Deaths in 2005

The following is a list of notable deaths in December 2005. Links to other months and years follow.

December 2005

23

Lajos Baróti, 91, Hungarian football coach.
Norman D. Vaughan, 100, American explorer and sportsman [1]

22

James Dungy, 18, son of NFL coach Tony Dungy, apparent suicide.
Thomas Cooper Evans, 81, former US Representative from Iowa

21

Takis Binis, 82, one of the last classic Greek singers of Rebetiko, renal failure.
O.B. Copeland, 89, first editor of Southern Living magazine. [2]
Elrod Hendricks, 64, former baseball player and coach for the Baltimore Orioles, heart attack. [3]
Hallam Tennyson, 85, British radio producer and great-grandson of Alfred Tennyson, suspected victim of murder. [4]

20

Raoul Bott, 82, Harvard mathematician, cancer.
Argentina Brunetti, 98, actress (It's a Wonderful Life), writer, journalist.
Lyndon Olson Sr., 80, American lawyer. [5]

19

Sergio Danguillecourt, 42, great-grandson of Bacardi founder, and Barcardi Ltd. board member, killed in seaplane crash near Miami Beach, Florida.[6]
Hyman Engelberg, 92, physician to Marilyn Monroe, natural causes. [7]
Vincent Gigante, 77, Genovese family crime boss, heart disease.
Phyllis Gretzky, 64, mother of NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, lung cancer.
Julio Iglesias, Sr., 90, Spanish gynaecologist, among the oldest men to have fathered a child; Julio Iglesias' father and Enrique Iglesias' grandfather, heart attack.
John D. Laupheimer, 75, golfer and second commissioner of the LPGA tour, cancer. [8]
Alan Shields, 61, American artist. [9]
Reynaldo Wycoco, 59, head of the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippines' lead intelligence agency, complications after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke last November 23, 2005.

18

Belita, 82, Olympic skater and film actress.
Keith Duckworth, 72, co-founder of Cosworth engines.
Doug Dye, 84, New Zealand microbiologist.
Howie Ferguson, 75, former NFL player.
Rafael Fornés Collado, 88, Cuban cartoonist [10]
Barry Halper, 66, baseball memorabilia collector and limited partner for the New York Yankees.
Siphiwe Khumalo, 50, South African actor and director and ex-husband of Sibongile Khumalo, heart attack.
John McIntyre, 89, Moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly (1982), former acting principal and professor of divinity of the University of Edinburgh. [11]

[12]

Philip Oakes, 77, British writer, poet and television producer, heart attack. [13]
P.M. Sayeed, 64, India's Minister of Power, heart attack. [14]

17

Jack Anderson, 83, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, complications of Parkinson's disease. [15]
Marc Favreau, 76, French Canadian television and film actor, best known for his creation of the clown Sol.
Jacques Fouroux, 58, French rugby union captain and coach, heart attack. [16]
T. Edward Hambleton, 94, theatrical producer. [17]
Sankaran Nair, 80, Indian film director.
Haljand Udam, 69, Estonian translator and encyclopedist.

16

Anthony Barber, 85, British politician and former Conservative Party Chancellor of the Exchequer, complications of Parkinson's disease.
Kenneth Bulmer, 84, English writer (pseudonyms included Alan Burt Akers and Dray Prescot).
Joseph L. Owades, 86, American biochemist, inventor of light beer. [18] [19]
John Spencer, 58, American actor (The West Wing), heart attack.
Sverre Stenersen, 79, Norwegian Gold medal winner in the 1956 Winter Olympics.
Enzo Stuarti, 86, Italian tenor, was in many Broadway musicals, heart failure.
Joey Villa, 68, American stand-up comedian.

15

T.K. Balachandran, 78, Indian Bollywood producer.
Sidney B. Factor, 89, Max Factor heir, natural causes. [20]
James Ingo Freed, 75, American architect.
Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, 84, Italian writer and director of movies and theatre.
Heinrich Gross, 90, Austrian alleged Nazi doctor and war criminal. [21]
Walter Haut, 83, retired U.S. Army lieutenant, central figure in the Roswell UFO "incident" in 1947. [22]
Swami Jagdishwaranand, 71, Hindu spiritual leader in New York City. [23]
D.A. "Swanny" Kirby, 88, rodeo pioneer. [24]
Stan Leonard, 90, Canadian golfer, heart failure. [25]
Julian Marías, 91, Spanish philosopher and father of author Javier Marías.
Jim Ostendarp, 82, football coach at Amherst College for 33 years [26]
William Proxmire, 90, former Democratic Senator from Wisconsin (1957 - 1989), giver of the Golden Fleece Awards for wasteful government spending, complications of Alzheimer's disease.
Darrell Russell, 29, former NFL player for the Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, car accident.

14

Gordon Duncan, 41, Scottish musician, best known for his virtuoso Highland bagpiping in Celtic music, commited suicide in his home in Pitlochry.
Sudhir Joshi, 57, Indian actor, heart attack.
John B. Nixon, 77, American convicted murderer, executed in Mississippi.
William "Duke" Procter, 106, Canadian WWI veteran. [27]
M. Gladys Swetland, 113, believed to be the oldest resident of Pennsylvania. [28]
Rodney William Whitaker, 74, British author, wrote under pseudonyms such as "Trevanian".

13

Nathalie Babel Brown, 76, French-American scholar and editor, daughter of Isaac Babel. [29]
Stanley Tookie Williams, 51, American convicted murderer and co-founder of the Crips turned anti-gang activist, executed by lethal injection for killing 4 people in California.

12

Eric D'Arcy, 81, Australian Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Hobart.
Annie Dodds, 62, documentary filmmaker, leukemia. [30]
Abraham Melamed, 85, Israeli politician (National Religious Party).
Robert Newmyer, 49, American film producer, heart attack and complications of asthma.
Ramanand Sagar, 87, Bollywood film producer. [31]
Annette Stroyberg, 69, Danish actress and former wife of Roger Vadim. [32]
Gyula Trebitsch, 91, Hungarian film and TV producer.
Gebran Tueni, 48, Lebanese journalist and legislator, injuries sustained in a car bombing attack. [33]

11

Ulises Barrera, 80, Argentine boxing sportscaster, heart failure.
Walter Cudzik, 73, NFL and AFL center for the Boston Patriots.
Richard Sandbrook, 59, founding member of Friends of the Earth [34]

10

Mary Jackson, 95, American actress.
Sydney Leff, 104, sheet-music illustrator for Irving Berlin. [35]
Donald Martino, 74, American composer.
Eugene McCarthy, 89, former Democratic United States Senator from Minnesota (1959-1971), and United States Representative (1949-1959) and presidential primary candidate.
Richard Pryor, 65, American comedian and actor, heart attack and complications of multiple sclerosis.
Gardner Read, 92, American classical composer.
Bob Richardson, 73, fashion photographer.

9

Mike Botts, 61, American drummer, Bread member, toured and recorded with Linda Ronstadt, Dan Fogelberg, Tina Turner and others, cancer.
Homer Mensch, 91, internationally known bass player, Juilliard teacher.
György Sándor, 93, internationally famous pianist, Juilliard teacher, heart failure.
Robert Sheckley, 77, American science fiction author, brain aneurysm.
Boris Tazlitzky, 94, French artist, Nazi concentration camp survivor.
Brian Whittle, 59, British journalist and news agency head. [36]

8

R. W. Bradford, 58, publisher of Liberty magazine, cancer.
Dame Rose Heilbron, 91, British judge
William J. Oswald, 86, algae scientist [37]
Leo Cardinal Scheffczyk, 85, German Cardinal Deacon of San Francesco Saverio alla Garbatella, Germany. [38]
Roger Shattuck, 82, American literary (Proust) scholar and author, prostate cancer. [39]
J.N. Williamson, 73, American horror writer, author and publisher.
Georgiy Zhzhonov, 90, Russian actor.

7

Lucy d'Abreu, 113, oldest person in the UK at the time of her death. [40]
Rigoberto Alpizar, 44, airplane passenger fatally shot by U.S. Air Marshals after allegedly claiming he had placed a bomb aboard.
Adrian Biddle, 54, British cinematographer, heart attack.
Albert Henry Bosch, 97, Republican United States Representative from New York (1953 - 1960).
Carroll A. Campbell, Jr., 65, former South Carolina governor (1987-1995), and member of U.S. House of Representatives (1979-1987), heart attack and complications of Alzheimer's disease.
Bud Carson, 75, former NFL head coach, emphysema.
Loomis Dean, 88, photographer, notably for LIFE magazine.
Beach Dickerson, 81, actor in B films of Roger Corman
Devan Nair, 82, former president of Singapore. [41]
Manouchehr Nozari, 69, Iranian television actor.
Bob O'Brien, 87, comedy writer (Here's Lucy etc.)

6

Charly Gaul, 72, Luxembourgian cyclist, winner of the 1958 Tour de France.
Hanns Dieter Hüsch, 80, German political satirist.
Stephen L. Mosko, 58, American composer.
Jerzy Pajaczkowski-Dydynski, 111, oldest man in the UK at the time of his death. [42]
Danny Williams, 63, South African popular singer (best known for his version of the song Moon River).

5

John Alvheim, 75, Norwegian politician.
Wesley Baker, 47, American convicted murderer, executed in Maryland.
Liu Binyan, 80, Chinese author and dissident, cancer. [43]
Milo Dor, 82, Serbian-Austrian author (Milo Dor)
Edward L. Masry, 73, attorney and mentor to Erin Brockovich, complications of diabetes.
Charles McElmurry, 84, American animation designer.
Kevin "Big Kev" McQuay, 56, Australian businessman and media personality, heart attack. [44]
Frits Philips, 100, Dutch businessman, grandson of the founder of Philips, complications from a fall.

4

Fred Benavente, 79, Dutch comedian and television maker.
Hisako Hara, 96, Japanese actress.
Gregg Hoffman, 42, film producer, natural causes (autopsy result pending). [45]
Gloria Lasso, 83, Spanish singer.
Doug Murphy, 53, former CBS (KPIX) news anchorman, house fire.

3

Maggie Bailey, 101, nicknamed "Queen of the Mountain Bootleggers." [46]
Peter Cook, 62, Australian politician, melanoma.
Lance Dossor, 90, Australian pianist.
Peter E. Haas, Sr., 86, great-grandnephew of Levi Strauss, who with his brother built the Levi company into a major brand. [47]
Maurice Harris, 84, trumpet player, Hollywood, studio, TV and sessions player, (Tonight Show).
Kikka, 41, Finnish pop/schlager singer.
Kåre Kristiansen, 85, Norwegian politician; minister of Oil and Energy (1983 - 1986).
Sophie Thoko Mcgina, 67, South African actress and musician.
Abu Hamsa Rabia, Egyptian-born operational commander for Al-Qaeda. [48]
Atsuko Tanaka, 73, Japanese avant-garde artist, pneumonia.
Allan Waters, 84, Canadian broadcasting icon.

2

John Barber, 93, British newspaper drama critic. [49]
Kenneth Boyd, 57, American convicted murderer, executed in North Carolina, the 1,000th U.S. execution since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. [50]
Lillian Browse, 99, British art dealer and historian
Shawn Paul Humphries, 34, American convicted murderer, executed in South Carolina.
John Iannaccone, 94, sky sailor, Hindenburg disaster witness
Malik Joyeux, 25, professional surfer, killed on Hawaii's North Shore pipeline. [51] +
Maury Kraines, 84, co-owner of 1992 Indy 500 winner, heart failure.
William P. Lawrence, 75, retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral, first to fly at twice the speed of sound. [52]
Peter Menegazzo, early 60s, Australian cattle baron, killed (along with his wife Angela) in a plane crash. [53][54]
Van Tuong Nguyen, 25, Australian executed at Changi Prison in Singapore for trafficking 396 grams of heroin in 2002, hanging. [55]
Mohammed Amza Zubeidi, 67, former Iraqi prime minister under Saddam Hussein.

1

Mary Hayley Bell, 94, British actress and writer, and wife of Sir John Mills. +
Jack Colvin, 73, American actor, The Incredible Hulk, coronary thrombosis. +
Werner Enders, 81, German tenor. +
Michael Evans, 61, White House photographer, noted for capturing the trademark image of Ronald Reagan wearing a cowboy hat, cancer. [56] +
William Henry Ottley, 76, sports innovator, credited with promoting skydiving as a sport, pneumonia. [57] +
William B. Tanner, 75, American multimillionaire businessman.