist attack. [200] (German)
• Paula Hawkins, 82, American politician, Senator from Florida (1981–1987), complications from a fall. [201]
• István Iglódi, 65, Hungarian Kossuth Prize-winning actor. [202] (Hungarian)
• Leila Lopes, 40, Brazilian actress, suicide. [203] (Portuguese)
• Curtis Nkondo, 81, South African politician, activist and diplomat, after long illness. [204]
• Sam Salt, 69, British rear admiral, captain of HMS Sheffield during the Falklands War. [205]
• Peter R. Scanlon, 78, American accountant and chairman (Coopers & Lybrand), cancer. [206]
• Valbjörn Þorláksson, 75, Icelandic decathlete. [207] (Icelandic)
• Richard Todd, 90, Irish-born British Academy Award-nominated actor (The Hasty Heart, The Dam Busters), cancer. [208]
• Ahmed Abdulahi Waayeel, Somali Education Minister, bombing. [209]
• Bobby Wayne Woods, 44, American rapist, kidnapper and murderer, execution by lethal injection. [210]
• Torrie Zito, 76, American pianist and arranger, emphysema. [211]

2

• Harold A. Ackerman, 81, American federal judge, natural causes. [212]
• Foge Fazio, 71, American football coach, leukemia. [213]
• Ikuo Hirayama, 79, Japanese painter, stroke. [214]
• Maggie Jones, 75, British actress (Coronation Street), after long illness. [215]
• Jozo Križanović, 65, Bosnian politician, Croat member of the Presidency (2001–2002), complications from surgery. [216] (Bosnian)
• Luiz Lombardi Neto, 69, Brazilian announcer (Silvio Santos television program), stroke. [217] (Portuguese)
• Aaron Schroeder, 83, American songwriter, Alzheimer's disease. [218]
• Vjekoslav Šutej, 58, Croatian conductor, leukemia. [219] (Croatian)
• Eric Woolfson, 64, Scottish singer and keyboardist (The Alan Parsons Project), cancer. [220]

1

• Christoph Budde, 46, German football player (Borussia Mönchengladbach), swine flu. [221] (German)
• Maurice Clemmons, 37, American felon, suspected of Lakewood police officer shooting, shot. [222]
• Neil Dougall, 88, British footballer (Plymouth Argyle), after long illness. [223]
• Tommy Henrich, 96, American baseball player (New York Yankees). [224]
• "Big Bill" Lister, 86, American honky tonk singer, after short illness. [225]
• Alberto Martínez, 59, Uruguayan football player (FK Austria Wien), heart failure. [226] (German)
• Richard Nader, 69, American disc jockey and promoter, Parkinson's disease. [227]
• Ramses Shaffy, 76, Dutch singer and actor, esophageal cancer. [228] (Dutch)
• Erik Siliksaar, 95, Estonian surgeon. [229] (Estonian)
• Shilendra Kumar Singh, 77, Indian politician, Governor of Rajasthan (2007–2009), after short illness. [230]
• Éva Szörényi, 92, Hungarian actress, Kossuth Prize winner. [231] (Hungarian)
• Donald Washington, Sr., 79, American jazz tenor saxophonist, lung cancer. [232]

November 2009

See: Deaths in November 2009.

October 2009

See Deaths in October 2009.

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, ...